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Keys to the Storehouse – Crossing the Boundary

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Not too long ago, I was reading and relaxing on a Sabbath afternoon. After a short while I realized that my attention had been removed from what I was reading and focused on the clock. After several times of being redirected to the clock, I realized that the devil had found an area where he was hooking my attention and directing it to the cares of the world. He was drawing my mind to things that I had planned to do after sunset! He knew what I had planned and so now here I was watching the clock, counting down until sunset. What a shock to catch myself like that!

My mind was then directed to something I had read. “Truth that is not lived … loses its life-giving power, its healing virtue.” The Ministry of Healing, 149.

I believe in keeping the Sabbath holy and thinking upon heavenly things and here I was thinking about and looking forward to this event after the Sabbath—I was clock watching! I was drifting away from doing right. Do you understand the meaning of iniquity? It is deviating from right!  There was iniquity in my heart at that moment—I was deviating from the right! What a shock for me.

I caught myself transgressing the 4th commandment by crossing over the bounds of the Sabbath—not keeping it holy! Oh, my heart broke, knowing that I had broken over the bounds of the law—knowing that I had transgressed the law. Do you see how sneaky that devil can be? I am so thankful that I had read about how the truth can lose its life-giving power if not lived. I am so thankful that the Holy Spirit brought that to my mind as a warning! I want to always live the truth!

We need to always fill our minds with Bible and Spirit of Prophecy so that the Holy Spirit can alert us to the danger we may be in. I bowed my knees and asked for forgiveness and I am thankful that God has promised, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

Remember:

  • Iniquity = deviation from right—even if it is just a little thing, a wrongful act
  • Transgression = to break over the bounds of the law, even a little over the boundary
  • Sin = transgress, neglect or disregard the divine law or any requirement of right or duty

God loves us and sends all heaven to alert us of our danger! Praise God for His unrelenting love.

O Heavenly Father: I am so thankful for Your mercies to each one of us—to alerting us to the dangers on our pathway and redirecting us away from those so-called little sins and little distractions. Each of us continue to pray, “Hold up my goings in Thy paths, that my footsteps slip not” (Psalm 17:5). Amen.

Pen of Inspiration – Delusions of Progression

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True knowledge has decreased with every successive generation. God is infinite, and the first people upon the earth received their instructions from that infinite God who created the world. Those who received their knowledge direct from infinite wisdom were not deficient in knowledge.

God instructed Noah how to make that immense ark, for the saving of himself and his family. He also instructed Moses how to make the tabernacle, and the embroidery, and skillful work which was to adorn the sanctuary. The women wrought, with great ingenuity the embroidery of silver and gold. Skillful men were not wanting to accomplish the work of making the ark, the tabernacle, and the vessels of solid gold.

God gave David a pattern of the temple which Solomon built. None but the most skillful men of design and art were allowed to have anything to do with the work. Every stone for the temple was prepared to exactly fill its place, before being brought to the temple. And the temple came together without the sound of an axe or a hammer. There is no such building to be found in the world for beauty, richness and splendor.

There are many inventions and improvements, and labor-saving machines now that the ancients did not have. They did not need them. The land has felt the curse, more and more heavily. Before the flood, the first leaf which fell, and was discovered decaying upon the ground, caused those who feared God great sorrow. They mourned over it as we mourn over the loss of a dead friend. In the decaying leaf they could see an evidence of the curse, and of the decay of nature.

The greater the length of time the earth has lain under the curse, the more difficult has it been for man to cultivate it, and make it productive. As the soil has become more barren, and double labor has had to be expended upon it, God has raised up men with inventive faculties to construct implements to lighten labor on the land groaning under the curse. But God has not been in all man’s inventions. Satan has controlled the minds of men to a great extent, and has hurried men to new inventions which has led them to forget God.

In strength of intellect, men who now live can bear no comparison to the ancients. There has been more ancient arts lost that the present generation now possess. For skill and art those living in this degenerate age will not compare with the knowledge possessed by strong men who lived near one thousand years.

Men before the flood lived many hundred of years, and when one hundred years old were considered but youths. Those long-lived men had sound minds in sound bodies. Their mental and physical strength was so great that the present feeble generation can bear no comparison to them. Those ancients had nearly one thousand years in which to acquire knowledge. They came upon the stage of action from the ages of sixty to one hundred years, about the time those who now live the longest have acted their part in their little short life time, and have passed off the stage. Those who are deceived, and flattered on in the delusion that the present is an age of real progress, and that the human race has been in ages past progressing in true knowledge, are under the influence of the father of lies, whose work has ever been to turn the truth of God into a lie.

Spiritual Gifts, volume 4a, 154–156.

Testimony – Coffee–As God intended

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Antioquia, Colombia – One of my world’s favorite places. Antioquia is a province in Colombia renowned for its stunning natural beauty and coffee plantations. The country produces the world’s best coffee and Colombians are proud of their coffee culture. Coffee farms surround Antioquia’s largest city, Medellin. The Forbes magazine lately named Medellin as one of the world’s coolest cities to visit in 2018. The surrounding coffee farms are a part of the tourist draw – they’re picturesque. Although I’m no coffee addict, a coffee farm visit is a must in Colombia. And little did I know that I would become a coffee aficionado. But from the beginning …

Coffee beans are harvested by hand, for the same reason that strawberries are hand-picked. The coffee berries do not all ripen at the same time; so the picker has to pick only the red ones, while leaving the green ones on the vine. It is a slow process and the pickers get paid very little. The coffee farmer also gets paid very little. Coffee should cost several times the amount than it costs today so that growers and harvesters could receive a decent return for their efforts. The farmers often subsidize their earnings with banana or tomato production, just to survive.

Many farmers will allow you to pick some coffee berries. I thought I would be able to pick one basket full but was exhausted after picking just a third of a basket. Then my hard-picked coffee berries went for processing where a machine separates the pulp from the pit – the coffee bean. Each berry has two pits or seeds. The coffee beans are then laid on special platforms to be sundried. When I asked what is made from the delicious pulp, I was in for the shock of my life: It is discarded for compost. “But it’s a delicious fruit!” I opposed the farmer. “Yes, it is, but consumers want only the pits,” the farmer replied. His wife later shared that she uses the fruit in her home-made cakes, but there is no other commercial use, so the fruit is discarded for compost that is later used to fertilize new coffee plants.

It is as if you harvested peaches or plums, threw away the pulp, and used the pit for consumption. How upside down! But that is exactly what is happening with coffee berries. Could we pervert God’s plan any better? The coffee fruit tastes delicious and is meant to be consumed, not the pit! As I returned home, I searched the Internet and I could find very little information on coffee fruit. Very few companies have commercialized it. I found only one company that dehydrates the fruit and grinds it into powder which is used as an antioxidant to be added to other drinks. I have never seen, for example, a coffee fruit jam in any country. It would be a health food at its best and sweet enough without adding sugar.

Coffee berries are perhaps the planet’s most forgotten fruit, hiding in plain sight. While coffee is the world’s most popular beverage, most people haven’t heard of coffee fruit. People living in countries where coffee is not produced don’t even know coffee fruit exists. They think the coffee bean is the fruit. What we know as coffee beans are actually seeds of a delicious fruit. The seed is a very hard piece of wood that can only be cracked with a hammer. Its hard structure is compromised only after roasting, just as any piece of wood disintegrates when burned. Then the burned (roasted) coffee seeds are ground into powder.

Coffee drinkers then run water through the burned wood which results in a dark slush. We call the result “coffee.”  The process itself tells us that this was never meant to be done. Why would a slush derived from burned woody material become the world’s most popular drink? The answer is simple: it contains the addictive substance caffeine, which God never intended to be consumed.

Yet the most valuable and delicious part of the plant – its fruit – is discarded. I left the coffee farm with a sense of sadness. We humans tend to twist everything that God made.

The following text came to my mind: “There is no class guilty of greater perversion and abuse of His precious gifts than are those who employ the products of the soil in the manufacture of intoxicating liquors. The nutritive grains, the healthful, delicious fruits, are converted into beverages that pervert the senses and madden the brain.” Counsels for the Church, 102. While coffee is no liquor, this quote’s principle applies spot on. We employ the products of soil intended for our nutrition to produce intoxicating substances.

The coffee plant has a purpose. It bears delicious fruit whose red pulp has free-radical fighting antioxidants. Antioxidants help maintain your body’s natural protections against oxidation, a potentially damaging process. In other words, antioxidants are like your body’s bodyguard.1 Coffee is a healthy fruit low in calories and may protect from ailments such as type 2 diabetes, Parkinson’s and liver disease.2 It is a true superfood. A juicy secret full of nutrition. After my coffee farm visit, I’m a coffee fruit aficionado.

If you ever travel to areas where coffee is produced, do stop by a coffee farm. The coffee fruit grows year round. So whenever you visit you will always find ripe red berries that taste not only delicious, but that are a nutritional powerhouse. It is coffee as God intended.

1 www.drinkbai.com/whats-inside

2 www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2015/06/coffee-fruit-natures-wasted-superfood.html

Repentance – Lessons from Lucifer

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“For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.”

2 Corinthians 7:10

“Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.”

Acts 5:31

 

The book Steps to Christ is exactly what the title implies—a chronological step-by-step explanation of how to come to Christ and be saved. The third step in this progression to salvation is “Repentance.” Repentance follows the two chapters “God’s Love for Man” and “The Sinner’s Need of Christ.”

