Many years ago, I participated in a Sabbath School class discussion on 2 Peter 3:9.
“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”
The question was asked, “Do you believe that God is omnipotent?” Everyone said, “Yes.” The next question was, “Do you believe that God’s will is omnipotent?” I immediately knew where this conversation was going. Yes, God’s will is omnipotent. The text says that God is not willing that any should perish. So, if God is omnipotent, and if His will is omnipotent, and if He is unwilling that any should perish, then that would mean that God will make a way to save everyone. Universalism is “the doctrine of universal reconciliation—the view that all human beings will ultimately be saved and restored to a right relationship with God.” (Source: wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_universalism). Many in the class, myself included, stated that there are other Bible scriptures that do not support that conclusion.
Peter is not the only apostle whose New Testament words are used by Universalists to support their doctrine.
“He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.” 1 John 2:2
“Who [God] desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” 1 Timothy 2:4
The truth is, God does desire that all of mankind would be saved. To this end, Jesus Christ gave His life to pay the penalty that sinful man could not pay on his own. God wants everyone to be in heaven. Why is it then that millions—billions—will be lost?
“Catch us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender grapes.” Song of Solomon 2:15
Many of the people who will be lost are not murderers, bank robbers, or criminals. Sin entered this world with a bite from a piece of fruit—a small window of doubt that led to disobedience to God’s expressed will. In fact, when Eve brought the fruit to Adam, he decided that God was too loving for something so small as a bite from a piece of fruit to be unforgiveable. But Luke records Jesus’ words, “He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.” Luke 16:10. It will be the little things that will trip up many people.
“The Lord did not prove Adam and Eve in a large matter. The test given them was the smallest that could have been devised. Had it been a large test, then men and women whose hearts incline to evil would excuse themselves by saying, ‘This is a trivial matter, and God is not so particular about little things,’ and there would be constant transgression in things looked upon as small, and which pass unrebuked among men. But the Lord has made it very evident that sin, in any degree, is offensive to Him.” The Signs of the Times, October 29, 1885
The test that Adam failed was little, but sometimes things that seem to be not very important too often have the biggest consequences.
Let’s look at a few examples of the importance of little things.
It Just Takes One
Early in the 1990s, there was a series of mysterious deaths around the city of Boston. What made them so mysterious was that many of these people were in good health. In particular, there was a healthy, 76-year-old woman with no medical issues who just died without explanation. An investigation found that she had died of a vitamin D overdose—vitamin D intoxication, as it is called today. Authorities were very perplexed, because overdosing on vitamin D almost never happens.
Historically, those who typically died from vitamin D intoxication were explorers in either the Arctic or Antarctica. Their food was whatever they could kill in the area, and they would eat every part of the animal, including the organ meats. So, if you shot a polar bear and ate every part of the bear, specifically its liver, you could die from vitamin D intoxication because a polar bear’s liver contains enough vitamin D to kill you. However, this 76-year-old lady, and others in Boston, had not recently traveled to the Arctic or Antarctica, nor had any of them shot a polar bear and eaten its liver. So, authorities turned to a physician who was a vitamin D researcher. He asked for samples of the milk that these people had been drinking.
Milk, straight from the cow, does not contain vitamin D. But the processed milk bought from a local grocery store contains 400 IU (international units) of vitamin D in an 8-ounce serving. This is such a small dose of vitamin D that a person can drink a lot of milk without the fear of being harmed. After testing the milk samples, the researcher found that there were variable amounts of vitamin D in the different milk samples. Some of the milk samples had 250,000 IU per quart (the most common dosage of vitamin D prescribed today is 5,000 IU per day minimum).
The researcher went to the plant where the milk was processed. Milk is generally processed in 250-gallon vats. A small amount of vitamin D was added to these vats by a plant employee. He found that this employee was careless. Before adding vitamin D to the milk, he was to dilute it first, but didn’t. Because of the actions of one person, and a small amount of undiluted vitamin D, a healthy 76-year-old woman died, along with a little child and others.
