Salvation

A Personal Testimony by Deb Massey-Are You The One?

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We moved from a huge metropolitan area to the woods of Maine several years ago. It is difficult to witness to the people here, but we don’t give up. I see every person I meet as a possible soul that one day I will be walking and talking with on the streets of gold. When I meet a new person, I always think, Are you the one? Are you the one who wants to know Jesus? We have back copies of LandMarks that we keep in our car, along with other Biblical tracts to use as witnessing tools.

Are you the one? Those four little words have special importance to me because one day I had one of the most important witnessing experiences of my life when “are you the one?” had special significance. I have lived and worked in a big city for most of my life. There was a length of time when I could not find a job, which was strange because the work I did had always been very much in demand. But during this span of time there was a slowdown in jobs for almost a year and an issue from my previous employer seemed to hold me back. [I later realized, of course, that God is always on time, and I was exactly where I was supposed to be at the exact time I was to be there.] I was in God’s waiting room.

To advance my job hunting efforts, I put an ad in a major newspaper in the positions wanted section, twice. I didn’t give up. After the second ad I got a phone call from a woman who asked me to come in for an interview. The interview went well, and it seemed we liked each other right away. During the interview process I was introduced to the owner. I wanted to be very up front with him, and I quickly told him that I had a difficult time getting a job over the past several months due to employment agencies not wanting to recommend me because of the bad reputation of my former employer. The owner looked at me and said, “Oh, I know Leo, don’t worry about him.” I was so amazed at his comment and I thought it a miracle that suddenly out of the blue, the worry that I had concerning my employment was just swept away in a moment’s comment. I asked myself, how in this city of millions of people could I come in contact with the one person who knew my former employer, and probably many things about him, that caused him to make such a timely comment. God had His plan, and things moved forward quickly. I was hired after competing with another applicant for the same position.

The first week I was there my boss started asking me what I believed about God, and why I believed it. We had several deep conversations throughout the days ahead, as she became more and more interested in my beliefs. She had a great thirst for spiritual knowledge, and I sensed in her a desperate need to know what was truth and what wasn’t and the wisdom to know the difference. She was a very educated person and I remember feeling surprised to learn that she didn’t believe Jesus was the Son of God, but rather that He was just a teacher.

Day after day I laid out for her all the truth I knew that I had stored up for decades in my mind and in my heart. I was even surprised at my own words and the way that I was able to reveal the Kingdom of God to her. We know that when we witness to others, God will give us the words to say, and how to say them to meet their special needs. During my witnessing to her, the ability that I suddenly had to outline basic Biblical truth was nothing short of remarkable, as I give all the credit to the Holy Spirit. I am certainly not the most talented or smartest person, but I believe God sent me to this situation because He knew I would open my mouth and tell her what she had for so many years longed to hear.

I realized early on that my boss was a reader and perhaps that is how she grasped new information best, so I supplemented our talks with several Spirit of Prophecy books and a few others. It seemed after our many conversations that we didn’t talk as much about spiritual issues for several weeks. During these weeks I was anxious and pondering what the outcome would be while I continued praying for Jesus to intervene in her life. I soon found out she was reading all the books I gave her. She was reading herself right into the truth which I was not aware of until one morning about three months later she walked into the office and said to me, “There really is nowhere else to go after reading Ellen White and the Bible is there?” Shortly thereafter she became a Seventh-day Adventist. Although initially it was a problem for the owner because now we both had to leave before sunset on Fridays, but what could he say – he was Jewish!

During the years to come her job allowed her to daily meet many new people. She witnessed to prospective and new tenants always giving them literature. She had so many opportunities to witness because she was in charge of renting out small office spaces in a very old, dingy but huge office building where there were so many spaces to be leased and where tenants were continually moving in and out.

My friend was on a fast track. With God’s help she had made the most important discovery of her life and it was as though she was making up for all her years without Jesus. She wasn’t just showing those small old office spaces that these new tenants would occupy, but she was witnessing to them about the space they could occupy in their heavenly home. She exemplified the growing Christian, as she was filled, so she gave with a grateful heart to others the word of God and the great hope she had in Jesus. She took off all her jewelry, stopped dying her hair and her sometimes stern intense countenance turned to a look of happiness and joy. Her conversion and transformation was clear for all to see. Jesus changed her from the inside out. I saw in her freedom from entanglements and peace that she had never had before. “By beholding we become changed” never had more significance for me as it did in watching her spiritual growth. The owner one day asked me to come into his office and inquired, “What did you do to her?” I told him I shared the Gospel with her and there was not anywhere else to go in this conversation because she and I had both tried to share the Gospel with him and he did not want to know about Christ. However, what happened at a later time showed that her conversion made some impact on him.

My friend didn’t live a long life; a sudden illness took her quickly. I only knew her for 15 years, but she was in this world long enough to find the loving God that she had so longed to know. She followed Him as long as she could and led others to find the same hope of Christ in them. If we really knew the time we had on this earth how earnest our efforts would be to share the love of Jesus to others. Although many times our lives are filled with difficulties and uncertainty, doesn’t it make the most sense that through it all we should stay focused – to put our efforts into what really matters the most, sharing the love of God? Shouldn’t this be our single most important work and joy?

When I went to her funeral, it was awe inspiring to see so many people there. I later realized I may have been the only one that knew how and why so many were there to say their good-byes. I believe the overflow of these people to be the souls that she so faithfully witnessed to while going about her daily routine of renting office space. She used to come back from showing spaces relating to me how she gave this material and that piece of literature to those prospective tenants. She was visibly happy in the Lord to be going about His business in her daily routine.

Several people got up to speak at her funeral. One of them was the owner, who spoke eloquently of her attributes and hard work and told how she had contributed to his business and to him personally in the span of more than 20 years she had worked for him. I was so amazed and touched that he did this. I then realized that through her reliance and steadfastness he acknowledged in such a beautiful way that she ran the race well.

I am so looking forward to seeing my friend in heaven one day. She had a short time to know the Lord, but she used the remaining time she had here efficiently and wisely for God’s work. I am looking forward to saying to her, “My friend, in our life on earth, ‘You were the one.’ And praise be to God you took God’s message to heart and to others, you held your candle high in this dark world for as long as you could for others to receive the light of the world, Jesus Christ.”

In our heavenly home I believe that we will have conversations with others when we will not say to them, “Are you the one?” but, instead, “You were the one!” My prayer is that we will have many people to say that to in the Kingdom of God. In the grave we can do nothing. We must do it today while there is still time.

Rise in the morning, praying to God that one soul will be put in your path that day who may want to join you on the heavenly journey to the Kingdom. Recognize during the course of your day that while you may only be going through your daily routine or common errands, God may have gone before you to put a person right in your path, that one person who wants to know the true and living God. God has many opportunities for us as we go through our daily life, if we only recognize them. If you do, life will become very exciting. Whether your witnessing experience turns out to be one minute or one hour, share with them the word of God and the words that God has given you to say to them.

I have often asked myself, Where do I want to be in 100 years? My answer is always Heaven. If this is true, then I must stay on the heaven bound course every minute, every hour, every day while I am still here and while I am yet able to work for Jesus. Not just taking opportunities for witnessing, but making opportunities for witnessing, being friendly to others, talking to people and helping them with their burdens. Witnessing experiences not only bless the person you are witnessing to, but you are blessed also by voicing out loud your testimony of Christ and what He has done for you personally.

Just yesterday I walked into a fabric store and started a conversation with a woman right next to me. We were both about 40 miles from home but it turned out that she lived not far from me. We got into a conversation and I quickly learned that she was a Christian attending a Sunday church but she stated that she had read The Great Controversy and believed it. She believed in keeping the 7th day Sabbath. I was amazed that this complete stranger was so open and had so much to tell me of her beliefs within just a few minutes. She had questions about hell, which I answered. She was a hospice nurse and tried to lead many dying souls to Jesus in their final hours. I hope to be meeting with her soon.

Stay ready to witness and it will surprise you how many are out there that the Lord will lead you to. Be prepared by having the word of God in your heart and mind, having faith that God will bring to your remembrance the words you need for that specific person for that time of witnessing. Have literature always ready to give them.

“Life is too solemn to be absorbed in temporal or earthly matters. The Lord desires that we shall communicate to others that which the eternal and unseen communicates to us.

“Every year millions upon millions of human souls are passing into eternity unwarned and unsaved. From hour to hour in our varied life opportunities to reach and save souls are opened to us. These opportunities are continually coming and going. God desires us to make the most of them. Days, weeks and months are passing; we have one day, one week, one month less in which to do our work. A few more years at the longest, and the voice which we cannot refuse to answer will be heard saying, ‘Give an account of thy stewardship’ (Luke 16:2).” Christ’s Object Lessons, 373, 374.

To all who claim to be under the banner of Christ, this is our final hour on this earth but it can be our finest hour if we do all for Jesus now. Whatever your past, redeem the time – with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26).

Remember, it is not only what we tell others, but what we show others. Do they see Jesus in us, wanting to know more? Do they go away questioning, wanting what we have?

As I compose this article on my computer, every few paragraphs I click the save icon, so that if there is a power outage I will still have what I have written; so it is with the word of God. Store it in your heart, in your mind, putting on the whole armor of God so one day in a physical or spiritual power outage you will have the love and power of God so deeply embedded within you that you will ever remember the Bible passages you have learned and the experiences of faith of prior years that have encouraged you along the way, for the days of trial surely lie ahead for all true Christians.

The next time you meet a stranger and you are in that moment of indecision of what to say, ask yourself, Are you the one? Are you waiting for me to tell you about Jesus? As that wonderful old hymn goes, “Throw out the life line to someone today” (Edwin S. Ufford, 1888). Jesus is waiting on you to tell them. Speak, have faith, and know that God will give you the words to say.

P.S. Oh, and that large dingy office building in which my friend so diligently did her work for Jesus – it has been renovated into one of the most gorgeous hotels in the city. Such a fitting tribute to this woman of faith.

Are You Being Sealed?

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We are judgment bound Seventh-day Adventists. What is taking place at this moment has never taken place before in the history of the world.

“This mightiest of angels has in his hand the seal of the living God, or of Him who alone can give life, who can inscribe upon the foreheads the mark or inscription, to whom shall be granted immortality, eternal life….

“Those that overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil, will be the favored ones who shall receive the seal of the living God. Those whose hands are not clean, whose hearts are not pure, will not have the seal of the living God.” Testimonies to Ministers, 444, 445

It is so plain. First Ellen White gives it in the positive, and then, just to make sure that it is absolutely clear, she gives it in the negative. “Those who are planning sin and acting it will be passed by. Only those who, in their attitude before God, are filling the position of those who are repenting and confessing their sins in the great anti-typical day of atonement, will be recognized and marked as worthy of God’s protection.” Ibid., 445

There are only two seals, or marks received in the last days—the mark of the beast and the seal of God. Only those who overcome the world, the flesh and the devil will be the favored ones who will receive the seal of God. If you do not receive the seal of God, you are lost. How can the new theology teach in one breath, that we can go on sinning and repenting right up until the time that Jesus comes, and in the next breath, still profess to believe the Spirit of Prophecy?

“The only hope of any man lies through Jesus Christ….The pure and holy garments are not prepared to be put on by any one after he has entered the gate of the city. All who enter will have on the robe of Christ’s righteousness, and the name of God will be seen in their foreheads. This name is the symbol which the apostle saw in vision, and signifies the yielding of the mind to intelligent and loyal obedience to all of God’s commandments.” Sons and Daughters of God, 370

It is an amazing thing that, even though Seventh-day Adventists are known as people who keep the commandments, we are hearing less and less about the Ten Commandments in church. We are hearing less and less about the vindication and immutability of God’s law in our periodicals and more about love and social issues. I am all for helping the homeless and hungry, but these are social issues. They may be good issues, but they are not the message God gave to us for this time. If we are not going to preach the three angels’ messages, who will?

“Now is the time to lay up treasure in heaven and to set our hearts in order, ready for the time of trouble. Those only who have clean hands and pure hearts will stand in that trying time. Now is the time for the law of God to be in our minds, foreheads, and written in our hearts.” Early Writings, 58

“The Lord has shown me the danger of letting our minds be filled with worldly thoughts and cares….In these things I saw great danger; for if the mind is filled with other things, present truth is shut out, and there is no place in our foreheads for the seal of the living God. I saw that the time for Jesus to be in the Most Holy Place was nearly finished and that time can last but a very little longer. What leisure time we have should be spent in searching the Bible, which is to judge us in the last day.

“My dear brethren and sisters, let the commandments of God, and the testimony of Jesus Christ be in your minds continually….When you lie down and when you rise up let them be your meditation. Live and act wholly in reference to the coming of the Son of man. The sealing time is very short, and will soon be over.” Ibid.

Do you have a devotional program? I am talking about a serious devotional program where you set your alarm clock to get up early and spend some time with God.

A favorite tool of the devil is to rob God’s people of devotional time with the Lord by getting them to stay up late so that they do not have that time to spend with the Lord in the morning. Do what ever is necessary to get to bed on time. Set that alarm clock early, and the Lord will make it up to you with strength for the day. This is how you establish a relationship with the Lord and prepare for the sealing time.

“Many are called, but few are chosen. Many hear the invitation of mercy, are tested and proved; but few are sealed with the seal of the living God.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 50

What does this statement tell us? It makes it clear that the vast majority of Seventh-day Adventists are not going to receive the seal of the living God but will receive the other seal—the mark of the beast—and they are going to be lost.

