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Current Events – Catholic-Lutheran Agreement

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US Lutherans approve document recognizing agreement with Catholic Church

By Emily McFarlan Miller

August 15, 2016

(RNS) Nearly 500 years after Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the Castle Church door, the largest Lutheran denomination in the U.S. has approved a declaration recognizing “there are no longer church-dividing issues” on many points with the Roman Catholic Church.

The “Declaration on the Way” was approved 931-9 by the 2016 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Churchwide Assembly held last week at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans.

ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth A. Eaton called the declaration “historic” in a release by the denomination following the Wednesday (August 10) vote.

“Though we have not yet arrived, we have claimed that we are, in fact, on the way to unity. … This ‘Declaration on the Way’ helps us to realize more fully our unity in Christ with our Catholic partners, but it also serves to embolden our commitment to unity with all Christians,” Eaton said.

The declaration comes as the Lutheran and Catholic churches prepare to kick off a year of celebrations to mark the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation.

Luther had touched off the Reformation on Oct. 31, 1517, when he nailed the 95 theses to the church door in Wittenberg, Germany. That document included 95 statements he wanted to debate within the Catholic Church.

Most notably, the “Declaration on the Way” includes 32 “Statements of Agreement” where Lutherans and Catholics no longer have church-dividing differences on issues of church, ministry and the Eucharist. Those statements previously had been affirmed by the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs.

It also lists remaining differences between the two churches and next steps on addressing them.

Eaton pointed to past agreements reached by the ELCA and Catholic Church, as well, including 1999’s “Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification.”

Last November, Pope Francis sparked controversy when he seemed to suggest a Lutheran could receive Communion in the Catholic Church, saying “life is greater than explanations and interpretations.” The pontiff is scheduled to visit Sweden on October 31 to preside at a joint service with Lutherans.

And the Vatican and the Lutheran World Federation released a joint in 2013 titled “From Conflict to Communion” that focused on the progress made in Lutheran-Catholic dialogue in the past 50 years, rather than centuries of conflict.

The ELCA is one of the 10 largest Protestant denominations in the U.S. with more than 3.7 million members across the 50 states and the Caribbean region.

http://religionnews.com/2016/08/15/u-s-lutherans-approve-document-recognizing-agreement-with-the-catholic-church/

“Protestants have tampered with and patronized popery; they have made compromises and concessions which papists themselves are surprised to see, and fail to understand. Men are closing their eyes to the real character of Romanism, and the dangers to be apprehended from her supremacy. The people need to be aroused to resist the advances of this most dangerous foe to civil and religious liberty.” The Great Controversy (1888), 566

Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled

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“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”

These words of Jesus recorded in John 14:1–3 were spoken by the Savior at the last supper. He had washed the feet of the disciples. He had given them the bread and the wine and He was speaking with them there round the table. He had spoken of His going to the Father. The disciples were troubled that there should be any thought of separation. Although He had told them about the cross which was just ahead, they had no idea that before another sun should set, Jesus would be hanging on the tree.

There, gathered in the upper room, they heard this wonderful assurance of Jesus, these wonderful words of comfort. It is significant that the Savior was thinking not of His own suffering and sorrow but was reaching out in the endeavor to comfort these who were so near and dear to Him. “Let not your heart be troubled,” He said, “ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”

As we meditate on this beautiful passage, let us drink in, first of all, the precious assurance that He wants to be with us; He wants us to be with Him. That’s the whole purpose of the entire plan of salvation, to get man and God together. This is why the gospel condemns sin and points to the remedy for sin. Sin is an intruder; sin is a troublemaker; sin is what is responsible for the separation. Your iniquities have separated between you and your God (Isaiah 59:2). And the reason God hates sin is that sin has brought separation between those that God loves and God.

If you love somebody, you want to be with them very much. Jesus loves us very, very much and He wants us to be with Him; He wants to be with us. So He says, I’m going to the Father’s house to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself, in order that, where I am, there ye may be also.

What is the purpose of the second coming reunion? To unite God with His people. That’s why all heaven is soon to come to this planet; that’s why Jesus is going to bring the angels with Him and send them all over this world to gather the resurrected saints and the translated together to meet the Lord in the air. Then all will enter the pearly gates and enter in to rejoice in that fellowship, that wonderful association, with Jesus and with the good and blessed of all ages. “I will come again” (John 14:3). Sweet promise, wonderful assurance. Jesus is coming again.

But thank God for the reason that He’s coming – He’s coming for us, you and for me.

“Jesus, my Savior, shall come from on high,

Sweet is the promise as weary years fly;

O, I shall see Him descending the sky,

Coming for me, for me!” Seeking for Me, author unknown, 1878.

Yes, it’s for me that He is coming, as if I were the only one. He thinks I am valuable enough that He would make the whole trip just to get me. Isn’t it nice to be worth that much to Heaven? You are, my friend, whether you know it or not. Whether it’s ever dawned upon your soul or whether you’ve reveled in it for years, you are worth that much to Heaven. You are worth that much to Jesus. That’s why He paid redemption’s price.

He does not desire us to be in uncertainty and fear during the interval between His first coming and His second coming. “Let not your heart be troubled,” He says. “Ye believe in God, believe also in Me.” Is it really true that believing in Him we need not be troubled; is that really true? That’s what He is saying. Does He tell the truth? Oh, yes, for in the sixth verse He says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”

Man is feeble, utterly lacking in what it takes to help us, and by the same token, lacking in what it takes to hinder us or hurt us. Man is powerless to lift us up and man is powerless to knock us down if we are abiding in Christ. We want to note especially the security, the comfort, the help and courage that come from looking unto Jesus. “Let not your heart be troubled,” He said, “ye believe in God, believe also in Me.”

I love that wonderful hymn, “Jesus, I my cross have taken, All to leave and follow Thee.” There is a stanza tucked away in the body of the hymn: “Man may trouble and distress me, ’Twill but drive me to Thy breast. Life with trials sore may press me; Heaven will bring me sweeter rest. Oh, ’tis not in grief to harm me If Thy love be left to me; Oh, ’twere not in joy to charm me, If that love be hid from me.” Jesus I My Cross Have Taken, Henry F. Lyte, 1824. Yes, friends, “man may trouble and distress me, ’twill but drive me to His breast.” The utter inability of man to meet our needs draws us and drives us to the Fountainhead of help and courage and strength and blessing, even Jesus Himself. So He says, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me.”

In the closing conflict of the great controversy, those who are standing for God will find every earthly support cut off, but we need not despair as we look forward to that. As David says, “Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident. One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple. For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion: in the secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me; He shall set me up upon a rock. And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me” (Psalm 27:3–6). How nice it will be to hear David sing some of his own original compositions, accompanying himself on the harp as he used to do there at Bethlehem. Thank God that now we can learn those Psalms of faith and hope and trust and courage that direct our eyes from men with their frailties and failings to God, Who doeth all things well.

Let us think of why it makes sense to trust in God. He says, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me.” In the first place, friends, God always knows the answer. God always knows the answer. Things are expensive today but one of the most expensive commodities on the market is good advice. No matter how much a man can earn working with his muscles, the highest fees are still paid for good counsel, solid sense, and advice. Too bad so much of it is misspent; too bad so much of the confidence is misplaced. Now what a wonderful thing it is to find in Jesus a Counselor Who never makes a mistake, Who knows everything in all dimensions. He was from all eternity. He will be to all eternity. He knows everything that ever happened. He knows everything that’s ever going to happen. There is nothing hid from Him.

How ardently men are maneuvering to get certain information in Washington today. Well, the Lord knows all about it and did before they ever started squabbling about it. The Lord knows what the stock market is going to be next week, what the war news is going to be. He knows how you are put together personally. He knows what makes you happy better than you do. He knows your future. Yes, God is infinite in wisdom. How wonderful to have an audience with the One Who knows all things. But that is only the beginning of the wonder. He not only knows everything—He has all power. Sometimes people are strong in good advice but they lack what it takes to implement their counsel, but God is not short there. He is all mighty. He is omnipotent.

What do those expressions mean? They mean that there is nothing impossible with God. He has demonstrated that thousands of times – from Creation right on through to today. God spoke, and the Red Sea rolled back, and Israel went through on dry land. God spoke and the walls of Jericho fell down with no human hands touching them. God spoke and the dead were raised in the days of Elijah and Elisha and then in the ministry of Jesus here on earth. God spoke and blind eyes were opened, deaf ears unstopped, the lame went like deer leaping over the earth. Oh, friends, God is not only wise, He is also powerful. God can do more than heal sick bodies; He can relieve weary hearts. He can heal the sick soul. He can bring forgiveness to sin. He can take away the guilt. He can do anything. He is all wise, He is all powerful. But beyond His wisdom and His power is His love.

There are people who have money that you and I might sometimes desire in order to solve some problem that we think money could solve. However, if the people who have the money are not interested in helping us, what good does it do us? What good does it accomplish? Not a bit. But Jesus has demonstrated that all the resources of the universe are available to help those He loves—and He loves you. Thus there is nothing kept back, nothing in reserve that you cannot have that you need.

