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Seventh Day Adventist Roots, part 7

October 17, 2018October 17, 2018 by Ken McGaughey

Joseph Bates, the next personality in our list of four prominent men to associate with the Millerite movement, was born in 1792, in Fairhaven, Massachusetts. His parents were members of the Congregational Church. His father had been a captain in the Revolutionary War. At the age of fifteen, Bates took to the sea, sailing for Europe as cabin boy. He had many thrilling experiences while at sea, including surviving a collision with an iceberg; being commandeered as a gunner on the HMS Rodney, serving on blockade duty in the war between England and France; spending two and a half years as a prisoner of war and finally returning home after a six year absence. Bates married Prudence Nye, in 1818, and continued his work on ocean going vessels, rising to the rank of captain.

On his first trip as captain, he forbade anyone to drink “ardent spirits” aboard ship. On the next trip he determined to stop drinking, and later gave up smoking. In 1826, his wife placed a New Testament in his trunk. This turned out to be the beginning of a spiritual awakening for him. When one of his crewmembers became sick, Bates became anxious and, after a struggle, he began to pray. The death of the crewmember and his own responsibility, as captain, for the funeral service, brought him closer to God. At this point, he surrendered his life to Christ and began to study the Bible and pray every day. When he arrived home, Bates was baptized, and, in 1827, joined the New Bedford Christian Church, the church to which his wife belonged. The minister that baptized him refused to join Bates in his fight against liquor. With the help of the Congregationalist minister in Fairhaven he formed the Fairhaven Temperance Society. At this point, Bates gave up the use of tea and coffee.

Joseph Bates had strong convictions. While aboard ship, he gathered his crew and read them the rules for the voyage. These rules included prohibiting the use of intoxicants, swearing or washing of clothes on Sunday and the mandatory attendance at daily worship. Two of the crew were converted on the voyage. In 1826, he retired from sea service with a comfortable fortune. He turned his energies to serious church work and reform movements, always taking the side of the oppressed. Over the next few years, Bates formed a number of reform movements, each time losing some friends. In the face of opposition, he formed an antislavery society. He planned for a manual training school and, to provide labor, he planted three mulberry orchards to produce silk for market.

In 1839, a ministerial friend invited him to attend a lecture on the Second Advent. When Bates heard the message he exclaimed, “That is the truth.” He and Joshua Himes had been associated in various reform activities. Now Himes also became interested in Miller’s views on the Second Advent. Shortly after obtaining a copy of Miller’s Lectures, Bates fully accepted their teaching regarding premillennialism as the most important reform for that time.

As a member of the authorizing committee for the first General Conference, at Boston, in 1841, Bates invited Miller to hold a series of meetings in Fairhaven. He soon after became an active and successful Millerite minister. He was chosen chairman of the conference that authorized the production of lithographs of Fitch’s “1843 Chart,” and approved the conducting of campmeetings that were very successful.

Opposition to the advent message soon developed among the members of the Fairhaven Christian Church, leading him to withdraw from its membership. “In 1843 he sold his home, and most of his other real estate, and prepared to go where needed to herald the Second Coming of Christ. He had a burden to go down to the slaveholding States of the South, where other lecturers had been driven out by hostile inhabitants. Bates was warned that he would probably be killed because of his well-known abolitionist principles. Undeterred, he went into Maryland and preached to large numbers, H. S. Gurney, baritone singer, accompanying him. Their success aroused resentment and opposition, and a fiery Methodist class leader threatened to have them ridden out of town on a rail. Bates made the instant but telling rejoinder, ‘If you will put a saddle on it, we would rather ride than walk.’ This nimble reply disconcerted the man, and Bates continued: ‘You must not think that we have come six hundred miles through the ice and snow, at our own expense to give you the Midnight Cry, without first sitting down and counting the cost. And now, if the Lord has no more for us to do, we had as lief [gladly] lie at the bottom of the Chesapeake Bay as anywhere else until the Lord comes. But if He has any more work for us to do, you can’t touch us.’

“The Baltimore Patriot learned of the episode and after relating the story, said significantly: ‘The crush of matter and the wreck of worlds would be nothing to such men.’ In another incident in a little Maryland town, Bates made this reply: ‘Yes, Judge, I am an abolitionist, and have come to get your slaves and you too! As to getting your slaves from you, we have no such intention, for if you should give us all you have (and I was informed he owned quite a number), we should not know what to do with them. We teach that Christ is coming, and we want you all saved.’ ” The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, 548.

On the journey home, by boat, Bates hung up the prophetic chart, sang an advent hymn and gave a lecture on the coming crisis. When they transferred to a train he continued lecturing. He visited a number of islands along the coast of Massachusetts and many were converted to the Second Advent faith.

By 1848, Bates had accepted the Sabbath and was instrumental in the proclamation of that message. He held key positions all through the Advent Movement from 1840 on. He wrote a short history of the advent cause from 1840 –1847 titled, Second Advent Way Marks and High Heaps, the first of its kind.

“Bates pioneering spirit led him west to Michigan in 1849, where, in time, he gathered a company of converts in Jackson. In 1852, he went on to Battle Creek. Arriving early in the morning, and asking the postmaster for the name of the most honest man in town, he was directed to a Presbyterian by the name of David Hewitt. Bates was soon rapping on Hewitt’s door, telling him that he had some important Bible truth for him. The Hewitts became the first converts in Battle Creek, and their home the meeting place for a growing group.

“That episode was characteristic of Bates. He would go where there were no believers, secure a schoolhouse, hall, church, or even a home, hang up his chart, and preach the new-found light on the prophecies, and churches would come into being. When, in 1860, the Sabbatarian Adventists met in conference to effect their first organization, Bates, in the chair guided the conference.

“Bates played a prominent part in the ‘Sabbath Conferences,’ which began in 1848, and helped to give shape to the infant SDA movement. He, together with White, Edson, Pierce, Andrews, and others, studied out the doctrines from the Bible. In fact Joseph Bates, with James White, was widely recognized as cofounder of the SDA denomination.” Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia, 108, 109.

Joshua Himes—Energetic Leader

The fourth in our list of ministerial associates close to William Miller is Joshua V. Himes. “Judged by any standard of measurement, Joshua Vaughan Himes (1805-1895) was a remarkable character. Courageous, versatile, and a born leader, he was the great publicist, promoter, and organizer of the Millerite movement. While he was a power in the pulpit, he was an even greater power in the editorial chair. He was a really remarkable publisher, with the knack of knowing how to appeal to the public. His daring and his swiftness of action are illustrated by the speed with which he produced the first copy of the Signs of the Times. After Miller’s first suggestion, coupled with his own conviction of its need, it was under way within one week, starting from nothing.

“He had business acumen and organizational ability to a marked degree—managing conferences and giant campmeetings, as well as evangelistic and revival meetings, and keeping a great publishing and distribution project going smoothly and without needless duplication. Under his guidance the best publishing facilities the country afforded were enlisted to send forth the advent message. It was perhaps not too much to say that his was a feat unequaled in the annals of American church history, or of any other land so far as we know.” The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, 549, 550.

Himes was born in Rhode Island. His father wanted him to attend Brown University, but, because of a financial crisis in the family, Joshua went to New Bedford to learn a trade. His conversion

occurred in 1823 and he joined the First Christian Church. His ability as an evangelist quickly surfaced and he felt called to preach. He was invited to begin holding meetings in various schoolhouses and soon was holding many types of revival meetings.

In 1825, Himes began his life work in the ministry and began to preach in Plymouth. Eventually, he was appointed evangelist by the Massachusetts Christian Conference. He raised up a church of 125 at Fall River and he was soon called to become pastor of the First Christian Church of Boston. He resigned in 1837 to organize and build the Second Christian Church, with its Chardon Street Chapel. The Advent message first came to him in that chapel.

Being a reformer at heart, Himes was constantly crusading against the evils of his day. He was an assistant to William Lloyd Garrison in the battle against slavery, and it was in this chapel that Garrison’s New England Antislavery Society was initiated. He promoted a manual labor school and was a cofounder of the Peace Society, for the prevention of war. The Chardon Street Chapel became the center for many kinds of reform meetings.

On November 12, 1839, a conference of Christian Connection ministers was convened in Exeter. The day before, William Miller began a series of meetings, and out of curiosity the conference adjourned to go listen to Miller and asked him every sort of question. Himes was among the group. “Greatly impressed with Miller’s humble yet effective answers to the many pointed and sometimes tricky questions put to him, Himes invited him to hold a series of meetings in his own church in Boston. Miller accepted, and that eventful day marked a turning point in both lives and launched a new epoch in the advent cause and movement.” Ibid., 551.

“Himes combined deep spirituality and strict integrity with a true instinct for popular presentation. He was just thirty-five, pleasant and genial, neat in dress, and possessed of a charming personality. He was the embodiment of energy, and had marked initiative. And his entire manner begot confidence and gave assurance of his honesty and sincerity. He was dignified in bearing, but was ever a restless and energetic promoter of some cause in which he believed. Miller stayed in Hime’s home while giving his first series of lectures in Boston. Here they had many talks about Miller’s position on the second advent and on the millennium and the prophecies related thereto.” Ibid., 552.

Himes was convinced of the general points and felt a burden to get the premillennial truth before the public. He asked Miller why he had not preached in the larger cities. Miller replied that he had not been invited but that he would go wherever he was invited to preach. Himes told Miller to prepare for a great campaign, that the doors would be opened in every state east of the Mississippi. This prediction was literally fulfilled far beyond Miller’s expectations.

Feeling the need for a publication to get his views before the public and to shield him from abusive stories circulated, Miller conveyed this to Himes who immediately agreed to start the Signs of the Times. The next week (February 28, 1840), without any subscribers and only one-dollar, Himes produced the first edition.

Believers in the advent received the paper with joy while opponents were alarmed. At the outset it was a forum for both believers and opponents to voice their opinions. With the passing of time the paper was restricted to the presentation of the positions of the Adventists.

Himes published two more editions of Miller’s Lectures and was henceforth in charge of the publication and distribution of Advent literature. Among his publications were charts, pamphlets, books, tracts, songbooks, broadsides and handbills. In order to acquaint New York City with the message of the advent, Himes began publishing the Midnight Cry in connection with an evangelistic series. Ten thousand copies each day were printed and distributed in the city. When the meetings closed, the publication continued as a weekly.

“Himes was noblehearted, generous, and selfdenying. The funds accruing from the publication venture were turned to the spread of the tidings of the second advent. He traveled some twenty thousand miles, giving a lecture a day much of the time, and held some five thousand meetings, including a remarkable series of all-day camp meetings. In many ways Himes was the leading figure in the Millerite movement—a human dynamo of energy, ever pushing the cause of publishing and preaching, organizing the various enterprises connected with the movement. Although Miller was the actual leader, he delegated much authority to Himes, who had his complete confidence. The relationship between the two was like that of father and son. Of this fellowship Himes touchingly said: ‘We had rather be associated with such a man as William Miller, and stand with him in gloom or glory, in the cause of the living God, than to be associated with his enemies, and enjoy all the honors of this world.’ ” Ibid., 554.

Pray Without Ceasing

October 17, 2018October 17, 2018 by Ron Spear

In the beginning, God spoke and made a world. David records: “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth . . .For He spake, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.” Psalm 33:6, 9.

It was Jesus, in conjunction with His Father, that created this world and designed human beings to inhabit and fill it. (See 1 Corinthians 19:1–4; Ephesians 3:9; Colossians 1:16.) What we see of creation, in our world today, is but a pittance of what the original must have looked like.

On the morning of the sixth day of creation, the beautiful world was filled with animals of all descriptions roaming over the lush green hillsides and down through the valleys, blanketed with flowers. Birds, flying through the air, warbled their lovely songs of praise to their Creator.

After pronouncing all that He had made, “good,” this great Creator wants to make a caretaker for the beautiful garden. He decides to make man, in His own image, out of the dust of the ground and then breathe into him the breath of life making him a living soul.

After forming every feature with the greatest care, God looks down on this beautiful being. He might have said, “He looks like Me.” Then, kneeling down, He puts His mouth to the mouth of this beautiful being and breathes into him His breath. As the blood reaches the brain I can see Adam give a great gasp and suddenly the heart and all the organs begin to operate. Adam opens his eyes and looks into the face of God. I imagine his first words could have been, “Who are You?” Then he must have looked at himself and asked,” Who am I?” Now, this wonderful God reaches down, raises this beautiful being to his feet, and says, “Your name is Adam. You are My gardener. And I want to show you your garden.”

I can see God now putting His arm around this beautiful being and they begin to walk through this beautiful place. He says, “You, Adam, are in charge of everything. It is your world. You can name the flowers, trees, animals and birds.”

After they had finished their tour, I can hear Adam say, “God, everything is so wonderful, but I am wondering, why are there two of all the other creatures but there is only one of my kind?” And God replies, “I have a plan.” Then He lays this giant of a man down, puts him to sleep and takes a rib from his side. From this rib He creates the most beautiful being of all, a woman. Can you imagine when Adam wakes up and sees God and then looks past God to the woman? I can hear him say, “But who is she?” And God responds, “She is your wife.”

The shadows of the sixth day are leaning heavily upon the trees of this beautiful garden of God. The sixth day is ending and the seventh day, the Sabbath, is about to begin. As they stand before Him, God puts their hands together and He pronounces them man and wife. Then, standing in the shadows of that sixth day, He watches these two beautiful people, that He has created, walk away, arm in arm, talking about this beautiful place which He has created for them to live in.

Every day they had an opportunity to meet with God and the angels. I can see them running to meet their appointment with God. Wherever they were, they came hand in hand, leaping, running and racing to meet God, and casting themselves at His feet. Then I can see this great God raise them up to their feet, put one arm around Eve and the other around Adam and walk through the beautiful garden, explaining its wonders to them.

