To prepare people for eternal life.
IssueM Articles
Rutabagas
garlic Powder
Olive Oil
paprika
Salt
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Immediately sprinkle with garlic powder and paprika. Add a little salt at the end as well.
Rutabagas, commonly called swede, turnip, yellow turnip, or neep, are a root vegetable that originated as a cross between a cabbage and a turnip. Years ago they were considered one of the more common vegetables. Everyone knew what they were and most people liked them. My childhood memory is Mother putting them into stews or cooking them before mashing them together with potatoes. Yum! I can still taste it. Always choose small to medium rutabagas with firm skin. Once they grow over four inches in diameter they are usually tough and woody and not as sweet as the smaller ones.
Rutabagas are not exactly a nutrition powerhouse, but they do come with a high pedigree for potassium and a good recommendation for vitamin C. They are also a source of magnesium, folate, calcium and phosphorus and a single serving provides about 12% of the daily value of fiber.
Raw—Peel with a vegetable peeler because they are often waxed. Slice and enjoy as a snack. Chop, dice, or grate into salads. Work well grated in coleslaw or carrot salad.
Baking—Cut peeled rutabagas into 1/4-inch slices. Place them in a baking dish and sprinkle generously with water. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees F. for 20 to 30 minutes or until tender.
Boiling—Place whole rutabaga in boiling water and cook until tender, about 25 to 35 minutes. For sliced rutabagas cook 7 to 10 minutes.
Steaming—Whole or cut rutabaga can be steamed over boiling water for 25 to 35 minutes.
Stir-fry—Thinly slice rutabaga and fry with onions until crisp and tender, about 6 to 7 minutes.
Freezing—Cut rutabagas into strips or slices and blanch for 2 minutes in boiling water before freezing. Rutabagas can be cooked and/or pureed before freezing.
Storage—Rutabagas keep well and can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 to 3 weeks. Unrefrigerated they will keep for about a week.
In order to know our proper relationship to our fellow men on earth, we must first learn our proper relationship to those who dwell in another place, which the Bible calls heaven.
The Bible makes it very clear that there are many other intelligences in the universe besides human beings that are wiser and stronger than those living on earth. In Revelation 12:12, it says, “Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”
Notice, it says, “rejoice, heavens, and you that dwell in them!” So, there are other intelligences that dwell in heavenly places. In the very last chapter (22) of the book of Revelation, it says in verse 16, “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.”
There are not only angels of heaven, but there are angels who have fallen from heaven, who left their first estate. You can read about that in II Peter 2, and also in the book of Jude. Jesus talked about these evil spirits. In fact, there are many conversations between Christ and evil spirits recorded in the gospels. “Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.’ And He said to them, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.’ ” Luke 10:17–19.
We see that there are both good and evil spirits. The angels of heaven, God’s angels, are spoken of like this in Hebrews 1:14: “Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?”
There are angels of God who are attempting to help you to walk up the narrow way and to be saved at last. There are also evil spirits that in the last days will succeed in deceiving almost the entire world. We read in Revelation 16:13, 14, “I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are spirits of demons, performing signs [miracles], which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.”
Above all of these spirits, both the good and evil spirits, there is a spirit that rules over them. One of the most important and one of the most wonderful sermons of Jesus is recorded in John 4. Incidentally, this most wonderful sermon was given to an audience of one who was an outcast in her city, the woman at the well of Samaria.
Jesus spoke to her about true worship, where we should worship, and how we should worship. He told her, “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is a Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:23, 24.
We have just read that there are many spirits in the universe. There are good spirits and evil spirits that have fallen and are in this world rebelling against the government of God, but there is one Spirit that is above them all. Jesus said, “God is a Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”
How do you worship God? It is necessary to worship Him in spirit, which is with your heart and with your emotions, with your feelings, and also with truth, with your intellect, following all that the Bible teaches. When Jesus was on earth one of the aspects of worship that He practiced daily was prayer. Jesus was a man of prayer. The Bible says that sometimes He prayed all night. Once after He had finished praying, “It came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught His disciples.’ ” Luke 11:1. In response to this request, Jesus gave to His disciples what we call today, “The Lord’s Prayer.”
There are millions of people around the world today who repeat the Lord’s Prayer, either morning or evening, or sometimes several times a day. Unfortunately, there are many who have learned the words and repeat it without thinking or realizing what they are really saying. We will consider here the first phrase, the first short sentence of the Lord’s Prayer in Luke 11:2–4 KJV.
The opening address is, “Our Father Who art in heaven …” If your prayer is going to be effective, your prayer needs to be addressed to your Father in heaven. This identifies your heavenly Father as the object of true worship, the One Whom you worship and the One Whom you are addressing.
There are people today who pray to all sorts of things. Some people pray to saints; others pray to famous people who have died; and some people pray to angels. But the Bible does not teach any of these manners of prayer. Jesus did not teach His disciples to pray to angels or to saints. He taught them to pray to our Father in heaven.
This salutation, when you think about it eliminates all other gods as undeserving of worship, leaving no room for the worship of any creature or any other being. Today in our rebellious world there are many gods and many lords and much false religion. The apostle Paul said this in I Corinthians 8:5, 6, first part: “For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords), yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things.”
Paul recognized that there are many gods and many lords, but those are all false gods except one. We as Christians have only one God, one Lord. There is only one true God Who only is to be worshiped by all created beings. In the Bible we are strictly forbidden to worship anyone or anything else. This is so important that in the second commandment, which happens to be the second longest commandment, we are told not to worship anyone or anything else.
“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.” Exodus 20:4–6.
The second commandment emphatically forbids the worship of any other god, saints, or angels, or any creature, even pronouncing a curse on those who do this. Angels of God will not allow any human being to worship them.
In Revelation 22:8, 9 the apostle John records that he was overcome with the glorious things that he saw: “Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. Then he said to me, ‘See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.’ ” Revelation 19:10. So, we are forbidden in the Bible to worship any other God. We are not to worship any angels and we are certainly not to worship any human being.