Size Does Matter
A few years ago, a British airliner took off from London heading out over the Atlantic Ocean. After reaching cruising altitude, the pilot released his seat belt and stood up to stretch. At that precise moment, the pilot-side windshield blew out. Cruising altitude for a commercial airliner is 33,000–42,000 feet, so a breach anywhere in the plane would cause a catastrophic depressurization. Wind like a hurricane blew into the cockpit, grabbed the pilot, and shoved him out through the now-open windshield.
The copilot was still buckled in his seat, but he lunged forward grabbing the pilot’s feet before he was completely ejected. He yelled for help, and several people came into the cockpit to help save the pilot. The wind was so strong that they were unable to pull the pilot back into the cockpit, but they held onto him with all their strength. The copilot radioed a mayday back to London and informed them he needed to immediately return to London for an emergency landing. Air traffic control responded that they would clear the air space and a runway so that he could come straight in. The copilot returned to London, landed the plane, and the pilot’s life was saved.
An investigation was immediately opened to determine what caused the windshield to fail. They found that the plane had been in for maintenance the day before and that a new windshield had been installed. During the replacement of the windshield, the maintenance technician did not have the manufacturer-specified screws, but he did have screws that were very similar in size, so he had used these rather than taking the time to obtain the correct screws. You really couldn’t tell there was a difference between the two types of screws, and everything fit together (or so it seemed); but I’m sure that if you asked that pilot, he would tell you that not using the manufacturer-specified screws made a big difference.
The Smallest Thing Can Have the Biggest Consequence
On January 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger lifted off from the launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 11:39 a.m. At 46,000 feet above the Atlantic, 73 seconds into the launch, the spacecraft exploded and disintegrated. After an extensive investigation, it was determined that the explosion occurred due to the failure of the primary and secondary “redundant O-ring seals in a joint in the shuttle’s right solid rocket booster.” The O-ring seal is a circular gasket that should have sealed the right rocket booster, but the gasket—affected by the cold temperatures overnight—had become stiff reducing its ability to properly seal the joint.
(Sources: wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Challenger_disaster; priceonomics.com/the-space-shuttle-challenger-explosion-and-the-o)
What Price to Do Right
Have you ever studied the Sabbath with someone and they say, “Well, as long as I keep one day out of seven, I don’t think it matters which day.” A few years ago, I was contacted by a man—I will call him Jim—who said he and his wife had been watching the Steps to Life television program for years, and they wanted to become Seventh-day Adventists. So my wife and I began Bible studies with them and their two teenage children.
After two or three visits, Jim told us that he worked at a local aircraft company on second shift. His workday ended at 10:00 p.m. Now that he would be a Seventh-day Adventist, he asked if he could still work until 10:00 on Friday nights. I told Jim that working on the Sabbath, even for a short space of time, would be a violation of God’s law. The Bible says, “from evening until evening, you shall celebrate your Sabbath.” Leviticus 23:32. Jim asked me to explain when is evening. “At evening when the sun sets.” Mark 1:32, first part. However, I told him that there were other people in his same situation for whom I had written letters to the aircraft companies on their behalf, and that the companies had given them Sabbath off from sundown Friday night to sundown Sabbath night. These individuals were allowed to work extra hours on Sundays or other arrangements had been made so that they could work their full hours, without having to work on the Sabbath. I told Jim I would be willing to write such a letter on his behalf.
Jim’s family had a very nice home and very nice automobiles; they had a lot of nice things. However, most of it wasn’t yet paid for, and it was necessary for both he and his wife to work full-time jobs to meet their obligations. The family decided that they did not want to take the risk that Jim might lose his job over the Sabbath, and they ended the Bible studies.
Sadly, this is not an isolated case. “Please give me a dispensation so I can do this. It’s just a few hours. It seems like such a small thing.” But is it? Human reasoning seeks the path of least resistance, the least amount of risk. I want to do what is right, but do I really have to give up something to do it?
My father was the credit manager for a local community hospital in Washington state. His boss, the business manager, wanted regularity in the work schedule, and he made a rule that everyone would work from 9:00 to 5:00 Monday through Friday. My father went to the business manager to ask to be off from sundown Friday until sundown Saturday. He explained that he was willing to work extra on Sunday or extra hours on the other workdays, or whatever schedule the business manager might want to arrange for him. However, the manager was unwilling to make the allowance for him, and he told my father he would have to find another job, so my father began looking. A day or so later, the business manager realized that my father was serious, and that he would actually find another job. So he arranged for my father to work—during the winter months—from 9:00 to 12:00 every Friday and then work four or five hours on Sunday to make up his time.