“Not one of us will ever receive the seal of God while our characters have one stain upon them. It is left with us to remedy the defects in our character, to cleanse the soul temple of every defilement.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 214

Are you tempted to say, “Oh, there is no hope; I cannot make it!”? Let me tell you, folks, there is hope. Don’t ever let the devil tell you otherwise, because the Lord that I serve is able to give you victory over every sin. If there is a sin He cannot give you victory over, I want to know what it is. It does not come by accident; but if you are getting up early and spending that time with the Lord, and if you are staying in an attitude of prayer all day, you will have the victory. If you are not doing these things, you are not getting victory. It is just that simple.

“Satan is now using every device in this sealing time to keep the minds of God’s people from the present truth and to cause them to waver. I saw a covering that God was drawing over His people to protect them in the time of trouble; and every soul that was decided on the truth and was pure in heart was to be covered with the covering of the Almighty. Satan knew this, and he was at work in mighty power to keep the minds of as many people as he possibly could wavering and unsettled on the truth.” Early Writings, 43,44

Today, we are seeing the minds of God’s people wavering and being waffled around in indecision by every wind of doctrine. Even among people who claim to be Historic Adventists, people whom we thought were firmly grounded, we are seeing this take place. Errors, over which we thought the truth had been vindicated and had all died, we see coming back again. We find that we can talk with people for hours and hours and when we are finished, they will go to another preacher and ask him the very same question. That preacher will work and study with them for hours, and then they will go to somebody else.

God is drawing a covering over His people. This covering is His protection form the buffetings of Satan, but He can only draw it over those who are settled firmly into the truth. Those who are not covered are being knocked around by Satan. The more unsure they are, the more Satan knocks them around and the more unsure they become. It is a vicious circle. If they do not change, they are lost. You must be settled into the truth, and you must do so now!

“Their knees were trembling, and their feet sliding, because they were not firmly planted on the truth, and the covering of Almighty God could not be drawn over them while they were thus trembling.” Ibid., 44

I do not care how busy you are or what you are doing; if you are not reading, studying and becoming firmly planted in the truth, then you have your priorities upside down. If you are not firmly planted in the truth, you are going to be lost, and that is all there is to it.

“Now is the time to prepare. The seal of God will never be placed upon the forehead of an impure man or woman. It will never be placed upon the forehead of the ambitious world-loving man or woman. It will never be placed upon the forehead of men or women of false tongues or deceitful hearts.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 216

Could we say that this applies to people who say one thing and do another? Who say one thing back stage and say something else out on the stage? Could we say it applies to people who make a statement like, “you must do thus and so or you are going to force me to lie”?

“All who receive the seal must be without spot before God—candidates for heaven.” Ibid.

Do you know what this means? It means perfection. And what is perfection? It is walking in victory in Jesus Christ. Many have made the word perfection to mean something terrible, but what does the Bible teach?

Let me ask you a question. This is a loaded question; be careful how you answer it. Can you walk on water? Either answer is right, and both answers are wrong. Through the power and strength of Jesus Christ, you are able to do what it is humanly impossible to do. Peter could not walk on water, but he did. As long as he kept his eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ, he did what was impossible. Don’t ask me how he did it; he just did it.

Here is another loaded question. Can you live without sinning? When you keep your eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ, you can do what it is otherwise impossible to do. Humanly speaking, living without sin is absolutely impossible, even laughable—just as laughable as to think that a man could walk on the water. But Peter did. That is the kind of Lord that we serve. Do not ask me how it is done; it is just done. You step out by faith and say, “Lord, give me the victory over this.” Turn it over to Him, letting Him have full control, and He will do it.

“Those who receive the seal of the living God and are protected in the time of trouble must reflect the image of Jesus fully.

“I saw that many were neglecting the preparation so needful and were looking to the time of ‘refreshing’ and the ‘latter rain’ to fit them to stand in the day of the Lord and to live in His sight. Oh, how many I saw in the time of trouble without a shelter!” Early Writings, 71

Have you ever heard an Adventist saying, “Oh, we must have the latter rain. If we could just receive the latter rain, we could finish the work.” They are looking to the latter rain as if it is going to be some transforming power over their lives. No one, however, is going to receive the latter rain unless they have experienced the transforming power of the early rain. It is through the early rain experience that we receive the power of the Holy Spirit that prepares us to receive the power of the latter rain. We have gotten things backwards folks.

“It is now that we must keep ourselves and our children unspotted from the world.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 215

Has anyone ever said to you, “Well, this is a real world that we live in; you just have to let your children get out there and fend for themselves. You are just putting them in a cocoon and are living in too sheltered an environment. You just have to let them learn how to stand on their own two feet”? Have you ever heard these things?

Let me tell you, if you do what they suggest, your children are going to be lost. God gave us Christian homes so that we could bring our children up in a protected environment in this world. If you throw your children to the wolves, that is exactly where they are going to end up.

“It is now that we must wash our robes of character and make them white in the blood of the Lamb. It is now that we must overcome pride, passion, and spiritual slothfulness. It is now that we must awake and make determined effort for symmetry of character.” Ibid., 216

We are told that the living righteous will receive the seal of God prior to the close of probation. See Selected Messages, book 1, 66. Do you believe that we are near to the close of probation? Do you believe that probation closes first for professed Seventh-day Adventists? Reasoning from cause to effect, if the close of probation is near, and if it closes first for professed Seventh-day Adventists, then probation’s close must be very close for Seventh-day Adventists. Are you beginning to see where we are?

“The judgement is now passing in the sanctuary above. For many years this work has been in progress. Soon—none know how soon—it will pass to the cases of the living. In the awful presence of God our lives are to come up in review. At this time above all others it behooves every soul to heed the Saviour’s admonition: ‘Watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.’ Mark 13:33. ‘If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.’ Revelation 3:3.” The Great Controversy, 490

What serious times in which we live. How could anything on this earth possibly take precedence over this? “The destiny of all will be decided. A few, yes, only a few, of the vast number who people the earth will be saved unto life eternal, while the masses who have not perfected their souls in obeying the truth will be appointed to the second death.” Testimonies, vol. 2, 401, 402

If the seal of the living God is being decided at this moment in your case, are you ready to receive it? The Laodicean condition is the most dangerous condition that people can be in. When people believe that they are rich and increased in goods and in need of nothing, while they are really blind, poor, wretched and naked, they are greatly deceived. This, however, is the condition of the Seventh-day Adventist Church today.

“God has made ample provision that we may stand perfect in His grace, wanting in nothing, waiting for the appearing of our Lord. Are you ready? Have you the wedding garment on? That garment will never cover deceit, impurity, corruption, or hypocrisy. The eye of God is upon you. It is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. We may conceal our sins from the eyes of men, but we can hide nothing from our Maker.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 220

What is hypocrisy? It is claiming to be one thing while being something totally different on the inside. God’s robe of righteousness—the wedding garment—will never cover hypocrisy.

“There is great need that our brethren overcome secret faults. The displeasure of God, like a cloud, hangs over many of them. The churches are weak. Selfishness, uncharitableness, covetousness, envy, evil-surmising, falsehood, theft, robbery, sensuality, licentiousness, and adultery, stand registered against some who claim to believe the solemn, sacred truth for this time. How can these accursed things be cleansed out of the camp, when men who claim to be Christians are practicing them constantly? They are somewhat careful of their ways before men, but they are an offense to God. His pure eyes see, a witness records, all their sins, both open and secret; and unless they repent and confess their sins before God, unless they fall on the Rock and are broken, their sins will remain charged against them in the books of record. Oh, fearful histories will be opened to the world at the judgment—histories of sins never confessed, of sins not blotted out!” Testimonies to Ministers, 146

Oh, brothers and sisters, it is time to take care of these things in our lives. The sealing is taking place. No one knows when the judgment of the living begins. It could be going on now. Are you ready to stand in the judgment before God? Are you ready to receive the seal of the living God?

The End

Sermon on the Mount Series – To Satisfy the Hungry

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It is a wonderful feeling to be satisfied. Unfortunately, in this world, this is not the experience of many people. Many having obtained riches have confessed that they are not satisfied and still others who have obtained fame or pleasure are still dissatisfied. Thus one wonders what is it that can produce perfect and lasting mental and spiritual satisfaction.

In His Sermon on the Mount Jesus pronounced a blessing on those who were hungry. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6). The hunger and thirst after righteousness is the result of the spiritual experience of the three things Jesus had before mentioned. First there must be a recognition of spiritual poverty. He said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (verse 3). That leads to heart sorrow because of the sins that have been committed, which in turn leads to an experience of meekness or humbleness. The leanness and nakedness of soul causes a crying out after God and His righteousness. This soul hunger, Jesus said, is going to be satisfied. A good appetite is a sign of life and health. It is a very common experience for a person who is dying to lose his/her appetite and have no desire for food during the last few days of his/her life.

Only people who are alive hunger and thirst, while lack of appetite is generally a sign of failing health. Hunger and thirst lessen as life is diminished, but increase as life increases.

When a person dies, his or her emotions and passion for hunger and thirst cease altogether, while a healthy baby will have an appetite that seems never to fail. In fact, it often seems to be insatiable. This is not a bad thing; a good appetite is a great blessing, giving evidence of a normal, healthy body. Those who enjoy their meals have a much more satisfying life than those who eat only because they have to. A healthy baby is continually hungry and thirsty because it is growing.

Hunger and thirst are evidence of growth and development. No person can grow and increase in stature without food and water. Now this is true not only in the physical realm, but also in the intellectual realm. It is only those who hunger and thirst for knowledge who continue to grow in wisdom and develop in intellectual power. We owe a great deal in our world today to those people who have had an insatiable appetite for wisdom and knowledge. They have sought knowledge and invented and discovered things that have changed our world. But many people, if not most, lose their mental appetite early in life and then for the rest of their lives coast on what they have learned in their younger years, ceasing to seek to increase their knowledge.

Unfortunately, this is even true of many professional people—ministers, lawyers, teachers, physicians—people who you would expect above all others to be growing intellectually as long as life would last. But many die mentally long before they die physically. This is a great tragedy, but we live in a tragic world. Matthew 5:6 has a special reference to a person’s spiritual life and appetite but the same principles that exist in the physical also apply to the intellect. Hunger and thirst are absolutely essential to spiritual life and growth. The person who has no appetite for spiritual things is spiritually dead. The person with a poor spiritual appetite is spiritually sick. It is only the person who has a ravenous appetite for the bread of life and the waters of salvation and who greatly enjoys his spiritual food and drink who is a normal, healthy Christian.

Unfortunately, most professed Christians today are subnormal; suffering from spiritual malnutrition, they are spiritually weak and anemic. It takes but little spiritual food to satisfy them. They are particular and very picky about what they eat, when they eat, and who feeds them. Many are kept alive only because they are being spoon-fed, for they do not have appetite and energy enough to feed themselves. This is a pathetic situation, especially when there is a great spiritual banquet spread for all. This is not a problem only occurring in our time. The apostle Paul addressed this same situation to the Jews. He said, “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” Hebrews 5:12–14.

Those who are spiritually proud do not hunger and thirst for spiritual food, for they are already perfectly satisfied. They feel full and therefore have no appetite for more. This was true concerning the Pharisees in the time of Christ. They felt no need and did not receive any benefit from the bread and water of life that Jesus freely offered to anyone who hungered and thirsted for it. Before Jesus was born, the virgin Mary spoke about this very thing. She said, “He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty” (Luke 1:53).

When Jesus referred to Himself as the bread of life and that only those who would eat His flesh and drink His blood would have eternal life, many were offended. It says in John 6:66 KJV that “they walked no more with Him.” It is for this reason that the first blessing pronounced in Jesus’ sermon is upon those who are poor in spirit, the ones who feel their need. They mourn over their spiritual condition. They are meek, hungering and thirsting for something they don’t have. Jesus said that their need will be fulfilled.

The condition of the Christian church today was predicted almost 2,000 years ago. The angel said, “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth” (Revelation 3:15, 16). The church does not recognize its spiritual poverty; it does not mourn over its sins. It is not meek or humble, but proud and boasts of its spiritual wealth, even claiming to be rich and increased in goods and having need of nothing (verse 17). It is in a similar spiritual condition to the Pharisees in Jesus’ time.

Jesus Christ, the dispenser of the bread of life, is unable to feed the modern church because she has no appetite. Though she does not realize her condition, she is spiritually sick. Her condition is similar to that of the Jews in the days of Christ. He came to give them spiritual food and drink but found only a few who were hungry and thirsty. The spirit of the Laodicean church, Revelation 3:14–22, is the same spirit as that of Phariseeism. There is an abundance of food, but the church feels well-filled and already satisfied. So Christ knocks at the door of this church-temple in vain. He is not in the church; He is standing on the outside trying to get in. Revelation 3:20 says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.”

Can you hear the Lord’s knocking at the door of your heart? He describes His people in the last days as being naked, yet at the same time going about as if on a dress parade. How can that be? The church has no divine covering for her sins, but she has provided for herself a garment made up of religious rituals. The Lord calls these garments “filthy rags.” Isaiah 64:6, 7 says, “But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; we all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. And there is no one who calls on Your name, who stirs himself up to take hold of You.”