Now let’s put that together. Infinite wisdom, infinite power, infinite love – all harnessed to the one task of helping you with every problem, filling every need. Isn’t that wonderful? Well, somebody says, I wish I could believe it. Of course, if you can’t believe it, it’s hard to get any good out of it, isn’t it? That’s why our text says, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me.” As Jesus said to the two blind men who approached Him, “According to your faith be it unto you” (Matthew 9:29), and so my dear friends, infinite possibilities are for you and me if the hand of faith reaches up to the hand of love that’s stretched out to help us. Infinite possibilities, wonderful blessings – according to your faith be it unto you. Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me.

What does it mean to believe in the sense that Jesus is speaking of here? This expression is oft repeated by John, who wrote these words. We remember those immortal words in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Notice that God’s love has been poured out and everyone who believes in Him will not perish but instead have everlasting life. It all hinges on believing. Not only our present peace but our eternal salvation is dependent on believing.

John 1:12: “But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.” [Emphasis added.] Who gets the power? Those who believe on His name. Now this is also spoken of here as receiving Him. “As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.” [Emphasis added.] Those who receive Him believe Him. Those who believe Him receive Him. Again it says in John 5:24: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” [Emphasis added.] Jesus says that passing from death to life depends upon two things: hearing and believing.

This agrees with what we read in John 1:12: “As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.” Jesus was speaking to a multitude of people when these words were given. Among them, some believed and some did not. Jesus said that those who believed were entering into life, and those who did not were in condemnation. It is possible for me to make a decision which places me either on the side of belief or on the side of unbelief.

God has given to every one of us the ability to choose – not only what we will do but what we will believe. We can either believe God and enter into His promises or we can disbelieve Him and go the way of rebellion. Think of Adam and Eve back in the Garden of Eden. God made them perfect, but He gave them the power of choice. He instructed them concerning obedience and for some time they cooperated with their Creator. But the third chapter of Genesis tells us the story of Eve’s listening to Satan, speaking through a serpent. Sad to say, she chose to believe the serpent instead of believing God.

Her unbelief in what God said led her to do what the serpent said. Unbelief always precedes an outward transgression. Whenever we do anything that is contrary to the law of God, it is because something has happened in our mind in which we’ve lost some of that precious faith, that belief in what Jesus says. Eve lost it listening to the serpent. You and I can lose it in the same way. Faith comes by listening to the word of God. “He that heareth My word and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life.” Unbelief comes by turning from what Jesus says and listening to what the enemy says.

Consider this: If the person who is strongest in faith, the most experienced Christian, spends next week listening to the serpent instead of Jesus, he will lose some of the faith He has and begin to believe the devil’s lies. On the other hand, if the weakest person, the one that has the least faith, who finds it hardest to believe, if he will shut his ears to the voices of sin in this world and open his heart to the word of God and listen to Jesus speaking, faith will grow in his soul. He will become more and more conscious of what a joyful thing it is to trust in Christ for salvation, full and free.

The choice is yours. You can decide. We become what we behold. We are affected by what we listen to. “He that heareth My words,” Jesus says, “and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation.”

Let’s examine Romans 10:17: “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Faith is just the opposite of unbelief. As unbelief comes by listening to the serpent, faith comes by hearing the word of God. Do you want more faith? Then listen more to the Word. Not only are you to hear His word, but you are to believe. Put your will on the side of faith and action. This is the way we all began to learn.

Jesus said, “Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3). You know how little children learn. Dad and Mother say to the little one, “See this star?” And what does the little one lisp? “Star, star.” How did you learn that was a star out there in the sky? Somebody you loved and trusted told you and you repeated it. Think of the alphabet. How do you know that A is A? Somebody you loved and trusted pointed to a certain symbol and said, “A” and you said, “A.” And so it was with B and C. Oh, that God may help us to be that simple in our faith and our attitude toward Jesus. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater.

It has been said that there are some things that we do not believe unless we can understand them, but there are other things that we cannot understand unless we believe them. Ponder that. One of the great problems with the skeptic, the scoffer, the infidel, the higher critic, the modernist is this: He does not know how truth is received into the inner sanctuary of the soul. He supposes that by argument he can arrive at an understanding of truth. He supposes that spiritual things can be comprehended by the same tools that are used in solving a mathematical equation. But all the mathematics in this world will not make plain to anybody the taste of a watermelon or a peach, will it? Never. So David says, “Taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8).

So we are dealing with the experiential, and if, without arguing when God says something, we open our minds and hearts to His assurance, we can grow in faith; we can understand by believing first instead of waiting to believe until we understand. I repeat, this is the way most of us have learned most of what we know in life. It is also the law of progress in the spiritual experience. “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me.” He wants that little band of disciples gathered around the table in that upper room to be at peace, especially in light of what is soon to transpire.

Turn again to John the 16th chapter. This is part of the same message that Jesus was giving to the disciples in chapter 14. “These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). When Jesus spoke these words, He was even then in the shadow of the cross. Yet He looked beyond. He saw the triumph and He longed for the courage of it, the cheer of it, the hope of it to grip every heart. “Be of good cheer, He says, I have overcome the world.” He speaks of His victory as already accomplished. By faith He knows that He will plant the banner on the eternal heights and He wants His friends to share with Him in that hope. Are you sharing it? He invites you to turn aside from the temptations of Satan and pay no attention to them. He invites you to turn aside, turn away from men who have no power to lift you and who cannot hinder you if you will stand with Jesus. He wants you to abide with Him.

Jesus says, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me.” You know whether you are resting in Jesus or not. I cannot read your heart. But if you are resting in Jesus, are you not thankful for it?

“Under His wings, oh, what precious enjoyment!

There will I hide till life’s trials are o’er.

Sheltered, protected, no evil can harm me,

Resting in Jesus, I’m safe evermore.” Under His Wings, William O. Cushing, 1896.

Do you mean that safely resting in Jesus works, even if committees don’t vote right things? Do you mean it works, even if some government agency doesn’t understand? Do you mean that holds true even if there is sickness or lack of money? It is always true provided we believe—and we can choose to believe.

If you are resting in Jesus, thank Him for it. If you are thinking that you would give anything if you could have what I have described, realize that you cannot buy it with money. It will take everything you have. That rich young ruler who came to Jesus needed just what we are studying. He saw Jesus bless the little children and he thought, Oh I wish I could get blessed too. But when Jesus, responding to his question, What lack I yet? said, you lack just one thing – sell everything you have and give it away and come take up the cross and follow Me, He went away sorrowful (see John 19:13–23). He kept his possessions and his sorrow. Sin, selfishness, gets in the way. There is no way to have peace and hang on to self and sin. No way. We cannot buy it with money, but we can open our hearts to receive it if we just surrender fully to Jesus and then trust Him. If you need that peace, I invite you to find it in the Saviour.

Elder W.D. Frazee studied the Medical Missionary Course at the College of Medical Evangelists in Loma Linda, California. He was called to Utah as a gospel medical evangelist. During the Great Depression, when the church could not afford to hire any assistants, Elder Frazee began inviting professionals to join him as volunteers. This began a faith ministry that would become the foundation for the establishment of the Wildwood Medical Missionary Institute in 1942. He believed that each person is unique, specially designed by the Lord, of infinite value, and has a special place and mission in this world which only he can fill. His life followed this principle and he encouraged others to do the same.

Michael’s Two Miracles

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Michael bent his head against the stinging north wind as he hurried home from school. Even though it was still early autumn in the southern part of Canada where he lived he knew that the wind and the gray low-hanging clouds meant snow before morning. Jersey Girl would certainly have to be put in the barn tonight.

Jersey Girl was the purebred dairy heifer that Uncle Bill had given him. “She’s due to freshen soon,” Uncle Bill had said at breakfast that morning.

Michael could hardly wait to see the heifer’s little calf. “Maybe Jersey Girl will have a surprise for me today!” he exclaimed to himself as he hurried along.

When Michael reached home he found Uncle Bill in the barn filling the kerosene lantern. Uncle Bill glanced up, his face drawn with worry. “We’ll have to let the milking go for now. Jersey Girl had her calf today, but she left it somewhere in the pasture. She didn’t bring it when she came in with the herd.”

Michael swallowed hard at a lump in his throat. “Do you think the calf is dead?” he asked.

Uncle Bill shook his head. “No. If it were dead Jersey Girl wouldn’t have left it. The calf is alive, all right. She has just hidden it. Some first-calf heifers do that. I meant to leave her in the corral this morning, but she slipped past me.”

Uncle Bill opened the barn door as he spoke, and a gust of icy wind rushed in.

The lump in Michael’s throat grew. “Will the calf freeze?”

Quickly Uncle Bill nodded. “It will tonight if we can’t find it right away.”

Michael no longer minded the cold wind. He didn’t even think about it. All that mattered now was the tiny calf huddled somewhere in the big pasture. “Where will we look first?” he asked his uncle.