This is not an arbitrary order. These are truly steps, with each one presented in its necessary place, one after another. The sinner must first see and understand God’s love, and in seeing the depth, the breadth of this love the sinner then sees his own need when he sees his evil and degradation in comparison with the matchless purity and love of God. These two steps, “God’s Love for Man” and “The Sinner’s Need of Christ,” necessarily then lead him to the next step, which is repentance. Here we are going to look at repentance from a rather unusual perspective. We are going to glean lessons from an unconventional illustration—Lucifer. We do not often think of Lucifer as having repented.

In the following inspired narration, there are many valuable lessons to be gleaned, but we are going to focus on just the aspect of repentance.

We pick up the story of Lucifer and the fallen angels after they have been expelled from heaven, after the creation of this world, but before the fall of man. Let’s read an inspired description of the thoughts, the emotions, the thinking, the reasoning of this mighty, though fallen angel, his state, and the state of those who chose to listen to his reasoning and sophistry.

“The hour for joyful happy songs of praise to God and His dear Son had come. Satan had led the heavenly choir. He had raised the first note, then all the angelic host united with him, and glorious strains of music had resounded through Heaven. But now, instead of strains of sweetest music, discord and angry words fall upon the ear of the great rebel leader.

“Satan stood in amazement at his new condition. His happiness was gone. He looked upon the angels who, with him, were once so happy, but who had been expelled from heaven with him. Before their fall not a shade of discontent had marred their perfect bliss. Now all seemed changed. Countenances which had reflected the image of their Maker were gloomy and despairing. Strife, discord, and bitter recrimination were among them. Previous to their rebellion these things had been unknown in Heaven. Satan now beheld the terrible results of his rebellion. He shuddered, and feared to face the future, and to contemplate the end of these things. Where was he? Was it not all a horrible dream? Was he shut out of Heaven? Were the gates of Heaven never more to open and admit him? Bright, holy angels bow before the Father, but no more will Satan unite with them in heavenly song. No more will he bow in reverence and holy awe before the presence of the eternal God. Could he be again as when he was pure, true, and loyal, gladly would he yield up the claims of his authority. But he was lost beyond redemption, for his presumptuous rebellion! And this was not all; he had led others to rebellion and to the same lost condition with himself—angels who had never thought to question the will of Heaven, or refuse obedience to the law of God till he had put it into their minds, presenting before them that they might enjoy a greater good, a higher and more glorious liberty. This had been the sophistry whereby he had deceived them. A responsibility now rests upon him from which he would fain be released.

“These fallen spirits had become turbulent with disappointed hopes. Instead of greater good, they were experiencing the sad results of disobedience and disregard of law. Never more would these unhappy beings be swayed by the mild rule of Jesus Christ. Never more would their spirits be stirred by the deep, earnest love, peace, and joy, which His presence had ever inspired in them, to be returned to Him in cheerful obedience and reverential honor.

“Satan trembled as he viewed his work. He was alone, in meditation upon the past, the present, and the future. His mighty frame shook as with a tempest. An angel from Heaven was passing. Satan called him, and entreated an interview with Christ. This was granted. He then related to Him that he repented of his rebellion, and wished again to enjoy the favor of God. He was willing to take the place which had been assigned him, and be under Christ’s command. The Son of God wept at Satan’s woe, but told him, as the mind of the Father, that this could never be. Heaven must not be placed in jeopardy. The peace of Heaven would be marred, should he be received back; for sin originated with him; the seeds of rebellion were still within him. He had no occasion for his course, and he had not only hopelessly ruined himself, but the host of angels also, who would still have been happy in Heaven had he remained steadfast. The law of God could condemn, but could not pardon.” The Signs of the Times, January 16, 1879.

Here we see a picture of Lucifer, once the covering cherub, in rank next to the Son of God Himself, contemplating the results of his pride and rebellion, “his mighty frame” trembling as with a tempest. Lucifer regretted his work, his rebellion, his pride, his choices. He wishes again to enjoy the favor of God. He is willing to take the place God had assigned to him. He is willing to be under Christ’s command. Many people, and maybe even most people, would look upon these thoughts, feelings and emotions as tokens of genuine repentance; a genuine desire to return to a pure and holy state, but were they?

Let’s revisit the response from Christ, remembering who this Christ is—the compassionate, loving, forgiving God; the very same Divine Being who, because of love for His fallen creation [that is, man] left His own high position as the Majesty of heaven to come to this earth, clothed in the garb of man; willing to suffer the scorn and rebuke of sinners, to die the cruelest of deaths that the sinner might be rescued from the penalty of sin and once more be reconciled to a perfect, pure, and holy God. How does this Christ respond to the repenting Lucifer, once the covering cherub, the one closest to Himself in the ranks of heaven?

“The Son of God wept at Satan’s woe.” Friends, Christ is in grief. Christ is sorrowing over this fallen creation. But does He forgive? Does He accept Lucifer’s sorrow over his condition? Does He reinstate Lucifer in his position? Does He allow Him back into heaven? “The Son of God wept at Satan’s woe, but told him, as the mind of the Father, that this could never be. Heaven must not be placed in jeopardy. The peace of Heaven would be marred, should he be received back, for sin originated with him; the seeds of rebellion were still within him. He had no occasion for his course, and he had not only hopelessly ruined himself, but the host of angels also, who would still have been happy in Heaven had he remained steadfast. The law of God could condemn, but could not pardon.”

Why could Lucifer’s “repentance” not be accepted? This is where we can learn eternal life and death lessons from Lucifer. The inspired word of our God records the reasons why Lucifer’s “repentance” was not accepted. These things are recorded for our instruction, our protection, our own salvation.

“Satan did not repent of his rebellion because he saw the goodness of God which he had abused. The wretchedness he realized in losing the sweet light of Heaven, the sense of guilt which forced itself upon him, and the disappointment he experienced in not finding his expectations realized, were the cause of his grief. To be commander out of Heaven, was vastly different from being thus honored in Heaven. The loss of all the privileges of Heaven seemed too much to be borne. He wished to regain these.” Ibid., January 16, 1879.

Let’s look at the reasons for which Satan did or did not repent. Obviously the reasons for his repentance were not the right reasons. So we can learn what type of repentance is not acceptable. In this way we are able to learn what kind of repentance is necessary in order to be accepted.

“Satan did not repent of his rebellion because he saw the goodness of God which he had abused.” Did Lucifer repent because he saw the goodness, the love of God, which he had abused? No, it says that was not one of the reasons for his “repentance.” Acceptable repentance is repentance triggered by an understanding of the goodness of God, God’s love, we could say, and by our acknowledgment that we have abused that goodness. This is one example of an acceptable reason for repentance.

Another acceptable reason for repentance is found in the book Steps to Christ. Though this is stated in the negative—what is lacking is stated—we understand that repentance was not granted because something was missing, something that is required for genuine repentance. “There was no deep, heartbreaking grief in his soul, [that is, Judas’] that he had betrayed the spotless Son of God and denied the Holy One of Israel.” Steps to Christ, 24. What Judas lacked was deep, heartbreaking grief for betraying and denying Christ. We must have a deep heartbreaking grief for betraying and denying Christ. Remember friends, every time we sin, if we claim the name Christian, we betray and deny Christ.

“The sinner has a sense of the righteousness of Jehovah and feels the terror of appearing, in his own guilt and uncleanness, before the Searcher of hearts. He sees the love of God, the beauty of holiness, the joy of purity; he longs to be cleansed and to be restored to communion with Heaven.” Ibid.

The following are acceptable reasons for repentance:

1) An understanding of the goodness of God, and that we have abused that goodness.

2) There is a sense of the righteousness of Jehovah and feel the terror of appearing, in our own guilt and uncleanness, before the Searcher of hearts.

3) We see the love of God, the beauty of holiness, the joy of purity.

4)  We long to be cleansed.

5) We long to be restored to communion with heaven.

What are unacceptable reasons for repentance? We return to the story of Lucifer. “The wretchedness he realized in losing the sweet light of Heaven, the sense of guilt which forced itself upon him, and the disappointment he experienced in not finding his expectations realized, were the cause of his grief. To be commander out of Heaven, was vastly different from being thus honored in Heaven. The loss of all the privileges of Heaven seemed too much to be borne. He wished to regain these.” The Signs of the Times, January 16, 1879.

1) He realized his wretchedness

2) He had a sense of guilt

3) He was disappointed in not finding his expectations realized

4) He realized the loss of privilege, even the privilege of heaven

5) He had a desire to regain the privilege of heaven

Friends, what is the difference between these manifestations of repentance, that which is acceptable, and that which is not? One centers around our Saviour and how our rebellion, our pride, our evil, affects God, how it betrays the spotless Son of God, denies the Holy One of Israel, and abuses the goodness of God. The other manifestation of repentance, unacceptable repentance, centers around a loss for self, feeling pity for ourselves in our wretchedness, feeling discomfort over our guilt, having disappointment in our expectations not being met, loss of privilege for self, wanting to regain privilege for self. One kind of repentance is self-centered; the other is pain, sorrow, grief for injuring another, even God Himself.

Have you examined your own repentance? Is it the Godly sort, or is it the sort of repentance first exhibited and practiced by the instigator of evil and sin, the very epitome of selfishness and self-absorption and pride?

The reality is that if we have not prayed for true repentance, it will be the repentance of Lucifer, for Inspiration tells us that even repentance must be given us of God (Acts 5:31). Steps to Christ explains it in these words: “A repentance such as this [that is, such as David’s true repentance], is beyond the reach of our own power to accomplish; it is obtained only from Christ, who ascended up on high and has given gifts unto men.” Steps to Christ, 25.