It could only be a person who is mentally unbalanced or who is drunk that could ever go about naked and not know it. But the Laodicean church thinks it is clothed. However, the filthy garments are unacceptable. Jesus says, “Come and buy from Me, white raiment that you may be truly clothed” (see Revelation 3:18). If they could only be awakened and be clothed with the garments of Christ’s righteousness, the wedding garment that prepares them to go to heaven, then they would be in a different condition. In the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve sinned, the guilty pair were ashamed of their nakedness because their garment of light had left them. Because they did not want to appear in front of the Lord naked, they sewed garments of fig leaves to clothe themselves, but the Lord did not accept those garments. Though Adam was wearing his fig leaf garment, he told the Lord that he was naked. The Lord then provided them with garments only made possible by the death of a symbolic lamb.

The Lord wants to do the same for the modern church as He did for our first parents. He wants us to realize our spiritual nakedness and then He wants to provide us with the righteousness of Christ that will cover us so that the shame of our nakedness does not appear (see Revelation 16:15).

Of all human cravings, there are none that are more powerful than hunger and thirst. Any person or animal who is hungry or thirsty will make every effort to obtain food and drink. Sometimes when people are thirsty and are lost in the desert they see what they think is water only to find it is just a mirage. But the water of life that Jesus offers is not a mirage. It is a well of living water as Jesus described in John 4:14. This is our great need in this modern generation—the water of life. We need a soul-hunger for the bread of life and thirst for the water of life, which is Christ and His righteousness because it is only the hungry and the thirsty that are promised to be satisfied.

If the modern church could be given a good spiritual appetite, she would not long remain in her present condition. The promise of Jesus is that if you are hungry and thirsty for righteousness, you will be filled and completely satisfied. The Bible records the story of Jesus Who spoke to a woman at a well in Sychar. He said, “If you knew the gift of God, and Who it is Who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water. The woman said to Him, ‘Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep.’ … Jesus answered and said to her, ‘Whoever drinks of this water [this physical water] will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life’ ” (John 4:10, 11, 13, 14).

“Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst’ ” (John 6:35). But after He said this to them, He spoke the following mournful words, “But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe” (verse 36). How is it with you? Do you want something you don’t have or are you like the spiritually proud people of all ages, perfectly satisfied just the way you are? There are millions of people that will never have eternal life because they’re satisfied just the way they are. Jesus said, “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out” (John 6:37).

Complete satisfaction is promised only to those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. The Lord makes the following invitation: “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance. Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live” (Isaiah 55:1–3).

Complete satisfaction is still available; it is still waiting in our modern, wretched, poverty-stricken, naked church as soon as we awaken and develop an appetite to be revived and as soon as we want something better than what we have. Remember, the blessing is pronounced on the hungry: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6). They will be completely satisfied. If you feel perfectly satisfied right now, it is time for you to pray and ask the Lord for a hunger and thirst like never before for something that you don’t have, something that will bring perfect and lasting satisfaction, spiritually, intellectually, and that will eventually result in eternal life. Jesus is standing at the door of the heart. He is knocking at the door of the modern church. He calls to the lukewarm, self-satisfied church, Come and get something from Me.

Revelation 3:18 says, “I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.” How is it with your life? Are you a Laodicean Christian and just lukewarm? Are you satisfied with your condition like the Pharisees in Jesus’ day? They refused His teachings; they refused His salvation, being satisfied with their own perverted religious system.

Jesus said, Obtain gold from Me. He’s talking, of course, about spiritual gold, not literal gold. With gold being so valuable, having it enables you to get anything you need in this world. Spiritual gold represents faith. Jesus said that if you have faith and believe in Him and trust in Him, everything is possible (Matthew 17:20). Also, if you have gold, you already have wealth. Gold equals wealth. Spiritual gold is spiritual wealth – the bond of perfection which the apostle Paul said is charity or love (Colossians 3:14). So spiritual gold is faith and love. Jesus says that is what is needed so you will not be so poor. The white raiment, which is the righteousness of Christ, is righteousness that no human being can generate. However, it is the righteousness required for entry into the kingdom of heaven, and, it is a free gift.

The eye salve is the spiritual anointing, the discernment that enables a person to see the wiles and deceptions of Satan and the ability to shun them, to detect sin and to abhor it, to see the truth and obey it. Do you have the eye salve? Can you actually see what’s happening in the spiritual world today? This is the great need of present-day Christianity. Jesus said, “Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they will be filled.” Christ is our righteousness. He says, “If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink” (John 7:37 KJV).

There is no other source of supply, friend. Jesus is the bread and the water of life. He is the only One Who can satisfy the deepest spiritual need of your soul, and He will, if you’ll open the door and let Him in.

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New King James Version.)

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church of Free Seventh-day Adventists in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

How the Will of Man Can Overcome All Sin

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In my personal devotions with God one early morning, I discovered a most profound truth that I must share with you. I was reading the book Christ’s Object Lessons, 333, and found this mind boggling inspired quotation: “As the will of man co-operates with the will of God, it becomes omnipotent.” At first I found this difficult to comprehend, for only God is omnipotent. Could it be possible that God loves us so much that He is willing to share this unbelievable power of omnipotence with you and me? Since I am a firm believer that both the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy are divinely inspired by the Holy Spirit, I was overwhelmed with this revealed truth that God would share His omnipotent power with sinners like you and me so that we may overcome every temptation of Satan and live victoriously as Jesus did.

Let us keep in mind that there is no question concerning the eternal truth that is found in Romans 8:3: “God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.” It was thus that Christ as our example demonstrated for us how He in the likeness of our sinful flesh joined His will with God’s omnipotent power making it possible for Him to live on earth without committing one sin. This is why He could say, “Which of you convinceth Me of sin” (John 8:46, first part)? Only Christ could make such a statement, for in His daily life He fully surrendered His will to God’s will. We read of this dedication in John 6:38: “I came down from heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me.” This was demonstrated in the Garden of Gethsemane in choosing death rather than life when He stated, “Father, all things are possible unto Thee; take away this cup from Me: nevertheless not what I will, but what Thou wilt” (Mark 14:36).

Christ has revealed how He cooperated with God in joining His human will with God’s divine will. This is why the Bible pleads, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5). If we will follow the example of Christ and place our will in the hand of God we too can have absolute victory over sin.

Now this brings us to a most important question. What is the will? I believe this can best be described by what it is not. Please let me illustrate. Most of you have no doubt experienced something similar to what I am about to tell you. You have been in someone’s home when it was bedtime for their children. I was making a pastoral call with my wife one evening in the home of one of our church members. Their little boy Johnny was excited to see the pastor. As we visited, the boy’s bedtime became past due so Mother said, “Johnny, it’s time for you to go to bed.” Instantly he shook his head, No! No! and he began to pout. Mother insisted, “Johnny, come now, let’s go to bed.” At these words he began to reveal his real nature. He stamped his feet, fell on the floor kicking and screaming. His mother picked the little fellow up as he struggled to resist. Mother blushed as she said, “My boy has such a strong willpower.” Now that was a misnomer. Johnny was not displaying his God-given willpower, but instead a disobedient “won’t” power. And what’s more, won’t power is not to be confused with want power.

Let me explain further. An old man in the jungle was in such pain that he walked ten miles to one of our dispensaries in a small town. The doctor took one look at his swollen jaw and told the man his tooth must be taken out. So the man got in the dental chair and watched the doctor make preparations. First he put on a white jacket and then placed the hypo with the long needle on it on a nearby table. The jungle man’s eyes grew bigger and bigger. Next the doctor placed a small lance and forceps next to the hypo. After rolling up his sleeves the doctor told the man, “Open your mouth.” Suddenly he yelled, “No! No!” You see this jungle man had never seen a dentist before in his entire life and he was scared to death. The doctor pleaded, “You will only feel a tiny prick and when the tooth is gone you will not have any more pain.” “No! No!” The man got up out of the chair and rushed to the door and ran back into the jungle with his terrible pain. Why? Because he was not willing. Now what have we learned thus far? The will of man is not won’t power. It is not want power. The will is the deciding power of man.

Let me give you the best definition of the will that I have ever found. “Pure religion has to do with the will. The will is the governing power in the nature of man, bringing all the other faculties under its sway. The will is not the taste or the inclination, but it is the deciding power which works in the children of men unto obedience to God or unto disobedience.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 513. So we have arrived at the proper definition. The will is not won’t power. The will is not want power. The will is the deciding power. These words deciding power imply there is a counsel of judges.

Let us consider that your mind, your brain, is the chamber in which three judges sit. The first judge is called the voice of reason. This is why God pleads, “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord” (Isaiah 1:18). Only man has this power of reasoning. This ability leads to choice. It is not found in the animal kingdom. The greatest gift that God ever gave to mankind is His son Jesus Christ and the next gift is that of the power of choice. If man is to be saved to everlasting life he must accept this precious gift of Jesus and then properly use the gift of choice.

We read in Deuteronomy 30:19, “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.” Now let us consider this judge called reason. He is cold and factual. He will argue the pro and the con pointing out the good and the bad and he pays no attention as to whether you like it or not. Without question he points out the advantages or disadvantages.

Now what makes our reasoning power tick?

Point number 1: Reasoning power is developed by your home life, the teachings and example of your parents, Bible study and prayer, and how you use the television, the radio, [and the Internet].

Point number 2: Your reasoning power is determined by the school you attend. Are Christian standards taught and upheld? Are modern scientific theories to be accepted without question? Or, is the final answer found in God’s word?

Point number 3: The church you attend affects the power of choice. Are its teachings based on God’s word or on tradition? Do you attend for the excitement of its weekly drama and the beat of the Christian rock music, or to be quietly, spiritually fed by the Holy Spirit? There is one more point.

Point number 4: Do not forget the effect of your associations upon your reasoning ability. Are your close friends worldly with evil habits? Or are they the kind you love to discuss spiritual truths with?

Each of these four factors affects the reasoning ability of this judge called reason.

The second judge is your heart’s ideal. Some may call it your feelings. We are not talking about your mind of knowledge, but of your heart’s seat of affections. For God says in His word in I Kings 3:9, first part: “Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart.” Our ideal judge is developed by the same four standards of our personal environment – the home life, the school, the church and your associates. The important question is Are these four factors Christ centered? The poet has stated, “Be like Jesus, this my song; in the home and in the throng. Be like Jesus all day long. I would be like Jesus” (James Rowe, 1911).

The third judge is the voice of conscience. As with the other two judges, the counsel of this judge is also developed by the home, school, church and our associates. We are not born with a conscience and we must not consider our conscience infallible. Take the example of Saul of Tarsus. It was his home life, schooling, church, and associates which all played a part in the development of his ungodly conscience. Keep in mind that he was taught that tradition was above the word of God, that he could work his way to heaven, that higher education should be trusted as above the counsel of God, that priestly teachings and commands were to be obeyed with a cadaver-like conscience. Is it any wonder that he acted as he did? He persecuted the people of God, believing he was doing God a favor. But on the road to Damascus he met Jesus and he was never the same again. As Saul looked into Christ’s face, He became his ideal. His conscience was renewed by the Holy Spirit enabling him to see the folly in fighting God’s truth. He immediately forsook his former associates. His reasoning power no longer was based on tradition but on God’s eternal word.

No longer do we talk of Saul the persecutor, but of Paul the apostle. Why? Because the three judges in his mind chamber now acted differently. His reasoning power was now based on Scripture. His heart’s ideal was no longer to be like the Jewish priests but to be like Jesus. His conscience followed the leading of the Holy Spirit. His new associates encouraged him to stand faithful to God. The Bible explains this in two words—born again.

We praise God for Paul’s new birth experience, but we must ever keep in mind that if this change of mind in us does not reveal a death of the old nature and a resurrection of a new Christ-like nature, this apparent change of character will not last but end in complete failure.

Consider the following: An individual may accept God’s word as the basis of his reasoning, but if he continues to make his ideal that of some TV movie star, the power of this worldly ideal will become so strong as to eventually overrule the word of God. Or if one permits the Holy Spirit to develop within him a godly conscience but he reasons to question God’s word because of the teachings of higher education, he will discover that doubt will become the master, actually destroying his faith in God. And what’s more, you may have good reasoning, heavenly ideals and a holy conscience, yet, if you accept as your closest friends the unconverted with evil habits, all of your godly counsel, high ideals, and saintly conscience will avail you nothing, for the power of evil associates is so great that it will overpower these Christian qualities. Thus you will never be able to join your human willpower with that of omnipotence. Victory over sin will be unattainable.

Consider once more this will chamber in man’s mind. Sometimes it often takes a few moments to make the right decision and this requires a porter called self-control to take control and give time for the three judges to take action. For instance, when a problem arises demanding a decision, this self-control porter opens the door to the will chamber stating, Just a minute; don’t be too hasty, for we expect the right decision.

Paul explains this action with these words: “Every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things” (I Corinthians 9:25, first part). Ellen White uses these words found in Messages to Young People, page 134: “The highest evidence of nobility in a Christian is self-control. He who can stand unmoved amid a storm of abuse is one of God’s heroes. …

“It is God’s purpose that the kingly power of sanctified reason, controlled by divine grace, shall bear sway in the lives of human beings. He who rules his spirit is in possession of this power.”