“Up the washout. Because of the cold, Jersey Girl would pick the warmest spot she could find. After we’ve searched the washout, we’ll try the grove.”

Michael nodded. He knew now why Uncle Bill had brought the lantern. The thick grove of oaks lay on the back side of the pasture more than half a mile away. Darkness would fall before they could make their way there and back, if they had to go that far looking for the calf.

“We can search the washout on our way to the grove,” Uncle Bill said. “This will save time. But I don’t believe we will find the calf there. The grove is the most likely place.”

Uncle Bill was right. Although he and Michael searched behind every rock and bush along the washout, there was no sign of a calf.

“The grove next,” said Uncle Bill, “and we’d better hurry. I see snowflakes.”

Michael could see some too. Quietly he stopped and bowed his head. “Dear Jesus,” he whispered, “please don’t let the snow keep us from finding Jersey Girl’s calf.”

When Michael had finished his prayer he looked up to find his uncle staring at him in disapproval. “We’d better not waste time,” he said shortly.

Uncle Bill did not believe in prayer. He didn’t believe in Jesus. This made Michael and his mother very sad. They had prayed many times for something to happen that would make Uncle Bill change, but so far he hadn’t.

Michael stumbled on the path and he realized it was beginning to grow dark. Uncle Bill paused long enough to light the lantern. As he did so, heavy flakes of snow swirled against the yellow globe.

Soon the flakes were beating thickly against Michael’s face. The path turned white. So did Uncle Bill’s back and shoulders.

Michael grew frightened. “Uncle Bill,” he cried, “how can we find the calf? I can hardly see the lantern, the snow is so thick!”

“It will be a miracle,” Uncle Bill’s voice sounded hollow. “We’re at the edge of the grove now, but we could walk within inches of the calf without seeing it.”

“Maybe it will bawl for Jersey Girl,” suggested Michael.

“It might,” answered Uncle Bill. “But it isn’t likely.”

“Please, Jesus, make the calf bawl!” Michael prayed as he plunged ahead on the path. He had only taken a few steps when he tripped and fell heavily onto a snow-shrouded bush. A snow-covered mound lay beside it. Michael put his right hand against it to brace himself in getting up. It gave way under his touch. Instantly a familiar-sounding small bawl filled Michael’s ears, and a little animal sprang up and out into the path. Michael seized it with a joyful cry.

“It’s Jersey Girl’s calf! Oh, Uncle Bill, we’ve found it!”

“So we have.” Uncle Bill’s voice sounded strange as he took the struggling calf from Michael’s arms. “We had better get it to its mother as quickly as we can.”

Michael took the lantern and held it close to the calf. “It’s so small—and so pretty!” he exclaimed happily. “It’s the color of fresh churned butter!”

After the calf and Jersey Girl had been put in the barn for the night and the milking was done, Michael told his mother what had happened.

“Your finding the calf like that certainly was a miracle,” she said softly. “We must thank Jesus for it.”

Michael nodded in agreement. He and Mother both knelt, then before either one had begun to pray Uncle Bill slipped into the room and knelt with them.

Michael’s heart nearly burst with thanksgiving as he leaned forward and whispered to his mother, “Let’s thank Jesus for two miracles!”

Heaven, Please! Helena Welch, 36–41.

Standing on the Promises

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Peter the aged, in a summing up of what Christ has done for “them that have obtained like precious faith,” says:

“According as His Fdivine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue: whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises; that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:1, 3, 4).

On these promises the hope of the Christian rests. “Which hope,” says the apostle Paul, “we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil” (Hebrews 6:19). The soul of the servant of God is anchored to the throne above. His hope is as sure and stable as that throne itself.

Heaven’s part in the great plan of redemption has been faithfully performed. God’s purposes in the salvation of men are sure and unalterable. Sometime this earth will be peopled by the redeemed of the Lord. From each generation since the fall will be gathered a remnant of those who have been true to God and the principles of His government. To such the sure promises of God have been as a beacon light, to guide their feet through the gloom and darkness of earth’s error and sin.

While God’s promises are always sure, man must meet them in faith and hold their blessings by prayer. Faith in God and earnest prayer will bring to any human being the sure mercies of the wonderful plan of redemption.

Though we may wander far, and may long reject the overtures of a merciful God, yet the story of the prodigal son teaches how the arms of Infinite Love are ever stretched out to receive the returning wanderer.

The record of God’s dealings with Israel has brought hope and confidence to many a despairing soul. This history is but a rehearsal of the experiences of the human heart. Tempted by Satan we wander from God, but the road is not easy. Afflictions overtake us. As a parent chastens a loved son, so our Father allows difficulties and troubles to overtake us. These are God’s agencies to turn back our feet into right paths. As soon as we turn we find a loving Father with arms stretched out to receive us.

Over and over again did Israel wander from God into sin and idolatry. Then they were delivered into the hand of their enemies. But when these afflictions brought them to seek the Lord, how quickly He returned to them and brought confusion to their enemies. God’s position toward His people during these experiences is well illustrated in the ninth of Isaiah:

“The Syrians before, and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still” (verse 12).

At this time Israel had gone into abominable idolatry, hence God had removed His protecting hand, and the heathen had come against them. His anger was strong against His people, yet through it all His hand was stretched out to receive them and protect them at the first indication of repentance and returning.

There is a human side to the plan of redemption. This calls for our co-operation with the efforts of Heaven in our behalf. And although we cannot work out salvation for ourselves, neither can Heaven save us unless we take our stand by the side of holy intelligences, and by earnest faith and humble prayer secure the help we must have.

Heaven listens to the faintest plea from those who come to God in sincerity. No one, however far he may have wandered, need fear to approach the throne of grace. Our Saviour left the promise, “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37).

And the very throne of God is pledged to the protection of those who place themselves in the keeping of Almighty power. Our Lord has left to such the pledge, that “no one shall snatch them out of My hand” (John 10:28 R.V.). Only our own action can take us out of the hand of our God.

Guarded well are the true followers of our Lord. David says, “The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them” (Psalm 34:7).

When the armies of Syria surrounded the prophet of God at Dothan, heaven sent a host to protect him. The Lord opened the eyes of the trembling servant of the prophet, “and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha” (2 Kings 6:17).

About Job was placed a rampart or hedge of angels which the devil could not pass. (See Job 1:10.)

When Jacob was about to meet his brother Esau, who was marching against him, he was allowed to see God’s host which had been sent from heaven to protect him. (See Genesis 32:1, 2.)

All heaven would move to the aid of the weakest child of God if necessary, to protect him from the attacks of the enemy. The hosts of evil are strong, but if the battle wages fiercely, the angel guards will be reinforced by the most powerful beings from the very presence of Jehovah.

When Daniel prayed for the deliverance of Israel, the Lord sent one of the most powerful angels of heaven to the king of Persia to induce him to let Israel go. For full three weeks this mighty angel labored with King Cyrus, but without success. Then came Michael (Christ), and the release of God’s people was assured.

God’s people represent on earth the principles of His government in heaven. Hence injury to God’s people on earth is an insult to God’s throne in heaven. Our Lord Himself would come to earth, if necessary, to carry out His purposes concerning His people.

Our Saviour came to earth for the resurrection of Moses. At the grave of that servant of God He was met by the devil, who has “the power of death.” (See Hebrews 2:14.) In thus invading the territory of the enemy, being withstood by him, Christ did not rely on Himself, but invoked the highest power of heaven in the words, “The Lord rebuke thee” (Jude 9).

It is not alone to the mighty deeds in great emergencies that we must look for evidences of heaven’s aid to God’s people. The prayer of the humble saint and of the repentant sinner is as sure of a hearing and an answer as that of the most godly prophet of Bible days.

David said, “This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles” (Psalm 34:6).

But we must come to God in faith. The prayer of faith commands the most powerful forces of heaven. Jesus said, “If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” But He adds, “Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting” (Matthew 17:20, 21).

But our will must be subject to the will of God. The beloved John writes, “If we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us: and if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him” (I John 5:14, 15).

If we are true followers of Christ, our will is in accord with His will. Then the Holy Spirit leads and directs our prayer, and it is, therefore, in harmony with the will of heaven, and the very throne of God is pledged to the answer.

But if we come with our will unsubdued, and with sins cherished and unrepented of, we are out of harmony, out of touch, with heaven. Then the line of communication is broken, and our prayers cannot reach the throne. We will then ask according to our unsanctified, unsubdued heart, and God can neither hear nor answer such prayers. “If I regard iniquity in my heart,” says the psalmist, “the Lord will not hear me” (Psalm 66:18).

But more than this, God cannot accept the prayers of those who disobey His requirements. Solomon says, “He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination” (Proverbs 28:9). And David speaks of prayers that “become sin,” because of wickedness and deceit. (See Psalm 109:7).

When our prayers go forth in harmony with the mind of the Spirit of God, they will be prayers of faith, and cannot fail to bring their answer. But no doubting, no wavering must be allowed to mingle with them. “Let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord” (James 1:6, 7).