Oh, friends, if you have not recognized the different reasons for repentance, those that are acceptable and those that are not, if you have not prayed for true repentance, the repentance which Christ alone can give, bow your heads and pray for God to give you His repentance that we may be saved; that we may be accepted into the courts of the heavenly kingdom where sin will never, never be allowed again to enter.

All quotes NKJV unless otherwise noted.

Brenda Douay is a staff member at Steps to Life. She may be contacted by email at: brendadouay@stepstolife.org.

Sparkling Gems of Truth

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Watchmen on the walls of Zion are called to keep God’s remnant informed of end time events which are daily developing around us. But there is something vastly more important than our knowing all about these closing events and making sure we have followed God’s counsel to get out of the cities, to become free of debt, and to be aware of Satan’s plans to deceive. In addition to knowing the signs of the times, we need absolute assurance that we have individually been born again. What a tragedy if, in the final moment of God’s judgment, we should discover that we are in the same situation as Nicodemus, the great theologian who could repeat from memory the entire Old Testament Bible of his day. Yet he was startled to hear from the Great Physician that he was not ready to see God because he had a serious heart problem which required a transplant. In order to be ready for heaven he must be born again.

Let us first review the experience of Nicodemus as found in John chapter 3 verses 1–5: “There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto Him, Rabbi, we know that Thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that Thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto Him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?

“Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”

Jesus spoke with such positive words to Nicodemus that there was no doubt as to his need for a change of heart. God loves us so much that He wants us to have characters like unto the character of His Son Jesus. Therefore through His written word and the testimonies of His Spirit, He has sent to us many sparkling gems of truth. These are God’s divine means of enabling boys and girls, men and women, to form jewel-like characters, fitted to live with Him in that beautiful city, the New Jerusalem.

Consider Albert, a man in his early 30s. His face was pale and drawn and he only had a short time to live, that is, unless an organ donor could be found, for he needed a heart transplant. Having a wife and children, he was understandably troubled and anxious. The community solicited funds for his anticipated surgery. Finally a day arrived when upon answering the telephone he heard those welcomed words, “A donor heart has been found.” Immediately his mind was filled with hope and rejoicing. After the proper preparations were made, Albert surrendered himself fully into the hands of his physician. The surgery was successful.

After some weeks had passed, what a transformation had taken place! What a change! No longer was Albert pale and haggard. His life had been restored. His face shown with a healthy radiance. His eyes were bright. His joy and thanksgiving were reflected upon the entire community where he lived. All the people rejoiced with him. However, there was one thing that he could not forget. He meditated over the fact that someone had lost his life to make it possible that he might live.

Now let us consider some spiritual lessons from Albert’s experience. Before he received a new heart, Albert was a sick and dying man. Today many are as sick spiritually as Albert was physically. To use a Bible term, their hearts are natural or carnal and their characters so diseased that they do not have long to remain spiritually alive. Note God’s description of such a heart. He declares, “Every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5, last part).

Spiritually speaking, men do not always realize the extent of the diseased condition of their hearts; that is, not until they look into the mirror of God’s law, the Ten Commandments. It is then that they see themselves as they actually are, wretched and hopelessly near death. They long to be forgiven, but praise God, there is a divine remedy for spiritual illness and that remedy is the Gospel.

“The truths of the gospel are not unconnected; uniting they form one string of heavenly jewels, … and like threads of gold they run through the whole of Christian work and experience.” This Day With God, 224. So we are told God’s precious sparkling gospel promises to unite to form one golden string of remedial heavenly gems.

These truths can be plucked off the string and examined. Let’s look at the one called justification.

In examining this jewel of truth, let’s look at Larry as an illustration. Larry seemed to be extremely discouraged and despondent. His friend George told him of some of the wonderful, encouraging gems of truth to be found in the Bible and urged him to study God’s word.

Larry was convinced of his need to study but when he opened the Bible he knew not where to begin. So he started reading through Genesis and then into Exodus, but when he reached Exodus 20, he was startled, for upon comparing himself with God’s law he was faced with a shocking revelation of his truly diseased spiritual condition. He asked himself if this could be the reason for his mental despondency. Without realizing it Larry had echoed the words of Paul as he cried out: “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me …” (Romans 7:24)?

Larry felt desperate. Is there no remedy? But when he turned to the New Testament Larry was filled with joyful excitement. Yes! There is a remedy for all sin sick souls! He found it in Jesus Christ our spiritual physician. He listened as he heard the Physician’s invitation, “Come unto Me” (Matthew 11:28). Larry responded. He cast himself upon Christ’s mercy. Jesus looked upon him with love and tender compassion.

In somewhat the same words as He said to Nicodemus that night so long ago, Jesus spoke to his heart. Larry needed a new heart. There’s nothing that could be done to repair or patch up his old heart. It would be necessary to undergo a spiritual heart transplant. Without the needed procedure he would die. The new heart would be free and all services would be donated. It would just take cooperation to be born again into a new life altogether with Jesus.

But how could this happen? Ellen White wrote, “In order to obtain the righteousness of Christ [that’s a new heart], it is necessary for the sinner to know what that repentance is which works a radical change of mind and spirit and action. …

“Who is desirous of becoming truly repentant? What must he do? —He must come to Jesus, just as he is, without delay. He must believe that the word of Christ is true, and, believing the promise, ask, that he may receive. When sincere desire prompts men to pray, they will not pray in vain. The Lord will fulfill His word, and will give the Holy Spirit to lead to repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” Selected Messages, Book 1, 393.

It seems too simple, just come to Jesus just as I am, believing that God’s word and its promises are true and that the Physician will send the Holy Spirit to repair him. The Physician has given to every man a measure of faith to believe in order that he might respond to His calling; however, for a man’s faith to increase he must come to the Great Physician to receive not only repentance but also a greater measure of faith, even a faith that will make salvation by grace possible.

In his bedroom with his Bible open before him, Larry fell upon his knees. His mind was drawn to Christ on the cross. While kneeling at the foot of the cross looking up at Jesus these words burned into his soul: “A Donor has been found.” He now understood how Jesus Himself had passed through a horrible death on the cross in order that Larry, a repentant sinner, might live. With sadness Larry realized that for him to live someone had to die and that Someone was his divine surgeon, Jesus Christ, God’s own dear Son.

Turning to his open Bible he read this precious promise: “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh …” (Ezekiel 36:26). Larry prayed for the promised Helper and his prayer was answered. The Spirit led him into a true sorrow for his sins, into repentance and faith and a full surrender to the Great Physician who, as promised, performed the recreative surgery.

Larry had obeyed as he heard the Physician plead, “My son, give Me thine heart” (Proverbs 23:26). But oh, what an exchange! Larry had received a clean, unselfish, new healthy heart in exchange for his sinful, selfish, spiritually diseased heart. Larry’s sins were forgiven! Through faith Larry had received the sparkling gift of justification.

God warns us through Ellen White that as a people we have at times neglected to teach these preparatory truths to souls who are seeking salvation. Surely we do not consider these truths as unnecessary or as an unpleasant duty, or do we? If we have fallen into this trap, let us heed the following rebuke: “Some open revival meetings, and by this means call large numbers into the church. But when the excitement is over, where are the converted ones? Repentance and confession of sin are not seen. The sinner is entreated to believe in Christ and accept Him, without regard to his past life of sin and rebellion. The heart is not broken. There is no contrition of soul. The supposed converted ones have not fallen upon the Rock, Christ Jesus.” Selected Messages, Book 2, 19.

“The Lord desires His servants today to preach the old gospel doctrine, sorrow for sin, repentance, and confession. We want old-fashioned sermons, old-fashioned customs, old-fashioned fathers and mothers in Israel. The sinner must be labored for, perseveringly, earnestly, wisely, until he shall see that he is a transgressor of God’s law, and shall exercise repentance toward God, and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ.” Ibid.

Reading in The Signs of the Times, November 24, 1887: “Believe, believe, believe in Jesus, is the soothing lullaby that is lulling the world to sleep … .” Why, “the devils believe, and tremble” (James 2:19). A lukewarm Laodicean may believe all the truth and God’s promises, but he is not being saved thereby, for he is not converted. Jesus said in John 3 verse 3 that unless a man is born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. An unconverted one believes only with a measure of faith that is given to all men. We are to teach new converts that it is by repentance and faith we are justified before God and through divine grace enabled to render obedience to His commandments.

Back to the story of Larry. As Albert had received a new physical life through the gift of his donor heart, just such an amazing transformation had taken place in the life of Larry. He had received the heart, the mind, and the faith of His Savior. He was filled with hope, rejoicing, and gratitude. Relieved of the burden of his sins he was no longer miserable and spiritually wretched. New spiritual life had been put within him. His eyes sparkled with joy. His face shone with a healthy radiance. He reflected his joy and thankfulness upon all with whom he came in contact. He pointed them to the Great Physician who alone is able to forgive sins and to heal spiritual diseases.

The entire community where he lived became aware of the change in Larry. He did not fail to also tell his friends that they must go to Jesus just as they are to receive the enabling power of the Holy Spirit. Day by day Larry diligently studied God’s precious word. As he increased in wisdom and knowledge he continued to grow up spiritually in Christ.

From the Inspired writings we are told that many of us, especially the youth, fail to understand the true significance of what it means to have a new heart. Ellen White clearly defines this meaning. “The youth especially stumble over this phrase, ‘a new heart.’ They do not know what it means. … When Jesus speaks of the new heart, He means the mind, the life, the whole being.” Sons and Daughters of God, 100. And, so we will not possibly misunderstand, she explains further: “To have a new heart is to have a new mind, new purposes, new motives.” Ibid.