So at the doorway to the council chamber of the will sits this porter of self-control. And whatever the source of impulse, be it habits, hereditary tendencies or some emotion, you name it, your mind chamber becomes alerted for action. Self-control gives the three judges of your will sufficient time to come to the right decision. It may take only a split second for reason, desire, and conscience to act. Then again it may take more time, but to act impulsively without the decision of these three judges can be a disaster – the difference between life or death, heaven or hell.

Let me make this practical. Take the example of hunger. This is a God given desire implanted at birth. As it follows the nerve pathway to the brain, if it is unhampered by reason, ideal, or conscience, the result is obvious – we will eat anything at any time, in any quantity to satisfy the impulse. This could lead us to become a glutton or a drunkard, but if we channel this desire to our will chamber, immediately the porter for the self-control says, Wait a minute, your three judges need to act. Instantly reason takes over. So you want to eat? Well, that’s perfectly all right, but remember, the work you are doing dictates the quantity you eat. And don’t forget – you should wait at least four to five hours between meals. And you will need some protein, carbohydrates, and minerals. What? You don’t like greens? That doesn’t matter. Eat it; it is good for you. Remember, you are what you eat. You want to be alert, don’t you? Clear eyed and quickly able to distinguish between truth and error. It is a known fact that the man who follows God’s prescribed diet of fresh fruits, grains, nuts and vegetables is found to be in the best of health, mentally as well as physically.

Then conscience speaks up. Everything that can be eaten shouldn’t be eaten. Some things are poison and God has declared some things are unclean. So in the will chamber of your mind you will have made a right decision: I will eat the right food, in the right quantity, at the right time. And the result – you’re a happy, contented, healthy, clear-minded thinker on the road to the best of health—all because of the correct action of your will.

Now what about passion? There are two paths that can be taken. One is controlled passion. The other is uncontrolled passion. God gave us passion and there is nothing wrong with this wonderful gift, but if uncontrolled by the will, it can lead to indiscretion, petting, lasciviousness, adultery, perversion, and even incest. What was true love can become lust, breaking the marriage vow and ruining the life. Uncontrolled passion is a curse and it is always promoted by the devil.

You may not like the comparison I am about to give but it’s absolutely true. A young woman with a proper willpower can become an unselfish mother, rearing her beautiful children for Christ in her Christ-like home, or she can become a harlot, roaming the streets like a dog in heat. Both are inspired by the same instinctive urge of passion. What makes the difference? It is the willpower. No wonder the wisest man that ever lived said in Proverbs 4:23, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” And the apostle Paul added in Romans 8:13, “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.” This fact remains as long as there is life on earth. Your will is the determining factor between eternal life or death. Inspiration makes this very clear in Messages to Young People, page 31: “O that every one might realize that he is the arbiter of his own destiny! Your happiness for this life, and for the future, immortal life lies with yourself.”

Now does this mean that God doesn’t have anything to do with your salvation? Of course not. What it means is that you must do the willing and then God can do the saving. Let me read further from this inspired book on page 212: “Remember, … that each day, each hour, each moment, you are weaving the web of your destiny. Each time the shuttle is thrown, there is drawn into the web a thread which either mars or beautifies the pattern. If you are careless and indolent, you spoil the life which God designed should be bright and beautiful. If you choose to follow your own inclinations, unchristlike habits will bind you with bands of steel.” Here again we discover what is the deciding factor. It is the will.

Now let me conclude with the profound truth I read to you in our introduction of this important message found in Christ’s Object Lessons, 333: “As the will of man co-operates with the will of God, it becomes omnipotent.” [Emphasis added.] What a tremendous thought! Omnipotent? Why, that is a power belonging only to God. What does this mean? Your will can become omnipotent when it is completely dominated by God’s will because your reasoning, your ideal, your conscience and your choice of associates are all in tune with God. This is how Jesus as a man made in the likeness of our flesh (Romans 8:3) was able to overcome every temptation of Satan and never sinned. God pleads with you and me to do likewise.

As we read before in Philippians 2:5, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” As Christ gave His will completely to God, His willpower became omnipotent over every temptation, and praise the Lord, we too can live victoriously over sin when we can say as Christ said, “Not My will, but Thy will be done” (Luke 22:42, literal translation). God never forces the will. The power of choice was God’s original gift to man and it will always be as long as eternity lasts. When we willingly give our reasoning, ideal, and conscience to God, He shares His divine power with us. Praise His name! Oh what love! What a Savior! You can hear His voice calling now.

Isaiah 1:19, 20 says, “If ye be willing [there it is again, the power of the will] and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” Praise God; it is so simple. Messages to Young People, 120: “Put your will on the side of Christ. Will to serve Him, and in acting upon His word you will receive strength. Whatever may be the evil practice, the master passion which through long indulgence binds both soul and body, Christ is able and longs to deliver. He will impart life to the soul that is ‘dead in trespasses’ (Ephesians 2:1). He will set free the captive that is held by weakness and misfortune and the chains of sin.”

Don’t you like this kind of a God? Does He not appeal to your heart? With the help of His omnipotent power you can say with Paul, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:13). So beloved, with God’s help I have laid before you life or death. Your will determines what your choice will be.

A missionary told me of an old man who walked into the mission hospital asking for some medicine to heal his broken finger. As the doctor unwrapped the dirty rag covering his hand he discovered the finger was dead. It was black, rotten to the bone. Alarmed, the doctor said, “There’s no medicine that I can give you to cure your finger. It must be amputated immediately or the blood poison of your dead finger will kill you.” But the man would have none of this. He insisted, “Doctor, if you won’t give me medicine to cure my finger, I’ll return to the jungle and find my old witch doctor. He will give me medicine. If it won’t work, I’ll come back in ten days.” Two weeks later the doctor inquired of a patient who knew this man. “Tell me, what happened to the man with the infected finger?” “Oh,” said the friend, “he died five days ago.”

Why did he die? Was it because there was no doctor to save him? No, he was not willing. When we shall soon see Jesus coming in the clouds of angels to bestow eternal life to the faithful, if any of us should find ourselves calling for the mountains to hide us from His glory, it will not be because God made no provision to share with us His omnipotent power to gain victory over every sin. It will be because we were not willing for Christ to save us.

So I beg of you – let your reasoning be developed by a daily study of God’s word; let your ideal be to become like Jesus. Keep friends with those who do likewise. Let your conscience be the still small voice of the Holy Spirit and you will be living day by day ready to meet Jesus. Remember, “You cannot control your impulses, your emotions, as you may desire, but you can control the will, and you can make an entire change in your life. By yielding up your will to Christ, your life will be hid with Christ in God, and allied to the power which is above all principalities and powers.” Messages to Young People, 152. Beloved, that is omnipotent power. Praise God!

“As the will of man co-operates with the will of God, it becomes omnipotent. Whatever is to be done at His command may be accomplished in His strength. All His biddings are enablings.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 333.

For more than fifty years Lawrence Nelson served the Seventh-day Adventist Church as a church pastor, evangelist, and then in Conference, Union, and General Conference leadership. When God laid upon him the responsibility to tell it “like it is” to alert the people how the church was leading them into the worldwide ecumenical movement he was forbidden to preach in any church within the Oregon Conference. Though nothing could be found in his preaching that was contrary to the doctrines of the church he was considered divisive so Keep the Faith Audio Tape Ministry was born.

Our Greatest Need

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As a preacher I am often contacted by people with suggestions to preach about certain subjects that they are concerned about. These suggestions are always the pet subject of the people who think everyone should agree with their interpretation on the subject. Identifying the king of the north, the identity of the 144,000, or how to apply certain aspects of health reform are just a few. Though these are important issues, they are not salvational issues.

The most important question anyone can ask himself or herself is, Am I ready for Jesus to come and am I going to spend eternity in the kingdom of heaven?

So, whatever view you hold concerning the king of the north, or concerning what constitutes appropriate dress, it will not do you any good if the Lord should come and you are not ready to meet Him.

As I pondered the reason why many professed Christians will not be ready for the Lord to come, I finally narrowed it down to just one big reason that covers a multitude of other reasons.

The One Who Overcomes 

The Bible teaches that if you are going to be ready for the Lord to come, you must be an overcomer. In Revelation 2 and 3 to all seven churches, which represents the whole Christian world for all time, salvation is promised only to the overcomer.

Revelation 21:5–7: “Then He Who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’ And He said to me, ‘Write, for these words are true and faithful.’ And He said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega [the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet], the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.’ ” We see here that it is the one who overcomes who is going to inherit everything.

Salvation is for those who overcome. Today we are living in a pessimistic age, but the 19th century, in Ellen White’s time, was an age of optimism. I could hardly believe it and used to laugh as a child when my father would tell me how people used to talk. There were people who would actually stand in front of the mirror and say, “Every day in every way I’m getting better and better.” They would repeat it believing that if they said it enough it would actually happen. It was believed that life would get better and better.

I thought, What trash! What craziness! How could people be so foolish in just one generation past? The fact of the matter is they lived in a time of optimism. Because of all the new inventions, they thought they could conquer disease and war and they thought they were going to live in a utopian society.

After a couple of world wars in the 20th century, confidence was destroyed. Since then we have become a very pessimistic people. Now people say to preachers, “I can’t overcome.” The preachers too are affected just like other people by the society in which they live and have adjusted their preaching to suit the tenor of what people think. This is where the doctrine of perfectionism came from. It is the idea that you just come to Christ and instantly you are perfect from that time on. Seventh-day Adventists do not believe in perfectionism, have never taught it, and Ellen White never endorsed that doctrine.

The pendulum has swung from the extreme view of the 19th century clear to another extreme wherein the people now say it is impossible to be perfect, although the Bible clearly teaches Christian perfection.

Jesus said, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him” (Luke 11:13)! All parents love to give good gifts to their children.

Why can’t People Overcome?

If that is the case, if indeed our heavenly Father wants to give His children the Holy Spirit, why is it then that these people cannot overcome? They have not received the Holy Spirit because they are unwilling to make an undivided commitment to God. Luke 14:33: “So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.” Unless you are willing to make an unreserved, undivided commitment to God, to follow Him and to obey Him, you cannot receive the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit will continue pleading with you; however, cannot work in your life contrary to your will. We need to understand that the Holy Spirit will never work contrary to your will and in order to work in your life, your will has to be totally surrendered to God.

Without full surrender and total commitment, you become stuck. That is why people get discouraged in their Christian walk. They say, “I can’t overcome,” which is true without the Holy Spirit. Why don’t they have the Holy Spirit? Because they have not made an undivided, unreserved surrender to God. Now we could go one step further and ask why they have not made an undivided, unreserved surrender to God. If that is the way you get the Holy Spirit, why don’t people do it?

The reason people are not willing to make an undivided commitment, to give their undivided affections to God is because they don’t know Him. Therefore, they don’t love Him and they don’t trust Him. How can you make an unreserved surrender to somebody that you don’t know, and you don’t trust, and you don’t love?

Would you want to marry somebody you do not know, do not love and do not trust? Of course not. People do not know, love and trust God because they lack faith. Ellen White says, “Every failure on the part of the children of God is due to their lack of faith.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 657. It doesn’t matter how weak you are, how sinful you are, or whatever your problem is; if you have faith in God and understand the plan of salvation, He is going to make it work out in your life.

Every failure on the part of the children of God is because of their lack of faith. The disciples came to the Lord one time and they said, “… Lord, increase our faith” (Luke 17:5).

Romans 10:6–17 explains why there are some people that do not have any faith. If you do not have faith, then you do not know God and cannot make a commitment. You are stuck and cannot receive the Holy Spirit.

Verse 17 tells how to get the faith you need so that you can be saved. It says, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

It is never the wrong time to decide that it is time to get serious about knowing God and learning how to get the faith that you need, so that you can make the commitment to Him and receive the Holy Spirit. Thus the plan of salvation can work out in your life.

Start by reading the Bible through. Maybe you have done this before, but each time you read, you will find some new treasure that you had previously missed. Learn the principles found in God’s word regarding life and then apply the principles to your own life.

Some people have read the whole Bible several times, concentrating on certain chapters. However, it is not enough just to read. The Bible says in Psalm 119:11, “Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.” David memorized Scripture passages that would come to his mind readily when they were needed.

Many people find temptations irresistible. When the devil comes at them with temptations they do not have any weapons with which to fight him. Temptations often appear irresistible because, through neglect of prayer and the study of the Bible, the tempted one cannot readily remember God’s promises and meet Satan with the weapons of Scripture.

When the devil came to Jesus in the wilderness of temptation, His only defense was the word of God. Scripture that He had previously committed to memory was His only weapon against His wily foe.

Scripture memorization Suggestions

If you want to win in your Christian life, it would be beneficial to have some scriptures memorized. Here are a few suggestions:

The Sermon on the Mount – The length of this passage may be scary for some people, being three chapters, but most people have memorized part of it anyway. Most people can say the Lord’s Prayer which is part of that sermon. The Golden Rule is also a part and can be found in Matthew 7:12. Jesus said, “… do to others the way you’d like them to do to you.” I think about that scripture often. I am convinced that if I do not learn to do to others the way I would like for them to do to me, I will not be in the kingdom of heaven. That same principle is also taught throughout the writings of Ellen White.

Within the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus specifies in very clear language that anyone can understand who will be saved and who will be lost. Jesus also spoke there about the ten commandments. It would do well to memorize the whole sermon.

