Series

God’s Gifts to His Last-day People

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To be a Free Seventh-day Adventist, you must first be a Seventh-day Adventist. To be a Seventh-day Adventist, you must first be an Adventist. You cannot be an Adventist, and therefore, cannot be a Free Seventh-day Adventist, if you do not believe the Bible doctrine of the Investigative Judgment, a foundational doctrine to the advent faith.

Critics within the Seventh-day Adventist church are working to undermine the doctrine of the Investigative Judgment, saying that it can only be proven from the Spirit of Prophecy. This is why, when I address the subject, I use the Bible alone. While the Spirit of Prophecy is helpful in proving the doctrine, it is not needed.

For the sake of this study, we will assume that you already understand and believe in the Investigative Judgment.

“Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil.” Ecclesiastes 12:13, 14

Two statements.

  1. The second advent movement is a fulfillment of Bible prophecy.
  2. The second advent movement has within it the gift of prophecy. This also is a fulfillment of Bible prophecy.

Now we will look for the evidence to prove these statements from the Bible.

“Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people—saying with a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.’ ” Revelation 14:6, 7

Revelation shows us that there are many messages delivered by many angels. These angels are given control of what is going on in the world. For example:

“After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree.” Revelation 7:1

When these four angels let loose of the four winds, there will be an unimaginable scene of strife and trouble in this world. But for now, they are still holding them back.

“The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.” Revelation 1:20

Seven churches. Each representing the changing spiritual characteristics of God’s church throughout history. Every church has an angel whose work is to impress the minds of the people, but they are not commissioned to preach the gospel. God asks His people to be coworkers with Him in spreading the gospel.

The first angel.

Revelation 14:6 tells us that the first angel’s message will be given to “those who dwell on the earth— to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people.” What is his message? The everlasting gospel. The power of this gospel makes it possible for a soul to be set free from sin and its guilt, and the character to be transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit. Those who accept the gospel message given by the first angel will take it to all the world.

But the first angel’s message includes something in addition to the gospel. Paul wrote about it in Acts 17:31 while preaching to the Athenians.

“Because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him [Jesus] from the dead.”

Paul preached that a day is coming when God will judge the people of the world. Notice, Paul indicates that this is a future event.

Paul also preached the message of a coming, future judgment to Felix, governor of Judea and Samaria, and a very wicked man. Speaking to Felix, Paul offered him his one and best chance to have eternal life; the same gift offered to all who accept the everlasting gospel.

“Now as he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and answered, ‘Go away for now; when I have a convenient time, I will call for you.’ ” Acts 24:25

Paul told Felix there was a judgment coming, not in their day, but in the future. He told the Athenians God had appointed a specific, future time when He will judge the world in righteousness. And we see in the first angel’s message that that time has come.

“Saying with a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come.’ ” Revelation 14:7

The Protestant reformers didn’t preach that the judgment was happening in the 16th century. Martin Luther knew that the judgment was in the future. A brilliant Bible student, he said the judgment would occur about 300 years into the future. He was very nearly right.

A few facts about the judgment.

  • God’s judgment proceeds from His sanctuary. “He has prepared His throne for judgment.” Psalm 9:7, last part
  • God has prepared His throne for judgment. “A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary.” Jeremiah 17:12
  • God’s throne is in His sanctuary. “I watched till thrones were put in place, and the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, its wheels a burning fire; a fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him. A thousand thousands ministered to Him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated, and the books were opened.” Daniel 7:9, 10

Looking at the context of these two texts, we certainly know that the judgment could not occur until sometime after 1798. The judgment is to set things right in God’s sanctuary. What needs to be set right? That’s not a difficult question to answer.

What needs to be set right?

The Bible is full of information to answer this question.

“Pour out Your indignation upon them, and let Your wrathful anger take hold of them.  Let their habitation be desolate; let no one dwell in their tents. For they persecute Him whom You have struck, and talk of the grief of those You have wounded. Add iniquity to their iniquity, and let them not come into Your righteousness. Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.” Psalm 69:24–28

Daniel 7 says there are books in this judgment, the judgment was set, the books were opened, and we see there is a book of the living. But David is talking about the wicked. He says,“Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.” Verse 28

If something is right, there is no need to blot it out. In figurative language, when David says that these names should be blotted out of the book of the living, he means that they are headed for eternal death not eternal life.

The first and second deaths.

The time is coming that if your name is not in the book of the living, you will die forever and never wake up. “Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:14, 15

When you die the first time, your body dies but your character, your spirit, is preserved. Jesus said, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Matthew 10:28

We need only fear the first death if we choose not to accept Jesus as our Saviour. In the first death, the soul does not die; man’s body rests in an unconscious state, but the soul resides with God until the resurrection at the second coming. Only Jesus can save your soul. Mankind can destroy the body, but the soul belongs to God. Mrs. White is very clear about this.

“The sword cannot kill the soul, for the life is hid with Christ in God.” Our High Calling, 320

Moses said, “ ‘Yet now, if You will forgive their [the children of Israel’s] sin—but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written.’ ” Exodus 32:32

Moses was willing to lose his life eternally to save the children of Israel but the Lord said that’s not the way it is. “And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book.’ ” Verse 33

“Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.” Acts 3:19

In the judgment, one of two things will happen: sins are blotted out or a name is blotted out. God said, the one who has sinned against Me is the one I will blot out of My book. It makes all the difference in the world whether your name is in the Book of Life, because if it isn’t, in the second death both body and soul are destroyed. This is what is wrong with God’s heavenly sanctuary. There are millions of people all over the world who have accepted Christ as their personal Saviour and their names are written in the Book of Life, but they are not overcoming their sins. The Holy Spirit pleads with them day after day, week after week.

The Holy Spirit doesn’t tell you every sin. He puts His finger on the sin that you need to overcome today. We must listen to our conscience. The Holy Spirit helps us to overcome one sin at a time, because He knows we would be overwhelmed if we had to face all of our sinfulness at once.

God keeps records in His books.

  • God keeps a record of everything that we have ever done, good or bad.

“God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil.” Ecclesiastes 12:14

  • God has a record of every word that we have ever spoken.

“ ‘I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.’ ” Matthew 12:36, 37

  • God has a record of every thought you have ever thought.

“ ‘I know their works and their thoughts. It shall be that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and see My glory.’ ” Isaiah 66:18

“O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.” Psalm 139:1–4

That is something beyond human comprehension, but there is very good evidence in the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy that it is so. God understands your thought before you think it, your words before you speak them.

“Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens [earthly sanctuary] should be purified with these [animal sacrifices], but the heavenly things themselves [heavenly sanctuary] with better sacrifices [sacrifices of Christ] than these. For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another—He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” Hebrews 9:23–26

Jesus was not sacrificed on the cross just so that He could forgive your sins, He was sacrificed on the cross so that He could put away sin.

The 144,000 are a special group mentioned in the book of Revelation, but if you are not part of the 144,000 then this verse applies to you, “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many.” Verses 27, 28, first part

Your judgment occurs after your death. For the 144,000, judgment occurs during their lifetime and at the same time as those who are not part of the 144,000 and who will be lost in the last generation. While people are living in the world, their destiny will be decided.

“Unto evenings and mornings two thousand three hundred, then the sanctuary will be cleansed [set right, justified, vindicated].” Daniel 8:14

God’s gifts.

The Bible teaches that in the last days, during the time of the judgment, God will give to His people the gift of prophecy.

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish.” Ephesians 5:25–27

When Jesus comes again, He will have a holy church without blemish. How is the Lord ever going to get a church like that?

“And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” Ephesians 4:11–13

The purpose of these gifts is to educate and train God’s church and to equip the saints to do the work of ministry. Only then will we come together, unified in faith in the Son of God until we are remade into a perfect man after the likeness of Christ. Only then will God have a church ready to be received at Jesus’ second coming.

“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.” Malachi 4:5, 6

The great and dreadful day of the Lord is still a future event. Before it comes, God said He would send an Elijah prophet. That prophecy was fulfilled when Jesus came the first time. However, that wasn’t the final fulfillment. When Jesus came the first time, it was the great and dreadful day of the Lord. So, we know that God will send another Elijah prophet and then the future great and dreadful day of the Lord will come.

“ ‘And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.

“ ‘And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth; blood and fire and pillars of smoke [Hebrew: pillars of smoke in the shape of a palm tree]. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord.

“ ‘And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as the Lord has said, [and] among the remnant whom the Lord calls.’ ” Joel 2:28–32

Each verse should stand on its own weight.

I had a theology teacher who would say, “Make each verse that you preach stand on its own weight.” When a verse says something important, you need to be sure that you let that verse stand and give its testimony. Let’s use this principle and allow Revelation 12:17, to give its testimony.

“The dragon [devil] was enraged with the woman [pure church clothed with the sun and the moon is under her feet] and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring [the remnant, the last church], who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”

This verse says very clearly that the last pure church of God on this earth, will have two characteristics. First, His church will keep His commandments.

James says, “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.” James 2:10

You cannot be called a commandment-keeping Christian:

  • If you do not keep all ten of the commandments including the fourth, the Sabbath commandment.
  • If you condone men and women living together without being married.
  • If you worship any kind of idol.
  • If you kneel before another man.
  • If you worship on Sunday.
  • If you speak lies.
  • If you practice unrighteousness.

Once you study the ten commandments, you will find that all of mankind will be excluded from heaven except the saints, holy people spotless and without blemish. The Bible says, “Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.” Romans 7:12

So, the person who keeps the commandments is made holy through obedience. The person who breaks one or more of the commandments is an unholy person; that includes almost everyone.

Second, God’s church has the testimony of Jesus.

“I [John] fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, ‘See that you do not do that!’ ” Revelation 19:10, first part

Angels do not accept worship. But all around the world we see sinful man bowing and worshiping sinful man.

“ ‘I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.’ ” Verse 10, last part. What is the testimony of Jesus? The Spirit of Prophecy. And only God’s last-day people will have it.

Skeptical people.

This world is filled with skeptical people. People who may believe in something or part of something, but still hold back. Let’s look at three questions that we must have the answers to.

  1. Does God exist? That wasn’t a hard question for me to answer. I knew that God existed because in the past He had directly answered so many of my prayers.
  2. Is the Bible His book? Do you believe that all 66 books are inspired? There’s argument about this because the Roman Catholic Church says that the Apocrypha is inspired. I spent several months studying this and I knew the Apocrypha is not inspired. The Protestant Reformers didn’t believe the Apocrypha was inspired. The Jews in Jesus’ day knew that the Apocrypha wasn’t inspired, but people now are mixed up. There are some people who can’t figure out whether the books of James and 2 Peter should be in the New Testament or whether the book of Esther should be in the Old Testament. However, all of my studies have led me to believe in the inspiration of all 66 books.
  3. Is Ellen White a prophet of God? What are the Bible tests of a prophet?

          a) A prophet of God will always teach in harmony with the law of God.

“To the law and to the testimony! If they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” Isaiah 8:20

         b) Does this prophet’s work bear good fruit? “You will know them [false prophets in sheep’s clothing] by their fruits. … Even so, every good tree                 bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. … Therefore by their fruits you will know them.” Matthew 7:16–20

         c) A true prophet always glorifies Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “And when He [the Holy Spirit] has come … He will glorify Me, for He will take of                      what is Mine and declare it to you.” John 16:8, first part, 14

        d) A person who has the gift of prophecy will have visions and dreams.

“If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord will reveal Myself to him in a vision and in a dream.” Numbers 12:6

When a prophet is in vision, they lose all strength, they lose all breath and yet are able to continue speaking, sometimes remaining in vision for            hours. There is documented evidence that this was Mrs. White’s experience when she was in vision. You cannot fake it. Only God provides the             strength to maintain the prophet.

      e) A true prophet will confess that Jesus Christ came in the flesh (1 John 4:1–3). If they do not, then the spirit that actuates them is the spirit of                 antichrist.

      f) A true prophet will make predictions that will be fulfilled.

In 1922, F. C. Gilbert wrote and published Divine Predictions Fulfilled, which contains many examples of Mrs. White’s predictions. Prophet of the       End, written by Vance Ferrell mentions many more.

Take heed of the prophet’s predictions.

We must be aware of the importance of Mrs. White’s predictions concerning the end of time.

“The time is fast coming when the controlling power of the labor unions will be very oppressive. Again and again, the Lord has instructed that our people are to take their families away from the cities, into the country, where they can raise their own provisions; for in the future the problem of buying and selling will be a very serious one.” Letter 5, 1904

If the truckers’ union went on strike, it would only be a matter of days before grocery store shelves would be empty. If the dock workers’ union went on strike, necessities arriving by ship would sit offshore, rotting and deteriorating inside storage containers disrupting the supply chain. Oil would sit in tankers offshore and soon gas would be unavailable.

“We should now begin to heed the instruction given us over and over again: Get out of the cities into rural districts, where the houses are not crowded closely together, and where you will be free from the interference of enemies.” Ibid.

“It is Satan’s purpose to attract men and women to the cities, and to gain his object he invents every kind of novelty and amusement, every kind of excitement. And the cities of the earth today are becoming as were the cities before the Flood. …

“In the days before the Flood, every kind of amusement was invented to lead men and women to forgetfulness and sin. Today, … Satan is working with intensity, that the same conditions of evil shall prevail. And the earth is becoming corrupt. …

“At such a time as this, the people who are seeking to keep the commandments of God should look for retired places away from the cities.” Country Living, 14

“Men are seeking to bring those engaged in the different trades under bondage to certain unions. This is not God’s planning, but the planning of a power that we should in no wise acknowledge. …

“We are not to unite with secret societies or with trades unions. We are to stand free in God, looking constantly to Christ for instruction.” Ibid., 11

“The trade unions will be one of the agencies that will bring upon this earth a time of trouble such as has not been since the world began.” Letter 200, 1903

We were given a warning over a hundred years ago. The question is, are we listening? Friend, this world is headed very rapidly toward total destruction. Will you listen to God’s instruction so that you might be delivered when the rest of this world is destroyed?

