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Children’s Story – The Shoemaker of Hackleton

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“Willie, we can’t send you to school next year,” said Mr. Carey. “We have your four brothers and sisters to take care of. And since you’re the oldest, you’ll have to find a job and go to work. We need the money you can earn.”

Now, you may think it would be fun not to have to go to school. But Willie loved school. He loved to study and learn new things. He looked up into his father’s face and knew that he had heard right. He would not be able to go back to school the next year! He knew his father wouldn’t change his mind.

Willie glanced down at his shoes. He kicked the dust along the path as he and his father walked along. He pretended to be looking for something over by the edge of the trees along the path. He wanted to hide his tears of disappointment. He was so unhappy he couldn’t think of anything to say.

“You’ll be fourteen years old next week,” Father went on. “I think I can get you a job with the shoemaker in town. You can learn to cut leather and make shoes.”

“I guess I could study in the evenings,” Willie managed to say at last. “There are so many things I want to know! I can borrow books and read and learn things even if I can’t go to school.”

So, Willie went to work for the town shoemaker, a man named Clarke Nichols, in the town of Hackleton. As soon as he walked into the shoe shop on the very first day, Willie knew that he was going to like his new job. He saw a few books on a shelf in one corner of the shop. Willie could hardly wait to read the titles to see what they were about. He didn’t have time to look at them all morning, but when lunchtime came and he could stop work for a few minutes, he quickly began to look at the books.

One of the books looked especially interesting. It was about the Bible. It had a lot of strange words in Greek that Willie didn’t understand. But they were exciting anyway. They were like a mysterious puzzle just waiting to be solved.

Willie carefully copied the Greek words on a piece of paper. He put the paper in his pocket. At the end of the week, when he went home, he took the paper with him. Then he took the paper with the strange Greek words to a friend who could read Greek. With the help of his friend, Willie slowly learned what each word meant. Then he found some Latin words in the book, and he copied these words, as well. He did the same with some Hebrew words. Willie loved to study, and after a few months, he could read Greek, Latin, and Hebrew!

Willie also enjoyed studying his Bible, and he liked to pray. One day he decided he wanted to be a Christian and give his heart to Jesus. Afterward, he was so happy that he began to tell everyone about Jesus. He wanted to be a preacher, but he had to keep on working making shoes to earn money for food and clothes and to help his family.

One day Willie found a book written by a famous explorer, Captain James Cook, who had traveled to many faraway places around the world. In this book, Willie learned about people who lived in other parts of the world. Then he had an idea.

Willie came to work a few days later carrying a roll of paper under his arm. He got some tacks and a hammer and carefully unrolled the paper. The other workers in the shoe shop came over to see what Willie was doing with the tacks and the roll of paper.

Willie held up the paper so they could see. It was covered with different colored shapes. “This is a map of the world,” he told them. “Now we can see what countries Captain Cook visited during his travels.”

One of the workmen helped Willie hold up the map against the wall. Willie tacked it in place so all the workers could see it. Then he got a black pencil and began marking the map. He marked each place Captain Cook had been to. He also wrote down things he had learned about each country—things he had learned from books he had read. But while he was writing, he got another idea. He wondered if the people in these faraway places knew anything about Jesus.

“We should send someone across the ocean to teach these people about Jesus,” Willie said to his pastor.

“When God wants them to know about Jesus and the Bible, He will take care of it,” the pastor told Willie.

But the pastor didn’t forget what Willie had said. He talked to other pastors. A few years later there was a movement to send someone to India. “I’ll go,” Willie offered. “The people in India may not be happy to see me, and my friends here at home may forget about me, but God will be with me.” So, Willie sailed for India.

For more than a year after he left for India, no one heard from Willie at all. Finally, a letter arrived. It was from Willie to the pastors who had sent him to India. They read it and passed it around to many other people to read. The letter said that Willie was building a church. He needed help. All his friends began collecting money, which they sent to him to help him build the church in that distant land.

Meanwhile, in India, Willie was having trouble. He didn’t know how to speak the Bengali language, so he couldn’t talk to the people there. But Willie had always enjoyed learning new things. He decided to get a job so he could have some money to pay someone to teach him Bengali. Willie got a job in a factory making indigo. Indigo is a blue dye that is used to make ink.

As soon as he got a job and began earning some money, Willie hired a teacher. He was a good student, and before long he could speak and understand Bengali. Once he knew the language, Willie started to translate the Bible into Bengali. He knew the people in India would want to read the Bible in their own language. But many of the people couldn’t read—even in Bengali. So, Willie held classes to teach them to read. It took a long time, but as the people learned to read and as they began reading the Bible, they wanted to learn more about God.

Willie built a church and a school. He helped many, many people in India to love God and have a better life. From the time he was a boy, Willie had worked hard. He worked hard in the shoemaker’s shop. And he worked hard in India as a missionary for God. Today, William Carey is known as the “Father of Modern Christian Missions.”

Storytime, Character-building Stories for Children, 86–89.

Life Sketches – Meeting the Lord Together

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One of the first letters written by the apostle Paul and recorded in the New Testament gives a straightforward explanation concerning the state of the dead, and of when Christians will be reunited with their loved ones who have died in Christ. Yet many Christians consider this still a mystery.

While Paul was evangelizing in the city of Corinth and making tents with his companions, Aquila and Priscilla, he was comforted by the arrival of two of his working companions. Silas and Timothy had come from Thessalonica and reported to Paul some struggles they were having in the newly formed church. He found out that there were some who had fallen into mistaken ideas concerning those who had died after their conversion. They had believed that they all would live to see the second coming of Christ. However, some of their friends had died and they were upset, thinking that now it would be impossible for them to behold that desirable event—to see Jesus coming in the clouds of heaven.

So Paul wrote a letter to the Thessalonian church explaining the true condition of a person in death. He said, “But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep [died], lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep (dead). For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:13–18).

The Thessalonians had eagerly grasped the idea that Jesus was coming to change the faithful, who were alive at that time, but they had forgotten what Paul had taught them about the state of the dead and the fact that there would be a reuniting of those who had fallen asleep in Christ when He returned. For this reason, Paul said they were not to sorrow as others who had no hope. When his letter was received the people were greatly comforted, knowing their loved ones would rise again from their graves to a holy, happy, and immortal life. For now they would sleep in their dusty graves waiting for that great reunion when Jesus would receive all the righteous, alive and dead, to make their journey together to the holy city.

Three times in this passage death is referred to as a sleep. The Old Testament also refers to death as a sleep. In fact, David called it “the sleep of death” (Psalm 13:3). This epistle gave great hope and joy to this young church. When accepting the gospel, they learned so many new, strange things that it is not surprising that they forgot some of the things that they had been taught. But no longer was there any darkness that enshrouded the sepulcher of the dead, because they had assurance that their friends who had fallen asleep in Jesus would be resurrected from the grave and also enjoy immortal life in the kingdom of God.