I can just imagine Adam looking at a magnificent tree, maybe a Sequoia Redwood tree, and asking, “But God, how does the moisture get from the root to the top?” And the Creator of the world explains how it all happens.

Eden was a wonderful place, a wonderful opportunity for two people. Yet, we know what happened. The picture now changes and we find these two people hiding. God comes for His daily visit, and walking through His garden, He calls, “Adam, Adam, where are you?” I can see them now, coming from their hiding place, no longer dressed in that beautiful robe of light, which He had made for them, but in fig leaves that Eve put together.

I can hear them cry, “God, we will never do it again. Please, God, do not send us away.” But sin was so terrible, and so infectious that they had to leave the garden. This was the only way that God could solve the tremendous problem that sin had brought.

I can see Jesus standing with both arms around them, hugging them close to His breast and explaining Genesis 3:15. He tells them that He will come and take their place. The law of God had been broken, and the wages of sin is death. Jesus tells them: “I have to die for you. I am the Lawgiver and the only way I can save you and your posterity, now, is to die in your place.” Then He explains the sacrificial system that pointed to the day He would die for their sins so they could live again and come back and be caretakers of His garden once more.

Can you see the picture of Adam with that first little sacrificial lamb, taking the sharp instrument in his hands, looking into the eyes of this little innocent creature, knowing that it had to be slain because of his sin?

God’s Sacrifice

The picture changes. For four thousand years the world looked forward to the time when the Messiah would come. Every Jewish mother looked at the man-child that came from her womb and wondered if he was the one—the promised Messiah. Then, just as the Old Testament prophets had predicted, the Christ child was born to bring hope and salvation to a perishing world.

What was Christ’s mission when He came to this earth?

“Christ came to our world to counteract Satan’s falsehood that God had made a law which man could not keep. Taking humanity upon Himself, He came to this earth, and by a life of obedience showed that God has not made a law that man cannot keep. He showed that it is possible for man perfectly to obey the law. Those who accept Christ as their Saviour, becoming partakers of His divine nature, are enabled to follow His example, living in obedience to every precept of the law. Through the merits of Christ, man is to show by His obedience that He could be trusted in heaven.” The Faith I Live By, 114.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16. Fallen humanity cannot measure that love. Our earthly minds cannot fully understand it. And even in heaven, we will continue to study it throughout all eternity. God’s love is so amazing! Jesus was born in a barn. He was willing to come, all the way down to where fallen humanity was, so He could show them how they could gain eternal life and go back to His garden as caretakers, for the beautiful world that He will re-create.

The cross was a tragedy, yet it was the only way God could solve the sin problem. We think that when we are taken out of our positions in churches, or are disfellowshipped, we have been mistreated; look at the cross and see what the church did to the Messiah. Yet, He uttered not a word of rebuke. He just put out His hands and they nailed them to the cross. The Roman soldiers picked up the tree and dropped it into the hole that had been prepared for it. You can imagine the physical agony 20 Land Marks

that He must have gone through, but it was not the physical agony that killed Him. It was our sins—yours and mine—that crucified the Son of God.

Christ Prays for Us

Just before Jesus was crucified, He prayed a very important prayer, not only for Himself, but also for His disciples. These were His words: “Father, the hour is come; glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee: As Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him. And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent.

“I have glorified Thee on the earth; I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own self with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was. I have manifested Thy name unto the men which Thou gavest Me out of the world: Thine they were, and Thou gavest them Me; and they have kept Thy word. Now they have known that all things whatsoever Thou hast given Me are of Thee.

“For I have given unto them the words which Thou gavest Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from Thee, and they have believed that Thou didst send Me. I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which Thou hast given Me; for they are Thine. And all Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine; and I am glorified in them.

“And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to Thee. Holy Father, keep through Thine own name those whom Thou hast given Me, that they may be one, as we are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Thy name: those that Thou gavest Me I have kept; and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. And now come I to Thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have My joy fulfilled in themselves.

“I have given them Thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth. As Thou hast sent Me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.” John 17:1–19. What a prayer! I believe those words come closer to explaining the love of God than anything I have read in the Bible or the Spirit of Prophecy.

Today, Jesus is our High Priest in the Most Holy Place. But He will not remain there long. Soon the censor will no longer sway; the cases will be decided. It is now time for us to study the Word of God and the Spirit of Prophecy earnestly, and pray like we have never prayed in our lives before. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, “Pray without ceasing.” Often when I have read that I have wondered, “How can I do that? I would never get anything done if I prayed all the time.” But prayer is not only the position you are in, prayer is an attitude of mind that you start your day with, walk through the day with, and go to bed with, at night.

I praise the Lord for the relationship that I have with Him through prayer. It holds me in such a beautiful relationship and when I break that relationship by impatience, I weep. We must overcome this impatience. And our only hope of doing this is to pray more and take that prayer experience with us through the day. Practice the presence of Jesus and you will receive His power.

Christ’s Object Lessons, 174, contains a precious promise about prayer. It says: “Amid the anthems of the celestial choir, God hears the cries of the weakest human being. We pour out our heart’s desire in our closets, we breathe a prayer as we walk by the way, and our words reach the throne of the Monarch of the Universe! They may be inaudible to any human ear, but they cannot die away into silence, nor can they be lost through the activities of business that are going on. Nothing can drown the soul’s desire.”

What a wonderful promise! The God of the universe hears our cries for help, and is never too busy to answer. As we lay our requests before Him, claiming His promise that we can overcome, He gives us the power to keep His law. Just as Christ was constantly in tune with His father through prayer, and thus able to resist temptation, we can receive the same power.

We need to learn to pray, as we have never prayed before. We need to pray for ourselves, for our children, our husbands, our wives, our friends and our neighbors. We must carry the burden of these souls upon our hearts.

The Secret to Answered Prayer

A lot of people have told me, “I pray and nothing happens.” And I say, “Have you laid your whole life at the feet of Jesus, surrendering your will, your mind, and your life to Him? Have you given up everything in this world?” The reason many of our prayers are not answered is because of how we live. We are not fully committed to God.

When my son was in Vietnam, God taught me some unforgettable lessons about prayer. At that time in my life, I felt that I had done many things and I was proud of everything I had done. I was a good preacher, because I had worked hard to be one. But through this trying experience, God taught me every day that I had to be humble. I could not do anything, but I believed that God could.

During the eleven months that my boy was on the battlefields I learned to pray as I had never prayed before. He told us later of the many miraculous ways the Lord had brought him through the most tragic, terrible circumstances. He was a commander and there were soldiers being killed all around him. A Vietcong shot at him from ten feet away, with an automatic weapon, and the bullets never touched him. Angels were deflecting the bullets.

The lessons I learned during that time have never been forgotten. God taught me that the first thing I do in prayer is to give my will to Him. When you give your will to God you give your mind to Him and His thoughts are your thoughts. Inspiration says: “By His perfect obedience He has made it possible for every human being to obey God’s commandments. When we submit ourselves to Christ . . . the mind becomes one with His mind, the thoughts are brought into captivity to Him; we live His life. This is what it means to be clothed with the garment of His righteousness.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 312.

During that time I memorized that passage, and began to study my Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy in a different way. I was not studying to be a good preacher. I was studying to fill my soul with the good things that God has in His Word and in the Spirit of Prophecy. I could not leave it alone anymore. I was getting up at 3:00 or 3:30 in the morning to study and my congregation said, “What has happened to the preacher?”

I was changed—not by what I did, but by what God was doing, and I wanted Him to do it. “Nothing is apparently more helpless, yet really more invincible, than the soul that feels its nothingness and relies wholly on the merits of the Saviour. By prayer, by the study of the word, by faith in His abiding presence, the weakest of human beings may live in contact with the living Christ, and He will hold then by a hand that will never let them go.” Ministry of Healing, 182.

“When with earnestness and intensity we breathe a prayer in the name of Christ, there is in that very intensity a pledge from God that He is about to answer our prayer ‘exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think.’” Christ’s Object Lessons, 147.

“Unwearyingly persist in prayer. The persistent asking brings the petitioner into a more earnest attitude, and gives him an increased desire to receive the things for which he asks.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 145.

“Cultivate the habit of talking with the Saviour when you are alone, when you are walking, when you are busy with your daily labor.” Ministry of Healing, 510, 511.

One of my greatest experiences in the morning is to walk in the trees and praise God. Praising God is prayer. I lift my voice in thanksgiving for the health and strength that God has given me. I praise Him with joy in my heart for the opportunity that He has given me to serve Him in this great and awesome time.

Through praising the Lord we receive a rich blessing for ourselves. “If we keep the Lord ever before us, allowing our hearts to go out in thanksgiving and praise to Him, we shall have a continual freshness in our religious life. Our prayers will take the form of a conversation with God as we talk with a friend. He will speak His mysteries to us personally. Often there will come to us a sweet joyful sense of the presence of Jesus. Often our hearts will burn within us as He draws nigh to commune with us as He did with Enoch.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 129.

“Whatever your anxieties and trials, spread out your case before the Lord. Your spirit will be braced for endurance. The way will be opened for you to disentangle yourselves from embarrassments and difficulty. The weaker and the more helpless you know yourself to be, the stronger will you become in His strength.” The Desire of Ages, 329. That is prayer.

Prayer—Finding the Experience

The only way we can face the tragedies of tomorrow, and the next day, and the months and years ahead of us, is by becoming a people of prayer. I pray that you are willing to be made willing to bring your life into such a prayer experience that you can have the joy of seeing your prayers answered. God does not always answer prayer the way you want it answered, but He answers every prayer.

Sometimes God says, “No,” and that means that you have to have the spiritual maturity to understand when He says “No.” When people tell me, “God does not answer my prayers,” I tell them that maybe God is saying “No” and you do not understand. I have had God say “No” many, many times to me. But I have always accepted the “No” as God’s answer.

If you are willing to be made willing to bring your life into harmony with such a beautiful relationship with Jesus, you will walk with Him day by day. And that is a prayer experience. You know that Jesus is there because your sins are forgiven. You have confessed your sins (Acts 5:31), and God gives repentance. Learn to walk in this joyous living. Otherwise, you are cheating yourself of the greatest experience in the world.

But do not expect that the road will always be easy. Learn to accept every trial as a little stepping stone to a greater relationship to Jesus. Each hardship overcome, each temptation resisted, takes us a step forward in developing a character like Christ’s. It will take effort—prayer, study and a willingness to follow Christ, wherever He leads. Without this, you will not make it.

There is nothing you can do to be saved, but if you do not do something, you are going to be lost. God’s prophet wrote it this way, “It will require the strongest effort, the persevering and unfaltering determination, and the strongest energy to control self.” Testimonies, vol. 4, 92. But we are not left to struggle alone. “Every provision has been made in the word of God whereby all may have divine help.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 574.

We “must cooperate with divine power, and put forth” our “human effort to subdue sin, and stand complete in Christ.” Fundamentals of Christian Education, 429, 430.

“Many never attain to the position that they might occupy, because they wait for God to do for them that which He has given them power to do for themselves.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 248.

“If we gain eternal life, we must work, and work earnestly . . . The characters we form here will decide our eternal destiny . . . Our part is to put away sin, to seek with determination for perfection of character.” Review and Herald, June 11,1901.

“This to us is a mournful statement, that there are those who will fail to enter in at the strait gate because they only seek to enter in and do not strive.” Heavenly Places, 263.

We have a part to play, but we have not done a very good job of playing that part. Discipline and human effort must be amalgamated with divine power before we can overcome. Too many of us have been trying to overcome in our own power. We have been trying to be good, thinking we will go to heaven “being good.” But we cannot be saved “being good.” We can only be saved being holy, and holiness can only come from the Holy One.

Let us study the word of God and the Spirit of Prophecy like we have never studied before. Dedicate yourself anew to God every morning by submitting your will to Him. You will be given all the power you need to do everything He has commanded you.

“The warfare against self is the greatest battle that was ever fought. The yielding of self, surrendering all to the will of God and being clothed with humility, possessing that love that is pure, peaceable, and easy to be entreated, full of gentleness and good fruits, is not an easy attainment. And yet it is his privilege and his duty to be a perfect overcomer here.” Testimonies,vol. 3, 106.

May God make us like that, today and every day, until eternity.

Food for Life — Self Service

October 17, 2018October 17, 2018 by Marjorie Coulson

“The holidays are approaching. In view of this fact, it will be well to consider how much money is expended yearly in making presents to those who have no need of them. The habits of custom are so strong that to withhold gifts from our friends on these occasions would seem to us almost a neglect of them. But let us remember that our kind heavenly Benefactor has claims upon us far superior to those of any earthly friends. Shall we not, during the coming holidays, present our offerings to God? Even the children may participate in this work. Clothing and other useful articles may be given to the worthy poor, and thus a work may be done for the Master.

“Let us remember that Christmas is celebrated in commemoration of the birth of the world’s Redeemer. This day is generally spent in feasting and gluttony. Large sums of money are spent in needless self -indulgence. The appetite and sensual pleasures are indulged at the expense of physical, mental, and moral power. Yet this has become a habit. Pride, fashion, and gratification of the palate have swallowed up immense sums of money that have really benefited no one, but have encouraged a prodigality of means which is displeasing to God. These days are spent in glorifying self rather than God. Health has been sacrificed, money worse than thrown away, many have lost their lives by overeating or through demoralizing dissipation, and souls have been lost by this means.

“God would be glorified by His children should they enjoy a plain, simple diet, and use the means intrusted to them in bringing to His treasury offerings, small and great, to be used in sending the light of truth to souls that are in the darkness of error. The hearts of the widow and fatherless may be made to rejoice because of gifts which will add to their comfort and satisfy their hunger.