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

God’s Church Must Be Holy

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Do you know who you are? Do you know why you are who you are?

If you don’t know who you are, then no one else will know who you are. So, let’s answer a couple of questions that will position us to be able to see what kind of Adventist we are.

Am I an Adventist?

An Adventist believes that Jesus Christ is coming again very soon. The time is coming very quickly when almost the entire world will be Adventist.

Am I a Seventh-day Adventist?

A Seventh-day Adventist believes that the seventh day of the week, Saturday, is the Sabbath, sanctified and made holy by God at the close of Creation. A Seventh-day Adventist also believes that the second coming of Christ is very near.

Am I a Free Seventh-day Adventist? And if so, why?

There are many Christians in the world who believe Christ is coming soon, but they are not Seventh-day Adventists nor are they Free Seventh-day Adventists. And we should note specifically that simply being an Adventist doesn’t guarantee salvation. So, how can I know what type of Adventist I am?

Let’s recap:

A Free Seventh-day Adventist:

  • Believes that the second coming of Christ is imminent.
  • Keeps the seventh-day Sabbath of the fourth commandment, just as God wrote it, and is, therefore, a Sabbath-keeping Adventist.
  • Is not a member of a conference church, but is a member of a Free Seventh-day Adventist church.
  • Believes in, and will soon be called upon to preach, without notes, about the Investigative Judgment in the courts, halls of government, before kings and magistrates all around the world.

What does the Investigative Judgment involve?

The Investigative Judgment is a prominent subject throughout the whole of Scripture. Research of the many different religions of the world will show that even non-Christians such as the Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists, believe in a judgment. Adventists believe something more about the Judgment. The Judgment has its foundation in the ten commandments.

“For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. For He who said, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ also said, ‘Do not murder.’ Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty.” James 2:10–12

Today, there are many Christians, including Adventists, who have lost their first love and do not realize that the second coming of Christ is just on the horizon. The prophets and the apostles warned us that the day of Christ’s return will come upon us like a big surprise (Luke 13, 17, 21, and Matthew 24). They remind us that we must get ready. Jesus Himself said, “Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour as you do not expect.” Matthew 24:44. So many believe they are ready for Jesus to come because they are tired of living in this world; but being tired and being holy and in harmony with the law of God is not the same thing.

There are few doctrines embraced by the Seventh-day Adventist church that are more hated than the the Investigative Judgment and the sanctuary. Yet these doctrines are the very foundation of the Advent faith. It is impossible to state why a person is an Adventist, much less a Free Seventh-day Adventist, without explaining these positions.

Adventists believe that the investigative phase of God’s judgment will take place before the second coming of Christ, and that it is, in fact, in process right now. Our understanding of this subject was the result of studying the wilderness sanctuary and later the temple of God in Jerusalem. The sanctuary or temple of God is also a prominent subject in the Bible; it is amazing so many Christians know so little about it. Leviticus, Hebrews, and a large part of Revelation teach this subject.

We cannot make a serious investigation of the subject of the Investigative Judgment without realizing that God requires His children to be holy. The commandments are holy and just and good (Romans 7:12). A person is holy when his or her life is in harmony with the ten commandments. Conversely, an unholy or wicked person is breaking the ten commandments.

The sentence (the wages) for breaking God’s law, is death (Romans 6:23). Adventists teach that the sentencing phase of the judgment will take place during the millennium and that we will judge the devil’s angels (1 Corinthians 6). The sentencing phase determines the amount of punishment a person will receive. Every sinner will die, forever and completely (Malachi 4:1), but the severity and length of each sinner’s punishment will vary. And who decides their sentence? Revelation 20 tells us very clearly that the sentence of each sinner will be determined and administered by God’s saints during the Millennium.

To be God’s child, I must be holy

“For I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves with any creeping thing that creeps on the earth. For I am the Lord who brings you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.” Leviticus 11:44, 45

Most people believe that Leviticus 11 is about clean and unclean foods. God spends an entire chapter giving instruction on what foods the Jews could eat and what foods they were not to eat. Why? Because God didn’t want them to defile themselves (or us) by eating foods that are unwholesome for the human body. God wants His children to be holy. Defiling our bodies with unclean foods is just one of the many ways Satan uses to prevent us from being made holy.

Some theologians believe the entire book of Leviticus is about holiness. I would agree.

“ ‘You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations, either any of your own nation or any stranger who dwells among you (for all these abominations the men of the land have done, who were before you, and thus the land is defiled), lest the land vomit you out also when you defile it, as it vomited out the nations that were before you. For whoever commits any of these abominations, the persons who commit them shall be cut off from among their people.

“ ‘Therefore you shall keep My ordinance, so that you do not commit any of these abominable customs which were committed before you, and that you do not defile yourselves by them: I am the Lord your God.’ ” Leviticus 18:26–30

The wickedness found in Leviticus 18 permeates the world today. We must seek to recognize our true condition, and come before God with genuine repentance, surrendering our lives to the transformation without which not one of us will be in the kingdom of heaven. If I want to be one of God’s children, then I must refrain from all the things that will defile me.

Most people read about being made holy in the Bible. They realize just how defiled and unholy they truly are, and then, they stop reading. They say, “If I don’t know about it, then I’m not responsible for it.”

“All of us, as beings blessed of God with reasoning powers, with intellect and judgment, should acknowledge our accountability to God. The life He has given us is a sacred responsibility, and no moment of it is to be trifled with, for we shall have to meet it again in the record of the judgment. In the books of heaven, our lives are as accurately traced as in the picture on the plate of the photographer. Not only are we held accountable for what we have done, but for what we have left undone. We are held to account for our undeveloped characters, our unimproved opportunities.” That I May Know Him, 93

Only God

“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified [made holy], but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.” 1 Corinthians 6:9–11

It is imperative that we seek out what defiles us and take it to Jesus so that His blood can cleanse and deliver us from every defilement. “If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7. Once cleansed from every defilement and faithfully following the law of God, only then, are we ready to be made holy.

Only God can take a person, wicked and defiled, wash him, change him, and make him holy. This has been God’s purpose in the world since Eve took the bite out of the fruit. But though He forgives, cleanses, and makes holy, we cannot for one moment believe that He will take anyone to heaven who chooses to remain defiled and unholy.

The book of Hebrews takes up the subject of holiness. Paul writes, “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.” Hebrews 12:14. Only holy people will be taken into the kingdom of heaven. But here is the best news of all, it doesn’t matter how wicked I have been, what I have said or done or thought, by His mercy and power and my faith in Jesus Christ, God can make me a holy person. As terrible as I am, God can change me.

The sanctuary

If you have never studied the sanctuary, you will be unable to understand the book of Revelation. The largest part of the book of Revelation is about the sanctuary, and understanding it lays the contextual foundation for the study of the sanctuary and how it relates to the Investigative Judgment.

“I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day.” John writes in Revelation 1:10. The Lord’s Day is the seventh-day Sabbath. Sunday was never called the Lord’s Day until hundreds of years after the Christian church was formed. In the time of the apostles, everyone understood that the Lord’s Day was the Sabbath because Jesus said, the Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath (Mark 2:27, 28) and My holy day (Isaiah 58).

John was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day and this is what he saw.

“I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band.” Verses 12, 13

Then John sees Jesus in the holy place of the heavenly sanctuary, walking among the seven golden lampstands, and He says to John, “ ‘I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.’ ” Verse 18

Both the Old and New Testaments make it clear, it is in God’s throne that we find the heavenly sanctuary, and that there is an investigation taking place there. It is here that John tells us that he saw Jesus walking about in the holy place as Minister of the true sanctuary, the temple in heaven made by God and not man (Hebrews 8:1, 2). Jesus holds the “keys of Hades and of death” because He died on the cross and rose from the grave; He holds the victory and power over eternal death. This completed His work as mankind’s Saviour. Then when He returned to heaven, He began His work as our Mediator, until 1844 when He moved from the holy to the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary to begin the work of judgment.

Seven, 144,000, 1,000, and billions

Revelation tells us about seven seals (6), the little book and seven thunders (10), seven trumpets and two witnesses (11), the woman, the child, and the dragon (12), the 144,000 and two harvests (14), seven plagues (15), seven bowls (16), the fall of Babylon (18), and the Lamb’s marriage (19), Satan’s binding, the millennium, and final judgment (20), the New Jerusalem (21), and Jesus’ second coming (22).

“After these things I looked, and behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened. And out of the temple came the seven angels having the seven plagues, clothed in pure bright linen, and having their chests girded with golden bands.” Revelation 15:5, 6

We find that the seven seals, the seven trumpets, and the seven last plagues, all come from the throne room of God, the sanctuary in heaven. God is declaring judgment and punishment upon the world and its inhabitants, those who have chosen Satan as their leader.

“Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail.” Revelation 11:19. This occurs at the time of the seventh trumpet.

“God gave you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, the ten commandments.” Deuteronomy 4:13

The ark of the covenant holds the two tables of stone on which God wrote the ten commandments with His own finger. Many people do not like the doctrine of the sanctuary, and here is why. Just like people are judged today according to the laws implemented by the government in accordance with The Constitution of the United States, as well as state constitutions, God’s standard of justice is His law. Every man, woman, and child will be judged according to the two tables of stone residing in the ark of the covenant (James 2).

“I watched till thrones were put in place, and the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, its wheels a burning fire; a fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him. A thousand thousands ministered to Him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated, and the books were opened.” Daniel 7:9, 10

His kingdom

God’s court is now in session. The books are opened and each life is scrutinized. Angels travel between earth and heaven carrying millions of instructions, protecting, guiding every day. As a result of this judgment, the name of every person from the beginning of Earth’s history to the close of probation, all those who chose to honor and serve God, will have their names written in the book of life. It is these alone who will become citizens of Jesus’ kingdom.

Jesus told His disciples that He would be going away, and while He was gone He would receive His kingdom and then He would return and the number of people in His kingdom would be established.

“ ‘I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed.’ ” Verses 13, 14

“ ‘Then the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him.’ ” Verse 27. Jesus will give His kingdom to His children. Wicked men will not own this earth; the entire world was deeded to Abraham and his children. Abraham knew that he was to be the heir of the whole world.

“And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Galatians 3:29

Who is judged?

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.” 2 Corinthians 5:10, first part. The judgment found in Daniel 7 speaks of Christ’s followers. They will receive His kingdom. It’s not a judgment concerning infidels, atheists, or unbelievers; these are already lost and have no need for a judgment. During the millennium, they will be found guilty and their punishment decided.

Daniel 8 focuses on the exact time and place when the judgment takes place (see also Leviticus and Revelation). All judgment takes place in the sanctuary. This is true in the Old Testament, although judgment issued from the earthly sanctuary was a type of the heavenly sanctuary; while in the New Testament, judgment issues from the heavenly sanctuary.

Many have trouble understanding Daniel 8:11, 12 because the original translators did not understand them, so their translation was incorrect. Fifty years ago, I decided that I would translate them myself.

“He [the little horn] magnified himself and exalted the continuance [of the daily], and it cast down the place of His sanctuary and a host [an army] was given against the daily in rebellion, and it cast down the truth to the ground and practiced and prospered.” Verses 11, 12

Evenings and mornings

Daniel sees two holy people speaking. One asks the other how much longer is this rebellion going to continue? It has already gone on for thousands of years. Daniel speaks of two rebellions: the continual rebellion and the desolating rebellion. This desolating rebellion—the abomination of desolation—takes the place of the continual rebellion. For 2300 evenings and mornings, the abomination of desolation will continue and then the sanctuary will be vindicated, cleansed, restored to its rightful state.

Daniel’s vision of the evenings and mornings caused a problem for him. He was concerned because he knew that Jeremiah had said the sanctuary would be made desolate for 70 years and then it would be restored and would continue until the end of time (Daniel 7). But his vision about the 2300 evenings and mornings was the only part of the vision that was not explained and he could not understand how it would happen. Would it be the end of time before the sanctuary is restored?

The anointed Messiah

That is when Daniel began to pray.

We find Daniel’s prayer recorded in chapter 9 and the angel Gabriel was sent in answer.

“Understand the vision: ‘Seventy weeks are cut off on your people.’ ” Daniel 9:23, last part, 24, first part. Seventy weeks equals 490 days. Gabriel adds six more things that will happen during this 70-week period.

“ ‘Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah [Mashiach] the Prince, shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks.’ ” verse 25, first part. The word Mashiach (Messiah) means “the person who is anointed.”

Being anointed is a very important Biblical concept. Gabriel said that from the going forth of the command to rebuild and restore Jerusalem there would be seven weeks and three score and two weeks (483 years) until the Anointed One, Messiah the Prince would come.

Ezra 7, 8, and 9 show exactly when the command went forth, the fall of 457 BC. Add 483 years plus one year because we cross the BC/AD dateline, and we are brought to AD 27.

Dates are found all the way through the Old Testament, but the New Testament gives no dates save one. We have an exact date because God knew that we would be able to know. Is Jesus Christ really the Anointed One and when did He become Messiah, the Anointed One?

“Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of the God came to John [the Baptist] the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. …

“When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, ‘You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.’ ” Luke 3:1, 2, 21, 22

“That word you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.” Acts 10:37, 38

Jesus is the Anointed One because God anointed Him.

When did God the Father anoint Jesus making Him Messiah? At His baptism in the fall of AD 27, at the end of the 69th and beginning of the 70th weeks.

Messiah is cut off

“ ‘After sixty-two weeks Messiah will be cut off, but not for Himself; and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, and till the end of the war desolations are determined.

“ ‘Then He [the Messiah] shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; but in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate.’ ” Daniel 9:26, 27

Now we find ourselves in the 70th week, but something interesting happens in the middle of this 70th week [3 ½ years] and this causes the sacrifices and offerings to cease.

Let’s break it down.

  • Luke 3:21, 22 – In the fall of AD 27, Jesus was baptized (anointed).
  • John 2 – AD 28 the first Passover after His anointing.
  • John 5 – AD 29 the second Passover after His anointing.
  • John 6 – AD 30 the third Passover after His anointing (verse 4).
  • John 12 – AD 31 the fourth Passover after His anointing. Halfway through AD 31, Jesus is crucified, causing the sacrifices and offerings to cease.