The waters composing the waves of the sea do not rush on with the waves. The wave is but the upheaval of the waters. The ship upon the billows does not move along with the wave. As the wave rushes along, the vessel rises upon the crest, and then falls into the trough of the sea, but it does not move forward with the wave unless propelled by sail or steam. And so with the life of many vacillating Christians—sometimes on the mountain top, and again in the valley of doubt, but with no visible advancement in spiritual attainments or experience. Their condition is well described in the jubilee melody,

“Sometimes up, and sometimes down, Sometimes almost to the ground.”

Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen, slave spiritual, 1867.

God’s promises to His children represent all the power of heaven. They are not promises merely, but they are backed by the oath of Jehovah. Paul, presenting these sure promises, says:

“Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it [to Abraham] by an oath: that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us” (Hebrews 6:17, 18).

And to show that this assurance applies to our day, Paul writes, “If ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:29).

The Christian’s hope is based upon the promises of God. Faith brings the reward. The sincere faith of the humblest suppliant at the throne of grace is more powerful than “all the power of the enemy.” True is the word of the poet,

“Satan trembles when he sees The weakest saint upon his knees.”

What Various Hindrances We Meet, William Cowper, 1779.

Simple faith makes real the promises of God. Paul writes: “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1).

Through faith the hope of the child of God becomes very real and tangible. We have a loving heavenly Father. Jesus Christ is our Elder Brother, and our Advocate with the Father. Heavenly angels are our constant attendants. A city with mansions is being prepared for us in heaven. (See John 14:2, 3).

The true and faithful of earth will have homes in that beautiful city. This earth will be made new and glorified, to become the eternal dominion of the saints. Here they will dwell through an endless life of joy and bliss beyond our comprehension.

These are the rewards which the Christian contemplates “with joy unspeakable and full of glory” (I Peter 1:8). And these are the promises which become as real and substantial to us as the events of every-day life. Through faith they are the “substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Past, Present, and Future, James Edson White, 1909, 38–48.

When a Curse is a Blessing

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Let us talk just a little bit about trials, difficulties, hardships—those things that we would naturally think of as unfortunate circumstances, or consider negative, things we would choose, in our human thinking and nature, to avoid. In studying this topic, we find many seeming dichotomies in Christianity, and herein is another. What looks good or right through human eyes is not good at all, and what looks unpleasant or distasteful or bad to human eyes, is the very thing that God, in His love and mercy, ordains.

We will begin our study right at the very beginning of the history of these dichotomies; the entrance of sin. Genesis 3:17: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life.” [Emphasis supplied.] This curse is a blessing.

We know that God is speaking to Adam and Eve after their fall, and in addressing them, He is addressing all humanity, caught in the net of sin. How is it that He pronounces a curse for our sake? What does the phrase mean “for your sake”? What do we mean when we say something is for your sake? It means that something is done or said for your good, your help, your benefit or blessing. In this Scripture God is telling us that He is pronouncing a curse for our good, our help, our benefit or blessing.

Let’s turn to a passage of inspiration to help us understand this seeming dichotomy. “It was not the will of God that the sinless pair should know aught of evil. He had freely given them the good, and had withheld the evil. But, contrary to His command, they had eaten of the forbidden tree, and now they would continue to eat of it—they would have the knowledge of evil—all the days of their life. From that time the race would be afflicted by Satan’s temptations. Instead of the happy labor heretofore appointed them, anxiety and toil were to be their lot. They would be subject to disappointment, grief, and pain, and finally to death.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 59.

Oh, friends, our God of love and mercy gave freely and abundantly all that was good, that was lovely, that was pleasant, that would produce joy and happiness, and an eternal life of bliss. But man, seeing another choice and deeming it better, distrusted and disobeyed God’s explicit instructions and took that which seemed better in his own eyes. And this opened the floodgates of woe and misery and death. It brought “the knowledge of evil” to all mankind.

This is the lot in which Adam and Eve found themselves after eating the forbidden fruit. But the full consequences were hidden from their initial vision and understanding. Therefore these consequences of sin “disappointment, anxiety, and toil” were, in God’s merciful, gracious, and loving plan, “appointed” [prearranged, selected, employed or allotted] them, and were intended for their good—their eternal good.

It seems possible, and maybe even likely, that Adam and Eve would have raised the very questions we so often ask when we undergo trial, difficulty, hardship, pain, or sorrow: Why?

Before we continue, I would like to consider for just a moment the greatest danger that threatens our well-being the most. It is sin—the loss of a connection with God—the Life-giver. His whole purpose in this world—after the entrance of sin—is the redemption of man. Therefore, everything He does in relation to this world is in relation to His plan of redemption and that one issue—sin, and rectifying that problem in our lives.

We are going to continue reading our passage in Patriarchs and Prophets that indicates God’s thoughts and intentions in regard to suffering, sorrow, trials, and difficulties that come our way. “Under the curse of sin all nature was to witness to man of the character and results of rebellion against God.” Ibid.

When Adam and Eve sinned they did not understand or comprehend the nature of sin—of rebellion against God, and the severity of the consequences. God saw that they needed to be taught these things and what we read next is God’s method to teach them this truth.

“When God made man He made him rule over the earth and all living creatures. So long as Adam remained loyal to Heaven, all nature was in subjection to him. But when he rebelled against the divine law, the inferior creatures were in rebellion against his rule. Thus the Lord, in His great mercy, would show men the sacredness of His law, and lead them, by their own experience, to see the danger of setting it aside, even in the slightest degree.” Ibid., 59, 60.

It is very painful to experience rebellion, but God saw that in order for man to comprehend the significance of his own rebellion to God, man must himself experience what it was like. There is not the least hint or shred of vindictiveness in this lesson that God has ordained. Rather it is given in the depths of Divine love. God knew we needed this lesson for our eternal salvation. This curse then, is really a blessing—a blessing for our eternal life.

God continues, “And the life of toil and care which was henceforth to be man’s lot was appointed in love. It was a discipline rendered needful by his sin … .” Ibid., 60. What is the sin that stands at the head of all sin? “Under the general heading of selfishness came every other sin.” Testimonies, vol. 4, 384.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines “selfish” as “Having or showing concern only for yourself and not for the needs or feelings of other people.” So what does this have to do with “the life of toil and care … being a discipline rendered needful by his sin [selfishness]?”

“And the life of toil and care which was henceforth to be man’s lot was appointed in love. It was a discipline rendered needful by his sin, to place a check upon the indulgence of appetite and passion, to develop habits of self-control.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 60.

With what or whom does the “indulgence of appetite and passion” have to do? With self. It has to do with what gratifies “self.” What do I want, regardless of what is good for me, or my family, or my friends, or my God. What do I feel like? Will this kind of thinking ever bring happiness? “Simplicity of character and lowliness of heart will give happiness, while self-conceit will bring discontent, repining, and continual disappointment. It is learning to think less of ourselves and more of making others happy that will bring to us divine strength.” Testimonies, vol. 3, 476.

So, God ordained “the life of toil and care” to protect us against selfishness, the “indulgence of appetite and passion.” Is that a blessing, or a curse?

No sin or selfishness will be allowed in heaven. “Never will evil again be manifest. Says the word of God: ‘Affliction shall not rise up the second time’ (Nahum 1:9).” The Great Controversy, 504.

God, in His mercy and love, wants to teach us the consequences of sin and rebellion, and the best way is to experience it for ourselves. This can never take place in a situation of ease, a lack of trial and tribulation. So as we continue to read from Patriarchs and Prophets, 60, it says, “It [that is, “the life of toil and care”] was a part of God’s great plan of man’s recovery from the ruin and degradation of sin.”

Let’s look at this briefly from another angle. “But without faith it is impossible to please Him” (Hebrews 11:6). To please God, we must have faith. Now what does this have to do with trials, tribulations, the “curse” of sin?

“But ‘we know that all things work together for good to them that love God’ (Romans 8:28). ‘All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution’ (2 Timothy 3:12). It is good for me to tread a hard and humble path, to encounter difficulties, to experience disappointments, to suffer afflictions and bereavements. The Saviour knows what is best. Faith grows by conflict with doubt and difficulty and trial.” The Review and Herald, August 28, 1883.

Faith grows through difficulty and trial. If you want your faith to grow then welcome trials. Know that they are ordained of God for your blessing. “Faith grows by conflict with doubt and difficulty and trial.”

We have seen that trial and difficulty under the “curse of sin” has been allowed by God as a blessing—to show us, to teach us the reality of the consequences of sin so that we will flee from it.

When you experience what in your view is a trial or difficulty, remember, it is given through the hand of Omnipotent love—for your eternal salvation. The key is—how do you accept it? Do you mumble and grumble and complain, or receive it in gratitude for what it really is—a messenger from God for your salvation—a curse that is a blessing. It is God Himself that said, “Cursed is the ground for your sake.” [Emphasis supplied.]

All Bible 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.