One time at God’s direction the apostle Peter went to see a man by the name of Cornelius who had not yet heard the gospel. He had just been told by an angel that he was to send for a man called Peter who would tell him what he and his household needed to know to have eternal life. When Peter came in to talk to Cornelius, he was overjoyed that in his presence was the man that he had been told would come to him and teach him. The Bible says that Cornelius fell down to worship before Peter but what happened?
The Bible says, “As Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. But Peter lifted him up, saying, ‘Stand up; I myself am also a man.’ ” Acts 10:25, 26.
Notice that the apostle Peter would not allow a human being to worship him. An angel of God would not allow anyone to worship him. The Bible pronounces a curse on anyone who worships the creature instead of the Creator. “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.
“Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, Who is blessed forever. Amen.
“For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.
“And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, [and] sexual immorality … .” Romans 1:18–29.
Notice the curse that is pronounced on those who worship the creature instead of the Creator. And God gives them over to a debased mind, and they become filled with all unrighteousness and do those things that Paul says are worthy of death (verse 32).
In heaven, everybody worships the Creator. Revelation 4:10, 11 describes a worship scene in heaven. “The twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: ‘You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.’ ”
Here is revealed God’s right to be worshiped, because He is the Creator Who created all things and it is by His will they exist. It is His power to create that makes the eternal Father worthy of worship and adoration by the heavenly universe.
Something else that we need to understand about God is that He is not part of the creation that He created. He is separate from His creation. We understand from the very first sentence in the Lord’s Prayer, which says, “Our Father Who art in heaven …” We understand from this statement that God is not a part of the creation of this world, but rather, His dwelling place is in heaven, a distinct and separate place from where we live. Heaven is just as real as the earth, but it is a different place. For that reason we cannot obtain the help that we need and desire by looking to the earth. Rather, we must look to heaven to find the Source of blessing and all the things that we need.
In the Bible times there were people who understood this very clearly and explained it in explicit language. Notice what John the Baptist said: “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.” John 3:27.
He clearly understood that you cannot receive anything unless God permits it or allows it. Notice what the apostle James says about this very same subject in his book: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” James 1:17.
Because it is impossible to obtain the help that we need from this world we need to look to heaven to receive the blessings. This statement, “Our Father Who art in heaven,” expresses at one and the same time, both God’s nearness and His distance from us. God is near us because the apostle Paul says in Acts 17:27, 28, “So that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’”
At the same time, the expression, “Our Father Who art in heaven,” expresses the fact of His distance from us. Notice what it says about this in Ecclesiastes 5:2: “Do not be rash with your mouth, and let not your heart utter anything hastily before God. For God is in heaven, and you on earth; therefore let your words be few.”
Again, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest? For all those things My hand has made, and all those things exist,’ says the Lord.” Isaiah 66:1, 2.
So, the Lord says you build Me a temple, you build Me a church, you build Me a house, but I made all those things that you made for Me. I made them Myself. Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool. We should never forget that the God we worship is as high above us as the heavens are above the earth. Therefore we must not be guilty of thinking or addressing Him as an equal. This was the cause of the fall of Lucifer.
Isaiah 14 describes the desire of Lucifer’s heart and the cause of his fall. He wanted to be God Himself, though the Bible is very clear that no creature can ever become God. Lucifer wanted this position. Isaiah 14 says, “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ ” Isaiah 14:12–14.
Lucifer wanted to be like God. He wanted to be equal with God. Unfortunately, this same desire, this same spirit, has been manifested millions of times among the descendants of Adam and Eve. For this same reason Eve fell. The devil, impersonating a serpent, said to her if she would eat the fruit of this forbidden tree she could be like God (Genesis 3:45). She fell for that idea and people have been falling for it ever since. They want to be their own God, in charge of their own lives. They do not want to look to heaven for help but want to control their own affairs.
God understands this feeling and He rebukes it in His Word. “These things you have done, and I kept silent; you thought that I was altogether like you; but I will rebuke you, and set them in order before your eyes.” Psalm 50:21.
The Lord says, “You think that I’m just like you, but I’m not.” The expression, “Our Father Who art in heaven …” is the very foundation of the whole Lord’s Prayer. It conveys to us God’s tender regard for us. And it should also convey our feelings toward Him. The first utterance of this model prayer brings the worshiper to the house of God and the gate of heaven where all of His temporal and spiritual needs can be supplied. However, not every person in the world can truthfully pray it and honestly claim God as their Father.
God wants to be your Father; He wants you to become His child. “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right [or the authority] to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.” John 1:12.
Friend, have you been given the right to become a child of God so that you might truthfully call Him Father. Jesus would like to adopt you into His family if you will accept Him as the Saviour and Lord of your life. And when that happens, then you will be given the authority to become God’s child and you will be able to say, without telling a lie, “Our Father Who art in heaven.”
Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church of Free Seventh-day Adventists in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.
God has provided an abundance of delicious fruits, vegetables and nuts to nourish man. Nothing could be more appealing than sitting down to a bowl of fruit salad with the vibrant colors and textures of the different berries and fruits or a fresh vegetable salad with such a variety of vegetables that are all different, yet complementary to each other.
However, for various reasons many are not able to enjoy these delicacies in their natural form. Some people have trouble masticating their food and do not receive its full nutrient value. Others are suffering illness or recovering from illness and need some concentrated nutrients that are easily digested. Others may just want to give their diet a boost. In these cases both juicing and blending have their place. In our household we do both.
Juicing, which requires a juice extractor, strips away the fiber, leaving just the essential minerals and vitamins. The nutrients from this juice are absorbed into the system within about 20 minutes because there is no fiber to deal with. For anyone who is ill or recovering from an illness, this is a great way to receive nourishment into the body quickly to build up the immune system. People who have bowel or digestion issues also benefit greatly through juicing because they receive the much needed nutrients which their bodies cannot receive by eating foods that contain fiber. Many of the natural healing programs require from one to ten glasses of juice each day to build up the immune system so that it can battle disease.
Blending requires a high speed blender to process the different vegetables and greens. The high speed of the blender helps break down the cell walls of the food to such a degree that the protein and other nutrients are made more available for the body’s use. These blended salads are much more substantial and filling than juice, allowing you to receive all of the nutrients along with the fiber, making a delicious “green drink” depending on your choice of vegetables or fruits.