“ ‘Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them’ (which are offered according to the law), then He said, ‘Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.’ He takes away the first that He may establish the second.” Hebrews 10:8, 9

The many animal sacrifices associated with the sanctuary services, which were but a type of the One sacrifice, could never take away the people’s sins. But this One, after He had offered Himself as the sacrifice for man, brought an end to all animal sacrifices and offerings; all of which were but a foreshadow of Christ’s sacrifice on man’s behalf.

On the day of Pentecost in AD 31, Peter said,

“ ‘Therefore let all the house of Israel [Jews] know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.’

“Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?’

“Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.’ ” Acts 2:36–39

The Holy Spirit was poured out on the Jews at Pentecost, but not the Gentiles. Even after crucifying Christ, God gave the Jews the opportunity to accept Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. Many thousands accepted Him, but the majority did not.

“When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him [Stephen] with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, ‘Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!’  Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; and they cast him out of the city and stoned him.” Acts 7:54–58, first part

The 70 weeks were finished in AD 34. The Jews stoned Stephen, and probation was closed for them as a nation. Israel had irrevocably broken their covenant with God.

When the King stands up

After His resurrection, Hebrews 10:12 gives us the word picture of Jesus in heaven, sitting at the right hand of God (See also Ephesians 1:20; Colossians 3:1; Hebrews 1:3). But Daniel tells us that the time is coming when Jesus will stand up.

“ ‘During that time Michael [Jesus] shall stand up, the great Prince who stands for the children of Thy people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time. And at that time Your people shall be delivered, everyone that shall be found written in the book.’ ” Daniel 12:1

Jesus stands up, assumes His rightful place as King, and begins His eternal reign. The reign of the antichrist is done.

Daniel’s 2300-day prophecy began in 457 BC. The 70 weeks ended in AD 34. The remaining 1810 days added to 34 takes us to 1844. The year 1844 is a very significant Bible date. After the 2300-day prophecy was finished in 1844, we are told that the temple of God would be cleansed and restored, vindicated and justified. The cleansing or purification of God’s temple involved the purification of His church. It was God’s purpose that there would be a perfected people, holy and without blemish, ready for the second coming of Jesus.

Holy and without blemish

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish.” Ephesians 5:25–27

This is another reason why people hate the doctrine of the Investigative Judgment. They want to be saved in their sins. Jesus wants to save everyone from their sins, but not one single sinner will be saved in their sins.

“ ‘Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.’ And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.” Revelation 19:7, 8. The Bible is plain. Sin must be completely removed from God’s people; only those who have been made holy will be saved. This is what is involved in the restoration and cleansing of the sanctuary, the removal of sin from God’s people.

“Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens [the earthly sanctuary] should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves [the sanctuary in heaven] with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;  not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the most holy place [the earthly sanctuary] every year with blood of another—He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.  And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment [judgment for everybody in this world occurs after they die except for the people who live until Jesus comes], so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.” Hebrews 9:23–28

Jesus came the first time to bear away our sins. He is coming the second time, friend, to take His holy and unblemished church home. Put your trust in Him, and He will bring you into that condition.

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

The Foundation – Daniel 7

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Daniel 7 is one of the foundational chapters in the Bible concerning the investigative judgement and there’s no point in going to chapters 8—10, or 12 or Revelation before you understand this. It’s foundational and exciting information because it reveals that there is a God in heaven who knows thousands of years ahead of time what will happen. And He has shown us these things in the Bible so that we can be ready for the future.

The Fourth Beast and the Ten Kingdoms

There are four beasts. Let us look at the fourth beast. “Thus, he said: ‘The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be different from all other kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, trample it and break it in pieces.’ ” Daniel 7:23

In his book, The Temporal Power of the Pope, 122, Cardinal Henry Edward Manning wrote regarding verse 23: “The legions of Rome occupied at the circumference of the world. The military roads which sprang from Rome traversed all the earth; the whole world was, as it were, held in peace and in tranquility by the universal presence of this mighty heathen empire. It was ‘exceedingly terrible,’ according to the prophecies of Daniel; it was as it were of iron, beating down and subduing the nations.” Does the Roman Catholic church know who the fourth beast is? Yes, Cardinal Manning tells us very clearly. It is an iron kingdom beating down the nations of earth.

“The ten horns are ten kings who shall arise from this kingdom. and another shall rise after them; he shall be different from the first ones, and shall subdue three kings.” Verse 24

These ten kingdoms rose up over hundreds of years. The ten kingdoms were despised by Rome—verse 23’s fourth kingdom—because Rome believed it would last forever. The ten kingdoms grew stronger and stronger. What Rome believed didn’t matter because hundreds of years before it was founded, Daniel had predicted its demise and the rise of the ten kingdoms.

  1. G. Wells says, “No vestige of the Western Empire, the original Roman Empire, remained as a distinct and separate political division.” The Outline of History, 526. They became stronger and stronger and divided it up until those ten kings owned it all. Another writer wrote, “The destruction of the Roman Empire in the West by the German barbarians is one of the most momentous events in history. It marks a turning point in the fortunes of mankind.”

Out of the Ten, Another.

Daniel then writes that after the fourth beast is divided into the ten kingdoms, another kingdom—different from the first ten—would rise up, more than the ten. This 11th kingdom would assume an air of superiority over all the others.

“The downfall of the Roman imperial government in the West was further, an event of immense significance in the political world, for the reason that it rendered possible the growth in western Europe of several nations or states in place of the single empire.

“Another consequence of the fall of the Roman power in the West was the development of the papacy. In the absence of an emperor in the West, the popes rapidly gained influence and power, and soon built up an ecclesiastical empire that in some respects took the place of the old empire, and carried on its civilizing work.” Myers’s General History for Colleges, 316

“If any man consider the original of this great ecclesiastical dominion, he will easily perceive, that the Papacy is no other than the ghost of the deceased Roman Empire, sitting crowned upon the grave thereof.” Thomas Hobbes

“There grew up in Europe a line of rulers far more powerful than any of these, namely the popes at Rome. Moreover, the majesty of Rome helped to raise the bishops above his fellows.” Medieval and Modern Times, James Harvey Robinson, 40, 41

Here we see secular history almost quoting Scripture regarding the characteristics of this new kingdom and its power over the previous ten kingdoms.

It is a well-established, historical fact that “Papal Rome was for all practical purposes the continuation of the Roman Empire … . Whatever Roman elements the barbarians and Arians left were put under the protection of the bishop of Rome who was the chief person there after the emperor’s disappearance. The Roman church in this way privily pushed itself into the place of the Roman world empire of which it is the actual continuation.” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Vol. 4, 846, (Adolph Harnack in 1903, What is Christianity?, 269, 270) If we understand that Papal Rome is a mere continuation of the Roman Empire, then we will understand that Rome was established as a world power that would continue until the end of the world.

“The empire has not perished, but has only undergone transformation. … That is no clever remark, but the recognition of the true state of the matter historically, and the most appropriate and fruitful way of describing the character of this church. It still governs the nations.” Ibid. That was in 1903 he recognized that. “It is a political creation, and as imposing as a World-Empire, because the continuation of the Roman Empire, the Pope, who calls himself ‘King’ and ‘Pontifex Maximus,’ is Caesar’s successor.” Ibid.

  1. G. Wells talks about this power. “As the barbarian races settled and became Christian, the pope began to claim an overlordship of their kings. In a few centuries, the Pope had become in theory, and to a certain extent in practice, the high priest, censor, judge, and divine monarch of Christendom.” The Outline of History, 526. This provides a description of the development of the little horn’s power; a power that became greater than any other nation in Europe, and continues to this day.

Joseph Stalin also said, “How big an army does he [the pope] have?” He doesn’t need an army for He can use the armies of any nation he chooses.

He Speaks and Persecutes

The two big subjects of Daniel 7 are the little horn and the judgment. These subjects should be studied together because we cannot understand the judgment without understanding the little horn.

As the little horn’s power grew, prophecy tells us what happens next. “He shall speak pompous [great] words against the Most High.” Daniel 7:25, first part. “The pope is of so great dignity, and so exalted that he is not a mere man, but as it were God and the vicar of God. So that whatever the pope does, seems to proceed from the mouth of God. … The pope is as it were God on earth.” Ferraris Ecclesiastical Dictionary.

Pope Leo XIII said, “We hold upon this earth the place of God Almighty.” Great words, indeed. But notice as we further in verse 25, Daniel says, he “shall persecute [wear out] the saints of the Most High.” Encyclical letter dated June 20, 1894

History says that “the church of Rome has shed more innocent blood than any other institution that has ever existed among mankind, will be questioned by no Protestant who has a competent knowledge of history. The memorials, indeed, of many of her persecutions are now so scanty, that it is impossible to form a complete conception of the multitude of her victims, and it is quite certain that no power of imagination can adequately realize their sufferings.” W.E.H. Lecky, History of the Rise and Influence of the Spirit of Rationalism in Europe, Vol. 2, 32

A Roman Catholic scholar stated, “The Catholic Church is a respecter of conscience and of liberty. … She has, and she loudly proclaims that she has a ‘horror of blood.’ Nevertheless, when confronted by heresy she does not content herself with persuasion; arguments of an intellectual and moral order appear to her insufficient, and she has recourse to force, to corporal punishment, to torture. She creates tribunals like those of the Inquisition, she calls the laws of the State to her aid, if necessary she encourages a crusade, or a religious war and all her ‘horror of blood’ practically culminates into urging the secular power to shed it, which proceeding is almost more odious—for it is less frank—than shedding it herself. Especially did she act thus in the sixteenth century with regard to Protestants. Not content to reform morally, to preach by example, to convert people by eloquent and holy missionaries, she lit in Italy, in the Low Countries, and above all in Spain, the funeral piles of the Inquisition. In France under Francis I and Henry II, in England under Mary Tudor, she tortured the heretics, whilst both in France and Germany during the second half of the sixteenth and the first half of the seventeenth century if she did not actually begin, at any rate she encouraged and actively aided, the religious wars.” The Catholic Church, the Renaissance, and Protestantism, 182–184

The Thirty Years’ War, fought from 1618 to 1648, resulted from religious conflict within the Holy Roman Empire, sparked by the Reformation. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died in battle, from famine, or disease. Parts of Germany reported a 50% decline in population, this included approximately 98 percent of the Protestant men in Germany. (wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty_Years%27_War)

This was common knowledge in America because it was recent history. Today in America, it is not only acknowledged, but justified and defended. “The church has persecuted. Only a tyro [a beginner] in church history will deny that. … One hundred and fifty years after Constantine, the Donatists were persecuted, sometimes put to death. … Protestants were persecuted in France and Spain with the full approval of the church authorities. We have always defended the persecution of the Huguenots, and the Spanish Inquisition. … Wherever and whenever there is honest Catholicity, there will be a clear distinction drawn between truth and error, and Catholicity and all forms of heresy. When she thinks it good to use physical force she will use it. … But will the Catholic Church give bond that she will not persecute at all? Will she guarantee absolute freedom and equality of all churches and all faiths? The Catholic church gives no bonds for her good behavior.” The Western Watchman, December 24, 1908

The Saints

A saint keeps the law of God (Romans 7:12). A wicked person breaks the law of God. Understanding Daniel 7 is fundamental, foundational to understanding the prophecies regarding the judgment and the end of time found in the book of Revelation. More than any other chapter in the Bible, Daniel 7 provides the different descriptions and identifying marks of the little horn, and the distinguishing mark or sign of its power.

The Distinguishing Mark

The Roman Catholic church is not alone in persecuting God’s saints. Other religions have spoken great things about themselves, but the little horn power has a special distinguishing mark that these other religions do not have. We find that mark in Daniel 7:25. We must understand this to have any comprehension about the investigative judgment.

Daniel 7:25, last part, says that this special distinguishing mark that sets the little horn power apart from other religions and powers, that he “shall intend to change times and laws.” What are these times and laws? The context of the prophecy is speaking about the things of the Most High. So, if the little horn power seeks to change times and laws, then it is seeking to change the times and laws of the Most High.

Can any human being, power, or organization in this world change the law of God? No! Why? Because God has said that He does not change, and we know that the law of God is His character. Changing the law would changing Himself, and this He will not do (Psalm 89).

Jesus said, “And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail.” Luke 16:17. A tittle is part of a letter, it’s actually a part of a part of a letter. Jesus said heaven and earth cold pass away, but not a single part of a letter of the law to fail. I don’t think you could state it in any stronger language. The apostle Paul says concerning Jesus Christ that it was through Him that God made the worlds, and He is the One who upholds everything by the word of His power, and He says that He would destroy it all before He would allow the smallest part of a letter of the law to fail.

The Protestant Reformation gave man access to the Bible. No longer was the Bible written only in Latin, a language the common man could not read, nor was it chained to the wall in Catholic churches. Reformers translated the Bible into many of the European languages, and the printing press was invented, allowing the Bible to be distributed everywhere.

When men began reading the Bible, they asked, “Why are we keeping Sunday?” Believed to be written in 1545 by Melanchthon, Martin Luther’s associate, in very old English, he says, “He changeth the tymes and lawes that any of the size works days commanded of God will make them unholy and idle days when he listeth or of their own holy days abolished make work days again. When they changed ye Saterday into Sondaye they have changed God’s laws and turned them into their own tradicions to be kept above God’s precepts.” Right away people recognized what was happening.

“Question: Have you any other way of proving that the Church has power to institute festivals of precept? Answer: Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her—she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday the seventh day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority.” From A Doctrinal Catechism, 174. The special, distinguishing mark of the little horn power was an intention to change the times (the Sabbath) and the law (the fourth commandment). This is foundational to understanding the subject of the Investigative Judgment.

How Long, Lord? How Long?