Remember, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. When you put the word of God (Romans 10:17) in your mind, it has an effect on the way you think and the way you feel, and it starts having an effect on the way you act. It enables you to make an unreserved surrender to the Lord and to receive the Holy Spirit. Thus you start having victory in your life over bad habits.

The Love Chapter – Another passage worth memorizing is I Corinthians 13. It is wonderful to recite to yourself these passages about love. Read them in different translations. Once while a guest in someone’s home I was asked to share for morning worship with them. I had my Greek New Testament with me so I just read to them a literal translation of I Corinthians 13 and we were all blessed. It is one of the most important chapters for a Christian to understand. Paul spells out 15 different characteristics of love, all of which should be manifest in the life of each Christian.

The Ten Commandments – These should be memorized with an understanding of every word. It is also beneficial to know where all 10 of them are repeated in the New Testament. Interestingly, each time they are mentioned they are repeated as a divine obligation. Someday we might have to answer to that in a court of justice.

The Three Angels’ Messages – These messages are the very reason that Seventh-day Adventists exist. It is these three final messages that have to be sounded to the world before the Lord can return. They contain God’s last invitation of mercy to a planet that is in rebellion. And as we approach the end of the world, the eternal destiny of every single person in the world will be determined by whether that person accepts or rejects the warnings therein.

Have you carefully noticed the final instructions that Jesus gave to His disciples before the crucifixion? This instruction is so important, so precious and so wonderfully recorded in John chapters 13 to 17 that it would do well to commit to memory. If you are feeling a little weak-minded at the length of the passage just remember that the Waldensian young people would memorize the whole gospels of Matthew and John.

John 17 is one of the clearest chapters in the whole Bible that describes the mediatorial work of Christ in our behalf in heaven. Here we get a preview of what He was going to do after His resurrection.

Make sure your life is in harmony with the divine commands given to Christians in 2 Corinthians 6:14 to 2 Corinthians 7:1. In a sermon recorded in Romans 12, Paul describes 40 different characteristics that identify Christian living. He also elaborates the practices that, if continued, will bar you from the kingdom of God. These can be found in I Corinthians 6:9, 10; Ephesians 5:3–6; Colossians 3:5, 6; Romans 1:28–32; Romans 2:8, 9 and Galatians 5:19–21.

Peter’s Ladder – 2 Peter 1:3–7 describes the Christian growth in the form of a ladder.

The disciple described as the one whom Jesus loved teaches the way to develop the grace of brotherly love in I John 2:2–5.

And finally, James admonishes in James 3 the importance of getting control of the littlest member of the body that often gets us in so much trouble. Whoever can control his tongue will be able to overcome other character defects. There will be a group of people who will overcome and be like those described in these scriptures. The Lord has promised to have a group of people at the end who are without fault before the throne of God. John said it in Revelation 14:5. Paul talked about it in Ephesians 5. Jesus talked about it and all the apostles talked about it and we are living in the time when it is going to happen. The question is, Am I going to be part of it?

Toward the end of James’ book, after he had given much instruction for being ready for judgment, he says to the people, especially for those who live in the last days: “… the Judge is standing at the door” (James 5:9)!

Dear friends, Jesus came to this world to save you, to save every member of the human race who is willing to be saved. He came to this world the first time as a Saviour and not a judge. But let me tell you something. When He comes the second time, He is not coming as a Saviour; He is coming as a judge. All cases will have been decided before He leaves the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary. You will already have been saved or you will never be saved. There is no second chance. That time is rapidly approaching.

Before the door of mercy shuts, it would be well for us to say, “Lord, I am serious. I am going to pray every day. I am going to study Your word every day. I am going to seek to bring my life into harmony with what I read in Your Book. I am going to make an unreserved commitment. Lord, I want to receive the Holy Spirit so that I can have victory in my life.”

He is calling to us today, pleading with us to return into His fold where there is safety. The Lord never fails to do His part when we approach Him in sincerity and repentance.

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New King James Version.)

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church of Free Seventh-day Adventists in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

Sermon on the Mount Series – Mercy Triumphs

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The Bible makes it abundantly clear that a time is coming when the world will be judged and the mercy that has been offered for many centuries will no longer be available.

In Matthew 5 is described a ladder of spiritual progression that will lead a person to the kingdom of heaven. Jesus said in verse 7, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” Another translation puts it like this: “Blessed are the compassionate, for they shall receive compassion.” Of all the beatitudes, this one on the fifth wrung of the ladder, is the one that causes us to search our hearts and examine ourselves. How many times have I said too much and made cutting criticisms of someone? How many times have I passed prejudiced judgments before having all the facts? Have my impetuous words resulted in wounding somebody else? When we really think about how we may have affected others, the prayer of the publican in the synagogue seems very appropriate. He said in Luke 18:13, “O God, be merciful to me a sinner!”

It is impossible for us to be merciful unless we have first experienced the other steps in our spiritual growth. It is impossible to be compassionate in our dealings with others until we have a recognition of our own spiritual destitution, mourned over our past sins and become meek and humble in heart, hungering and thirsting for a righteousness outside of self which we cannot generate. When we have had that experience, then we will be compassionate and merciful to others who may be stumbling and making similar mistakes.

Those who are spiritually blind have no understanding of their own condition and as a result tend to become more unforgiving and more unmerciful to those they are dealing with day-to-day. The Pharisees in Jesus’ time were a prime example. They were destitute of mercy and sympathy because of their proud spirit. Remember, Jesus began His sermon with the declaration, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3).

Having never been humbled in themselves by a recognition of their own spiritual poverty, the Pharisees looked with contempt and disdain upon the weaknesses of others. They believed that they were perfect, as you can read in the Pharisee’s prayer in Luke 18, and were harsh and even cruel in dealing with the imperfections of others. This harsh, cruel spirit is sure evidence of and an absolute guarantee that that person has a carnal and fleshly mind, an unregenerate heart, and has never been converted.

This spirit is characteristic of people who have not been born again, for the spirit of Phariseeism is not something foreign to us; it is the natural spirit of human nature. In fact, this same spirit controls everyone who has not been made a new creature and been made a partaker of the divine nature. In 2 Peter 1:3, 4, we are reminded that we have been given promises, “… exceedingly great and precious promises …” so that we might be partakers of the divine nature.

If we are unconverted, if we have the spirit that the Pharisees had in the days of Christ, then we will tend to erect human standards based on our own ideas and attainments. We will become the standard of morality and subsequently judge all who fail to come up to the standard that we have made. This spirit creates an atmosphere of selfish and narrow criticism and causes men to become self-centered judges and petty spies.

If we are unmerciful, then we cannot obtain mercy ourselves. Jesus said, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” In this beatitude, there is restated by Jesus, not something new, but an old truth, an eternal and unchanging law that is everywhere and always operative in nature and in human society. It has been called the self-acting law of retribution, or putting it into simple language, “We get what we give.” What we give to others eventually comes back in full measure to us. Jesus stated this truth to Peter on the night of His betrayal. “Then Jesus said to him, ‘Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish with the sword’ ” (Matthew 26:52, literal translation).

If you deal the sword to others, you are going to receive the sword from others. How accurately this has been fulfilled in history. The great kingdoms of the past have perished by the very weapons they used against others. Those who showed no mercy, received no mercy. The Bible talks about this principle in the book of Proverbs: “A man who has friends must himself be friendly. But there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24).

If I am friendly to others, I will have friends in return. But if I give out enmity to others, I will receive enmity in return. Friendship bestowed upon others brings a reward in friendship. But if I deal out captivity, the sword, death to others, the same will return to myself. It’s restated again in Revelation 13:10: “He who leads into captivity; shall go into captivity, he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.”

Concerning the liberal person, the person who has a giving spirit, Proverbs 11:25 KJV tells us: “The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.” As Jesus said, even if you only give a cup of cold water to someone, you are not going to lose a reward. What you give to somebody else will eventually come back to you.

The penurious, the stingy person, is going to eventually receive in the same measure that they give. Jesus stated this principle even further: “Give, and it will be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you” (Luke 6:38, literal translation).

A natural, self-operating law is that the same measure that you give out will be measured back to you, even in this life; it the law by which God will measure the reward that He will give to His servants. “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work” (Revelation 22:12).

When Jesus was here on earth, He stated in Matthew 16:27 that you are going to be rewarded according to whatever you do in this life, whether good or bad. The apostle Paul also stated the same thing in 2 Corinthians 5:10. What we give out, will be received by us again.

Jesus further developed the principles of this 5th beatitude, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy,” in Matthew 7. This verse of Scripture has been called the golden rule and it is the greatest of all codes of ethics and the basic principle of all true courtesy and genuine culture. Matthew 7:12 states, “Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” This is another way of saying that what we give to others will be given back to us. If we are merciful to others, we will receive mercy. If we retaliate, we will receive retaliation. If we are unjust with others, we will receive injustice ourselves. If we impart evil to others, that evil will return to us again.

Jesus said in Luke 6:38, last part, “For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” The same measure that you give out will be given back to you again. In Matthew 7:1, 2, this golden rule was also stated in the negative: “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”

To be merciful is to show a person compassion, forgiveness, and forbearance. The merciful person does not nurse grudges. He does not brood over wrongs or show a revengeful spirit. He does not go about with a microscope hunting to find the mistake or the flaw in somebody else’s character when he knows he has flaws in his own character. If we render judgment before evidence, then we can be sure that we will receive the same kind of judgment in return. In fact, prejudice is simply an abbreviated form for pre-judgment. Pre-judgment is the result of prejudice. That this instruction regarding judgment might be further unfolded, in the principles of this beatitude, is evident when we read from Luke 6:36, 37: “Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.”

Mercy includes having a spirit of forgiveness. In fact, this is so important that Jesus said if we do not forgive others who have trespassed against us, then our heavenly Father will not forgive us. Matthew 6:14, 15 says, “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

If I want to receive the mercy and forgiveness of God, then whether I will receive it or not is determined by whether I have the same spirit toward those who have injured me or done something against me. This law of reciprocity is stated in different ways in several places in the Bible. Romans 2:1–3 says, “Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God?”

Paul says that if you’re passing judgment on others, do you think that you will escape being judged yourself? Will you escape the judgment of God yourself? So, what we give to others is what we will receive. Jesus illustrated this in a very striking parable that is hard for many people to read and accept.

Jesus instructed His disciples how to deal with a sinning brother. In Matthew 18:15–20, He said, “Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector. Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”

Here He gave them explicit instructions about how they were to deal with someone who was sinning against them. They were not to go and talk to the neighbors or any third party about it but go directly to the person who had sinned against them. If after following the prescribed method the person still refused to be corrected, he or she was to be left alone outside to live as they pleased. As Peter listening to this instruction, he thought, how often should I do this? If my brother sins against me, how many times should I forgive him?

The Jewish leaders in those days had some rules about how many times you needed to forgive somebody. Some thought that three times was plenty. Peter thought that he would be very liberal and very forgiving in spirit and he said this to the Lord: “Then Peter came to Him and said, ‘Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times’ ” (Matthew 18:21)? Surely, if my brother hasn’t reformed and quit His sinning against me by the time he’s done it seven times, that should be enough. I shouldn’t forgive him anymore, should I?

In response to Peter’s request, should I forgive my brother seven times before I decide he’s gone too far and reached the limit, Jesus said in Matthew 18:22–24: “… I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.” Jesus doesn’t say whether it was talents of silver or talents of gold. Either way, even if it was just 10,000 talents of silver, it would be worth many millions of dollars, today.

This person did not have enough to pay. It says in verses 25, 26, “But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold,” that is, sold into slavery “with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ ” The master knew that there was no possible way he was ever going to be able to pay that big a debt, even though he promised that he would if only his master would have patience with him.

It says, in verses 27–30: “Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt. But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii (equivalent to just a few dollars); and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’ So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ And he would not, but went and threw him into prison.”

This man was thrown into debtor’s prison because he couldn’t pay the debt. “So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done. Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses” (verses 31–35).

Those who do not forgive others cannot be forgiven by God. A good question to ask yourself is, How much have I been forgiven? The Bible is very clear. As a result of my sins, Jesus Christ went to the cross of Calvary. That was the price to pay, to cancel, my debt and your debt of sin.

That was the price that we cannot pay. The only way that you could pay it since the wages of sin is death, is if you were to die eternally and never wake up. But to make it possible for you to enter the gates of paradise, Jesus Christ went to the cross of Calvary to forgive you the debt, to pay the price in your behalf.

After He has done that, if I will not forgive, if I will not exercise mercy upon my fellow servant, then Jesus said, your heavenly Father will not have mercy upon you, either. The Bible’s very clear that the Lord is very merciful, even to His enemies. You can read in Micah 7:18 that He delights in mercy. In James 5:11 it says that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy.

O friend, if you and I want to be forgiven, we must become merciful people ourselves, because the Bible says in James 2:13, that “… judgment will be without mercy upon him who has shown no mercy.”

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New King James Version.)

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church of Free Seventh-day Adventists in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

Made Perfect in Weakness

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I was sitting with a gentleman who had traveled a good many miles to spend a little time in counsel and study. He was a new Christian and had just a few weeks previous heard the Seventh-day Adventist message; so he had a number of questions to ask. He was burdened about the healing of someone connected with the group he had been with that had cancer and he was anxious to have him healed. It was apparent from his questions that he thought that according to the Scripture if a man had enough faith that there would certainly be no question about the healing. So together we opened the word of God and began to look at some things.

