Salvation

The Last Invitation – Part I

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We live in a world and a generation of great darkness. I do a little colporteuring from time to time, and I meet various people. I can tell you that there is a lot of darkness, but I can tell you as well, there are also some bright lights. It is like the night sky. As you look into the heavens, the majority of what you see is darkness, but interspersed between the darkness, is the light.

God wants you and me to be part of the program to spread the light. There is one thing, and only one thing, that helps us bear the darkness in this world, whether it is physical darkness or spiritual darkness, and that is light. When it is dark, there is just something about light.

There Will be an End

Three or four things that I am going to mention have something in common about them. See if you can identify the common denominator. All of us, at sometime, have begun reading a book, and we have found it so interesting that sometimes we did not want to put it down. Is that right? This has something in common with making a dress, building a front porch or going on a vacation. They all share a commonality. Have you found it? There is something that is the same within all of those tasks,—there is an expected end in view. When you pick up a book, you know that there is going to be an end. And if it is a good book, the more you read, the more desirous you are to get to the end. When the ladies make a dress, as they begin cutting the fabric and putting it together, the further along they get the more desirous they are of getting it finished. Is that right?

It is the same with building a porch, and it is the same with taking a vacation. The closer we get to our completed project, the more excited we become. Is that right?

That excitement is like the experience God wants us to have with Him. You and I can gain in earnestness and desire only as we progress in the Gospel truth. As we choose to walk in the way with Jesus and make progress in the Christian life, we are going to grow in earnestness and desire to reach the expected end.

God says, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, . . . thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” Jeremiah 29:11. You see, God has something in view for you and me and for all humanity, if we are willing to respond; He has an expected end in view for us.

No Power without His Righteousness

In Romans 1:16, 17, Paul declared, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.”

You see, the power of God for salvation is in His righteousness. There is no power unto salvation without His righteousness. Paul makes that very clear.

If we want power in our lives, we must have the righteousness of God within—period. The gospel of Jesus Christ is an invitation from God to all humanity. God is not in the business of coercing us into heaven. He will not twist our arms. He will not force us, but He will invite us, and He is inviting us.

There may be some reading this who have never accepted Jesus Christ as a personal Saviour. I tell you that God is beside you, and He invites you to come to Him today. There are some of us who have accepted and responded to the invitation, but God is calling us to a greater commitment. He has an expected end in view. Do you? We must have the same view that He has. We must be in harmony with His mind if we are going to reach His expectation.

The gospel is an invitation to “Come.” “Incline your ear, and come unto Me: hear, and your soul shall live.” Isaiah 55:3. “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28. “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Isaiah 1:18.

High Expectations

God has a high expectation for humanity, higher than most professed Christians understand in this generation. “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” Revelation 22:17.

It is an invitation, brothers and sisters, by the God of heaven to His created in this world. How you and I respond to this invitation will determine where we are when we see the reality of the expected end.

The expected end is revealed in Revelation 19:9: “And He saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And He saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.” “These are the true sayings of God;” God does not lie, and what God says will happen, will happen.

The Marriage Supper of the Lamb

There will be a marriage supper of the Lamb. It is the expected end that He has in view for you and for me. How we receive the invitation, brothers and sisters, will depend on whether or not we are at that supper.

Jesus brings to view the reality of the expected end in the marriage supper of the Lamb in Luke 22:29, 30. “‘And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as My Father hath appointed unto Me; That ye may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.’”

Jesus wants us to someday sit down at His table, at the marriage supper of the Lamb. There we will eat and drink with the rest of the redeemed. I do not want to miss this supper. Do you want to be there?.

Jesus, the Servant

Jesus gives us a startling revelation in regard to the marriage supper of the Lamb. He lifts the veil a little bit so we can catch a view of the expected end. “Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord when He cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that He shall gird Himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them.” Luke 12:37.

Who is going to be one of the servants to serve the redeemed at the marriage supper of the Lamb? Who will come over to you and ask, “Would you like the pineapple, the watermelon or the cantaloupe?” Our Saviour Himself will serve us!

It is all reality, brothers and sisters, because what God says will happen, will happen. The question is, are you and I going to be a part of the happening?

He wants us there. He has a place, if I may say, a placesetting, that He wants to put out for you and for me at His table. Jesus said, “‘Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14:1–3.

The Royal Table

I would suggest to you that it is more than a mansion that Jesus is preparing; it is a place at the table of the Lamb. It is reality, brothers and sisters, because these are the true sayings of God.

In Matthew 22, Jesus brings to view the marriage supper of the Lamb through a parable. This parable is fraught with all kinds of warnings for us. “And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said, ‘The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage. But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise: And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them. But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid [invite] to the marriage. So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.’” (Verses 1–10.)

What a hard time the God of heaven has! You can sense it right there, can you not? He has a hard time getting humanity to respond to an invitation to eternal life. It is hard to understand! “‘

And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him in the outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Verses 11, 12.)

Quite a revealing parable, to say the least, in regard to the marriage supper of the Lamb, which is the expected end that God has in view for His redeemed at the beginning of their eternal life with Him. You and I have the potential, by our choice, to make Jesus glad or sad in regard to this invitation.

Jesus is Preparing for You

There are seven things in this parable I want to review with you. Let us go back to some of the statements Jesus made.

“‘All things are ready.’” (Verse 4.) “‘Behold, I have prepared My dinner.’” All things are ready? Yes, God the Father, the Son and the Spirit have made all things ready that are necessary for us to be there at the marriage supper of the Lamb. Everything has been taken care of. Everything! God has not missed one point. He has taken care of it all. He is waiting for you and for me to choose to be in harmony with His readiness. They are ready, are we? Are we getting ready?

“‘But they made light of it.’” (Verse 5.) They made light of the invitation to the marriage supper of the Lamb. You see, ultimately, you and I choose whether we are going to be earnest or whether we are gong to make light of it. It is our choice. They made light of it. They came to a decision within themselves to think it was not all that necessary to make all of these preparations to be ready for the supper. They allowed their minds to be focused somewhere else.

But, they remained being professed people of God. There is a total distinction between being professed and being possessed. God wants a people who are possessed with His righteousness. It is the only thing that will prepare us for the supper.

“‘They were not worthy.’” (Verse 8.) The wedding is ready, but they, which were bidden, were not worthy. Why were they not worthy? Because they were not ready. To be worthy is to be ready. Again, our choice is involved.

They went out in the highways and the byways and they gathered in people. (Verse 10.) There were two categories of people who responded to the invitation. What were they? the bad and the good. Now, do you and I have the ability to distinguish between those two categories within the church? No, God does. God reads the heart. God knows why you are reading this article. God knows where your thoughts are as you read. God knows where your heart is at this moment.

The Wedding Garment

As you read on in the parable, you find that heaven views those who are not putting on the wedding garment as bad. All you have to do is be reluctant to put on the robe of His righteousness to be deemed of heaven as one of the “bad ones.”

This should alarm us, brothers and sisters, because in every congregation of professed Christians, God tells us there are bad and good. The ultimate question is, which are you; which am I?

So, Paul, the great apostle, says, “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith.” II Corinthians 13:5. It does not matter if you are in the church. It does not matter how faithful you are in coming to church. Examine your heart, whether you are in the faith. Faith has everything to do with His righteousness, as we read in Romans 1:16, 17. Look at this phrase: “‘Which had not on a wedding garment.’” (Verse 11.) He came in and saw one of the guests. In the parable, this is the only item that is given that qualifies for sitting down at the marriage supper of the Lamb. Do not miss it. It is the only thing. It is the wedding garment. We must understand what that wedding garment is, and what it is not, if we are to some day sit at the marriage supper of the Lamb.

No Excuses

There will be no excuses. When he found that there was no wedding garment on this man, he asked him about it (Verse 12). What was the man’s response? He was speechless. There was nothing to say. All the excuses, all the self-justifying had just vaporized, and this man knew why he was lost. In the second resurrection, after the millennium, when God brings up every soul who is lost, who chose not to receive the invitation, there is no one with a voice saying, “I did not have a chance. This was unfair.”

There is no voice raised in that vast crowd, that sea of lost souls. Sad to say, they are speechless, because they all know why they are where they are. Then, in verse 13, Jesus says of those who will be lost: “‘Cast him away into outer darkness.’”

This parable brings time to view, brothers and sisters. There is a time to get ready, a time to be ready, and then there is no more time. The time will soon come when it is too late; it is over. Those who die no longer have a choice. It is over. It is done. There are no more choices; there are no more opportunities in the grave. So now, while we are living and breathing and moving, oh, what an opportunity we have to accept this invitation extended by a marvelous God. It is sad to see what a slow response God is getting.

Now, I want you to notice something. When the king came in and he saw this man, this guest, without a wedding garment, the man had come into the marriage supper believing he was all right. I have heard some people, as I go from door to door colporteuring, say, “I am good. I am ready. I am ready to go. I am good to go, I do not need any books.”

Well, this man thought that he was good and ready. The man was deceived. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Jeremiah 17:9. God can. So David, in Psalm 139:23, 24, says, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

Believing Does Not Make it So

That is the attitude you and I need to have. That is the spirit you and I need to have. Do you want to be at the expected end that God has in view for you? I do. I want to cooperate. You see, apart from God’s grace upon our hearts, we will be deceived. Our hearts will deceive us. I do not care how long you have known the Gospel truth; I do not care how much of the truth you know. If you walk outside of God’s grace, you are opening the door to being deceived by your own heart into thinking everything is right when everything is wrong.

To be continued . . .

The Last Invitation, Part II

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Let us consider four ways you and I can fall into the same condition as the man in the wedding parable of Matthew 22. He thought he was right, but he was wrong. There are three things that we must guard against.

How do You Measure Yourself?

1 Many professed Christians are falling right here: “For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.” 2 Corinthians 10:12.

You will notice, at the outset of this text, Paul talks about these people as commending themselves. They commend themselves based on what they see in others. They are measuring themselves with a totally different measuring device than God has given them. There are two things by which the true Christian should measure his life: The Law of God and the life of Jesus.

In the life of Jesus you see a revelation of the Law of God. But if we are measuring ourselves among ourselves, we are opening ourselves up to possible deception, believing that we are better than we are, that we are right, when in fact, by the very act, we are wrong. If we are going to measure up to the full stature of a man or of a woman in Christ Jesus, we had better use the measuring rule by which God is measuring us.

We will not come short of the measure, if we follow His rule and the Law of God, if we pattern our lives after the life of Jesus Christ.

2 In Romans 10:2, Paul is talking to and about Israel, and he says, “For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.” Knowledge is essential to be ready for the marriage supper of the Lamb—a rightknowledge, the knowledge that is found in God’s Word, the knowledge that is rightly interpreted to us by the Holy Spirit, which we receive when we have a willingness to do God’s will. We do not receive God’s Spirit apart from a willingness to do God’s Will.

Without God’s Spirit we will be misled; we will wrest the Scriptures unto our own destruction. “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.” Romans 10:3.

They have a zeal; they are working for God, but they are not working with God. There is a distinct difference, brothers and sisters. There are many people working for God but not with God. If you have a question about that, all you have to do is turn to Matthew 7:21–23, and you will find there a group described who work for God but not with God.

Establishing Our Own Righteousness

3 Paul, in Romans 10:3, identifies a group as “being ignorant of God’s righteousness.” What did they do? They established their own righteousness. Brothers and sisters, this should alarm us. This is speaking of the professed people of God, those within His house of worship who are taking His righteousness and twisting it this way and bending it that way and making it their own righteousness. How do you do that? How do we establish our own righteousness within the sanctuary of God’s righteousness?

We compromise His righteousness. What God tells us to do, we only go part way with Him, and that is our own righteousness, because God’s righteousness is perfect and whole and complete. Anything short of that is ours. You can even add to God’s righteousness, and it becomes your own righteousness. Many churches that profess to be Christian are doing that today. They are adding to what God has said. Rome is foremost in this, but many churches are following her lead.

What righteousness will they have when they get to the marriage supper of the Lamb? They will have their own, and their own is not enough. They will be cast out. You can add to the righteousness of God, or you can subtract from the righteousness of God; either way, or both, what you have left is your own righteousness and a profession of godliness.

Satan is concerned about us. He wants us to be derailed from a full readiness to enter into that marriage supper some day. He wants to derail us, and he can, brothers and sisters, if he can get us measuring ourselves among ourselves or by compromising the righteousness of God by adding or subtracting from it.

We Are Not Saved by being in the Right Place

4 “Trust ye not in lying words.” This is God Himself speaking through Jeremiah. “Thus saith the Lord…Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, are these.…Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit. Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not; And come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?” Jeremiah 7:34, 8–10.

We can be deceived, brothers and sisters, by believing that we are right, just because we are in the right place. You see, we are not saved by being in the right place alone. We are saved, and will be saved, by being in the right place, doing the right things, for the right reasons. No mere physical connection with the truth will save us, whether that connection is in the church or with the Word of God itself.

Merely memorizing the Word of God is not salvation. Salvation is righteousness, God’s righteousness within us. It is having this Word taken by God’s Spirit and put upon our hearts. There is salvation. I can memorize the Word; I can know it from Genesis to Revelation and be lost. No mere physical connection will save us, and we should never trust in such things.

Our anchor, our security, is in the Lamb of God, the Lamb that taketh away the sins of the world. He is able to make us worthy. He is able to get us ready. He is able, if we are willing. Oh, God has made all things ready, and all we have to do is cooperate with Him, and He will make us ready too.

You may be wondering, just what is the wedding garment? We have already alluded to it, but it is a wonderful thing to see it in the Word of God. “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.” Isaiah 61:10.

Without His Righteousness

There it is. The wedding garment is two in one: it is the garment of salvation; it is the garment of righteousness. Whose righteousness? Jesus’ righteousness. And I want you to note, you cannot possess the one without the other. You cannot have salvation without His righteousness. They go together.

There are some people who believe that you can have salvation without His righteousness. Believe—that is what we hear. Only believe! God says, “Faith without works is dead.” James 2:20. It is the work of His righteousness that He wants to see in us. It comes by way of faith. So the garment is a robe of righteousness.

Now what is righteousness? If you were to define righteousness, what would you say? It is doing what is right. We have a God Who created us; Who does everything right, at the right time, in the right way, for the right reason. As His creation, He wants us to be right.

Jesus echoed these thoughts in Matthew 6:33 in the Sermon on the Mount, when He said, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” They go together, brothers and sisters, you cannot go into the kingdom of God without His righteousness.

He Wants YOU There

We saw a man who tried to circumvent the rules in the parable in Matthew 22. He tried to get into the kingdom of God with his own righteousness. It does not work. God is up front with us. He is telling us all the facts, because He wants us there at the marriage supper. He wants to put a place setting right there for you and for me. There may even be a little plaque there with our names. It is going to happen as verily as we are here, because what God says will happen, will happen.

The righteousness of Christ comes in two parts, but it makes up one whole. The robe is in two pieces, but it is in one. Let me explain. The righteousness of Christ is first imputed to us through the righteousness that Jesus lived out in the flesh in this world. He lived a perfect life. He was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin. He imputes that righteousness on us, when we confess our sins and receive the invitation of the Gospel. We confess our sins; we forsake all that we know is wrong before Him, then He imputes His righteousness upon us.

Now, where do we stand in the sight of God when we have that experience? We are perfect, perfect in Jesus’ righteousness. But now God wants to do something more for us than merely forgive us, because He knows that we must continue to walk in and grow in the Gospel truth. So God has a part of His righteousness that is called the imparted righteousness. That imparted righteousness makes us whole.

The imputed and the imparted cannot be separated. There are some people who are trying to separate those two. You cannot do it. It is like the garment of salvation and the garment of the robe of righteousness. They go together. It is like seeking the kingdom of God first and His righteousness. You cannot separate the kingdom and His righteousness. You cannot separate salvation and His righteousness.

