Issue: 2010 April

Q&A – How Do I Receive Strength from God?

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There are many times in life when it seems that we are alone and there is no one who understands our own peculiar problems. They may be problems that we have initiated ourselves, or they may be problems coming from our workplace, or our associates, the government, the church, or school or from some other outside source. Whatever or wherever the problem exists, it is apparently something that you are unable to solve. Because of it, you may be losing sleep, you may even be losing weight, you may be losing friends or money, or you may be losing confidence in yourself and others may be losing confidence in you.

However terrible the situation always remember that God is still in control and He is still a God of love. “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.” I John 4:8. In His love He wants the best for you and we need to have confidence in His love. “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28. Notice that this promise is to those who love God.

Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15) so putting these two texts together, things will work together for good if we love Him and then if we do love Him, we will be keeping His commandments. “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.” I John 5:3.

To receive strength from God, first we must ask. Jesus said, “And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” Luke 11:9, 10. Later on Jesus told His disciples, “And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.” John 14:13, 14.

We must ask in faith, for Jesus said to many of those whom He healed, “Thy faith hath made thee whole.” Matthew 9:22. This is mentioned also in other places in the Gospels. It says in Hebrews 11:6, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” It is necessary to believe that God will do what He says and that He loves us enough to do what is best for us even if it isn’t the very thing we think is best. A very comforting and assuring verse is Psalm 37:4: “Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.”

In review, the way to receive help from God is to believe that He is and that He will do what He says; then ask for what we need, according to His will. In order for us to receive, we must love God and if we love Him we will keep His commandments. If we keep His commandments He will answer our prayers according to His will.

“Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” Matthew 22:37–39.

If you have a Bible question you wish to have answered, please write to Steps to Life or e-mail it to: landmarks@stepstolife.org.

Inspiration – Instruction to Church Members

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In the Church today there are tares among the wheat. Christ declared: “The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

“Then Jesus sent the multitudes away, and went into the house: and His disciples came unto Him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; the field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; the enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of the world. The Son of man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.” Matthew 13:24–30, 36–43.

Read this instruction carefully, doing all in your power to understand the parable. The Holy Spirit will impress the minds of those who desire a clear comprehension of this parable.

How the Growth of the Gospel Seed is Hindered

The Saviour said again: “Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the wayside. But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.” Matthew 13:18–22.

Those who do not follow true Christian principles, whose natural and cultivated tendencies to wrong have not been changed by the grace of God, have no root in themselves; and therefore they lose the interest which they once felt in the truth. They return to their sinful practices. They may continue to make a profession of Christianity, but they do not honor the truth. They do not go on from grace to grace. For a time they are neither cold nor hot, but they finally become hardened to all good impressions. They grow careless, worldly, inattentive. They hear the truth, but do not receive it. Of this class Christ says: “Every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.” Matthew 7:26, 27.

Of Chorazin and Bethsaida, cities in which so many of Christ’s mighty works were done, which were exalted to heaven by being honored with His presence, the Saviour declared: “Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.” Matthew 11:21–24.

Those who have been favored with great light and many opportunities, but who have not accepted the light nor improved the opportunities, who have not followed correct principles in dealing with their brethren or with unbelievers, will receive punishment in accordance with their sin. They will meet with some sad surprises in the last great day, when every case shall be brought up in review before God. In their record they will see that which will fill them with shame, but nothing can be changed. All is beyond recall.

Christ has made every provision for the sanctification of His Church. He has made abundant provision for every soul to have such grace and strength that he will be more than a conqueror in the warfare against sin. The Saviour is wounded afresh and put to open shame when His people pay no heed to His word. He came to this world and lived a sinless life, that in His power His people might also live lives of sinlessness. He desires them by practicing the principles of truth to show to the world that God’s grace has power to sanctify the heart.