See the excerpts in the table from Dr. Joel Fuhrman’s newsletters on the advantages of blending your salad as opposed to eating it.
By Dr. Fuhrman
All plants are composed of cells whose walls consist mainly of cellulose, which is a type of carbohydrate. A plant-based diet (one rich in fruits and vegetables) contains a large amount of cellulose. Humans do not have the enzyme capable of breaking down cellulose, so we cannot utilize cellulose as an energy source. If we eat cellulose-rich, raw greens without thoroughly masticating them, we lose much of the food value.
To get as many nutrients as possible into your bloodstream, the plant walls must be broken open to release the nutrients inside the cell. When we simply chew a salad, about seventy to ninety percent of the cells are not broken open. Blending raw, leafy greens guarantees that a higher percentage of nutrients will be absorbed into your bloodstream for your body to use.
www.drfuhrman.com/FreeNewsletter.aspx/HealthyTimes_8pdf?code=4CABE05E-F371-4CAB-8BB1-24F93B5DA7C8
By Dr. Fuhrman
The greatest benefit of blending is the increased absorption of important nutrients. By just chewing your food you absorb about 15–25% of the nutrients, but blending makes your body able to absorb up to 95%!
www.drfuhrman.com/library/bulletin/March_Recipe_Newsletter.html
I am very thankful that Dr. Fuhrman has made this interesting information available. Depending upon your health needs or the health needs of your family, juicing or blending your foods is an option and may help to nourish and/or strengthen the immune system. (In fact, as I stated earlier, I do both in our home.) A strengthened immune system is a real blessing to have in this time in which we live because of the variety of health issues, which are increasing. God supplies us with good foods and we need to use them in such a way that our bodies may absorb all of the nutrients possible and prosper in good health.
Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.” John 20:17.
Few people understand or notice the significance of what Jesus did.
“Jesus refused to receive the homage of His people until He had the assurance that His sacrifice was accepted by the Father. He ascended to the heavenly courts, and from God Himself heard the assurance that His atonement for the sins of men had been ample, that through His blood all might gain eternal life. The Father ratified the covenant made with Christ, that He would receive repentant and obedient men, and would love them even as He loves His Son. Christ was to complete His work, and fulfill His pledge to ‘make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir’ (Isaiah 13:12). All power in heaven and on earth was given to the Prince of Life, and He returned to His followers in a world of sin, that He might impart to them of His power and glory.
“While the Saviour was in God’s presence, receiving gifts for His church, the disciples thought upon His empty tomb, and mourned and wept. The day that was a day of rejoicing to all heaven was to the disciples a day of uncertainty, confusion, and perplexity.” The Desire of Ages, 790.
That covenant, the plan of salvation that was made between the Father and the Son, was now ratified.
“The plan of salvation had been laid before the creation of the earth; for Christ is ‘the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world’ (Revelation 13:8); yet it was a struggle, even with the King of the universe, to yield up His Son to die for the guilty race. But ‘God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life’ (John 3:16).” Patriarchs and Prophets, 63.
God the Father and the Son had previously made a covenant, the plan of salvation. After Jesus rose from the tomb the first thing He wanted to do was to go to His Father for His approval. He then revisited His disciples, bringing gifts to empower them for their mission.
God gave men eyes, that they might behold wondrous things out of His law. He gave them the hearing ear, that they might listen to His message, spoken by the living preacher. He gave men the talent of speech, that they might present Christ as the sin-pardoning Saviour. With the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
All should guard the senses, lest Satan gain victory over them; for these are the avenues of the soul.
You will have to become a faithful sentinel over your eyes, ears, and all your senses if you would control your mind and prevent vain and corrupt thoughts from staining your soul. The power of grace alone can accomplish this most desirable work.
Satan and his angels are busy creating a paralyzed condition of the senses so that cautions, warnings, and reproofs shall not be heard; or, if heard, that they shall not take effect upon the heart and reform the life.
My brethren, God calls upon you as His followers to walk in the light (I John 1:7). You need to be alarmed. Sin is among us, and it is not seen to be exceedingly sinful. The senses of many are benumbed by the indulgence of appetite and by familiarity with sin. We need to advance nearer heaven.
Satan’s work is to lead men to ignore God, to so engross and absorb the mind that God will not be in their thoughts. The education they have received has been of a character to confuse the mind and eclipse the true light. Satan does not wish the people to have a knowledge of God; and if he can set in operation games and theatrical performances that will so confuse the senses of the young that human beings will perish in darkness while light shines all about them, he is well pleased.
We should present before the people the fact that God has provided that we shall not be tempted above what we are able to bear, but that with every temptation He will make a way of escape (I Corinthians 10:13). If we live wholly for God, we shall not allow the mind to indulge in selfish imaginings.
If there is any way by which Satan can gain access to the mind, he will sow his tares and cause them to grow until they will yield an abundant harvest. In no case can Satan obtain dominion over the thoughts, words, and actions, unless we voluntarily open the door and invite him to enter. He will then come in and, by catching away the good seed sown in the heart (Matthew 13:36–40), make of none effect the truth.
All who name the name of Christ need to watch and pray and guard the avenues of the soul, for Satan is at work to corrupt and destroy if the least advantage is given him.
It is not safe for us to linger to contemplate the advantages to be reaped through yielding to Satan’s suggestions. Sin means dishonor and disaster to every soul that indulges in it; but it is blinding and deceiving in its nature, and it will entice us with flattering presentations. If we venture on Satan’s ground, we have no assurance of protection from his power. So far as in us lies, we should close every avenue by which the tempter may find access to us.
Who can know, in the moment of temptation, the terrible consequences which will result from one wrong, hasty step! Our only safety is to be shielded by the grace of God every moment, and not put out our own spiritual eyesight so that we will call evil, good, and good, evil (Isaiah 5:20). Without hesitation or argument we must close and guard the avenues of the soul against evil.