If you have imputed righteousness, you have imparted righteousness, or access to imparted righteousness. And thereby you and I, by the grace of God and the power of His Spirit, are able to maintain justification. That is how He keeps us justified, through the sanctifying influence of His Spirit and His Word and our cooperation with it.

Righteousness Within Is Manifested Outwardly

“Righteousness within is testified to by righteousness without. He who is righteous within is not hard-hearted and unsympathetic, but day by day he grows into the image of Christ, going on from strength to strength. He who is being sanctified by the truth will be self-controlled, and will follow in the footsteps of Christ until grace is lost in glory. The righteousness by which we are justified is imputed; the righteousness by which we are sanctified is imparted. The first is our title to heaven, the second is our fitness for heaven.” Messages to Young People, 35.

You see, God wants to take us beyond the title; He wants to give us the fitness. He wants to take us beyond saving us from the penalty of sin, into the area of saving us from the power of sin. God wants a people who shine in this world, and we are only going to shine if we have on the full garment. It is an inward/outward experience. It can never go outward/inward. If you have the true experience, it is an inward/outward experience.

It is an experience that takes us beyond the right day to worship, to keeping it in the right way. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” Paul said it this way: “This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13, 14.

You see, God helps us forget the past, when He imputes His righteousness unto us. When we confess our sins and, by His grace, forsake them, then the impartation of His righteousness gives us power to maintain that condition.

I want to make it clear how we are to be ready for the marriage supper of the Lamb. In Zechariah 3:3-4, is an illustration on how Christ’s righteousness becomes our righteousness. “Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel.” [This is how you and I stand before God without His righteousness. All our righteousness is as filthy rags.] “And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, ‘Take away the filthy garments from him.’ And unto him he said, ‘Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, [This is justification by faith in action.] and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.’”

Praise the Lord! Whose work is this? It is God’s work. It is our submission, our choice to cooperate. God says, I will do the work, be submissive, be obedient and I will clothe thee with a change of raiment. Behold, all things become new. This is the righteousness of Christ that becomes our righteousness through a transaction.

What did Joshua give? His own righteousness which was filthy rags. You see, not only unrighteousness, but all my righteousness I need to give God, and He will give me His righteousness. It is an exchange; it is a transaction. Jesus alludes to it very strongly in the message to Laodicea in Revelation.

I Counsel Thee, Laodicea

Laodicea is the last period of Christian experience on the face of this earth. It is the last church, the last remnant of time for God’s people just before Jesus comes. There are some problems in Laodicea, to say the least, but Jesus says to Laodicea, “I counsel thee, [Here is the invitation.] to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.” Revelation 3:18.

Do you see the transaction? He wants us to buy of Him. That means that there is an exchange occurring. We just saw in Zechariah 3, that exchange is the exchange of our righteousness for His righteousness. Do you see that? Now notice what is going to enable us to make that transaction. He says, “Buy of Me gold tried in the fire.” What is gold tried in the fire? It is faith that works by love under fire.

You see, only God can give you that kind of faith. It is a faith that works by love in the fire of temptation; in the fire of trial, it will be victorious. That kind of love, that kind of faith, God gives to us. When we are motivated with the kind of faith that comes by looking at Calvary and seeing what Christ did for us, it warms our hearts, so now we are motivated with that kind of faith. We are able to receive the white raiment; we are able to make that exchange.

When we receive that righteousness, it anoints our eyes with eyesalve, so we can see spiritual things for what they are. There are very few professed Christians, even in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, who have anointed eyes, who have spiritual eyesight to see the true issues that are transpiring today in this world.

If we never have that anointing of our eyes, we will never be able to see spiritual things. We will never put on His robe of righteousness fully and completely unless we have a faith that works by love in the midst of the fire. We are almost at the expected end.

Jesus says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock.” Revelation 3:20. Is that an invitation? That is what I do colporteuring. I knock at the doors, and what I am basically doing is inviting those who come to the door to have the Word of God. That is all that God is doing with you and me. He is knocking. “Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.” There is the qualifying factor for getting ready for the marriage supper of the Lamb. If we are going to sup with Him some day at His table and be served by Him, we must sup with Him now. We do that by being a laborer, together with God, in the salvation of our souls first, then in the souls of others. Paul said, “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part, but then shall I know even as also I am known.” 1 Corinthians 13:12. Face to face with Jesus! We can be there, because He made it possible.

The Christian Goal and the Self-View

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Confusion and Misunderstanding

An enormous amount of confusion and misunderstanding has resulted from the wide-spread failure to recognize that in both the Bible and in the Spirit of Prophecy there is a clear and distinct difference between the Christian goal and the Christian self-view.

We may feel a bit surprised to find this distinction recognized in the oldest book in the Bible, the book of Job. Notice the clarity of these words: “If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me: if I say, I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse. Though I were perfect [the goal], yet would I not know my soul:…[the self-view]”. Job 9:20, 21.

The Self-View

Moving to the New Testament, we read in one of Christ’s parables these words: “So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you [the goal], say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do [the self-view]”. Luke 17:10.

In similar vein, the apostle Paul writes to us: “I count not myself to have apprehended [the self-view], but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. [the goal]”. Philippians 3:13, 14.

Paul’s healthy self-view, but not his goal, is set forth in these words: “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” 1 Timothy 1:15.

The Goal

In this sharply contrasting Scripture we find his goal: “…Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” Ephesians 4:13.

In a faithful reflection of these Scriptures, Ellen White presents the same truth in a variety of ways, constantly and carefully maintaining an unmistakably clear distinction between the Christian goal of perfect Christ-likeness and the Christian self-view of total unworthiness. Because of the enormity of the degree of misunderstanding on this point, we will present a number of her statements. [All emphasis is supplied.]

“Those who are registered as holy in the books of heaven are not aware of the fact, and are the last ones to boast of their own goodness.” The Faith I Live By, 140.

“They scatter seeds of love and kindness all along their path, and that all unconsciously, because Christ lives in their heart.” Sons and Daughters of God, 180.

“‘We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.’ We are to keep the Lord ever before us. Those who do this, walk with God as did Enoch, and imperceptibly to themselves, they become one with the Father and with the Son.” Ibid., 296.

“The Christian may not be conscious of the great change, for the more closely he resembles Christ in character, the more humble will be his opinion of himself; but it will be seen and felt by all around him.” Mind, Character, and Personality, vol. 2, 727.

“Thus it is with the truly righteous man. He is unconscious of his goodness and piety.” Reflecting Christ, 83.

“All who come within the sphere of his influence perceive the beauty and fragrance of his Christian life, while he himself is unconscious of it, for it is in harmony with his habits and inclinations.” My Life Today, 251.

Convinced that They Are Sinless

With this abundance of evidence before us, we are ready to consider some of the most common errors regarding the goal and the self-view. First, there are those who are convinced that they have become totally sinless and are in no danger from any temptation. They consider that their Christian goal of perfect Christ-likeness has been reached, and it would be impossible for them to be lost. They are commonly described as the “once saved—always saved” people. Some of them modify their position slightly by saying that they may sin, but it will not be counted against them, so the end result is the same as if they had not sinned.

At the extreme opposite end of the scale are those commonly called Calvinists, who believe and teach that it is utterly impossible for anyone to stop sinning, even by the power of God. They believe that God will stop all the sinning of Christians at the Second Coming of Christ. Exactly why God should be able to do this at the Second Coming but not be able to do it before that time has never been explained.

Can Blasphemy be Greater Than This?

We must sadly recognize that this false doctrine of corrupted Calvinism is making great inroads into the Seventh-day Adventist Church today. One Seventh-day Adventist theologian, who had drunk deeply from the befouled waters of Calvinism, actually went so far as to teach that it is not because of God’s weakness but because of His wisdom that He does not keep Christians from sinning now. Hence, Christians sin because God wants them to sin now. Can blasphemy be greater than this?

There are some who intermingle the concept of the self-view and the concept of the goal into a hopeless hodge-podge of illogical ideas. Prominent among them are the persons who pose a question about the goal and purpose to answer with an Ellen White statement about the self-view. I would blush with shame to tell you how many times, and in what places, I have seen the question posed, “Can Christians stop sinning? Ellen White says No.” This is then supported by one of her many statements (see above) that the Christian cannot have a self-view of sinlessness.

This is both contrary to her writings (she wrote more than 2,000 times that Christians can stop sinning by the power of God) and contrary to common sense. The difference between the two questions, “Can Christians stop sinning?” and “Can Christians know that they have stopped sinning?” should be apparent to a child. From a common sense standpoint, consider the difficulty in estimating one’s own humanity. What if you heard a minister say, “You know, folks, one thing I like about me, is that I am so humble. I am probably the most humble minister in this conference. If you want to see a man who is really humble, just take a look at me.”

What kind of sense would that make? And all attempts to describe our own virtues would be equally senseless.

Presumptuous Words

“The attitude of Paul is the attitude to be taken by every one of the followers of Christ; for we are ever to be urging our way, striving lawfully for the crown of immortality. Not one may claim to be perfect. Let the recording angels write the history of the holy struggles and conflicts of the people of God, let them record their prayers and tears; but let not God be dishonored by the proclamation from human lips, declaring, ‘I am sinless. I am holy.’ Sanctified lips will never give utterance to such presumptuous words.” Signs of the Times, May 23, 1895.

How utterly nonsensical, then, is the frequently asked question, “Do you think that you are perfect?” Please look again at the above statements by Ellen White that the true Christian is unaware of, and unconscious of, his own goodness.

And consider this: “The Lord does not design that we shall ever feel that we have reached to the full measure of the stature of Christ. Through all eternity we are to grow in the knowledge of Him who is the head of all things in the church.” Bible Echo and Signs of the Times, May 15, 1892.

This brings to mind a greatly abused Ellen White statement: “He (Christ) is a perfect and holy example, given for us to imitate. We cannot equal the pattern; but we shall not be approved of God if we do not copy it and, according to the ability which God has given, resemble it.” Testimonies, vol. 2, 549.

Before jumping to the conclusion that this means we will always be sinning, take a moment to think about the heavenly angels who have never sinned. Can they ever equal Christ, the pattern? Of course not! No created being can ever equal its creator, and the grandeur of the love of Christ and God will never be equaled by anyone.

And here is another often abused statement, which Ellen White wrote over and over: “The work of sanctification is the work of a lifetime.…” Selected Messages, Book 1, 317.

Unsound Logic

The “logic” that is applied to this innocent passage goes like this:

  1. Ellen White said that sanctification is the work of a lifetime.
  2. If sanctification is the work of a lifetime, that means that it is never finished.
  3. If sanctification is never finished, that means that sinning is always present in the Christian’s life.
  4. Therefore, Ellen White taught that Christians will never stop sinning during their lifetime. Jesus will have to miraculously change them when He comes, so that they will not sin any more.

Never mind that Ellen White wrote more than 2,000 times that Christians can, by the power of God, stop sinning.

Never mind that she wrote 48 times that Christ will not make any changes in our characters when He comes.

Throughout Eternity

And never mind that Ellen White viewed sanctification as a process that will continue throughout eternity.

“It should be our lifework to press forward continually toward the perfection of Christian character, ever striving for conformity to the will of God, remembering that the efforts begun upon earth will continue throughout eternity.” Reflecting Christ, 157.

How then can it be argued that incomplete sanctification is sin? Will the saints be sinning throughout eternity? Absolutely not!

It seems rather strange that in Ellen White’s defense of truth she had to fight a battle on two fronts. Arrayed against her on one side were those who had a self-view of sinlessness, and on the other side those who denied any possibility of sinlessness. She had to disagree with both of them. By carefully distinguishing between the goal and the self-view, she achieved an admirable degree of clarity, patiently pointing out that while the Christian’s goal must always be total Christlikeness, the self-view must always be total unworthiness.

Those who fail to make this distinction, as she does, and intermingle the two concepts, usually end up with confused and contradictory conclusions. Let us read the Scriptures and her writings aright, and thank God for both.

Separation and Redemption

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Separation Brings Unity

We hear a lot about unity today, but I want to look at separation. You will see that separation and redemption brings unity. It is an amazing thing.

Throughout the Word of God, the Bible declares there is no redemption without separation. None! In Genesis 12:1, we find Abraham being called out by God from Ur of the Chaldees to go to the Promised Land. In Exodus 20:1, 2, we find these words: “And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.”

In Matthew 1:21, we have the familiar text of Scripture where Gabriel said, “Thou shalt call His name Jesus: for He shall save His people from their sins.”

Jesus came into this world to separate His people from sin. “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” 2 Corinthians 6:17, 18.

Redemption Demands Separation

There is no redemption without separation. The final call of God to His people will be, “Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins.” Revelation 18:4. From Genesis to Revelation there is a thread that runs through all that God says to His people, and this thread is separation, separation!

God illustrates this separation to which He calls His people by calling them “…a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” 1 Peter 2:9.

Jesus illustrates the work of separation as calling His people out of darkness into light. He separates us from the darkness into the light. There are three truths revealed in this text that we want to look at.

  1. He separates us from darkness. He brings us out of the darkness of sin and error and confusion into the light of truth.
  2. He separates us to show forth His praises. The marginal reference for praises in the King James Version says virtues. God wants to separate us from the darkness of this world and bring us into the light of His truth, so we can show forth His virtues, His goodness to a world that does not have any idea what kind of God we serve.
  3. Separation comes by God! He is the only One who can separate us from the darkness and bring us into the light. All our efforts, no matter how good they might be, will leave us short and still in the darkness without God. God is the only One! He has the power to bring us out of the darkness into the light. There is no redemption without separation.

A Foreign Word

When you look in Webster’s Dictionary under the word separation, you find these singular definitions: “Divide, sever, disunite, isolate, alone.” Separation seems to denote a lot of negatives, and I would suggest to you, that before sin entered this universe the word separation was a foreign word in the language of heaven.

Scripture tells us what heaven was like before sin entered. Everything was in harmony: “And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.” Isaiah 32:17. That is heaven.

Let us look at those words, “the work of righteousness”,—they infer an outward work. We know that righteousness means right doing, doing what is right. In heaven, before sin began, everyone was doing the work of righteousness. They were doing what was right, at the right time, for the right reason.

The foundation for all of God’s righteousness is found in Psalm 119:172, which says, “All Thy commandments are righteousness.” The foundation of all of God’s righteousness, the righteousness of heaven before sin entered, is His Law, His commandments. Every being in heaven, in the vast universe of God’s creation, was in harmony with God’s Law.

It is a wonderful thing to be in harmony with God’s Law. You can see the world from a different perspective if you are in harmony with the Law. All heaven was in harmony with God’s Law, and it brought forth the fruit of righteousness.

The effect of the work of righteousness, and outward revelation of harmony with God’s Law, was quietness. No sound of murmuring or complaining was heard in the courts above, before sin began. Why? Because everyone who was in harmony with God’s Law of righteousness, had quietness within their hearts. They were at peace with God, their Creator, and they were at peace with one another. There was no murmuring; there was no complaining heard.

The effect of righteousness is quietness and assurance. Righteousness brings assurance to your heart. Assurance of what? Assurance that the Creator God loves you as a personal being and that He is no respecter of persons. He loves you the same as He loves me.

Before sin there was an assurance brought forth by this work of righteousness that was in harmony with God’s Law, a personal assurance that all was well. There was no sound of envy. There was no sound of jealousy. There was no striving to be number one. Why? Because the work of righteousness brings not only quietness, but it also brings assurance that you are accepted. Righteousness, God’s righteousness, produced a harmony in heaven before sin entered.

The Sound of Separation

“So long as all created beings acknowledged the allegiance of love, there was perfect harmony throughout the universe of God. It was the joy of the heavenly host to fulfill the purpose of their Creator. They delighted in reflecting His glory and showing forth His praise. And while love to God was supreme, love for one another was confiding and unselfish. There was no note of discord to mar the celestial harmonies.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 35.