 

 

Moses is No Mummy

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A number of years ago, Evelyn and I had the privilege of being in Cairo, Egypt, for a few days. Egypt was once one of the wealthiest countries in the world, with its great stores of gold. Besides being wealthy, Egyptians were sun-worshipers and devil worshipers, which was evident as we went through the Cairo museum, where we saw many mummies of the ancient kings. As I pondered the mummies, the thought came to me that had Moses made the wrong choice, he could have been one of those mummies. The story of Moses is one of the most amazing stories in all the Bible. While he was in the palace of the king, he resisted the many temptations present there. As a result of his life choices, the Lord resurrected him, and he has been in heaven for many years. (See Early Writings, 164.)

In Hebrews 11:24–26, Paul writes, “By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.”

Because of a miracle that God worked shortly after his birth, Moses was adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became heir to the throne, destined to become the ruler of the mightiest and wealthiest empire in the world. Ellen White says, “Moses was a great character in the world. He was the prospective heir of the throne of the Pharaohs. He had been reared for this position, and was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. He was fitted to take pre-eminence among the great of the earth, and to shine in the courts of its most glorious kingdom, and to sway the scepter of its power. His intellectual greatness distinguishes him above the great men of all ages.” The Signs of the Times, November 17, 1887.

From a worldly standpoint, he was one of the greatest men that ever lived. Five areas are mentioned in which Moses had intellectual greatness, superior to all other men. “As historian, poet, philosopher, general of armies, and legislator, he stands without a peer.

“But it was his moral qualities that made him valuable in the estimation of God. His faith, humility, and love are not excelled among the examples of humanity.” Ibid. The Bible comments on this very briefly in Numbers 12:3 which says, “(Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth.)”

When Moses arrived at manhood, he had the world before him. He could become the most wealthy and most powerful leader of the world. However, his early training had taught him principles that gave him the moral strength to refuse the flattering prospects of wealth, greatness, and fame. It says in Hebrews 11:25 that he chose rather “… to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the temporary pleasures of sin.”

Many were the inducements held out to Moses while in the king’s court. “The magnificent palace of Pharaoh and the monarch’s throne were held out as an inducement to Moses; but he knew that the sinful pleasures that make men forget God were in its lordly courts. He looked beyond the gorgeous palace, beyond a monarch’s crown, to the high honors that will be bestowed on the saints of the Most High in a kingdom untainted by sin.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 246. So, he chose to join a humble, poor, despised nation in order to obey God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.

The tragedy of this story when you think it through is that not too many people are willing to make this kind of sacrifice. Ellen White says in the Signs of the Times, November 17, 1887: “The great anxiety of men and women of today is to be held in high esteem by the lordly ones of earth. The religion of Jesus seems to be considered of no special value, and the children of men have set their hearts to seek pleasure rather than to know the will of God.” Paul told the young minister Timothy that this would be the condition of the world in the last days. He said that men will be “… lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God” (2 Timothy 3:4).

Without the special instruction by Jesus Christ, Moses would not have been able to resist the enticements. This same instruction is relevant to all believers today. “Christ has presented before us the greatest inducement that could be offered to mortals. It is not only the gift of eternal life and everlasting joy, but a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory in the kingdom of God. Those who feel the importance of taking God’s word as the rule of their life and conduct, will have respect unto the recompense of reward.” The Signs of the Times, November 17, 1887.

Moses esteemed the reproach of Christ to be worth more than the riches of the wealthiest nation on the face of the earth unlike today when the pleasures in this world steal men’s senses so they do not care to think about God in heaven.

Moses understood that someday there will be a judgment day and the world and all of God’s children are to be judged. The decisions they have made will determine their eternal destiny.

One of the earliest statements in the Bible predicting God’s judgment is recorded in Deuteronomy 32:36 where it says, “For the Lord will judge His people …” according to the deeds done in the body. Each one of us has a case pending in God’s court. The Bible says that although Noah, Daniel, and Job were in the land, they would not be able to save either son or daughter, but only their own souls. (See Ezekiel 14:14, 20.)

Moses understood that the judgment was to involve the judging of people’s characters. He says in Deuteronomy 10:12, 13, “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you this day for your good?” He goes on to say in verses 16 and 17: “Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no longer. For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, Who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe.”

The conditions of salvation are the same for everybody, without partiality. You have just as much an opportunity to be saved as anybody else in the world and maybe more because of the knowledge that God has allowed you to have. Can I say with Moses that I esteem the reproach of Christ to be worth more than all the riches of this world? Moses made that decision.

Every soul that enters through the gates of the city will not go there as a pardoned criminal but as a conqueror.

“There is help for every one who in humble faith seeks it. When you put all your powers to the stretch that you may become acquainted with God, you will have His power added to your weakness. Every soul that enters through the gates into the city will go in as a conqueror. There is no sickness, no sighing, no death, but everlasting joy throughout the cycles of eternity. I want to be there, for my soul is attracted to Jesus. Everything here is of minor consequence.” The Signs of the Times, November 17, 1887.

Moses understood that all the wealth and power of Egypt, was not worth losing eternity. This is one of the great examples of a person who deliberately made a choice that he would suffer rather than enjoy immediate pleasure. The reproach of Christ must be esteemed above every worldly honor, all worldly riches and all high-sounding titles, if we are to be saved. This is the kind of faith that the martyrs possessed.

Because of his choice, Moses is not a mummy in a museum with people looking at him through the glass; he is in heaven. All who make the same choice that he made will have the same eternal consequence. It is hard for people, even knowing about the eternal wealth of glory that is coming, to choose right and to do something that they know is going to cause them pain and suffering, instead of something that will bring joy and happiness at the present time.

One of my favorite stories in the Testimonies for the Church is about a person who chose to endure suffering at the present time and reproach rather than have worldly riches and honor and lose eternal life. Ellen and James White were at this meeting when J. N. Andrews told this story and Ellen White wrote it down as a first-person witness. There were some people there who were in a backslidden condition. She says as Elder Andrews was speaking, he talked about the case of Moses who refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter but chose rather to suffer affliction. She then relates the story that brother Andrews told involving the power of God that is inexplicable at the present time: “Brother Andrews related an instance of a faithful Christian about to suffer martyrdom for his faith. A brother Christian had been conversing with him in regard to the power of the Christian hope—if it would be strong enough to sustain him while his flesh should be consuming with fire. He asked this Christian, about to suffer [being burned at the stake], to give him a signal if the Christian faith and hope were stronger than the raging, consuming fire. He expected his turn to come next, and this would fortify him for the fire. The former promised that the signal should be given. He was brought to the stake amid the taunts and jeers of the idle and curious crowd assembled to witness the burning of this Christian. The fagots were brought and the fire kindled, and the brother Christian fixed his eyes upon the suffering, dying martyr, feeling that much depended upon the signal. The fire burned, and burned. The flesh was blackened; but the signal came not. His eye was not taken for a moment from the painful sight. The arms were already crisped. There was no appearance of life. All thought that the fire had done its work, and that no life remained; when, lo! amid the flames, up went both arms toward heaven. The brother Christian, whose heart was becoming faint, caught sight of the joyful signal; it sent a thrill through his whole being, and renewed his faith, his hope, his courage. He wept tears of joy.” Testimonies, vol. 1, 657.

“As Brother Andrews spoke of the blackened, burned arms raised aloft amid the flames, he, too, wept like a child. Nearly the whole congregation were affected to tears.” Ibid.

Many people in that congregation who were in a backslidden condition confessed their sins and asked everyone to pray for them that they would walk up the narrow way and not continue in the way that they had been going.

Some people talk as if it is some great condescension for them to become a Christian because of all that they have to give up. It is almost like they think that the Lord owes them something. We know that Jesus gave up far more to save us than we will ever have to give up. So do we call it condescension to grasp the chain of truth and call it humiliation to become a Christian? Actually, becoming a Christian is the only true means for you to be exalted. This exaltation is not going to come in this world, but becoming a Christian is the necessary and true provision for every human being to be exalted. In the message to the Laodicean church, Jesus promises that those who overcome will be allowed, “to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne” (Revelation 3:21).

Moses understood this requirement and did not consider it a condescension for him to join with a nation of slaves. “He [Moses] had the privilege of living in king’s houses. He was a mighty warrior, and went forth with the armies of the Egyptians to battle; and when they returned from their successful conquest, they everywhere sung of his praise and his victories. The highest honors of the world were within his grasp ….” The Review and Herald, April 19, 1870. He made a deliberate decision to choose to suffer affliction with the people of God rather than to enjoy these honors and the pleasures of sin for a season. He chose delayed gratification over immediate pleasure.

Hebrews 11:26 says, “Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; he looked to the reward” (literal translation). His mind was focused on something else rather than riches, wealth, pleasure, or honor in this world. Where are your eyes focused?

“In like manner we have fixed our minds upon the exceeding great and precious reward, and in order to obtain it, we must have a perfect character.” The Review and Herald, April 19, 1870. Some people become offended by this expectation. They say, “nobody’s perfect” and some will quote you many texts in the Bible and also in Spirit of Prophecy to support their contention. However, Romans 4:18–22 says, “Who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, ‘So shall your descendants be.’ And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.”

