“This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil.”
Hebrews 6:19
An anchor keeps a ship secured in place, so that it does not drift listlessly around the ocean or too close to the rocks. It also keeps a ship where it is supposed to be in the harbor; otherwise it would drift into the other ships also taking refuge there because of a storm or high wind. As the ship’s anchor keeps it safe and secure, so will the Anchor of our souls keep us secured safely within His arms.
People are drifting today and it is interesting that when people drift they most often drift away and not towards. Husbands drift from wives. Children drift from parents. Christians drift from truth.
God doesn’t want us to be drifters.
Jesus said, “False christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders [working miracles] to deceive, if possible, even the elect.” Matthew 24:24
For 6,000 years, mankind has faced the deceptions of Satan. But the Bible tells us that a time is coming—and the signs all around us indicate that it is very near—when Satan’s deceptions will be so strong that, if possible, even some of God’s chosen people might be deceived. However, if God’s chosen and elect people will “live the life of Christ in this world” (To Be Like Jesus, 217), then they will not be deceived because they have a secure anchor. And sadly, so many people living in the world today do not.
For a ship’s anchor to be effective, it must be secured on the sea floor. Some anchors are made with a pointed end so that they will dig deeply and securely into the sand of the sea floor when dropped. However, Paul says our anchor is not secured here on earth. No, our anchor is secured in God’s heavenly tabernacle. And we can be assured that having our anchor secured there, no matter how turbulent and strong the storms of life may be, we will never be blown away or drift off course.
Every wind of doctrine.
“The days are fast approaching when there will be great perplexity and confusion. Satan, clothed in angel robes, will deceive, if possible, the very elect. … Every wind of doctrine will be blowing. …
“The time is not far distant when the test will come to every soul. The mark of the beast will be urged upon us. Those who have step by step yielded to worldly demands and conformed to worldly customs will not find it a hard matter to yield to the powers that be, rather than subject themselves to derision, insult, threatened imprisonment, and death. The contest is between the commandments of God and the commandments of men. In this time, the gold will be separated from the dross in the church. True godliness will be clearly distinguished from the appearance and tinsel of it. Many a star that we have admired for its brilliancy will then go out in darkness. Chaff like a cloud will be borne away on the wind, even from places where we see only floors of rich wheat. All who assume the ornaments of the sanctuary, but are not clothed with Christ’s righteousness, will appear in the shame of their own nakedness. …
“Satan will sorely harass the faithful; but, in the name of Jesus, they will come off more than conquerors. Then will the church of Christ appear ‘fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners.’ ” Testimonies, Vol. 5, 80, 81
In the fall of 1979, I was a faculty member at Southwestern Union College in Keene, Texas (renamed Southwestern Adventist University in 1996). I vividly remember the shocking announcement made during a faculty meeting that one of our leading theologians had suggested at a public forum that 1844 was not as significant as we had previously thought. This was an attack on the foundation of the Adventist message, and leading Adventist theologians worldwide agreed with him.
What began as an attack on the doctrine of investigative judgment soon resulted in multiple attacks against William Miller and Ellen White’s prophetic ministry. In the 1980s, she was accused of plagiarism, followed by attempts to reinterpret prophecy. These attacks on the truths of God’s word have never stopped, and I expect they never will as long as we are in this world.
There is always a present truth.
God revealed the truth to the pioneers in the Second Advent Movement. That truth will endure even the most severe, detailed, and rigid investigation of the Greek and Hebrew languages in the prophetic scriptures. In 1979, when the significance of the investigative judgment of 1844 was questioned, the laity did not recognize it as an attack against the foundation of present truth, although it was.
Present truth is found at every advance in this world’s history. For Noah, it was the coming flood, and if the people wanted to be saved, they had to get on the ark or drown. For John the Baptist, it was the coming of the Messiah. For Martin Luther, it was justification by faith. The present truth today is that the investigative judgment is now in process.
It makes no sense.
Have you ever felt that God has asked you to do something that, to your mind, made no sense? The Bible gives us just such an example.