God not only told us when and how the little horn power would develop, providing all the descriptions of who and what it would be so that we would recognize it, but for the first time God gave His children a timeline so that they would know how long this power would be given authority to persecute and overcome God’s saints. This period of time is so important that in Daniel and Revelation, it is mentioned seven times. Seven is a perfect number in the Bible. If something is mentioned seven times in the Bible prophecies, we can be sure it is very important that we understand it, the prophecies regarding the three and a half years, the 42 months, and the 1260 days.

Point 1: The year is called a time in scripture (Daniel 11:13, margin). So, a time is one year, a time dual is two years, the dividing of time is half a year giving you three years and a half.

Point 2: According to ancient history, historians and Jews believed that a year was 360 days.

Point 3: In a symbolic time prophecy, a day equals a year (Ezekiel 4:1–6). The prophecies that foretold Christ’s first coming as the Messiah used the day for a year principle. If a person does not believe in this principle, then they should be looking for a messiah to come around 455 B.C. The day for a year principle is foundational to the Christian religion (Daniel 9:25).

By applying the day for a year principle to Daniel 7, we find that the little horn power is granted the power to persecute and harass God’s saints for 1260 years.

When did the 1260 years begin? When the papacy was given its authority by the civil government. This was done when Justinian made a decree in A.D. 532 against anyone who was called a heretic, and in A.D. 533, Justinian made a decree making the bishop of Rome the lord of all the churches (The Apocalypse of St. John, 172).

However, Italy’s population included Arian powers who did not accept the pope as lord over the churches. In fact, they wanted to decide who would be pope. Not surprisingly, the papacy did not like that idea. So, the sword of the empire cleared the way.

For 16 years, these campaigns caused the city of Rome to be under different masters or rulers five times and suffered three severe sieges. In A.D. 538, at the close of the first siege, the imperial army under Belisarius and the almost the entire nation of the Goths under King Witiges gathered to take control of the city of Rome. The Goths were defeated, digging ‘the grave of the Gothic monarchy’ in Italy.* The resistance of A.D. 538 against Witiges was the crucial hour in history. George Finlay, a secular historian writes, “With the conquest of Rome by Belisarius, the history of the ancient city may be considered as terminating; and with his defense against Witiges commences the history of the Middle Ages.”

First by Decree, then by Force

In A.D. 533, the pope was made ruler over all Christendom by decree, but in A.D. 538, he was made the ruler by force. Now move ahead 1260 years to 1793. “On November 26, 1793, the Convention, of which 17 bishops and some clergy were members, decreed the abolition of all religion.” The Age of Revolution, W.H. Hutton, 156

As far as the France were concerned, the papacy was the only religion, so by decree, it declared the abolition of all other religions. France was then an atheistic socialistic power. The decree was effective in 1793, but it was not enforced until 1798.

In 1798, “General Berthier, by orders of the French government, led his forces into Rome and proclaimed a republic. The pope [Pius VI] was dragged into exile, where he died. The whole papal government was dissolved.”

“ ‘The papacy was extinct: not a vestige of its existence remained; and among all the Roman Catholic powers not a finger was stirred in its defense. The Eternal City had no longer prince or pontiff; its bishop was a dying captive in foreign lands; and the decree was already announced that no successor would be allowed in his place.’ ” Canon Trevor.

Let’s Summarize

Most of the world thought the papacy was done. However, Daniel 7 says it would continue until the kingdom was given to the saints. The Bible tells us that it would look like the papacy was dead, but it would be healed.

  1. The Roman Empire was the fourth beast.
  2. Ten kings would arise out of the fourth beast (A.D. 351–476).
  3. Another king would arise after A.D. 476.
  4. This other king would be different from the first ten.
  5. He would speak great words and be stronger than his fellows.
  6. He would speak great words against the Most High.
  7. He would wear out the saints of the Most High.
  8. He would attempt or think to change the times and laws of God’s government.
  9. This would continue for 1260 years.

This supremacy was established by decree in A.D. 533. It was established by force in A.D. 538. It was abolished by decree in 1793. It was abolished by force in 1798. When writing about this, Daniel says that this horn had “eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking pompous words. ‘I watched till thrones were put in place, and the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, its wheels a burning fire; a fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him. A thousand thousands ministered to Him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated, and the books were opened.’ ” Daniel 7:9, 10

Notice, the court, the books, the judgment all have to do with what this little horn has been doing, and what the result of this court session will be.

  1. Jesus Christ will receive a worldwide kingdom that will last forever. “I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed.” Verses 13, 14
  2. “I was watching; and the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them, until the Ancient of Days came, and a judgment was made in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom.” Daniel 7:21, 22 The kingdom first given to Christ is now given to His saints.
  3. “But the court shall be seated, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and destroy it forever.” Daniel 7:26. God destroys the little horn’s dominion.
  4. “Then the kingdom [when the dominion of the little horn is taken away and destroyed] and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him.” Verse 27. The whole world is given to the saints of the Most High. Where do you want to be when that happens?

The Bible tells us that a saint keeps the commandments. Since the law of God is holy, just, and good (Romans 7:12), the person who keeps the law of God, is made holy and is, therefore, a saint.

Our Father controls the future. When there is a transition of rulers in this world, when the true Christ stands up and begins to rule, when the rule of antichrist is over, may we be found among that number who are called the saints of the Most High.

*Thomas Hodgkins wrote a series of books entitled, Italy and Her Invaders. Excerpts from these books are used here.

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

Does the Bible Prove the Investigative Judgment?

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A Free Seventh-day Adventist:

  • Believes that the second coming of Christ is imminent.
  • Keeps the seventh-day Sabbath of the fourth commandment, just as God wrote it, and is, therefore, a Seventh-day Adventist.
  • Is not a member of a conference church, but is a member of a Seventh-day Adventist church that is part of a Free Seventh-day Adventist church organization.
  • Will soon be called upon to preach, without notes, the investigative judgment in the courts, halls of government, before kings and magistrates all around the world.

For decades, the Seventh-day Adventist church has been losing the majority of its young people. While not a new phenomenon, this was not true when my father was a young man. Nearly 150 years ago, Mrs. White told us that the time would come when the majority of the church would forsake God’s people, so we shouldn’t be surprised to see this migration away from Adventism.

One of the main reasons given by the young people and even older people for leaving the Seventh-day Adventist church is that they no longer believe that Ellen White had the gift of prophecy, and, therefore, do not trust her writings.

A second reason is that people do not believe in the doctrine of the investigative judgment. Mrs. White wrote extensively about the doctrine of the investigative judgment, so if you don’t believe in the investigate judgment, then you would have to believe Mrs. White is a false prophet because she wrote that the investigative judgment is a Biblical doctrine. They make the sweeping conclusion that the doctrine of the investigative judgment cannot be proven from the Bible alone.

I have been a minister in God’s service for more than 60 years, and have preached a number of sermons on the investigative judgment from the Bible alone. It is a preposterous assertion and totally untrue to believe that the doctrine cannot be proven by the Bible alone.

Let’s Look at Their Proof

One text is cited as the super argument that absolutely proves you cannot prove the investigative judgment from the Bible. Found in the book of John, let’s see what John the Beloved wrote.

“ ‘Most assuredly [that’s absolutely for sure], I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.’ ” John 5:24

John recorded Jesus’ words, and many people today will respond, “See. Jesus said if I hear His words and believe in Him, then I go straight to everlasting life. I am a Christian; there is no judgment for me.”

Three Phases

In the courts of this world, judgment is administered in three phases.

  • Investigation and Trial – The police gather evidence against you, and then, in cooperation with the district attorney’s office, and based on the evidence, you are charged with the crime. There are two positions to a trial, the prosecution and the defense. It is the prosecution’s responsibility to argue the evidence against you either to a judge or a jury. The defense’s responsibility is to attempt to show that you are innocent by creating reasonable doubt, or offering evidence that that can clear you or show that someone else could be responsible for the crime. If the defense is successful in creating sufficient reasonable doubt or to prove that you did not commit the crime, and the judge or jury finds you innocent of all charges, then you are free to walk away. But, if the defense fails in its attempts to lead the judge or jury away from you, you will be found guilty.
  • Sentencing – Having been found guilty, you will be ordered to appear in court on a specific day, and the judge will hand down your sentence—according to sentencing guidelines established in the laws of the city, county, state, or federal court in which the case was prosecuted. Every jurisdiction has its own regulations.
  • Execution of Sentence – Once you have been sentenced, depending on the crime, you may receive the proverbial slap on the wrist, a fine and/or a short period of incarceration, or you may receive life in prison or even the death penalty.

In God’s Judgment

Those who are found guilty of breaking God’s law are sentenced to receive the death penalty. “For the wages of [penalty for] sin is death.” Romans 6:23, first part

The Bible is clear: the penalty for breaking God’s law is death.

This means that we are all born under the penalty of death. We are born sinners, lost from the moment of our birth. Some say, we were not sinners until we have reached several years of age. But the Bible says “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.” Psalm 51:5. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23

We are all under the death sentence. Can you and I pay our sentences? Yes, we can. We can die and never wake up. Mrs. White writes that when Adam and Eve sinned, the angels mourned. The plan of salvation hadn’t yet been explained to them, so they knew that every descendant of Adam and Eve would have to die.

But Jesus told the hosts of heaven about the plan of salvation; how He would pay the price for what Adam and Eve had done, making a way for them and all their descendants to be saved from the penalty for sin. Jesus made the law, so He was above the law. He would not let His children pay the price, and so He came to this world.

Jesus said, “If you believe in Me, you will not come into condemnation.” In other words, you and I, if we believe in Jesus and surrender our lives to Him, we will never reach the sentencing nor the execution phases of judgment because in the investigative judgment, Jesus pleads our case before the Father, offering His life, His blood for our sinfulness, covering us with His robe of righteousness.

John 5:24 does not teach that there is no judgment. It just teaches that if you believe in Jesus as your personal Saviour, surrendering to Him, you will not face judgment nor receive condemnation. The price for your sins has already been paid, and in the investigative judgment you will be acquitted.

Let’s Be Clear

If you do not accept Jesus as your personal Saviour, you are lost. You will go to judgment, you will receive your sentence, and you will die forever. The apostle Peter said, “There is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:12

The Bible talks about the judgment from Genesis to Revelation. The concept of judgment is one of the major subjects of the Bible, but it is an unpopular subject. As a sinner, I do not want to be held accountable for what I’ve done. I want a religion that says Jesus paid it all, so I don’t need to worry about anything. However, that’s not Bible religion. The fact that Jesus came to pay the price for my sins so that I wouldn’t have to does not mean that there will be no investigation of my life and character; only that if I believe in Jesus and I put my trust in Him, I will be acquitted.

God is Not on Trial

Neither God, the angels, nor the people in unfallen worlds are on trial. They have never broken God’s laws. Because the people of this world are the only ones who have broken God’s law, we are on trial.

In the book The White Truth written by John J. Robinson, published in 1981, it says, “Two unsophisticated men were sightseeing abroad. When in Paris they decided to visit the Louve. As they viewed the famed art treasures, they were not impressed with the value of the priceless oil paintings. Standing before an especially noted masterpiece, one said to the other, ‘Imagine that being worth a million dollars. I don’t see what is so special about it. You’d certainly never catch me paying a fortune for it.’ The guard, overhearing the conversation, quietly stepped up to the man, touched him on the elbow and said, ‘I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation. I would like to say, sir, that these paintings are not on trial, but those who come to see them are.’ ” Do you get the point?

“So with God’s prophets. Daniel was not on trial in the lion’s den. Babylon/Medo Persia was. Jeremiah was not on trial in the pit. Zedekiah was. Paul, standing with chains before Agripa, was not on trial. The king was. Jesus, that greatest of prophets and King of kings standing accused before the praetorian, was not on trial. Pilot and his accusers were.” Ibid.

We need to get it straight in our thinking—who is on trial and who is not.

The word Daniel means “God is my judge.” In Daniel 2, we see that there will be four universal world kingdoms. Verses 41–44 tell us that the fourth kingdom will be divided.

“And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.”

When God sets up His kingdom, earthly kingdoms will be gone. God’s kingdom will last forever.

To Be a Citizen

Sinners cannot be citizens of the future kingdom of glory unless they first become a citizen of the kingdom of grace now. The kingdom of grace did not exist until Adam and Eve sinned, but it was established on the very day they disobeyed God (Genesis 3:15). The kingdom of grace is a temporary kingdom and exists here in this world alone. Its purpose is to deal with the sin problem and make a way of escape here and now. When the investigative judgment is completed, there will be no further need for forgiveness of sin and the kingdom of grace will no longer be needed. The kingdom of glory will take its place here on earth, just as it has been established in heaven and in the unfallen worlds for millennia. In the kingdom of glory everyone there will be keeping God’s law all the time.

In the Kingdom of Glory

While we do not know the exact date, and are told that we are not to speculate or endeavor to determine the date, we actually know the exact time when the kingdom of grace ends and the kingdom of glory begins.

“During that time [see Daniel 11], Michael shall stand up.” Daniel 12:1, literal translation.

Right now, we are living during the reign of the antichrist, but soon Jesus will stand up and begin His reign. What happens when Jesus stands up? The investigative judgment is finished, and we see Jesus take His rightful place as King of the universe in His kingdom of glory (Revelation 22:11, 12). At the beginning of His kingdom, there will be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time (Matthew 24:21). And during that time God’s people will be delivered, every one whose name is written in the book of life (Revelation 21:27).

Beasts, Heads, and Horns

In Daniel 7, the prophet dreams of four beasts. These four beasts have seven heads and ten horns. Daniel first sees a lion, then a bear, followed by a leopard with four heads and two sets of wings. Lastly, he sees a terrible beast, like nothing he has ever before seen in nature. This beast has ten horns. As Daniel observed the ten horns, he saw a small horn, an 11th horn, rising up among the ten that uprooted three of the ten horns.

“I was considering the horns, and there was another horn, a little one, coming up among them, before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots. And there, in this horn, were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking pompous words.” Daniel 7:8. The margin says, “mouth speaking great things.” Daniel became upset when he saw this.