First we looked at 2 Timothy 4:20. This is an interesting question: If we have enough faith, will we and the people we pray for be healed and if not, does it prove that we or the individual prayed for lacks faith? Here Paul is writing from Rome to Timothy, his dearly beloved son in the ministry. “Erastus (one of Paul’s helpers) abode in Corinth: Trophimus (another fellow minister) have I left in Miletus sick.” I asked my new friend, Why did Paul, who had healed many people, go off and leave Trophimus sick in Miletus? The Bible does not say, but the point is that Paul certainly had faith enough to heal hundreds perhaps thousands of people but somehow Trophimus was not healed.

In 1 Timothy 5:23 is an earlier letter Paul wrote to Timothy apparently dealing with some sick spells that Timothy suffered from time to time. He did not tell Timothy that he needed to pray more or have more faith but gives him some practical suggestions. “Drink no longer water, but use a little wine” that is, pure grape juice, “for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities.” This was not just once that Timothy felt bad, under the weather as we would say, but it happened every now and then. Paul said, Timothy, you need something more than water; get some grape juice when you feel like this for your often infirmities.

My new friend began to see some things in the Bible that he had not seen before. We considered the experience of the apostle Paul himself. In the earlier part of 2 Corinthians 12, Paul describes some of the wonderful visions that the Lord gave him of the glorious things in heaven. But in the 7th through 10th verses he describes the program that God allowed him to be on so that he would not get exalted about what he had seen. “Lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.” Notice, He did not say Paul, the matter with you is that you don’t have enough faith; you haven’t prayed enough. No!

The apostle Paul, one of the greatest men of faith, perhaps, in all the sacred Scripture history, was not only able to heal hundreds of people and win thousands to Christ, but we read that he, himself, had to put up with infirmities. After he prayed so earnestly about it, finally the Lord said, Paul, that’s enough! God was more anxious to save Paul than He was to heal him. Apparently, God saw that if Paul was too full of zip and energy and had these wonderful revelations and felt good every day he might get exalted. It was exultation that caused Lucifer’s fall, but do not misunderstand—a person who is exalted does not have to fall. Lucifer did not have to fall. Because of the abundance of the revelation Paul was given from God, it was safer for his salvation that the thorn in Paul’s flesh remain there. He said that it was going to hurt you every now and then, but never mind, I’ve got it all taken care of. “My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”

With this new information my friend said he did not know how to put it all together. He asked, “What thermometer is there for measuring faith? The man had in his mind that the more faith a person had, the more answers to prayer there would be and if they prayed for people and they got well, it would prove they had a lot of faith and if they did not get well, the faith thermometer would show that the temperature was not very high. I suggested that my friend was actually thinking about hope. Hope and faith are not the same thing at all. I can hope for a lot of things, but one must understand what faith is. Romans 10:17 tells how faith comes, what it is based on: “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

The word faith is sometimes used in a rather loose way. We may speak of a man buying some stocks on the stock exchange and say that he has faith in that company. I would say that he had hope in it, and faith after a fashion, but when the Bible talks about faith, it is not talking about believing in something; it is believing that what God has promised will come to pass. That is faith.

Now I can hope for all kinds of things, but I can only have faith when the thing that I ask for and expect is what God has promised. My friend began to understand and began to help me finish the little study I was sharing with him. His mind was led to the Savior’s prayer in Gethsemane when three times Jesus prayed that the cup might pass, but each time he added, “Nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt” (Luke 22:42, literal translation). Certainly Jesus did not lack faith. In fact, He exhibited the highest expression of faith. Can you think of any greater expression of faith? Jesus was there in the garden, faced with that awful agony and longing to be relieved from it and hoping that He might be. Yet His faith said, Father, I know that You will do the thing that is best; so not what I ask, but what You will be done. He had taken our humanity and in our human flesh He was crying out. Only the burden that He carried was infinitely heavier than ours.

There is wonderful encouragement as you meditate on that promise to Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:8: “For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.” Most everyone has pleaded with God for relief from a problem or concern, maybe physical, or mental concern, or some spiritual struggle. Paul had that experience and “He [God] said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness” (verse 9). He did not honor the apostle’s faith by taking away the thing that Paul longed to get rid of, but He gave him the grace to bear it and to go ahead and accomplish something for God with that thorn in the flesh afflicting him.

My heart thrills that I can bring you this wonderful fact: that you do not have to wait until you get your problems solved to come to God. You do not have to wait until God removes all the difficulties from your life before you step out to do something for Him. The glorious good news of the gospel is this: No matter what situation you are in, no matter how many problems surround you, no matter how many weaknesses and infirmities you have, God has a way to use you right where you are with all the difficulties and problems that beset and upset you. God has a way to do it. His grace is indeed sufficient for you.

There are people who have been praying a lot longer than Paul prayed for something to be removed from their life so they could do something, but Jesus said, My grace is sufficient for you: for My strength is made perfect in your weakness. Do you have weakness to deal with? Well, He has got the strength to go with it! Which is bigger, your weakness or His strength? Our infinite God has infinite power, infinite might and infinite strength. If you were ten times as weak as you are, He could still handle the matter. Oh, you may say, I wish that He would do it so that I would just feel strong, but Paul said, “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

Dear friends, it would be far better to have God work through a weak man than to be strong and God not have so much chance to work. Some may say, But can God not work through a strong man? Yes, He could if they would let Him. But remember Samson, the strongest man that ever lived. God had him born for that very job and he was given strength for that job, but God had a very hard time with Samson. I believe the reason God had this story recorded was so that you and I could understand that being strong is not always the answer; it has its problem. It is so easy for a strong man, whether it is strong in muscle or strong in any other way, to depend upon that strength instead of the power of God. There have been plenty of weak men who have accomplished far more than Samson ever did.

Think of Solomon’s uniqueness. He was the wisest man that ever lived, but do you know of anybody that ever did any more foolish things than he did? What was his problem? Solomon got to the place where he depended on his own wisdom instead of the Source of his wisdom. He had the right answer so many times that he got to the place where he thought he always had the right answer.

Some of us thank the Lord that we get the wrong answer often enough to humble us. If that is what it takes, so be it. I so wish that God could trust a lot of us with much more power and strength and wisdom than we had ever thought of having. He would like to, for God takes no pleasure in our sickness, our infirmities, these thorns in the flesh. He would like to deliver all of us from ulcers, cancers, high blood pressure, nervous breakdowns, and all the rest of our infirmities. He would like to lift us out of every trial and difficulty. When we weep, He weeps. But listen, He is taking the long view; He wants to save us and He would rather that we have some problems now that help us to feel our need of Him and stay close to Him and be saved at last than miss that fellowship throughout all eternity.

“He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” And if that means hobbling along with one lung, it is all right. It is better to go to heaven with one lung than to miss it with two. It is better to be used in God’s work with one leg or even no legs at all, one hand or no hands at all; it is better to be used in God’s work, to spend our time and energy working for the world which will come to an end with all kinds of handicaps than it is to be strong and healthy and full of vigor and do nothing.

Why, think of Ellen G. White, the young woman called at 17 to be God’s messenger to the remnant and to the world. This was God’s channel through which these wonderful revelations for the last generation were to be given, and whom does He pick out? The weakest of the weak. There were others that were called before her. They were educated, they were strong, they had the things that she lacked, but she had what they lacked. God chose to use her weakness because He could not get full opportunity to use their strength and wisdom. Finally, when the Lord kept pressing her on accepting this call, young Ellen prayed, Oh Lord, I know there are others that You have used and they have been exalted and lost their way. Oh Lord, if this is what you want me to do, will you please keep me from being exalted? God heard her prayer and He said, Your prayer is heard and it will be done, and if you are in danger of being exalted, trials and things will come that will humble you.

Look at her life. From Portland, Maine, to St. Helena, California, from 1844 to her call unto 1915, her final call, her call to rest, is one long series of difficulties and problems. Think of the diseases that she suffered, her experience with tuberculosis, cancer, heart trouble, neuritis and all kinds of afflictions. Think of her sorrow and bereavement, losing her little baby in her arms, losing her teenage oldest son, Henry, a beautiful singer at the age of 16. Think of her husband, cut down in the prime of life, leaving her to struggle on through many years. Nevertheless, God always sustained her. Think of the many problems she had with those that should have appreciated her message and instead circulated lies about her, or what was sometimes even more frustrating, to see those she was instructed to help simply have read the messages and put them aside, doing nothing about it. Problem after problem!

Think of the financial burden in New England and New York as a young wife with her husband, when it was hard to know just how to get enough food to keep them living from day to day, as they were struggling to get the publishing work started and to preach the message. Abundance of revelations, yes. Abundance of afflictions, yes. Some people would rather have fewer revelations and fewer trials and some people are content to have no trials and no revelations. But thank God, the apostle Paul, called by the Master Himself, got the view and He was willing to accept God’s program. He was willing to let God use what he had regardless of what it cost him. He did not wait until he got strong but allowed God to use his weakness. More was accomplished by him than ten strong men could have done.

What are you struggling with? Whatever it is, it is your privilege to pray as Paul did, Lord, please remove this. God may do it; He does sometimes. God answers prayer. “Sometimes when hearts are weak, He gives the very gift believers seek; but often faith must learn a deeper rest, and trust God’s silence when He does not speak.” Myra G. Plantz, (1856–1914).

Oh, let me tell you, friends, if short division is learning to get answers to your prayers so that you see the answers, long division is learning to pray when the answers are not apparent, while still maintaining your faith. If kindergarten is praying and things happen just like that, real school is getting down to the practical business of letting God use your weakness to magnify His strength. “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong” (2 Corinthians 12:9, 10). [Emphasis added.] What a paradox! Let us be willing for God to use us, all there is of us.

If you have a problem, whatever it is – whether tobacco or liquor or any other problem concerning some physical craving, perhaps it’s overeating, what is your prayer? Do you pray, oh Lord, deliver me from this craving and I’ll never fall again? There is nothing wrong with asking God to remove the craving for any of these things, but we must always pray, nevertheless, not as I will but as You will. Remember, there is one thing that we can know is always God’s will, and that is for you to have victory. There is no question about that. Can you furnish the weakness? Well, let God furnish the strength. Put Him to the test, His strength is made perfect in weakness.

A man may come face to face with God’s message for today and see that the seventh day is the Sabbath and that God’s true creation Sabbath is the seal of the living God. He sees that it is a great issue in this last generation but asks, What can I do? I have got to make a living; I have got to support my family and the job that I have requires me to work at least part of the time during the 24 hours from Friday sundown till Saturday sundown. What can I do? He may pray and get his family to pray and he may get others to pray, Lord, open the way so I can keep your commandment. This is a good prayer. He steps out in faith and obeys his conviction and says, “Dear Lord, I’m going to obey You whether I know how it will work out or not.”

Another man’s problem is losing his temper. Every now and then he tells his family off, he scolds his children and talks mean to his wife. He feels sorry about it and gets down on his knees and prays, “Oh Lord, help me; I wish You would take that angry temper out of me so that I would never feel mad again and always feel like a meek lamb for this is what I want.” He means it and God hears his prayer but the way God answers may not be to fix him up so that he never feels anything but a lamb. The book of Romans teaches that it is possible for the righteousness of the law to be fulfilled in us even though the flesh is clamoring against the spirit (Romans 8:4). Thank God the Spirit can rule in our lives if we allow it to. There are many people with angry tempers, but believe this wonderful promise of God that you do not have to act like you feel. You do not have to say everything that you feel like saying. There is victory in Jesus Christ. It is not necessarily the victory of a calm summer evening with everything peaceful and feeling that this is wonderful and I wouldn’t want to hurt anybody. No, but the victory comes in knowing that we don’t have to act like we feel, that we can talk about Jesus and His love. Victory is, if necessary, to close our lips through faith in God and say nothing rather than dishonor our Redeemer.

Whatever your problem, whether it be physical, mental or spiritual, pray anything you want and ask God for any method of deliverance, but remember to ask as did Jesus, Nevertheless, not as I will but as Thou wilt. I wish I didn’t have to drink the cup but if that is the way then I’ll drink it. I wish I could feel strong, but if it is necessary for me to feel weak lest I be exalted above measure, Lord, I’ll carry that thorn in the flesh, I’ll let Your strength be made perfect in weakness. And if I can’t be as strong as Samson, if I’m as weak as Ellen Harmon was back there in Portland, Maine, in 1844, I say, here I am Lord; use whatever you can of me and I’ll let Your name and Your throne get the glory.

Step out in faith today and do what God says no matter how you feel, and if you believe God will give you the strength, you will find victory. Jesus is our wonderful Savior; He will carry you through.

Elder W.D. Frazee studied the Medical Missionary Course at the College of Medical Evangelists in Loma Linda, California. He was called to Utah as a gospel medical evangelist. During the Great Depression, when the church could not afford to hire any assistants, Elder Frazee began inviting professionals to join him as volunteers. This began a faith ministry that would become the foundation for the establishment of the Wildwood Medical Missionary Institute in 1942. He believed that each person is unique, specially designed by the Lord, of infinite value, and has a special place and mission in this world which only he can fill. His life followed this principle and he encouraged others to do the same.

Sermon on the Mount Series – The Peacemakers

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We live in a world of troublemakers. And not only that, but the nations of our world glorify their fighters, and the makers of war receive from their countries honor and praise. But who is the prince of strife? Who really is the author of war and what is it that blocks the way to peace?