“Let all who profess to believe the present truth calculate how much they spend yearly, and especially upon the recurrence of the annual holidays, for the gratification of selfish and unholy desires, how much in the indulgence of appetite, and how much to compete with others in unchristian display. Sum up the means thus spent all needlessly, and then estimate how much might be saved as consecrated gifts to God’s cause without injury to soul or body.

“Mites and more liberal gifts may be brought in, according to the ability of the giver, to aid in lifting debts from churches which have been dedicated to God. Then there are missionaries to be sent into new fields, and others to be supported in their respective fields of labor. These missionaries have to practice the strictest economy, even denying themselves the very things you enjoy daily, and which you consider the necessaries of life. They enjoy few luxuries.” Messages to Young People, 311–312.

Let each and every one of us heed these words from our God, not only during this season, but during the rest of the probationary time He has given us to prepare for His soon coming! Have you ever seen our world in a worse condition? It seems that the signs of Christ’s coming are everywhere! In the calamities by land, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and the absolute disregard of human lives. It is fearful, and it should prompt each of God’s children to “look up, for our redemption draweth nigh”! Have a “holy” holiday, and may the Lord bless each of you is my prayer. See you next year.

Pumpkin “Cheese” Cake

1 lb. Tofu, drained and mashed

1/2 tsp. Cardamom

16 oz. can Libby’s Pumpkin

1/2 cup pure Maple Syrup

1/2 cup Arrowroot or Corn Starch

2 cups Grape Nuts Cereal

1/2 cup Apple Juice Concentrate

1/2 tsp. Coriander

In two batches, blend the tofu, pumpkin and maple syrup. Add arrowroot and spices and mix together well. To make crust, grind the grape nuts in dry blender. Mix with apple juice concentrate. Pat into 9-inch pie dish. Pour in filling. Bake at 350° for 40 minutes or until set. A butter knife should come out clean in the center. If not done, turn heat down to 325° and bake an additional 15 minutes. It will become firmer as it cools. Chill overnight before serving.

Duty of Parents to their Children

October 17, 2018October 17, 2018 by Ellen G. White

One of the signs of the “last days” is the disobedience of children to their parents. 2 Timothy 3:2. And do parents realize their responsibility? Many seem to lose sight of the watch-care they should ever have over their children, and suffer them to indulge in evil passions, and to disobey them. They take but little notice of them until their own feelings are raised, and then punish them in anger.

Many parents will have to render an awful account at last for their neglect of their children. They have fostered and cherished their evil tempers by bending to their wishes and will, when the wishes and will of the children should bend to them. They have brought God’s frown upon them and their children by these things. Parents, have you forgotten that which is written in the Holy Word: “He that spareth the rod hateth his son.” Children are left to come up instead of being trained up. The poor little children are thought not to know or understand a correction at ten or twelve months old, and they begin to show stubbornness very young. Parents suffer them to indulge in evil tempers and passions without subduing or correcting them, and by so doing they cherish and nourish these evil passions until they grow with their growth and strengthen with their strength.

The house of God is often desecrated, and the Sabbath violated by Sabbath-believers’ children. In some cases they are even allowed to run about the house, play, talk and manifest their evil tempers in the very meetings where the saints should worship God in the beauty of holiness. And the place that should be holy, and where a holy stillness should reign, and where there should be perfect order, neatness and humility, is made to be a perfect Babylon, “confusion.” This is enough to bring God’s displeasure and shut His presence from our assemblies. His wrath is kindled for these things, and He will not while these things exist, go out with Israel to battle against their enemies. The enemies of our faith will be suffered to triumph on account of God’s displeasure.

Parents stand in the place of God to their children and they will have to render an account, whether they have been faithful to the little few committed to their trust. Parents, some of you are rearing children to be cut down by the destroying angel, unless you speedily change your course, and be faithful to them. God cannot cover iniquity, even in children. He cannot love unruly children who manifest passion, and He cannot save them in the time of trouble. Will you suffer your children to be lost through your neglect? Unfaithful parents, their blood will be upon you, and is not your salvation doubtful with the blood of your children upon you? Children that might have been saved had you filled your place, and done your duty as faithful parents should.

God says: “I know Abraham, that he will command his household after him,” and God gave him the honor of being the father of the faithful. Parents, it is your duty to have your children in perfect subjection, having all their passions and evil tempers subdued. And if children are taken to meeting, they should be made to know, and understand where they are. That they are not at home, but where God meets with His people. And they should be kept quiet and free from all play, and God will turn His face toward you, to meet with you and bless you.

If order is observed in the assemblies of the saints, the truth will have better effect upon all that hear it. A solemnity which is so much needed will be encouraged and there will be power in the truth to stir up the depths of the soul and a death-like stupor will not hang upon those who hear. Believers and unbelievers will be affected. It has seemed evident that in some places the Ark of God was removed from the church, for the holy commandments have been violated and the strength of Israel has been weakened. Parents, correct your children. Commence while they are young, when impressions can be more easily made, and their evil tempers subdued before they grow with their growth and strengthen with their strength.

You should correct your children in love. Do not let them have their own way until you get angry, and then punish them. Such correction only helps on the evil, instead of remedying it. After you have done your duty faithfully to your children, then carry them to God and ask Him to help you. Tell Him that you have done your part, and then in faith ask God to do His part, that which you cannot do. Ask Him to temper their dispositions, to make them mild and gentle by His Holy Spirit. He will hear you pray. He will love to answer your prayers. Through His Word He has enjoined it upon you to correct your children, to “spare not for their crying,” and His Word is to be heeded in these things.

It certainly must bring God’s displeasure upon parents when they leave Him to do what He has left, and commanded them to do. God corrects us when we disobey, and go astray from Him; and parents are bound by the word of God to correct their children when they disobey them, and show evil temper. Check the very first manifestation of passion. Break the will, (but do it with feelings of tenderness, and with discretion,) and your children will be far happier for it, and you will be happier. Your effort will be remembered of God, and He that is so particular as to observe the falling of the sparrow, He that noticed and commended Abraham’s faithfulness, will not pass by your efforts. He that never slumbers nor sleeps will be ready to aid you with His Spirit and grace, and will reward your feeble efforts.

Parents, above every thing, take care of your children upon the Sabbath. Do not suffer them to violate God’s holy day by playing in the house or out of doors. You may just as well break the Sabbath yourselves as to let your children do it, and when you suffer your children to wander about, and suffer them to play upon the Sabbath, God looks upon you as Sabbath-breakers. Your children, that are under your control, should be made to mind you. Your word should be their law. Will not parents wake up to their duty before it shall be too late, and take hold of the work in earnest, redeem the time, and make unsparing efforts to save their children?

Children are the lawful prey of the enemy, because they are not subjects of grace, have not experienced the cleansing power of the blood of Jesus, and the evil angels have access to these children; and some parents are careless and suffer them to work with but little restraint. Parents have a great work to do in this matter, by correcting and subduing their children, and then by bringing them to God and claiming His blessing upon them. By the faithful and untiring efforts of the parents, and the blessing and grace entreated of God upon the children, the power of the evil angels will be broken, a sanctifying influence is shed upon the children, and the powers of darkness must give back. When the destroying angel was to pass through Egypt, to destroy the first-born of man and beast, Israel was commanded to gather their children and families into their houses with them, and then mark their door-posts with blood, that the destroying angel might pass by their dwellings, and if they failed to go through with this process, there was no difference made between them and the Egyptians.

The destroying angel is soon to go forth again, not to destroy the first-born alone, but “to slay utterly old and young, both men, women and little children” who have not the mark. Parents, if you wish to save your children, separate them from the world, keep them from the company of wicked children; for if you suffer them to go with wicked children, you cannot prevent them from partaking of their wickedness and being corrupted. It is your solemn duty to watch over your children, to choose the society at all times for them. Teach your children to obey you, then can they more easily obey the commandments of God, and yield to His requirements. Do not let us neglect to pray with, and for our children. He that said, “Suffer little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not,” will listen to our prayers for them, and the seal, or mark of believing parents will cover their children, if they are trained up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

G. White

Review and Herald, September 19, 1854.

The Lord’s Day

October 17, 2018October 17, 2018 by John J. Grosboll

We know from the New Testament that God has a rest day, a special day of the week that He calls His own. John writes, “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet.” Revelation 1:10. Long after the cross, it is evident from this verse that God does have a special day, a day that belongs to Him, a day that is called “the Lord’s Day.”

To find out the origin of this day we must go back to the beginning of the Bible, to the time of Creation, before there had ever been any transgression of God’s law and when there was no need for a plan of salvation. Genesis 2:1–3 says: “Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.”

Genesis 1 and 2 say that God created this world in six days. The evening and the morning were the first day, the second day and so on. During each one of these days, in creation week, God created some aspect of the world or solar system. But at the end of Creation week, God created a special holy day to commemorate what He had made. This day He called a rest day or the Sabbath day and in that day God set an example for us by resting. The Bible says that He blessed the day and made it holy.

The book of Revelation teaches that only God is holy. (Revelation 15:4.) No man or group of men can make a holy day, because only a holy being can make a day holy. Thus only God could sanctify the Sabbath and make it a holy day.

The Sabbath Reviewed at Sinai

The moral duty of all mankind to keep the Sabbath was reviewed by God, for all of His people, when He came down on Mount Sinai and spoke His moral law (the Ten Commandments). He then wrote His Law down on tables of stone and He commanded His people to keep it through all generations.

At Sinai, the Sabbath was not introduced as a new day that the Israelites were to begin keeping. We can be sure of that fact when we read the fourth commandment in Exodus 20:8. It says, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” The Lord says, “Remember,” because His special day goes all the way back to the creation of the world.

It is interesting that the only commandment that people want to lose sight of is the only one that God said to, “Remember.” In the heart of God’s law, it says, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your man servant, nor your maid servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.” Exodus 20:8–11.

The Origin of Our Week

The weekly cycle of seven days comes directly from Creation week. The heavenly bodies control all the other measurements of time. The year is dependent on the revolution of the earth around the sun. The month has to do with lunar cycles. The seasons have to do with the revolution and rotation of the earth. Only the weekly cycle has no natural origin, and so only can point back to the Creation week when the Sabbath was instituted.

Some people wonder if the seventh-day that God made holy is really the same day as the seventh-day in our weekly cycle, as we know it now. Has the weekly cycle been changed in the six thousand years since Creation? The answer is simple to find if we look at the Jewish people. They have been keeping the Sabbath from Christ’s day until the present time. Obviously, it is impossible that millions of people scattered all over the world could all of a sudden, in one week, forget which day of the week it was and all start keeping another day. The probability of that is far beyond impossible.

Another proof that shows that the weekly cycle has not been changed is the way that many of the languages name the seventh day of the week. Take for instance what the Italians call the seventh day. It is called “Sabato.” Similarly in Spain, it is called “Sabado.” In Russia, it is called “Subbota.” And in Poland it is called “Sobota.” All these names mean Sabbath or Rest Day. Except for those languages that have adopted the pagan names for the days of the week, the seventh day is still called “The Sabbath,” even today, just the way God named it in the beginning.

In addition to that, the crucifixion of Christ establishes, beyond any reasonable doubt, which day the Sabbath is according to the commandment. The account in Luke tells us this: “Now, behold, there was a man name Joseph, a council member, a good and just man. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a tomb that was hewn out of rock, where no one had ever lain before. That day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew near. And the women who had come with Him from Galilee followed after, and they observed the tomb and how His body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.” Luke 23: 50–56.

So it was that as Friday, the preparation day ended and the Sabbath was drawing near, that they prepared the body of Jesus and put it in the tomb. After they did that, they rested the next day, the Sabbath, according to the commandment. Then it says, “Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.” Luke 24:1. That day was resurrection Sunday, as the whole Christian world knows.

The Biblical record shows Good Friday, resurrection Sunday, and the Sabbath “according to the commandment,” which they kept, was the day in between. Since the whole Christian world acknowledges Good Friday and resurrection Sunday, it is impossible for any candid reader of the Bible to make a mistake as to which day is the Sabbath.

The Sabbath Changed?

However, some people ask, “In the New Covenant was not the Lord’s day changed from the seventh day of the week to the first day of the week?” The Bible clearly answers. Jesus did not change it. The apostles did not change it. Nowhere does the Bible authorize a change. Jesus and the apostles kept the seventh day holy not only before, but also after the cross, and there is no record of its change in the Bible before or after Jesus’ death. Jesus said, “And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle [a small part of a letter] of the law to fail.” Luke 16:17.

Father O’Brien, a Catholic author, in his book, The Faith of Millions, copyright 1974, says: “Let me address myself to my dear non-Catholic reader. You believe that the Bible alone is a safe guide in religious matters. You also believe that one of the fundamental duties enjoined upon you by your Christian faith is that of Sunday observance. But where does the Bible speak of such an obligation? I have read the Bible from the first verse of Genesis to the last verse of Revelation and have found no reference to the duty of sanctifying the Sunday. The day mentioned in the Bible is not the Sunday, the first day of the week, but the Saturday, the last day of the week.” The first day of the week is mentioned in the Bible nine times, but nowhere is it mentioned as a Christian Sabbath or as a holy day or day of worship.

Nailed to the Cross?

Many have confused God’s holy Sabbath day with the yearly Sabbaths that were kept by the Israelites in the Old Covenant, and think that, somehow, it was also annulled when Jesus died. But a careful study of the Bible shows that, in contrast to the weekly Sabbath, the ceremonial sabbaths were added because of transgression and pointed forward to the life and ministry of Christ. One of those yearly Sabbaths was the Passover Sabbath. These ceremonies pointed forward to Christ’s ministry and death and were called “a shadow of things to come.” Colossians 2:17. The Passover Sabbath came on the fourteenth day of the first month of the Jewish year, the day that Jesus was crucified. The Bible says that “Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.” 1 Corinthians 5:7. When Jesus died, these ceremonial Sabbaths had no more significance because they had been fulfilled.