“I was grieved in my spirit within my body, and the visions of my head troubled me. I came near to one of those who stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So, he told me and made known to me the interpretation of these things.” Verse 15

Saints are Holy People

People in the Roman Catholic church and many Protestant churches are terribly confused by who a saint is. I have been privileged for most of my life to study and read biblical languages. In Greek, a saint is defined as a “holy person.” Paul says, “Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.” Romans 7:12. By this description of the law then, the people who obey God’s law, who live their lives in harmony with it, are “holy, just, and good” people—saints. Now, let’s go back to Daniel’s dream.

“ ‘I was watching; and the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them.’ ” Daniel 7:21

Who is this little horn making war against? The saints. Who are the saints? Those who keep the commandments of God. But this little horn power didn’t just make war, he overcame the people of God—for a time. What breaks the power of the little horn? The Ancient of Days comes.

God, the Ancient of Days, will decide our cases.

“The judgement was made in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom.” Verse 22, last part

“ ‘The ten horns are ten kings who shall arise from this kingdom. And another shall rise after them; He shall be different from the first ones, and shall subdue three kings.

“ ‘He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time.

“ ‘But the court shall be seated, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and destroy it forever.

“ ‘Then the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him.’ ” Verses 24–27

There Will be a Judgment

How can it be missed? Daniel 7 is clear that there is to be a judgment. As we further study this chapter’s prophecy, we know that this judgment will begin sometime after 1798. It tells us who will be judged innocent, and therefore, will be acquitted. It also tells us who will be condemned in this judgment.

“ ‘I watched till thrones were put in place, and the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, its wheels a burning fire; a fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him. A thousand thousands ministered to Him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated, and the books were opened.’ ” Verses 9, 10

God’s will concerning the rebellious subjects He has in this world is going to be fulfilled. When God passes the final verdict, where are you going to be?

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.” John 5:24

May we know how serious and how solemn life really is, that we are under the death sentence unless we choose to accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour so that He may remove our sins.

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

Demon Possession and Music

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“And there was war in heaven: Michael and His angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” Revelation 12:7–10

The devil and his angels have been present in the earth ever since that time. Evidence of their presence and activity may be found throughout the entire history of the Bible, particularly during the time when Christ was on earth, where we find numerous accounts of Christ casting demons out of people.

Their activity has not only continued to our day but has intensified. “Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.” Revelation 12:12

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” 1 Peter 5:8

Which Spirit Possesses You?

The devil did not invent spirit possession. Jesus offers us oneness with Him. This is the kind of possession God has planned for fulfillment and happiness in our lives. Satan always counterfeits every good thing, and in this case, he uses the very mechanisms to take control of man that God has provided for us to have complete possession by Him.

What is involved is the influence of some supernatural being in the lives of people. In order for this to take place, some form of communication must occur in the form of the transfer of thoughts and feelings. Consider the following statement: “The brain nerves that connect with the whole system are the medium through which heaven communicates with man and affects the inmost life.” Education, 209. God created in us a mechanism whereby the Holy Spirit can communicate directly with each of us. This is a Biblical concept: “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” 1 Corinthians 3:16

Spirit Possession and the Mind

However, if one submits to the suggestions of an evil spirit, possession by that evil spirit will take place. It is reasonable to think that the mechanism, designed by God for communication with the Holy Spirit, may be taken over by evil spirits. William Sargant, a British psychiatrist, studied extensively the work of witch doctors, voodoo priests, and faith healers. He compared their methods with hypnotic trances and rock music festivals. Specifically, attention is diverted and fatigue sets in. Eager anticipation and high expectation of ecstasy also play a role. Individual will power is weakened. (See William Sargent, The Mind Possessed: a Physiology of Possession, Mysticism and Faith Healing, Harper & Row, NY, 1974.)

  1. Wade examines transcendental meditation, hypnosis, glossolalia, and spiritism in connection with possession. He concludes: “It is my personal conviction that the normal human brain is capable of experiencing the functional relation to the Holy Spirit by a mechanism which is misused to achieve hypnotic trance. … This mechanism may be surrendered to the control of an evil spirit as occurs in voodoo spirit possession; or a human hypnotist may intrude into the relationship when he casts a spell over his subject.” T. E. Wade, Spirit Possession, Gazelle Publications, Auburn, CA, 1991, 47

Ellen White strongly opposed the use of hypnotism: “The theory of mind controlling mind was originated by Satan. … It opens a door through which Satan will enter to take possession both of the mind that is given up to be controlled … and of the mind that controls.” The Ministry of Healing, 243

Spirit Possession and Music

Having established that spirit possession does take place, the possibility of the role of music in possession may be examined. Satan has always been highly involved with music, beginning in heaven. “Satan had led the heavenly choir.” The Story of Redemption, 25. This suggests that Satan is the most intelligent being regarding music in our world. He knows how to make the best use of it to achieve his ends. He does things with music that seem strange and even impossible.

The search for the use of music in devil possession resulted in finding two main avenues. One is the use of beats in music to call the spirits or gods. The other is the altered state of consciousness.

Music Beats

Much has been said and written by many people about the harmfulness of the beats in rock music. One of the most important reasons it is harmful is because it calls the demons. This use of music goes way back in African history. It is also found in Indian history. The author has, in her possession, tapes of songs to the oldest known, original gods of India. These come from Tamil in the southern part of India and go back to the early time of Indian history.

From these countries, and particularly from Africa, the music and religion spread in the world because of the dispersion of people in slavery. Even though slaves, people preserved their loyalty to their religion through whatever means they could. There are three main religions which are still extant which grew out of this dispersion. In Haiti, it is called Voodoo. In Cuba, it is called Santeria, and in Brazil, it is called Candomble. In each of these religions, as in African and Indian religions, specific rhythms are used to call specific gods. This is the purpose of the rituals performed. Drums are played, there is dancing. A certain rhythm is played, depending on which god is desired, and that god comes and possesses individuals. The same exact rhythms, found in African and Indian music, are also used in rock music and in music used in meetings of faith healers. It seems as though the god is willing to come whenever called by anyone. Does the god come to celebration churches when the god’s rhythm is played in Christian rock music, even though the people present do not realize that they are calling a god? There is quite a strong consensus that the god does come.

The story is told of a family where the husband liked very much to listen to Christian music radio stations (country gospel and contemporary Christian). His wife, however, did not appreciate this music, so she banned her husband with the music to a bedroom with a closed door. As time went on, strange things occurred in their house. There were odd noises, and things moved unexpectedly. When she learned that the beat in rock music calls the demons, she said, “That is the answer. My husband’s music is calling the spirits into our house.” So, they determined to stop the music, and immediately the strange occurrences also stopped. They did not know that they were calling gods into their house.

Ritual Songs

Music is a necessary part of the rituals, a primary purpose of which is to accomplish a state of possession by one or more of the gods.

The role of the drums is to call the gods and thus bring on spirit possession, which is the ultimate purpose of most rituals. Drums are usually played in a battery of three. The largest drum is played by the master drummer and is the most important, because it is specific in spirit possession. Specific rhythms correspond to specific gods.

It is the rhythm identified with each god that is a primary instrument in summoning him and no worship of the gods is possible without the rhythms that call and speak for the god. (See Harold Courlander, A Treasury of Afro-American Folklore, Crown Publishers, Inc., NY, 1976.)

The drums have the primary religious function of calling the gods, and thus of bringing on spirit possession. (See G. Behague, “Patterns of Candomble Music Performance: an Afro-Brazilian Religious Setting,” Performance Practice Ethnomusicological Perspectives, Greenwood Press, CT, 1984, 231.)

In all of these religions, we find a spirit possession which is echoed, primarily through the beat of the music, in rock music, in faith healing, and in churches of all persuasions through Christian rock music, contemporary Christian music, and country gospel. The devil has done a good job of infiltrating our culture, including our Christian culture, with spirit possession, which may be very real, even though people do not realize that it is happening to them.

Altered State of Consciousness

The other main stream technique, in which the devil uses music to bring about spirit possession, is that of the altered state of consciousness.

“Thoughts naturally flit across the mind, and considering an idea generally brings up related thoughts. Occultists teach that, by visualization and concentration, this natural flow of thoughts can be interrupted. As this occurs, subjects slip into an altered state of consciousness which we have identified as the corridor of the mind.” Wade, Op. cit., 74, 75. This is called by various names such as illumination, enlightenment, trance, tuning in, and hypnotism.

Wade further states: “Any type of concentration on sensual stimulation may alter consciousness. Music with a strong rhythm, or concentration on the relaxation of different parts of the body, can induce it. The apparently innocent concentration on a mental image of Jesus standing in your favorite spot can bring the same effect.” Ibid.

Before proceeding, it is important to understand the ways in which music facilitates an altered state of consciousness. One important element of the process is called entrainment. In 1665, the Dutch scientist Huygens noticed that if two clocks were placed next to each other, they would soon begin ticking synchronously and so was discovered the Law of Entrainment. Rhythms in close proximity will entrain. Because of entrainment, music is often used beneficially to control heart rate and other rhythms in the body. Since this is true, it is also possible to use the rhythm of sound to control the rhythm of brainwaves.

Neuro-chemical cortical brain activity may be measured. A set of descriptors has been developed and identified as Beta, Alpha, Theta and Delta.

Beta is predominantly present when the individual is attending to a task, particularly such a task as mathematics. This is also the state of the brain during critical thinking. When Alpha is predominant, the individual is in a relaxed state. There are some claims that hypnotism takes place in higher levels of Alpha. One description is alert relaxation. The Theta condition is extremely relaxed. Meditation conditions could take place here. Lower levels might include approaching sleep. Delta is the sleep condition. It is an extremely low level of brain activity.

Neurons are constantly firing at various rates all over the brain, but one of these levels may be predominant at any given time under given circumstances. Brain waves are vibrations measured in Hertz (Hz), or cycles per second.

Vibrations

Music is also vibration, which is measured in cycles per second or Hertz, which determines frequency or pitch.

Another element, which the devil employs in his arsenal, is that of difference tones. This is a phenomenon commonly explained in the psychology of music texts whereby a phantom tone is heard. Under certain conditions, when two tones are sounded simultaneously, a tone equal to the difference in Hz (cycles per seconds) between the two tones may be heard even though it is not being played. If tones of 100 Hz and 106 Hz were sounded, a phantom tone of 6 Hz might be heard. Or if a C and a G above it were played simultaneously, the C an octave lower might be heard.

To combine these three (entrainment, difference tones and brain-waves), consider the following: notes producing difference tones of very low or small frequency could be played and embedded just below the audible sound of the music. When the listener hears the music the embedded difference tones (although inaudible to him) will entrain with the listener’s brainwaves, thus controlling them or causing them to match the difference tones. Without realizing what is happening to him, the listener’s brain waves may be led to an Alpha, Theta, or Delta state according to the whim of the controller. Some believe that the devil has been using techniques such as these since the beginning of the world and is still using them.

It has been suggested that control by the use of musical effects was used by the Sumerians: “The Sumerians ruled that land [Babylon] from about 3500 BC to 2000 BC when hegemony [leadership] then passed to the Semitic Babylonians who took over their culture. … That culture included cuneiform writing, a sexagesimal system of mathematics (based on 60 instead of 10), a pantheon of deities, a considerable literature, and a fund of musical instruments important enough to be classed among the divine principles. … And it is the Babylonian development of the greatest system of musical ritual in any ancient religion which makes it imperative that we not neglect possible associations between her mathematics, her music, and her religion.” Ernest McClain, The Myth of Invariance, the Origin of the Gods, Mathematics and Music From the Rg Veda to Plata, Nicholas-Hays, Inc., York Beach, MA, 1984, 130, 131

Music and Babylon

In ancient Babylon, there is the example of instruments used to signal the people to worship the golden image. “That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up.” Daniel 3:5. It seems reasonable to think that the instruments served more of a purpose than just a signal. Mrs. White says, “The appointed day came, and at the sound of entrancing music the vast company ‘fell down and worshiped the golden image.’ ” Christ Triumphant, 177. Speaking further of this, she says, “Force is the last resort of every false religion. At first it tries attraction, as the king of Babylon tried the power of music and outward show.” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Vol. 7, 976

“The ancients knew how to use music to elicit a mystical experience. … Everything remains on the level of the emotions and the nervous system. Even today, thanks to the media, we can witness the effect of music on the masses. Singers and musicians exercise tremendous power over crowds of adoring fans. We no longer need lyrics or a coherent message to convince others. The phenomenon has even invaded religious communities. In reaction to the cerebral frigidity of traditional services, certain denominations have fallen into the other extreme. They spoon-feed and wash down the message by the continuous purring of background music. Believers, transported by the spirit, shout and cry out in delirious enthusiasm. Such an approach considers reflection unnecessary and outdated. It only smiles at absolute judgments. This episode in the book of Daniel warns us against a strictly emotional religion. Emotions can be a part of the religious experience only when united with reflection and thought. Adoration must involve the whole being, and to neglect one aspect could lead to bowing before an idol. Likewise, in the plain of Dura, the preachers of Babel do not waste time in dry demonstrations or arguments. Music suffices to trigger adoration, and its adherents live strictly in the present. Several times the passage explicitly stresses the dimension of the present.” Jaccques B. Doukhan, Secrets of Daniel, Review and Herald Publishing, Hagerstown, MD, 2000, 48, 49

Goddess Worship

A large part of goddess worship was the use of the hand drum to call the spirits.

Tibetan bells, or Tin-sshas, have been used in Buddhist meditation practice for many centuries. The two bells, which are rung together, are slightly out of tune with each other. The different tones between them lie somewhere between four and eight cycles per second. This is exactly in the range of the brain waves created during meditation and helps shift the brain to these frequencies. Tibetan bells are experiencing popularity in western culture at the present time. (See Don Campbell, Music Physician for Times to Come, Quest Books, Wheaton, IL, 1991, 228, 229.)

All this leads to the present. Twentieth-century people discovered the ancient usage of difference tones and entrainment and successfully used them to produce an altered state of consciousness.