“When He [Jesus] had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, ‘Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.’ But Simon answered and said to Him, ‘Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.’ ” Luke 5:4, 5
Nighttime, when the fish couldn’t see the nets in the dark, was the best time to fish. This is how Peter made his living, so he knew that what Jesus was suggesting made no sense; and the skepticism in Peter’s voice when he answered the Lord showed that. However, as outspoken as Peter could be, and was at that moment, he nevertheless ignored his pride and did, by faith, as he was told. We must cultivate humbleness of heart so that we can turn away from our own pride. We are not to argue with Jesus, but obey Him with humility and love.
There is so much pride in this world. Even the Christian will follow the Lord and the prophet, until it doesn’t make sense to him, and then he won’t do it. From a fisherman’s perspective it was absolute nonsense, and totally irrational. The other fishermen would laugh him off the beach, but Peter was humble enough to obey. Can you imagine what was going through his mind? Perhaps the same thing that goes through your mind when what God asks or allows doesn’t make sense to you.
But Peter let down his net.
“And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.” Verses 6, 7
Peter’s boat and that of his partner weren’t little row boats or canoes. Their boats had been built for fishing and were capable of holding thousands of pounds of fish. Peter used casting-nets typically made of flax and linen—very strong. But the Bible says that Peter’s net was breaking with the weight of the fish, so he called to his partner for help. It also says that, once the fish were transferred from the net to the boats, both his and his partner’s boats were sinking from the weight and volume of the fish. Miracles happen when we agree to work with God.
God speaks to people in a way that they understand. He used parables to convey principles of right to those who heard Him speak. Peter understood fishing. In this miracle, more than any other, Peter could see and understand without any doubt that this Man was in control of everything.
“When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!’ ” But Jesus said to Peter, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.” Verses 8, 10, last part
Peter immediately left his fishing boat. He understood that he no longer needed to worry about making a living because Jesus would provide for him. He gave up everything—boats, nets, and income—and he became an evangelist for Jesus. He was anchored with the right Person. Trusting in Jesus, he knew that he and his family would be taken care of.
There was a man.
Nathaniel Faulkhead lived in Australia and served as the treasurer of the Seventh-day Adventist Echo Publishing House and was a leading worker in Australia. Ellen White traveled to Australia in 1891. During the voyage, God gave her a vision concerning the work there. In this vision, she was given explicit instructions concerning this man. When she was done writing—50 pages worth—she put it in an envelope to mail. But before she could mail it a voice said to her, “Don’t mail it yet, not yet, not yet, they will not receive your testimony,” So she kept it. She arrived in Australia, and time went on.
Mr. Faulkhead was not only a leader in the Seventh-day Adventist church but he was also a member of the Free Masons and very high up in the organization. Free Masons, Jesuits, Opus Dei, and many other organizations are secret societies, some of which are associated with the Roman Catholic Church. Mr. Faulkhead had reached the point where he was much more interested in the Free Masons than in the Adventist church and his job at the publishing house. Other Adventists became concerned and questioned his involvement with the secret society, but he was convinced that he was doing the right thing.
One day, almost a year after Mrs. White’s vision concerning this man, a fellow Adventist asked Mr. Faulkhead that if God gave Mrs. White a message for him concerning his membership with the Free Masons, would he accept it? No one knew that God had, in fact, already given Mrs. White just such a vision. The fellow Adventist had spoken hypothetically. Mr. Faulkhead replied that it would have to be a very strong message.
Just a few days later, Mr. Faulkhead dreamed that God had given Mrs. White a message for him. He arranged to meet with Mrs. White and asked if she had a message for him. She replied that she did, and that she’d had it for about a year. She explained that she had intended to mail it then, but that the Spirit of the Lord wouldn’t allow her to mail it. Mrs. White suggested that they arrange another meeting to discuss God’s message for him, but Mr. Faulkhead wanted to know the message immediately.
They sat down together. She retrieved the manuscript and began to read the particular points that the Lord had given her regarding the dangers of Free Masonry. She told Mr. Faulkhead that if he continued on this path, he would lose his soul. He was astonished.