The seventh day Sabbath has nothing to do with Jewish ceremonies. It was established before there were any Jews or any Jewish ceremonies or before the plan of salvation had even been introduced. It was made before sin even came into the world. The Bible never calls it the Jewish Sabbath. Rather it calls it the seventh day Sabbath, the Lord’s day. Jesus acknowledged that the Sabbath that was kept by the Jews was the Lord’s day, His holy day, and it was made for all mankind—and not just for the Jews. “And He said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man,and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.’ ” Mark 2:27, 28.

The Jews kept the Sabbath because they were God’s people, in those days, and, as God’s people, they kept God’s day. The Sabbath can be kept legalistically like the Pharisees did but when it is kept the way Jesus kept it, it is a great blessing to mankind. Calling Sunday the Lord’s day cannot make it holy or make it God’s rest day any more than calling a piece of cut glass a diamond can make it so, even if it looks just the same. Calling it such may confuse people, but it will never change the truth.

Adolph Hitler said that if you repeatedly tell a lie, especially a big one, eventually people will believe it. In this case he told the truth. God and man kept the Sabbath in Eden. It was kept by Abraham according to Genesis 26:5. It was kept by Christ according to Luke 4:16. All the apostles kept it. There is not one instance recorded in the New Testament of an apostle keeping Sunday nor is there one instance of an apostle not keeping the Sabbath. Instead, the Bible records over eighty Sabbaths that the apostle Paul kept.

Revelation tells us that there will be a day that will be kept by God’s people in the last days, and this is a distinguishing mark of those people who will not receive the mark of the beast. “Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” Revelation 14:12.

The “saints” keep God’s commandments. No one can be described as a person who keeps God’s commandments if they break one, and the Sabbath is one of God’s commandments. James 2:10 says that if you keep the whole law and offend in one point, you are guilty of all. Therefore, God’s people in the last days, who will not receive the mark of the beast, will be Sabbathkeepers.

All of this evidence is sure to stimulate some questions; for example, “How then did the Christian world begin to keep Sunday instead of Sabbath?” The change came after the apostles death when the Christian church went into great apostasy and changed their religious practices contrary to Bible teachings. Students of religious history that have studied this subject know that it was in the city of Rome where Sunday appears to have been first kept, possibly just decades after the death of the apostles. (It was kept at an early date in Alexandria, Egypt, also.) At that time, it was decided that it would be a good idea to celebrate the festival of Ishtar with the pagans in Rome. This pagan holiday was held about the same time as the Passover (the time of the year when Christ died and was resurrected.) We now call this day Easter. You might recognize the resemblance in the names Ishtar and Easter.

The yearly Sunday observance was gradually followed by a weekly Sunday observance, also in honor of the resurrection. The pagan world already kept this day in honor of the Sun, so the Christians felt that it would be easier to make converts of the pagans if they too kept the day holy. So the Christian world had two holy days—Sabbath and Sunday. However, as time went on, fewer and fewer continued to keep the Sabbath, and more and more began to worship only on Sunday.

Finally, in A.D. 321, the Emperor Constantine passed a Sunday law, before he became a Christian. In this Sunday law, the “holy day” was not called a Sabbath but the “venerable day of the Sun.” (The Sun was the god of the pagan religion and Sunday was the day on which the Sun was worshipped.) From there the practice of Sunday keeping was spread throughout Christendom.

Protestants and Sunday-keeping

This history is not unknown to the Protestant leadership. Doctor Binney of the Methodist Church wrote, “It is true there is no positive command in the Bible for keeping holy the first day of the week.” Dr. Edward T. Hiscox, author of the Baptist Manual, said, “There was and is a commandment to keep holy the Sabbath day, but that Sabbath was not Sunday. It will, however, be readily said and with some show of triumph that the Sabbath was transferred from the seventh to the first day of the week with all its duties, privileges, and sanctions.

“Earnestly desiring information on this subject, which I have studied for many years, I asked,Where can the record of such a transaction be found? Not in the New Testament, absolutely not. There is no Scriptural evidence of the change of the Sabbath institution from the seventh to the first day of the week. Of course, I quite well know that Sunday did come into use in early Christian history as a religious day as we learned from the Christian fathers and other sources. What a pity, that it comes branded with the mark of paganism and christened with the name of the Sun god.”

There is no evidence in the Bible for the change of the fourth commandment. That is purely a human invention that has no Biblical support whatsoever. The Lord has a day that He says is His. He is the Lord of the Sabbath day, the seventh day of the week.

Many people today think that it is unimportant to obey God exactly. They think that His requirements can be adjusted or changed to suit their own thinking or the practices of society. But the Bible is very clear about our obligation to keep the whole law, and it predicts that in the last days a great controversy will occur over the Sabbath commandment.

Everyone must decide whether they will obey God exactly or whether they will seek to make human adjustments to divine commands. The final test in this world will involve Satan’s claim, “That the law which was spoken by God’s own voice is faulty, that some specification has been set aside . . . It is the last great deception that he will bring upon the world. He needs not to assail the whole law; if he can lead men to disregard one precept, his purpose is gained. For ‘whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.’ James 2:10. By consenting to break one precept, men are brought under Satan’s power. By substituting human law for God’s law, Satan will seek to control the world. This work is foretold in prophecy. Of the great apostate power which is the representative of Satan, it is declared, ‘He shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand.’ Daniel 7:25.

“Men will surely set up their laws to counterwork the laws of God. They will seek to compel the consciences of others, and in their zeal to enforce these laws they will oppress their fellow men.

“The warfare against God’s law, which was begun in heaven, will be continued until the end of time. Every man will be tested. Obedience or disobedience is the question to be decided by the whole world. All will be called to choose between the law of God and the laws of men. Here the dividing line will be drawn. There will be but two classes. Every character will be fully developed; and all will show whether they have chosen the side of loyalty or that of rebellion.

“Then the end will come. God will vindicate His law and deliver His people. Satan and all who have joined him in rebellion will be cut off. Sin and sinners will perish, root and branch, (Malachi 4:1)— Satan the root, and his followers the branches. The word will be fulfilled to the prince of evil, ‘Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God; . . . I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire . . . Thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.’ Then ‘the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be;’ ‘they shall be as though they had not been.’ Ezekiel 28:6–19; Psalms 37:10; Obadiah 16.” The Desire of Ages, 763.

The New Theology, part 3

October 17, 2018October 17, 2018 by Lawrence Nelson

The basic difference between the two gospels being taught in our church can be traced to the differing definitions of sin, as found in the Word of God and in the theories developed by men. The popular worldly gospel has crept into our church by, what theologians call, the “original sin” dogma. This false gospel teaches that sin is a part of our nature so therefore we are guilty of sin because we were born into this world. Under this false gospel, no one has the freedom to choose to sin or not to sin. This power of “sin guilt” is so great that when one tries to resist sin, in the power of God, it is impossible.

This devilish philosophy teaches that Jesus could not have had our nature, because He would have been guilty of sin at His birth. Furthermore, it teaches that no one can ever overcome sin until Jesus comes the second time and changes their human nature. It is impossible to become perfect, because it is impossible to follow God’s instructions since people were born with the corruption of sin within them.

If you accept this false gospel, the great sanctuary truth, the investigative judgment and the Three Angels’ Messages of Revelation 14, all become insignificant. This New Theology teaches that everything was completed for man’s salvation at the cross, and that all that God now requires of us to be saved is that we receive justification and a covering of our sins. Sanctification, they say, is a slow growth process in one who has no power to overcome sin.

In the light of the truths of the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy, if you accept this false gospel you will be eternally lost. God is willing to share His divine power with all that ask for it, making it possible for you to overcome sin and enter heaven where there will be no sin.

Sin—An Action or Part of the Nature?

To get a clear understanding of the differences between these two gospels, we need to see how the Bible defines sin. 1 John 3:4 says, “Sin is the transgression of the law.” Therefore, sin is the breaking of God’s law, which is an action. Since sin is the result of an action, rather than a part of our nature, as taught in the false gospel, we begin to understand the harmony that is expressed by all Bible authors regarding sin.

James says, “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” James 4:17. This Scripture states that sin comes by knowledge that brings individuals to the realization of their need to make a decision and use the power of free choice that God has given them.

What brings the knowledge of sin? Paul wrote: “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. For without the law sin was dead. For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.” Romans 7:7–9.

Guilt does not come until there is knowledge of the law, but willful ignorance is no excuse. Jesus taught this in John 15: “If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin. If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both Me and My Father.” John 15:22, 24.

“If light come, and that light is set aside or rejected, then comes condemnation and the frown of God; but before light comes, there is no sin, for there is no light for them to reject.” Testimonies, vol. 1, 116.

“None will be condemned for not heeding light and knowledge that they never had.” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 5, 1145.

For over one hundred years, the Seventh-day Adventist Church consistently taught that sin was the result of the action of choice; that before we become guilty of sin, our mind must consent to the temptation. This teaching does not disregard the fact that we all have a sinful nature, but that this sinful nature can successfully resist temptation when we come to Jesus and experience a rebirth through the re-creating power of Christ working in and through us.

With a clear understanding of this, we can better understand how Jesus was born with the same flesh and blood that you and I possess, yet He never once sinned. He always made the right choice, through the power of the Holy Spirit, by fully surrendering to this divine agent.

Jesus came to this world as Adam was after his fall. He was born with our sinful flesh, but not our sinning flesh. Because of this, He is our great example and if we follow His pattern of success, we, too, may overcome through the divine power which He freely gives to the fully surrendered soul. To substantiate this, I present to you the following quotations:

“Jesus also told them [the angels] that . . . He should take man’s fallen nature, and His strength would not be even equal with theirs.” Spiritual Gifts, vol. 1, 25.

“It was in the order of God that Christ should take upon Himself the form and nature of fallen man, that He might be made perfect through suffering, and endure Himself the strength of Satan’s temptations, that He might the better know how to succor those who should be tempted.” Ibid., vol. 4, 115.

“This was the reception the Saviour met as He came to a fallen world . . . And took upon Himself man’s nature that He might save the fallen race. Instead of men glorifying God for the honor He had conferred upon them in thus sending His son in the likeness of sinful flesh, by giving Him a place in their affections, there seemed to be no rest nor safety for the infant Saviour. Jehovah could not trust to the inhabitants of the world His Son, who came into the world that through His divine power He might redeem fallen man.” The Review and Herald, December 24, 1872.

“Through His humiliation and poverty Christ would identify with the weaknesses of the fallen race . . . The great work of redemption could be carried out only by the Redeemer taking the place of fallen Adam . . . The King of glory proposed to humble Himself to fallen humanity. He would take man’s fallen nature.” The Review and Herald, February 24, 1874.

“Christ stooped to take upon Himself human nature, that He might reach the fallen race and lift them up . . . [He] partook of our human nature, that He might reach humanity.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 746–747.

“But many say that Jesus was not like us, that He was not as we are in the world, that He was divine, and we cannot overcome as He overcame. But Paul writes, ‘Verily He took not on Him the nature of angels; but He took on Him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren.” The Review and Herald, March 1, 1892.

We see from these quotations that over many years the servant of the Lord was consistent, in her writings, that Christ took upon Himself the nature of Adam after his fall.

New Theology and the Antichrist

In an article written by J. B. Conley, he shows how the teaching that insists that Christ came in the nature of Adam before his fall is connected to the antichrist. He wrote: “The Scriptures have placed the identity of antichrist beyond either guesswork or confusion. The Bible has clearly named the guilty one. John says that he denies that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. 2 John 7. Let this be the first mark of antichrist by which his identity will be placed beyond dispute.

“Far from denying the existence of Christ, the text suggests that antichrist teaches that Christ has come but teaches a doctrine about His coming which denies that He has come in the flesh. If the Catholic Church is guilty as the Protestant Reformers claimed her to be, then her teaching concerning the nature of Jesus in His incarnation into this world as a babe will reveal it.

“Let us examine that teaching in the light of the text before us. The Bible teaches that Jesus was born into the world through Mary who was a direct descendent of Adam. By inheritance she partook of Adam’s nature. Adam’s nature was mortal and subject to death as a result of the transgression of God’s will in Eden. His flesh was by nature that of the children of wrath. Mary partook of this nature in all of its aspects. She was a representative of the whole human race and in no way different from others descendent from Adam’s line.

“She was favored among women only because she was the one chosen of God through whom the mystery of godliness was to be made manifest and through whom Jesus was to be brought from heaven where He had been one with the Father in the Godhead to be born into the human family, there to partake of all the temptations to which Adam’s race is subject. This was possible only as He would partake of the nature of Adam’s race. Of this Paul says, ‘For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same;. . . Wherefore in all things it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren.’ Hebrews 2:14–17.

“If further evidence were needed, this same writer supplied it. In 1 Timothy 3:16, he records, ‘Great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh.’ Here he says is the mystery of godliness. The ability of Jesus to come from heaven, suffer Himself to be manifest in human flesh and yet to live sinlessly. This latter fact antichrist was to deny. He was to deny that Jesus came in a divine manifestation which brought Him in all phases of His nature to partake of the weaknesses of Adam’s race. He would deny that Jesus came in the flesh, the same flesh as that of mortal men.

“On this first count, the denial that Jesus is come in the flesh, the Catholic Church stands convicted of guilt and thus is identified by the marks of antichrist. Through the teaching of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, that she was preserved from all original sin, they in theory provide a different flesh from that of the rest of Adam’s race to be the avenue through which Jesus was incarnated into the plan of salvation.