Church Members Are to Help One Another

Christ has given direction for their guidance, declaring that they are to show Christian interest in one another. If one commits sin, do not talk of it among yourselves. Go first to the one who has offended. “Tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.” Matthew 18:15. “If thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.” Matthew 5:23, 24. Do church members obey this word? Suppose that in every institution established among us, in publishing houses, sanitariums, and schools, God’s people had sought to understand and follow His plan, as it is outlined in the Old and New Testaments. Suppose that the instruction given by Christ to the children of Israel had been woven into the life-practice. Would not we as a people stand today on vantage ground?

The instruction given in Matthew presents the work that must be done to keep the Church purified from error and defilement. The brethren in the Church are to be faithful to one another, and this is in every sense applicable to the sisters also. When you bring an offering to God, ask yourself, Am I cherishing wrong feelings toward any of my brethren in the faith? If you are, do all in your power to be reconciled to the one with whom you are at variance.

It is a sin to cherish anger against a brother or a sister in the Church. Christ treats anger as murder. He declares, “I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause”—O, how much there is of this in the Church today!—“shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.” Matthew 5:22. God has a controversy with that man. He thinks he has occasion for feeling angry, for calling his brother raca, “vain fellow;” but these passionate words are a savor of death unto death. He who utters them is not co-operating with God, but with Satan. In heaven his wicked railing is placed in the same list as swearing.

The Review and Herald, April 1, 1902.

Keys to the Storehouse – Scorched and Withered

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I am losing my interest in the truth I once had, and some of the old ways and practices are creeping back into my life. Why is this happening?

Oh no! The seed of life is withering because the heart has been hardened (turned to stone) in its own habits and the seed has no root. When the sun shines, the little seed is scorched and withered. No more light or seed can fill the heart and life because the first seed withered and became darkness and this is why interest in the truth leaves. Only as you advance in the opening light of God’s word will you receive more light. If you do not advance in that light, the seed will wither and die.

Oh what a terrible loss it is to let a seed wither and die because a heart would not change!

“Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.” Matthew 13:5, 6.

The truth you heard fell upon stony places—a heart that would not change, and “the seed sown upon stony ground finds little depth of soil. The plant springs up quickly, but the root cannot penetrate the rock to find nutriment to sustain its growth, and it soon perishes. … Like the rock underlying the layer of earth, the selfishness of the natural heart underlies the soil of their good desires and aspirations. The love of self is not subdued.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 46.

Without yielding yourself totally to the control of God’s word, you have no root and therefore you lose the interest you once felt in the truth. You have not been born again. The root cannot get nourishment from a stone and therefore the seed withers. That is why the Lord needs to give you a new heart.

“Those who do not follow true Christian principles, whose natural and cultivated tendencies to wrong have not been changed by the grace of God, have no root in themselves; and therefore they lose the interest which they once felt in the truth. They return to their sinful practices.” Atlantic Union Gleaner, January 17, 1906.

None need be so foolish as to cultivate that heart of stone where God’s word cannot take root and grow. Pray right now to claim the promise:

“Lord, my heart is failing because of its hardness. Your precious seed is withering because of the stony ground. Please replace it with a new heart and a new spirit. Take away the stony heart so your seed may take root and find nourishment to grow and flourish amidst your sunshine. And as the sun rises in the sky, so let the Son of Righteousness rise in my heart to melt the stone and prepare the way for more seed.” See Ezekiel 36:26, 27.

Use this key to enter the heavenly storehouse. It is time for the seed to take root and to flourish in the sunshine of God’s word.

I am a Jealous God

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The second commandment is a very powerful commandment.

It says, “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: You shall not worship them, or serve them: for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquities of the fathers on the children, to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me; But showing loving kindness to thousands, to those who love me, and keep my commandments.” Exodus 20:4–6 (NAS).

There are negative consequences to idol worship that not only affect you, but generations that come after you. To those who are faithful to God He blesses with loving kindness for thousands of generations.

The heart of this commandment is that God is a jealous God (Deuteronomy 5:9).