And then the next word says, “But!” “But a change came over this happy state.” Ibid. And you and I know all about that change. The word separation was introduced when sin was originated in the mind of a created being. And the word separation brought a sound that was totally foreign to the universe of God.

The sound of separation began with a created being. What was this sound that was so different from anything heaven had ever heard up to that point? “Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.” Ezekiel 28:15.

When you look up the Hebrew definition of the word iniquity, interestingly enough you will find that it means unrighteousness was found in thee. So from the sound of righteousness that was in perfect harmony with God’s Law, now we had another sound, and that was the sound of unrighteousness.

The Sound of Unrighteousness

What does God call this sound of unrighteousness that now was becoming more prevalent in the kingdom of God? “All unrighteousness is sin.” 1 John 5:17. “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the Law: for sin is the transgression of the [God’s] Law.” 1 John 3:4.

So this new sound, the sound of unrighteousness, came into being as a result of choosing to be out of harmony with God’s Law. And to show you how foolish sin is, let me use an example.

There is not one of us who would jump out of a plane with a parachute and half way down cut the parachute away. No, because we respect the physical Law of gravity too much to do that. God wants to help us see that He has this marvelous Law that is filled with His love. Romans 13:10 tells us, “Love is the fulfilling of the Law.” God has filled His Law full with His love. It is for our good.

So now we have this sound of unrighteousness reverberating through the universe. It started with one created being. Separation from God’s Law brings a new sound, the sound of unrighteousness. Isaiah 59:2 tells us of the ultimate separation that takes place as a result of imbibing this new sound. “But your iniquities [What are iniquities? They are unrighteousness. What is unrighteousness? It is sin. What is sin? It is the transgression of God’s Law. It is separating ourselves from God’s Law. Now what do they do?] have separated between you and your God.” That is what takes place when we choose to imbibe the sound of unrighteousness, to listen to unrighteousness and to practice unrighteousness, which is transgressing God’s Law. We have chosen to separate ourselves from the God who created us.

Separation from Sin Reunites Us to God

Now, if separation from God’s Law, or His righteousness, separates us from God, then separation from sin will reunite us to God. Do you see that? The gospel is simple. The only thing that will reunite us to God is separation from sin. And what is sin? Sin is the transgressing of God’s Law. It is our separation from God’s Law.

Matthew 1:21 tells us that Jesus came into this world to save us from sin, from our sins. He came into this world to separate us from sin. If He came to separate us from sin, which is the transgression of God’s Law, then He came to bring us back into harmony with God’s Law!

He is calling us out of the darkness of error, the darkness of unbelief, the darkness of falsehood into the bright light of His truth—if we will receive it, if we will respond. He has the power to separate us from the darkness unto the light. He is the only Being in the entire universe who can separate us, whether we are young or old, from the darkness of sin into the bright light of His righteousness.

Separated from the Darkness into His Light

What is the power that Jesus only can give us, which will help us to be separated from our sins, separated from the darkness into His light? We find our answer in Romans 1:16, 17. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith.”

The power is in His righteousness! The power that we can access is Christ’s righteousness! If we are willing to receive it, it is user friendly.

If the power is in His righteousness, that means that righteousness is also embodied in His Law. “All Thy commandments are righteousness.” Psalm 119:172.

Three Requirements for Power

There are three things necessary for us to access, or to receive and reveal this righteousness, three things in which God is asking us to cooperate with Him so that we might receive His righteousness. In receiving His righteousness, we receive His power, power that will enable us to separate ourselves from the darkness of sin into the light of His truth.

Faith: First is a marvelous promise, but there are tremendous conditions attached. “But without faith it is impossible.” Hebrews 11:6. We can go no further without faith. If we choose to not have faith, it is impossible to be separated from the darkness and to be brought into the light.

God cannot do anything unless we have faith. Faith in what? Faith in His Word. That is the only thing in which God is asking you to have faith. What He has said, He wants us to believe. But if we do not have faith, it is impossible to be separated from sin. Notice the kind of faith that God wants us to have. “But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” Ibid.

Do you have that kind of faith? Can you have that kind of faith? Yes, if you base it on the Word of God, but if you are trying to have that kind of faith based on your feelings or based on your own works, you will fail. It is impossible.

We can have that kind of faith if we simply come to God’s Word, believe what God says, and go no further. Let us stop adding and subtracting. Let us believe what God has said and believe that God means what He says.

That is what He wants from us—to believe that He is and to believe that He is a rewarder of them that diligently, consistently, constantly seek Him, believing that He will reward us according to the promise. Faith is number one, but we see that it has to be a certain kind of faith.

It is the kind of faith that God asks for, not the kind of faith that you and I try to exercise in and of ourselves, apart from Him, having good feelings and occasionally being on a religious high. No, God wants us to be consistent, constant, diligent and faithful. Can we be? Yes, if we are basing it all on His Word, His promises, with nothing added, nothing subtracted.

Obedience (or Works): Second, there is another condition, if we are going to access the righteousness of Jesus. This righteousness of Jesus is the power that is going to enable us to separate ourselves from all sin. Here is the condition: “But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?” James 2:20–22.

So, we need two things; we need faith and works. Now let us consider Hebrews 11:8. Abraham was mentioned as an illustration of someone who had faith with works. Notice what those works were:

“By faith Abraham, [So we know that Abraham had faith, but what are the works?] When he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed.” Do you see any works there? Obedience! God is looking for obedience as the fruit of our faith.

The third necessary item we need to access the righteousness of God, to give us the power to separate from sin, is a motivating influence.

Love: Faith and obedience need a motor. They need a motive, and this is it: “For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.” Galatians 5:6.

There it is. That is the motivating influence. It is the greatest influence that we need to move us to choose to exercise the kind of faith that we saw in Hebrews 11:6 and to work the works that we saw in James 2. We need the motive of love, and there is only one Being who can give us that love. It is the same One who gives us His righteousness—Jesus.

Jesus wants us to have a faith that works by love. How do we get that? Well, in 1 John 4:19, John says, “We love Him, because He first loved us.”

We will never love God until we believe that God loves us. You can have good desires; you can have good intentions; you can have religion. But until you personally believe that God loves you, you will never love Him supremely to the degree that you will have a faith that works and allows Him to separate you from sin and from darkness.

The Price of Redemption

What has Jesus paid to give us an opportunity to choose to be separated from sin? We are going to go right to the heart of the issue. Jesus had been ministering for three and a half years to a people who did not want to be separated from their sins, to a people who had chosen to love darkness rather than light, to a people who would rather hear the sound of unrighteousness than the sound of heaven and its righteousness. For three and a half years Jesus had been separated from every human being, to a great degree, by misunderstanding.

They did not understand Him. Jesus experienced an emotional separation that we can never fully understand. It was part of the price, coming into a world that loved darkness rather than light. And now He is in a garden. “And He went a little further, and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, ‘O My Father, if it be possible,…’”

Was it possible? Oh, yes, it was possible. It was possible, but it would have meant that it would have been impossible for you and for me. Yes, for Jesus it was possible to get up off that ground and go back to heaven. But He would leave us in an impossible situation, because without Him, we would never be separated from sin. Never!

“…let this cup pass from Me: nevertheless not as I will but as Thou wilt.’” Matthew 26:39.

Not My Will, Thine be Done

That is the genuine motive of every true, born-again Christian. “Not as I will but as Thou wilt.” Every temptation, every trial that we go through in life, as professed Christians, should be met with, “Not as I will, but as Thou wilt.”

His humanity is struggling here. “He went a short distance from them, and fell prostrate upon the ground. He felt that by sin He was being separated from the Father.” The gulf between them appeared so broad, so black, so deep, that He shuddered before it.” The Story of Jesus, 102.

Remember that we are talking about separation and redemption. You and I cannot separate the two. There is no redemption without separation. We are seeing the greatest illustration of that in this quote. We cannot fully understand these inspired statements. We cannot fully understand, because we have no idea of the tremendous intimacy that existed between the Father and the Son, and the tremendous love that They have for one another. We can only measure what Jesus went through by understanding the intimacy between the Two.

“Again Christ went away, and prayed that if it were possible this cup might pass from Him. His soul was filled with an overpowering fear of separation from God in consequence of sin. Satan told Him that if He became the Substitute and Surety for a sinful world, He would nevermore be one with God, but would be under his control.” Signs of the Times, June 3, 1897.

The Ultimate Consequence—Separation

This was the strongest, almost overmastering temptation that came to Jesus while on this earth. If there were any being in the universe of God who would best understand the intimacy between the Father and the Son, it would be the being who stood next to Christ in the courts of heaven. His name was Lucifer, Light Bearer. Now he is Satan, the adversary.

The ultimate consequence for Jesus was paying the price to give us an opportunity to be separated from the darkness unto the light. “Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.” Matthew 27:45, 46.

For three hours His cross was clothed in darkness. Three hours during which we have no idea what was transpiring in the heart of Jesus, other than what we have read.

“And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani, that is to say, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” Verse 46.

The separation had taken place. What He feared was now apparently a reality. Do we understand the price Jesus paid? Oh, He wants to help us understand. He wants to help us see clearly so we will be willing to accept His righteousness and allow Him to separate us from all the darkness, from all the sin in this world. Then we can show forth His praises and His virtues.

“But now with the terrible weight of guilt [that] He bears, He cannot see the Father’s reconciling face. The withdrawal of the divine countenance from the Saviour in this hour of supreme anguish pierced His heart with a sorrow that can never be fully understood by man. So great was this agony that His physical pain was hardly felt. Satan with his fierce temptations wrung the heart of Jesus. The Saviour could not see through the portals of the tomb. Hope did not present to Him His coming forth from the grave a conqueror, or tell Him of the Father’s acceptance of the sacrifice. He feared that sin was so offensive to God that their separation was to be eternal.” The Desire of Ages, 753.

Restoring Harmony

It cost so much to give us an opportunity to separate from sin. We will never understand it. “Christ felt the anguish which the sinner will feel when mercy shall no longer plead for the guilty race.” Ibid.

He does not want us to experience what He experienced for us.

“It was the sense of sin bringing the Father’s wrath upon Him as man’s substitute, that made the cup He drank so bitter, and broke the heart of the Son of God.” Ibid.

Separation cost a tremendous price. It cost the Father and the Son everything to give us the opportunity to be separated from the darkness into the light, from our sins into His righteousness, from being out of harmony with God’s Law to being brought back into harmony with heaven’s ways.

It cost everything. Jesus was willing to give everything. Oh, how ashamed we should be when we are hesitant to give Him our sins. All of us have need to grow in faith, in obedience, in love to Him and to allow Him to do the work that He came to do. He came to separate us from our sins.

Now let me ask you a question. How many sins would have brought the separation from the Father upon Jesus? One sin!

What will make us fully His separated people, separated from darkness into the light? “Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith.” Hebrews 12:2. What a wonderful text, inspired by God’s Spirit for those of us who are choosing to cooperate, to be separated from our sins unto His righteousness!

What does it say? “Looking unto Jesus.” He is the only One in all the universe of God, who can help us become separated from the darkness into the light. But we must look to Him. We must have our focus on Him, not upon each other, not upon another man.

Finishing the Good Work

“Looking unto Jesus who is the Author.” What does that mean? He is our beginning; He is the One who is going to author your character, if you allow Him to do that. He wants to finish what He begins, and He will, if we submit. Do you see that in all the works that God has made? Ah, that is a part of His character. Jesus wants to finish the work that He has begun in your heart. If you have never allowed Jesus to begin the work in you, He is inviting you to give Him your approval to begin that work today.

In Luke 9:23, Jesus says, “‘If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.’”

You see, it is not enough to merely look at Jesus. We must follow Him. We will only follow Him if we believe His Word, which He has given us. So when we read His Word and we read the promises, we choose to believe and we choose to act. We have a faith that is motivated by a love that is going to bring forth the fruit of obedience.

God is going to have a separated people, separated from sin in their hearts. That is His people. We can come out physically from apostasy, but unless we have allowed Jesus to come in and separate us from sin, we have not fully come out and been separated from the darkness. Looking unto Jesus and following Him will make us fully His separated people.

Oh, brothers and sisters, let us not allow the separation of Calvary to have been in vain for us! Let us, with renewed faith and determination, choose to not only look to Jesus, but also to follow Him, allowing Him to separate us from all our sins and bring us into harmony with the sound of heaven, even His righteousness! What do you say? “For He saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the day of salvation.” 2 Corinthians 6:2.

The Many and the Few in Adventism, Part I

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We are living in a world in which the real facts are not the same as what appears to be the truth. Ellen White says, “We are living in a most solemn time.” Testimonies, vol. 1, 608, 609. Do you believe that? I personally believe that it is even more solemn than when she wrote it.

We are living in that period of time that the Bible calls the time of the end. We have been in that period now for over 200 years, so people have become used to it. But we are not just in the time of the end now; we are in the end of time. We are living in a most solemn time, because we are living in that period of time when the plan of salvation is going to be completed.

A Solemn Time to be Living

It has always been very serious and very solemn to be alive in this world, because no one ever knows how long they are going to live. If you had talked to any one of the people who have died in recent tragedies, an hour and a half beforehand, they would have had no idea that they were going to die. When Ellen White says we are living in a most solemn time, she is talking about the time of judgment. When judgment is over and probation closes, your eternal destiny is fixed, and it cannot be changed.

In view of that fact, Ellen White said, “In the last vision given me, I was shown the startling fact that but a small portion of those who now profess the truth will be sanctified by it and be saved.” Ibid.

Who are the people who profess the truth? Seventh-day Adventists.

“Many will get above the simplicity of the work. They will conform to the world, cherish idols, and become spiritually dead. The humble, self-sacrificing followers of Jesus will pass on to perfection, leaving behind the indifferent and lovers of the world.” Ibid.

There are several interesting points in that statement. She said that she was shown the startling fact that but few who profess the truth would be sanctified by it and be saved.

But now she talks about the many, the many who will not be saved among those who profess the truth. Well, what is the matter? You know the message of truth, you know the truth for the last days, you know what the Three Angels’ Messages are, you know the Sabbath, you know about the law of God, you know that it is binding on all generations, and you know the times in which we are living.

Will You be Deceived?

A young man from a Seventh-day Adventist home said, “Oh, I will not be deceived! I know that when Christ comes, it is going to be a public event that everybody will see. I will not be deceived by a false coming beforehand.” Listen, even if you know the truth, if you are not sanctified by it, you are going to be deceived. You will be one of the many.

I want to come back to why and how it is that people who know the truth can be deceived. You would think that if you knew the truth, you could not be deceived. But it is not enough to know the truth, you have to be sanctified by it.

As we look at a few of these statements about the many, we find that the many, the majority of those who know the Three Angels’ Messages, will be lost. That is whom she is talking about. She says they will get above the simplicity of the work, and they will conform to the world. Conformity to the world is one of our most dangerous practices in Adventism today.

The Bible gives very specific instruction about this. It says, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Romans 12:2.

The Bible says that people are like sheep. (See 1 Peter 2:25.) I knew a minister one time who said if one sheep finds the hole in the fence, the whole bunch will go through that one hole. People are like that. That is how people become conformed to the world. It is amazing what people will do if they believe that everybody else is doing it. Have you ever noticed that?

If everybody were not doing it, they would say, Well, I would never do a thing like that; I would be embarrassed to do a thing like that. But if everybody else is doing it, they will do it, and they will not even be embarrassed. People are like sheep, and people watch to see what other people are doing. Now, of course, this can be both good and bad. This is the way a child learns. Everything a child learns, he learns first by imitation. That is how a baby learns to talk. That is why, in just a few years, a baby can learn any language in the world. It just imitates what it hears. So this process of imitation is very, very strong through childhood.