Notice, however, that this passage only talks about the resurrection to immortal life being given to those who have died in Christ. If you are in Christ, whether you live or die, your eternal future is secure. The question is: Have you committed your life to Christ to be your Lord and Saviour? Is it your desire to be like Him in character, or is your experience a mere profession?

Paul also reminded the church concerning events of the last days. “But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, ‘Peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief” (1 Thessalonians 5:1–4).

Paul warned that the day of the Lord will come as an overwhelming surprise. But why would that be when there are so many other warnings given in the Bible for us to know when the last days begin? There are many Bible prophecies that point out clearly the exact time, the exact year, when the “last days” would begin, and today we are living in that period of time.

If we have this information, then why is it that the day of the Lord will come as a thief? Paul told the Thessalonians that they were not in darkness, so do not sleep as others. The careless and unbelieving, those who close their eyes to the evidence that the Lord has been pleased to give, seek to quiet themselves from all apprehension. But at the same time, the signs of the times are rapidly fulfilling all over the world today, showing us that the world is rapidly going toward that period of time when the Son of man will be revealed in the clouds of heaven. If we are not in darkness, what should we be doing?

Notice, Paul said, “You, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of the darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us … be sober” (verses 4–8).

To be sober means that you have not taken any intoxicating alcohol into your body. There are many today, even professing Christians, who see nothing wrong with drinking alcohol in moderation. But that is not what the Bible teaches. Both Paul and Peter clearly teach that Christians who are preparing for the second coming of Christ will not use intoxicating drink. (See Titus 2:11–14; 1 Peter 1:13–16). They will be sober.

It is impossible to be both sober and intoxicated at the same time. By drinking alcohol and becoming partially drunk, you are partially intoxicated and not really sober. We are instructed to be sober, to watch what is taking place in the world, and to prepare for the future, seeking for purity in our lives. The Bible says, “Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” (1 John 3:3).

Are you doing all in your power for the cause of God in the world? Christians living in these last days are going to experience severe trials. (See Matthew 24; Mark 13; Luke 21). Paul said, “We urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. Be at peace among yourselves. Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all. See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all” (1 Thessalonians 5:12–15).

Many practical instructions were given at the close of Paul’s letter. He said, “Pray without ceasing” (verse 17). This means to always be in an attitude of prayer. “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies [or prophesying]. Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil” (verses 18–22).

O, friend, are you following those injunctions? Are you abstaining from every form of evil? Are you a sober, watchful Christian or among those who make a profession but are drunk in the night? Those who are not watching and not praying will not be ready and the day of the Lord will overtake them suddenly as a thief. It will come as an overwhelming surprise and it will be too late at that time to be saved. When Jesus comes again in the clouds of heaven with His reward, it is then too late to be saved (see Revelation 22:11, 12). All decisions will have already been made. Paul told the Corinthians, “Now is the accepted time; … now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).

Now is the time to make that decision to commit your life to Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour and choose to follow and obey Him, which will result in eternal life. The Holy Spirit has been promised to all who seek Jesus. It will transform your life, enabling you to live a completely different life.

Paul’s letter brought wonderful comfort, hope, joy, and excitement to the Thessalonians. However, they were confused when he said, “The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17).

When Paul said “we,” he is referring to the people in the Christian church who are alive when Jesus comes and are ready to meet Him. But some people interpreted that to mean that he was including himself and that he would be one of those who would live until Jesus came. This misunderstanding resulted in Paul writing his second letter. In fact, there were some people who thought the Lord would return so soon that they decided they did not need to work. This mistake was corrected when Paul wrote, “If anyone does not provide for his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an infidel” (1 Timothy 5:8, literal translation).

Even today some people think the apostles expected the Lord to come in their day, in the first century. They did not. In his second letter to the Thessalonians, Paul sought to correct misapprehensions about when the day of the Lord would come. His letter begins by commending them for their faith, and looking forward to the time when all of their suffering would be over. He said, “We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other, so that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure, which is manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer” (2 Thessalonians 1:3–5).

“Since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed” (verses 6–10).

He then continues to talk to them about the coming of the day of the Lord when they would receive rest, when all persecutions of the Christians would be at an end. Those who died in Christ would be resurrected and taken with the living to heaven. They would be given immortality (1 Corinthians 15; 1 Thessalonians 4). They thought it was going to happen very soon but Paul continued, “Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come” (2 Thessalonians 2:1, 2). It was common then for unscrupulous people to send forged letters in the names of important people, so Paul warned that if they were to receive a letter telling them anything different, to know it is not so. He gave this very emphatic warning not to be troubled or even think that the day of the Lord was at hand, because there were more events to happen before He would return.

Paul wrote, “Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless [until] the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition” (verse 3).

This man of sin is the antichrist. It says in verses 4 and 5, concerning him: “who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God [the church], showing himself that he is God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?”

The coming of Christ would not occur until after a great apostasy occurs in the Christian church and the antichrist is revealed. Antichrist does not just mean somebody that is against Christ, but somebody that stands in the place of Christ. The antichrist would arise in the church first. He says, “And now you know what is restraining, that he [antichrist] may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one [the antichrist] will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming” (verses 6–8). That is a very interesting verse.

Some people believe that the antichrist is going to appear after the Lord comes. But this verse teaches us that when the Lord comes the antichrist will already have been revealed and will be destroyed when He comes. “The coming of the lawless one [antichrist] is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders [miracles], and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved” (verses 9, 10).

Do you love the truth, friend? If you don’t love the truth, you are going to be deceived. It says, “because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie” (verses 10, 11).

God will never force anyone to believe or accept or follow the truth. In God’s government, there is freedom and the power of choice. All who are willing to look at the weight of evidence will find plenty of evidence to know truth. But God will never give you so much evidence that you will be forced to accept it against your will.

Paul goes on to say, “For this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (verse 11). The lie is that a person can be saved in his sin.

The truth has always been unattractive to those who have pleasure in unrighteousness. “All unrighteousness is sin” (1 John 5:17). “… sin is the transgression of the law” (1 John 3:4 KJV). So to have pleasure in unrighteousness means to have pleasure in sin. Or, to put it even more simply, to enjoy breaking God’s law. To choose the pleasures of sin is so temporary. To choose Christ and live for Him is to have eternal life and pleasure forever.

As Joshua said, “Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve … . But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15).

 

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New King James Version.)Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

Health – A Natural Detox Reboot

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Herbs for a New Year’s Cleanse

After a season of holiday excess, we naturally crave a fresh start in January. For many, this begins with a whole-body detox to reboot and reset for healthier habits, supporting the key eliminatory organs: the liver, kidneys, colon, lymph and skin.