Every Christian must stand on guard continually, watching every avenue of the soul where Satan might find access. He must pray for divine help and at the same time resolutely resist every inclination to sin. By courage, by faith, by persevering toil, he can conquer. But let him remember that to gain the victory Christ must abide in him and he in Christ (John 15:4).
The apostle [Peter] sought to teach the believers how important it is to keep the mind from wandering to forbidden themes or from spending its energies on trifling subjects. Those who would not fall a prey to Satan’s devices must guard well the avenues of the soul; they must avoid reading, seeing, or hearing that which will suggest impure thoughts. The mind must not be left to dwell at random upon every subject that the enemy of souls may suggest. The heart must be faithfully sentineled, or evils without will awaken evils within, and the soul will wander in darkness.
Everything that can be done should be done to place ourselves and our children where we shall not see the iniquity that is practiced in the world. We should carefully guard the sight of our eyes and the hearing of our ears so that these awful things shall not enter our minds. When the daily newspaper comes into the house, I feel as if I want to hide it, that the ridiculous, sensational things in it may not be seen. It seems as if the enemy is at the foundation of the publishing of many things that appear in newspapers. Every sinful thing that can be found is uncovered and laid bare before the world.
Those who would have that wisdom which is from God must become fools in the sinful knowledge of this age, in order to be wise. They should shut their eyes, that they may see and learn no evil. They should close their ears, lest they hear that which is evil and obtain that knowledge which would stain their purity of thoughts and acts. And they should guard their tongues, lest they utter corrupt communications and guile be found in their mouths.
Do not see how close you can walk upon the brink of a precipice and be safe. Avoid the first approach to danger. The soul’s interests cannot be trifled with. Your capital is your character. Cherish it as you would a golden treasure. Moral purity, self-respect, a strong power of resistance, must be firmly and constantly cherished. There should not be one departure from reserve; one act of familiarity, one indiscretion, may jeopardize the soul in opening the door to temptation, and the power of resistance becomes weakened.
Satan has worked continually to eclipse the glories of the future world and to attract the whole attention to the things of this life. He has striven so to arrange matters that our thought, our anxiety, our labor might be so fully employed in temporal things that we should not see or realize the value of eternal realities. The world and its cares have too large a place, while Jesus and heavenly things have altogether too small a share in our thoughts and affections. We should conscientiously discharge all the duties of everyday life, but it is also essential that we should cultivate, above everything else, holy affection for our Lord Jesus Christ.
We should ever keep in mind that unseen agencies are at work, both evil and good, to take the control of the mind. They act with unseen yet effectual power. Good angels are ministering spirits, exerting a heavenly influence upon heart and mind; while the great adversary of souls, the devil, and his angels are continually laboring to accomplish our destruction. …
While we should be keenly alive to our exposure to the assaults of unseen and invisible foes, we are to be sure that they cannot harm us without gaining our consent.
The Adventist Home, 401–405.
God’s Gift Targeted…
Your most precious, personal gifts from God are on the devil’s hit list. While we have taken these gifts for granted, the devil is destroying them little by little. When was the last time you thought about or thanked God for your eyes, for your ears, or for the power of speech? When was the last time you asked God to watch over these gifts?
Satan loves to use these gifts for his cause or to his glory.
Why did God give you eyes?
Why did God give you ears?
Why did God give you speech?
Why did God give you a heart?
Why did God give you a mouth?
Now that you know why God gave you all of these most precious gifts—the eyes, ears, speech, heart and mouth, ask yourself who is in control of them or for what are they being used. If you are honest with yourself, you will be able to answer these questions without hesitation.
We are warned that “All should guard the senses, lest Satan gain victory over them; for these are the avenues of the soul.” Ibid. Satan does not want you to keep these avenues to the soul pure because then he has lost you to Jesus.
What are Satan and his followers doing right now?
“Satan and his angels are busy creating a paralyzed condition of the senses so that cautions, warnings, and reproofs shall not be heard; or, if heard, that they shall not take effect upon the heart and reform the life. …
“Satan does not wish the people to have a knowledge of God; and if he can set in operation games and theatrical performances that will so confuse the senses of the young that human beings will perish in darkness while light shines all about them, he is well pleased.” Ibid., 402.
“We should ever keep in mind that unseen agencies are at work, both evil and good, to take the control of the mind. They act with unseen yet effectual power. Good angels are ministering spirits, exerting a heavenly influence upon heart and mind; while the great adversary of souls, the devil, and his angels are continually laboring to accomplish our destruction.” Ibid., 405. Who is using these valuable gifts?
Heavenly Father: I pray for grace and for faithful angels to help me to distinguish who is using these most valuable gifts. Help me to keep these avenues open for Your use only. I choose not to allow Satan to destroy these precious gifts or to block or poison these avenues to my soul. I want full access to You at all times and I want You to have full access to me. Help me to guard the avenues to my soul and preserve these gifts to Thy glory.
“For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.”
Matthew 24:7.
Indecisive end to Gaza conflict—Fifty days of fighting has left more than 2,200 people dead, most of them Palestinians and more than a quarter of Gaza’s population has been displaced by fighting. How long with this current ceasefire last? is the unanswered question. With the cleanup other problems arise–a health risk. With damaged pipelines and sewage floods the local water authority is now providing 50 percent less water and there are concerns about contamination. BBC News August 19, 2014.
Ebola Outbreak—‘It’s even worse than I’d feared,” Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said of the Ebola outbreak rampaging through West Africa. “Every day this outbreak goes on, it increases the risk for another export to another country.” More than 2,600 people have been infected by Ebola in Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Nigeria since the outbreak began in December. Nearly 1,500 have died. CNN News, August 27, 2014.
Syria—Thousands of foreign fighters from 50 nations are engaged in Syria and who are affiliating themselves with extremist groups to take part in its bloody, messy civil war.
“More than a million Christians have fled their homes in Iraq alone, after being given the ultimatum by the group to convert to their radical form of Islam or be put to death. One report stated that Yazidis converted to Islam against their will in order to avoid death.”
“There are children who are only eating once every three days,” Dr. Ali Albayati, who lives in the town, told the BBC. “It is a humanitarian disaster – 20,000 people in Amerli are fighting off death.”