Who Controls You?

When people get to be teenagers, they love to think that now they are grown up and they are independent, but they are not nearly as independent as most of them think. They are much more controlled by peer pressure than they have any idea. I have never seen a teenager who was totally independent. I am not saying that there are not any, but teenagers are controlled, to a very great degree, by what they see other people doing around them. The danger is, if everybody around you is doing something that is not right, then you become conformed to what everybody is doing. One time while talking with my son about a certain matter, he said, “But, Dad, everybody is doing it.” He was attending a Seventh-day Adventist school at the time.

I said to him, “If all the people who are doing that burn up in hell someday, do you want to burn up with them?

He said, “No.”

“Well,” I said, “then you had better not do it.”

The Bible tells us to not just look around and become conformed to what everybody else is doing. (See Romans 12:2.) This is what has happened to the morality of the society in which we live, even in the United States. There used to be a time when we demanded that civil servants, the leaders of the people, tell the truth. Not too many decades ago, we forced a President of the United States out of office because it was said that there was proof that he had committed perjury. What is perjury? It is telling a lie. Of course, it has a special definition. When you have given an oath that you are going to tell the truth and then you tell a lie, you have committed perjury. But have you noticed, we do not think perjury is nearly as bad today as we did 25 years ago. What has happened? Everyone is looking at each other, and they are becoming conformed to the world. Wickedness is increasing, and as wickedness increases, people become used to a lower standard of morality.

How Bad Can it Get?

I do not believe that any human being knows how bad it can, or will, get, but I know that Ellen White said that just before the end there are only going to be two kinds of people in the world. (See Mind, Character, and Personality, vol. 1, 29.) There are going to be people who perfectly reflect the image of Jesus Christ, and there are going to be people who perfectly reflect the image of the devil.

They are going to be filled with demons, inspired by demons, speak, talk and act like demons. That is one of the reasons, Paul says, why the righteous are going to rejoice so much when they see the Lord coming to deliver them out of this evil world. (See Testimonies, vol. 9, 11; Great Controversy, 638.)

When Ellen White talks about the many who know the truth, who will not be sanctified by it, who will be lost, one of the first things she mentions is that they will conform to the world.

Becoming Conformed

Maybe you think you are totally independent, but you are not. You are becoming conformed, day by day, to something. You are either becoming conformed day by day to the world, or if you are spending enough time with Jesus, your mind will become conformed to something else. Notice what it says in 2 Corinthians 3:18. “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

What is this talking about? Ellen White mentions this in many places. One place is Patriarchs and Prophets, 91, but there are several other references where she said the same thing. She says that it is a law of the mind, that by beholding we become changed. (See Ibid., 596.) How can you be undeceived and understand the truth?

Let me tell you, friends, if we are spending our time studying, looking, watching, and listening to what is going on in the world, we are going to become conformed to it, because it is a law of the mind. By beholding we become changed. I am frightened, as I visit among God’s people, to find out how much time they are spending looking and watching what is going on in the world, in comparison with how much time they are studying their Bibles and religious books.

I am frightened because I know something. I know it is a law of the mind that by beholding you are going to become changed—period! God is not going to work a miracle to keep His law of the mind from operating. Have you noticed that God does not annul His laws, even if you get hurt by breaking them? He does not do it.

You cannot jump off a cliff and, on the way down, pray hard enough so that you will not get hurt. The law of gravity will still operate. God does not annul His laws. God does not change His laws. When He makes a law, it is in force, and it is a law of the mind that by beholding you will become changed.

Growing Up in Disorder

Why does Ellen White give us so much counsel about country living, about not living in the cities? (See Country Living, 5.) Why does Ellen White say that, if we have children, it would be good for us to have flowers around our home? Why is it important for a child to learn to keep his room neat? Why is it important for us to look trim and neat in our dress? (See Ibid., 531.) Why are all those things important?

One of the main reasons it is so important is because of this law of the mind. If your child grows up in the midst of disorder, what is going to happen when that child is grown? He is going to be used to disorder and not think anything about it. That is what he has beheld in his parental home all the time he was growing up. But it has a lot more parameters than just simple things like that.

I suppose most of you are aware of the fact that there are people in public life in the United States today, who, as a result of what happened in Littleton, Colorado, and in some other places recently, are very concerned about that which our young people are watching and looking. Let me tell you, if you are a young person and you would like to get out of this world and become a part of the 144,000, you are not going to be living the way everyone else lives.

Living Like the World

The 144,000 are going to have a completely opposite character from the characters that are being developed by the multitudes of this world. If you are going to have an opposite character, you have to be looking at something other than they are. What everybody is doing around you does not count. Let us face the absolute, painful truth. The painful truth is, that the people who are around you, doing all these different things, might all burn up in hell fire. That is the truth.

I remember several years ago when I was in the church in Keene, Texas, I was standing out in the hall, and I heard some of the leaders in the church talking about the young people and young people’s activities. I do not even know what they were talking about, except I did overhear a comment made by a very godly woman with whom I am acquainted. She said to the other church leaders in the group, “But, after they do these things, what good is it going to do if they burn up when Jesus comes? I believe that we are living in this most solemn time and we need to think very, very clearly about why we are doing what we are doing and what kind of lives we are living.

We have been told that the great majority, even of Seventh-day Adventists, are going to lose out. Why? Because they are going to be deceived.

I will introduce one of the most basic principles in regard to deception for you to think about.

Remember, the devil is a master deceiver. The focal point of the devil’s deceptions, today, is not the world at large. He already has them. Today, the focal point of the devil’s deceptions is Seventh-day Adventists and historic Seventh-day Adventists.

Deceived and in Darkness

There is one basic, fundamental, elemental truth about deception that you must understand, and that is that when you are deceived, you do not know it. Do you understand why that is true? Because, just as soon as you know it, you are not deceived anymore. Am I deceived about anything? Whatever I am deceived about, I do not know it. Are you deceived about something? Well, whatever you are deceived about, you do not know either, because as soon as you know, you are no longer deceived.

We are living in a time when the great majority of Seventh-day Adventists, right now, are deceived about a number of things. I am not talking about in the future—I am talking about right now!

It is not because I can read their minds. I am not saying what is in the heart or what is the motive and character. I am not judging that. I do not have to. All I have to do is look at the fruit of the tree. Jesus said, by their fruits you can tell.
(See Matthew 7:20.) The fruit shows that the majority of our people are deceived, and they are deceived about some very basic issues.

There are people who think they can look at anything, read anything, watch anything, listen to anything, and still be all right. They say it is just entertainment. By beholding, the mind becomes changed. It does not matter whether it is entertainment or not, it is worldly conformity.

Now just so nobody will misunderstand, let me clarify one thing. We do not attempt to be different from the world on any point just to be different. If there is nothing wrong with something that the world is doing, we can do it too. If it is righteous, if it is in harmony with the Law of God, we can do it, and if the rest of the world is doing it, that is fine.

The Things on Which We Feed

The problem is, that is not the way it is. This is especially the case with young people—the younger you are, the faster your mind becomes changed into conformity with whatever you are viewing. Are you spending enough time studying inspired writings so that your mind is becoming changed into the image of Jesus Christ?

The Bible is the Word of God, the whole book. The last book in the Bible is called “The Revelation of Jesus Christ,” but the whole book is a revelation of Jesus Christ. Are you spending enough time in this book so that something is being changed in your mind?

You say, Pastor John, you do not realize how busy I am. Maybe I should say to you, You do not realize how busy I am. Did you know that the preachers and church elders also have to struggle to get time to study the Word of God? Did you know that we have to do the same thing you have to do? We are living in busy times.

At the beginning of every day I take a pen or pencil, and I write down on paper a list of the things that I need to get done that day. I almost never get them all done. We are all busy, but no matter how busy a person is, everybody takes time to eat, because they know that if they do not eat, they will die.

Spiritual Death

That is the way it is with your spirit. It is not enough to listen to the preached word on Sabbath morning or even in prayer meeting. It is not enough to simply hear the Word of God through the medium of a preacher or teacher. As good as that is, and God ordained that it should be done, that is not enough. If you do not take time to study the Word of God, you will die spiritually. Ellen White stated over and over again that it was God’s will for every single person to study the Bible for himself. (See Sabbath School Worker, December 1, 1892.)

There are so many aspects of world conformity that are happening in Adventism today. Let me just mention one. We are not even going to get into the things that are often mentioned in regard to diet, dress, entertainment, recreation and many things like that. Those things are all applicable. But we are living in a world where worldly philosophy is taking hold of a large number of God’s people, and the Bible has something very specific to say about this.

“Beware lest anyone cheat you [that is, plunder you or take you captive] through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.” Colossians 2:8. It says, Watch out lest you be cheated. Cheated out of what? Cheated out of your eternal inheritance, because you have been learning the basic principles of the world—empty deceit and philosophy and the traditions of men.

What is this philosophy, the traditions of men, the teachings of the world? What is this? It has many aspects and, of course, it changes with time, to some extent.

We are living in a world today where, more and more, it is becoming the philosophy that nobody should say anything bad about anybody, no matter what they do. Reproof or rebuke is totally out of vogue today. Nobody is supposed to be rebuked or reproved for anything, and anybody who does this is told that they are not Christ-like. I have often thought, as I have heard such talk, if Jesus were here in person, He would be told that He is not Christ-like.

Are You Politically Correct?

Of course, that is precisely what He was told when He was here. They told Him, We know that you have a devil. (See John 8.) Let us think that principle through just a little bit. “I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth.” 1 John 2:21.

Notice, the Bible teaches that there is such a thing as the truth and there is such a thing as a lie, and you cannot mix them together. So if I am deceived on some point, it does not matter what it is, when I hear the truth, it is not going to agree with what I formerly thought.

We are living in a time when we are not to hurt anyone’s feelings by telling them something that is different than what they think or believe. We even have laws and treaties about that. The day is coming, I believe very soon, when governments of the world, by means of these treaties, will make it illegal to preach the Three Angels’ Messages, because you are not supposed to say anything to which anybody could take offense.

This sort of thinking has greatly affected Seventh-day Adventists. I remember the first time I ran into this was over 20 years ago. A Seventh-day Adventist preacher and I were talking about Revelation 14:9–11.

He said, “Well, I just cannot preach that. Do you know what those verses say?”

I thought, this is very interesting. You are an Adventist preacher, and you cannot preach the Third Angel’s Message. That is the truth for which we stand. That is what we are all about. We are living in a time when, to be conformable to this world, we must not say anything that might hurt someone’s feelings.

Now, please do not misunderstand. Jesus was a Person who never gave needless pain to a sensitive soul, and we should practice that same principle. We should be sure that we have no unsympathetic spirit or hardness in our character or our voice when we teach people the truth, especially when it is a testing truth that is going to determine their eternal salvation. We should pray and ask the Lord for tact like the apostle Paul and Jesus had when we tell people the truth, so they will be attracted to the truth because of the way it is presented. We should do all of those things, but after we have done them, that does not give us permission to not tell the truth.

Unwilling to Proclaim the Message

We are living in a time when more and more Seventh-day Adventists are being conformed to the world to an extent that they are not willing to proclaim the Three Angels’ Messages anymore. Those who still have a conviction that they must proclaim these messages to the world are being persecuted by the organized Seventh-day Adventist Church today. It is quite a time in which to be living, when God’s professed people are persecuting the true church.

I started asking myself many years ago, Where is this going to end? I do not claim to be a prophet. I am not here to tell you exactly how it is going to end, but, if you want to be one of the few who is sanctified by the truth, who is ready to meet Jesus, and not lose your soul with the many in the Adventist Church, whom Mrs. White wrote about, you need to be studying day by day. You need to pray, Lord, help me not to be conformed to this world. When people become conformed to this world, they are afraid to proclaim the Three Angels’ Messages anymore. It is worldly conformity that has silenced the voice of the church so that the messages of the Three Angels are not being proclaimed with a loud voice to all the world, like the prophecy says is to be done. I want to tell you, friends, if we do not do it, the rocks will cry out, and the Lord will finish the work with somebody else. (See A New Life: Revival and Beyond, 62.) Worldly conformity has silenced the voice of the great majority of Seventh-day Adventists today.

When the papal visit occurred in St. Louis a few years ago, there were some people who were very upset that there were groups of Seventh-day Adventists going there to hand out literature. One of them sent a letter appealing to the General Conference to some way force the groups not to do what they were doing—a very interesting thing to do for someone who claims to be an historic Seventh-day Adventist. I was interested to find out what this person thought should be done. He thought the groups ought to pass out Steps to Christ, The Desire of Ages, or Ministry of Healing, but not The National Sunday Law or The Great Controversy.

I do not understand the human heart. I do not understand how people get all the different ideas about how to do what they think should be done. Incidentally, this same person was not in St. Louis passing out The Desire of Ages, Ministry of Healing or Steps to Christ. He thought that the people there should be doing that, but he was not there to do it.

Setting Up the Image

Friends, do you believe that the image to the beast is being set up in the United States today and that we are very close to the end of the world? Do you think that Seventh-day Adventists have more to do than teach people how to fix a good breakfast? I believe in good, healthful breakfasts, and I have taught a lot of people how to fix one, but that is not the sum and substance of our work. It is very similar to what happened in the days of Christ and the apostles. You can read about it in books like Sketches from the Life of Paul.

In the apostolic church there was a large Judaizing party. This party even had an influence with 11 of the 12 apostles. The one person they were never able to influence was the apostle Paul. It says in Acts of the Apostles, 199, 200, that the apostle Paul often had to stand alone. Mrs. White is talking about standing alone in relation to the other apostles. Now that is quite a position to be in, is it not?

The Focused Christian

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“And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto Him, Lord, I will follow Thee whithersoever Thou goest. And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay His head. And He said unto another, Follow Me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. And another also said, Lord, I will follow Thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” Luke 9:57–62.

How to be Focused

Jesus was recruiting disciples. He was asking them to follow Him, and they were giving Him one excuse after another why they needed to hesitate in following Him. Did Jesus tell us that we should not bury our dead in this text? No. Does Jesus tell us that we should not return to our families and bid them farewell as we leave to follow Him? Is that what He is saying? No.

Jesus is saying, I want you to be focused. I want you to be as focused as the farmer who puts his hand to the plough and begins to put a furrow in his field.

I was raised in the city, and I did not know anything about this, until I read a story about a farmer who was plowing a field. Somehow or other he did not watch his mark, and the furrow was very crooked.

Do you wonder how furrows are kept straight? Farmers set their gaze upon a fence post, or some object in the distance, and they aim right at it. If they are constantly looking back over their shoulder wondering how the furrow is doing, eventually it is going to be crooked. So Jesus draws an illustration from daily life once again.

What is He saying to us? I want you, My disciple, to choose to follow Me. I want you to be focused on Me.

Serving Two Masters?

How do we in our Christian experience maintain that focus on Jesus Christ? Jesus warned us about not being focused. “The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” Matthew 6:22–24.

We can get out of focus by trying to serve two masters. We cannot serve the world and serve Jesus Christ at the same time. It is impossible. When we seek to do that, all the light that we have becomes darkness. It matters not how much light we have, if we are compromising in our hearts, all the theory of truth becomes darkness to us; it means nothing to anyone around us. The influence is darkness, not light. If we are choosing to serve two masters, we are going to be so out of focus that we will become involved in things that God does not sanction. This is why Jesus wants His followers to be focused.

“He who does not give himself wholly to God is under the control of another power, listening to another voice, whose suggestions are of an entirely different character.” The Mount of Blessing, 94. One thing we must understand is that with God it is all or nothing at all—either we are focused or we are out of focus.

Three Areas of Concern

If we are seeking to serve two masters, we are told that we are listening to another voice, a voice other than the Master’s. That other voice seeks to influence us in at least three areas of life.

“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” 1 John 2:15, 16.