Old-time herbal doctors used the term “alternatives” to refer to herbs that help the body return to a healthier state via the gentle stimulation of our eliminatory channels’ natural function. Liver and lymph “moving” herbs play a key role in this category, though many also stimulate healthy elimination via the colon. We’re not talking about harsh laxatives. Alternatives are herbs that could be taken long-term and encourage the body to resume healthy function on its own. Laxatives like senna, cascara, and aloe latex force the body to purge and quickly become habit-forming.

Liver Movers (Cholagogues)

Your liver filters toxins and waste from the blood, turning them into bile, which is excreted via the colon. Bile helps digest fats on its way out, and poor fat digestion and skin issues indicate that you might want to try cholagogues. Liver-moving alternatives include dandelion root, artichoke leaf, burdock root, and yellow dock root. Turmeric root, schisandra berry, and milk thistle help protect and heal the liver. You’ll find these ingredients in many cleanse kits, tinctures, and detox tea blends. They taste mildly to strongly bitter—a flavor associated with improved liver detoxification, increased digestive function, and stimulation of the wavelike muscle motion that moves food through the gastrointestinal tract (which indirectly encourages bowel movements). Turmeric, burdock, and dandelion also can be incorporated into your culinary repertoire.

Lymph Movers (Lymphagogues)

It’s easy to take your lymphatic system for granted. These tiny vessels closely align with your circulatory system, cleaning the fluid around your cells, outside the bloodstream. Lymph vessels also house many of your immune cells. Lymph hubs called nodes clean up debris before the lymph gets dumped into the bloodstream. Lymph has no pump and flows through the body via pressure from your moving body around the vessels; valves ensure the flow goes in the right direction. Signs of sluggish lymph include skin issues, mild edema (edema can signal more serious issues too), and a sluggish immune system. Regular movement, lymphatic massage, compression stockings, and skin brushing help move it along. You can also add lymphagogues that help thin the lymph and stimulate filtration. Favorites include red clover blossoms, burdock root, red root, schisandra, and calendula blossoms, which can be taken in tea, pills, and liquid extracts.

Colon Movers (Gentle, Indirect Laxatives)

Because the liver’s waste (bile) exits via the colon in your feces, it’s important to keep things moving along or the result of all your liver’s hard work gets reabsorbed into the body. If you tend toward constipation, slow digestion, and/or you have fewer than one bowel movement per day, give your colon some TLC. Many kits go for the blowout laxatives, but I prefer a gentler approach that encourages healthy, regular bowel movements. First steps include bitter-tasting herbs (the cholagogues), proper hydration, and gently increasing fiber via whole foods in the diet and supplements like ground flax, psyllium, or chia seeds. If you need a little more encouragement, both triphala and yellow dock root contain low doses of laxative constituents and also tone the colon. Magnesium encourages bowel movements by bringing water into the colon.

Kidney Movers (Diuretics)

Like the liver, your kidneys filter your blood. However, the kidneys remove different compounds and excrete them via your urine. If you void infrequently and have dark, strong-smelling urine, consider supporting your kidneys. The three best ways to do this are to drink more water and eat more green vegetables. The safest kidney tonic diuretics include parsley leaf, dandelion leaf, nettle leaf, burdock root, and corn silk. These are best delivered in a water medium like tea or broth, or in food, though they can be added to broader detox formulas in liquid extract or pill form.

Some cautions: Detox herbs to reset and reboot a sluggish system should not be expected to “cure” kidney or liver disease—these require medical attention. Seek professional guidance if you are pregnant, nursing, have heart disease, kidney disease, liver disease, or diabetes. Doing a detox and using detoxifying herbs needs to be tailored to your needs. Detoxifying herbs work best with adequate sleep, hydration, a healthy whole foods diet rich in plant foods, regular activity, and avoidance (to the best of your ability) of toxins.

Remedies for Life, Maria Noël Groves, R.H. (AHG), January 2018, 16, 19.

 

Bitter Brew Detox Tea
This is a nice coffee substitute with broad detoxifying actions.
1 tsp. burdock root Simmer herbs in 8-16 ounces of water for 20 minutes; strain. If desired, sweeten with blackstrap molasses and add unsweetened almond or coconut milk.
1 tsp. dandelion root
1 tsp. roasted chicory root

 

Keeping Up with the Light

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The path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.” Proverbs 4:18. Notice, this verse does not say the room of the just, but the path of the just. As you walk that path, if you stay on it, the light is going to become brighter and brighter. But it is also true, friend, that if you do not keep walking on the path, the light is going to become darkness, because the light is moving.

The Bible talks about present truth. (See II Peter 1:12.) There are certain things that can be preached at one time that cannot be preached at another time. There are some truths that are timeless, but there is some truth that is present truth. What is present truth today is not exactly the same as it was 100 years ago.

I believe that very soon God’s servants are going to have to preach things that we have never thought we were going to preach. We are in a situation very similar to the Jews in the time of Christ. The devil had manipulated them into a situation, through what they had been taught, so that they were ready to reject the truth. They had developed a series of criteria which, if Jesus was the Messiah, they believed He would meet. Interestingly enough, they based these expectations on the Old Testament. Jesus did not, however, meet their criteria. It is interesting to note, in the study of history, that almost every time prophecy which is fulfilled is not fulfilled in the way expected.

Seventh-day Adventists used to wonder what Ellen White meant when she said, “I was shown the startling fact that but a small portion of those who now profess the truth will be sanctified by it and be saved.” Testimonies, vol. 1, 608. Very soon we are going to find out.

This concept that spiritual light is moving and the person who does not keep walking in the light finds himself in the dark explains many spiritual phenomena that are happening all around us that otherwise would be very confusing. A few years ago, two Seventh-day Adventist ministers came to question me. One of them asked something like this: “Do you believe that the Seventh-day Adventist Church organization was ordained by God? Well, do you or don’t you?” Well, let me ask you some questions? Do you believe that the Jewish church organization was ordained by God, or that He had a hand in setting it up? Was there a time when the Jews were in the light? Yes, there was. The Jews had been called by God and chosen as His special people. They had been in the light. They had, friends, the spirit of prophecy. They had all of the Old Testament; that is the spirit of prophecy. But when the light moved, they did not move with it. God had more light for them, but they would not accept it. They stayed put and, as a result, they were left in the dark.