Paul understood this for he explains, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Actually, the new birth is a new creation. How can this be? How does this new life come about? Inspiration tells us, “When the soul surrenders itself to Christ, a new power takes possession of the new heart. A change is wrought which man can never accomplish for himself. It is a supernatural work, bringing a supernatural element into human nature.” The Desire of Ages, 324.

One must remember that having once received a new heart it must be maintained in the same way we receive it – through surrender to the will of God.

Let’s take a look at King David. He was converted in his youth; however, he did not always maintain his surrender and fell into grievous sins. So the question, If one has lost his born again experience, how can he regain it? The answer: in the same way that David did, for after David’s great sin he once again surrendered to the Great Physician pleading, Give me a new heart, O my God (see Psalm 51).

Through the Spirit of Prophecy Inspiration has revealed, “One of the most earnest prayers recorded in the word of God is that of David when he plead, ‘Create in me a clean heart, O God’ (Psalm 51:10). God’s response to such a prayer is, A new heart will I give you. This is work that no finite man can do. Men and women are to begin at the beginning, seeking God most earnestly for a true Christian experience. They are to feel the creative power of the Holy Spirit. They are to receive the new heart, that is kept soft and tender by the grace of heaven. The selfish spirit is to be cleansed from the soul.” “Ellen G. White Comments,” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 4, 1165.

When David sinned, he displayed a carnal, selfish, stony heart. This mindset was removed, his heart was renewed by the creative power of the Holy Spirit. At the beginning of a Christian experience or for a renewed Christian experience, we must fully repent and surrender to Christ. Then with Christ dwelling in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, we again can receive the new mind, even “the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16). Oh beloved, let us praise God that we can experience such a sparkling gem of gospel truth.

Satan has also perfected jewels but they are counterfeit jewels. They glitter, but not with a heavenly light. We are living in the end time. Conditions and events in the world and in the church clearly reveal that at such a time as this, many in the churches are spiritually sick. This allows them to be easily deceived by Satan’s glittering, worldly counterfeit jewels. Their minds need the healing touch of the Great Physician.

We have been warned that in these latter days, erroneous, infidel theories will be taught as Bible truths to God’s people. Such errors insidiously attack the spiritual heart, causing a variety of spiritual illness and producing grave spiritual consequences. Webster defines an infidel as a person not holding to the faith but opposing, or unfaithful to Christianity. Surely we should avoid reading or listening to words that spring from the heart of an infidel. The best way to avoid cancer and other serious physical diseases is to live a lifestyle that will prevent them from occurring. Likewise, deadly spiritual illness can be prevented only if we preoccupy and fortify the mind with truth. This must be done, however, before we meet the soul destroying so-called jewels of Satan’s string of falsehoods.

Through our modern prophet, Ellen White, God has revealed that, “None but those who have fortified the mind with the truths of the Bible will stand through the last great conflict.” The Great Controversy, 593, 594.

Another precious gem to pluck off the string of heavenly jewels is called sanctification. Paul said that sanctification is a very vital part of salvation, for God hath chosen us to salvation through sanctification. He said, Have you not read what I wrote in my second letter to the Thessalonians? “We are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification …” (2 Thessalonians 2:13). I will say to you today as I said in my farewell counsel to the elders of Ephesus, “Brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified” (Acts 20:32).

Ellen White agrees with Paul on this subject, Is sanctification a necessity? In an article Ellen White first asked, “What does the Lord require of His blood-bought heritage?” She then answers, “The sanctification of the whole being.” The Review and Herald, November 24, 1904. Beloved, never should we consider sanctification as unnecessary to salvation or as a second-rate experience. Sanctification is not an option or an appendage. It is a sparkling gem of truth that God has provided for our redemption, a vital part of the saving gospel.

Let us now observe this gem of sanctification from another angle. All will agree that it is the Lord who justifies man. But how do men attain to sanctification by their own good works? What saith Inspiration? Through Moses God declares, “I am the Lord which sanctify you” (Leviticus 20:8). And in the New Testament Paul writes, “The very God of peace sanctify you wholly” (1 Thessalonians 5:23). Jude 1 is addressed to them that are sanctified by God the Father. Ellen White tells us, “We want the sanctification that God Himself gives.” The Review and Herald, July 15, 1890.

So the question: How does God sanctify man? Bible illustrations testify that only the presence of God can sanctify or make holy a person or a thing. For example, in the story of Moses it was the presence of God in the burning bush that made both it and the ground surrounding it holy. God commissioned Bezaleel to shape the intricate gold work for the wilderness sanctuary. He gave him special wisdom and skill for the work. While Bezaleel was melting the gold, and pounding and shaping the golden cherubims for the most holy place, they were not yet holy or sanctified. Yet when they were later dedicated in the service of God and the presence of God visibly entered the sanctuary to dwell therein, then the cherubim for the mercy seat were no longer just gold statuary. They were sacred, sanctified emblems representing the work of the angel in the heavenly sanctuary.

So, just as God entered into the sanctuary to sanctify it by His presence, so it is the presence of God inside the hearts of men that sanctify them. “I will dwell in them, … and I will be their God” (2 Corinthians 6:16, last part). God’s presence in our very own heart is true sanctification. Paul teaches that believers are to be “sanctified by the Holy Ghost” (Romans 15:16, last part). This is Bible sanctification. This work can be accomplished only through faith in Christ by the power of the indwelling Spirit of God. (See The Great Controversy, 469.) Thus it is, Christ in you, that sanctifies. The indwelling Holy Spirit is “as the personal presence of Christ to the soul.” The Review and Herald, November 29, 1892.

Notice the following passages from the Spirit of Prophecy: “Sanctification of the soul by the operation of the Holy Spirit is the implanting of Christ’s nature in humanity.” This Day With God, 224.

“Sanctification is not an emotion, but a heaven-born principle that brings all the passions and desires under the control of the Spirit of God.” The Signs of the Times, May 19, 1890.

“The Lord Jesus loves His people, and when they put their trust in Him, depending wholly upon Him, He strengthens them. He will live through them, giving them the inspiration of His sanctifying Spirit, imparting to the soul a vital transfusion of Himself.” That I May Know Him, 78.

“To be sanctified is to become a partaker of the divine nature, catching the Spirit and mind of Jesus … .” The Review and Herald, April 28, 1891.

The Great Physician desires to give us a heart transplant to replace our stony heart and to keep it healthy through a daily, heavenly process of sanctification – Christ in you.

These important truths have been revealed to us in such a clear and simple manner so that by God’s divine grace we may commit our lives to His creative power and be ready to spend eternity with Him when Jesus returns.

 

For more than fifty years, Lawrence Nelson served the Seventh-day Adventist Church as a church pastor, evangelist, and then in Conference, Union, and General Conference leadership. When God laid upon him the responsibility to “tell it like it is” to alert the people how the church was leading them into the worldwide ecumenical movement, he was forbidden to preach in any church within the Oregon Conference. Though nothing could be found in his preaching that was contrary to the doctrines of the church, he was considered divisive. As a result, Keep the Faith Audio Tape Ministry was born. Elder Nelson passed to his rest on April 18, 2012.

The Family of God

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David Pelzer was an abused child. He wrote about it in his book, A Child Called It, telling of his experiences from around the age of four until 12 years old. It became a New York Times best seller as was his second book, The Lost Boy, where it tells of his experiences up to about age 18.

The abuse this child suffered is incomprehensible. He lived in Sonoma County, California. The events in this book began in the early ‘70s. He was abused so severely by his mother, that Child Protective Services finally removed him from his home and placed him in a foster home. He says in his book, “There is not a doubt in my mind, that had I stayed with my biological mother much longer I would have definitely been killed.”

In the first chapter he tells about being sent out of the house when he was nine. He describes his feelings and the thoughts that flowed through his mind while walking down the sidewalk, not knowing where he would stay that night, not knowing where he would get anything to eat, not knowing anything, not knowing anybody. He described it this way: “I have no home. I am a member of no one’s family. I know deep inside that I do not now, nor will I ever, deserve any love, attention, or even recognition as a human being. I am a child called ‘it.’ I am all alone inside.”

Unfortunately, this is not an isolated instance. Throughout the United States, at present, there are millions of children like this with no home and no food, but not all of them are in as severe a case as he was.

As he walked down the street a long way from the home he was sent from, he sees homes where there are people who are laughing and he hears some of them listening to music. He tells what went through his mind when he heard and saw that. He says, “I wondered what it would be like to be welcomed in a home. I wondered what that would be like.”

He said, “I wish I was a real person.” When he was taken back to his parental home by the police department and was told he was at home the thought went through his mind, “Home? I have no home.”

Later, concerning foster children who have had the privilege to be adopted when the parents have developed attachments with the children, he said that to be adopted is the highest honor bestowed on a child who longs to become a member of a family.

The desire in this young boy’s heart was to be loved and to belong somewhere. He wanted to be a part of a family, and he didn’t have any. That desire, my friend, is the desire that God put into a human soul. That desire is not something that just developed or evolved; that is something that God put within you. Sin is the reason why so many have anxiety. They are in situations that are similar to David Pelzer’s.

When I talk to young people, I find that most are primarily interested in finding a life partner. They want to fall in love. They want to have a family. They want to be a family. In heaven there is nobody up there that does not belong to a family. Everybody belongs. Nobody is left out. There is nobody that has no place to go. That experience does not happen there. Lack of familial bond would not happen on this earth either, except for sin.