As terrible as these wars are, could they be the devil’s smoke screen to hide the ultimate enemy of Christianity?
Seoul, South Korea—Pope Francis ended his five-day visit to South Korea with the same message he delivered the moment he first stepped off his Alitalia flight August 14: a call for reconciliation on the Korean peninsula.
Between that first wish and his last public prayer August 18, Francis built on the theme of reconciliation coupling it with calls for forgiveness and inclusiveness, especially keeping in mind the poor and otherwise marginalized of society. …
Francis’ vision of international reconciliation goes beyond the Koreas. He made this clear several times during his visit. He encouraged a group of Catholic bishops and young people on the last day of the Asian youth gathering to evangelize their continent “through dialogue and openness, even with others suspicious or intolerant of the church.” …
Reconciliation requires a transformation of heart, attitude and lifestyle, Francis told every Korean he encountered, explaining such transformation requires payer, hard work and the grace of God.
http://ncronline.org/news/global/pope-francis-focus-south-korean-trip-call-reconciliation
“And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast.” Revelation 13:3. “For when they say, ‘Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them.” I Thessalonians 5:3.
“With the great truth we have been privileged to receive, we should, and under the Holy Spirit’s power we could, become living channels of light. We could then approach the mercy-seat; and seeing the bow of promise, kneel with contrite hearts, and seek the kingdom of heaven with a spiritual violence that would bring its own reward. We would take it by force, as did Jacob.” Review and Herald, February 14, 1899. Are you taking the kingdom of heaven by force? It is the taste of heaven here on this earth, for God is in the hearts of those who, with sufficient spiritual violence, take the kingdom by force. As Jacob was on his way back to his home land, he heard the news that Esau was coming to meet him with 400 armed men. He was virtually defenseless against such a force. He divided his family and flocks into two groups so that if one was destroyed, the other might survive. He then turned aside and went over the brook to wrestle alone in prayer with God. Ellen White tells us that we need to have this experience of wrestling with God.
Comparing the experience of Jacob to ours, we are told, “The season of distress and anguish before us will require a faith that can endure weariness, delay, and hunger—a faith that will not faint though severely tried. The period of probation is granted to all to prepare for that time.” The Great Controversy, 621. We are looking at a mature faith that we must have to endure this time. “Jacob prevailed because he was persevering and determined. His victory is an evidence of the power of importunate prayer. All who will lay hold of God’s promises, as he did, and be as earnest and persevering as he was, will succeed as he succeeded.” Ibid.
As Jacob was wrestling in prayer, a hand was suddenly laid on his shoulder—a strong hand. In the darkness he did not know who it was. He feared it might be a robber, or perhaps a member of Esau’s band. He wrestled for hours as the night dragged on. Usually the human body is exhausted in a matter of a very short time when it is putting out its full energy, wrestling for life; but Jacob was a very powerful man. As the light began to dawn in the east, he was aware of the divine character of his assailant. He then clung to Christ and said, “I will not let Thee go, except Thou bless me!” Genesis 32:26. This was not a presumptuous statement but one of supplication.
What is your prayer life like? Do you wrestle with God until you have the desired blessing? “Those who are unwilling to deny self, to agonize before God, to pray long and earnestly for His blessing, will not obtain it.” The Great Controversy, 621.
If we want the blessing of God and are willing to deny self, to agonize before God and to pray long and earnestly, then, as did Jacob, we can receive it. That blessing will sharpen our spiritual perception, allowing God to show us the things that we need to know; not only of the things taking place around us, but what is taking place inside us. We can go from faith to faith, from grace to grace, reaching new spiritual heights in Christ.
There is something that happens in the process of communing with God, something that takes place at no other time. We are changed in a way that we cannot fully understand. The divine superscription plays upon our hearts, and we come from that time refreshed. Rising above the petty problems that we confront in our daily lives—the harassments of Satan—we become a prince of God.
In the hour in which we live with the crisis that is coming, unimaginable in its ferocity, we need an inner experience that is deeper, broader, and higher than that experience that we are going to have to face.
“Wrestling with God—how few know what it is! How few have ever had their souls drawn out after God with intensity of desire until every power is on the stretch.” Ibid. That is the way it is when we wrestle, is it not? Every power is put on the stretch.
We will either receive the image of God or the image of the beast. When we begin the day with a mountaintop experience with God, having wrestled with Him, not letting Him go until we have the blessing, then we make progress in the divine science of the gospel of Jesus Christ. “When waves of despair which no language can express sweep over the suppliant, how few cling with unyielding faith to the promises of God. Those who exercise but little faith now, are in the greatest danger of falling under the power of satanic delusions and the decree to compel the conscience.” Ibid., 621, 622.
It is in the exercise of faith, this wrestling with God, this experience of saying to God, “I will not let You go until You bless me,” that God reveals to us His character which is at the foundation of Christianity. It is through the revelation of the Holy Spirit to our heart that we learn what the image of God is really like. Then that gives us a richness of faith and a spiritual perception and power to cope with satanic spirits.
For forty years Moses was in the wilderness guiding his flock, basically alone with God. When God finally came and spoke to him, he knew whom it was that was speaking to him. This is going to be, increasingly, the challenge for God’s people: to properly discern the spirits—to discern when it is the Spirit of God speaking as opposed to another spirit. That perception can only be achieved by a deep, living experience with God through His Word—an experience of wrestling and communing with Him.
“When this experience is ours, we shall be lifted out of our poor, cheap selves, that we have cherished so tenderly. We shall empty our hearts of the corroding power of selfishness, and shall be filled with praise and gratitude to God. We shall magnify the Lord, the God of all grace, who has magnified Christ. And He will reveal His power through us, making us as sharp sickles in the harvest field.” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 5, 1089.
I am reminded of the man in John Bunyan’s allegory, Pilgrim’s Progress, who had to enter through a gate that was barricaded, by men with swords. A sword was placed in his hand, and with spiritual violence he had to charge at those men, successfully wielding the sword and gaining the gate, through which he was then able to access further heights in his Christian life.