“To state their teaching with authority it will be best to quote our evidence from Catholic authors. Our first proof will be from the pen of Cardinal Gibbons in his book, Faith of our Fathers, 203, 204. He says, ‘We define that the Blessed Virgin Mary in the first moment of her conception was preserved free from the taint of original sin. Unlike the rest of the children of Adam, the soul of Mary was never subject to sin.’

“Cardinal Gibbons has here clearly stated the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church concerning the sinlessness of the Virgin Mary. It is a teaching not taught in the Bible, but which has been introduced by Catholic teachers who claim to have authority even above that of the Scriptures in matters of doctrine. Here I would ask my readers, both Protestant and Catholic, to ponder carefully what this teaching does to the gospel plan. It means that if Mary were born without sin and was preserved from sin for the express purpose of bringing Jesus into the world, then Jesus was born of holy flesh which was different from that of the rest of Adam’s race.

“This means that He did not identify Himself with humanity. It means, too, that Paul was all wrong when he wrote the book of Hebrews in which he declares that Jesus also Himself likewise took part of the same flesh as the rest of Adam’s race and that in all things he was made like unto His brethren. Hebrews 2:14, 17. But above all this, if the Catholic teaching is true, then Jesus—not having come within reach of humanity by partaking of man’s nature—cannot be the one mediator between God and man.

“Nor can we ‘come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.’ Hebrews 4: 16. All this plays conveniently into the hands of the Catholic plan of salvation. It opens wide the door for the intercession of the Virgin Mary and the respective saints who form part of the Papal mediatorial system. And moreover, it places in the hands of the priesthood the power to usurp authority which God in the Scriptures has never delegated to them—that of being controllers of the approaches to the throne of mercy.

“In the Papal claim that Jesus was born of one who had been preserved from every taint of original sin and who, unlike the rest of the children of Adam, was never subject to sin, we find the first antichrist indelibly implanted. The papacy certainly teaches that Jesus did not come in the flesh.” Australian Signs of the Times, May 24, 1948, 46, by J. B. Conley.

This is a most alarming accusation with profound implications for the New Theology that is being preached in Adventism. This is a doctrine of the antichrist that Christ did not come in the flesh. “For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.” 2 John 7.

Is it any wonder then that the servant of the Lord speaks of the Omega apostasy as being startling in its consequences? The New Theology links all of its believers with the antichrist. Dr. Ralph Larson wrote the following: “Since it is common knowledge that Augustine’s doctrine of original sin is now being recommended for addition to the theology of the Seventh-day Adventist Church it would appear that a careful examination of that doctrine should be undertaken by all who share a concern for the purity of the Adventist faith. Major changes in our theology would be required by the addition of the doctrine of original sin because of the nature of God, the nature of the incarnate Christ, the nature of man and the nature of salvation itself are all involved in the Augustinian doctrine.

“Significant changes would be required in the cherished doctrine of righteousness by faith. The student may easily verify the close relationship between the concepts of original sin and the doctrine of righteousness by faith by asking advocates of the so-called ‘New Theology’ two questions:

Why do you believe that it is impossible for Christians to stop sinning, even through the power of Christ?
Why do you believe the incarnate Christ had to take the nature of the unfallen Adam rather than a nature like ours?

“The same answer will be given to both questions: Because of original sin. Since the corruption of original sin remains in all believers until they die, it is impossible for them to ever stop sinning, even through the power of Christ. And since the inherited guilt of original sin would have disqualified Christ from becoming the Saviour of the world, He had to be protected from original sin by assuming the nature of the unfallen Adam.” The Word Was Made Flesh, 330, by Dr. Ralph Larson.

We know that God’s true gospel has nothing to do with the antichrist. It assures us that absolute victory over sin is possible through divine power. “Abundant grace has been provided that the believing soul may be kept free from sin; for all heaven, with its limitless resources, has been placed at our command.” Selected Messages, vol. 1, 394.

Ellen White explains how this can be done. “Christ is willing to take possession of the soul temple, if we will only let Him. He is represented as knocking at the door of our hearts for admission, but Jesus never forces Himself upon us; He will come in only as an invited guest . . . In order to let Jesus into our hearts, we must stop sinning. The only definition for sin that we have in the Bible is that it is the transgression of the law. The law is far reaching in its claims, and we must bring our hearts into harmony with it.’” Signs of the Times, vol. 2, 363.

Likewise Peter tells us to follow the example of Christ. “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth.” 1 Peter 2:21, 22.

“Not even by a thought did He yield to temptation. So it may be with us.” The Desire of Ages, 123.

“Humanity, combined with divinity, does not commit sin.” Ministry of Healing, 180.

We can be perfect in Christ. Christ commanded, ” ‘Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.’ Matthew 5:48. This command is a promise.” The Desire of Ages, 311.

“None need fail of attaining, in his sphere, to perfection of Christian character. By the sacrifice of Christ, provision has been made for the believer to receive all things that pertain to life and godliness. God calls upon us to reach the standard of perfection and places before us the example of Christ’s character. In His humanity, perfected by a life of constant resistance of evil, the Saviour showed that through co-operation with divinity, human beings may in this life attain to perfection of character. This is God’s assurance to us that we, too, may obtain complete victory.” The Acts of the Apostles, 531.

And here is another precious thought. “The victory is not won without much earnest prayer, the humbling of self at every step. Our will is not to be forced into cooperation with divine agencies, but it must be voluntarily submitted . . . The will must be placed on the side of God’s will. You are not able, of yourself, to bring your purposes and desires and inclinations into submission to the will of God; but if you are ‘willing to be made willing,’ God will accomplish the work for you.” The Mount of Blessing, 142.

In view of such godly counsel, do not listen to any church leaders who would guide you into a path that leads to the antichrist. Keep your eyes and ears open and be on guard. Do not be surprised to find that this false theology is being promoted by men whom you once honored for their faithfulness to God’s last day message. The day is already here when we must stand alone in faithfulness to the pure gospel or follow the crowds to perdition. The true gospel teaches that:

Men have the power of free choice. God took a risk, with His entire universe, to perfect a freedom of choice. This is why sin was permitted to exist. Forced obedience is worthless, and the gospel of Christ is built upon the foundation of free choice.
Man is not born with the guilt of sin within him. We believe the gospel of Christ that states that sin is the transgression of the law. Not until we have joined our will in active opposition to God’s will, does sin exist in us. It is willful disobedience. The true gospel teaches that sin is our willful choice to exercise our fallen nature in opposition to God’s will.
Christ took the nature of fallen Adam. Since sin is a choice we make, therefore Christ could inherit our fallen nature without becoming a sinner. He could remain sinless because Christ’s choice was always to obey God. Never did He allow His fallen nature to control His choice. At the time of Christ’s birth, man’s condition was not that of sinless Adam, for man had descended to the depths of sin after four thousand years. Christ could become man’s Saviour only by assuming his fallen condition so He could bridge the gap between God and fallen man. Thus He can mediate for us before the Father since He has identified Himself with us in our fallen nature.
God loves to forgive and restore the sinner. The nature of God’s justification, given to the sinner, because of the mediation of Christ, makes it possible for us to stand righteous in the merits of Christ and to be restored to God’s image. But such justification can only take place when the sinner repents. There can be no repentance without conviction of sin, a sorrow for it and a turning away from it.
An individual can be comfortable about Christian perfection, when he is willing to let God work within his heart to overcome sin. This is possible when we trust God’s power to overcome. The gospel of Christ makes it possible for sin to become repulsive so that we will have no desire to disobey God’s will. Perfection does not do away with our sinful nature, but perfection is possible by the subjection of our nature to Christ as He surrendered to His Father. Thus it is possible to have a sinless character with a sinful nature. Such an experience requires agonizing prayer and unquestioning faith in God’s promises.

I have chosen some thoughts to share with you, written by Dennis Preiebe. In this passage, he describes the New Theology, which seems to be an easy path to follow: “It is an escape route from the daily battle with Satan. You can sit back and relax to enjoy your newfound ease because there is no more hassle, no more struggle. All you have to do is just believe, for Jesus did it all for you on the cross. He kept the law for you; there are no more dos or don’ts. Feel the excitement of this glorious freedom, for you do not even have to think about your sins. You can sin until Jesus comes because He has already forgiven you in advance. Come, celebrate! Express your freedom with rock music. Let the drums beat in celebration of your new discovery. Do not even think of obedience as necessary anymore. Forget that you ever heard of a sanctuary in heaven where Jesus is conducting an investigative judgment. Do not pay any attention to that little old lady called Ellen White who pleads for you to be sanctified as a fitness for heaven. Ignore all those passages of Scripture that warn you of a narrow road to heaven and few there be that find it. Keep thinking every moment that you are saved in spite of your unconfessed sins.”

My friend, this is the road to eternal loss. If you follow it, you find in the end only misery and the loss of what you value most—eternal life with Jesus. I must point you to the Saviour of the real gospel of Christ. Look to Jesus as He struggled with human nature just like you and I do every day. Watch Him pray by the hour for the mighty power of God. See Him struggle until His sweat turns to great drops of blood. Hear Him overcome evil with the words, “It is written.” Stand in awe as you see Him die on the cross rather than commit one sin. Follow Him into the heavenly sanctuary as He stands before His Father, and tells how He died for you and your sins and justifies you as though you had never sinned. Watch as He sends the mighty Holy Spirit that you have asked for that you may be sanctified for heaven. Claim the victory that Jesus now offers as you read in Jude 24, “Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.”

Choose you this day whom you will serve, as Joshua said in Joshua 24:15. Choose the gospel of the New Theology developed by Satan, which will end in death or choose the everlasting gospel of Christ that provides you with Christ’s victory over Satan now and for eternity.

Editorial — Our Need of God’s Power

October 17, 2018October 17, 2018 by John J. Grosboll

Question 1: Through whom will the Lord reveal His power?

Through people who are converted and devoted to Him and trust Him and not the arm of flesh:

“God is waiting to see revealed in His people a faith that works by love and purifies the soul; for this alone will fit them for the future, immortal life. There is a great work to be accomplished, and little time in which to do it. The cause needs converted, devoted men who will make the Lord their dependence. Through such workers the Lord will reveal the power of His grace.” Review and Herald, August 26, 1909.

Through those who are seeking for spiritual light and accept every instruction from inspired writings. (They do not profess to believe the Spirit of Prophecy and then not obey its instruction.): “To souls that are earnestly seeking for light and that accept with gladness every ray of divine illumination from His holy Word, to such alone light will be given. It is through these souls that God will reveal that light and power which will lighten the whole earth with His glory.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 729.
Those who reveal the spirit and character of Jesus: “There is nothing that the Savior desires so much as agents who will represent to the world His Spirit and His character. There is nothing that the world needs so much as the manifestation through humanity of the Savior’s love. All heaven is waiting for men and women through whom God can reveal the power of Christianity.” Acts of the Apostles, 600.

God wants to use you and your local, even if it is only two or three, to reveal His power to save lost humanity. The church is “the theater of His grace, in which He delights to reveal His power to transform hearts.” Acts of the Apostles, 12. However, there are roadblocks that can be set up in your church or in your heart that will prevent this most wonderful power from being displayed.

Question 2: What conditions will prevent the power of the Lord from being manifested in the church or in the church-members’ lives?

If sin is cherished in church-members’ lives the power of God cannot work for them: “There was a time when Israel could not prevail against their enemies. This was because of Achan’s sin. . . . God is the same today. If defiling sins are cherished by those who claim to believe the truth, the displeasure of God rests upon the church, and He will not remove it until the members do all in their power to show their hatred for sin, and their determination to cast it out of the church. God is displeased with those who call evil good and good evil. If jealousy, evil surmising, and evil-speaking are allowed to have a place in the church, that church is under the frown of God. It will be spiritually unhealthy until it is cleansed from these sins, for till then God cannot reveal His power to strengthen and elevate His people and give them victory.” 1888 Materials, 144.
When the church trusts to human wisdom and brings herself under the control of men: “The reason why His professed people have no greater strength is that they trust so much to their own wisdom, and do not give the Lord an opportunity to reveal His power in their behalf. He will help His believing children in every emergency if they will place their entire confidence in Him and faithfully obey Him.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 493.

“Organizations, institutions, unless kept by the power of God, will work under Satan’s dictation to bring men under the control of men; and fraud and guile will bear the semblance of zeal for truth and for the advancement of the kingdom of God. Whatever in our practice is not as open as day belongs to the methods of the prince of evil. His methods are practiced even among Seventh-day Adventists, who claim to have advanced truth.” Testimonies to Ministers, 366.

Until every faulty and unlovely trait of character is transformed, God’s power cannot be revealed: “Unless this converting power shall go through our churches, unless the revival of the Spirit of God shall come, all their profession will never make the members of the church Christians. There are sinners in Zion who need to repent of sins that have been cherished as precious treasures. Until these sins are seen, and thrust from the soul, until every faulty, unlovely trait of character is transformed by the Spirit’s influence, God cannot manifest Himself in power. There is more hope for the open sinner than for the professedly righteous who are not pure, holy, and undefiled.” Review and Herald, February 7, 1857.

It is evident from these statements that God’s power cannot be revealed in the church, where it is supposed to be revealed, until the church is cleansed and purified. Since we are living in the days of the purification of the church, we plan to look at how that is to be accomplished, next month.

Children’s Story — The Strength of Clinton

October 16, 2018 by Benjamin Keech

When Clinton Stevens was eleven years old, he was taken very sick with pneumonia. During convalescence, he suffered an unexpected relapse, and his mother and the doctor worked hard to keep him alive.

“It is ten to one if he gets well,” Said Dr. Bemis, shaking his head. “If he does, he will never be very strong.”