There is often a lot of talk about the second coming of Christ, and it is right that we should do that because, as Christians, we are pilgrims and strangers in this world. When Jesus comes, we are going to go home to our big family. We hope and pray that all of our family members here are going to be there with us.

Ellen White wrote, “Infinite love—how great it is! God made the world to enlarge heaven. He desires a larger family of created intelligences.” “Ellen G. White Comments,” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 1, 1081.

Why did God create this world? He wanted a larger family. He wanted you to be part of His family. Unfortunately, what is happening in this world is that the devil is trying to steal people from God’s family. He has been very successful. At the end of the world and after the millennium, the Lord is going to face the devil and the devil is going to have to face Him, and the Lord is going to ask the devil, Why have you robbed me of my subjects?

Ellen White tells us that the devil is not going to have anything to say.

My dear friend, if you are going to go home, where your real home and your real family are going to be, you need now to become part of God’s family, the royal family of God. Adam and Eve were initially part of an even larger part of the family, but because of sin they were cast out of the Garden of Eden. The plan of salvation was arranged so there would be a way to bring them and their children back.

Ellen White wrote, “He [God] created man [and woman] for happiness.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 290. There never would have been any unhappiness if we had not chosen to sin. Once man was cast out of the Garden of Eden, away from the protection of the evil one we found out what it is really like when you do not obey God and do His will. We find out there are all kinds of problems and we get into all kinds of trouble. One of those problems is the amount of abused and homeless children with no one to love them—no family.

The Bible says in 2nd Samuel 14:14, last part, that God “devises means, so that His banished ones are not expelled from Him.” Jesus died so that through His merits you could be redeemed from the guilt and power of sin and be adopted back into the family of God. That is the essence of the plan of salvation.

Galatians 4:4, 5 states: “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”

That is what David Pelzer wanted so desperately. He tells how he was placed in several different foster homes, wondering if there would be anybody who would ever love him enough to adopt him and make him their child so he might have a family. It never happened.

Why is it that we need the adoption into the family of God? When Adam and Eve sinned, all of their children were born sons and daughters of the devil. You do not have to do anything to be lost. Everyone born is already lost, unless they are adopted. If you want to be a member of God’s family, not just a foster child but be adopted, consider the following:

Several Facts About the Family of God:
1    Who are God’s family here on this earth right now and how can one become part of it?

The Bible describes God’s family on this earth right now as His church. 1 Corinthians 12 is about the church. Verse 13 says, “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body (the church)—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.”

When a person is baptized with water it is a symbol of being baptized with the Holy Spirit. When you get baptized by water, you become a member of the professed church. But when baptized of the Spirit, you become a member of the real church and your name is written down in heaven. This needs an explanation so nobody misunderstands. There will be millions of people that have been baptized with water but will not be in heaven. However, not a single person will be lost that has been baptized by the Holy Spirit.

The water baptism is only a symbol of the real thing, the baptism of the Holy Spirit. (See 1 Corinthians 12:13.) Ellen White explains it this way: “Through this simple act of believing God, the Holy Spirit has begotten a new life in your heart. You are as a child born into the family of God, and He loves you as He loves His Son.” Steps to Christ, 52. This is also explained by the story of the prodigal son. He did not have to be baptized before he could again be a member of his family. He repented of his lifestyle of sin. His heart had been changed by the Holy Spirit and he came to his father, who covered him with his own robe, symbolizing the robe of Christ’s righteousness.

2    Paul, writing to the Corinthian church, told them there was a condition to being adopted into God’s family. He said, “Therefore ‘come out from among them and be separate,’ says the Lord. ‘Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.’ ‘I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters,’ says the Lord Almighty’ ” (2 Corinthians 6:17).

The unclean thing that has defiled our world is sin. The Lord says, I would like for you to be My son, My daughter, but you must separate yourself from sinful habits or I can’t trust to take you to heaven where all is pure.

3    You cannot be a star player. You have to be a team player. Romans 14:7 says, “For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself.”

That is a powerful verse. To have harmony in the family there needs to be team effort. There are no stars, just team players. No one member lives to himself; everyone must be considerate of others.

The devil’s temptation is for each family member to be concerned only about themselves, having no regard of how their decisions affect the other people in the family. All self-serving people will be expelled from the family of God. In that family nobody lives to himself.

4    You can never be a member of both God’s family and the devil’s family.

1 Corinthians 10:21 states: “You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and the table of demons.”

Notice that this verse does not say not to. It says you cannot. My dear friends, Adam and Eve had access to the tree of life, but they could not have access to both the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Since they chose to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, the human race has been eating from it ever since. We do not have access to the tree of life. Thus eventually we all die.

Friends, if it seems as if your prayers are not being answered and the Lord is not doing anything for you, check where you are sitting. Sometimes the reason for unanswered prayers is that you are praying to the Lord while sitting at the table of demons. The Lord is not going to answer your prayer while you are unwilling to leave the devil’s table.

5    “And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you” (2 Corinthians 6:16, 17).

The Spirit of Prophecy states the following: “It is impossible for you to unite with those who are corrupt, and still remain pure.” The Review and Herald, January 2, 1900.

Notice it does not say you cannot unite, but if you do, it is impossible for you to remain pure.

6    What excluded Satan from the royal family? The devil started treating his Creator and his fellow angels in the wrong way and he had to be excluded from the kingdom of heaven. He started a war in heaven.

It says in James 3:13–16, “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.”

The devil became conceited and jealous of the Son of God. His self-seeking and envy disrupted the peace of heaven, causing other angels to be dissatisfied.

Do not think that it is not important how we treat other people in God’s family. It determines whether in the judgment we are allowed to stay in the family or not.

7    God gives people tests to see whether they are fitted to become members of the royal family.

When Jesus comes, His children, His family are going to be taken up to heaven and they will become members of what Ellen White calls the royal family. To remain part of the family, all must become fit to become members. All must not only be saved by the merit of Jesus, but also be fit. This being fitted has to do with the work of the Holy Spirit and is why Jesus said to Nicodemus that unless he was born of the Holy Spirit, there was no chance for him to be saved.

God allows us to be tested and if we fail the test He brings us around again to take the test again. By the way, I am very happy that when I have failed tests God does not give up on me and He allows retests.

If we understand that, we should thank God when we have trials and say, “Lord, help me to learn what I did not learn the last time. Please help me to learn this time what I am supposed to be learning from this trial.”

8    The members of God’s family must not be cold and unloving to others. They may have done many things and still be making all kinds of mistakes, but they must not be treated coldly. If they are part of the family, even if they have all kinds of defects yet, they must be treated with love and helped to overcome their defects. No one will overcome their defects while being given a discouraging cold shoulder.

9    It is impossible to get ready to go to heaven hibernating in a cave somewhere. All have to learn to be gracious and how to get along with the other people in God’s family. Those who do not learn that will not be going to heaven.

It is alarming to see the friction, fighting and strife that often exists among God’s professed people. It means that somebody somewhere in this church, in this family, is not yet ready to go to heaven.

Do not think that God has to have the church to save the world. He does not. One of the main reasons for the church is so that those preparing for heaven can learn how to get along with their brothers and sisters in the faith.

Just like the foster child, all of us want to belong. It is inherent to want a family. The ultimate joy is to be part of the family of God. However, to belong to His family, there are conditions to fulfill. God will never call anyone to enter heaven who will destroy the family or any family member.

Pray that you will be fitted to become part of the royal family in heaven.

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New King James Version.)

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

Editorial – The Condition For Receiving Eternal Life

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We are living during the gospel dispensation and this dispensation is the last period of probation that is granted to us. If during this period of probation we fail to repent and obey the truth, we will perish with the disloyal. There will be no second trial (read Revelation 22:11, 12). Obedience is the condition of inheriting eternal life. This has always been true. The only way out of our sinful condition is if Christ shall give His righteousness to us and He will do this if we will consent to let Him take away our sins.

Every person may come into possession of this priceless gift if he will comply with the conditions as stated by the apostle Paul in Romans 2:7: “To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life.”

“And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted Him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And He said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live (Luke 10:25–28).” “And being made perfect, He became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him (Hebrews 5:9).”

“Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city (Revelation 22:14).”

“The condition of eternal life is now just what it always has been—just what it was in Paradise before the fall of our first parents—perfect obedience to the law of God, perfect righteousness. If eternal life were granted on any condition short of this, then the happiness of the whole universe would be imperiled. The way would be open for sin, with all its train of woe and misery, to be immortalized.” Steps to Christ,  62.

SDA Roots, part 5

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A great revival developed as a result of Miller ’s preaching. People flocked to his meetings not only from the community but also from surrounding towns. His lectures made such an impression upon the listeners that they kept asking for more. His messages could not be presented in one lecture, so he was persuaded to continue preaching. This was Miller’s experience wherever he went, and the result was the conversion of many souls.

Miller’s small town preaching ended in 1839. On November 12, he met Joshua V. Himes, pastor of the Chardon Street Chapel, in Boston, Massachusetts, who invited Miller to preach to his church family. While preaching in the Chapel, Miller lived with Himes, and they began a friendship which lasted for many years. “God in His providence had brought the two men together. The beginning of this association opened a new era in Miller’s work of spreading his convictions regarding the soon coming Christ.” The Urgent Voice, 63. The interest generated by Miller’s preaching became so great that he was compelled to present another series. Charles Fitch’s Marlboro Chapel was rented for the series.