Jesus is the light of the world. I want you to notice Revelation 14:4 and what it says about the 144,000. “These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes.” When the light (Jesus) moves, the 144,000 follow. The problem today is that when the light moves, there are so many people who do not follow it; they stay put. They are left in the dark and are then spiritually blind. There was a time when they were in the light; but the light moved, and they did not move with it. “As the light and life of men was rejected by the ecclesiastical authorities in the days of Christ, so it has been rejected in every succeeding generation.” The Desire of Ages, 232. Did you notice that she said that this has taken place in every succeeding generation? “Again and again the history of Christ’s withdrawal from Judea has been repeated. When the Reformers preached the Word of God, they had no thought of separating themselves from the established church; but the religious leaders would not tolerate the light.” Ibid. What happened? The religious leaders refused to walk in the light. “And those that bore it were forced to seek another class, who were longing for the truth.” Ibid. Everyone who does not love the truth is going to be deceived and be lost.

“Few are listening for the voice of God, and ready to accept truth in whatever guise it may be presented. Often those who follow in the steps of the Reformers are forced to turn away from the churches they love, in order to declare the plain teaching of the Word of God.” Ibid. Did you know that there are many people who no longer believe that this statement can apply today? Have you ever heard people say, “Well, the cycles have to stop somewhere, and they stopped in 1863 because that is when we incorporated”? The trouble is, friends, The Desire of Ages was not even written until 1898.

We are living in a time that a few years ago no one expected to see. We believed that when persecution came, it would come from outside of the church. We failed to understand what Ellen White meant when she said that we have far more to fear from within than from without. (See Selected Messages, Book 1, 122.) Who would have thought that in Adventism the apostasy would become so great that in many places it would become spiritually dangerous to even attend the local Seventh-day Adventist Church because error was being “forced home to the people”? (See Early Writings, 125.) We were not expecting the true and faithful Seventh-day Adventists to be disfellowshipped and persecuted by their former brethren all over the world, as is taking place today. But when we go to the inspired writings, we see all of this prophesied—we just did not understand it. People have come to believe that these things would not happen until after the National Sunday Law. Friend, that theory is a dangerous deception. The National Sunday Law does not initiate the shaking; it brings the shaking to a climax! Those who are waiting to take a bold, unyielding stand for the truth until the Sunday law test comes are simply preparing to receive the mark of the beast.

You see, when anyone rejects the light of truth that God has given to this people, he has turned his back on the light and goes out in darkness. He may still call himself a Seventh-day Adventist, but if he does not believe the First Angel’s Message and the truth of the Investigative Judgment beginning in 1844, he has gone into darkness. You cannot, with safety, go to his church and listen to him preach. When a person rejects the truth of the great Day of Atonement that began in 1844 and says that instead of afflicting the soul (Leviticus 16:29, 30) it is time to celebrate, they have gone out into darkness. If a preacher says that you will sin until Jesus comes, he has accepted Satan’s fatal sophistry (See The Great Controversy, 489.), and you dare not go and listen to him preach lest you be deceived and lose your own soul. Finally, if you are not hearing the historic doctrines of Adventism preached in your church, if you are hearing the same kinds of sermons that you could hear in any other church, then you are endangering your soul if you do not either find a Historic Seventh-day Adventist congregation, or start a home church where you can teach the truth, at least to your own family.

Our opportunities for learning and knowing God’s last message to a perishing world and being prepared for what is coming on the world are very limited at best, and we dare not allow ourselves and our families to be exposed to either heretical preaching or “peace and safety” messages that come just before destruction. “I saw that we have no time to throw away in listening to fables. Our minds should not be thus diverted, but should be occupied with the present truth, and seeking wisdom that we may obtain a more thorough knowledge of our position, that with meekness we may be able to give a reason of our hope from the Scriptures. While false doctrines and dangerous errors are pressed upon the mind, it cannot be dwelling upon the truth which is to fit and prepare the house of Israel to stand in the day of the Lord.” Early Writings, 125.

Every Sabbath after church, you should be more fitted to stand in the day of the Lord than before. But the prophet wrote sadly, “Those who have been regarded as worthy and righteous prove to be ring-leaders in apostasy and examples in indifference and in the abuse of God’s mercies. Their wicked course He will tolerate no longer, and in His wrath He deals with them without mercy.

“It is with reluctance that the Lord withdraws His presence from those who have been blessed with great light and who have felt the power of the word in ministering to others. They were once His faithful servants, favored with His presence and guidance; but they departed from Him and led others into error, and therefore are brought under the divine displeasure. …

“Not all who profess to keep the Sabbath will be sealed. There are many even among those who teach the truth to others who will not receive the seal of God in their foreheads. They had the light of truth, they knew their Master’s will, they understood every point of our faith, but they had not corresponding works. These who were so familiar with prophecy and the treasures of divine wisdom should have acted their faith. They should have commanded their households after them, that by a well-ordered family they might present to the world the influence of the truth upon the human heart.

“By their lack of devotion and piety, and their failure to reach a high religious standard, they make other souls contented with their position. Men of finite judgment cannot see that in patterning after these men who have so often opened to them the treasures of God’s Word, they will surely endanger their souls. Jesus is the only true pattern. Everyone must now search the Bible for himself upon his knees before God, with the humble, teachable heart of a child, if he would know what the Lord requires of him. However high any minister may have stood in the favor of God, if he neglects to follow out the light given him of God, if he refuses to be taught as a little child, he will go into darkness and satanic delusions and will lead others in the same path. …

“What are you doing, brethren, in the great work of preparation? Those who are uniting with the world are receiving the worldly mold and preparing for the mark of the beast.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 212–216.

Friends, it is a dangerous thing to fail to advance in the opening providence of God. The light is moving. Are you moving with it or are you in the dark? Early in her experience, Ellen White saw a vision about this light. You can read this vision in Early Writings, 15–20. In other places in her writings, she speaks about the light that was set up at the beginning of the path that the Advent company was traveling that shone all of the way up to the Holy City. This path, friends, is narrow, and if you do not have light on the path, you are going to stumble and fall off.

What was that light that was set up at the beginning? Sister White says that it was the Midnight Cry. The Midnight Cry was based on the Bible prophecies of Daniel 8 and 9, and Revelation 14:6, 7—the message of the 2300 days and the sanctuary and the Investigative Judgment. The devil knows that if we reject these truths, we will stumble and fall off the path. It is amazing how successful the devil has been in leading people to reject them.

We have been told that, “When the power of God testifies as to what is truth, that truth is to stand forever as the truth. No after suppositions contrary to the light God has given are to be entertained.” Selected Messages, Book 1, 161. Yet there are Adventist teachers and ministers today who no longer believe these truths. Friend, if you are in the situation where you listen to this error, you are in the dark; you are going to lose your way. The Lord is not going to work a miracle to save you; you have turned your back on the light. This idea that you can have a spirit of free inquiry and ask any question you want to is not according to the Scriptures. Jesus rebuked people for their doubt. Friend, if these truths are not being upheld in your church, your church is in the dark.