A man named Monroe first discovered the use of specific frequencies to entrain the brain. He discovered that certain frequencies, which were in the same spectrum as brain waves, could produce entrainment of brain waves. These are too low for the human ear to hear, but by using higher sounds he could produce difference tones. “If the frequencies of two sound sources are applied separately, one to each ear, a binaural beat frequency is created. As explained above this is not an actual sound, but only a frequency difference between two actual sounds. The sound is heard within the brain itself, the binaural beat frequency is created by both brain hemispheres working simultaneously. The entrainment or frequency following response did not take place only in the area of the brain responsible for hearing, or only in the left or right hemispheres: the entire brain resonated, the waveforms of both hemispheres becoming identical in frequency, …” thus achieving an altered state of consciousness. Campbell, Op. cit.

Subliminal Programming

There is a phenomenon in meditation techniques. The music on meditation tapes use two technologies: sound phasing and subliminal programming.

The subliminals use such messages as: I am one. I am love. I am peace. I am the source of my experience. I am existence … consciousness … ecstasy … peace. These are mantras that have come down through the centuries, which make up a very holistic program of non-dual, I-Consciousness.

Sound phasing is defined as “a vibrate sound, a tone that contains two tones, the top and bottom of the vibration. Phasing is the interval between the tones. The sound we call the interval is heard only in the brain. Your brain creates that sound from the two tones.” Patrick Harbula, Sounds of Transformation: A talk with Brother Charles, Meditation, 2(4), 1987, 20–29. This, of course, is difference tones.

Guarding the Mind

Tone wave generators have been built which can insert different tones in desired musical carriers. They are called binaural tone generators. They are available for anybody to purchase and are very easy to use. This means that this technique which can open the mind to demon possession is readily available to any that choose to use it. It is to be found in videotapes, cassette tapes, etc., which are being used.

The only protection available to counteract these wiles of Satan is found in Isaiah 26:20, which speaks about the present days: “Come, My people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.”

“The darkest hour of the church’s struggle with the powers of evil is that which immediately precedes the day of her final deliverance. But none who trust in God need fear … .” Prophets and Kings, 725

Reproduced from Historic LandMarks of Adventism, March 2004.

Juanita McElwain earned her PhD in Music Therapy from Florida State University. She has taught music on all levels from preschool to college graduate. She has worked as a music therapy clinician with individuals with intellectual disabilities. Her areas of expertise in research include the effects of music on brain waves and the effects of music on headache. She has given numerous seminars on the power of music, which include good and bad effects of music, rock music, sensual music, music in worship and mind control through music throughout the United States and in Europe. She and her husband are presently retired in West Virginia. She may be contacted by e-mail at: juamce@meer.net

He Who Soweth Discord Among the Brethren

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“These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto Him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, an heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.”
Proverbs 6:16–19

In previous articles, we examined six of the seven deadly sins found in Proverbs 6. Now we will examine the final one, “… he that soweth discord among brethren.” Verse 19

There seems to be something particularly serious about this seventh deadly sin simply because it is often seen in Scripture in negative ways, resulting in very serious consequences.

For instance, Korah and his two friends rebelled against Moses, causing discord within the camp of Israel. Their end was frightening! Judas continually caused discord among the disciples of Christ. He hanged himself! The interesting thing about those who stir up strife is that they may tell no lies, yet they produce as much commotion and disharmony as does a liar.

The word discord, used by King Solomon, appears only twice in the Bible, and it means “strife.” Webster’s Dictionary defines discord as “a lack of agreement or harmony, dissension, conflict.” Webster’s Dictionary also defines the word strife as “conflict, fight, struggle.” Synonyms are discord, contention, and dissension.

According to Biblical Leadership, “The 14,000-congregation Faith Communities Today (FACT) study in 2015 found that 75 percent of congregations have experienced conflict in the past, 20 percent at any one time. Sixty percent of congregations had some kind of conflict during the past five years. A 2001 Hartford Institute study discovered that 79 percent had had a conflict in the past five years.”

Church Conflict Forum, January 2, 2008, “Staggering Statistics” reported that, “More than 19,000 congregations experience major conflict every year. Twenty-five percent of the churches in one survey reported conflict in the previous five years that was serious enough to have a lasting impact on congregational life. Only 2% of church conflict involves doctrinal issues. Ninety-eight percent of church conflict involves interpersonal issues. Control issues ranked as the most common cause of conflict (85%). About 40% of church members who leave their churches do so because of conflict. Very small numbers (16%) of churches report positive outcomes from conflict.”

Sources: churchconflictforum.blogspot.com/200801/staggering-statistics; faithcommunitiestoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/American-Congregations-2015

What is the Toll that Church Conflicts have on the Pastor?

“The average pastoral career lasts only 14 years” due to conflict. “1,500 pastors leave their assignments every month in the United States because of conflict, burnout, or moral failure. Thirty-four percent of all pastors presently serve congregations that forced their previous pastor to resign.” Ibid.

So, we are beginning to understand the awful effects that the work of the person or persons who sow strife or discord have on the life of the church. This is the reason why God hates this type of conduct. The contemplated motive of such individuals is to destroy the harmony and unity of those who are striving to live together in love and unity in the church. Their actions are not limited to the church; they extend to the family circle, the community, the workplace, and even the world at large.

However, the emphasis of this seventh deadly sin pertains to God’s church, and that the evil-doer is used by Satan to deliberately destroy the love and unity that exist among the followers of Jesus. Those who carry out such work are doing Satan’s bidding because he hates to see God’s people united and living in love and peace.

“Satan works to make the prayer of Christ of none effect. He makes continual efforts to create bitterness and discord; for where there is unity there is strength, a oneness which all the powers of hell cannot break. All who shall aid the enemies of God by bringing weakness and sorrow and discouragement upon any of God’s people, through their own perverse ways and tempers, are working directly against the prayer of Christ.” Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 6, 152

“Discord and strife are the work of Satan and the fruit of sin.” Ibid., Vol. 5, 169

The Holy Scriptures inform us that the spirit of discord and self-exaltation are the evil traits that caused the problem in heaven. Lucifer came to cherish this selfish desire to be above his Maker, and consequently, discord erupted in the residence of God.

“All heaven had rejoiced to reflect the Creator’s glory and to show forth His praise. And while God was thus honored, all had been peace and gladness. But a note of discord now marred the celestial harmonies. The service and exaltation of self, contrary to the Creator’s plan, awakened forebodings of evil in minds to whom God’s glory was supreme.” The Great Controversy, 494

While in heaven, Lucifer went from angel to angel, sowing seeds of strife to create division among the heavenly host and thereby redirect the angels’ loyalty from God to himself. Because of who he was, the angels did not suspect his evil purpose; they trusted him as their commander. This diabolical scheme sowed seeds of doubt that germinated in the minds of many of the angels, leading them to question the character of their Maker. Sadly, because of the bewitching power of this operation, one-third of heaven’s angels will be eternally lost, and heaven was changed forever! Angels who once lived in love and unity will be forever separated because of the evil spirit of discord.

This is the very work that is being carried out in God’s church today by those who have sold themselves to the devil. Paul dealt with this problem during his ministry. The church in Corinth was especially plagued with this divisive element. In his first letter to them, he stated:

“Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.

“Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?” 1 Corinthians 1:10–13

The True Reason for Discord.

“And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?

“For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.

“Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor.

“For we are laborers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 3:1–11

This discord motif was uppermost in Paul’s discourse to the Corinthians to the extent that he highlighted their attitude even when they were gathered together for church services. He said:

“Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse. For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it.” 1 Corinthians 11:17, 18

We need to understand what motivates a church member to cause strife within the church. Let’s look at a few texts of Scripture to find the answer to this important question.

“He that is of a proud heart stirreth up strife … .” Proverbs 28:25

“Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.” Romans 13:13

“For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?” 1 Corinthians. 3:3

“Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife … .” Philippians 1:15

“He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings.” 1 Timothy 6:4

“But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. … For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.” James 3:14, 16

Notice that two words appear to go together and are repeated in these verses—envy and strife. Solomon used the word pride, which stems from envy. Mrs. White tells us, “Envy is the offspring of pride.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 651

It is not by chance that these Bible writers put these two words together in these passages because envy is the root cause of discord or strife.

“Envy is one of the most satanic traits that can exist in the human heart, and it is one of the most baleful in its effects. Says the wise man, ‘Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?’ Proverbs 27:4. It was envy that first caused discord in heaven, and its indulgence has wrought untold evil among men. ‘Where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.’ James 3:16.” Ibid., 385

So, we see the reason—the root cause—behind church members going about the church and sowing seeds of discord and strife is envy. Wherever there is discord and strife, we can be sure that it is the devil working through human instrumentalities to accomplish his destructive purposes.

“In the rebellion of Korah is seen the working out, upon a narrower stage, of the same spirit that led to the rebellion of Satan in heaven. It was pride and ambition that prompted Lucifer to complain of the government of God, and to seek the overthrow of the order which had been established in heaven. Since his fall it has been his object to infuse the same spirit of envy and discontent, the same ambition for position and honor, into the minds of men.” Ibid., 403

What is envy? According to Wikipedia, “Envy is an emotion which occurs when a person lacks another’s quality, skill, achievement, or possession and either desires it or wishes that the other lacked it.”

“Envy is not merely a perverseness of temper, but a distemper, which disorders all the faculties. It began with Satan. He desired to be first in heaven, and because he could not have all the power and glory he sought, he rebelled against the government of God. He envied our first parents and tempted them to sin and thus ruined them and all the human race.

“The envious man shuts his eyes to the good qualities and noble deeds of others. He is always ready to disparage and misrepresent that which is excellent. Men often confess and forsake other faults, but there is little to be hoped for from the envious man. Since to envy a person is to admit that he is a superior, pride will not permit any concession. If an attempt be made to convince the envious person of his sin, he becomes even more bitter against the object of his passion, and too often he remains incurable.

“The envious man diffuses poison wherever he goes, alienating friends and stirring up hatred and rebellion against God and man. He seeks to be thought best and greatest, not by putting forth heroic, self-denying efforts to reach the goal of excellence himself, but by standing where he is and diminishing the merit due to the efforts of others.” Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 5, 56

What are the Seeds of Discord?

“There are men who are ever talking and gossiping and bearing false witness, who sow the seeds of discord and engender strife. Heaven looks upon this class as Satan’s most efficient servants.” Ibid., 607

“A person who will allow any degree of suspicion or censure to rest upon his fellow workers, while he neither rebukes the complainers nor faithfully presents the matter before the one condemned, is doing the work of the enemy. He is watering the seeds of discord and of strife, the fruit of which he will have to meet in the day of God … .” Counsels on Health, 297

What Should be Our Attitude?

“Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions (disunion, dissension) and offences (skandalon [“scandal”] or stumbling block; occasion to fall; things that offend) contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid (shun, go out of the way) them.” Romans 16:17

“I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Ephesians 4:1–3

[All scripture is from the King James Version]

Pastor Ivan Plummer ministers through the Emmanuel Seventh Day Church Ministries in Bronx, New York. He may be contacted by telephone at 718-882-3900.

A False Witness

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A witness is a person who has seen, heard, sensed, or been aware of something, especially an event or a fact. A witness can also give evidence or testimony, often in a court of law, based on their own knowledge. Wikipedia defines a witness as “someone who, either voluntarily or under compulsion, provides testimonial evidence, either oral or written, of what they know or claim to know.” Cornell University Law School’s definition of a witness is “someone with firsthand [personal] knowledge of an event.” A witness engages all five senses, but especially the senses of sight and hearing, as necessary tools in order to be truly qualified as a witness.

Accordingly, the major qualification of a true witness is that they must be truthful. The person is required to declare only what they have witnessed without adding or subtracting information based upon their biases, opinions, etc. The Holy Scriptures call Jesus “the Faithful and True Witness” (Revelation 3:14) and this is so because He declares Himself as “the Truth” (John 14:6). Jesus told His disciples, “…  the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in Me” (John 14:30). Satan who is the prince of this world is a liar and also the father of lies (John 8:44). This makes him the false witness!

A true or false witness.

As there are true witnesses, so there are false witnesses. King Solomon says that God hates “a false witness that speaketh lies” (Proverbs 6:19). While deadly sin number two addresses a lying tongue, it speaks of lying generally. In a concise form, the expression a lying tongue represents whatever has been already said concerning “the wicked man” who “walks with a forward mouth” and whose conduct is made up of deceit (Proverbs 6:12, 13). Lying is the willful perversion of truth, not only by speech but by any means whatever, whereby a false impression is conveyed to the mind.

This sixth deadly sin, known as perjury, specifically addresses an aspect of lying that forbids being a false witness against one’s neighbor. More specifically, this sin is detestable to God and is expressly forbidden in the moral code, “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor” (Exodus 20:16). Clearly, that which makes a person a “false witness” is speaking lies based upon unfounded accusations. It is this type of lying that is expressly forbidden by the ninth commandment, “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.”

This prohibition is repeated elsewhere in the Bible because God considers this sin a very serious matter and does not want us to forget His command.

  1. Exodus 23:1 – “Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.”
  2. Deuteronomy 5:20 – “Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbor.”
  3. Proverbs 12:17 – “He that speaketh truth showeth forth righteousness: but a false witness deceit.”
  4. Proverbs 12:22 – “Lying lips are abomination to the Lord: but they that deal truly are His delight.”
  5. Proverbs 25:18 – “A man that beareth false witness against his neighbor is a maul, and a sword, and a sharp arrow.”
  6. Matthew 19:18 – “… Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness.”
  7. Mark 10:19 & Luke 18:20 – “Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness.”
  8. Romans 13:9 – “For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness.”

Thousands of people have been wrongly convicted across the United States in a system defined by official indifference to innocence and error. Since 1989, over 3,175 persons have been exonerated in the United States. The years that these people spent in prison for crimes they didn’t commit total over 27,200. According to the National Registry of Exonerations, as of November 2016, more than half of all wrongful convictions were traced to witnesses who lied in court or made false accusations.

Richard Phillips was an unfortunate victim whose friend made a false statement about him in 1972. As a result, he was imprisoned for 46 years, the longest known wrongful prison sentence in American history.