Mrs. Stevens smoothed Clinton’s pillow even more tenderly than before. Poor Clinton! Who had always been such a rollicking, rosy-cheeked lad. Surely it was hard to bear.

The long March days dragged slowly along, and April was well advanced before Clinton could sit at the window, and watch the grass grow green on the slope of the lawn. He looked frail and delicate. He had a cough, too, a troublesome “bark,” that he always kept back as long as he could.

The bright sunlight poured steadily in through the window, and Clinton held up his hand to shield his eyes. “Why, Ma Stevens!” he said, after a moment, “just look at my hands! They are as thin and white as a girl’s, and they used to be regular paws. It does not look as if I would pull many weeds for Mr. Carter this summer, does it?”

Mrs. Stevens took his thin hands in her own patient ones. “Never mind, dearie,” she said, “they will grow plump and brown again, I hope.” A group of schoolchildren were passing by, shouting and frolicking. Clinton leaned forward and watched them till the last one was gone. Some of them waved their caps but he did not seem elated.

“Mother,” he said, presently, “I believe I will go to bed if you will help me. I—I guess I am not quite so—strong—now as I used to be.”

Clinton did not pull weeds for Mr. Carter that summer, but he rode around with the milkman, and did a little outdoor work for his mother, which helped him to mend. One morning in July he surprised the village by riding out on his bicycle; but he overdid the matter, and it was several weeks before he again appeared. His cough still continued, though not so severe as in the spring, and it was decided to let him go to school in the fall.

Dr. Bemis told Mrs. Stevens that the schoolroom would be a good place to test Clinton’s strength. And he was right. In no other place does a young person’s strength develop or debase itself so readily, for honor or dishonor. Or course, the doctor had referred to physical strength; but moral strength is much more important.

Clinton was a bright lad for his years; and, although he had not looked into his books during the summer, he was placed in the same grade he had left when taken sick. He did not find much difficulty in keeping up with any of his studies except spelling. Whenever he received a perfect mark on that subject, he felt that a real victory had been won.

About Christmas time the regular examinations were held. The teacher offered a prize to each grade, the pupil receiving the highest average in all studies to receive the prize. Much excitement, no little speculation, and a great deal of studying ensued. Clinton felt fairly confident over all his studies except spelling. So he carried his spelling book home every night, and he and his mother spent the evenings in wrestling with the long and difficult words.

Examination day came at length, and the afternoon for the seventh grade spelling was at hand. The words were to be written, and handed in. Across the aisle from Clinton sat Harry Meyers. Several times when the teacher pronounced a word, Harry looked slyly down into the palm of his hand. Clinton watched him, his cheeks growing pink with shame. Then he looked around at the others. Many of them had some dishonest device for copying the words. Clinton swallowed something in his throat, and looked across at Billy Matthews, who pursed up his lips and nodded, as if to say that he understood.

The papers were handed in, and school was dismissed. On Monday, after the morning exercises, Miss Brooks gave out the prizes to the three grades under her care. “I have now to award the prize for the highest average to the seventh grade,” she said. “But first I wish to say a few words on your conduct during the recent examination in spelling. I shall censure no one in particular, although there is one boy who must set no more bad examples. No one spelled all the words correctly—Clinton Stevens the least of any—making his average quite low; yet, the prize goes to him. I will tell you why” as a chorus of Oh! Oh! greeted her ears. “Spelling is Clinton’s hardest subject, but he could easily have spelled more words right had he not possessed sufficient strength to prevent him from falling into the way followed by some of you.”

As Clinton went up the aisle for his prize, he felt like crying, but he managed to smile instead. A few days before, Harry Meyers had ridiculed him because he was not strong enough to throw a snowball from the schoolhouse to the road; now the teacher had said he was strong!

Clinton’s Aunt Jennie came to visit the family in December, bringing her little daughter Grace with her. Now Grace had a mania for pulling other people’s hair, but there was no one in the Stevens family upon whom she dared operate except Clinton. She began on him cautiously, then aggressively. Clinton stood it for a while, and then asked her, politely but firmly, to stop. She stopped for half a day.

One night Clinton came home from school pale and tired. Some of the boys had been taunting him on his spare frame, and imitating his cough, which had grown worse as the winter advanced. Sitting down by the window, he looked out at the falling snow. Grace slipped up behind him, and gave his hair a sharp tweak. He struck out, hastily, and hit her. She was not hurt—only very much surprised —but she began to cry lustily, and Aunt Jennie came hurrying in, and took the child in her arms.

That night after supper Clinton went into the sitting room, and called Grace to him. “I want to tell you something,” he said. “I am sorry that I hit you, and I ask your pardon. Will you forgive me, dear?” Grace agreed quickly, and said shyly, “Next time I want to pull any one’s hair, I will pull my own.”

Aunt Jennie was in the next room and overheard the conversation. “It strikes me, Sarah, she said to Mrs. Stevens later, “that Clinton is a remarkably strong boy for one who is not strong. Most boys would not have taken the trouble to ask a small girl to forgive them, even if they were very much in the wrong. But Clinton has a strong character.”

The year Clinton was thirteen the boys planned to have a corn roast, one August night. “We will get the corn in old Carter’s lot,” said Harry Meyers. “He has just acres of it, and can spare a bushel or so as well as not. I suppose you will go with us, Clint?”

Clinton hesitated, “No,” said he, “I guess not; and I should think if you want to roast corn, you could get it out of your own gardens. But if Mr. Carter’s corn is better than any other, why can you not ask him—” “Oh, come now,” retorted Harry, “do not let it worry you! Half the fun of roasting corn is in—in taking it. And don’t you come, Clinton. We wouldn’t have you for the world. You are too nice, Mr. Coughin.”

Clinton’s cheeks flushed red, but he turned away without a word. When Mr. Carter quizzed Billy Matthews, and found out all about it, Clinton was made very happy by the old man’s words: “It is not every chap that will take the stand you took. You ought to be thankful that you have the strength to say No.”

In the fall, when Clinton was fifteen, his health began to fail noticeably, and Dr. Bemis advised a little wine “to build him up.”

“Mother,” said the boy, after thinking it over, “I am not going to touch any wine. I can get well without it, I know I can. I do not want liquor.” He continued. ” ‘Wine is a mocker,’ you know. Did you not tell me once that Zike Hastings, over in East Bloomfield, became a drunkard by drinking wine when he was sick?”

“Yes, Clinton, I believe I told you so.” “Well, then, I do not want any wine. I have seen Zike Hastings too many times.” In December, Aunt Jennie and Grace made their annual visit. With them came Uncle Jonathan, who took a great liking to Clinton.

“My boy,” said he one day, placing a big hand on the lad’s shoulder, “early in the new year Aunt Jennie and I start for the Pacific Coast. Should you like to go with us?”

“Well, I rather guess I should!” gasped the surprised boy, clasping his hands joyfully. “Very well, then, you shall go,” returned Uncle Jonathan, “and your mother, too.”

Clinton began to feel better before they were outside of Pennsylvania. When they had crossed the Mississippi and reached the prairies, his eyes were sparkling with excitement. The mountains fairly put new life in him. Uncle Jonathan watched him with pleasure. “Tell me,” he said one day, when they were winding in and out among the Rockies, “what has given you so much strength of character?”

“Why, it was this way,” said Clinton, bringing his eyes in from a chasm some hundreds of feet below: “one day when I was beginning to recover from that attack of pneumonia, I saw a lot of the boys romping along, and I felt pretty bad because I could not romp and play, too. Then I thought that if I could not be strong that way, I could have the strength to do right; so I began to try, and—”

“Succeeded admirably,” said Uncle Jonathan, approvingly. “And, really, my boy, I see no reason why you should not shout and play to your heart’s content in a few months.”

And Uncle Jonathan’s words proved true; for Clinton, in a sun-kissed California valley, grew well and strong in a few months. But through all his life he will have cause to be glad that he learned the value of the strength that is gained by resisting temptation, controlling one’s spirit, and obeying the Lord’s commands.

Taken from Stories Worth Rereading, Review and Herald Publishing Assn, Washington, D.C. 1919

SDA Roots, part 6

October 16, 2018 by Ken McGaughey

We pause in our perusal of the history of the rise of the Advent Movement to take a look at four men that unreservedly gave themselves to the propagation of the Second Advent message in 1838. We will consider their “backgrounds, talents, training, standing and diverse religious affiliations.” The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, 528.

The first of this quartet of men is Dr. Josiah Litch (1809–1886). Litch was a well-known minister in the New England Methodist Conference. He was born in Higham, Massachusetts, and joined the Methodist Episcopal Church at his conversion, at the age of 17.

Near the beginning of 1838 he received a copy of Miller’s Lectures with the request that he read it and render his opinion on the truth of what it advocated. Litch disagreed with the notion of setting a time for Christ’s coming. He at first refused to read the book. However, to please his friend and to satisfy his own curiosity to discover what evidences could be summoned to support such a doctrine, Litch read the book.

The more he read the more he was convinced of the solid foundation of Miller’s position. He felt that if all the evidences Miller presented in that book were true then he, Litch, had a responsibility to also preach the messages Miller had been giving around New England and elsewhere. Being fully persuaded, of the truth of Miller’s position, he decided to present the truth as he saw it, at any cost to himself.

Litch was studious and keen of mind and immediately began to write on the theme of the Second Coming. His first product was a forty-eight page synopsis of Miller’s views entitled Midnight Cry, or a Review of Mr. Miller’s Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ, About A.D. 1843. A wide distribution of this work resulted in bringing in many friends to the Advent cause. Wherever he went, Litch preached the imminent return of Christ. Throughout New England, Litch was one of only two ministers closely identified with Miller. The other was Charles Fitch who, for a time, had taken his stand with Miller. However, shortly thereafter, he returned to his former views that there would be a temporal millenium before Christ’s coming.

In April of 1838, Litch produced a two hundred-page book entitled The Probability of the Second Coming of Christ About A.D. 1843. Because so many of the prophecies had been fulfilled, he declared, in the preface, his belief in the certainties of prophecy and that the prediction of the Second Coming would be fulfilled in due time. During this same year “He prepared articles for the public print on the subject of the seven trumpets of the Revelation. He took the unqualified position that the sixth trumpet would cease to sound and the Ottoman power would fall on the 11th day of August, 1840, and that that would demonstrate to the world that a day in symbolic prophecy represents a year of literal time.” The Great Second Advent Movement, 129.

The fulfillment of the prediction “intensified the interest of the people to hear upon the subject of fulfilled and fulfilling prophecy. Dr. Litch said that within a few months, after August 11, 1840, he had received letters from more than one thousand prominent infidels, some of them leaders of infidel clubs, in which they stated that they had given up the battle against the Bible, and had accepted it as God’s revelation to man. Some of these were fully converted to God, and a number of them became able speakers in the great second advent movement.” Ibid., 132.

It was not until 1839, in Lowell, Massachusetts, that Litch first met Miller personally. He was on the Committee of Arrangements for the first general conference that was held in October of 1840. He was one of the leading speakers at that convocation as well as in subsequent general conferences.

“In June, 1841, Litch attended the Methodist Episcopal Conference at Providence, Rhode Island. Here he was closely interrogated by the presiding bishops as to his relation to the Millerite teachings. After Litch had expounded his convictions, the bishop asked, ‘Do you think that is Methodism?’ Litch replied, ‘I do. At least it is not contrary to the articles of the Methodist Episcopal Church.’ After considerable discussion the conference also came to the conclusion that Litch held nothing contrary to Methodism, though he had at points gone beyond it. They granted his request to ‘locate’, that is, to retire from the itinerant ministry. This allowed him to devote most of his time to preaching the second advent.” The Prophetic Faith of our Fathers, 532.

Litch came to the conclusion that he had to divorce himself from the Methodist ministry that he had carried on for eight years and utilize all his energies in the advent movement. He soon became one of the leading editors of the Millerite paper, The Signs of the Times. He continued traveling and lecturing and was Miller’s companion on his trips to Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. and New York. Eventually he resided in Philadelphia where he became the leading Millerite representative.

Next in our list of ministers, that became closely associated with the Millerite movement is Charles Fitch who lived from 1805–October 14, 1844. He was born in Hampton, Connecticut. After graduating from Brown University, Fitch was ordained to the Congregational ministry and served at Abington, Connecticut, Warren, Massachusetts, and Hartford, Connecticut, successively. In 1836 he went to the Marlboro Congregational Chapel in Boston, and later to Newark, New Jersey, and Haverhill, Massachusetts. Fitch’s greatest contribution was made at Cleveland, Ohio, after he became the western proponent of the advent message. His other interests included his membership in the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.

He was a strong opponent to slavery as revealed by a pamphlet he produced entitled, Slaveholding Weighed in the Balance of Truth, and Its Comparative Guilt Illustrated. In it he stated, “Every man has a tongue, and he can use it; he has influence, and he can exert it; he has moral power, and he can put it forth. Up my friends and do your duty, to deliver the spoils out of the hands of the oppressor, lest the fire of God’s fury kindle ere long upon you.” The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, 534.

In 1838, while he was pastor of the Marlboro Street Congregational Church in Boston, he was given a copy of Miller’s Lectures, containing his views on the Second Advent. Fitch wrote to Miller, in March, confessing his “overwhelming interest such as I never felt in any other book except the Bible.” Ibid. After carefully studying the book and comparing the message with Scripture, Fitch stated that he came to believe in the correctness of Miller’s views. On March 4 he preached two sermons on the Second Advent, creating a deep interest among his hearers. He proposed to present the whole subject of the Second Advent to a meeting of the Ministerial Association on March 6. He secured a dozen copies of Miller’s Lectures for distribution stating, “I trust that I may thereby do something to spread the truth.” Ibid.