In Testimonies, vol. 2, 594–597, Ellen White describes a very impressive dream. “I dreamed of being with a large body of people. A portion of this assembly started out prepared to journey. We had heavily loaded wagons. As we journeyed, the road seemed to ascend. On one side of this road was a deep precipice; on the other was a high, smooth, white wall. … As we journeyed on, the road grew narrower and steeper. … We concluded that we could no longer travel with the loaded wagons. We … took a portion of the luggage from the wagons and placed it upon the horses, and journeyed on horseback. As we progressed, the path still continued to grow narrow. … We then cut the luggage from the horses, and it fell over the precipice. We continued on horseback. … A hand seemed to take the bridle and guide us over the perilous way. As the path grew more narrow, we … left the horses and went on foot, in single file. … At this point small cords were let down from the top of the pure white wall; these we eagerly grasped. … The path finally became so narrow that we concluded that we could travel more safely without our shoes, so we slipped them from our feet. … Soon it was decided that we could travel more safely without our stockings; these were removed, and we journeyed on with bare feet.”

One of the most interesting points of this dream is that several changes were made. They began with heavily loaded wagons, then changed to horses with a portion of the luggage, to horses with no luggage, to single file on foot, to removing their shoes, and finally to removing their stockings. Notice that “at every change some were left behind, and those only remained who had accustomed themselves to endure hardships. The privations of the way only made these more eager to press on to the end. … We pressed close to the white wall, yet could not place our feet fully upon the path, for it was too narrow. We then suspended nearly our whole weight upon the cords, exclaiming: ‘We have hold from above!’ ” Ibid.

The light, friends, is moving. Are you keeping up with the providence of God? Are you aware that the road we are traveling is getting narrower? Have you noticed it? How are you going to stay on the path and keep up with the providence of God? The only way is to have faith. These cords represent faith. A few years ago a good friend of mine told me that he was sorry that I had worked so many years for the Adventist denomination and now had to give up all of my retirement benefits. If you stay on the road all the way to the end, you are going to give up much more than retirement benefits.

Oh friend, how much time are you spending in prayer? If you are energetic enough to get up and to pray, God will hear and answer.

“Where there is no active labor for others, love wanes, and faith grows dim.” The Desire of Ages, 825. You must not only study your Bible and pray, you must be actively involved in missionary work. If you are not, ask the Lord to show you what to do to become involved in some type of outreach program spreading the Third Angel’s Message.

We did not follow the path to the end of the vision. The time came, however, when the path disappeared and all that was left were the cords that had been let down from above. When you come to this place in your experience, will you have a faith that will hold you? Do you want the Lord to let down a cord of faith today so that you can get a hold from above? If so, determine that from this day forward you will faithfully walk in the light as God sheds it upon your pathway.

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

Question and Answer – Did the witch of Endor really see Samuel appear from the dead in 1 Samuel 28:12?

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“Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel. And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice: and the woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul” (1 Samuel 28:11–12).

“The Scripture account of Saul’s visit to the woman of Endor has been a source of perplexity to many students of the Bible. There are some who take the position that Samuel was actually present at the interview with Saul, but the Bible itself furnishes sufficient ground for a contrary conclusion. If, as claimed by some, Samuel was in heaven, he must have been summoned thence, either by the power of God or by that of Satan. None can believe for a moment that Satan had power to call the holy prophet of God from heaven to honor the incantations of an abandoned woman. Nor can we conclude that God summoned him to the witch’s cave; for the Lord had already refused to communicate with Saul, by dreams, by Urim, or by prophets (1 Samuel 28:6). These were God’s own appointed mediums of communication, and He did not pass them by to deliver the message through the agent of Satan.

“The message itself is sufficient evidence of its origin. Its object was not to lead Saul to repentance, but to urge him on to ruin; and this is not the work of God, but of Satan. Furthermore, the act of Saul in consulting a sorceress is cited in Scripture as one reason why he was rejected by God and abandoned to destruction: ‘Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the Lord, even against the word of the Lord, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to inquire of it; and inquired not of the Lord: therefore He slew him, and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse’ (1 Chronicles 10:13, 14). Here it is distinctly stated that Saul inquired of the familiar spirit, not of the Lord. He did not communicate with Samuel, the prophet of God; but through the sorceress he held intercourse with Satan. Satan could not present the real Samuel, but he did present a counterfeit, that served his purpose of deception.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 683. [Emphasis author’s.]

Keys to the Storehouse – You!

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You are very special! Jesus loves you and He loves me. Jesus died for you and He died for me. When I first began studying the Bible, I would look around and think that if these nice people knew my past they would not be so nice to me. I was wrong to think that, because it is Jesus who died that you and I may have life and have it more abundantly. We are to look up at all times and not around at others. Remember, you are loved by God Himself and He gave His only Son for you.

“In this 23rd Psalm Jesus, the Good Shepherd is doing the anointing. It tells of the high esteem with which He holds you.

  • You are ‘the apple of His eye,’
  • You are the one for whom He was willing to pay such a price to redeem.
  • You are the one to sit down with Him on His throne.
  • You are a joint heir with the King of Kings.
  • You are greatly beloved!

“Never question it, never doubt it. Think of it often, talk of His love for you. If, as several have said to me, ‘I am concerned that I don’t love Him more. How can I?’ I tell them ‘don’t worry now about your lack of love for Him but think of how much He loves you, and love will in time beget love.’ Though there are over two billion people in the world, He loves you as though you were the only one. You are special to Him.

“A young American college woman was troubled about God being interested in her when there were so many hundreds of millions more important. She came to her pastor with the query, ‘How can I believe that God is interested in me? There are two billion persons in the world, and He must be far too busy to think of one little atom like me.’ Whereupon the minister asked the girl to extend her hand. ‘Look at your fingers,’ he said, ‘Examine the lines. There are no others like them in all the world. You are handmade. Even your fingertips have had special attention from God.’ As the girl’s mind took hold of the idea, a great peace filled her soul, and, with a radiance in her face that was beautiful to behold, she exclaimed: ‘After this, when I grow doubtful, I will look at my “hand-carved” finger tips. They will prove to me that God is still interested in me, individually and personally.’ ” The Lord is My Shepherd, J.L. Tucker, 32, 33.

Heavenly Father:
Thank You for the personalized hands that You prepared for me and that nobody can imitate. Help me to realize more and more how special I am to You and that I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Help me to reflect Your character every moment that all minds around me will be drawn heavenward to You and they also may see the love You have for them. Amen.