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, for Thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:35–39.
If you know what it means to wrestle with Christ and to not let Him go until you have His blessing, you have a treasure that is beyond anything in this world. You have a treasure that is eternal. There is nothing that can separate you from the love of God, which is Christ Jesus our Lord, as long as you maintain that relationship of faith and meet the conditions of faith. Heaven must begin here.
There is a yearning in the human heart for home that God has placed there. In Christ the heart finds its home. The hearts of all of those who are part of that true home have found their hearts anchored in the great heart of God—a heart that is so big and so deep that it is measureless.
There is not only love in a true home, but there is rest. It is a place where there is trust and peace, where the heart has rest. Jesus said, “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” Matthew 11:28, 29. The world is restless; it can find no peace. It cannot even begin to understand what it is really longing for in its heart. But Jesus says, “Come unto Me . . . and I will give you rest.” So that home is a place where there is rest, where you can be yourself and people are not looking at you with a jaundiced eye, but they understand you.
You know, it is amazing to me as the representatives of the various ministries work together how the Lord brings us into a oneness. Christ says, “That they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am [there is that home], that they may behold My glory which you have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared unto them Your name, and will declare it, and that the love with which You loved Me may be in them and I in them.” John 17:22–26. So here on earth we have a type of the heavenly home where there is love. There is rest, and the Prince of Peace offers peace that the world cannot give or take away.
There is also security, a sense of security and trust. “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in Him will I trust.” Psalm 91:1, 2. The secret place of union with God—the secret place of communion. I love how it says it in the Hebrew: “He that dwelleth in the secret of God.” And I tell you; the secret of God is a very fascinating secret. It is there that He speaks His mysteries to us personally.
We each need an individual faith in these last days. We may be separated from friends and loved ones. We need an individual faith so that when everything else is stripped away, we have the most valuable thing that there is in the universe, that deep, living, and abiding experience with God.
Home is a place where there is shelter. During the great time of trouble, the faithful will be repeating Psalms 46 and 91. They will become living truth to them.
John the Baptist saw the necessity of dwelling in the secret of God, and from the time that he was a young man, he made the choice to go out into the wilderness and commune with God. There he read from the prophecies of Isaiah until his very soul was filled with the heavenly vision. Because he had bowed low before the King of kings, he was able to stand erect before earthly monarchs. He had things in their proper perspective. Is not that the perspective we need? But the fearful and unbelieving will not be in the kingdom. (See Revelation 21:8.) Those who have learned to wrestle with God, who have learned the reality of His power, who have learned to fear Him, and who have bowed low in His presence, are then prepared to stand erect before earthly kings and give an account of their faith.
The hour is coming when the attention of all Christendom will be drawn to God’s faithful ones. It is very clear from the Spirit of Prophecy that the final issue, which will be the great focus of attention, is the issue of the Sabbath. This issue will be brought to their attention by the defense of the faithful, made in courts of law.
“There is treasure to be desired, and oil in the dwelling of the wise, but a foolish man spendeth it up.” Proverbs 21:20. In the spiritual sense, in the kingdom of God, the child of God has the richest treasure—a treasure far beyond gold and silver, which no earthly panics can affect. A treasure that is beyond the reach of thieves and robbers. So in the true home, there are riches. In the heavenly home there are mansions prepared, but the greatest riches of all are the riches of Christ—to learn of Him throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity. To be able to personally go up to Christ, face to face, and speak to Him about the plan of salvation; about the cross of Calvary; about the science of salvation; about the mystery of redeeming love. There is treasure in the true home.
“For the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehmiah 8:10. There is also joy in a true home. There is joy in the heavenly home, and there is joy in the spiritual home of the kingdom of God.
In the home there is shelter from the storm. “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the protection [or the shelter] of the most High.”
And there is order in the home. “Here are they that keep the Commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Revelation 14:12.
There is also freedom in the true home. “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” John 8:36. “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:32.
There is fraternity, or fatherhood of God in the true home of the faithful. Through all of these features of the home, God speaks to our hearts and says, “I want you, and you, and you in My heavenly home. I want you in the earth made new. I have a title for you, to Abraham’s farm.”
It rests with us to decide whether he [Satan] shall control our hearts and minds, or whether we shall have a place in the new earth, a title to Abraham’s farm.” Messages to Young People, 105.
What a wondrous expression from the Spirit of Prophecy. We have a title to Abraham’s farm. You may have the title deed taken away from your home here; but do not worry; you are only a pilgrim here. If you are justified by faith in Christ’s righteousness, you have a title—a deed—to Abraham’s farm. You have a spot waiting for you in the earth made new, which is more beautiful than is Eden. A title has been given to you by virtue of justification by faith in Christ. I want to have an experience of being on Abraham’s farm in the earth made new.
We need to cherish the longings of our heart for home. Home is found in the great heart of God. The dimensions of His wonderful character are all features of what it means to be dwelling at a place called home, and those characteristics will be disclosed every more fully as throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity we learn what it really means to be home. To be home with God forever and ever and ever and ever.
Let us be there.
Before attempting to exercise some form of mind control, you have to know something about who you are going to try to control. You need to discover something about their spiritual and psychological makeup.
Based on their studies of American soldiers, the Chinese Communists found that American soldiers had a very weak sense of loyalty. They found that their concept of right and wrong was poorly formed, predisposing them to be opportunistic. They learned that when they are alone, they are frightened and insecure. They also found that the American soldiers, even those who were well educated, were ignorant of social values and had a poor understanding of the American political system and how it worked. Not only were these men uneducated regarding their own system but they had little understanding of other countries and other systems. They discovered that the Americans held an unrealistic concept of America’s eternal and inherent, rather than earned or proven, superiority and absolute military invincibility. This, they believed, was their most vulnerable weakness.
They found that the American soldiers did not see the value of any form of order and discipline, they had a low level of patriotism, and they did not see the necessity of military service but viewed it as a hateful, though unavoidable form of servitude, to be escaped as soon as possible. On the basis of these facts, they found the reeducation of American prisoners a relatively easy and very successful form of control.