Abraham was convinced that what God said, He was able to accomplish. He did not understand, even in his day, how a man a hundred years old could be a father. Neither did Sarah understand how a woman 90 years old could be a mother, but God said it and so he believed it. This is a great example of how we can be saved. God says He can save me and I am depending that He is going to make it happen in my life. Because I have no way to bring this about, I am trusting You and choosing to cooperate with You Lord, and I will never quit asking until You make it happen in my life.

“The angels of God are watching the development of character. Angels of God are weighing moral worth; and we are to obtain a fitness here to join the society of sinless angels. Do you expect that when Christ comes He will give you that fitness? Not at all. You must be found of Him without spot, without blemish, or wrinkle, or anything like it (Ephesians 5:27). Now is the watching and trying time. Now it is the time to obtain a preparation to abide the day of His coming, and to stand when He appeareth.” The Review and Herald, April 19, 1870.

One of the persons in the Bible given as an example for people living in the last days without spot or wrinkle is the man Enoch. In thinking of this standard, many become discouraged, believing that their situation is worse than that of others saying, You don’t know where I work or what I have to deal with or the people that I have to associate with to make a living. You don’t know the kind of language they use and what they discuss; so you don’t understand my situation.

My dear friend, Enoch lived in that kind of situation. “Enoch represents those who shall remain upon the earth and be translated to Heaven without seeing death. He represents that company that are to live amid the perils of the last days, and withstand all the corruption, vileness, sin, and iniquity, and yet be unsullied by it all. We can stand as did Enoch. There has been provision made for us. Help has been laid upon One that is mighty; and we all can take hold upon His mighty strength.” Ibid. That is a promise that you can claim.

Isaiah 27:5 says, “Or let him take hold of My strength, that he may make peace with Me; and he shall make peace with Me.”

There are so few people today who are willing to suffer in the present time and become overcomers in order to gain the eternal riches. “Angels of God, that excel in strength, are sent to minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation. These angels, when they see that we are doing the very utmost on our part to be overcomers, will do their part, and their light will shine around about us, and sway back the influence of the evil angels that are around us, and will make a fortification around us as a wall of fire.” The Review and Herald, April 19, 1870.

Unless a person is willing to make the same kind of decision that Moses made, he is not ready to be saved. The Bible not only records the right decision that Moses made, but also many instances where people made the wrong decision. One of the most prominent examples of choosing wrong—or failing to choose right— was the case of the rich young ruler, as recorded in Matthew 19. This young ruler wanted to be saved asking, “What shall I do that I may have eternal life?” Jesus said, “… Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you will enter into life, keep the commandments” (verses 16, 17, literal translation).

Jesus tried to direct his attention to the fact of His own divinity. In verse 18, first part, the young man asked which commandment. “Jesus said, ‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ The young man said to Him, ‘All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?’ Jesus said to him, ‘If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me’ (verses 18, last part, 19–21).”

Verse 22 states: “But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.” He wanted to be saved, but he did not want to give up his worldly wealth and honor. By the way, the Bible says that the wealthy have many friends. He did not want to give up the honor and wealth he had in this world in order to become an itinerant preacher, following Jesus of Nazareth. All he could see was trouble and affliction. Commenting on this, Ellen White says, “This was not a hard requirement; for the ruler was not handling his own property. His goods had been entrusted to him by the Lord. The choice was left with him; he must decide for himself.” The Review and Herald, December 14, 1897.

Moses had that same opportunity to decide for himself. He was a free moral agent as was the rich young ruler. We are all free moral agents. This decision each must make for himself or herself. Neither your spouse nor a friend can make it for you. “The choice was left with him; he must decide for himself. Did he accept the eternal treasure? or did he decide to gratify his desire for earthly treasure, and in so doing, refuse the eternal riches?—When he heard Christ’s words, ‘he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions’ (Matthew 19:22; Mark 10:22). He chose the earthly good, and lost the eternal weight of glory.” Ibid.

“Individually, we are tried as was the young ruler. God tests us to see if, as stewards, we can safely be trusted with the eternal riches. Shall we do as the ruler did—fasten our grasp upon the treasures lent us by God, choosing that which appears most agreeable to the natural heart, and refusing to use our possessions as God plainly states He expects us to? or shall we take up our cross, and follow our Saviour in the path of self-denial?” Ibid. God tests us to see if we can be trusted with eternal riches.

“Millions of people in our world are making the choice made by the young ruler.” Ibid. It seems sad when you think that only a few will make the correct choice, and the great majority make the wrong choice. They refuse to do God’s will by showing love to their fellow men, and by such selfishness they prove themselves unworthy of the eternal riches.

Ellen White says: “They show that they are unfit for a place in the kingdom of God; if they were allowed to enter there, they would, like the great apostate, claim everything as if they had created it, and would spoil heaven by their covetousness.” Ibid. This is especially the case in places like the United States where people are wealthier than in other countries. Moses was called to make a decision. He was a free moral agent and he could choose to go either way. The decision that he made to follow the Lord and suffer affliction cost him all that he had. He was in line to be the most powerful and wealthiest man in the world. He literally had the world before him. He could have had it all in what was at that time the mightiest and wealthiest nation in the world. However, you cannot have both this world and heaven. Moses had to make that choice. He had conflicting objects to choose between. Was he going to choose to become the ruler of the mightiest and wealthiest nation or was he going to choose to suffer affliction with the people of God and lose all that?

“The treasures of Egypt, the honor of a temporal crown, and all the worldly benefits involved in this choice, were presented by the prince of this world. The opposite side was presented by the Prince of Light, the world’s Redeemer. He held out the recompense of reward, the unsearchable riches of Christ, and showed also the path of affliction, self-denial, and self-sacrifice, that must be traveled by all who gain this reward.” Ibid. Jesus said when He was here, “If anyone wants to follow Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.” Moses understood, by making that decision, that he was starting down a path that would involve affliction, and self-denial, and self-sacrifice. But that is the same path that has to be travelled by everyone who goes up the path that leads to eternal life.

The decision was left with Moses. He could have made the same decision that the rich young ruler made, although it was a much more difficult decision for Moses because he had much more at stake. Moses figured out that having worldly riches was not worth losing eternal riches, even though what Jesus was offering him involved a path of affliction, self-denial, and self-sacrifice.

Moses was a free moral agent and at liberty to choose. But the Bible says that by faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as seeing Him Who was invisible. Moses made a choice. One of the greatest men, recorded in the Bible, who had the opportunity to become the leader of the greatest and wealthiest, and most powerful nation in the world, left it all in order to follow Christ in a path of self-denial, and affliction, and self-sacrifice.

If I’m going to be saved, I must walk in that same path. Moses was a rare example in the Bible of a person who chose to lose everything, and to be associated with a nation of slaves, and to walk in a path of affliction, of self-denial, and self-sacrifice, instead of enjoying the riches and pleasures of this world. This is a hard decision to make, and so few people are willing to make the correct decision today. Think things through and try to realize that the eternal weight of glory is of much more value than if we should be given the whole world and lose our soul. We need to think clearly about the future and to not make our decisions based on just the present, but based on what is going to happen to us in the future.

(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 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.

Editorial – Marked and Sealed

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The book of Revelation is very clear that in the final days of this earth’s history, everybody in the world will be marked or sealed. Some will be sealed with the seal of the living God and they will be saved. (See Revelation 7:1–8; 9:4; 14:1–5; 15:2, 3.) Unfortunately, the great majority of the world’s population will receive the mark of the beast, sometimes referred to as the mark of antichrist. (See Revelation 13:1–10.) The antichrist power is also described in Daniel 7 and in 2 Thessalonians 2. Those who receive this mark will lose their souls. (See Revelation 14:9–12; Revelation 15:1; 16:2; 19:20, 21.)

The words seal and sign are used interchangeably in the Bible. (See Romans 4:11.) The sign or seal of God has always been the fourth commandment—the Sabbath commandment. (See Exodus 31:12–18 and Ezekiel 20:12–20.)

Jesus said that not even part of a letter of the law can be changed. (See Luke 16:17.) Note that the Ten Commandments were spoken verbally by God to the human family and did not come through visions or dreams of prophets. (See Deuteronomy 5:22.) To attempt to change the Sabbath is to attempt to change the longest commandment in the Ten Commandment law and in this way to exalt oneself above the Lawgiver and thereby become an antichrist power. (Compare Daniel 7:25.)]

Has anyone attempted to change the Sabbath commandment? Yes.

“Sunday is a Catholic institution, and its claims to observance can be defended only on Catholic principles. … From beginning to end of Scripture there is not a single passage that warrants the transfer of weekly public worship from the last day of the week to the first.” Catholic Press, Sydney, Australia, August, 1900.