The Association’s reaction was so negative and accompanied with so much searing ridicule and contempt that Fitch lost confidence in the advent message and he lapsed into his former views of the world’s conversion.

But his mind could not rest. He thirsted for truth and longed for holiness of life. While serving as pastor of the Free Presbyterian Church of Newark, New Jersey, in 1839, he wrote his Views of Sanctification. This was his statement of faith and he stressed sanctification by divine grace through Scripture. This prompted the appointment of a committee by the presbytery to counsel Fitch on his views on perfection. This meeting resulted in the passage of a Resolution of Censure, declaring his views to be a dangerous error and asking him to preach his views no more. Fitch replied in a Letter to the Newark Presbytery in 1840, wherein he November 1998 31 defended his views. He stated that “‘I cannot regard your admonition,’ and offered his reasons.” Ibid.

“After years of unsatisfactory living, he had found, personally and experimentally, the enabling grace of Christ. He had learned the secret of reckoning himself dead to sin. The world had lost its charm, and his heart was filled with joy. He had entered into a new life—and supported his position with an imposing array of texts. He took this stand, he adds, ‘in view of an approaching judgment.’ Then he avers, ‘If you still adhere to that opinion, I must consider myself as no longer of your number.’ The presbytery must do to him as they think our Lord requires. This he soon followed with his Reasons for Withdrawing From the Newark Presbytery, the title page adding, ‘By Charles Fitch, Pastor of the Free Presbyterian Church, Newark.’ The Preface states that he felt called to preach the ‘blessed doctrine of sanctification by faith in Christ.’ He recognized that if he did not withdraw he would be excommunicated. So he states, ‘I do hereby withdraw from you.’ Thus he bade adieu to his Presbyterian brethren.” Ibid.

When Fitch explained his perplexities to Litch the latter said, “What you need is the doctrine of the second advent to put with the doctrine of holiness.” Fitch again studied Miller’s teachings comparing them with the Bible while studying all other available writings on the subject of the Second Advent. After pursuing this course of study for a time and reviewing the Lord’s leading since leaving Brown University, he brought all this before the Lord in fasting and prayer. He stated:

“When Dear Bro. Litch named the second advent, I went to the Lord; I read my Bible, and all the works that I could obtain. I possessed myself of all the evidences in the case that I could; and then with fasting and prayer I laid them and myself with my all before the Lord, desiring only that the Blessed Spirit might guide me into all truth. I felt that I had no will of my own, and wished only to know the will of my Saviour. Light seemed breaking in upon my mind, ray after ray, and I found myself more and and more unable to resist the conviction that it was indeed the truth, that the coming of the blessed Saviour was at the door.” Ibid., 537.

Having made his decision, Fitch threw all his energies into the proclamation of the advent message. He now found doors opening wide on every hand as he joined Miller, Litch and soon Himes, along with a steadily growing number of Adventist preachers.

“And now so soon as I was ready to come out on the Second Advent, the door before me was thrown wide open, and I have been wholly unable for the last 8 months to meet one half the calls which I have received. Wherever I have been God has been with me. Since the first of Dec. last, I have preached as often as every day and about sixty times besides. I have been in all the New England States, congregations have been large in all places. Wherever I have been I have preached holiness. My usual practice has been to preach on Holiness in the afternoon, and on the Second Advent in the evening. I have seen saints sanctified and sinners led to Christ.” Ibid.

While some rejected the message and turned against Fitch, many others accepted the advent truth. Among them were Dr. and Mrs. W. C. Palmer that wrote many advent hymns, including, Watch Ye Saints, number 549 in the old Church Hymnal.

One of Fitch’s most notable productions, at least as far as Seventh-day Adventists are concerned, was his famous “1843” prophetic chart (1842) with the able assistance of Apollos Hale, who usually attended Fitch’s church.

Fitch presented his chart to the Boston General Conference in May, chaired by Joseph Bates. Plans were laid to proclaim the “Midnight Cry” more vigorously. Three hundred copies were authorized for use by the Adventist preachers.

Fitch received more calls to preach than he could fill. Wherever he spoke, large crowds gathered to hear him. The following is his own description of a typical speaking trip: “I reached this place(Montpelier) at about half past twelve o’clock on Wednesday. I had then preached thirteen times in a week, and attended many prayer meetings and then at the end of it instead of taking rest I had had a most fatiguing ride of 75 miles. A meeting however was appointed for me here on the evening of my arrival. Accordingly I went to bed, and after sleeping two hours and a half, I arose exceedingly refreshed, and preached in the evening. The audience was tolerable for numbers—though by no means such as I had left at Claremont. Yesterday I preached twice, and the audience in the evening was much increased. The spirit of the Lord was present, and truth had power.” Ibid., 540.

Toward the end of 1842, Fitch carried the advent message to Cleveland, Ohio, and to Oberlin College near Cleveland. He reveals how the faculty reacted to his messages: “I have never seen the glorious truths of the Bible, teaching the kingdom and coming of Christ, met with more determined opposition, contempt and scorn, than they have been by the Oberlin Faculty; and never, in all my life have I felt such anguish at my heart’s core, or shed such bitter, burning tears as I have at their rejection of the Word of the Lord.” Ibid., 541.

In the spring of 1843, Fitch preached a sermon entitled, “Come Out of Her My People.” He “contended that Babylon was no longer limited to the Roman Catholic Church, as held back in Protestant Reformation days, but now included also the great body of Protestant Christendom. He maintained that, by their rejection of the light of the advent, both branches of Christendom had

fallen from the high estate of pure Christianity. Protestantism was either cold to the doctrine of the second advent or had spiritualized it away.” Ibid., 544.

“But Fitch did not have much longer to live and labor. He was in Buffalo, New York, in October, 1844, when a large number of new believers requested baptism. Others had not yet fully made up their minds. Arrangements were made, and the company who were ready went with him to the lake shore and were baptized in the chilly autumn water. A cold wind was blowing as Fitch started for home in his wet garments—for they had no protective baptismal robes or waterproof waders in those days. But just then he was met by another company of tardy candidates, on their way to the lake, who similarly desired baptism. So, cold as he was, Fitch went back with them and immersed them. And then came a belated third company who had at last made their decision. At their request he turned back a second time, and baptized them also. But Fitch was seriously chilled.

“Ill as he was from the effects of this prolonged exposure, he nevertheless rode several miles the next day in the cold wind to meet another appointment. This proved too much for him, and he was stricken down with fatal illness, doubtless pneumonia, which speedily brought on his death at the early age of thirty-nine. His last triumphant words on October 14, shortly before the day of expectation, were, ‘I believe in the promises of God.’ It may confidently be said that none of the Adventist preachers were more widely loved than Charles Fitch. Couragous and resourceful, helpful and hopeful, he interpreted the love of God in word and deed, in the light of the second advent, to the thousands to whom he ministered.” Ibid., 545.

Next month we will consider the other two prominent Second Advent preachers: Joseph Bates and Joshua V. Himes.

The Saints Sitting in Judgment

October 16, 2018 by J.N. Andrews

The coronation of Christ is for the execution of the judgment. Daniel 7:9–14; Psalm 110; 45:1–7; 2:6–9. Our Lord makes His people sharers with Him in the judgment work. That they may be such, He exalts them to participate with Him in His kingly dignity. Revelation 3:21; 2:26, 27. This exaltation is given them in the morning of the great day. Compare Psalm 49:14, 15; 110:3; 30:5; Isaiah 21:11, 12; Romans 13:11, 12.

They are to sit with Christ in the judgment, but not to determine who shall be saved or who lost. God the Father has already pronounced the decision of who shall have immortality, and the Son has executed that decision by immortalizing His saints. And thus all others are counted unworthy of eternal life, and must receive the second death as their portion. But there are degrees of punishment. Some shall receive greater damnation than others. Luke 20:47; Romans 2:6, 8, 9; Luke 12:47, 48.

Bear in mind, therefore, that the saints have not in their hands the determination of the salvation or damnation of anyone. The Father has decided this when He made them immortal and left all the others as unworthy. Also bear in mind that God keeps books of record (Isaiah 65:6, 7; Jeremiah 2:22; Daniel 7:9, 10; Revelation 20:12), and that He weighs men’s actions, so that they are set down for their true worth. (1 Samuel 2:3.) If the reader will do this, it will not seem strange to him to learn that the immortal saints, with Christ at their head, should be commissioned by the Father to determine the measure of punishment which each wicked man shall receive.

As we have already shown that the final perdition of the wicked is determined by the Father before He makes His saints immortal, if we now clearly prove that the glorified saints are to sit with Christ and determine the measure of guilt of each sinful man, it will be a most convincing proof that there is to be a resurrection of the unjust, that God may inflict the just penalty upon every soul of man that doeth evil. Romans 2:5–9.

When our Lord says to those at His right hand, “Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world,” He takes His saints into the presence of His Father (compare John 13:36; 14:1–3; 1 Thessalonians 4:14–17; Revelation 19:1–9), to the Paradise of God, once here upon earth (Genesis 2:8, 9; 3:22–24), now in the third heaven (2 Corinthians 12:2–4), within the heavenly Jerusalem itself (compare Revelation 2:7; 22:2, 14). Here they sit down with Him at His table and eat the marriage supper. Revelation 19:1–9. These things being accomplished, the work of judgment is committed to the saints, a work so vast that we may well conceive the long period which lies between the two resurrections to be requisite for its accomplishment. Revelation 20:4–6. The sitting of the saints in judgment upon the wicked must begin after they have heard the words of Christ approving them in His Father’s name, and before the sentence, “Depart ye cursed,” is pronounced by the Saviour upon those who shall be thus judged. This judgment by the saints is thus presented in the Scriptures: “I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.” Daniel 7:21, 22.

“Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts; and then shall every man have praise of God.” 1 Corinthians 4:5.

“Dare any of you having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints? Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? And if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? How much more things that pertain to this life?” 1 Corinthians 6:1–3.

“And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them; and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again unto the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection; on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.”Revelation 20:4–6.

According to the first of these texts, the saints of the Most High are to have the judgment work committed to them. But before this is placed in their hands, they are themselves to be judged by God the Father. And this very act of determining who are worthy to be saved, really determines that all the others are unworthy of eternal life. The judgment work of the saints cannot, therefore, relate to the salvation or damnation of those who are judged by them, but solely to the determination of the measure of their guilt. The second of these texts, in forbidding the work of judgment “before the time,” plainly implies that when that time does come, then this work is to be done by those who are at present forbidden to do it. And the time is fixed when this prohibition expires, for it is thus limited, “Until the Lord come.” That they will not err in the judgment which they will then perform is guaranteed in the further statement that the Lord shall bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and make manifest the counsels of the heart. And this will no doubt be accomplished by placing in their hands the books of record, which contain an accurate statement of the deeds of those to be judged by them. Barnes, in his notes on this text, makes this remark: ” ‘And then shall every man have praise of God.’ The word here rendered praise, epainos, denotes in this place reward, or that which is due to him; the just sentence which ought to be pronounced on his character. It does not mean, as our translation would imply, that every man will then receive the divine approbation—which will not be true; but that every man shall receive what is due to his character, whether good or evil.” So Bloomfield and Bretschneider explain it.

The third text states, in the most explicit manner, “that the saints shall judge the world.” As it occurs in the same epistle which forbids this judgment “before the time until the Lord come,” it is manifest that this is a work which the saints enter upon immediately after they have been exalted to reign with Christ. The nature of the judgment which the saints are to decide is clearly determined by two facts: 1. It is rendered by the saints after the Lord has brought to light the hidden works of darkness, and made manifest the counsels of the hearts. 2. It is said in this same passage, and in the same manner, that the saints “shall judge angels,” meaning, of course, those angels that have sinned whose cases are thus stated: “For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment.” 2 Peter 2:4.

“And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, He hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.” Jude 6.

These two facts are decisive as to the nature of the judgment which the saints are to engage in when exalted at Christ’s right hand. They are not to be judges over men in a state of probation, something as the ancient judges of Israel were raised up to rule over God’s ancient people, but their judgment is to be rendered in the case of wicked men, when the Lord brings “to light the hidden things of darkness,” and it is to be exercised alike in the case of sinful men and fallen angels. It is not a judgment to determine the guilt or innocence of the parties to be judged; for the guilt of the angels was virtually pronounced to be unpardonable when they were cast out of heaven, and delivered to chains of darkness, i.e. to utter despair, and to the hopeless bondage of their own sins. And the last condition of wicked men has, before their judgment by the saints, already been determined by the resurrection and translation of the just, leaving all others as unworthy of eternal life. This judgment of the saints is, therefore, simply designed to determine the measure of the guilt of wicked men and fallen angels. As their rejection from the kingdom of God is determined by God the Father before they are thus judged by the saints, this judgment by them for the determination of the measure of each man’s guilt, is a most convincing proof that God designs, in rendering to every man according to his deeds, to inflict tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doeth evil. (Romans 2:5–9.)

Doctor Bloomfield says of 1 Corinthians 6:2: “Upon the whole, there is, after all, no interpretation that involves less difficulty than the common one, supported by some Latin Fathers, and, of modern divines, by Luther, Calvin, Erasmus, Beza, Cassaubon, Crellius, Wolf, Jeremy Taylor, Doddridge, Pearce, Newcome, Scott, and others, by which it is supposed that the faithful servants of God, after being accepted in Christ, shall be in a certain sense, assessores judicii, by concurrence, with Christ, and being partakers of the judgment to be held by Him over wicked men and apostate angels, who are, as we learn from 2 Peter 2:4 and Jude 6, reserved unto the judgement of the last day.”