Inspiration – Go Forward

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The history of the children of Israel is written for the instruction and admonition of all Christians. When the Israelites were overtaken by dangers and difficulties, and their way seemed hedged up, their faith forsook them, and they murmured against the leader whom God had appointed for them. They blamed him [Moses] for bringing them into peril, when he had only obeyed the voice of God.

The divine command was: “Go forward.” They were not to wait until the way was made plain, and they could comprehend the entire plan of their deliverance. God’s cause is onward, and He will open a path before His people. To hesitate and murmur is to manifest distrust in the Holy One of Israel. God in His providence brought the Hebrews into the mountain fastnesses, with the Red Sea before them, that He might work out their deliverance and forever rid them of their enemies. He might have saved them in any other way, but He chose this method in order to test their faith and strengthen their trust in Him.

We cannot charge Moses with being at fault because the people murmured against his course. It was their own rebellious, unsubdued hearts that led them to censure the man whom God had delegated to lead His people. While Moses moved in the fear of the Lord, and according to His direction, having full faith in His promises, those who should have upheld him became discouraged, and could see nothing before them but disaster, defeat, and death.

The Lord is now dealing with His people who believe present truth. He designs to bring about momentous results, and while in His providence He is working toward this end, He says to His people: “Go forward.” True, the path is not yet opened; but when they move on in the strength of faith and courage, God will make the way plain before their eyes. There are ever those who will complain, as did ancient Israel, and charge the difficulties of their position upon those whom God has raised up for the special purpose of advancing His cause. They fail to see that God is testing them by bringing them into strait places, from which there is no deliverance except by His hand.

There are times when the Christian life seems beset by dangers, and duty seems hard to perform. The imagination pictures impending ruin before, and bondage or death behind. Yet the voice of God speaks clearly above all discouragements: “Go forward.” We should obey this command, let the result be what it may, even though our eyes cannot penetrate the darkness and though we feel the cold waves about our feet.

Advance By Faith

The Hebrews were weary and terrified; yet if they had held back when Moses bade them advance, if they had refused to move nearer to the Red Sea, God would never have opened the path for them. In marching down to the very water, they showed that they had faith in the word of God as spoken by Moses. They did all that it was in their power to do, and then the Mighty One of Israel performed His part, and divided the waters to make a path for their feet.

The clouds that gather about our way will never disappear before a halting, doubting spirit. Unbelief says: “We can never surmount these obstructions; let us wait until they are removed, and we can see our way clearly.” But faith courageously urges an advance, hoping all things, believing all things. Obedience to God is sure to bring the victory. It is only through faith that we can reach heaven.

There is great similarity between our history and that of the children of Israel. God led His people from Egypt into the wilderness, where they could keep His law and obey His voice. The Egyptians, who had no regard for the Lord, were encamped close by them; yet what was to the Israelites a great flood of light, illuminating the whole camp, and shedding brightness upon the path before them, was to the hosts of Pharaoh a wall of clouds, making blacker the darkness of night.

So, at this time, there is a people whom God has made the depositories of His law. To those who obey them, the commandments of God are as a pillar of fire, lighting and leading the way to eternal salvation. But unto those who disregard them, they are as the clouds of night. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Psalm 111:10). Better than all other knowledge is an understanding of the word of God. In keeping His commandments there is great reward, and no earthly inducement should cause the Christian to waver for a moment in his allegiance. Riches, honor, and worldly pomp are but dross that shall perish before the fire of God’s wrath.

The voice of the Lord bidding His faithful ones “go forward” frequently tries their faith to the uttermost. But if they should defer obedience till every shadow of uncertainty was removed from their understanding, and there remained no risk of failure or defeat, they would never move on at all. Those who think it impossible for them to yield to the will of God and have faith in His promises until all is made clear and plain before them, will never yield at all. Faith is not certainty of knowledge; it “is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). To obey the commandments of God is the only way to obtain His favor.

“Go forward” should be the Christian’s watchword.

Testimony Treasures, vol. 1, 450–452.

Tour of Waldensian Valleys

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In February, I received an invitation to join a tour of the Waldensian Valleys in northern Italy. Having read about the Waldensians in The Great Controversy, I had always been impressed by their steadfast adherence to the word of God as given in the Bible and intrigued by their determination to remain true to that word in spite of the efforts of the papacy to force them to yield to the authority of the “church.”

I eagerly signed up and looked forward with great anticipation to the trip, never having been to Europe before.

Prior to the trip, tour participants received detailed instructions regarding a rendezvous point at the airport in Milan. Each member was to have a brightly colored sign, inscribed “WALDENSIAN TOUR,” which enabled us to gather at the airport in Milan without too much difficulty.

We climbed into three nine-passenger vans and left Milan for La Gianavella, the youth hostel where we were to make our headquarters for the next week. La Gianavella is a historical structure dating back to the 17th century, built by Josué Janavel (1617-1690), a prominent hero who fought against the Savoy Duke, persecutor of the Waldensian people and representative of papal authority. The hostel overlooks the Rorà valley, hidden in a chestnut woodland. It is reached by a tortuous and winding one lane dirt road, high up in the Italian Alps.

From my previous reading about the Waldensians in The Great Controversy and in J. A. Wylie’s History of the Waldenses, I had assumed that this sect faithfully adhered to the commandments of God. I learned during this trip that the primary point of contention between the Waldensians and the papacy was where authority lay – the church versus the Bible, and was not specifically a Sabbath vs. Sunday issue. I knew that historically the Waldensians were Sabbath keepers and assumed that they continued to remain faithful to the fourth commandment to this day.

I was startled and dismayed to learn that in 1975, they entered into an “integration covenant” with the Italian Methodist churches, having ultimately capitulated to the rules of the church as opposed to the law of God.

In spite of this disappointing discovery, it was inspiring to visit several of the Waldensian churches scattered throughout the valleys of the Italian Alps and learn the history of their valiant fight against papal authority, which dates back to the 12th century. It then took less than a hundred years for the Waldensians to be declared heretical and subjected to intense persecution.

In the 16th century, Waldensian leaders embraced the Protestant Reformation and joined various local Protestant regional entities. As early as 1631, Protestant scholars and Waldensian theologians themselves began to regard the Waldensians as early forerunners of the Reformation, who had maintained the apostolic faith in the face of Catholic oppression. The group was nearly annihilated in the 17th century and was confronted with organized and general discrimination in the centuries that followed.

When the Waldensians were chased from the Pellice Valley by the Duke of Savoy, they retreated into several deep valleys in the Italian Alps, eventually establishing churches, where their presence is still very prominent. The world headquarters of the Waldensian Church, its synod, is located in Torre Pellice, a now thriving town in northern Italy. The Waldensian Museum is located across a pedestrian thoroughfare from the synod building. Unfortunately, it was closed for renovation when we were there.