We usually think of jealousy in negative terms, but there is also a good jealousy. Jealousy is defined in the dictionary as being intolerant of a rival or unfaithfulness; hostile toward a rival or one believed to enjoy certain advantages. An example of bad jealousy would include King Saul toward David (I Samuel 18:5–9) and the elder brother, in the parable of the prodigal son, who did not want to share because of jealousy of his younger brother (Luke 15:11–32). It would be a good thing to guard jealously the nation’s freedom. It is also good to be jealous for your health and integrity. The Bible says, “Contend for the faith that was once delivered to the saints.” Jude 1:3. It is a good thing to be jealous for the truth and for marriage. Marriage is a covenant between two people, an emotional attachment and commitment to one another that should never be stolen. It is right to be jealous over that covenant of love.

Often in both the Old and New Testament, God relates to His church as a husband relates to his wife. God has the exclusive right to His church which He will not give up without a fight.

Contrary to popular opinion, God does have a holy anger. When Elijah confronted wicked Ahab and Jezebel who had taken young men and young women of the nation, causing them to be temple prostitutes in the name of worshipping God by means of Bel, Elijah said God is not happy, and He is turning off the rain. The rain turned off for three and a half years (I Kings 17:1)! This caused great suffering to the people because of the effects of the famine; however, I would like to suggest to you that the horrible effects of famine were more merciful than what the continued idolatry of Ahab and Jezebel had on the nation.

God destroyed a whole nation, Pharaoh and his army, and all the first born in Egypt in the midst of the siege at the exodus. Lives were sacrificed to deliver Israel.

Herod also, who took the head of John the Baptist and the life of the apostle James, was eaten by worms. See Mark 6:21–27; Acts 12:1, 2, 21–23.

Jesus, speaking to the church of Thyatira under the symbol of Jezebel, says that you have this wicked woman and I am telling you what I am going to do with her. I am going to throw her on a bed of suffering and I am going to destroy her children with pestilence. See Revelation 2:20–23. God has a jealous anger for His church!

My wife and I have a Chihuahua named Tori. Chihuahuas see themselves as German Shepherds. A few years ago we moved out into the country and right across from our property is a big field which is dangerous to get to because of the busy highway between. One day as we got out of the car, Tori spotted a big reaping machine, a big combine. Having never seen one before, Tori decided she would get that thing, but between her and the combine was the road. I watched as Tori, with all of her energy, headed out towards that combine, at the same time watching a big Mack truck coming down the road. My sense told me that I was not going to catch that dog. I love my wife and I knew that if the dog got hurt, she was really going to be hurt so I knew I had to act immediately, so with all the strength I had and everything in me I screamed at that dog. It was powerful enough that it terrorized the dog, causing it to stop. With two big emotions I picked it up and was so glad it was not crushed but also mad that it could have been killed. I screamed at my dog; it was a jealous response to save the dog’s life and I was so happy to be able to give it back to my wife because I loved her.

The first commandment points out whom to worship, the second tells how to worship God, the third explains the name and its sacredness and the fourth tells when to worship. The result of violating that second commandment caused great trouble for Israel and also for the Christian church. In the wilderness thousands of people died because of building the golden calf (Exodus 32) and the book of Deuteronomy records many more instances where the Jewish people were cursed because of idolatry. In Jesus’ day some people actually made an idol out of their temple.

Jesus said to the woman at the well in John 4:23, 24: “The hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth.” There are great mysteries that surround God that are not understood and never will be, but God does have a throne of fire and when He has been seen, He seems to have the form of a man but the Bible says He is also spirit; He is everywhere. There is nowhere you can run from the presence of God. He must be worshipped in spirit and in truth.

Worship is a big issue which is found in Genesis, Exodus and also in Revelation. The second commandment says that you shall not make to yourselves an idol. You shall not means no!