Are You Committed?
I had a problem of my own keeping the Sabbath. No matter how I tried, I always seemed to be late getting ready for the Sabbath by just a few minutes. For years I struggled with this. Eventually, I had to ask myself, Am I always going to be late? I realized that I could be late or I could be early, either way the choice was mine. Making the decision to be early provides time for mishaps or troubles to be resolved, and now I am always ready for the Sabbath before the sun goes down.
Little Things Seem Unimportant, but a Little Thing Can Change Everything
Just moments before departure, the crew master of the Titanic was replaced. He left the ship, but unfortunately for the passengers and crew, he took with him, forgotten in his pocket, the key to the locker where the binoculars were kept. Had he handed off the key to the new crew master, it’s possible that the iceberg would have been spotted sooner, giving the ship much-needed time to steer away from it. (Source: intellectualtakeout.org/2017/07/10-small-events-that-changed-the-course-of-history.)
The story of Lot is an amazing Bible story. Lot lived in Sodom. Because of the wicked and sexually-charged lifestyle in Sodom, Lot decided that he needed to do something to protect strangers who ventured to the city. It became his custom to sit at the city gate every evening, and if travelers passed by, he would invite them to his house.
The Bible records that one night two strangers came to the city gate. Lot extended the hospitality of his home for the night, but they said that they would find shelter in the city. Lot pressed upon them that they really needed to come to his house. So, they did, and in doing so, they saved Lot’s life and the lives of his two daughters. However, they—angels disguised as men—weren’t able to save everyone in his family, but not because they didn’t have the power to save them. If the angels had been able to find even ten people in Sodom willing to be saved, the entire city would have been spared. And this, you see, is God’s problem: He offers salvation and makes it possible for every single person in the world to be saved, but only a few accept His offer.
We Cannot See What God Sees
Human beings look on the outside. If we can see it, touch it, smell it, taste it, hear it, then we can believe it. However, this outward focus makes us unable to perceive what we cannot physically discern and, consequently, we make many erroneous judgments. One of these is in estimating a person’s value based on the kind of work he or she does, the culture that he or she comes from, the church he or she attends, his or her gender, or the color of his or her skin. Many people do very important things, but society casts them as of little value because what they do does not appear important when looked upon from an outward perspective only.
One major example of this error in judgment occurs with regard to women. Society today generally asserts that if a woman wants to be important, she must obtain a college education, cultivate a career, seek out positions that hold the greatest worldly importance and influence. The position and work that God gave to Eve and to all her female posterity after her—that of being a wife and mother—is of the greatest importance of all. Society states that motherhood is not a job, and consequently, women who work from sunup to sundown in keeping the home and raising the children are valued far below a female executive making a six-figure salary.
“The mother seldom appreciates her own work, and frequently sets so low an estimate upon her labor that she regards it as domestic drudgery. She goes through the same round day after day, week after week, with no special marked results. She cannot tell, at the close of the day, the many little things she has accomplished. Placed beside her husband’s achievement, she feels that she has done nothing worth mentioning.
“The father frequently comes in with a self-satisfied air, and proudly recounts what he has accomplished through the day. His remarks show that now he must be waited upon by the mother, for she has not done much except take care of the children, cook the meals, and keep the house in order. She has not acted the merchant, bought nor sold; she has not acted the farmer, in tilling the soil; she has not acted the mechanic—therefore she has done nothing to make her weary. He criticizes and censures and dictates as though he was the lord of creation. And this is all the more trying to the wife and mother, because she has become very weary at her post of duty during the day, and yet she cannot see what she has done, and is really disheartened.