As I have thought about this situation, I have realized that there are supernatural agencies that are on our track and that they are doing an analysis of each of our spiritual and mental makeups, trying to figure out what type of mind control technique will work best.
The first point that the Communists’ report mentioned was the weak loyalties that the American soldier held for his family, his community, his country, his religion, and to his fellow soldier; and they capitalized on that weakness.
Several years ago I read the book, Fee the Captor. It tells the story of a young lady who was taken captive by the Gestapo in Nazi Germany. Unfortunately, she had on her person a list of people who were working in the underground. They took her to where they were beating a man who was strapped down to the table. They told this young lady, “You either tell us what these names are in this little booklet that you have, or you are going to the table.” She gave them the information they wanted, and, as a result, there was a large number of people who were taken prisoner and lost their lives. You see, her loyalty was not strong enough to the people she was working with that when she was put to the test, she could remain faithful.
There is a decision of loyalty that is going to be made by the whole world. Everyone will be called to choose between the Law of God and the laws of men. There is going to be some pressure applied. You will not be able to buy or sell, and eventually there will be a death decree. Is your love for God and you loyalty to Him so strong that you will be able to say, “I am going to be faithful to the Lord and obey Him whatever takes place”? Have you asked the Lord to help you develop a loyalty that will stand up under pressure and will not give way?
“All will be called to choose between the Law of God and the laws of men. Here the dividing line will be drawn. There will be but two classes. Every character will be fully developed; and all will show whether they have chosen the side of loyalty or that of rebellion.” Desire of Ages, 763.
A second weakness of the American soldiers was their poorly formed concepts of right and wrong. Are your concepts of right and wrong hazy and ill-formed, or are they crystal clear in your mind?
Some years ago I was attending a class in a Seventh-day Adventist university in which we were studying behavioral psychology. The lecture this particular day was on values clarification. I was already a minister at the time, so I was older than most of the students in the class. As the teacher was lecturing, I looked around at the other students, intently watching the teacher and taking notes on all that was being said. I began to wonder if there were any other students in the room who were thinking. In our educational process, we shoot information at people so fast and so heavy and with such pressure to memorize things that they have no time to think.
I began to evaluate what was taking place and asked myself, “Why do I need to be interested in this? After all, I am a Seventh-day Adventist minister and I know the Ten Commandments, but I do not know anything in them that is not clear, or that needs to be clarified. I have a value system and I do not need someone to explain and clarify it. The Ten Commandments is an all-inclusive value system that works.”
How is it in your mind? Is your concept of right and wrong crystal clear? or does someone need to clarify your values for you so that you now what right and wrong is?
“A government, of whatever character, requires a governor. This world has a Governor—the God of the universe. His guardian-care is universal, extending to man and beast, reaching even to the little sparrow; for Christ declares, ‘Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.’
“In God’s moral government, which is a government based upon a distinction between right and wrong, law is essential to secure right action. God’s Law is the expression of His character, and in His Word it is pronounced holy, just, and good. David says, ‘The Law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.’
“Lucifer took the position that as a result of the Law of God, wrong existed in heaven and on this earth. This brought against God’s government the charge of being arbitrary. But this is a falsehood, framed by the author of all falsehoods. God’s government is a government of free will, and there is no act of rebellion or obedience which is not an act of free will.” Signs of the Times, June 5, 1901.
Though it is a total contradiction to behavioral psychology, the truth that God’s government is a government of free will and there is no act of rebellion or disobedience that is not an act of the free will is a truth that it is very important to understand.
“As Creator of all, God is Governor over all, and He is bound to enforce His Law throughout the universe. To require less from His creatures than obedience to His Law would be to abandon them to ruin. To fail to punish transgression of His Law would be to place the universe in confusion. The moral Law is God’s barrier between the human agent and sin, thus infinite wisdom has placed before men the distinction between right and wrong, between sin and holiness.
“God is supreme. It is not for finite men to question His right to govern the universe. God asserted His right to rule when He declared, ‘Thou shalt have no other gods before Me;’ ‘for in six days the Lord make heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is.’ He is the Creator and Preserver of the worlds. He upholds the universe by the Word of His power. Nature and science bear witness that He has a right to govern His own creation. Angels are subject to His rule; therefore let man bow in adoration before Him.
“The Scriptures make it plain that God is Ruler, and that man is under the highest obligation to acknowledge this, and to obey His Law with heart and mind, trusting in His power for help and protection. This Law, which man is called upon to obey as a standard of right for the universe, is the wise and holy counsel of God. It is a moral law, and has its foundation in the difference between right and wrong. Moral law is universal; positive law is not necessarily universal, but may be restricted or extended according to the will of the lawgiver. Moral law must be immutable, while positive law may be changed or abolished, as the lawgiver may choose.
“The Decalog, or moral code of God, consists of ten precepts, engraven on stone by the finger of God. These precepts contain the whole duty of man. . . .
“To admit that God made a law so imperfect that it needed to be changed would be to stamp God as changeable and imperfect. God has spoken on this point. Let us heed what He says: ‘My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that has gone out of My lips.’ Psalm 89:34.” Ibid.
The whole Sabbath-Sunday controversy is not over just a day. At the root of the whole thing is the issue of God’s Law and who is going to be God.
The third point that they discovered about the American soldier is that when he is alone, he is frightened and insecure. Can you maintain yourself when you are all by yourself? Now for the Christian, we have the assurance that we are never totally alone; and we need to remember this or we are not going to make it through the times that are coming when we may be separated from every earthly friend. “The perversity and cruelty of men will reach such a height that God will reveal Himself in His majesty. Very soon the wickedness of the world will have reached its limit, and as in the days of Noah, God will pour out His judgments.
“But even when wickedness is at its height, we may knowthat our Helper is close by our side.” Upward Look, 334.
The commander of a concentration camp once became so angry with a Bulgarian pastor who would not yield his Christian convictions that he told him, “I am gong to throw you down into a dark hold and you are never going to come out of there. You are going to rot in there.” They put him in a dungeon where there was no light. One of the things that takes place when you are in total darkness is that you become totally disoriented in regards to time, and this affects every system in the body, because your whole body is regulated by the sun. Under these circumstances, your mind becomes completely disoriented; and you can very easily go crazy.