And Doctor Barnes speaks thus: “Grotius supposes that it means that they shall be first judged by Christ, and then act as assessors to Him in the judgment, or join with Him in condemning the wicked.”

But the fourth text relative to this judgment by the saints is very remarkable. It shows that the resurrection by the just precedes the work of judgment by them. It elevates them to thrones of judgment, where they live and reign with Christ, during the period between their own resurrection and that of “the rest of the dead.” It assigns the space of time occupied in this vast work, viz., a thousand years, a period none too long for this examination of the books containing the deeds of all wicked men and fallen angels, even though all the saints engage in it, as we have learned that they do.

There is this statement respecting the thrones, an evident allusion to Daniel 7:9, which speaks of thrones being “cast down,” or, more correctly rendered, “were placed,” as many able critics inform us. These thrones were placed for the judgment work, when entered upon, as we have seen, in the second apartment of the heavenly temple of God the Father. And when the judgment is given to the immortal saints, and they are able to enter the temple after the outpouring of the plagues (Revelation 15:8), it appears that they sit upon the thrones thus placed for them, and with the Saviour at their head finish the work of the judgment as indicated in the text examined. They are, in this exalted state, priests to God and Christ, not as mediators with Them in behalf of wicked men, but as worshipers of God and the Lamb, even as Christians in their mortal state are a royal priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God, by Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:5, 9.

The reason why so vast a period as one thousand years intervenes between the resurrection of the righteous and the resurrection of the wicked, is now made very apparent. The work committed to the saints demands no less a period than that assigned it by the Holy Scriptures. It is that they examine the books of God’s records to determine the measure of guilt of each wicked man, and of every fallen angel. To this great exaltation the psalmist refers in these words: “For the Lord taketh pleasure in His people; He will beautify the meek with salvation. Let the saints be joyful in glory; let them sing aloud upon their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand; to execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people; to bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; to execute upon them the judgment written; this honor have all His saints. Praise ye the Lord.” Psalm 149:4–9.

The saints have no participation in the work of the judgment until the coming of the Lord. 1 Corinthians 4:5. The decision of every case is made by God the Father before He sends His Son to execute the judgment. Daniel 7:9–14, compared with Jude 14, 15. It is the execution of the judgment, therefore, that pertains to the Son. John 5:22, 27. And that work which is given to the Son, He shares with His saints. For when He sits in His throne, all His saints shall sit down with Him in it, as He once thus sat down with the Father. And that power which the Father gives Him over the nations when He receives His own throne, He shares with His saints when He exalts them to His right hand to unite with Him in the execution of the judgment. Compare Psalm 2:6–9; Revelation 2:26, 27. The most important part of this work is the determination of that measure of guilt which pertains to each individual of the lost. God the Father having pronounced them unworthy of eternal life, it is then the business of the saints to determine the measure of punishment which their respective lives of sin demand. This Psalm is worthy of careful study.

When the meek are beautified with salvation, it will be by the change to immortality. They will bear the image of the second Adam, as in this life they bear that of the first. 1 Corinthians 15:47–49. Compare also Isaiah 33:17 with 1 John 3:2.
This beautifying of the saints, and exalting them to glory, precede their participation in the judgment, mentioned in verses 7–9 of Psalm 149.
The two-edged sword in their hand is doubtless the same as that which proceeded out of the mouth of Him whose name is called the Word of God. Revelation 19:11–15.
And if we consider this Psalm from verse 6 to verse 9, we shall see that the work of the immortal saints in the judgment of the wicked is effected by the examination of the book of God, the sharp sword which they hold in their hands (Ephesians 6:17; Hebrews 4:12), and the written record of their evil deeds; so that the record of their lives will be compared with the rule given them to govern their conduct, and the measure of their guilt thus determined.

A brief survey of Revelation 20 may now be in place. We understand the events of this chapter, as stated in verses 1–11, are given very nearly in strict chronological order, and that verses 12–15 cover some of the same ground, namely, that of the final judgment.

It has already been shown that God the Father sits in judgment before the advent of Christ, and that at this tribunal our Lord acts as advocate for His people, and closes His priesthood with securing their acquittal and the blotting out of their sins. He determines every case, deciding who shall have eternal life, and thus counting all others unworthy of it. Then He commits the execution of the judgment to the Son, who, in fulfillment of this work, makes His saints immortal, and associates them with Himself in the judgment of the wicked. When God thus commits the judgment to His Son, and the Son ceases forever His work of intercession, the words of Psalm 76:7–9 will be found true: “Thou, even Thou, art to be feared; and who may stand in Thy sight when once Thou art angry? Thou didst cause judgment to be heard from heaven; the earth feared, and was still, when God arose to judgment, to save all the meek of the earth. Selah.”

When the Son of God shall thus save all the meek of the earth, He will raise them up from the dust to inherit the throne of His own glory. 1 Samuel 2:8; Matthew 25:31–33; Revelation 3:21. But the adversaries of the Lord will be broken to pieces; out of heaven will He thunder upon them (Revelation 16:18); He will render decision in strict justice in the case of all men, and then clothe His anointed king with strength to execute that decision (1 Samuel 2:10). Indeed, it is because the Son loves righteousness, and hates iniquity, that He is anointed to do this work. Psalm 45:7; 2:6–9. His arrows will be sharp in the heart of the King’s enemies (Psalm 45:4,5), and none will escape His just infliction of wrath (Romans 2:6–9).

The session of the judgment by God the Father is to determine who shall have part in the resurrection of the just. The session of the Father’s judgment being an event that precedes the advent of His Son, the dead have their cases brought into the judgment in the books which are brought forth, and in particular the righteous dead appear in the person of their Advocate. They do not personally stand as dead men at the Father’s judgment seat, for that is in the heavenly temple; but they are judged by the Father while dead, as if they were personally present at His bar; and all who have secured the services of the only Advocate in the court of heaven, by obeying the gospel while they lived, will have decision rendered, that the Spirit of God shall quicken them to immortality. 1 Peter 4:6. This judgment work begins with the saints who render account through their High Priest; and if they are scarcely accounted worthy of eternal life when weighed in the balances of the sanctuary, what will be the end of those who have no Advocate in the judgment, but who come up to it with all their sins standing against them in the book of God? 1 Peter 4:17, 18. Verily the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment. Psalm 1:5.

When the Ancient of Days was shown to Daniel in vision, sitting in judgment, preparatory to the advent of His Son to execute that judgment, the words of the little horn, spoken at that very time, attracted the prophet’s attention: “I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake.” Daniel 7:11. The Hebrew word rendered “then” is very emphatic in the signification of “at that time.” Gesenius renders it, “at that time, thereupon, then.” And it is specially worthy of notice that at this very time the head of the Romish apostasy had assembled at Rome the entire body of popish bishops, almost equal in number to Belshazzar’s lords (Daniel 5), and expected and required of them to pronounce him infallible! It is evident, indeed, that for this very purpose he assembled them, and they obeyed his behest. We have, therefore, heard the great words of the little horn, which even arrested the attention of the prophet while in vision he beheld the tribunal of the Father.

The binding of Satan precedes the resurrection of the just. This seems plain enough from Revelation 20, but it is very plainly taught in our Lord’s parable of binding the strong man and spoiling his house. Matthew 12:29; Mark 3:27; Luke 11:21, 22. He is evidently bound before the complete slaughter of the wicked in the battle of the great day.

Every mention of the bottomless pit, or deep, or abyss, both in the Old Testament and in the New, seems plainly to refer to our earth, or some part of it, in some form, or at some time. And in the most emphatic sense, after our earth has been turned upside down by the awful convulsions of the great day, and made utterly desolate, we understand it to be fully fitted to constitute the place of Satan’s confinement, termed in this prophecy the bottomless pit. A strong confirmation of this view is found in the fact that this expression is used in the Septuagint in Genesis 1:2, where the earth, while yet without form and voice, is spoken of as the deep; Greek, the bottomless pit. And the Hebrew original signifies the same. And it is predicted that our earth shall be reduced to this condition again. Jeremiah 4:23.

This binding of the devil is to be at the very time when, as the scapegoat, he receives the sins of the righteous. Leviticus 16. And our earth in its utter desolation is the land not inhabited, where he shall remain with this terrible load of guilt upon him, while the saints sit in judgment upon the fallen angels, and upon all the members of the human family who would go on still in their sins.

The judgment of wicked men, and of evil angels, by the saints, during the thousand years, will solve to their minds, by means of the examination of the books of God’s remembrance, the providence of God, which has seemed dark and mysterious; for God will then lay open the hidden springs of human conduct, and bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and make manifest the counsels of the heart. 1 Corinthians 4:5.

The course of those who have diligently used the comparatively small measure of light which has been granted them, will come up to condemn those who have been favored with great light and have neglected it. Matthew 12:41, 42; Luke 11:31, 32.

And in like manner those who have been cut off in their sins, as a warning to others, and who would have repented had as great light been granted them as those who have lived at a later time have enjoyed, will come up in this examination to condemn most fearfully those who have had the example of their fate, and had seen greater light then they, and yet have not repented. Matthew 11:21–23; Luke 10:13.

But even those wicked men who have been thus cut off by God’s judgments as an example to those that after should live ungodly, shall come up in the judgment for the complete punishment of their sins. But their case shall be more tolerable in the judgment than that of those who have had the example of their punishment, and have had far greater light than they were favored with, and yet have refused to repent. Matthew 10:15; 11:22, 24; Luke 10:12, 14. Thus, even the mitigating circumstances are taken into the account in the judgment of the wicked as certainly as are those of an aggravating character. Surely God is, in the highest sense, just and righteous.

The record of the righteous, as we have seen, is passed upon by the Father when He counts them worthy to have part in the resurrection to immortality, and by the Son when they stand before Him to receive according to their labors and sacrifices in the cause of God. And that record will show, in the case of everyone who is able to stand in the judgment, so perfect a work of repentance, and confession, and reparation of wrongs done toward others, that not one sinful man can rise up in the judgment against them. Isaiah 54:17.

The judgment, by the saints of Satan and his angels and of wicked men being accomplished, it appears that, just before the thousand years expire, the holy city, with its immortal inhabitants, descends upon our earth, upon a place prepared for it. See Zechariah 14:4, 5.

At the termination of the one thousand years all the wicked dead hear the voice of the Son of God and come forth (John 5:28, 29); the unjust have their resurrection (Acts 24:15); “The rest of the dead” live again (Revelation 20:5). They come forth from the depths of the ocean and from the caverns of earth; for the sea gives up the dead, and Hades gives them up also. And they come forth alive, for death itself gives them up. Revelation 20:13.

And now Satan is loosed for his final work. He begins it just where he left off. He had gathered the nations to the great battle, when he was bound and they were cut off. Revelation 19. Now, after they have been “many days” in the “prison,” the time comes for Satan to visit them as they are loosed from it for their execution. Isaiah 24:21, 22; Ezekiel 38:8, 9.

He resumes his work by inciting them to capture the city of God. Revelation 20:7–10. And thus, by the direct action of Satan, all the wicked, with himself and his angels at their head, stand in the presence of Christ, for the execution of the judgment.

As the righteous stand in Christ’s presence immediately after they are made immortal, that they may each receive according to their labor (2 Corinthians 5:10; Matthew 16:27), so do the wicked thus stand in His presence after the second resurrection. As the righteous cannot receive punishment for their sins after they have been blotted out, it follows that those who stand before him to receive for their evil deeds are the wicked, who stand thus in His presence, after the examination of their cases by His saints, during the one thousand years.

We may safely conclude that many who go down to their graves self-deceived, will come up in the second resurrection really expecting to be saved, and quite unaware that it is the resurrection of the unjust. We think this is the very time when our Lord’s words shall have their fulfillment: “Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? And in Thy name have cast out devils? And in Thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.” Matthew 7:22, 23.

And now, for the first time, all the members of the human family are congregated in one vast assembly. The wicked see the righteous in the kingdom of God, and realize that they themselves are thrust out. And when the wicked realize the mercy which they have slighted, and the infinite sacrifice made for their salvation in the death of God’s only Son, and remember their persistent continuance in sin till God could bear no longer, every knee will bow in deepest abasement, acknowledging that God is just, and that their ruin was caused by themselves alone, while the throne of God is forever clear.

And as both classes behold the final result of faithful obedience, and of persistent sins, they will, with one mind and voice, declare, “Verily there is a reward for the righteous; verily He is a God that judgeth in the earth.” Psalm 58:11. And now the Son of God pronounces the awful sentence, “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” Matthew 25:41.

And now, after the example of Sodom and Gomorrah, fire comes down from God out of heaven and devours them. Revelation 20:9; 2 Peter 2:6; Genesis 19:24–28. It is the burning earth that constitutes the great lake of fire in which the wicked shall experience the second death. 2 Peter 3:7–12; Malachi 4:1–3; Proverbs 11:31. Satan and his angels shall share this furnace of fire with wicked men; for, indeed, it was originally prepared for them. Matthew 25:41; Isaiah 30:33.

Finally, the earth shall be not only melted, but also dissolved. 2 Peter 3:10, 11. Such shall be the intense action of the devouring fire, that the earth itself shall be reduced to a molten mass and changed by the power of Him that sitteth upon the great white throne. Hebrews 1:12. Then He that sitteth upon the throne shall say, “Behold, I make all things new.” Revelation 21:5. And all the elements that were dissolved in the devouring fire shall unite again to form the earth. The New Jerusalem shall have place upon the new earth, and the glory of God shall fill the earth as the waters fill the sea. The saints shall bear the image of the second Adam, as now they bear that of the first, and shall live for endless ages. Sin, being thus struck out of existence, in the utter destruction of all evildoers, shall never rise up again to mar the handiwork of God. The universe shall be as clean as it was before the rebellion of Satan, and God shall be all in all.