 

Miller Begins to Write

 

From this time until the great disappointment, Miller hardly had time to pause in his public proclamation of the Second Coming of Christ. Almost from the beginning, he received so many invitations to preach that he could not possibly comply, for lack of time. This prompted him to begin publishing his views in printed form. He prepared a series of articles and sent them as anonymous contributions to the Baptist weekly paper, the Vermont Telegraph at Brandon, Vermont. The editor of the paper refused to publish the articles unless the author was identified,whereupon Miller consented and they were printed with the initials, W.M.

Miller wrote a book in which he detailed his views on the prophecies and particularly the Second Coming. This book had a great and profound influence upon all that read it. The editor of the Boston Daily Times, in which sections of Miller’s book were published, was the first to give Miller’s views favorable publicity through the press. The editor continued to print Miller’s articles, and they created a pronounced impact upon the public mind.

However, not all publicity was favorable. One pastor, Ethan Smith, submitted two articles rebutting Miller’s views. The opposition was not very effective, and in most cases it just spurred on the reader to a more careful study of Miller’s message. Even Ethan Smith stated: “I wish to encourage the study of the prophecies and signs of the times: and have been much tried, to see so little attention paid to them; and to hear so many ministers speaking most disrespectfully of this study! I view this fact to be a very dark sign of the times! I think such ministers have got to repent of this sin, or they must sink under it. It is a great insult offered to the Holy Ghost, who inspired the prophecies and commanded us to study and understand them.” The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, 517.

“It was about this time that the copy of Miller’s Lectures was placed in the hands of Josiah Litch, a Methodist minister in Massachusetts, who soon became persuaded of its essential soundness and began to write and publish on the subject. Practically the same experience came to Charles Fitch, pastor of the Marlboro Congregational Church of Boston. Meantime Miller was lecturing in some of the moderate-sized towns of Massachusetts, such as Lowell, where he was invited to preach by Timothy Cole, a minister of the Christian Connection, who was likewise greatly impressed.” Ibid., 519.

 

Himes Helps the Work

 

The acquaintance with Himes, in late 1839, led to a greatly expanded and accelerated Advent Movement in the larger cities. Himes did not associate himself with Miller without counting the cost of such a move. He stated: “We are not insensible of the fact, that much obloquy will be cast upon us in consequence of our association with the author of this work [Miller]. This, however, gives us no pain. 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 the world.”

“Thus it was that Joshua V. Himes, scarcely thirty-five years old, gave up a promising future to cast his lot with an unpopular cause. But Himes was no stranger to unpopular causes. He was an energetic opponent of the liquor traffic, and for a time he had worked closely with William Lloyd Garrison in the battle against slavery. As pastor of the Chardon Street Chapel, he had opened the doors of the church to more than one reform cause. Millerism was therefore only one of several ‘causes’ with which Himes was actively associated. But it was the one to which he was to devote the most time and effort. And, with Miller and Fitch, he became one of Millerism’s three leading figures.” The Urgent Voice, 64.

Himes’ abilities as a public speaker were unusual, and he frequently lectured on the subject of the Second Coming. But his most valuable accomplishments with the Millerite Movement were in the area of organization and promotion. He was responsible for the publication of tracts, songbooks, pamphlets, charts, broadsides and handbills. Himes, at various times, published more than a dozen periodicals promoting the teachings on the Second Advent.

 

A Voice for the Advent Movement

 

By the beginning of 1840, most papers, both religious and secular, had become most unsympathetic in their treatment of Miller and refused to print anything from him in rebuttal. Miller had for quite some time wanted to put out a periodical to serve as the voice of Millerism, but he had not been able to find anyone that would risk his reputation and finances on such a publication. When Miller spoke to Himes of his desire, he accepted the challenge and produced the first issue of the Signs of the Times, a week later.

In 1844, the name of this periodical was changed to the Advent Herald. In 1874, when James White began to publish a weekly paper to speak for the Seventh-day Adventists on the Pacific Coast, he took the name that Himes had abandoned and called it Signs of the Times. James White’s paper was not a continuation of Hime’s periodical and there was no connection between the two, except for the name.

Another person who opposed Miller’s teachings was John Dowling, a Baptist clergyman from New York. He published a Review of Miller, in which he presented the old Antiochus theory for the Little Horn of Daniel 8. He explained that the 2300 evenings and mornings were half days or 1150 literal days and that this referred to the second century B.C. He also taught that the millennium came before the Second Advent. This led to a Refutation by Litch suggesting, like Miller, that the six thousand years of the world’s history would terminate about 1843. He also wrote An Address to the Clergy, which caused many ministers to examine the question more thoroughly and convinced not a few of them of the true character and truth of the Millerite positions.

 

Campmeetings are Born

 

Despite the negative reaction and prejudice, aroused by the press, to the public meetings of the Millerites and those that favored his views on prophecy, a considerable interest caused the need for larger meeting-houses. As the result of this growth in interest in the Second Advent preaching, a weeklong meeting was held in Boston in early 1842. Thus the camp meeting was born. In June, Litch held meetings in East Canada resulting in between five hundred and six hundred conversions. “Great gatherings throughout Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine followed, which according to Litch, literally ‘shook the nation.’ ” Ibid., 522.

To accommodate the ever-increasing crowds, a big tent, seating six thousand, was erected six times the first season in New Hampshire, New York, Massachusetts, Vermont and New Jersey. Marked results were seen. Fitch preached the Second Advent to the students and faculty of Oberlin College in Ohio, and elsewhere, finally establishing himself in Cleveland. Litch declares of this time: “The work spread with a power unparalleled in the history of religious excitements. And had it been the object of Adventists to form a sect, never was there a more favorable opportunity to carry all before them, given to any people. But higher and holier objects were in their vision—the saving of sinners from death, and the obtaining of a preparation for the coming of the Lord, were the objects of their highest ambition.” Ibid.

Miller and Himes returned to New York City in 1842 and lectured in the large Methodist church where George Storrs was the pastor. An Adventist daily paper was started called the Midnight Cry, edited by Joshua Himes, L. D. Fleming and Nathaniel Southard. Fitch also established many Second Advent papers and periodicals in Cleveland, and H. B. Skinner and Luther Caldwell did the same in Canada.

Wherever Miller’s writings were circulated, the sale and study of the Bible was stimulated. The movement was known as a Bible movement, and Litch stated that, “a course of lectures in a village, would open a door for the sale of more Bibles in a week than would have been sold before for years.” The tone of the movement was Protestant, the Bible and the Bible only as the rule of practice and faith.

“There were among the Millerite ministers men of commanding talent and attainment—only a few have thus far been named—who were the equal of the wise and learned opposers of the land, raised up, they believed, at a time when such help was needed. As to the actual number of ministers in the Millerite movement at this time Litch frankly said, ‘We have no means of ascertaining the number of ministers, and others, who have embraced the Advent faith. We only know that there are several hundred congregations, and a still larger number of ministers, who have publicly professed the faith, besides many who still remain in the churches of the land.’ These, he explained, were associated together for the accomplishment of a definite objective—to ‘sound the alarm.’ And any organization that existed was of the most ‘simple, voluntary and primitive form.’ ” Ibid., 527.

Next month we will take a closer look at some of the men associated with Miller in the proclamation of the Second Advent. We will scan a little of their backgrounds, training, talents, standing and religious affiliation.

 

The Approaching Time of Crisis

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A great crisis awaits the people of God. Very soon our nation will attempt to enforce upon all, the observance of the first day of the week as a sacred day. In doing this, they will not scruple to compel men against the voice of their own conscience to observe the day the nation declares to be the Sabbath. In view of this, there must be, among God’s commandment-keeping people, more spirituality and a deeper consecration to God, and a zeal in His work that has never yet been reached, to hold aloft the banner of God’s truth. The law of God, the only standard of righteousness, must be prized in proportion as the professed Christian world manifest contempt for it.

The law of God should be loved and prized by God’s true people now, more than ever before. There is the most urgent necessity of enforcing the words of Christ upon the mind and heart of every believer, both men and women, youth and children: “Search the Scriptures.” Examine your Bibles as you have never done before. Unless you arise to a higher, holier attitude in your religious life, you will not be ready for the appearing of our Lord. There are many who are not purifying their souls by obeying the truth. As great light has been given them, God expects proportionate zeal, devotion, and faithfulness upon the part of His people. But there will be proportionate darkness, unbelief, and blindness as the truth is not appreciated and acted upon.

The Lord will not remove from His people every occasion to doubt; but He will give sufficient light and evidence to encourage faith and confidence; and if they walk as Christ, the light of the world,leads the way, they will not step aside into the paths of doubt and unbelief. When declension and danger threaten the church, there will be more praying, more fasting, by the faithful few, and the Lord will answer the prayers offered to Him in sincerity, and at the same time He will come forth as an avenger because of the guiltiness of the evil-workers. He will be a protector; for He will “avenge His own elect, which cry day and night unto Him, though He bear long with them.”

It will appear as though Satan is triumphant, and that truth is overborne with falsehood and error; because the people over whom God has spread His shield, and the country which has been an asylum to the conscience-oppressed lovers of God and the defenders of His truth, are placed in desperate jeopardy through its oppressive legislation. Should our nation abjure the principles of Protestantism, to give countenance and sanction to the Sunday law, they will in this act join hands with popery; for it will be nothing else than giving life to the tyranny which has been eagerly waiting and watching its opportunity to spring into active despotism. And now, as this evil is on the point of realization, it is the business of all believers in the Bible to arouse.

For years many have sat in calm expectation of this event, and they will not be working out the purposes of God if they comfort themselves with the thought that what is to come will come, and anything that they may do will not prevent it. They should not settle down in an easy, comfortable indolence, thinking that God will shelter His own people in the day of this calamity. This is the time for action, not for indolence and spiritual stupor. Satan is preparing his forces with a power from beneath, and all heaven is in busy activity, ready to work in the interests of those who are awake to the condition of things, and, like faithful sentinels, are doing all they can to arouse the people to avert, if possible, the threatened evil.