“Could the veil be withdrawn, and father and mother see as God sees the work of the day, and see how His infinite eye compares the work of the one with that of the other, they would be astonished at the heavenly revelation. The father would view his labors in a more modest light, while the mother would have new courage and energy to pursue her labor with wisdom, perseverance, and patience. Now she knows its value. While the father has been dealing with the things which must perish and pass away, the mother has been dealing with developing minds and character, working not only for time but for eternity. Her work, if done faithfully in God, will be immortalized.” The Signs of the Times, September 13, 1877
Day by day
You and I are building a character. What we repeatedly do, whether it be our thoughts, words, or actions, becomes a habit, and it is these habits that make up our characters. There are many pastors and churches that talk as though a good character is not that important. Yet, character is so important to Jesus that He went to the cross so that He could restore in us the image [character] of God. We aren’t talking about a physical image—fingers, hands, feet, legs, and all the other physical parts of the body. Character is developed in the heart and mind of a person by the in-working of the Holy Spirit. We will receive a new body when Jesus comes, but receiving a new heart and mind happens here and now. A right character is the only thing we take with us to the next life (Christ’s Object Lessons, 332). “Our characters are now forming for eternity. Here on earth we are training for heaven.” Testimonies, Vol. 6, 268. We can’t take it if we don’t already have it. When we see Jesus, coming in the clouds of glory, we will already have a character fit for heaven, or we will never have one at all.
Jesus said, “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every man according as his work shall be.” Revelation 22:12. So, when I see Jesus, my character will either be fit for heaven, or it won’t.
“The beautiful, well-balanced symmetrical character is developed by individual acts of duty. The character is formed by the conscientious attention to the little things of life, courteous acts of kindness, unselfish deeds of charity. Kind words make the life beautiful and noble; for in them is the spirit that pervades heaven.” The Signs of the Times, December 12, 1878
Character is Perfected by the Little Things
“True love is not a strong, fiery, impetuous passion. On the contrary, it is calm and deep in its nature. It looks beyond mere externals and is attracted by qualities alone. It is wise and discriminating, and its devotion is real and abiding. God tests and proves us by the common occurrences of life. It is the little things which reveal the chapters of the heart. It is the little attentions, the numerous small incidents and simple courtesies of life, that make up the sum of life’s happiness; and it is the neglect of kindly, encouraging, affectionate words, and the little courtesies of life, which help compose the sum of life’s wretchedness. It will be found at last that the denial of self for the good and happiness of those around us constitutes a large share of the life record in heaven. And the fact will also be revealed that the care of self, irrespective of the good and happiness of others, is not beneath the notice of our heavenly Father.” Testimonies, Vol. 2, 133, 134
God uses the everyday things to test us. Our characters are not shaped by one momentous event, but by the many day-in-and-day-out things that we encounter and our responses to them. It is these small tests that strengthen our character to meet the greater tests. Some people have never learned how to handle, or just don’t care about, the small things. If a task is big enough and worth their time, they will commit themselves whole-heartedly to its completion, but those little things, the feeling is that they are just so small. With or without them, they would make no difference. But, remember the pilot hanging out of the cockpit window at 33,000 feet? That small, very specific screw made a huge difference to him, and the small things will make a significant difference to us as we develop a character that reflects the character of Christ.
Remember Daniel and the three worthies? They committed to follow God’s diet even in their captivity in Babylon. Not such a big thing. But do you suppose that their faithfulness in this smaller matter—and many others, I imagine, throughout their lives—prepared the way for their decision to stand faithful on the Plain of Dura, to risk the fiery furnace? For Daniel to continue faithfully to raise his eyes and voice in prayer, praising God, despite the risk of being thrown into the lions’ den?
What you and I consider little is not necessarily what God thinks is little. How does God measure what is small and what is great? Remember the widow with her two mites (Luke 21:1–4)? As Jesus watched the rich putting money in the treasury, He saw this poor woman place her two mites in as well. Small as the gift was, He told His disciples that she had given the greater gift. The rich gave gifts, but there was no sacrifice for them in doing so. But with this woman, these two mites were all she had. She sacrificed her all to help further God’s work. It is not the size of the gift or even the giving of a gift, but rather the motive of the heart that gives it. This is how character is determined.
We need to ask for the spiritual discernment we need so that we can examine ourselves and with clarity see if there is any little thing that prevents us from having a character that will pass the judgment.
“Examine yourselves whether you are in the faith.” 2 Corinthians 13:5
Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at 316-788-5559.