“Of course the Catholic Church claims that the change was her act. It could not have been otherwise as none in those days would have dreamed of doing anything in matters spiritual and ecclesiastical and religious without her. And the act is a mark of ecclesiastical power and authority in religious matters.” James Cardinal Gibbons, in a letter to J. F. Snyder of Bloomington, Illinois, dated November 11, 1895, and signed by H. F. Thomas, Chancellor for the Cardinal.

“Protestants … accept Sunday rather than Saturday as the day for public worship after the Catholic Church made the change … But the Protestant’s mind does not seem to realize that in accepting the Bible, in observing the Sunday, they are accepting the authority of the spokesman for the church, the Pope.” Our Sunday Visitor, February 5, 1950.

The Approaching Storm

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The basis for this study is found in Luke the 8th chapter verses 22–25, first part, which says, “Now it came to pass on a certain day, that He [Christ] went into a ship with His disciples: and He said unto them, Let us go over unto the other side of the lake. And they launched forth. But as they sailed He fell asleep: and there came down a storm of wind on the lake; and they were filled with water, and were in jeopardy. And they came to Him, and awoke Him, saying, Master, Master, we perish. Then He arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm.  And He said unto them, Where is your faith?”

This is a scriptural record of an actual experience which took place in the life of Jesus Christ and His disciples. They had just experienced a very busy day. Since early morning Christ had been teaching and healing. They were so busy that they had not taken time for food or for rest. To make matters even worse they were constantly being surrounded by malicious criticism and misrepresentation by the Pharisees who continually pursued Christ making His labors more severe and harassing.

So now at the close of this busy day the Lord was utterly wearied and He determined to seek a retirement in a secluded place across the lake. Dismissing the multitude Jesus and His disciples hastily set off in a boat to relieve the pressure of the crowd. Overcome with weariness and hunger Jesus lies down in the stern of the little boat and is soon sound asleep. The evening is calm and pleasant and the boat gently rides upon the lake, but suddenly a strange darkness spreads over the lake and the wind sweeps wildly down the mountain gorges as a fierce tempest bursts upon them. The waves lashed by such howling wind dash completely over the tiny boat threatening to engulf them. These hardy fishermen have guided their craft safely through many a storm but this time their strength and skill avail nothing.

The disciples are helpless in the face of this tempest, for Satan is attempting to destroy both the Master and His disciples. So absorbed are these men to save themselves that they have completely forgotten that Jesus is on board. Now as death is imminent they recall that it was Christ who commanded them to cross the lake and in their helpless condition they cried, Master, Master! but in such a stormy darkness they see no one and their voices are drowned by the roaring tempest. Doubts and fears grip their hearts. Had Jesus forsaken them? Could it be that He who would conquer disease and demons and even death itself could not help them now?

Again, they called for help, for the boat is beginning to sink. Another moment and they will be swallowed up by the angry waters. Suddenly there is a flash of lightning and they see Jesus lying asleep – undisturbed by the raging storm. In amazement they cry out, “Master, carest Thou not that we perish” (Mark 4:38)? Their cry arouses Jesus and in the lightning glare they see the peace of Heaven on His face. Again, they cry, “Lord, save us! We perish” (Matthew 8:25)! Never did a soul utter that cry unheeded.

Jesus arises as the waves sweep over them. Lifting His hands He says to the angry sea, “Peace, be still” (Mark 4:39). Immediately the stormy billows cease their attack. The clouds roll away, the stars shine forth, and the tiny boat rests upon a quiet sea. Jesus looks around at His disciples and asks sorrowfully, “Why are ye so fearful?” “Where is your faith” (Mark 4:40; Luke 8:25)? In this life and death crisis Jesus did not ask the questions that are so often to be found in the minds of uncertainty. He did not ask like we would today, “Don’t you have a bank account that you can count on? Don’t you have some investments? Don’t you have a lot of friends that will help you? What type of insurance do you carry, and how much?” No, He asked a very personal, heart searching question: “Where is your faith?”

As Seventh-day Adventists we believe that men are justified by faith for “without faith it is impossible to please Him” (Hebrews 11:6), and we believe that “faith cometh by hearing … the word of God” (Romans 10:17). But how many of us know the faith that will be required of each one to meet the coming storm? When we are surrounded by riots and protests leading to civil strife and war here in America and with the united evangelical movement joined against us, when suddenly every security we’ve ever known has vanished in a time of trouble such as never was, what good will it be then to talk about the prestige of our great institutions? the luxury of our beautiful churches which architects have built with our sacrificial money? the well-edited literature and international broadcasts that our church presents? when every religious body in this world will be against us? I ask, Are we ready for persecution, even the facing of a universal death decree? Then to discover that our very best friends, even those within the church we love, are testifying against us. When our world collapses around us, will we be strong enough in the faith to stand alone or will we be captured in total fear as were the disciples? What will our answer be when Jesus speaks, “Where is your faith?”

In Revelation 14:12 the remnant have two characteristics. They keep the commandments of God and they keep the faith of Jesus. Let’s consider just for one more moment the faith of Jesus – literally. “When Jesus was awakened to meet the storm, He was in perfect peace. There was no trace of fear in word or look, for no fear was in His heart. But He rested not in the possession of almighty power. It was not as the ‘Master of earth and sea and sky’ that He reposed in quiet. That power He had laid down, and He says, ‘I can of Mine own self do nothing’ (John 5:30). He trusted in the Father’s might. It was in faith—faith in God’s love and care—that Jesus rested, and the power of that Word which stilled the storm was the power of God,” His Father. The Desire of Ages, 336.

Let us think now of some very serious questions which I hope will awaken your mind to the approaching storm that is so soon to break upon us. I trust we will truly keep the faith of Jesus. There is a sinister force at work in our world today to overthrow the cause of God. “The agencies of evil are combining their forces and consolidating. They are strengthening for the last great crisis. Great changes are soon to take place in our world, and the final movements will be rapid ones.” Testimonies, vol. 9, 11. “We are on the very verge of the time of trouble, and perplexities that are scarcely dreamed of are before us. A power from beneath is leading men to war against Heaven. Human beings have confederated with satanic agencies to make void the law of God.” Ibid., 43. [Emphasis added.]

Let’s take the word consolidation. Never in my life span have I seen such a surge of consolidation that we now see taking place. The financial structures of this world are consolidating. Bank after bank merge together in a colossal empire. Giant corporations are swallowing up one another so that a few are now controlling every aspect of life. Even denominational churches are consolidating so that today a few are emerging with a powerful political clout. Even the nations are consolidating. Take the North American Process Technology Alliance (NAPTA). You find the joining together of the United States, Canada, and Mexico. And then look at the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in which the third world countries are joining together for their power. Look across the Atlantic to the European commonwealth. Here countries are uniting in a European union which has one currency and a tremendous trade power.

Now let’s look at the word confederation. We hear much today of a United Nations for a new world order, and for what purpose? for peace? so that there will be no more war? Don’t be fooled. Inspiration has made it clear that it is to make void the law of God producing a worldwide united power in which it will not be possible to buy or to sell unless you have the mark of the beast.

Things are developing fast. The Lord said the last movements would be rapid ones. How is this crisis coming? Selected Messages, Book 2, 367: “The word of God plainly declares that His law is to be scorned, trampled upon, by the world; there will be an extraordinary prevalence of iniquity.” And nobody can shut their eyes today at the evils and say this is not here. It is. “The professed Protestant world will form a confederacy with the man of sin, and the church and the world will be in corrupt harmony.

“Here the great crisis is coming upon the world. The Scriptures teach that popery is to regain its lost supremacy, and that the fires of persecution will be rekindled through the time-serving concessions of the so-called Protestant world.” Ibid., 367, 368.

Did you catch that? Did you notice a confederacy between Protestants and the man of sin? Need I tell you that this just recently happened when Protestant and Catholic leadership in 1994 signed the document called “Evangelicals and Catholics Together”? An idea that was conceived by Charles Colson, the founder of the prison fellowship and a Catholic priest by the name of Richard Neuhaus.

Christianity Today, the evangelical magazine, was so excited that it called this document the most important. It said, “All who accept Christ as Lord and Savior are brothers and sisters in Christ. Evangelicals and Catholics are brothers and sisters in Christ. However imperfect our communion with one another, however deep our disagreements with one another, we recognize that there is but One church.” [Emphasis added.] Oh, it’s here, friend!

The Great Controversy, 445, says, “When the leading churches of the United States, uniting upon such points of doctrine as are held by them in common … .” Let me tell you, the crisis is not coming; the crisis is here now! From our pulpits is being preached peace and safety. The purpose of this great ecumenical movement is to reestablish papal power as it was before the reformation. The papacy accomplished its authority in A.D. 538 by conducting councils, conventions, and evangelical alliances and they are using the same strategy today. “Was not this the way things went with Rome? Are we not living her life over again? And what do we see just ahead? Another general council! A world’s convention! Evangelical alliance, and universal creed!” Ibid.