If our people continue in the listless attitude in which they have been, God cannot pour upon them His Spirit. They are unprepared to co-operate with Him. They do not realize the threatened danger, and are not awake to the situation. They should feel now as never before their need of vigilance and well-concerted action.

The following quotation from Testimony, No. 32, pages 208–210, which was published in 1885, shows that our people have not been left without warnings as to the duties and dangers of the times: “God has revealed what is to take place in the last days, that His people may be prepared to stand against the tempest of opposition and wrath. Those who have been warned of the events before them are not to sit in calm expectation of the coming storm, comforting themselves that the Lord will shelter His faithful ones in the day of trouble. We are to be as men waiting for their Lord, not in idle expectancy, but in earnest work, with unwavering faith. It is no time now to allow our minds to be engrossed with things of minor importance. While men are sleeping. Satan is actively arranging matters so that the Lord’s people may not have mercy or justice. The Sunday movement is now making its way in darkness. The leaders are concealing the true issue, and many who unite in the movement do not themselves see whither the under-current is tending. Its professions are mild, and apparently Christian; but when it shall speak, it will reveal the spirit of the dragon. It is our duty to do all in our power to avert the threatened danger. We should endeavor to disarm prejudice by placing ourselves in a proper light before the people. We should bring before them the real question at issue, thus interposing the most effectual protest against measures to restrict liberty of conscience. We should search the Scriptures, and be able to give the reason for our faith. Says the prophet, “The wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.”

Those who have access to God through Christ have important work before them. Now is the time to lay hold of the arm of our strength. The prayer of David should be the prayer of pastors and laymen: “It is time for Thee, Lord, to work; for they have made void Thy law.” Let the servants of the Lord weep between the porch and the altar, crying, “Spare Thy people, O Lord, and give not Thine heritage to reproach.” God has always wrought for His people in their greatest extremity, when there seemed the least hope that ruin could be averted. The designs of wicked men, the enemies of the church, are subject to His power and overruling providence. He can move upon the hearts of statesmen; the wrath of the turbulent and disaffected, the haters of God, of His truth and His people, can be turned aside, even as the rivers of water are turned, if He orders it thus. Prayer moves the arm of Omnipotence. He who marshals the stars in order in the heavens, whose word controls the waves of the great deep,—the same infinite Creator will work in behalf of His people if they call upon Him in faith. He will restrain the forces of darkness, until the warning is given to the world, and all who will heed it are prepared for the conflict. “The wrath of man shall praise Thee,” says the psalmist; “the remainder of wrath shalt Thou restrain.” God means that testing truth shall be brought to the front, and become a subject of examination and discussion even if it is through the contempt placed upon it. The minds of the people must be agitated. Every controversy, every reproach, every slander, will be God’s means of provoking inquiry, and awakening minds that otherwise would slumber.

Thus it has been in the past history of God’s people. For refusing to worship the great golden image which Nebuchadnezzar had set up, the three Hebrews were cast into the fiery furnace. But God preserved His servants in the midst of the flames, and the attempt to enforce idolatry resulted in bringing the knowledge of the true God before the assembled princes and great men of the vast kingdom of Babylon. So it was when the decree went forth forbidding prayer to any god save the king. As Daniel, according to his custom, made his supplications three times a day to the God of heaven, the attention of the princes and rulers was called to his case. He had an opportunity to speak for himself, to show who is the true God, and to present the reason why he alone should receive worship, and the duty of rendering Him praise and homage. And the deliverance of Daniel from the den of lions was another evidence that the Being whom he worshiped was the true and living God.

So the imprisonment of Paul brought the gospel before kings, princes, and rulers, who otherwise would not have had this light. The efforts made to retard the progress of truth will serve to extend it. The excellence of truth is more clearly seen from every successive point from which it may be viewed. Error requires disguise and concealment. It clothes itself in angel robes, and every manifestation of its real character lessens its chance of success. The people whom God has made the depositaries of His law are not to permit their light to be hidden. The truth must be proclaimed in the dark places of the earth. Obstacles must be met and surmounted. A great work is to be done, and this work has been entrusted to those who know the truth. They should make mighty intercession with God for help now. The love of Christ must be diffused in their own hearts. The Spirit of Christ must be poured out upon them, and they must be making ready to stand in the judgment. While they are consecrating themselves to God, a convincing power will attend their efforts to present the truth to others, and its light will find access to many hearts. We must sleep no longer on Satan’s enchanted ground, but call into requisition all our resources, and avail ourselves of every facility with which Providence has furnished us. The last warning is to be proclaimed “before many people, and nations, and tongues, and kings;” and the promise is given, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.”

Through fraud and falsehood Satan is now using those who claim to be Christians to divorce the world from God’s mercy. They are working in blindness. They do not see that if a Protestant government sacrifices the principles that have made them a free, independent nation, and through legislation brings into the Constitution, principles that will propagate papal falsehood and papal delusion, they are plunging into the Roman horrors of the Dark Ages. But this need not be, just at this point of time, if the church is aroused to her duty and her work. A vast responsibility is devolving upon men and women of prayer throughout the land, to petition that God may sweep back this cloud of evil, and give a few more years of grace to work for the Master.

The peculiar work of the third angel has not been seen in its importance. God meant that His people should be far in advance of what they are today. But now, when the time has come for them to spring into action, they have the getting ready to do. When Satan made his advances, it was high time for the watchmen on the walls of Zion to arouse and counteract his efforts to obtain the advantage. It is not in the order of God that light has been kept from our people —the very present truth which they needed for this time. Not all of our ministers who are giving the Third Angel’s Message, really understand what constitutes that message. The National Reform movement has been regarded by some as of so little importance that they have not thought it necessary to give much attention to it, and have even felt that in so doing, they would be giving time to questions distinct from the Third Angel’s Message. May the Lord forgive our brethren for thus interpreting the very message for this time. The Third Angel’s Message comprehends more than many suppose. What interpretation do they give to the passage which says an angel descended from heaven, and the earth was lightened with his glory? This is not a time when we can be excused for inactivity. If this work, which was so essential, had been taken up by our ministers, there would be today a far different state of things in all our churches.

Some in the church will prove to be false brethren; their faith, their love, their patience, their constancy will be tested and tried; and if they are not rooted and grounded in the truth, if they are not filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ unto the glory and the praise of God, they will become offended at reproofs and warnings, will not humble their souls before God, and will go back and walk no more with those who love the truth. The people need to be aroused in regard to the dangers of the present time. The watchmen are asleep. We are years behind. Let the chief watchmen feel the urgent necessity of taking heed to themselves, lest they lose the opportunities given to them to see the dangers. Let them blow the trumpet, not in a general way, but so that it may give a certain sound, that other watchmen upon the walls of Zion may hear, and in their turn send forth the warning note.

Perils now threaten the people of God; and what will they do? Can we not assist in lifting the standard, and in calling to the front those who have a regard for their religious rights and privileges? God calls us to awake; for the end is near. The prophecies that show us the closing scenes of earth’s history, are fast fulfilling. The time is fast approaching when we shall be made to feel the hand of oppression, because we demand our religious rights. Shall we then dishonor God by keeping silent, when His holy commandments are being trampled under foot?

We have been looking many years for a Sunday law to be enacted in our land; and now that the movement is right upon us, we ask, What are our people going to do in the matter? Do you realize that the night will soon come, when no man can work? Have you that intensity of zeal, that piety and devotion, which will enable you to stand when opposition is brought upon you? If God has ever spoken by me, the time will come when we shall be brought before councils, and every position of truth which we hold will be severely criticized. The time that we are now allowing to go to waste should be devoted to the charge God has given us, of preparing for the approaching crisis. Much time should be spent in prayer, that our garments of character may be washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb.

We should especially seek God for grace and power to be given His people now. God lives; and we do not believe that the time has fully come when He would have our liberties restricted. The prophet saw “four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.” Another angel ascending from the east, cried to them, saying, “Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.” This points out the work we now have to do, which is to cry to God for the angels to hold the four winds until missionaries shall be sent to all parts of the world, and shall have proclaimed the warning against disobeying the law of Jehovah. But every conceivable thing that the enemy can bring against the people of God, to hinder them in their work, will be employed. The Lord, on the other hand, bids all to be awake and to watch; for it was while men slept, that the enemy sowed tares.

 

Romans 7, part 2

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Editor’s Note: Last month we looked at the first two symbols that Paul uses in Romans 7 to illustrate the conversion process. This month we will look at the last two which will further clarify what Paul meant in Romans 7:15.

 

“Until Death Do Us Part”

 

For the third time, Paul asks: “Know ye not, brethren . . . how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband . . . Wherefore, my brethren ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to Him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.” Romans 7:1–4.

In this third parallel, freedom from the bondage of sin is likened to marriage which continues until the spouse dies. The surviving spouse is then free to enter a marriage relationship with another. It is the same with one’s obligation to the law of sin; after his death to the law of sin, the Christian is free to follow God’s law. In another place Paul says that even if he is still harassed for a time by his sinful nature, it is crucified and has lost its power to One who is all powerful: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20.

These three parallels show that Paul was not “sold under sin” and did what he hated when he wrote to the Romans and clarified salvation in Christ, but referred to an earlier experience—an earlier experience without an alternative, which we shall look at more closely.