A terrible example of this is found in the Word of God in the life of Samson. A tremendous fall awaited this man because he loved flesh more than he loved God. The first area identified in this text is the “lust of the flesh,” the passions and the appetites that all of us possess with our fallen human nature. We cannot trust our desires apart from the sanctifying influence of God’s Word and Holy Spirit. We cannot trust our appetites. We cannot trust our own understanding of things.

That other voice will seek to lead us to lust after the flesh, to become involved in things that are contrary to God’s work in our hearts, a work of character building, a work of transforming us into the image of Christ.

The second area is the “lust of the eyes,” or covetousness. What we see, we want. Ananias and Saphira, in the New Testament, exhibited this sin. When they saw the amount of money they received from the sale of their property, they coveted the money they had pledged to God. That is one area where the other voice is going to lead us.

Then there is “the pride of life,” loving our own way. We think our way is the best way, the only way, the right way.

Examples From the Bible

We can draw from examples in the Bible in regard to this sin. Consider Cain in the beginning. His experience was one of wanting his own way. He thought his way was better than God’s way. He was giving in to the pride of life.

Lucifer, a perfect created being, did the same thing in heaven. We are not perfect, and we are more prone to pride of life, to wanting our own way, to believing that our way is the best way than were the angels in heaven before they fell. We are told, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Proverbs 14:12. When we go down this road, Satan well knows what the end is for us.

If we are choosing to serve two masters, we are going to be so out of focus that we will become involved in things that God does not sanction. The light that is in us will become darkness.

An Absolute Principle

There is an absolute principle which takes place in our lives when we are focused. “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2 Corinthians 3:18.

What a wonderful principle that is. If we are focused and beholding Him, we will become like Him. But if we are out of focus, the same principle works—we become like that which we behold. You see, to be out of focus is to be focused on something other than that which God wants for us. There is a principle of beholding involved, when we talk about focus. All things that we behold, whether it is good or evil, we will become. “By beholding we become changed. By the indulgence of impure thoughts man can so educate his mind that sin, which he once loathed, will become pleasant to him. Satan is using every means to make crime and debasing vice popular. We cannot walk the streets of our cities without encountering flaring notices of crime presented in some novel, or to be acted at some theater. The mind is educated to familiarity with sin. The course pursued by the base and vile is kept before the people in the periodicals of the day, and everything that can excite passion is brought before them in exciting stories. They hear and read so much of debasing crime that the once tender conscience, which would have recoiled with horror from such scenes, becomes hardened, and they dwell upon these things with greedy interest.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 459. [Emphasis supplied.]

Is it any different in our time? That was written 100 years ago, as Ellen White looked out over the social structure of America. We live in a time that is fully corrupt. God is not waiting for the world to get worse; He is waiting for His people to get better. This world is ready for the coming of Jesus Christ, and He will come when He has His people ready. We will never be ready unless we are focused, and we cannot be focused on Jesus until we unfocus ourselves from the things of this world.

Tabloids, Radio, and TV

Some of us are reading material that should not be read; we are listening to things that should not be heard, and we are watching things that should not be seen.

When you walk past the grocery check-out counter, what kind of publications do you see there? The pictures alone should tell you that the content of such publications do not fall into the categories of Philippians 4:8, which admonishes us to think on what is “true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and of good report.” And what about that radio? If you want to be out of focus, just listen to the talk shows, the sporting events and the questionable music that seemingly pervades the whole of radio programming today. Also, all of us should be aware that the reading of novels and theater going is not conducive to growing in the graces of the Christian life. And what about TV? Ten years ago I pulled the plug on my television set, being convicted that I was not only wasting my time, but I was wasting my mind.

Brothers and sisters, it is time for us to start asking, “What would Jesus do?” And “What would Jesus want me to do?” It is God alone who can give us the wisdom to know what is right from wrong in these matters, and also give us the power to do what is right! Let us stop compromising God’s truth and start obeying it! What do you say?

Out of Focus with Good Things?

We have seen that bad things can take us out of focus, but did you know that even good things can put us out of focus?

Consider an experience that Jesus had with Martha and Mary in Bethany. “Now it came to pass, as they went, that He entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard His word. But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to Him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things.” Luke 10:38–41.

Who was in focus in this experience? Was it Mary or Martha? Mary was in focus; Martha was out of focus. Martha was cumbered. What does that word mean? It means to overload or burden one’s self. Can we overload ourselves with good things? Can we place ourselves out of focus with Him while we are doing good? Oh, yes!

Jesus is going to surprise many some day when He says to many professed Christians, “Many shall come to Me in that day and say, Lord, Lord,” did we not do, did we not do, did we not do? And He is going to say to them, “Depart from Me I never knew you, you workers of iniquity.” (See Matthew 7:21–23.)

Brothers and sisters, God wants us to be focused. Even the good things and the necessary things will, if we overload ourselves, put us out of focus. We may not be watching television; we may not be listening to those radio programs, and we may not be reading novels, periodicals, or tabloids, but we have overloaded ourselves to the point that we are out of focus. We justify it all on the basis that it is religious work. Remember, the people to whom Jesus says “Depart from Me, I never knew you,” were not involved in secular work, they were involved in His work.

Running To and Fro

Daniel 12:4 describes the world in which we live, the world that God foresaw in Daniel’s time. God, through Daniel, was looking at our day. That is the kind of world that heaven sees. “But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.”

Are we living in that time? Is knowledge increasing? Yes. Can you keep up with it? No. The brightest minds in this world cannot keep up with the knowledge that is increasing day by day, week by week, and month by month. We are experiencing an explosion of knowledge and of technology. Daniel recorded that this would happen in the time of the end, just before Jesus comes again.

Daniel also wrote that society would be running to and fro. There is a spiritual application to this in regard to the study of God’s Word, that men would begin studying God’s Word to and fro, but there is another application. This refers to the kind of society that would be formed by the increase of knowledge, and it would be a society where you could fly from one nation to another in a matter of hours. The whole world would become a neighborhood.

I would suggest that too many of God’s people are seeking to keep pace, running to and fro, with a world that has gone crazy. We live in a complex society today, and much of it is due to the fast pace in which we live. Jesus brings simplicity out of complexity. He can simplify our lives so we can be focused on Him and what He wants us to be doing, instead of running to and fro, following the world.

Simplifying Life’s Complexities

Jesus gives us a key to simplify life’s complexities. Here is the solution: “But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:42. One thing is needful. What was the one thing upon which Martha needed to get refocused and to stay focused? “The ‘one thing’ that Martha needed was a calm, devotional spirit, a deeper anxiety for knowledge concerning the future, immortal life, and the graces necessary for spiritual advancement. She needed less anxiety for the things which pass away, and more for those things which endure forever.” The Desire of Ages, 525.

Every one of us has that need. God simplifies things for us, if we allow Him to come into our lives and do it. God runs the whole universe on a handful of laws. He can simplify your life, but you have to be willing to take off and to put on the things that are necessary to do that.

Three Simple Steps to Gain Focus

Jesus gives us three steps to get us focused and to get our lives simplified:

“Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28. Rest? That is an oasis in this society.

Rest and peace only come by receiving Christ’s righteousness. “Come unto Me.” That is the first step. We must come. Every one of these steps is a choice that we must make. “Come unto Me,” Jesus said. Now when we come, we “must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6.

2 “Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me.…” Matthew 11:29. A yoke is something that you put on two oxen so they will work together. Jesus says, “Take My yoke.” He wants us to labor with Him! We will never learn of Him unless we take His yoke. He continues, “For I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” 1 John 5:3 says, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His command-ments: and His commandments are not grievous.” The yoke is the law of God. When we allow God’s law to be written upon our hearts, we become focused with Him; we are able to be laborers together with Him.

The first two decisions that you and I must make, if we are to have a focused Christianity, are come and take.

3 Jesus says, “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” Luke 9:23. So this focusing has to be a daily experience.

To keep focused we are going to have to say no to self. Self is our greatest enemy! We must say no, if we are going to keep Him in view. We have to say no to those things that we know will put us out of focus. We must say no, not only to the bad things but to some of the good things.

Jesus’ Example

Jesus took the first step, and now He asks us to take it too. He says, Come. Did He come? Oh, yes, He came to a world that did not receive Him, even knowing the kind of reception that awaited Him. Did He take a yoke? He took the cross, that was ours, and He died for us on our cross. Did He follow, as He has asked us to follow? He said, in the Garden, Not My will, but Thine be done.” (See Matthew 26:39.) He followed His Father’s will precisely. Jesus is not asking us to do something that He has not already done. What a marvelous God we have! Do you want to see Him face to face someday? We are not going to be in heaven unless we are focused on Him today.

Three steps have been given that we can take to become focused, or to become refocused, and to stay focused, but Jesus narrowed it down even more, to two: “Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked Him a question, tempting Him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” Matthew 22:35–40.

On these two commandments hang the salvation of man, two great commandments—love to God supremely, and love to our brothers and sisters. Does this simplify life? Oh, yes, anything outside of this is going to find us out of focus.

Sitting First at Jesus’ Feet

What will happen when we choose to be focused in our Christian experience with Jesus Christ? “There is a wide field for the Marthas, with their zeal in active religious work. But let them first sit with Mary at the feet of Jesus. Let diligence, promptness, and energy be sanctified by the grace of Christ; then the life will be an unconquerable power for good.” The Desire of Ages, 525.

Is that the kind of life you want to live for God, “unconquerable power for good”? That is possible only if we choose to be focused in the direction to which He is pointing us.

About the Marthas who choose to allow themselves to be focused, God says, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in His law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” Psalm 1:1–3.

Here is a man who says no to those things that are corrupt and bad, who does not listen to the radio programs, who does not watch the television programs, who does not read novels. Is this person focused? Yes!

Paul’s words should be the motto of every true Christian, and they will be the motto of Christians who are focused. “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13, 14.

You can see the allusion to the farmer, looking to the mark ahead, forgetting what is behind, keeping his eyes on the mark ahead. He is saying, I do not think about the past, I am looking at the mark. What is the mark? Where are we to focus? “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.…” Hebrews 12:2.

One Interest Prevailed

I am encouraged that what God has begun in us, He is able to finish. This set the world on fire in the first century, among God’s people. “One interest prevailed; one subject of emulation swallowed up all others. The ambition of the believers was to reveal the likeness of Christ’s character, [that was their ambition, their goal, their mark] and to labor for the enlargement of His kingdom.” Acts of the Apostles, 48.

Two things: to become more like Jesus and to share His truths and His love with others. It is pretty simple, is it not? “Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize.” Philippians 3:13, 14. What is the prize? Heaven! Yes, heaven with Jesus and the redeemed throughout all eternity! Then let us now determine to be His focused people who shall someday hear the words, “Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Matthew 25:34.

The King is Coming

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I want to alert you to the fact that the King is coming; not an earthly king, but Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords.

Our world of turmoil tells us that Jesus’ coming is near—Bible prophecies are just about all fulfilled. The information in this article is to alert us to the shortness of time and to the urgent need of getting our lives in order now, without delay, before it is too late to do so. This is an emergency situation—we must get our lives in order. Where we spend eternity is our own personal choice. Now is the day of salvation!

Yes, the King is coming—Jesus the Saviour of the World. John 14:3 tells us, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”

“And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” Luke 21: 28. “Yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry.” Hebrews 10:37.

The tarryng time is about up. Why? One of the best predictions about Jesus’ soon return is found in Matthew 24:14: “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”

“We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us, and His teaching in our past history.” Life Sketches, 196.

God, through His Word and through His messenger, Ellen White, gave us full warning how we can know the nearness of the return of Jesus.

The Last Crisis

We are living in the time of the end. The fast-fulfilling signs of the times declare that the coming of Christ is near at hand. The days in which we live are solemn and important. The Spirit of God is gradually but surely being withdrawn from the earth. Plagues and judgments are already falling upon the despisers of the grace of God. The calamities by land and sea, the unsettled state of society, the alarms of war, are portentous. They forecast approaching events of the greatest magnitude.

The agencies of evil are combining their forces and consolidating. They are strengthening for the final crisis. Great changes are soon to take place in our world, and the final movements will be rapid ones.

The condition of things in the world shows that troublesome times are right upon us. The daily papers are full of indications of a terrible conflict in the near future. Bold robberies are of frequent occurrence. Strikes are common. Thefts and murders are committed on every hand. Men possessed of demons are taking the lives of men, women, and little children. Men have become infatuated with vice, and every species of evil prevails.

The enemy has succeeded in perverting justice and in filling men’s hearts with the desire for selfish gain. “‘Justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.’” Isaiah 59:14. In the great cities there are multitudes living in poverty and wretchedness, well-nigh destitute of food, shelter, and clothing; while in the same cities are those who have more than heart could wish, who live luxuriously, spending their money on richly furnished houses, on personal adornment, or worse still, upon the gratification of sensual appetites, upon liquor, tobacco, and other things that destroy the powers of the brain, unbalance the mind, and debase the soul. The cries of starving humanity are coming up before God, while by every species of oppression and extortion men are piling up colossal fortunes.…

“No earthly power can stay the hand of God. No material can be used in the erection of buildings that will preserve them from destruction when God’s appointed time comes to send retribution on men for their disregard of His law and for their selfish ambition.

“There are not many, even among educators and statesmen, who comprehend the causes that underlie the present state of society. Those who hold the reins of government are not able to solve the problem of moral corruption, poverty, pauperism, and increasing crime. They are struggling in vain to place business operations on a more secure basis. If men would give more heed to the teaching of God’s word, they would find a solution of the problems that perplex them.” Testimonies, vol. 9, 12, 13.

Conditions in the Cities

“There is coming rapidly and surely an almost universal guilt upon the inhabitants of the cities because of the steady increase of determined wickedness. We are living in the midst of an ‘epidemic of crime’ at which thoughtful, God-fearing men everywhere stand aghast. The corruption that prevails is beyond the power of the human pen to describe. Every day brings fresh revelations of political strife, bribery, and fraud; every day brings its heartsickening record of violence and lawlessness, of indifference to human suffering; of brutal, fiendish destruction of human life. Every day testifies to the increase of insanity, murder, and suicide.

“The cities of today are fast becoming like Sodom and Gomorrah. Holidays are numerous; the whirl of excitement and pleasure attracts thousands from the sober duties of life. The exciting sports—theatergoing, horse racing, gambling, liquor drinking and reveling—stimulate every passion to activity.

“The youth are swept away by the popular current. Those who learn to love amusement for its own sake open the door to a flood of temptations. They give themselves up to social gaiety and thoughtless mirth. They are led on from one form of dissipation to another, until they lose both the desire and the capacity for a life of usefulness. Their religious aspirations are chilled; their spiritual life is darkened. All the nobler faculties of the soul, all that link man with the spiritual world, are debased.…

“Even the church, which should be the pillar and ground of the truth, is found encouraging a selfish love of pleasure. When money is raised for religious purposes, to what means do many churches resort? To bazaars, suppers, fancy fairs, even to lotteries and like devices. Often the place set apart for God’s worship is desecrated by feasting and drinking, buying, selling, and merrymaking. Respect for the house of God and reverence for His worship are lessened in the minds of the youth. The barriers of self-restraint are weakened. Selfishness, appetite, the love of display, are appealed to, and they strengthen as they are indulged.” Ibid., 89-91.

The Meaning of Conversion

“If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 11 Corinthians 5:17.