Our visit included stops at one of the caves where several hundred Waldensians hid from their persecutors, similar to the one where many were suffocated when the entrance was blocked, barricaded with flammable materials, and set afire—simply because they would not capitulate to papal authority.

Another inspiring site we visited was the precipice where those faithful to God’s word were thrown to their deaths unless they acknowledged the authority of the “church” as superior to the Bible.

Being a father and a grandfather, I had quite an emotional experience as I envisioned whole families making the steep trek up the mountain to their deaths, the fathers attempting to reassure their children of the love of God in spite of their ultimate fate.

We also visited the “infirmary,” where the Waldensians attempted to hide their elderly and infirm, a narrow, almost inaccessible ledge, invisible from above, that could be reached only by an extremely difficult descent through a narrow gap between huge boulders.

The determination and strong will of these faithful souls became more and more apparent as we toured the various places where they clung so tenaciously to their beliefs, beliefs which were based solely and completely on the Bible.

Perhaps, then, you can imagine my shock when I learned that today, the majority of those adhering to the Waldensian faith are Sunday keepers. It took centuries for the papacy to gain the victory, which testifies to the relentless efforts the enemy of souls exerts to lead souls astray.

What a lesson this is for us today. Will we, individually or as a sect, eventually yield to Satan’s subtle but relentless efforts to dissuade God’s people from the path of truth and righteousness? Or will we remain faithful to God’s word, even when threatened with death?

NOTE: For further information on the current beliefs of the Waldensian Methodist church, visit their website at www.chiesavaldese.org/aria_video_category.php?video_category=2. Although the original is in Italian, Google will translate it into English. It is a sad revelation of the current state of a once-faithful people.

 John R. Pearson is the office manager and a board member of Steps to Life. He may be contacted by email at: johnpearson@stepstolife.org.

A Concept of God

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Various Concepts of God

The world is full of a variety of ideas about God; certain ideas cause men to hate God; others to serve Him from fear; and others inspire men to adore Him so ardently that they delight to do His will and wish they could spend an eternity with Him. Our attitude toward Him depends quite fully on our ideas about Him—on our concept of the kind of God He is. Whether or not we will serve Him depends largely, then, upon what we think about Him. Therefore it is of first importance that we know Him.

The True God Should be Truly Understood – The Origin of Mis-concepts

Go back in time about 6,000 years to an Eden home of perfect bliss which a kind, loving God gave to the holy pair of innocents; they possessed perfect bodies and minds; their minds were full of joy; and their bliss was to be everlasting.

But an enemy came, saying,

1    God did not tell you the truth when He said you would die if you eat of this tree; you cannot depend on what He says. You will not die.
2    You will enter a higher state—become like God—if you eat the fruit; He is keeping from you that which is for your good; He is hindering your advancement; therefore He is unkind and does not love you as He claims to do.
3    He has placed a very strict regulation around you forbidding you to do the things which are for your good; such regulations are unjust; He is not fair with you.
4    In thus treating you He is curtailing your liberty—your rights; He is a tyrant!
5    If He were infinite in wisdom, as He says He is, He would know better than to manage His affairs of state like this; He would change His methods. Such a course is bound to fail; He cannot succeed; He claims infinite power, but no amount of power can perpetuate a government based upon injustice; and so on.

Thus he gave to Eve a false description of God to change her concept of Him so as to change her attitude toward Him so she would cease to serve Him and turn against Him.

Had Eve continued to believe in God as He really was, she would not have turned from Him; she believed the misrepresentation of Him and so took her stand against Him.

That experience was the beginning of all false concepts of God in this world. From that day until this, Satan has sought to make the service of God seem undesirable by putting Him and His ideas in a false light. Among the heathen will be found idols to represent their concepts of God, and some of these are more horrid than any human mind could conceive, apparently trying to make idols as bad in looks as they believe their gods to be in fact.

Satan works in every conceivable way to impart distorted concepts of every kind about God.

On the other hand, God has been working to help men to see Him as He really is; but error always has the advantage over truth because error can use methods to propagate itself which truth cannot use. This is one reason why truth sometimes waits a long time for vindication.

God Must Be Revealed

Thus the conflict—the greatest conflict that has ever raged in the minds of men—is about God!

One author has said, “No science is equal to the science that reveals the character of God.” Fundamentals of Christian Education, 393.

Therefore a gospel, if it is to cause men to return from their departure from Him, must begin its work for sinners by restoring a true knowledge of God, and this must ever be its true drawing power; His characteristics must be revealed to the people so they will see that He is “the chiefest among ten thousand and the One altogether lovely” (Song of Solomon 5:10, 16); that He is the embodiment of all that is desirable, and that all good comes from Him.

One day Moses asked God to reveal Himself to him, and in response to the request God presented the words, “mercy,” “graciousness,” and “goodness,” meaning that it is by such attributes that the Great I AM wishes to be known among men (Exodus 33:18, 19). This concept of God must become the drawing power of the redemption plan.

Christ’s First Objective

When the Son of God came to this earth to expound redemption and win sinners back to God, His first objective must be to reveal the true character of God; they must be won by being captivated by His lovableness, He can offer to die for them—He may die for them ten thousand times—but if they are not interested in God they cannot become interested in returning to His service, and the atonement would not be accepted, and He would die in vain. The first step in offering the gospel must be to help them to understand God. A dark cloud hung over the minds of men shutting out the true conception of God and hiding His true attitude toward them. If men only knew Him and how He really feels toward them, their hearts would be won and they would adore and love and serve Him forever.

Not by Force

“The earth was dark through misapprehension of God. That the gloomy shadows might be lightened, that the world might be brought back to God, Satan’s deceptive power was to be broken. This could not be done by force. The exercise of force is contrary to the principles of God’s government; He desires only the service of love; and love cannot be commanded; it cannot be won by force or authority. Only by love is love awakened. To know God is to love Him; His character must be manifested in contrast to the character of Satan. This work only one Being in all the universe could do. Only He who knew the height and depth of the love of God could make it known. Upon the world’s dark night the Sun of Righteousness must rise, ‘with healing in His wings’ (Malachi 4:2).” The Desire of Ages, 22.

For these reasons the conflict rages—Satan ever striving to conceal God, to misconstrue His motives and character and to confuse the minds of men concerning Him, and God ever at work to impart a true knowledge of Himself.

The Christian’s Experience, 221–223. [All emphasis author’s.]

 

The Assurance of Salvation

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From the Lives of Two Patriarchs

Perhaps no other characters in the Bible give more hope to the repentant sinner than do Jacob and David. Jacob is referred to by name 377 times in the King James Bible and by inference many more times. Likewise, David over one thousand times.