In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, found in Matthew 5, it reads: “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God” (verse 9 KJV). Every step up the spiritual ladder described in this sermon lifts the believer up to a loftier realm of spiritual blessedness. The highway of holiness is a pathway of continually increasing joy and peace. In the Old Testament it is spoken of this way: “But the path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day” (Proverbs 4:18). Jesus shows what can happen to the person who at first was poor in spirit; that is, they realized their spiritual poverty and mourned over their spiritual condition. Seeing the gentleness and meekness of Christ they began to hunger and thirst after righteousness, and became merciful, and then became pure in heart.

The next step is to become a peacemaker. The previous six steps (see previous 2016 issues of LandMarks) that were reviewed were about the condition of character, being poor in spirit, recognizing your spiritual poverty, mourning over your spiritual condition, being meek, or gentle, or humble, hungering and thirsting after righteousness, being merciful in heart, and being pure in heart. However, this beatitude is one where Jesus pronounces a blessing upon good works. It is a spiritual experience that is produced by the first six steps that then qualify us for missionary work as peacemakers among our friends and neighbors.

How utterly different, how utterly contrary are these beatitudes that we have been studying from the maxims, the philosophy of the world in which we live. Since the entrance of sin into our world, when Adam and Eve, our first parents, fell, the worldly benedictions and blessings have been given to those that are warlike, to those who are good soldiers, good fighters. In fact, human history is composed largely of biographies of warriors who are eulogized and spoken of highly. So in this world, the makers of war, and not the makers of peace, have received the blessings and praise from the country in which they live. It has been this way for thousands of years. From a worldly point of view, the blessings do not go to the peacemakers, but to the peace breakers, the troublemakers, the makers of strife and those that foment war. The nations of the earth have almost deified and glorified its warriors and their fights.

Often times, the lovers and makers of peace have been held in derision. They are considered weaklings or cowards and if they strive to promote peace, they are sometimes considered disloyal or even treasonous to their country. But, the world today is ruled largely, not by Christ, but by antichrist. The principle intelligence that stands in the place of Christ is the devil himself. He has agents, of course, human agents, but he is the prince of strife. He is called in the Bible by the apostle Paul the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4). He is the prince of strife and he is the world’s great troublemaker and war lord. He is the author of war.

Satan has made war his chief occupation since his fall. He is the one that is constantly attempting to stir up the nations of the world to engage in war. There has been a war of one kind or another almost constantly in the world since World War II. Satan is the one that sowed the seeds of discord that broke up the peace and harmony that formerly existed in the universe. His very religion is termed by God “Babylon the great,” or confusion the great (Revelation 17:5). His children are all peace-breakers and fomenters of strife. There can be no peace, of course, where there is sin. The Bible is very clear about this. In Isaiah 57:21 it says, “ ‘There is no peace,’ says my God, ‘for the wicked.’ ”

No matter how much we negotiate and no matter how much we try to create peace, as long as there is sin, there will be none. Governments make agreements and think they have made peace and even at times have signed documents, then right away there are preparations for war. Isaiah 48:22 says, “ ‘There is no peace,’ says the Lord, ‘for the wicked.’ ” Why is there no peace? It is because of sin, for sinners cannot truly be peacemakers.

Notice the characteristic of a sinner, a person who has not been converted by the gospel, recorded by the apostle Paul. It says, “The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:19–21 NIV).

So, as long as there is sin there will be strife. There will be outbursts of war. There will not be peace. In James 3:17, it says, “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.” However, in the verse before that James says, “For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there” (verse 16).

He goes on to say in James 4, verses 1 and 2, that wars and fightings among us are the result of the lusts and sinful cravings that are in our members. Satan is the prince of strife and the author of all war, and as long as there is sin, of which he is the first sinner, there will be strife and war. But on the other hand, Jesus is called in Isaiah 9:6, the Prince of Peace. He is the great Mediator between those who have been alienated. In I Timothy 2:5 He is called the “… one Mediator between God and man” (literal translation). Jesus is the great peacemaker to bring about reconciliation to those who have been at war with God and man.

Paul said in Ephesians 2:14, “He is our peace, Who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of partition between us” (literal translation). Christ alone is the only One that can break down the barriers – in the home, in society, and among the nations. Where Jesus rules there is peace, whether it be in the kingdom of glory or in the kingdom of grace, whether it be in heaven above or in the human heart. Concerning the peace that He will bring, the Bible says it will become greater and greater.

In Isaiah chapter 9, verses 6 and 7, it says, “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end.” So, where Jesus rules, there is peace. This promise includes His rule in the individual heart as well as His rule over the nations. Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.” Do you know, understand, what qualification a person has to have before he can even start to be a peacemaker?

The preeminent qualification for a person to be a peacemaker is first of all to have peace himself in his own mind and heart. How can you help somebody else experience something you do not know? Jesus Christ was the supreme peacemaker because He possessed perfect peace inside. “And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin” (I John 3:5). Because He knew no sin, had no sin, He had perfect peace. He therefore knew no strife and was able to say, “The prince of this world (Satan) comes and has nothing in Me” (John 14:30, literal translation). Because Jesus was in perfect harmony with God, He was also at peace with man. It was for this reason that He was able to love and bless His enemies. He knew His identity—Son of God—and was never fretful or irritated. In fact, nothing ever disturbed His peace.

Jesus promised, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God,” Actually, nobody but a son of God can be called a peacemaker. The supreme essential to becoming a peacemaker is to become Christ-like. If we enthrone Jesus Christ in our heart, then we will have, as Paul says in Romans 5:1, peace with God, and then we will have a peace that can never be explained.

Notice how the apostle Paul described it in Philippians 4, verses 6 and 7. It says, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ.” Notice, this peace cannot be explained. You will then have the wisdom that comes down from above, as James described it, that is first pure and then peaceable (James 3:17).

The fruits of righteousness are not our own product, but they are the fruit of the spirit. The fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, and peace (Galatians 5:22, first part).

Never has there been a time in world history when we needed peace more than we need it today. But peace does not come all by itself. There is something that must be done in order to achieve it. It is hard enough to keep the peace, and still more difficult to bring peace where it is not. But friend, that is the very work of the children of God. They are to bring forth the peaceable fruits of righteousness. This is a very delicate task, often requiring divine tact, skill, and patience.

Human beings, by themselves, can never manufacture peace. We can never get it by negotiations, because human plans for peace do not change hearts, and it is from the heart of man where the trouble comes. The Bible is very clear on this. The heart of the sinner is like a troubled sea when it cannot rest (Isaiah 57:20). So, a man-made peace between individuals is no more permanent than a peace between nations. When nations become angry, their peace treaties are no more binding than pieces of paper. Only the grace of Christ can create and perpetuate peace. When this is implanted in the heart, then the evil passions that produce strife and dissention are cast out.

Our peace is destroyed by disobedience, disobedience to human law and especially disobedience to divine law. If people could understand this, they could get a completely different view of the ten commandments. Isaiah 48:18 says, “Oh, that you had heeded My commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river.”

The steps represented in the first six beatitudes are the price we must pay to become peacemakers. It takes these experiences in the development of character to qualify us to bring peace to others. First of all, the peace of God must come into our own hearts. Then we will no longer break it by being whisperers, backbiters, busybodies, or news carriers. Instead of that, the fruits of the Spirit will become manifest in our life. The first four fruits of the Holy Spirit are love, joy, peace, and longsuffering. The reward for being a peacemaker is the highest of all privileges. Jesus said that those people will be called the children of God. They are so named because they are like the Son of God, the ultimate Peacemaker. They have become like their Saviour in life and character. They also become princes of peace and they carry on the work of peacemaking that the Prince of Peace began.

This is what the Christian life is supposed to be about. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, Who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:17–20).

You see, you must be reconciled to God before you can experience the peace inside that passes all understanding. Only then can you help somebody else to find it. Peacemaking was described here by Jesus as the price of sonship. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God.”

Jesus was the great Peacemaker and concerning Him, His Father said, “This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 17:5). And the Father is also well-pleased with those who, becoming His sons through the new birth, act as did His only begotten Son, their elder brother. When we become peacemakers, we then are called by Jesus sons, the children of God. This places us in the kingdom of heaven and places the kingdom of heaven in us. It makes us, as the Bible says, “meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light” (Colossians 1:12 KJV).

The blessedness of this experience of being a peacemaker has been beautifully described by a number of Christian writers. Here is what one said about it. “By the life we live through the grace of Christ, the character is formed. The original loveliness begins to be restored to the soul. The attributes of the character of Christ are imparted and the image of the Divine begins to shine forth. The faces of men and women who walk and work with God express the peace of heaven. They are surrounded with the atmosphere of heaven. For these souls, the kingdom of God has begun.” The Adventist Home, 535. As through Jesus we enter into rest, heaven begins here. We respond to His invitation, “Come, learn of Me.” The more we know of God, the more intense will be our happiness. As we walk with Jesus in this life, we may be filled with His love, satisfied with His presence. All that human nature can bear, we may receive here. However, this is nothing to be compared with what will be given to the saints of God in the hereafter.

O, friend, would you like to break connection with the prince of strife and the author of war and become connected with the Prince of Peace? Would you like to be a child of God truly, not just by profession? If you are truly going to be considered in heaven a child of God, you must take the seventh step. You must become a peacemaker. Jesus said, “Come unto Me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28–30).

When you accept that yoke, then you will receive the blessing that comes to the peacemaker.

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New King James Version.)

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church of Free Seventh-day Adventists in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

Keys to the Storehouse – Insight – Contradictions

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Upon coming up out of the water, Jesus bowed in prayer on the river bank. A new and important era was opening before Him. He was now, upon a wider stage, entering on the conflict of His life. Though He was the Prince of Peace, His coming must be as the unsheathing of a sword. The kingdom He had come to establish was the opposite of that which the Jews desired.

THE CONTRADICTIONS OF HIS LIFE
He Who was the foundation of the ritual and economy of Israel would be looked upon as its enemy and destroyer.
He Who had proclaimed the law upon Sinai would be condemned as a transgressor.
He Who had come to break the power of Satan would be denounced as Beelzebub.
No one upon earth had understood Him, and during His ministry He must still walk alone.
Throughout His life His mother and His brothers did not comprehend His mission. Even His disciples did not understand Him. He had dwelt in eternal light, as one with God, but His life on earth must be spent in solitude.
As one with us, He must bear the burden of our guilt and woe.
The Sinless One must feel the shame of sin.
The peace lover must dwell with strife,
The truth must abide with falsehood,
Purity must abide with vileness.
Every sin, every discord, every defiling lust that transgression had brought, was torture to His spirit.
Alone He must tread the path;
alone He must bear the burden.
Upon Him Who had laid off His glory and accepted the weakness of humanity the redemption of the world must rest. He saw and felt it all, but His purpose remained steadfast.
Upon His arm depended the salvation of the fallen race, and He reached out His hand to grasp the hand of Omnipotent Love.

Father: Thank you for the gift of Jesus. Thank you Jesus for the gift of life and for what You endured for me and for Your mediation in the Most Holy Place right now. By Your grace I choose to let go of this world and to follow Thee. Amen.

Gethsemane

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Because of our sinful human nature, we often find it difficult to understand what the Godhead has experienced to make possible our salvation. We need to pray that the Holy Spirit may guide us to comprehend the breadth, the length, the depth and the height of the love of God which passes knowledge, enabling us to taste the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:18).

Let us begin by refreshing our minds with a familiar text found in Matthew 16:24: “… Jesus said unto His disciples, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” May these words of Christ lead us into a deeper meaning of what is expected of each of us.

I invite you to come with me and join our Lord with His disciples as they walked through the streets of old Jerusalem on their way to the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus has just instituted the Lord’s Supper in the upper room and as we join with them, we notice that Christ is continuing to teach these profound truths. He explains that the blood that He is about to shed for everyone is to be remembered by the juice of the vine, and the bread is to represent His broken body.

As we near the eastern gate of the city He sums these eternal truths with the words, “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35). With His disciples our hearts thrill within us to hear these living words from the lips of the Master. Shining above us is the Passover moon in all its fullness. The sky is cloudless and around us in every nook and cranny are the pilgrim’s tents, now hushed in silence as we pass through Jerusalem’s gate. We and the disciples soon discover that prophetic time is running out, for something tremendous is about to happen.

Arriving at the entrance to the garden, Christ suddenly becomes strangely silent. He has been here many times to pray, sometimes all night long, but this time we notice something is different. Jesus is beginning to experience an unheard-of agony. Why? What has happened? Up to this moment He has continually walked with God His Father. He could always say, “He that sent Me is with Me: the Father hath not left Me alone” (John 8:29). But now something strange is taking place. God His Father is beginning to separate Himself from His son. Christ is being numbered with the transgressors. He is to bear the guilt of all humanity. Jesus, Who had never sinned, is to bear the guilt of all. He is to bear the weight of the sins of all the world.

As these sins are being placed upon Jesus, He finds Himself being shut out from the presence of His Father. As a man, He is now beginning to experience the dreadfulness of sin. He now sees and feels that these sins that He is now bearing are so great that they are completely separating Him from His Father. Furthermore, as He feels the wrath of God against these sins, His human nature is forced to cry out aloud, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death” (Matthew 26:38).