In June, 2011, a former undercover police officer confessed that his lies in court more than 30 years ago had wrongfully sent over 150 people to prison. “In his confession, he said he could not guess the number of people who were sent to prison because of his lies because he stopped counting arrests at 150, halfway through his three-year undercover stint.”

Source: STUFF, Former Cop says his lies sent people to prison, June 25, 2011

The unfortunate results.

We see also in the Holy Scriptures the unfortunate results of bearing false witness. For example, in 1 Kings 21, the narrative reveals how Jezebel, King Ahab’s wife, employed two false witnesses to lie against Naboth because he refused to sell Ahab his family vineyard. Because of their false witness, Naboth lost his property and his life.

Let’s look at a few questions that we need to answer:

  1. How does God view those who bear false witness?

“There are men who are ever talking and gossiping and bearing false witness, who sow the seeds of discord and engender strife. Heaven looks upon this class as Satan’s most efficient servants.” Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 4, 607

“All evil-speaking and bearing of false witness is disloyalty to God and to His cause.” The Review and Herald, November 29, 1898

  1. What will happen to a church that entertains a false witness?

“Satan has made his boast of what he can do. He thinks to dissolve the unity which Christ prayed might exist in His church. He says, ‘I will go forth and be a lying spirit to deceive those that I can, to criticize, and condemn, and falsify.’ Let the son of deceit and false witness be entertained by a church that has had great light, great evidence, and that church will discard the message the Lord has sent, and receive the most unreasonable assertions and false suppositions and false theories. Satan laughs at their folly, for he knows what truth is.” Testimonies for Ministers and Gospel Workers, 409

“Misrepresentation and [bearing] false witness will grow to open rebellion.” The Review and Herald, January 30, 1900

  1. How should the church handle the influence of a false witness?

“The Lord would not have His servants unjustly charged by their fellow laborers with the guilt of many sins. Those who do this do much harm by creating a sentiment which will cut off the influence of those against whom they speak. False impressions will be made. Every effort should be made to present the facts as they exist. It is essential for the one who has borne false witness to see that he has been guilty of a great wrong in causing dissension in the church and in creating false sympathy, thus leading others into the same error and endangering their souls.” Manuscript Releases, Vol. 10, 167

What does it really mean?

We have been studying the subject of false witness, but some people may not be sure of the meaning of bearing false witness. Here is a comprehensive definition of bearing false witness, “ ‘Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.’

“False speaking in any matter, every attempt or purpose to deceive our neighbor, is here included. An intention to deceive is what constitutes falsehood. By a glance of the eye, a motion of the hand, an expression of the countenance, a falsehood may be told as effectually as by words. All intentional overstatement, every hint or insinuation calculated to convey an erroneous or exaggerated impression, even the statement of facts in such a manner as to mislead, is falsehood. This precept forbids every effort to injure our neighbor’s reputation by misrepresentation or evil surmising, by slander or tale bearing. Even the intentional suppression of truth, by which injury may result to others, is a violation of the ninth commandment.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 309

According to Paul, false witnesses or false accusers are a sign of the last days. “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves … without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers.” 2 Timothy 3:1–3

Paul used the Greek word diabolos here, meaning “devil or slanderer,” to describe false accusers. Mrs. White, commenting on these verses, revealed the awful effect the influence of false accusers will have on the church.

“While Christ is at work to preserve a pure church in the earth, Satan ever seeks to counteract his agency and work. Spurious Christians are found in the church of God; for we find men, while professing the name of Christ, more firmly united to Satan than they are united with pure and holy influences. They gather darkness and unbelief from Satan, and they communicate it to the church. They profess to have the power of discernment, and discover spots and stains in the character of their brethren and are not slow to communicate their suspicions to other members of the church. They distribute the leaven of distrust, of malice and accusation. And as a result, alienation and estrangement come in between brethren. All these false accusers, though their names are on the church records, are under the control of Satan, and work as his agents to weaken and confuse the church, and divide the brethren of Christ on earth. When this has been accomplished, Satan exults over the divided state of the church, and points the world to the professed followers of Christ, thus bringing the name of Christ into dishonor before the world, and intrenching men in their unbelief and rebellion against God.” The Review and Herald, January 3, 1893

Finally, what is the penalty for being a false witness? “One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established. If a false witness rise up against any man to testify against him that which is wrong; Then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before the Lord, before the priests and the judges, which shall be in those days; And the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and, behold, if the witness be a false witness, and hath testified falsely against his brother; Then shall ye do unto him, as he had thought to have done unto his brother: so shalt thou put the evil away from among you. And those which remain shall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil among you. And thine eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.” Deuteronomy 19:15–21

“A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall not escape.” Proverbs 19:5

“Men may think to hide their evil deeds from human eyes, but they cannot deceive God. ‘All things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.’ Hebrews 4:13.” Prophets and Kings, 252

“All the way along in the history of the third angel’s message there have been found amongst the believers men who have done much harm to God’s cause. These men are spots in our feasts of charity; tares among the wheat; wolves among the sheep, ready to bite and devour. Delighting to bear false witness, they cruelly injure the reputation of others. Every such one will be rewarded ‘according to his works.’ God ‘hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world.’ ” The Review and Herald, May 12, 1903

Let us keep in mind these words, “Slander covers more ground than we suppose. The command, ‘Thou shalt not bear false witness,’ means very much more than we realize. False witness is borne again and again in flippant speech concerning even the workers whom God has sent. The seeds of envy, of evil thinking and evil speaking, germinate and produce a harvest of their kind, to be garnered by the one who planted the seed. ‘Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.’ ” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Vol. 1, 1106

All scriptures taken from the King James Version.

Pastor Ivan Plummer ministers through the Emmanuel Seventh Day Church Ministries in Bronx, New York. He may be contacted by telephone at 718-882-3900.

Running to Mischief

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We have learned from the fourth deadly sin that “wicked imaginations” have to do with “thoughts of evil” that are germinated in minds which have become the workshop of the Devil. Jesus made it abundantly clear that out of such minds “… proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.” Matthew 15:19. The apostle Paul calls these “wicked imaginations” the works of the flesh because they are the manifestations of the evil thoughts of the evil mind. Paul wrote, “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings … .” Galatians 5:19–21, first part

Because we frequently allow our senses, especially our eyes and ears, to meditate upon that which is evil, our minds become impressed. As a consequence, the feet are swift in running to mischief. To run to mischief is to carry out with readiness or without delay what has already been devised in the heart. Such an act is considered by God to be sin and it is the fifth deadly sin which God hates.

As we ponder these seven deadly sins, we see a sequence of operation where one sin leads to the other sin and with each successive sin the evil increases! King Solomon wrote of this fifth deadly sin, “An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief.” Proverbs 6:18

Therefore, the wicked acts that people delight in doing are not disconnected, isolated actions but rather evils which have their origin in the mind which has been corrupted by “thoughts of evil.” Jesus taught, “Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit. O, generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.” Matthew 12:33–35

Now, King Solomon used the Hebrew word “rah” which is the English word “mischief” and this word has the following meanings: bad, evil, adversity, affliction, calamity, distress, grief, harm, hurt, misery, sorrow, trouble. This fifth deadly sin is hated by God because the individuals who allow their minds to become the residence of “wicked imaginations” love to cause grief, evil, and harm. They take delight in causing adversity, distress, and trouble anywhere they have the chance of doing so. Whether it be in the home, or the church, or the workplace, they are always ready to hurt others by their ungodly actions.

These people are not concerned about others and the sorrow that they inflict on them; they are more concerned about themselves and what pleases them. Here are three instances recorded in the Bible of individuals whose feet were swift in running to mischief. The first instance pertains to Amnon.

Amnon, David’s first son, was exceedingly sinful and unrepentant (The Great Controversy, 537). In other words, he took pleasure in committing sin and was not sorry for his evil actions. He was accustomed to self-gratification and carrying out his every desire. Scripture records a sad and unfortunate incident which Amnon perpetrated with his beautiful half-sister Tamar who was a virgin. “And it came to pass after this, that Absalom the son of David had a fair sister, whose name was Tamar; and Amnon the son of David loved her. And Amnon was so vexed, that he fell sick for his sister Tamar; for she was a virgin; and Amnon thought it hard for him to do anything to her.” 2 Samuel 13:1, 2

Amnon cherished evil imaginations toward Tamar allowing them to dominate his mind for a long time. The Bible says he loved her, but this expression “loved her” actually meant that Amnon desired her, lusted for her. Amnon knew that it was wrong to desire his sister and fearing the consequences, he hesitated in carrying out his evil action. But he continued to burn with lustful desire, and the Bible records that, “Amnon thought it hard for him to do anything to her.” This did not mean that Amnon harbored concern for the disgrace his actions would bring to his sister, the hurt, grief, or sorrow which he would cause her to experience. He knew that his attempt would be difficult only because he could not see how he might get Tamar into his power and he feared the consequences.

However, Amnon’s friend, Jonadab, saw his sadness and questioned him. Understanding his friend’s burning desire, Jonadab suggested a plan. “And Jonadab said unto him, lay thee down on thy bed, and make thyself sick: and when thy father cometh to see thee, say unto him, I pray thee, let my sister Tamar come, and give me meat, and dress the meat in my sight, that I may see it, and eat it at her hand. So Amnon lay down, and made himself sick: and when the king was come to see him, Amnon said unto the king, I pray thee, let Tamar my sister come, and make me a couple of cakes in my sight, that I may eat at her hand.” Verses 5, 6. Unaware of the plot against Tamar, David did as Amnon asked and sent her to minister to him. We read in verses 11–14 that Amnon demanded that Tamar “lie” with him, and all of her pleading fell upon deaf ears. Overpowered as he was by this burning lust for her, Amnon easily physically overpowered Tamar and forcefully raped her.

Amnon, by raping his half-sister, was successful in carrying out his diabolical plan which brought untold hurt and sorrow to her heart as well as the entire family. He was indifferent to her spiritual welfare. This is what “feet that be swift in running to mischief” will do. After he had abused this daughter of Israel, Amnon, out of anger, ordered her to leave but she refused claiming, “this evil in sending me away is greater than the other that thou didst unto me. But he would not hearken unto her. Then he called his servant that ministered unto him, and said, put now this woman out from me, and bolt the door after her.” Verses 16, 17

When Tamar, humbled and heartbroken, begged for milder treatment, Amnon added insult to the wrong he had already committed against her and ordered his manservant to push her out and lock the door after her. By such an order, the manservant and all Amnon’s people would be led to believe that Tamar was the guilty party and Amnon the victim of her enticement. This for Amnon was not a mistake like that of his father David who sinned against Uriah and Bathsheba. His was an outgrowth of a corrupt mind which was under the full control of evil angels!

The second instance has to do with Absalom. Absalom’s mind was corrupted by cherishing covetousness; he desired his father’s position and this evil thought was finally put into action. The Bible states, “And Absalom rose up early, and stood beside the way of the gate: and it was so, that when any man that had a controversy came to the king for judgment, then Absalom called unto him, and said, Of what city art thou? And he said, Thy servant is of one of the tribes of Israel. And Absalom said unto him, See, thy matters are good and right; but there is no man deputed of the king to hear thee. Absalom said moreover, Oh that I were made judge in the land, that every man which hath any suit or cause might come unto me, and I would do him justice! And it was so, that when any man came nigh to him to do him obeisance, he put forth his hand, and took him, and kissed him. And on this manner did Absalom to all Israel that came to the king for judgment: so Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.” 2 Samuel 15:2–6

The strategy employed by Absalom is revealed, “Fomented by the artful insinuations of the prince, discontent with the government was fast spreading. The praise of Absalom was on the lips of all. He was generally regarded as heir to the kingdom; the people looked upon him with pride as worthy of this high station, and a desire was kindled that he might occupy the throne. ‘So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.’ ” Patriarchs and Prophets, 730

Oh, what sorrow, calamity, hurt and distress Absalom brought upon his father because he allowed “thoughts of evil” to enter and remain in his mind. This action of Absalom demonstrates that this fifth deadly sin has no regard for anyone, whether it be wife, husband, mother, father, brother, sister, etc. No wonder the prophet Jeremiah declared of such a mind, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Jeremiah 17:9

The third and final instance involves the presidents and princes of the Median kingdom under Darius. These nobles of the Medes and Persians were filled with jealousy against Daniel because of the promotion that King Darius had given him. Notably, Mrs. White wrote, “The honors bestowed upon Daniel excited the jealousy of the leading men of the kingdom, and they sought for occasion of complaint against him. … Thereupon, the presidents and princes, counseling together, devised a scheme whereby they hoped to accomplish the prophet’s destruction.” Prophets and Kings, 539, 540

Again, like Amnon and Absalom, these men entertained evil thoughts concerning Daniel; and, consequently, wicked actions were the result of feet that are swift in running to mischief. They deceived the king, conspired against Daniel and finally got him thrown in the den of lions. (See Daniel 6.)

Consider this: How many lives have been destroyed or nearly destroyed because of “feet that are swift in running to mischief?” How many innocent persons have been severely harmed and brought to grief because of “thoughts of evil” which were cherished and then acted out against them?

Living the holy life does not mean we will be free from trouble. Daniel understood this. “What a lesson is here presented for all Christians. The keen eyes of jealousy were fixed upon Daniel day after day; their watchings were sharpened by hatred; yet not a word or act of his life could they make appear wrong. And still he made no claim to sanctification, but he did that which was infinitely better—he lived a life of faithfulness and consecration.” The Sanctified Life, 42

How did these leaders arrive at the place to desire the destruction of Daniel?

“Daniel was preferred above the presidents and the princes because an excellent spirit was in him. Fallen angels feared that his influence would weaken their control over the rulers of the kingdom, for Daniel was high in command. The accusing host of evil angels stirred up the presidents and princes to envy and jealousy, and they watched Daniel closely to find some occasion against him that they might report him to the king; but they failed. Then these agents of Satan sought to make his faithfulness to God the cause of his destruction. Evil angels laid out the plan for them, and these agents readily carried it into effect. The king was ignorant of the subtle mischief purposed against Daniel.” Testimonies, 295, 296

Brothers and sisters, this hymn should be our prayer:

 

O, let me walk with Thee, my God,

As Enoch walked in days of old;

Place Thou my trembling hand in Thine,

And sweet communion with me hold;

E’en though the path I may not see,

Yet, Jesus, let me walk with Thee.