The name Jacob means “heel catcher” or “supplanter,” that is, one who displaces or usurps the position of someone else. Note that this is exactly what Satan desired to do in heaven—usurp the position that Christ held—and as a result, he was cast out.

“Opposition to the law of God had its beginning in the courts of heaven, with Lucifer, the covering cherub. Satan determined to be first in the councils of heaven, and equal with God. … When Satan had succeeded in winning many angels to his side, he took his cause to God, representing that it was the desire of the angels that he occupy the position that Christ held.” Selected Messages, Book 1, 222.

“And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him” (Revelation 12:7–9).

The similarities between Satan’s act of deception and that of Jacob are interesting to study.

“Now Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived. … So when her days were fulfilled for her to give birth, indeed there were twins in her womb. And the first came out red. He was like a hairy garment all over; so they called his name Esau. Afterward his brother came out, and his hand took hold of Esau’s heel; so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them” (Genesis 25:21, 24–26).

The story of Jacob’s usurpation of Esau’s birthright is told in Genesis 25 and 27. He colluded with his mother to deceive his father and obtain the birthright that, according to custom, belonged to Esau.

This is the point at which the similarities between Jacob’s and Satan’s stories diverge. Satan has continued his relentless assault on Christ and His followers for millennia, while Jacob made a full surrender of heart and soul to Jesus and is regarded as a patriarch of the Christian faith.

In fact, when David was uttering his last words, Scripture refers to him as “The anointed of the God of Jacob”: “Now these are the last words of David. Thus says David the son of Jesse; thus says the man raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel” (2 Samuel 23:1).

Although the text is specifically a reference to David’s position with God, note that the verse also acknowledges that Jacob was considered a subject of high esteem who was under the domain of the God of the universe.

Considering that David was guilty of the death of Uriah, a violation of the sixth commandment, and Jacob was guilty of theft by deception, a violation of the eighth and ninth commandments, this one text shows that when one confesses and repents, acceptance into the kingdom of glory is assured.

This is not the only text that provides the assurance of salvation to David as a result of his confession and repentance. In 1 Kings 14:8, God’s amazing grace is clearly revealed when He refers to David as, “My servant David, who kept My commandments and who followed Me with all his heart, to do only what was right in My eyes.” This commendation occurs long after David’s devising of the death of Uriah and shows how forgiving and forgetting God is when the sinner pleads for and complies with the conditions necessary for forgiveness.

Jacob, too, is reckoned in Scripture as being highly favored of God. On his initial flight from home, he had the well-known dream of the Ladder that extended from earth to heaven and received this wonderful promise: “I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you” (Genesis 28:13–15).

After his decades of perhaps unwilling albeit faithful service to Laban, Jacob’s faith in this promise was severely tested as he returned to the land that God had promised to him. Jacob received word that Esau was on his way to meet him with 400 men, with the apparent intent of fulfilling the vow he had made when he learned of Jacob’s theft of his birthright: “So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him, and Esau said in his heart, ‘The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob’ ” (Genesis 27:41).

Familiar is the story of Jacob’s wrestle with the Lord the night before his reunion with Esau, recorded in Genesis 32: “Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. And He said, ‘Let Me go, for the day breaks.’ But he said, ‘I will not let You go unless You bless me!’ So He said to him, ‘What is your name?’ He said, ‘Jacob.’ And He said, ‘Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed’ ” (Genesis 32:24–28).

What wonderful and amazing reassurance the story of these two patriarchs provides the striving pilgrim today. Both Jacob and David are mentioned in Hebrews 11, the faith chapter, as being of the household of faith, in spite of their unrighteous acts. Their lives exemplify the fulfillment of God’s promise, written by David in Psalm 103:

 

“Bless the Lord, O my soul;

And all that is within me, bless His holy name!

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

And forget not all His benefits:

Who forgives all your iniquities,

Who heals all your diseases,

Who redeems your life from destruction,

Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,

Who satisfies your mouth with good things,

So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

The Lord executes righteousness

And justice for all who are oppressed.

He made known His ways to Moses,

His acts to the children of Israel.

The Lord is merciful and gracious,

Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.

He will not always strive with us,

Nor will He keep His anger forever.

He has not dealt with us according to our sins,

Nor punished us according to our iniquities.

For as the heavens are high above the earth,

So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;

As far as the east is from the west,

So far has He removed our transgressions from us”

(Psalm 103:1–12).

David wrote this uplifting psalm after his prayer that God create in him a clean heart and renew a right spirit within him, having been made to realize his sin by Nathan (see Psalm 51:10). It is undeniable evidence of the assurance that the repentant sinner has of God’s forgiveness.

Inspiration also acknowledges the assurance of salvation the lives of these patriarchs offer the repentant soul.

“Jacob’s history is also an assurance that God will not cast off those who have been deceived and tempted and betrayed into sin, but who have returned unto Him with true repentance. While Satan seeks to destroy this class, God will send His angels to comfort and protect them in the time of peril. The assaults of Satan are fierce and determined, his delusions are terrible; but the Lord’s eye is upon His people, and His ear listens to their cries. Their affliction is great, the flames of the furnace seem about to consume them; but the Refiner will bring them forth as gold tried in the fire. God’s love for His children during the period of their severest trial is as strong and tender as in the days of their sunniest prosperity; but it is needful for them to be placed in the furnace of fire; their earthliness must be consumed, that the image of Christ may be perfectly reflected.” The Great Controversy, 621.

“Though David had fallen, the Lord lifted him up. He was now more fully in harmony with God and in sympathy with his fellow men than before he fell. In the joy of his release he sang:

‘I acknowledged my sin unto Thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid.

I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord;

And Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. …

Thou art my hiding place; Thou shalt preserve me from trouble;

Thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance’

(Psalm 32:5–7 KJV).

“Many have murmured at what they called God’s injustice in sparing David, whose guilt was so great, after having rejected Saul for what appear to them to be far less flagrant sins. But David humbled himself and confessed his sin, while Saul despised reproof and hardened his heart in impenitence.

“This passage in David’s history is full of significance to the repenting sinner. It is one of the most forcible illustrations given us of the struggles and temptations of humanity, and of genuine repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Through all the ages it has proved a source of encouragement to souls that, having fallen into sin, were struggling under the burden of their guilt. Thousands of the children of God, who have been betrayed into sin, when ready to give up to despair have remembered how David’s sincere repentance and confession were accepted by God, notwithstanding he suffered for his transgression; and they also have taken courage to repent and try again to walk in the way of God’s commandments.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 726.

How blessed we are as modern Israelites to have such an indisputable record of our loving Father’s forgiveness!

All Bible quotes NKJV unless otherwise noted.

John R. Pearson is the office manager and a board member of Steps to Life. He may be contacted by email at: johnpearson@stepstolife.org.