 

An Earlier Experience

 

What Paul deals with, in the seventh chapter of Romans, is a time in his life when he was the Pharisee, Saul, and lived according to the letter of the law. (See Philippians 3:4–9.) After his conversion, he called it a time “without the law.” Although physically blinded by the light from heaven on the road to Damascus, his spiritual eyes were opened and he realized his true relationship with respect to the demands of the law. He said: “For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.” Romans 7:9.

Conversion is more than an outward fulfilling of the law. It reaches our innermost thoughts and imagination. It is here that temptation comes, and if allowed to develop in the thoughts gives birth to sin, finally expressing itself in speech and actions. Therefore, God says: “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” Proverbs 4:23.

Jesus explained the law’s demands to His disciples and said that everyone who is angry with his brother breaks the sixth commandment and that only a look of desire, at a woman, means adultery. The disciples wondered who then could be saved. Christ answered that it is impossible with man, but with God everything is possible. A power outside of mankind is necessary, and Paul establishes that. “For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.” Romans 7:14.

But after this experience of despair, Paul also experienced reconciliation and became redeemed through God’s Lamb. As a conclusion for the third parallel, he talks about “bondage in the flesh” in times past, and says: “For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.” Romans 7:5, 6.

Paul talks about former times, “when we were in the flesh,” which is positive proof that he did not write about his converted life in Romans 7:14–23, but about his earlier, unconverted life, for the purpose of teaching the Romans how to adjust to the Christian life. Paul was no longer a slave to his inherited “fleshly” nature. What did he think about the law; was it sinful? No, the law with the commandment is “holy, and just and good.”

Romans 7:12. There was nothing wrong with the law, it was only a curse when compared with his earlier life. The law’s function, among other things, is to teach us what sin is. Because, where there is no law, there is nothing to sin against. Romans 7:7, 8; 4:15.

The law expresses life’s principles and is a reflection of God’s character. The difference between Paul’s relationship to the law, before and after his conversion, is that he was under the curse of the law, before, when he tried to earn his salvation through his own works. Through his conversion, he became agreeable to the law and followed it with gladness because of salvation through the power he received from God. He says: “That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Romans 8:4.

 

What is “The Flesh”?

 

“The flesh” is a Biblical term which signifies Adam’s fallen nature which we automatically inherit through ancestry. Therefore, we also have a natural inclination to do evil and soil our characters; the impurity of which then shuts us out of God’s kingdom. However, in Roman Catholic theology, a “sinful nature” in itself is sin. They teach that the guilt of their ancestors is automatically passed on to succeeding generations. In other words, each baby born into the world is automatically guilty, at birth, of the “original sin” of mankind’s first parents. Therefore, Roman Catholics are forced to hold the doctrine that Jesus was born without a sinful nature. He was, they say, as Adam was before the fall, seeing that He was without inherited guilt, but was also as Adam after the fall, seeing that He took upon Himself fallen man’s physical body. Christ could feel hunger, thirst, sorrow and pain—but nothing more.

Roman Catholics say, and Desmond Ford claims: “To teach that Christ was possessed of sinful propensities [is to teach that] He Himself was a sinner in need of a Saviour!” (Desmond Ford, Palmdale Conference on Righteousness by Faith, 39.) But the only definition that the Bible has of sin is that it is “the transgression of the law.” 1 John 3:4. The doctrine of original sin comes from heathendom and was given birth into Roman Catholic theology by Aurelius Augustine (354–430 A.D.) who was strongly influenced by his father’s Persian religion, Zoroastrianism, during his upbringing. The doctrine of original sin was passed on to Protestantism by the Reformers (who were obviously unaware of its hellish implications). God said, however, to the Jews who also fell for such heathenish fables: “Yet say ye, Why? doth not the son bear the iniquity of the father . . .? No! The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father . . . the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.” Ezekiel 18:19, 20.

“The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin.” Deuteronomy 24:16.

Paul said that “in all things it behoved [it was necessary for] Him to be made like unto His brethren, [so] that . . . He is able to succor them that are tempted.” Hebrews 2:17, 18. Paul also explains that: “God [sent] his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh . . .” Romans 8:3. John reveals to us that those who deny that “Jesus Christ is come in the flesh” have the spirit of Antichrist. (1 John 4:1–3; 2 John 7.)

To understand what the “nature of the flesh” is, as opposed to what the “Spirit’s new nature” is, Paul shows in his letter to the Galatians what the “works” of each are. “For brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh . . . This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envying, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I told you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” Galatians 5:13, 16–25.

Paul therefore exhorts the Romans, and us, to live a victorious life through God’s infinite power, of which we may partake to live righteous lives.

“Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” Romans 8:12–14.

John makes it even clearer and adds savor to his expression. He says: “Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as He [Christ] is righteous. He that commiteth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for His seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born ofGod.” 1 John 3:7–9.

This means that so long as we are under the control of the Holy Spirit we cannot sin, seeing that the Spirit, of course, does not sin. If we fall, we have left the Spirit’s leading and have let ourselves be led by the devil who has tempted us through our flesh, that is to say our sinful nature. Then must we flee back to God to be reconciled with Him and receive new strength to conquer.

“Those who are in connection with God are channels for the power of the Holy Spirit. If one who daily communes with God errs from the path, if he turns a moment from looking steadfastly unto Jesus, it is not because he sins willfully; for when he sees his mistake, he turns again, and fastens his eyes upon Jesus, and the fact that he has erred does not make him less dear to the heart of God. He knows that he has communion with the Saviour; and when reproved for his mistake in some matter of judgment, he does not walk sullenly, and complain of God, but turns the mistake into a victory. He learns a lesson from the words of the Master, and takes heed that he be not again deceived.” Review and Herald, May 12, 1896.

The token for victory is that God’s Spirit itself bears witness with our Spirit, that we are the children of God. (Romans 8:16.) This is the Bible’s joyful message. Everything else is a false gospel.

 

Nature and Character

 

The “New Theology,” with belief in the doctrine of “original” sin, means that we through our inherited nature bear the guilt for sin even after our conversion. Sin is, according to that belief, even in “the good” which Paul wants to do, yes, as well as in his victory over sin. It also means that even the best that we do is defiled with egotistical motivation, and even our weaknesses are reckoned as sin. Therefore, the “New Theology” focuses only on forgiveness—not on sanctification of the character. The “New Theology” does not make a distinction between our inherited nature and our character, which we form during our life. We are afflicted with our nature until the Second Coming of Christ, at which time He glorifies us in the same way that His own body was glorified on the resurrection morning. With His return He shall “change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body . . .” Philippians 3:21.

When it applies to the character, there is a difference between Jesus and us. Seeing that we have stained our character through our passions and transgressions of the commandments, we have therefore, over and above our sinful nature, even a fallen character with its own acquired customs, to resist. Christ, on the other hand, never sullied His character. He kept it pure and never succumbed to temptation because of the power which He constantly requested of His Father; a power to which we also have full access. “To the consecrated worker there is wonderful consolation in the knowledge that even Christ during His life on earth sought His Father daily for fresh supplies of needed grace.” The Acts of the Apostles, 56. As God helped Jesus to keep His character unspotted, He can recreate our character—and keep it unspotted.

Our fallen nature is not changed until the Second Coming of Jesus, but our character must be transformed and sanctified here and now through God’s power, if we are to be saved at all! Jesus will not perform some miracle with our character when He comes, neither when He pours out “the latter rain.” That would be against our will, seeing that we had not developed the correct attitude to its reception beforehand.

A pure character is a prerequisite for the ability to receive “the latter rain,” the Holy Spirit’s last great outpouring, which shall bear the “Loud Cry” to the whole world before the return of Christ.

Conclusion

To be saved is not, in and of itself, to come to a better world. There is only one purpose in the plan of salvation—to enable human beings to stop committing transgression of the principles of life, because salvation is to be saved from sin. (Matthew 1:21.) Nobody will be saved in his sin (Rev 21:8, 27), because if that were so, the new earth, which God will establish, would be destroyed just as this world has been. However, God has done everything He can for us so that we can conquer sin. The Spirit of Prophecy says encouragingly: “Those who put their trust in Christ are not to be enslaved by any hereditary or cultivated habit or tendency. Instead of being held in bondage to the lower nature, they are to rule every appetite and passion. God has not left us to battle with evil in our own finite strength . . . we can overcome through the power that He is ready to impart.” The Ministry of Healing, 175, 176.

In response to the “Holy Flesh” Movement of 1900, in Indiana, which taught that mankind’s physical sinful nature could be holy now, Ellen White wrote that through the reception of Christ’s sacrifice and the bending of our will to His: “All may obtain holy hearts, but it is not correct to claim in this life to have holy flesh. The apostle Paul declares, ‘I know that in me [that is, in my flesh,] dwelleth no good thing:’ Romans 7:18.” Selected Messages, vol. 2, 32.

“As faith thus receives and assimilates the principles of truth, they become a part of the being, and the motive power of the life. The word of God, received into the soul, moulds the thoughts, and enters into the development of character.” The Desire of Ages, 391.

“Through faith in Christ, every deficiency of character may be supplied, every defilement cleansed, every fault corrected, every excellence developed.” Education, 257.

“I saw how this grace could be obtained. Go to your closet, and there alone plead with God: ‘Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.’ Be in earnest, be sincere. Fervent prayer availeth much. Jacob-like, wrestle in prayer. Agonize. Jesus, in the garden, sweat great drops of blood; you must make an effort. Do not leave your closet until you feel strong in God; then watch, and just as long as you watch and pray you can keep these evil besetments under, and the grace of God can and will appear in you.” Testimonies, vol. 1, 158.