“The old nature, born of blood and the will of the flesh, cannot inherit the kingdom of God. The old ways, the hereditary tendencies, the former habits, must be given up; for grace is not inherited. The new birth consists in having new motives, new tastes, new tendencies. Those who are begotten unto a new life by the Holy Spirit, have become partakers of the divine nature, and in all their habits and practices they will give evidence of their relationship to Christ. When men who claim to be Christians retain all their natural defects of character and disposition, in what does their position differ from that of the worldling? They do not appreciate the truth as a sanctifier, a refiner. They have not been born again.…

“A genuine conversion changes hereditary and cultivated tendencies to wrong. The religion of God is a firm fabric, composed of innumerable threads, and woven together with tact and skill. Only the wisdom which comes from God can make this fabric complete. There are a great many kinds of cloth which at first have a fine appearance, but they cannot endure the test. They wash out. The colors are not fast. Under the heat of summer they fade away and are lost. The cloth cannot endure rough handling.

“So it is with the religion of many. When the warp and woof of character will not stand the test of trial, the material of which it is composed is worthless. The efforts made to patch the old with a new piece do not better the condition of things; for the old, flimsy material breaks away from the new, leaving the rent much larger than before. Patching will not do. The only way is to discard the old garment altogether, and procure one entirely new.

“Christ’s plan is the only safe one. He declares, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’ ‘If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.’…The patchwork religion is not of the least value with God. He requires the whole heart.

“Jesus gave His life…for us, and shall we not give Him our best affections, our holiest aspirations, our fullest service?” Maranatha, 237.

Sanctification

Is it necessary to be a sanctified person? Let us take a look.

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.…The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work… Exodus 20:8–10.

“God has declared in His Word that the seventh day is a sign between Him and His chosen people—a sign of their loyalty.…

“The seventh day is God’s chosen day. He has not left this matter to be remodeled by priest or ruler. It is of too great importance to be left to human judgment. God saw that men would study their own convenience, and choose a day best suited to their inclinations, a day bearing no divine authority; and He has stated plainly that the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord.

“Every man in God’s world is under the laws of His government. God has placed the Sabbath in the bosom of the Decalogue, and has made it the criterion of obedience. Through it we may learn of His power, as displayed in His works and His Word.…

“Men could not place themselves more decidedly in opposition to God’s work and to His law than by upholding a day that is without one evidence of sanctity, and professing to worship Him on that day. Those who have corrupted the law by substituting a false sabbath for the holy Sabbath of God, and who compel the observance of this false sabbath, exalt themselves above God, and honor the spurious above the genuine.

“Sanctification is claimed by professed Christians who ignore God’s holy rest day for a spurious sabbath, But God declares that the sanctification coming from Him is bestowed on those only who honor Him by obeying His commands. The sanctification claimed by those who continue in transgression is a spurious sanctification. Thus the religious world is deceived by the enemy of God and man.…

“Men have sought out many inventions. They have taken a common day, upon which God has placed no sanctity, and have clothed it with sacred prerogatives. They have declared it to be a holy day, but this does not give it a vestige of sanctity. They dishonor God by accepting human institutions and presenting to the world as the Christian Sabbath a day which has no ‘Thus saith the Lord’ for its authority.” Ibid., 238.

Thought to Consider

How many believe there was a George Washington? Abraham Lincoln? Martin Luther? Adolph Hitler? How do we know they lived, existed? One would probably respond, “Have you not read history books?” My response would be that I have read history books, but why has mankind been reluctant to consider the greatest history book ever, the Bible, which not only covers history but explains the present and the future?

The Bible is the only book that contains all information needed to secure eternal life. The Bible contains much history that is necessary for one to know. Knowing the failures of mankind in the past is beneficial for us to understand the present time and what the future outcome will be, if God is not respected and obeyed.

The Book of Life

Revelation 20:12–15 speaks of the Book of Life. “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”

“When we become children of God, our names are written in the Lamb’s book of life, and they remain there until the time of the investigative Judgment. Then the name of every individual will be called, and his record examined by Him who declares, ‘I know thy works.’ If in that day it shall appear that all our wicked deeds have not been fully repented of, our names will be blotted from the book of life, and our sins will stand against us.’” Signs of the Times, August 6, 1855.

“Moses manifested his great love for Israel in his entreaty to the Lord to forgive their sin, or blot his name out of the book which He had written. His intercessions here illustrate Christ’s love and mediation for the sinful race. But the Lord refused to let Moses suffer for the sins of His backsliding people. He declared to him that those who had sinned against Him He would blot out of His book which He had written; for the righteous should not suffer for the guilt of the sinner. The book here referred to is the book of records in Heaven, in which every name is inscribed, and the acts of all, their sins, and obedience, are faithfully written. When individuals commit sins which are too grievous for the Lord to pardon, their names are erased from the book, and they are devoted to destruction.” Ibid., May 27, 1880.

As you read this material and, on a daily basis, see the happenings in the daily news, would you not agree that the King of the universe has to come to put an end to this troubled planet?

Are you ready for Jesus’ soon return? Are you determined to get ready—stay ready? Friend, Jesus is coming soon, because the predictions of Matthew 24 are all just about fulfilled, especially verse 14. Study this chapter carefully. May God bless you with His help as you study this chapter and this article, so you may be ready for the soon return of our King of kings and Lords of lords. Eternal life is at stake. Let us not allow Satan to take it from us. Satan has nothing worthwhile to offer.

Satan would rather for us to have a form of religion than to have a true conversion experience.

The Great Controversy, 378, 379, relates to this matter in this manner: “It suits the policy of Satan that men should retain the forms of religion if but the spirit of vital godliness is lacking. After their rejection of the gospel, the Jews continued zealously to maintain their ancient rites, they rigorously preserved their national exclusiveness, while they themselves could not but admit that the presence of God was no longer manifest among them. The prophecy of Daniel pointed so unmistakably to the time of Messiah’s coming, and so directly foretold His death, that they discouraged its study, and finally the rabbis pronounced a curse on all who should attempt a computation of the time. In blindness and impenitence the people of Israel during succeeding centuries have stood, indifferent to the gracious offers of salvation, unmindful of the blessings of the gospel, a solemn and fearful warning of the danger of rejecting light from heaven.

“Wherever the cause exits, the same results will follow. He who deliberately stifles his convictions of duty because it interferes with his inclinations will finally lose the power to distinguish between truth and error. The understanding becomes darkened, the conscience callous, the heart hardened, and the soul is separated from God. Where the message of divine truth is spurned or slighted, there the church will be enshrouded in darkness; faith and love grow cold, and estrangement and dissension enter. Church members center their interests and energies in worldly pursuits, and sinners become hardened in their impenitence.

“The First Angel’s Message of Revelation 14, announcing the hour of God’s judgment and calling upon men to fear and worship Him, was designed to separate the professed people of God from the corrupting influences of the world and to arouse them to see their true condition of worldliness and backsliding. In this message, God had sent to the church a warning, which, had it been accepted, would have corrected the evils that were shutting them away from Him. Had they received the message from heaven, humbling their hearts before the Lord and seeking in sincerity a preparation to stand in His presence, the Spirit and power of God would have been manifested among them. The church would again have reached that blessed state of unity, faith, and love which existed in apostolic days, when the believers ‘were of one heart and of one soul,’ and ‘spake the word of God with boldness,’ when ‘the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.’ Acts 4:32, 31; 2:47.

“If God’s professed people would receive the light as it shines upon them from His word, they would reach that unity for which Christ prayed, that which the apostle describes, ‘the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.’ ‘There is,’ he says, ‘one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism.’” Ephesians 4:3–5.” [“One” emphasized in original.]

How tragic it would be if we, or those we love, should be unprepared for the Second Coming of our Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, let us study the Bible prophecies for ourselves so that we will not be deceived by any false Messiah, but rather, be ready for the real Lord Jesus when He comes in the clouds soon!

Signs of the Times

In Testimonies, vol. 9, 12–14, Ellen White wrote: “On one occasion, when in New York City, I was in the night season called upon to behold buildings rising story after story toward heaven. These buildings were warranted to be fireproof, and they were erected to glorify their owners and builders. Higher and still higher these buildings rose, and in them the most costly material was used. Those to whom these buildings belonged were not asking themselves: ‘How can we best glorify God?’ The Lord was not in their thoughts.

“I thought: ‘Oh, that those who are thus investing their means could see their course as God sees it! They are piling up magnificent buildings, but how foolish in the sight of the Ruler of the universe is their planning and devising. They are not studying with all the powers of heart and mind how they may glorify God. They have lost sight of this, the first duty of man.’

“As these lofty buildings went up, the owners rejoiced with ambitious pride that they had money to use in gratifying self and provoking the envy of their neighbors. Much of the money that they thus invested had been obtained through exaction, through grinding down the poor. They forgot that in heaven an account of every business transaction is kept; every unjust deal, every fraudulent act, is there recorded. The time is coming when in their fraud and insolence men will reach a point that the Lord will not permit them to pass, and they will learn that there is a limit to the forbearance of Jehovah.

“The scene that next passed before me was an alarm of fire. Men looked at the lofty and supposedly fireproof buildings and said: ‘They are perfectly safe.’ But these buildings were consumed as if made of pitch. The fire engines could do nothing to stay the destruction. The firemen were unable to operate the engines.

“I am instructed that when the Lord’s time comes, should no change have taken place in the hearts of proud, ambitious human beings, men will find that the hand that had been strong to save will be strong to destroy. No earthly power can stay the hand of God. No material can be used in the erection of buildings that will preserve them from destruction when God’s appointed time comes to send retribution on men for their disregard of His law and for their selfish ambition.

“There are not many, even among educators and statesmen, who comprehend the causes that underlie the present state of society. Those who hold the reins of government are not able to solve the problem of moral corruption, poverty, pauperism, and increasing crime. They are struggling in vain to place business operations on a more secure basis. If men would give more heed to the teaching of God’s word, they would find a solution of the problems that perplex them.

“The Scriptures describe the condition of the world just before Christ’s Second Coming. Of the men who by robbery and extortion are amassing great riches, it is written: ‘Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.’ James 5:3–6.

“But who reads the warnings given by the fast-fulfilling signs of the times? What impression is made upon worldlings? What change is seen in their attitude? No more than was seen in the attitude of the inhabitants of the Noachian world. Absorbed in worldly business and pleasure, the antediluvians ‘knew not until the Flood came, and took them all away.’ Matthew 24:39. They had heaven-sent warnings, but they refused to listen. And today the world, utterly regardless of the warning voice of God, is hurrying on to eternal ruin.…”

Look how the next paragraph starts—and remember, Ellen White saw this vision nearly 100 years ago.

“The world is stirred with the spirit of war. The prophecy of the eleventh chapter of Daniel has nearly reached its complete fulfillment. Soon the scenes of trouble spoken of in the prophecies will take place.

“‘Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.…Because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate.…The mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth.’ Isaiah 24:1–8.

“Satan is a diligent Bible student. He knows that his time is short, and he seeks at every point to counter-work the work of the Lord upon this earth.

“…Fearful tests and trials await the people of God. The spirit of war is stirring the nations from one end of the earth to the other. But in the midst of the time of trouble that is coming,—a time of trouble such as has not been since there was a nation,—God’s chosen people will stand unmoved. Satan and his host cannot destroy them, for angels that excel in strength will protect them.” Ibid., 16, 17.

Review the events of the days surrounding September 11, 2001. We need to take a personal test question. Are we personally ready to face the trials that may confront us and for Jesus to come? I hope your answer is yes. On a personal basis, do you believe with heart and soul that Jesus’ coming is really soon—even at the door?

“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! They had neglected the needful preparation; therefore they could not receive the refreshing that all must have to fit them to live in the sight of a holy God. Those who refuse to be hewed by the prophets and fail to purify their souls in obeying the whole truth, and who are willing to believe that their condition is far better than it really is, will come up to the time of the falling of the plagues, and then see that they needed to be hewed and squared for the building. But there will be no time then to do it and no Mediator to plead their cause before the Father.” Early Writings, 71.

The Many and the Few in Adventism, Part II

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It is very clear in Sketches from the Life of Paul that, when the apostle Paul was thrown in prison in Jerusalem, it was the fault of the leaders of the Christian church. Ellen White makes the following, unbelievable comment. She says that when the apostle Peter was thrown in prison, the church prayed, and the Lord answered their prayers for his release.

Then she says the Lord would have done the same for the apostle Paul, but the church did not pray for the apostle Paul to be released from prison. Why? Because they thought he was preaching dangerous doctrines. What were these dangerous doctrines? The dangerous doctrines were the doctrines that would set the church free from all Judaism, from all of their rules and regulations.

Since she is a prophet, Ellen White goes behind and underneath and lets you know the why. A prophet can say things that we cannot. She says these people believed the apostle Paul was preaching dangerous doctrines. Why? They were trying to go along with Judaism as much as they could. Do you know why that was? It was cowardice and their fear of facing persecution. That is the situation we are in in Adventism today. The vast majority are so afraid that we are going to face persecution, they will not proclaim the Three Angels’ Messages anymore, and they do not want to have anything to do with the people who do proclaim it.

In fact, Ellen White says that before the battle is fought and the victory won, we are going to learn a lot more about the situation that the apostle Paul was in, because we are going to be in a very similar situation. (See Sketches from the Life of Paul, 252, 253. You should read the latter part of this book, if you have never read it.

Persecution Will Come

More and more people are going to say, “Do not do that! We are going to sue you. We are going to put you in prison if you do that. We are going to stop you from doing that.”

“Do you not believe the same thing, too?”

“Oh, yes, we believe the same thing, too, but we just do not believe that you are doing it right.”

I believe in tact. I believe we should be gentle and tender in all of our presentations. We should never act like the devil and put acid in our words. I believe that we should be loving and kind. But the most loving and kind thing you can do is to tell people the truth to save them from hell.

There is a text of Scripture that has come to my mind as I have watched these things developing. I cannot tell you where it is gong to end, but I want to share a verse of Scripture that might tell where you will end. This Scripture has very great import to Seventh-day Adventists today. When people, because of worldly conformity, are afraid to proclaim the Three Angels’ Messages anymore, they are afraid they are going to be persecuted. “He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.” Matthew 10:39. That has a great deal to say to Seventh-day Adventists today who are fearful.

There are so many ways that the devil is trying to destroy the work of God today. God’s people are being attacked from many different directions, and the most dangerous thing about it is that people do not even know they are being attacked. Of course, that is how deception works. If you knew you were being attacked, you would be in a much better situation.

The Fear Factor

We find this happening, not just in the United States, but in foreign countries as well, and it is having an absolutely devastating effect on God’s work. The historic Adventist ministers that I talk to all over the country are alarmed. I have a friend who recently went to the Philippines to try to work with this problem there. We have it in South America, and we have it in the United States. Adventists, just like the Jews and the Christians in the days of the apostles, are afraid they will be persecuted. The Jews were against Jesus because, as Caiaphas and the others said in John 11, they were afraid they would be persecuted by the Romans. Fear causes people to do many foolish and irrational things. Fear is deadly.

Have you ever noticed how often, when Jesus came to the disciples, He would open His remarks by saying, “Fear not?” When He came to them and they were frightened of the storm on the sea, He said, “Do not be afraid.” (See Mark 4:36–40.) Why was Jesus always telling them, “Do not be afraid”? A person who is afraid and fearful does irrational things. They do foolish things and they get themselves in a worse situation than they were in to begin with.

We have many Seventh-day Adventists today who are fearful because of what they see coming. First of all, they are afraid to preach the Three Angels’ Messages, because they are afraid they will be persecuted if they do. But they are even more fearful than that. They say, Do you know what? Persecution is coming. Sunday Laws are coming. We are not going to be able to buy and sell. They are going to come and get us. We had better run. We had better get where they cannot find us.

We saw this happen to large groups of people in the early 1990s. There was a great fear that the New World Order was going to come in and take over everything. We were going to lose all of our liberties immediately; people were going to be taken to concentration camps. I am not saying that any of that could not happen; I am saying that you cannot fly out of the world.

Country Living

People said, We are going to become invisible, and we are going to go where they cannot find us. I had a man from the state of New York call me a few years ago when this was all going on. He questioned me a little bit to see if I believed in country living. Yes, I believe in country living. I live out in the country myself.