One day it got so bad that he began to wonder what he was going to do to keep from going crazy? As he was praying, he saw a light. That light, which was a Person, came over to him, picked him up, and held him in His arms. “After that,” he said, “I was all right.” Oh, friends, the worse things become, the more help you are going to receive if you put your faith and trust in Jesus.
The fourth point that was mentioned in the Communists’ findings about the American soldiers was their lack of understanding of social problems and tensions. Jesus said,
“And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake.” Matthew 10:22. Is that social tension and conflict? “We ought to be thankful that these words are left on record. Every child of God that is brought into difficulty and trial because of his faithfulness to Jesus, may claim the promise, and will receive sufficient grace for every emergency.” Review and Herald, April 15, 1890.
You are preparing day by day to either stand or to fall when the test is applied. Will you be loyal to the cause of God? Will you be able to clearly determine the difference between right and wrong? When you are all alone and you are told that everyone is giving in, will you have the strength to stand and say, “Lord Jesus, by Your grace, I am going to be faithful and true. Help me”?
A fifth weakness that the Communist psychologists learned about our soldiers was their lack of understanding of our political system and how our government works, and they used that to tremendous advantage. Let me ask you, Do you understand the character, the government, and the purpose of God? If you do not, you will not be able to stand through the time of test that we are approaching. We are to be the people of God, and we need to know the system that we are operating in. We need to understand God’s character, the nature of His government. Ellen White says that if you do not understand the character of God, His government, and His purposes, you will not be able to honor Him. (See The Great Controversy, 593.) You will not be able to make it. “None but those who have fortified the mind with the truths of the Bible will stand through the last great conflict. To every soul will come the searching test: Shall I obey God rather than men?” The Great Controversy, 593.
There are those who do not believe that God will actually burn people up. They use the life of Christ to try to prove it. Listen, friends, Jesus spoke about the terrors of hellfire more graphically than the prophets. It was Jesus Christ who said that it would be better to cut off your hand or poke out your eye than to be cast into hellfire, because when you go there, the fire will not be quenched, and the worm will not die. Do not take any of this soft, syrupy talk that is all one-sided about the character of God based on a partial understanding of what Jesus is like. Read all of the Scriptures of what He said. Yes, Jesus is loving and kind and merciful, but He is just, and He will not connive with our sins. He expects us to overcome. Do you see that a misunderstanding of the character of God prepares people to fall? If people believe that you can just go on sinning and that when Jesus comes everything will be all right, when the pressure is applied to break the Law of God, what defense do they have? They are prepared to believe that you cannot keep it anyway.
A sixth point that these people learned by studying the American soldier was this: he has little or no idea of the problems and aims of other countries. In other words, he does not understand the enemy that he is fighting against. God wants us to understand the enemy that we are fighting against and to be alert and on guard at all times. We are to be like a soldier that has armor on from head to foot. (See Ephesians 6.) “We should study the nature, character, and extent of this spiritual wickedness in high places, lest we become the dupes of the powers of darkness. But how difficult it is to awaken minds to realize the continual activity and great earnestness of our wily foe, notwithstanding the warnings and cautions of the Bible, and the experience of many who have been overthrown by subtlety. The testimony loses its force; the warning passes out of the mind. Men cease to watch and pray; they do not solicit the aid of holy angels, who would lift up for them a standard against the enemy.” Signs of the Times, August 5, 1886. This is the reason for our study of this subject, that we may be better able to understand what is going on and the attempt that is being made to gain control of our mind without our even being aware of it.
The seventh point, and the one on which they believed the American soldier was most vulnerable, was his unrealistic concept of America’s eternal and inherent, rather than earned or proven, superiority and absolute military invincibility. How is this applicable to us today? Have you ever heard, “Oh, the church is going through”? Do you see why it is important to know who and what the church is? If you think that something is going through and you cannot prove from the Scriptures and the Spirit of Prophecy that that thing is going through, you might be headed for a terrible disappointment. I have been asked, “Do you believe that the church is going through?” Yes, I believe that the church is going through; but the question is, Who and what is the church?
Concerning the American soldier, they said, “He fails to appreciate the meaning and the necessity for military or any form of organization or discipline.” Do you understand the meaning and necessity for organization and discipline among God’s people, or are you one of those people who think that everyone can just go their own way? We do not have time to fully consider this point here, but this was one of the items of information that they were able to capitalize on and bring our men into absolute mental submission. You cannot successfully resist unless you are organized. Ellen White has a lot to say about organization.
There probably are some people who are quaking, wondering how they are going to make it. Here are some wonderful promises.
“The soldier of Christ must meet many forms of temptation, and resist and overcome them. The fiercer the conflict, the greater the supply of grace to meet the need of the soul.” Review and Herald, June 16, 1896.
“The important future is before us. To meet its trials and temptations, and to perform its duties, will require great faith, energy, and perseverance. But we may triumph gloriously; for not one watching, praying, believing soul will be ensnared by the devices of the enemy. All heaven is interested in our welfare, and waits our demand upon its wisdom and strength. Neither wicked men nor evil spirits can hinder the work of God or shut out His presence from His people, if they will, with subdued, contrite hearts, confess and put away their sins, and in faith claim His promises. Every opposing influence, whether open or secret, may be successfully resisted, ‘not by might, not by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.’ If the Lord had a company of workers who would rely wholly upon Him, He would accomplish a great work through them. One could chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight. God is just as willing now as anciently to work through human efforts, and to accomplish great things through weak instrumentalities. We shall not gain the victory through numbers, but through full surrender of the soul to Jesus. We are to go forward in His strength, trusting in the mighty God of Israel.” Review and Herald, January 11, 1887.
Oh, friend, do you want to have that experience? When you receive the Holy Spirit in your life and Jesus is abiding within, He put His love into your heart and into your mind; and a divine miracle takes place inside your mind so that your mind will be a fortress for Jesus Christ that will be impregnable to all of the assaults of Satan.