She told him that people at the lodge addressed him as the Most Worshipful Master. At church, he gave little, but at the Masonic lodge, he gave much. He could not deny her words. Then Mrs. White waved her hand in a certain way, and Mr. Faulkhead turned pale. He placed his hand on her shoulder and asked if she knew what she had just done. She had, he said, given him the secret sign of the Knight’s Templar, another secret society organization. Only a member of the Knight’s Templar would know that sign. Mrs. White waved her hand again in a different sign. This was a sign known only to those in the highest positions within the Free Mason organization. Mrs. White stated that the angel of the Lord had shown her the signs. What was so impressive about the message was that God had spoken in a way he could understand. The next day at work, he told his fellow workers that the Lord had spoken to him through Mrs. White. Then, he went to the Masonic lodge and resigned.
God spoke to Peter in a way that a fisherman could understand, to Nebuchadnezzar in a way that an idolater could understand, and to a Free Mason in a way that he could understand. God speaks to all of us in a way that we can understand if we are willing to listen.
We must find our anchor for ourselves.
“Those who seek to remove the old landmarks are not holding fast; they are not remembering how they have received and heard. Those who try to bring in theories that would remove the pillars of our faith concerning the sanctuary or concerning the personality of God or of Christ, are working as blind men. They are seeking to bring in uncertainties and to set the people of God adrift without an anchor.” Manuscript Release No. 760: The Integrity of the Sanctuary Truth, 9
“If we are the Lord’s appointed messengers, we shall not spring up with new ideas and theories to contradict the message that God has given through His servants since 1844. …
“Our work is to bring forth the strong reasons of our faith, our past and present position, because there are men who, never established in the truth, will bring in fallacies which would tear away the anchorage of our faith. Even presidents of conferences will fear to move, as some have done, dictating and commanding and forbidding. …
“There will be many converted from among the Jews, … The day of the Lord will come suddenly, unexpectedly, and men are asleep.” Ibid., 14
“God never contradicts Himself. Scripture proofs are misapplied if forced to testify to that which is not true. Another and still another will arise and bring in supposedly great light, and make their assertions.
“But we stand by the old landmarks.” Ibid., 19
“Never was there a time when the enemy worked with such subtlety as at the present, and we need to realize that we are now to be fully prepared to meet whatever may come in the way of apostasy. The word of God declares that some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. …
“Satan will use his best plans to lead souls to bring in some new theories, some strange, fanciful ideas.” Ibid., 20, 21
“The truths given us after the passing of the time in 1844 are just as certain and unchangeable as when the Lord gave them to us in answer to our urgent prayers. The visions that the Lord has given me are so remarkable that we know that what we have accepted is the truth. This was demonstrated by the Holy Spirit. Light, precious light from God, established the main points of our faith as we hold them today. And these truths are to be kept before the mind. We must arouse from the position of lukewarmness, from being neither cold nor hot. We need increased faith and more earnest trust in God. We must not be satisfied to remain where we are. We must advance step by step, from light to greater light. …
“As the points of our faith were thus established, our feet were placed upon a solid foundation. We accepted the truth point by point under the demonstration of the Holy Spirit. I would be taken off in vision and explanations would be given me. I was given illustrations of heavenly things and of the sanctuary, so that we were placed where light was shining on us in clear, distinct rays.
“All these truths are immortalized in my writings. The Lord never denies His word. Men may get up scheme after scheme, and the enemy will seek to seduce souls from the truth, but all who believe that the Lord has spoken through Sister White, and has given her a message, will be safe from the many delusions that will come in in these last days.” Ibid., 22, 23
We must be anchored in the truth, or when every wind of doctrine blows, we will be blown away. Do you know what you believe and who you believe in? Our faith is not in Paul or John, Isaiah or Daniel, or even Ellen White. Our faith must be in the One who gave them their messages.
Become more and more anchored every day. Then you will stand steadfast when the winds blow.
Pastor John J. Grosboll is the Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be reached by email at historic@stepstolife.org or by telephone at 316-788-5559.