 

I cannot, dare not, walk alone;

The tempest rages in the sky,

A thousand snares beset my feet,

A thousand foes are lurking nigh.

Still Thou the raging of the sea,

O Master! let me walk with Thee.

 

If I may rest my hand in Thine,

I’ll count the joys of earth but loss,

And firmly, bravely journey on;

I’ll bear the banner of the cross

Till Zion’s glorious gates I see;

Yet, Saviour, let me walk with Thee.

All scripture is from the King James Bible.

Pastor Ivan Plummer ministers through the Emmanuel Seventh Day Church Ministries in Bronx, New York. He may be contacted by telephone at 718-882-3900.

Unguarded Avenues

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John Swinton, a Scottish-American journalist and the chief editorial writer of the New York Times during the 1860s, made the following remarks to his fellow journalists at a banquet given in his honor in 1880: “There is no such thing, at this date of the world’s history, in America, as an independent press. You know it and I know it.

“There is not one of you who dares to write your honest opinions, and if you did, you know beforehand that it would never appear in print. I am paid weekly for keeping my honest opinion out of the paper I am connected with. Others of you are paid similar salaries for similar things, and any of you who would be so foolish as to write honest opinions would be out on the streets looking for another job. If I allowed my honest opinions to appear in one issue of my paper, before 24 hours my occupation would be gone.

“The business of the journalist is to destroy the truth, to lie outright, to pervert, to vilify, to fawn at the feet of mammon, and to sell his country and his race for his daily bread. You know it and I know it, and what folly is this toasting an independent press?

“We are the tools and vassals of rich men behind the scenes. We are the jumping jacks, they pull the strings and we dance. Our talents, our possibilities and our lives are all the property of other men. We are intellectual prostitutes.” (Source: Labor’s Untold Story, by Richard O. Boyer and Herbert M. Morais, published by United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America, NY, 1955/1979.)

This is quite an honest admission of the truth. It provides us with the sad reality that we are but a deteriorating mass of humanity. I think it would be safe to say that most, if not all of us, are affected by the media in one way or another. Massive technological advancements in the media industry have occurred from 1880 until now, and we no longer deal only with the written page, but also Silicon Valley media ammunitions. This media empire is, with great success, the shaper of the human population’s world view at this present time.

In his book Secret Societies and Psychological Warfare, Michael A. Hoffman II tells us of the plan for the reshaping of our minds.

“The battle for the mind of North America will be fought in the video arena, the videodrome.” (p. 92.)

“If we consider the hours in a day most Americans spend in front of a TV and add to that the hours children spend immersed in the digital world of videogames and add to that their forthcoming immersion in computer-simulated worlds of supposed ‘history’ and ‘travel’ in their schools, we see the gradual creation of a population of dwellers-in-perpetual-illusion.” (p. 94.)

A former Amway Crown Direct distributor Bunny Marks concluded, “What you see is what you’ll be.”

In the first part of this fourth deadly sin which God hates (LandMarks May 2025 issue, Wicked Imaginations), we discovered that the majority of people who are living today have “a heart that deviseth wicked imaginations” (Proverbs 6:18). They allow their minds to become the devil’s workshop by cherishing “wicked imaginations” or “thoughts of iniquity.” It was made clear that we must strictly guard the avenues to our souls, especially our eyes and ears, because Satan will use these senses, if left unguarded, to bring about our ruin.

As we examine in a deeper way this fourth deadly sin, I would like to share with you some alarming statistics that will help us to understand just how very serious Mr. Swinton’s assertions are for us today. Social media, while it can be beneficial to us, is also used by the devil to disconnect people from Jesus Christ and destroy the Christian religion.

  • The United States—a self-declared Christian nation—is the largest producer and exporter of hardcore pornographic DVDs and web material. According to British authorities, there are at least 4.5 million porn sites, of which more than half are located in the US.
  • More than 40 million Americans are regular visitors to porn sites. The average visit lasts six minutes and 29 seconds.
  • The porn industry’s annual revenue is more than the NFL, NBA, and MLB combined. It is also more than the combined revenues of ABC, CBS, and NBC.
  • 47% of families in the US reported that pornography is a problem in their home.
  • Pornography use increases the marital infidelity rate by more than 300%.
  • Eleven is the average age that a child is first exposed to porn, and 94% of children will see porn by the age of 14.
  • On average, teenagers spend five hours and 38 minutes online every day. Nearly half of teens admit to taking action to hide their online behavior from parents.
  • 56% of American divorces involve one party having an “obsessive interest” in pornographic websites.
  • 70% of Christian youth pastors report that they have had at least one teenager come to them for help in dealing with pornography in the past 12 months.
  • 68% of churchgoing men and more than 50% of pastors view porn on a regular basis. Of young Christian adults ages 18-24, 76% actively search for porn.
  • 59% of pastors said married men seek their help for porn use.
  • 33% of women ages 25 and under search for porn at least once per month.
  • Only 13% of self-identified Christian women say they never watch porn—87% of Christian women have watched porn.
  • 55% of married men and 25% of married women say they watch porn at least once a month.
  • 57% of pastors say porn addiction is the most damaging issue in their congregation. And 69% say porn has adversely impacted the church.
  • $3,075.64 is spent on porn every second on the internet. The United States was the country with the most traffic in 2019.
  • According to a Gallup poll taken in June 2018, “More than four in 10 Americans (43%) now say pornography is morally acceptable.”
  • In 2008, a survey of more than 560 college students was taken. It revealed:
  • 69% of boys and 55% of girls have seen same-sex intercourse on line.
  • 32% of boys and 18% of girls have seen bestiality online.
  • 88% of scenes in porn films contain acts of physical aggression, and 49% of scenes contain verbal aggression.
  • Those who frequently consume Internet pornography are less likely to marry because they see pornography as a marital sexual gratification substitute.
  • 70% of wives of sex addicts could be diagnosed with PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder).
  • 82% of tweens (a child between the ages of 10 and 12) and 94.50% of teens expressed or experienced violent subject matter/thoughts.
  • 09% of tweens and 74.61% of teens were involved in a self-harm/suicidal situation.
  • 35% of tweens and 93.31% of teens engaged in conversations surrounding drugs/alcohol.

These statistics are very troubling because they illustrate how what we look at and listen to affects our minds and behavior.

The Minnesota Human Trafficking Task Force recently found 46 published research studies demonstrating that exposure to pornography puts individuals at increased risk for committing sexual offenses.

An article in the April 15, 2018, Christianity Today magazine entitled, “3 Ways Social Media Endangers a Christian’s Life” reveals why it is important that Christians guard the avenues to their souls.

  • It allows room for secret sin. Here’s the most dangerous effect of all: social media is a perfect breeding ground for secret sin.
  • Handled the wrong way, it will steal precious time.
  • It pollutes the mind.

In We Become What We Watch, Abigail Dodd made the following remarks:

“J. Gresham Machen says, ‘When any new fact enters the human mind it must proceed to make itself at home; it must proceed to introduce itself to the previous denizens (occupants) of the house. That process of introduction of new facts is called thinking. And, contrary to what seems to be quite generally supposed, thinking cannot be avoided by the Christian.’

“Whether we are reflecting on a fact at any given moment or not, we are always thinking, and that thinking shapes us in profound ways. … whenever new facts enter our mind, we are engaged in a type of thinking—whether we want to be or not. Watching shows is one of the most passive forms of thinking, which makes it one of the most powerful. Because we are not engaged in active thinking, we allow any number of morally-suspect thoughts to enter our mind unhindered. These thoughts immediately get comfortable in their new home. … To say this is a cunning move by our adversary is an understatement. Under the guise of entertainment, evil thoughts often move into our minds and entrench themselves unopposed.” [Author’s emphasis.]

“Your imagination was not given you to be allowed to run riot and have its own way without any effort at restraint or discipline. If the thoughts are wrong, the feelings will be wrong; and the thoughts and feelings combined make up the moral character. When you decide that as Christians you are not required to restrain your thoughts and feelings, you are brought under the influence of evil angels and invite their presence and their control.” Mind, Character, and Personality, Vol. 2, 593

Mrs. White is very clear that our thoughts and feelings shape our characters. She also highlights one particular way that the imagination is corrupted.

“Among the most dangerous resorts for pleasure is the theater. Instead of being a school of morality and virtue, as is so often claimed, it is the very hotbed of immorality. Vicious habits and sinful propensities are strengthened and confirmed by these entertainments. Low songs, lewd gestures, expressions, and attitudes, deprave the imagination and debase the morals. Every youth who habitually attends such exhibitions will be corrupted in principle. There is no influence in our land more powerful to poison the imagination, to destroy religious impressions, and to blunt the relish for the tranquil pleasures and sober realities of life than theatrical amusements. The love for these scenes increases with every indulgence, as the desire for intoxicating drinks strengthens with its use. The only safe course is to shun the theater, the circus, and every other questionable place of amusement.” Testimonies, Vol. 4, 652, 653

The imagination is the vehicle by which the mind becomes depraved.

“The heart is corrupted through the imagination. The mind takes pleasure in contemplating scenes which awaken the lower and baser passions. These vile images, seen through defiled imagination, corrupt the morals and prepare the deluded, infatuated beings to give loose rein to lustful passions. Then follow sins and crimes which drag beings formed in the image of God down to a level with the beasts, sinking them at last in perdition. Avoid reading and seeing things which will suggest impure thoughts.” Ibid., Vol. 2, 410

Corinth, being a metropolis, was a center of all manner of immorality and sexual perversion. The Corinthian church was surrounded and likewise affected by such corrupting influences, resulting in a very serious problem; the Corinthians impure and immoral thoughts translated into impure and immoral actions. The apostle Paul had to address the church members about this matter.

“It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife.” 1 Corinthians 5:1

“Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body. … Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.” 1 Corinthians 6:13, 18

“Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.” 1 Corinthians 10:8

“And lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and that I shall bewail many which have sinned already, and have not repented of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they have committed.” 2 Corinthians 12:21

The word fornication used here by Paul, is the Greek word porneia from which we get the English word pornography. “The word pornography is composed of two Greek words. The first is porne, meaning “harlot,” which is akin to the word pernanai, meaning “to sell.” The second word is graphein, meaning “to write.” In other words, pornography is literally “the writing of harlots.” (Source: Richard & Linda Sauer, Pornography: A Distortion of God’s Plan, March 29, 2007.)

“The tentacles of pornography have invaded almost every area of our lives through TV, movies, sports, music, the arts, the news media, video gaming, marketing, magazines, and the Internet. Differing degrees and aspects of pornography are everywhere. Many of these far-reaching tentacles go unnoticed and are even embraced by mainstream Americans—Christians and non-Christians alike. What once was considered unacceptable has become completely commonplace.” Ibid., 1

We must heed Peter’s warning.

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” 1 Peter 5:8

Eve sinned because:

  • She provided an opportunity for the evil one.
  • She was curious.
  • She questioned God’s word.
  • Her thoughts resulted in disobedience.
  • She became corrupted.

Satan appealed to Eve’s senses and played with her imagination. Consequently, she laid aside God’s word, believed a lie, and sin entered this planet! (See Genesis 3:1–7; Patriarchs and Prophets, 55.)

Helen Howarth Lemmel appeals to us in her song Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus.

“Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.”

“Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.” Isaiah 45:22

Pastor Ivan Plummer ministers through the Emmanuel Seventh Day Church Ministries in Bronx, New York. He may be contacted by telephone at 718-882-3900.

Joy By and By

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Franklin E. Beldin was a prolific hymn writer and a Seventh-day Adventist. He was born March 21, 1858, in Battle Creek, Michigan. His mother was Ellen G. White’s older sister. He began writing in his late teens after the family moved to California. However, in 1881, his ill health took him to Colorado where he met and married Harriet C. McDearmon. They had a daughter, Linnie Louise. They eventually returned to Battle Creek where Franklin became involved in the Adventist publishing work.

Franklin was known as “the sweet singer of Israel.” He had the ability to spontaneously compose both music and poetry together to fit the sermon topic as it was being presented. Then, he and Harriet would sing the newly-composed song at the end of the sermon, giving the manuscript to the preacher.

He served as music editor and contributor along with Edwin Barnes and J. Edson White on the compilation of a number of Adventist hymn books. He is especially associated with the Christ in Song hymnbook, Adventism’s most popular songbook.

Sadly, Franklin had disputes with the Review and Herald Publishing Association over the ownership of the copyrights on his music. For several reasons of his own, he also developed an animosity toward his aunt, Ellen White.

At the beginning of the 20th century, after a renewal in his spiritual life, he would reconcile with her for a time, only to turn away from her again over the continuing disputes regarding the publication of his music. He remained embittered against her and church leadership to the end of his life.

The 1941 Church Hymnal included 22 of Franklin’s songs and hymns. The 1985 Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal includes 12 hymns and four tunes.

Franklin E. Belden died in Marshall, Michigan, on December 2, 1945, at the age of 87.

My personal favorite of his hymns is Joy By and By. Written in 1886, he composed both music and words.

O there’ll be joy when the work is done,
Joy when the reapers gather home,
Bringing the sheaves at set of sun
To the new Jerusalem.

Joy By and By

Sweet are the songs that we hope to sing,
Grateful the thanks our hearts shall bring,
Praising forever Christ our King
In the New Jerusalem.

Pure are the joys that await us there,
Many the golden mansions fair;
Jesus Himself doth them prepare,
In the New Jerusalem.

Joy, joy, there’ll be joy by and by,
Joy, joy where the joys never die;
Joy, joy; for the day draweth nigh
When the workers gather home.

Source: Encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id+D8YK&highlight+y; hymnary.org/text/o_therell_be_joy_when_the_work_is_done