He said he thought that he should sell his place and move farther out in the country, so I asked him where he lived. He lives several miles from a little, tiny town that has maybe a post office and a gas station in it, a long way from any city of any size. Right now he lives out in the country. He was thinking of moving to a place that was isolated, out in the mountains. There are lots of isolated mountains in New York. We have had people doing this sort of thing all over the world.

Some people in Central America were on fire for Christ just a matter of months ago. They wanted to get involved in getting the Three Angels’ Messages out to the whole country. A group of them would go into the city, and on Sunday mornings, when people came out of church, they would give them literature and talk to them about the Three Angels’ Messages.

They were doing a powerful work. They said, We need to get out printed material, we need to get the message all over. Then somehow, many people got scared. The people who were getting the message out decided they had better flee to some isolated, desolate area. They went to an area that is so isolated and so desolate that right now you cannot reach them by telephone. You could mail them a letter, and after a few weeks, they might get it. They are in a situation now where they are not doing much of anything to get the Three Angels’ Messages to the world.

This world is going to go on until we get the Three Angels’ Messages to all of the world, no matter how bad it gets. If you really want the Lord to come, you had better be sure you know what Ellen White teaches in regard to country living.

We are not living in the time when God’s people are going to be fleeing to the caves and the rocks and the mountains. That time is coming, and it could come very soon, but we are not living in that time right now. If you look up all the references where Ellen White talks about fleeing to these desolate places, to the rocks and the mountains, look at the context of the references. You will see that a large number of them are dealing with the time immediately following the death decree being passed. The death decree has not yet been passed.

Finish the Work First

You know, the Bible does say that everything is beautiful in its time and there is a time for everything. (See Ecclesiastes 3:1–8.) There will come a time when it will be time to flee. Do not worry about it. Do not think that it will not happen. It will happen, and if we are living close to the Lord, we will know when that time comes. Before we flee to a cave, we must take the Three Angels’ Messages to the world. That is our job. That is our responsibility as God’s people.

Five or six years ago, when this scare developed over the New World Order, there were many from the Pacific Islands living in the Los Angeles area who said, It is time to get out of here. It is going to be too dangerous to live here. So they quit their jobs. Some of them moved out so fast that they did not even have time to liquidate their assets and their possessions. They just figured time was too short, and they got on airplanes with their families and a few of their personal belongings, and they flew back to the Pacific Islands, like the Philippines.

There are over 7,000 islands in the Philippines, lots of desolate places. Those islanders and their families fled up to the mountains, because they thought that the New World Order was going to take over everything, and they would just subsist up there for a little while until the Lord came.

Year after year went by, and it began to be very difficult to live up there in the mountains. In the Philippines, they actually call them the mountain people, the mountain Seventh-day Adventists. The children were growing older, and they were living under very difficult and primitive conditions. Some of them decided they had made a mistake. You see, they were not getting the Three Angels’ Messages to either the Philippines or the United States while they were up there in the mountains.

They had no money to buy literature to spread the gospel, because they had no job, no income; they were just subsisting. Now, please do not misunderstand. I am not criticizing them for that. I believe that those people were very, very sincere, but you can be very sincere and make a mistake. In the last two or three years, some of them have been moving down from the mountains and coming back to Los Angeles. Now they have nothing, and they have to start all over again from scratch—find new jobs, find housing, and try to support their families.

Things very similar to this are happening in other parts of the world. Some of the most sincere and conscientious people, because of the delusion in thinking about the right time to do the right thing, have caused great injury to the proclamation of the Three Angels’ Messages.

What would you do? I do not know what church you go to, but suppose that you go to a 15-member home church. What would happen to your church if 60 percent of your members decided to flee to the mountains next month?

Matthew 10:39 says, “He who finds his life will lose it.” We are not to spend the bulk of our time trying to figure out how we can be in a safe place, how we can escape persecution, how we can avoid the trouble. I meet people all the time who are trying to figure out how to do these things. It is interesting to me the way we, as human beings, think. I am not trying to be critical of anybody, but I think we ought to think things through.

The Terrorist Problem

Now we are having the very same thing all over again. We had it with the New Age Movement in the early ’90s; we had it with the Y2K problem, and now we have it with the terrorist problem. There are Adventists all over the country who think the way to prepare and be ready for the time of trouble is to have a generator with a two-year propane supply!

Please do not misunderstand. I am not criticizing anybody who has a generator. I am not against having generators. I think emergency power generators are a good thing, but you can never be ready for the time of trouble just because you have a generator or because you have enough seed for the next two years. I am not against making preparations and being prepared for times of trouble. Over 20 years ago, when we were in Southern California studying public health, we were taught that every family should have an emergency water supply in case something like an earthquake or flood happened to contaminate the public water supply.

Everybody ought to have a little bit of emergency food, but the preparation that we are to make as Seventh-day Adventists is mainly a spiritual work. It is not figuring out a way to be totally self-sufficient and independent of all the rest of the world.

I studied this whole question of being self-sufficient many years ago, before we even had these crises. Did you know that it is impossible for any of us to be totally self-sufficient? Did you know that Ellen White said that the Lord has arranged things so that no man is totally independent of his fellowmen? God has arranged it so that we are all dependent. None of us are totally independent. (See Review and Herald, August 6, 1901.) If being self-sufficient has become the big goal of your life, read Matthew 10:39 again.

Willing to Take the Risk

God has to find somebody who is willing to risk his life to get the Three Angels’ Messages to the world. In the process of doing it, some of us may lose our lives, but we do not have to worry about that. Whether we lose our life or not is not our problem, because when Jesus comes, if we have been faithful to Him, even if we have lost our life for His sake, the One we serve is going to give our life back to us. That is what this text is telling us. If you lose your life for My sake, you will find it.

“Many will get above the simplicity of the work. They will conform to the world, cherish idols, and become spiritually dead.” She says, “The humble, self-sacrificing followers of Jesus will pass on to perfection, leaving behind the indifferent and lovers of the world.” Testimonies, vol. 1, 609.

According to this prophecy there are going to be some Seventh-day Adventist Christians, she calls them the humble, self-sacrificing followers of Jesus, who will pass on to perfection, and the others will be left behind. (See Ibid., 608, 609.) I believe that we are living in the time when this prophecy is in the process of being fulfilled.

Why is there so much division? Because there are some of God’s professed people who are going on; they are still going up the path, who say, I want to go up the path; I want to reach spiritual perfection. There are some who are being left behind; they want to be in conformity to the world; they want to cherish idols, and they become spiritually dead. Only those who keep going up the path will reach spiritual perfection and will be in heaven.

When I was about 19 years old, I read The Great Controversy through again. I came to the place, toward the end of the book, where Ellen White talks about heaven and what a wonderful place it is going to be, where we will be with those who had perfected their characters.

As I read, I wondered, What about those who have not perfected their characters? There is a reason why she left that out and did not say anything about them. The reason is, they are not going to be there. The people who are in that place are going to be people in whom God has perfected their characters. (See Testimonies, vol. 1, 705, 706.) They will pass on to perfection, leaving behind the indifferent and the lovers of the world.

What is the Number One Goal, or Objective, of Your Life?

Is your number one goal to have a character that will be accepted into the mansions of bliss above? Are you attempting to follow the instructions in God’s Book so you will be among that number?

This is part of what the great division in Adventism is about today, because there are some people who have adopted the new belief that God is going to save people in their sins—which is not so, the Bible does not teach that!

You have heard the story about a person who, in Jesus’ time, was considered one of the most wicked people around. Her name was Mary Magdalene. In fact, she was so wicked that the Bible says she had seven devils cast out of her by Jesus. Ellen White makes it very clear that it was not seven devils at one time, it was seven different times that Jesus had to cast the devils out of her. (See Desire of Ages, 568.)

She was such a great sinner that other people thought there was no hope for her. Even her relatives had just about given up on her. Jesus understood all about her situation, and He saw that she was a person who would accept the provisions of salvation which He had come to offer. He made plain to her not just what sin was but how sin could be forgiven and overcome.

She was one of the two people, when Jesus Christ was crucified, who understood what was happening. She was one of the two people who understood that Jesus was dying on the cross for her sins. She chose to forsake and to overcome her sins.

Has your family given up on you? Have you given up on yourself? Jesus has not given up on you, and He can save you, if you will yield your life to Him! You can have perfection of character, even if you are the worst sinner in the world. The Lord can give it to you, if you cooperate with the Holy Spirit. Perfection of character is not something that happens in an instant, it is a process that happens as we live day by day. You do not have to be one of the many. You can be one of the few who are sanctified by the truth and saved by it.

Will you pray to the Lord and say, Lord, I want my heart to be clean? I want, not only to have forgiveness of my sins, but I want to receive power from the Holy Spirit to be purified and to live a new life. I want perfection of character.

Jesus would never tell us to be perfect, as His Father in heaven is perfect, if He did not plan to work that out in our lives. Do you want that miracle to be worked out in your life? Multitudes of Adventists today are being left behind. They may still be going to church every Sabbath, but they are being left behind. Some are still going up the path.

I would like to appeal to you, that you make that commitment to the Lord in your heart. Say, Lord, I want to be one of the few whose character is sanctified by the truth so that I will be ready for Jesus to come. Work this miracle out in my life. He will do it, because it is a command, and every command is a promise.

To The Uttermost

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In the sight of God, is there a hopeless case in this world? There are five stories to which I would like to refer, which are found in the Word of God. They are true living experiences that Inspiration records for us.

The first story is about a young David, who went up against the giant, Goliath. The situation there was apparently hopeless. If a vote had been taken from the Philistines and the Israelites standing and watching what was about to happen, the vote would have been unanimous: Defeat for David. (See 1 Samuel 17.)

Second, is a story about Naaman, a man who had a hopeless, incurable disease—leprosy. He was in a situation that was seemingly hopeless. (See 2 Kings 5.)

The third story involves three young Hebrew men who were taken captive and, with a vast company of Babylonians, were told to bow down to an image which King Nebuchadnezzar had erected on the Plain of Dura. Everyone bowed down except the three young Hebrews. It was an apparently hopeless situation for those three young men. (See Daniel 3.)

The fourth story, is the experience of 13 men in a ship on the Sea of Galilee, in the midst of a storm. The ship was filling with water, and it was sinking. It appeared to be another hopeless situation. (See Luke 8.)

The last story is the experience of two men in a dungeon, chained to the wall at midnight. Another totally hopeless situation. (See Acts 16.)

God’s Lessons

God has three lessons to teach us from each of these experiences. Every situation, from the human standpoint, was apparently hopeless, but God intervened in each case, and He brought hope to the hopeless.

  1. God says, I can do the impossible for you. I am reminded what Gabriel said to Mary when he was talking to her about giving birth to the Son of God. He told her that there is nothing impossible with God. Not one thing. (See Luke 1:37.)
  2. In these five experiences, we see God’s hand. In every deliverance from man’s hopelessness, there is God. Whether that man has realized it or not, acknowledged it or not, it is only God who can turn hopelessness into hope. Man can do nothing apart from God in regard to such situations. Some people may call it coincidence, but where there is deliverance from hopelessness, there is always the providence of God!
  3. God wants us to remember that, through these physical experiences which He has left on record for us, He is able to give us deliverance in the spiritual, just as much as in the physical. By leaving these experiences on record, He seeks to encourage us with what He can do for us. Physical deliverance, in every case, was by the hand of God. He is also able to do that for us in our spiritual lives.

The Universal Dilemma

Man, universally, is in a hopeless situation. All men, on the face of this earth, face the same hopelessness that is revealed in this statement of inspiration: “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” Isaiah 64:6.

This is the universal, hopeless dilemma that is common to every man and woman who comes into this world of sin. Even our righteousness is as filthy rags to God. Whoever we are, at one time or another, we have all faced it, or we are facing it now.

This hopeless dilemma that we find ourselves in spiritually, because of sin, is increased. Job refers to it in Job 14:4. “Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.” Our hopeless dilemma in sin is increased with the reality that we, in and of ourselves, can do nothing for ourselves about this situation. Not one human being has ever been able to make themself clean. It is totally hopeless!

The Most Hopeless Human Being

Even though we are all hopeless, there are degrees of hopelessness. Romans 7:18, 19 tells of an experience which reveals the greatest hopelessness that man can experience. Paul describes the man who is the most spiritually hopeless in this world today: “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: [Now here is a man who has found out what Isaiah 64:6 says about all men. There is nothing good in me.] for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.” “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Verse 24.

The most hopeless individual on the face of the earth is the person who has become aware of their hopeless state and somehow senses that there is a remedy, but they do not know how to experience the solution. They have a will, but they are finding that the will is not sufficient to cleanse them from sin, from their dilemma, from their hopelessness in sin.

How Do I Rid Myself of Sin?

A person who recognizes that they have sin in their life, but they do not know how to get rid of the sin, is one of the most hopeless individuals on the face of the earth. Millions of human beings go about every day, every year, year in and year out, never even realizing their true condition before God. They never respond to God’s Spirit. But here is a person who does respond. They realize their wretched hopeless state, but they do not know how to remedy the problem. Oh, what hopelessness. God has an answer!

There was a time when my life looked like a ball of knotted up yarn in apparent total hopelessness. Some of us still have a life like this, and God is here to tell us that it is not hopeless. We find that we can do nothing of ourselves. It is impossible for us to escape from the pit of sin, in which we are sunken, by ourselves. “Our hearts are evil, and we can not change them.…Education, culture, the exercise of the will, human effort, all have their proper sphere, but here they are powerless.” Steps to Christ, 18.

So not only the uneducated, but the educated as well are in this situation. Not only the untalented, but also the talented. Not only the uncultured, but the cultured. It does not matter inwhat strata of society we find ourselves, this is an apparently hopeless situation for all mankind. But God has the ultimate answer. It is found in Hebrews 7:25: “Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them.” Jesus lives right now; He exists right now, for you and for me. He will make intercession for us, if we will come to God through Him.

He is Able to Save to the Uttermost!

The word uttermost, has three meanings to the hopeless.

  1. Jesus Christ is able to save the most hopeless, to the uttermost. God has the ability to pick a man up out of the gutter and stand him on his feet. It is amazing what God is able to do in the life of a man whose heart opens toward Him.
  2. He is able to save us fully, completely from all sin. That is what uttermost means. God is not dealing with partial salvation. He is not dealing with an occasional experience of victory here and defeat there. God wants to give us an “uttermost” experience, a full deliverance from the hopelessness of sin.
  3. He is able to save us forever. Jesus wants to save us from sin, not only today, but forever. He is not only able to do that, He is willing.

“There must be a power working from within, a new life from above, before men can be changed from sin to holiness. That power is Christ. His grace alone can quicken the lifeless faculties of the soul, and attract it to God, to holiness.” Steps to Christ, 18. Our only help in this apparent, hopeless, spiritual dilemma in which we find ourselves, is in one Person only, one Being, and that is Jesus Christ. Is it any wonder that Satan, the enemy of Christ, the enemy of truth, will seek to malign His name before men?

An Oasis of Hope

There is only one place that we can go for help in our hopeless dilemma. Thank God there is a place, and there is a Person who can take care of the problem. Let us look at four distinct steps that a person, who finds themself in this hopeless, sinful condition must take to overcome with Jesus Christ. These steps must be taken, if we are going to have hope. It is like finding an oasis in the middle of the desert when you are dying of thirst. It seems like all is hopeless, then, all of a sudden, there is an artesian well in the midst of the dry, hot sand. God has that for us, if we choose to wake up and respond.

The first two steps are found in Romans 7:24:

We must first wake up to the realization of Paul, when he exclaims, “‘O wretched man that I am!” That is simple. We must realize that when God says we are sinners, when God says that we are wretched, we must choose to believe that and to respond. We choose to accept the light from heaven and see ourselves as God sees us. We must wake up and realize who we are and how hopeless is our situation.