The disciples are amazed to hear such words from the Master. They look at Him and behold a marked change. His face has always been filled with joy, but now it is filled with sadness. The teaching Christ has suddenly become the silent Christ. We notice that each step He takes has become difficult. His body sways as if to fall and He groans aloud because of the sins of the world which are being thrust upon Him. Twice His disciples reach out to support Him or He would have fallen to the ground.

Finally, we reach the inner garden. Here Jesus stops to choose three of His closest disciples, Peter, James and John. He especially chooses these because they had witnessed His transfiguration. As a man now in such a terrifying position, Jesus longs for friendship and for help. These disciples had seen the glory that He had shared with His Father. They had heard the Father’s voice when He said, “This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 17:5, last part). Now He longs for His close friends to repeat these words, revealing again the Father’s love for Him. He longs for their companionship in prayer. He pleads, Spend a night with Me in prayer. “Tarry ye here; watch with Me” (Matthew 26:38).

Now the struggle begins in earnest as Satan tries to overwhelm Him. He feels so alone, for God has completely separated Himself from His Son because of the sins Christ now bears. Jesus is faced with a horrible situation. He is surrounded by legions of evil angels. You and I would be frightened if we were suddenly confronted with one of the devil’s angels, but Christ is overwhelmed. Thousands of demons are causing Jesus to experience the very same condition that the lost will face when they come up in the second resurrection and find that they are completely in the power of the devil and His angels.

As a man, it is more than Christ can handle. He falls prostrate to the ground as He realizes that the separation from His Father is like a mighty gulf, broad and deep. It terrifies Him. His body actually shakes with fear. Although Jesus has never sinned, He is now in a different position than during His entire life, for Satan is thrusting every sin of the world upon Him. Prophecy describes His suffering in these words: “Awake, O sword, against my shepherd” (Zechariah 13:7).

My brother and sister, our minds cannot begin to comprehend a fraction of the suffering of Jesus Christ. If in any way you should possibly doubt this, may I remind you that in heaven to come, we shall never exhaust the study of what Christ experienced in Gethsemane so that you and I might live. Christ has now become the surety for sinful man. This means He has become our Substitute. In other words, all penalty which we should suffer for our sins He must now suffer.

Up to this moment He has always been an intercessor for others, pleading in their behalf, giving them courage and strength, a living example of the love of God, but now He Himself longs for an intercessor. The condition He now faces is like a man having a terrible dream who, when he awakes, discovers that it is not a dream at all; it is for real. It is like watching a loved one waiting to die on their deathbed. The anticipation of such an event is heartrending, but when death actually occurs, the final separation is overwhelming. Christ feels He cannot endure such separation from His Father.

He now remembers that some three years before, while in the wilderness, he had met Satan face to face. Although He was weak and emaciated from 40 days of fasting and was about to die, He had no fear, for God His Father was with Him. Then, with God’s power, He had conquered the devil, but now He is alone. God has completely separated Himself from Him. He now understands fully that sin and God cannot exist together. Oh, friend, would to God that we would realize this tremendous fact. Jesus now realizes that if He fails in this encounter with Satan, all will be lost. Every believing saint since Creation will be without hope and He Himself will be lost forever — if He should lose this battle. Never again would He be able to say that He was able to save to the uttermost (Hebrews 7:25), and more important, He Himself would be eternally separated from the Father.

It is now that the demons press the battle. Legions of these spirits surround Him and with all the satanic power that the devil and his angels can invent, they scream at Him saying, “What is to be gained by this sacrifice? Don’t You realize that the sins that You now carry are so great that God will never accept You again? And just look at the ingratitude of the people You love. They have rejected You. They are even now seeking to destroy You. Within an hour all will forsake You.” These intimate facts pierced His soul like a sword while the devil continued to press the point: “Look, those Whom You have created with Your own hands are demanding Your blood. The weight of the sins You now carry is crushing Your heart, causing this terrible pain.” As Christ hears these demon words He clings to the cold ground as if it will help Him. Alone, the chilling dew falls upon His prostrate form and from His lips comes the cry, “O My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me: nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt” (Matthew 26:39).

Christ in His humanity longs for sympathy. In this supreme moment he gropes for comfort. If only His disciples are praying for Him as the malignancy of sin is crushing out His very life. Terrible is the temptation to let the sinner bear his own sins. Where can He go for help? What can He do? He remembers these disciples and perhaps they can help Him. He arises painfully and staggers a few feet only to find them all asleep. Listen as He calls to Peter: “What! Could you not watch with Me for one hour” (verse 40 NKJV)?

At this point permit me to pause for a few moments in this description of Christ’s agony, for I must ask you a question: Have you by any chance imagined what our coming to Gethsemane experience will be like? Could it be that some of us are asleep today when the most evil of all storms is to burst upon us? Let me read from Inspiration, Testimonies, vol. 2, 205: “By these sleeping disciples is represented a sleeping church, when the day of God’s visitation is nigh. It is a time of clouds and thick darkness, when to be found asleep is most perilous.” But praise God, we are told in Early Writings, pages 269, 270, that not all will be sleeping: “I saw some, with strong faith and agonizing cries, pleading with God. …

“As the praying ones continued their earnest cries, at times a ray of light from Jesus came to them, to encourage their hearts and light up their countenances. Some, I saw, did not participate in this work of agonizing and pleading. They seemed indifferent and careless. They were not resisting the darkness around them, and it shut them in like a thick cloud.” Could it be that you and I are failing to take advantage of this little time of peace that God is giving us to prepare? Or are we like the disciples of old?

Now let me take you back again to the moment when Jesus called to Peter and awakened him with the words, “Sleepest thou? Couldest thou now not watch with Me one hour?” At these words all of the disciples were awakened and could hardly recognize the face of Jesus because it had become so utterly changed by His anguish. Yet in such agony Jesus tries to excuse them. “The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak” (Mark 14:38, last part).

Amazingly this is only the beginning of this dreadful ordeal. Inspiration now states that Christ is seized with a superhuman agony. Fainting and exhausted, He staggers back to His spot of prayer, only to discover that His suffering has intensified and there is no one to help Him. Alone “His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling to the ground” (Luke 22:44). No other man in the entire world has ever experienced such unrestrained agony. What a change! Just a few days before He had cleansed the temple, unafraid of the soldier’s swords and of the stubborn will of the church rulers who were filled with malice and hatred, planning to kill Him. Yet He was unafraid. Why? Because His Father was with Him. But now He is like a battered reed bent in an angry storm. He is now in the hour of the power of darkness. And for the second time He cries aloud, “O My Father, if this cup may not pass away from Me, except I drink it, Thy will be done” (Matthew 26:42). Once again, as a human, He turns to His disciples for help, only to find them sleeping. They have permitted Satan to stupefy them with his devilish power, putting them to sleep.

Christ now awakens them, trusting that they will help Him, but instead, the disciples are terrified. Never have they beheld such a face! Never have they seen anyone so marked with blood and agony! Rather than helping Jesus, the disciples themselves are filled with fear. Prophecy has stated, “His visage was so marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men” (Isaiah 52:14). Sad to say, for the second time His disciples had failed Him.

Once again He staggers back to His retreat and falls prostrate to the cold ground. The awful moment has now finally come. He is overcome by Satan’s darkness. Yet in this awful moment His love for His disciples is so strong that He prays not for Himself but that their faith fail not. What a Savior! Christ now faces the final test. It is not too late; He can go back to heaven into His Father’s open arms and feel the peace, the comfort, and the love that He longs for. He can let the transgressor perish. Why should He suffer? For the third time Jesus cries aloud, “O My Father, if this cup may not pass from Me, except I drink it, Thy will be done” (Matthew 26:44).

Christ now understands the full depth of sin. He sees the transgressor before the law as helpless and perishing. For the first time, as a man, he fully senses the power of sin. The woes of a doomed world arouse His love for the lost. Alone He makes the final decision. He will save man at any cost to Himself. He will accept the baptismal blood. He will make possible eternal life to all who will take up their cross and follow Him. He will die even to save just one soul. Such is His love for the individual. He will become the Lamb of God and take away the sins of the world. Immediately, He experiences death for you and for me and falls dying to the ground. Where are His disciples in this final moment to encourage and strengthen Him, to bathe that blood-stained brow that is marred more than any man has ever experienced? (See The Desire of Ages, 693.) But this is not all. He must be tested beyond death. This might be incomprehensible for you and for me to understand, but the devil must never be able to claim that if he could have tempted Jesus just a few minutes longer the Savior would have given up.

For a moment, let us turn from this tremendous decision to save us and go up to heaven and see what is happening there. Inspiration states that God has suffered with His Son. This means that every pain and every anguish, every piercing depth of agony – all has been also suffered by the Father. As the angels surround the throne, they behold the agony of God the Father. There is silence in heaven. Not a harp is touched. In amazement the angels watch as the Father separates Himself from His Son, permitting Christ to become the sin bearer. The angels are filled with wonder. They now see that, bearing our sins, Jesus has become offensive to God. No wonder the Scripture says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son” (John 3:16).

Now let me take you back to the garden. Thousands of demons have converged upon Christ as He falls to the ground. But watch. God in heaven now commands the angel Gabriel, who was given the place that Lucifer had occupied before his banishment from heaven, to immediately go to Jesus and give Him added strength so that He does not die for He must be tempted beyond death. This angel comes not to take away the cup of death but to strengthen Him that He may drink it. Watch as Gabriel brings assurance to Jesus of His Father’s love and tells Him, “God, Your Father is more powerful than Satan and because of the decision that You have made to die as the Lamb of God, You have gained the victory over Satan. The kingdoms of this world will eventually be given to the saints. The redeemed will shine in the universe as the stars of heaven.” Praise God! Christ believes the angel. He believes by faith that God still loves Him. Instantly He becomes calm and serene as a God-like peace captures His blood-stained face. Christ has now tasted death for every sinner. Jesus has gained the victory by faith. The angel lifts Christ’s head to his bosom and points Him to the open heavens. Jesus hears that sweet music of heaven and knows that His Father loves Him. Hope and comfort once more fill His heart. By faith He knows that His Father loves Him.

Beloved, are we ready for our Gethsemane to come? Do we really understand what the words, “Take up his cross daily, and follow Me” (Luke 9:23 NKJV) mean. Believe me, each of us who by God’s grace is determined to gain victory over sin will soon personally experience our own Gethsemane. We too shall soon live without an intercessor. Our past sins will overwhelm us. We shall feel forsaken of God and surrounded by devils. We will personally experience what it means to be alone. Our friends will forsake us and flee from us like the disciples fled from Christ. Religious forces will unite against us as the arm of the state joins in a confederacy with the church to do away with us. We will be betrayed by loved ones just as Judas betrayed His Lord with a kiss. Some of us will be in prison bound as Christ was, falsely accused, abused, and adjured before God to admit that we are His commandment keepers, knowing full well that in standing up for Jesus this will be our death warrant. Many will hear the verdict, Execute! Inspiration has stated, “Those who apostatize in time of trial will, to secure their own safety, bear false witness, and betray their brethren. Christ has warned us of this, that we may not be surprised at the unnatural, cruel course of those who reject the light.” The Desire of Ages, 630. “Those who are true to God will be menaced, denounced, proscribed. They will be ‘betrayed by parents, and brethren, and kinfolks, and friends,’ even unto death” (Luke 21:16). Prophets and Kings, 588.

“Some who profess righteousness will, like Judas, betray their Lord into the hands of His bitterest enemies.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 690. “As trials thicken around us, both separation and unity will be seen in our ranks. Some who are now ready to take up weapons of warfare will in times of real peril make it manifest that they have not built upon the solid rock; they will yield to temptation. Those who have had great light and precious privileges, but have not improved them, will, under one pretext or another, go out from us. Not having received the love of the truth, they will be taken in the delusions of the enemy; they will give heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, and will depart from the faith.” Testimonies, vol. 6, 400, 401.

Now beloved, if you think that I have over-emphasized what our coming Gethsemane will mean to us, then listen to this: “The ‘time of trouble, such as never was,’ (Daniel 12:1) is soon to open upon us; and we shall need an experience which we do not now possess, and which many are too indolent to obtain. It is often the case that trouble is greater in anticipation than in reality; but this is not true of the crisis before us. The most vivid presentation cannot reach the magnitude of the ordeal. In that time of trial, every soul must stand for himself before God.” The Great Controversy, 622.

Unlike what occurred with Christ, Who, in the garden made the final decision to die on Calvary’s cross to save you and me, we, who have also made the decision to die rather than sin, will be saved by divine intervention. Praise the Lord! The living saints will be translated without death. God has promised in Revelation 15:2, 3: “I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are Thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints.”

Beloved, by God’s grace I plan to sing that song of Moses and of the Lamb on the sea of glass, a song which the angels can never sing. What about you? Would you determine now before God to join me that together we can sing this song of victory over sin?

May this be our prayer: Dear God, we are determined by Thy mighty power to overcome every sin now so that we may so live ready for Jesus to come and stand with Him on that sea of glass and sing the song of victory.

For more than fifty years, Lawrence Nelson served the Seventh-day Adventist Church as a church pastor, evangelist, and then in Conference, Union, and General Conference leadership. When God laid upon him the responsibility to “tell it like it is” to alert the people how the church was leading them into the worldwide ecumenical movement, he was forbidden to preach in any church within the Oregon Conference. Elder Nelson passed to his rest on April 18, 2012.