There have been two great Vatican councils that have been held and there are numerous evangelical alliances that are now being formed by dialogs between Catholics, Protestants and Jews. I know of this personally because one day while I was pastor in Sacramento, California, I received a call from a Catholic priest from a nearby church. He remarked that there is a great ecumenical movement now. He wanted to come speak in my church on our Sabbath day. He would then invite me to come and speak to his people on a Sunday. My answer was, no thank you. …

Let me read to you from the Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia, vol. 10, of the Bible Commentary, pages 410 and 411: “The ecumenical movement will … become a concerted effort to unite the world as to secure universal peace and security by enlisting the power of the civil government in a universal religio-political crusade to eliminate all dissent. SDA’s envision this crusade as the great apostasy to which John the revelator refers to ‘Babylon the great’ (Revelation 17:5).” …

In The Great Controversy, 571, are these words: “The papacy is just what prophecy declared that she would be, the apostasy of the latter times (2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4). … Shall this power, whose record for a thousand years is written in the blood of saints, be now acknowledged as a part of the church of Christ?” And then Testimonies, vol. 7, 108: “To bind ourselves up by contracts with those not of our faith is not in the order of God. We are to treat with kindness and courtesy those who refuse to be loyal to God, but we are never, never to unite with them in counsel regarding the vital interests of His work.” [Emphasis added.] These things will only lead to persecution. The Great Controversy, 445: “When this shall be gained, then, in the effort to secure complete uniformity, it will be only a step to the resort of force.”

“In the movements now in progress in the United States to secure for the institutions and usages of the church the support of the state, Protestants are following in the steps of papists. Nay, more, they are opening the door for the papacy to regain in Protestant America the supremacy which she has lost in the Old World. And that which gives greater significance to this movement is the fact that the principal object contemplated is the enforcement of Sunday observance … .” The Great Controversy, 573.

Did you notice those words? “To regain in Protestant America the supremacy which she lost in the Old World.”

History reveals that in Europe during the 1260 years of papal supremacy Rome was in complete control of every kingdom and every law was based on Catholic law. Do we realize what it must have been to live there? Freedom of worship as we know it today was absolutely forbidden. You could be destroyed to think differently from than that which Rome taught. Freedom as we have experienced it in our lifetime did not exist then. Approximately a hundred and fifty million were put to death as heretics. You see, the reason why the founders of America established a strict separation of church and state was to give full freedom for religious groups to flourish as their own message would grow. But today’s religious right is not satisfied with this freedom. It feels driven by the name of God to conduct its doctrinal principles into the political arena.

I was amazed to read The Monitor of McAllen, Texas, January 24, 1995, in which the editor said some very bold things. He talks about the political principles, for example, of this new religious right. He says, “It tends to confine women to traditional roles proscribing any productive rights and impose public manifestations of religion such as school prayer. It is punitive in its outlook on people who receive government assistance and as a retributive view of criminal justice offering strong support for capital punishment.” Then are these words: “The religious right brooks no tolerance or possibility of divergent moral beliefs by equally religious folks. Perhaps for that reason it seems so full of hatred and intolerance, hardly biblical values, and for those who do not subscribe to its agenda, the religious right unleashes its version of the inquisition.” Here we see developing in America the beginning of the image of the beast.

Will churches seek the aid of the state? The Great Controversy, 443: “It was apostasy that led the early church to seek the aid of the civil government, and this prepared the way for the development of the papacy … . Said Paul: ‘There’ shall ‘come a falling away, … and that man of sin be revealed’ (2 Thessalonians 2:3). So apostasy in the church will prepare the way for the image to the beast.”

God speaks of this in the second angel’s message when He said in Revelation 14:8: “… Babylon is fallen, is fallen.” In 1935 there was a man, Professor Beltz, who sent out questionnaires to the leading Protestant ministers throughout America. The statistics speak for themselves. These ministers of Protestant churches confessed as follows, that they believe no longer in the Bible as being trustworthy. So spoke the Baptists, 37%; the Congregational Church, 91% said they no longer believe the Bible to be trustworthy; the Episcopalians, 96%; the Presbyterians, 80%.

Thirty-five years later (1970), Look Magazine sent out a survey to the students in North American seminaries, asking them a question about the Second Coming. Only one percent believed that Jesus Christ would ever return. And these are the ministers that are in the churches today. Should we be amazed when we look at the books that are coming from our presses today which are teaching the doctrines of Babylon, that we can be saved in sin, that we don’t have to keep the law, that obedience is not required, that we do not have to overcome, that Jesus did it all for us on the cross? All we have to do is just believe.

We see the image of the beast developing. The Great Controversy, 445: “When the leading churches of the United States, uniting upon such points of doctrine as are held by them in common, shall influence the state to enforce their decrees and to sustain their institutions, then Protestant America will have formed an image of the Roman hierarchy, and the infliction of civil penalties upon dissenters will inevitably result.”

What is meant by giving life to the image of the beast? Testimonies, vol. 5, page 712: “When our nation shall so abjure the principles of its government as to enact a Sunday law, Protestantism will in this act join hands with popery; it will be nothing else than giving life to the tyranny which has long been eagerly watching its opportunity to spring again into active despotism.”

And so, in The Great Controversy, 449: “Hence the enforcement of Sundaykeeping in the United States would be an enforcement of the worship of the beast and his image.” Have we been told when it will be formed? Yes, we have. Selected Messages, Book 2, 81: “The Lord has shown me clearly that the image of the beast will be formed before probation closes.”

And what is the mark? “The mark … is the observance of the first day of the week.” Testimonies, vol. 8, 117.

And what will the enforcement of the national Sunday law do to our church? “When the law of God is made void the church will be sifted by fiery trials, and a larger proportion than we now anticipate, will give heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils.” Selected Messages, Book 2, 368.

And what will happen to our nation? The Review and Herald, May 2, 1893: “The result of this apostasy will be national ruin.”

We see it all coming together. I believe as we have been told in Testimonies, vol. 5, 451, “The angel of mercy is about to take her flight, never to return.” “We may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near.” Ibid.

Let me tell you friend, a storm is coming. May I ask you again that personal question, Is Christ on board your ship? When the storm breaks, will the Master ask, “Where is your faith?” Will you cringe in despair or will you be able to go to sleep at night just like Jesus in that little boat, without fear in a raging storm because His faith was in His God, His Father. God give us this kind of faith today is my prayer.

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. Thus Keep the Faith Audio Tape Ministry was born.

 

Recipe – Almond Butter Balls

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Recipe
Almond Butter Balls
½ cup almond butter         ½ cup honey
1 cup wheat germ             ¼ cup unsweetened coconut
 

Mix almond butter, wheat germ and honey and roll into little balls. Then roll in the coconut. Eat fresh, refrigerate so they will firm up, or freeze. Yummy!

 

Food – The Forgotten Wheat Germ

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I do not hear much talk about wheat germ—it could be a lost nutritional additive that may give our health a needed boost.

“Wheat germ is part of a wheat kernel and is responsible for helping the plant reproduce and spawn new wheat. While it’s removed from most processed wheat products, it is a major nutritional component of whole grain wheat.

“Wheat germ, along with the husk, is removed from refined wheat products …

“Wheat germ is added to some granolas, cereals, and cornbread, and is also available raw.

“Wheat germ … is an excellent source of vegetable proteins, along with fiber and healthy fats. It is also a good source of magnesium, zinc, thiamin, folate, potassium, and phosphorus. Wheat germ is also high in vitamin E, an essential nutrient with antioxidant properties—natural sources of antioxidants are best in preventing disease.”

Excerpts from: www.healthline.com/health/wheat-germ-benefits#2

“Unfortunately, this kernel, which includes the wheat germ, is tragically removed during the refining of whole wheat grains to white flour. In the manufacturing process, it is removed because its healthy oils can go rancid quickly, so removing it makes it easier for food production companies to keep wheat in storage much longer. The germ itself makes up only about 3% of the kernel, and you need over 50 pounds of wheat to get one pound of wheat germ.

“Because it is meant to feed the new plant, wheat germ is packed with good nutrients. Two tablespoons of raw wheat germ have about 1.5 grams of unsaturated fat, 9 grams of carbohydrates, 4 grams of protein, 2 grams dietary fiber, 2 grams of sugars, no cholesterol and about 60 calories. This is plenty of protein and fiber.

“Plus, it has a number of other healthy nutrients. …

“Wheat germ is fantastic food that usually is in the form of a coarse powder. You can easily incorporate it into protein shakes, oatmeal, casseroles, muffins, and sprinkled over cereal. … You can even make a tea out of it by brewing one tablespoon per two cups of water; steep for 20 minutes, then filter and drink.”

www.doctoroz.com/article/why-you-need-wheat-germ

I think it would be a good idea to return this nice little healthy germ into our recipes to increase the health benefits of our families!

 

Recipe
Almond Butter Balls
½ cup almond butter         ½ cup honey
1 cup wheat germ             ¼ cup unsweetened coconut
 

Mix almond butter, wheat germ and honey and roll into little balls. Then roll in the coconut. Eat fresh, refrigerate so they will firm up, or freeze. Yummy!