The sad thing is, most human beings never get to step one. They never realize that they are hopeless. They realize that this world is a terrible place, and they walk through their whole life complaining, murmuring, and justifying themselves. But they never wake up to the reality of their true condition before God, their Creator, so they never seek Him. It is a wonderful thing to come to recognize your true need, your true condition.

“O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Step two is that we seek deliverance. We are not satisfied with our condition. It is not only becoming aware of our condition, but also becoming dissatisfied enough with it to want help, to want to right the wrong that we see in ourselves. It is called determination.

Determination goes beyond good intentions. It goes beyond desires for relationship. It is determination to experience what we see in the light of God’s Word. We may be totally hopeless, but we know there is something else, and so we seek it. It is like the merchantman seeking for the goodly pearl.

The third step is the step that man takes from hopelessness to hope in Jesus Christ. Jesus says, “‘Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.’” Matthew 11:28. I am going to give you rest from sin; I am going to give you a whole new experience; I am going to give you victory over sin.

Recognizing Our Need

There is only one place that we can go to exchange hopelessness for hope, and that is to Christ. We come to recognize our need; we determine that we are going to have a change, and then when we find out where we can go, we go!

When my gas tank is almost empty, I do not stop in front of the dentist’s office. I do not pull up to the Post Office. I pull up to a gas station, because I know that is where I can get what I need. The only place where we can get what we need, to get us out of hopelessness and into hope in our spiritual experience with sin, is Jesus Christ. We must go to Him, personally, individually. Jesus says, “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

John 6:37 says, “him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.” Do you know that Jesus never turns down a case, no matter how hopeless it is? You come to Jesus, and He accepts you. That is a marvelous thing! You see, God stands behind His Word. These are not just empty, spoken words. Oh, no. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. (See Hebrews 13:8.) He stands behind His promise right now, this very moment in time.

Filled with Power

The fourth and final step is found in Matthew 11:29. Jesus says, “Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me.” Jesus says, Come to Me and I will relieve you of the burden of sin. And then He says, Take from Me. What does He want to give us? He wants us to carry a yoke. He wants us to serve Him. He empowers us to do that. That is what He is saying: “Take My yoke upon you.” Verse 29.

When He asks us to do something, He promises us the power to do it. Are you willing to do what God wants you to do? If you are not, you will not have power in your life. If you are, there will be power. It is as simple as that. In 1 John 3:7, John says, “little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous.”

If you and I are to be made righteous, we must do righteousness. That is what Jesus is saying when He says, Take My yoke. He is saying, I want to empower you to do My righteousness, to do what is right. You see, we will never be righteous without doing righteousness. God is calling us to do righteousness, not just be righteous. The Christian life is not one of passivity; it is one of action.

I Will Direct Your Path

Proverbs 3:5, 6, sums up all four of these steps. “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.” God wants us to trust Him fully and completely. He wants us to acknowledge Him at all times, which means respond to Him, obey Him, and He has promised to direct our paths.

He has promised to direct us out of our hopeless state into a state of hopefulness, into hope with Him. “When temptations assail you, when care and perplexity surround you, when, depressed and discouraged, you are ready to yield to despair, look to Jesus, and the darkness that encompasses you will be dispelled by the bright shining of His presence. When sin struggles for the mastery in your soul, and burdens the conscience, look to the Saviour.” The Ministry of Healing, 85.

When you need gas in your car, you go to a gas station. When you need hope in your hopeless life, you go to Jesus. It is as simple as that.

There is a true-life story in the Bible, which reveals these four steps. It is the story of a man who had been an invalid for 38 years. That is a long time to be in a state of hopelessness. It does not matter how long you have been in a hopeless condition, Jesus can still give you hope.

“And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, He saith unto him, ‘Wilt thou be made whole?’” John 5:5, 6.

Was it the desire of Jesus to make this man whole, to make him happy, to fill him with hope instead of with hopelessness? Oh, yes. That is the desire that Jesus has for you and me every day. He wants to take our hopelessness and give us hope; He wants to take our sickness and give us health; He wants to take our weakness and give us strength, and He is able to do that because He is able to save us to the uttermost.

“The impotent man answered Him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me. Jesus saith unto him, ‘Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.’ And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the Sabbath.” Verses 7, 8.

This man first realized his need. How could he not? He could not walk. Second, He determined that he wanted help. That is why he was there at the pool. Hopefully, somehow or other, he was going to be healed miraculously, if he could just get there first! And third, Jesus came along, and he trusted what Jesus said. Fourth, he obeyed what Jesus said, and he was made whole.

Acting on Faith Brings Results

It is as simple as that. Faith is not enough. Justification is not enough. God not only wants to forgive us, but He also wants to help us to walk in newness of life. It is only as we are able to walk in newness of life that we have hope for everlasting life, a blessed assurance in Him.

Mrs. White comments on this experience: “The poor sufferer was helpless; he had not used his limbs for thirty-eight years. Yet Jesus bade him, ‘Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.’ The sick man might have said, ‘Lord, if Thou wilt make me whole, I will obey Thy word.’ But, no, he believed Christ’s word, believed that he was made whole, and he made the effort at once; he willed to walk, and he did walk. He acted on the word of Christ, and God gave the power. He was made whole.” Steps to Christ, 50.

This experience defines true will power. It is our will linked with His power. That kind of power will enable us to move from hopelessness to hope.

Choosing Hope

There are three lessons that God wants us to learn from these experiences:

  1. God is able to save those who are the most hopeless. He wants us always to remember that. If you find yourself in that situation today, you can know that God is interested. His focus is on you, because He cares.
  2. He has the ability and the power to fully save us from all sin. We do not have to be burdened with guilt because of sin in our lives. We can be filled with peace as a result of His power working in us, enabling us to live righteously before Him, all the time.
  3. He wants to help us today, so that we might be with Him forever. He is able to save us evermore. Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14:1–3.

It is a full salvation that He is wanting for us, to take us from the most hopeless state into the most hopeful. The most hopeful state will be to someday see Jesus face to face, and walk into our Father’s house.

Do you want to be there? Do you choose to be there? Then choose to meet the four steps every day with Jesus Christ, to grow and receive the power that He wants to give to you. Choose to put your will with His power and be enabled to become everything He intended you to be as His created child.

Freedom to Choose

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“God never asks us to believe, without giving sufficient evidence upon which to base our faith. His existence, His character, the truthfulness of His word, are all established by testimony that appeals to our reason; and this testimony is abundant. Yet God has never removed the possibility of doubt. Our faith must rest upon evidence, not demonstration. Those who wish to doubt will have opportunity; while those who really desire to know the truth will find plenty of evidence on which to rest their faith.” Steps to Christ, 105.

“To those who refuse the precious rays of light which would illuminate the darkness, the mysteries of God’s word remain such forever. From them the truth is hidden. They walk blindly, and know not the ruin before them.” The Desire of Ages, 588.

You are Responsible

“God gives sufficient light and evidence to enable man to distinguish truth from error. But He does not force man to receive truth. He leaves him free to choose the good or to choose the evil. If man resists evidence that is sufficient to guide his judgment in the right direction, and chooses evil once, he will do this more readily the second time. The third time he will still more eagerly withdraw himself from God and choose to stand on the side of Satan. And in this course he will continue until he is confirmed in evil, and believes the lie he has cherished as truth. His resistance has produced its harvest (Manuscript 126, 1901).” “Ellen G. White Comments,” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 6, 1112.

“The perception and appreciation of truth, He [Jesus] said, depends less upon the mind than upon the heart. Truth must be received into the soul; it claims the homage of the will. If truth could be submitted to the reason alone, pride would be no hindrance in the way of its reception. But it is to be received through the work of grace in the heart; and its reception depends upon the renunciation of every sin that the Spirit of God reveals.” The Desire of Ages, 455.

Light or Darkness

“And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.” John 3:19, 20.

“The word of the Lord comes to us all who have not resisted His Spirit by determining not to hear and obey. This voice is heard in warnings, in counsels, in reproof. It is the Lord’s message of light to His people. If we wait for louder calls or better opportunities, the light may be withdrawn, and we left in darkness. . . .

“It pains me to say, my brethren, that your sinful neglect to walk in the light has enshrouded you in darkness. You may now be honest in not recognizing and obeying the light; the doubts you have entertained, your neglect to heed the requirements of God, have blinded your perception so that darkness is now to you light, and light is darkness. God has bidden you to go forward to perfection. Christianity is a religion of progress. Light from God is full and ample, waiting our demand upon it. Whatever blessings the Lord may give, He has an infinite supply beyond, an inexhaustible store from which we may draw. Skepticism may treat the sacred claims of the gospel with jests, scoffing, and denial. The spirit of worldliness may contaminate the many and control the few; the cause of God may hold its ground only by great exertion and continual sacrifice, yet it will triumph finally.” Selected Messages, Book 1, 28.

“Light makes manifest and reproves the errors that were concealed in darkness; and as light comes, the life and character of men must change correspondingly, to be in harmony with it. Sins that were once sins of ignorance, because of the blindness of the mind, can no more be indulged in without incurring guilt. As increased light is given, men must be reformed, elevated, and refined by it, or they will be more perverse and stubborn than before the light came.” Gospel Workers, 162.

“Many are the ways by which Satan works through human influence to bind his captives. He secures multitudes to himself by attaching them by the silken cords of affection to those who are enemies of the cross of Christ. Whatever this attachment may be, parental, filial, conjugal, or social, the effect is the same; the opposers of truth exert their power to control the conscience, and the souls held under their sway have not sufficient courage or independence to obey their own convictions of duty.

“The truth and the glory of God are inseparable; it is impossible for us, with the Bible within our reach, to honor God by erroneous opinions. Many claim that it matters not what one believes, if his life is only right. But the life is molded by the faith. If light and truth is within our reach, and we neglect to improve the privilege of hearing and seeing it, we virtually reject it; we are choosing darkness rather than light.

“‘There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.’ Proverbs 16:25. Ignorance is no excuse for error or sin, when there is every opportunity to know the will of God.” The Great Controversy, 597, 598.

No Excuse

“By giving heed to the teachings of God’s word, men may rise from the lowest depths of ignorance and degradation to become sons of God, associates of sinless angels.” Review and Herald, August 19, 1884.

“He [Jesus] came in humility, in order that the humblest being upon the face of the earth could have no excuse because of his poverty or ignorance, and say, Because of these things I cannot obey the law of Jehovah. Christ clothed His divinity with humanity, that humanity might touch humanity; that He might live with humanity, and bear all the trials and afflictions of man. He was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin. In His humanity He understood all the temptations that will come to man.” Sermons and Talks, Book 2, 111, 112.

“Jesus is mighty to save his people from their sins. Light from heaven has illumined our pathway. Sin has been revealed to us by the word and the spirit of truth, that we may not be found transgressors of the divine precepts; and there is no opportunity to plead the excuse of ignorance. The command is, ‘Depart from iniquity.’ [11 Timothy 2:19.]” Review and Herald, March 27, 1888.

“The times of ignorance God winked at, but now, with the blazing light of truth shining all around us, with warnings, with reproofs, with increasing light if we will but open our eyes to see it, there is no excuse of any, even the weakest child of God, that they should not disperse light to the world. The four angels are holding the four winds that a special work may be accomplished: the saints of God are to be sealed in their foreheads. Brethren, how long before you will be ready for the seal of God? Every step you advance upon the path which God forbids, toward your own pleasure and in sin, is a step nearer your destruction. Every act of disobedience to the word of the Lord is exposing you to irreparable loss. Every moment of ease, of self-indulgence, secured by you in neglecting the divine admonitions and call to duty in earnest work for the Master, is placing you under the power and control of the prince of darkness.” Review and Herald, June 7, 1887.

Easily Entrapped

“Many are deceived today in the same way as were the Jews. Religious teachers read the Bible in the light of their own understanding and traditions; and the people do not search the Scriptures for themselves, and judge for themselves as to what is truth; but they yield up their judgment, and commit their souls to their leaders. The preaching and teaching of His word is one of the means that God has ordained for diffusing light; but we must bring every man’s teaching to the test of Scripture. Whoever will prayerfully study the Bible, desiring to know the truth, that he may obey it, will receive divine enlightenment. He will understand the Scriptures. ‘If any man willeth to do His will, he shall know of the teaching.’ John 7:17, R. V.” The Desire of Ages, 459.

“Notwithstanding the Bible is full of warnings against false teachers, many are ready thus to commit the keeping of their souls to the clergy. There are today thousands of professors of religion who can give no other reason for points of faith which they hold than that they were so instructed by their religious leaders. They pass by the Saviour’s teachings almost unnoticed, and place implicit confidence in the words of the ministers. But are ministers infallible? How can we trust our souls to their guidance unless we know from God’s word that they are light bearers? A lack of moral courage to step aside from the beaten track of the world leads many to follow in the steps of learned men; and by their reluctance to investigate for themselves, they are becoming hopelessly fastened in the chains of error. They see that the truth for this time is plainly brought to view in the Bible; and they feel the power of the Holy Spirit attending its proclamation; yet they allow the opposition of the clergy to turn them from the light. Though reason and conscience are convinced, these deluded souls dare not think differently from the minister; and their individual judgment, their eternal interests, are sacrificed to the unbelief, the pride and prejudice, of another.” The Great Controversy, 596.

“Those to whom the message of truth is spoken seldom ask, ‘Is it true?’ but, ‘By whom is it advocated?’ Multitudes estimate it by the numbers who accept it; and the question is still asked, ‘Have any of the learned men or religious leaders believed?’ Men are no more favorable to real godliness now than in the days of Christ. They are just as intently seeking earthly good, to the neglect of eternal riches; and it is not an argument against the truth, that large numbers are not ready to accept it, or that it is not received by the world’s great men, or even by the religious leaders.” The Desire of Ages, 459, 460.

Accept or Reject Christ

“The prophets of God were hated by apostate Israel because through them their hidden sins were brought to light. Ahab regarded Elijah as his enemy because the prophet was faithful to rebuke the king’s secret iniquities. So today the servant of Christ, the reprover of sin, meets with scorn and rebuffs. Bible truth, the religion of Christ, struggles against a strong current of moral impurity. Prejudice is even stronger in the hearts of men now than in Christ’s day. Christ did not fulfill men’s expectations; His life was a rebuke to their sins, and they rejected Him. So now the truth of God’s word does not harmonize with men’s practices and their natural inclination, and thousands reject its light. Men prompted by Satan cast doubt upon God’s word, and choose to exercise their independent judgment. They choose darkness rather than light, but they do it at the peril of their souls. Those who caviled at the words of Christ, found ever-increased cause for cavil, until they turned from the Truth and the Life. So it is now. God does not propose to remove every objection which the carnal heart may bring against His truth. To those who refuse the precious rays of light which would illuminate the darkness, the mysteries of God’s word remain such forever. From them the truth is hidden. They walk blindly, and know not the ruin before them.

“Christ overlooked the world and all ages from the height of Olivet; and His words are applicable to every soul who slights the pleadings of divine mercy. Scorner of His love, He addresses you today. It is ‘thou, even thou,’ who shouldest know the things that belong to thy peace. Christ is shedding bitter tears for you, who have no tears to shed for yourself. Already that fatal hardness of heart which destroyed the Pharisees is manifest in you. And every evidence of the grace of God, every ray of divine light, is either melting and subduing the soul, or confirming it in hopeless impenitence.

“Christ foresaw that Jerusalem would remain obdurate and impenitent; yet all the guilt, all the consequences of rejected mercy, lay at her own door. Thus it will be with every soul who is following the same course. The Lord declares, ‘O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself.’ ‘Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto My words, nor to My law, but rejected it.’ Hosea 13:9; Jeremiah 6:19.” The Desire of Ages, 587, 588.