What is an idol? It is an image that is worshipped as a god. The ancient sanctuary had angels embroidered on the curtain and other illustrations but you will never find the Israelites bowing down to the angels. They were illustrations. God does not prohibit illustrations. He does prohibit taking some object and using it to venerate Him. An idol can be any object that becomes a person’s compassionate devotion. Some people make idols out of their children and some men make goddesses out of their wives. Some worship their automobiles and lots of others worship their homes or even themselves.

The Scripture continues in Exodus 20:4–6, “or any likeness of what is in heaven above, or the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth.” No fish gods, no flying bird gods, nothing in the earth beneath, or on the earth or in heaven. Some different translations say, “You shall not worship or serve them.” NASB. “You shall not bow down [submit or yield, bend the head or body in submission, to give an act of service, to obey] yourselves to them.” KJV. “You shall not bow down or worship [to honor or reverence a divine being] them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous [demanding complete devotion] God.” NIV.

Why is God jealous? Is it just arbitrary or does He have a reason? Deuteronomy 4:39 says, “Know therefore today and take it to your heart that the Lord He is God in heaven above and the earth below and there is no other.” The truth is, there is no other God. God is not going to share with anything or let you embrace some false god. Our very life is dependent upon being unified with the One who created us. The devil, wanting to be God, has caused the mess in this world. This will only be resolved at the final judgment.

Jesus had something to say about this when the devil came to him with the three temptations in the wilderness. At the last temptation, the devil said that all these things I will give you and bypass the cross, if you will fall down and worship me. Jesus said to him to go Satan, for it is written that you should worship the Lord your God and serve Him only (Matthew 4:9, 10).

Paul said, “But I say that the things that the Gentiles sacrificed, they sacrificed to demons, and I do not want you to become sharers with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord with the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord at the table of demons.” I Corinthians 10:20, 21. Then he says in verse 22, “Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy?” So what he is saying is that all of this idol worship is really backed up by demonic forces. The Bible does talk about the things they can’t see, can’t hear and also the images which proves that there are unseen powers. God is not going to share His church with these demons. God does have a righteous indignation, but you do not want to arouse God’s jealous righteous indignation. God’s jealous love and jealous anger come out of His great love for us.

What if God said it doesn’t matter; go ahead and bow down to anything you want to and worship nothing. What would that say about Him? The fact that He is passionate about us tells us that He loves us. The greater the love, the greater the anger when it is violated. All this flows from God’s love, and His love for us is birth to his jealousy. His jealousy gives birth to His holy anger and His holy anger gives birth to His mercy because He is not willing for any to perish. God looks at His anger and says it is justified, but I cannot let them go, so I bring in mercy. He brings in His grace, all of which is the result of His love.

The apostle John revealed in the book Revelation what the Christian church would go through as a result of idolatry: “And the rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues did not repent of the works of their hands.” Revelation 9:20.

This idolatry all came from the Tower of Babel. Nimrod died and Semaramis marvelously gets impregnated by a beam of light from the sun. This is what she told everybody and her baby was a miraculous baby, Tamuz. She soon had everybody worshipping her and, of course, Nimrod was in the sun. We have this mother/son cult which was an attempt to counterfeit the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. This idol worship spread all over the world and Semaramis took the name, the Queen of Heaven. The Bible has something to say about this. Abraham was called out of that mess in order to preserve the truths about God and his method of worship.

We find that in Jeremiah 7:18, 19 it says, “The children gather wood, and the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke me to anger. Do they provoke me to anger? declares the Lord: but are they not harming themselves to their own shame?” Yes, it provokes the Lord, but here it says they are really doing themselves the disservice.

Ezekiel, a contemporary of Jeremiah, said that Israel was about to go down the tube. Babylon surrounds Jerusalem and Ezekiel is taken in vision on a tour of the temple where the God of heaven should be worshipped, but where Israel, with their backs toward the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, were worshipping the sun. “Yet you will see greater abominations which they are committing. Then He brought me to the entrance of the gate of the Lord’s house which is towards the north and behold women were sitting there weeping for Tamuz.” Ezekiel 8:13–16.

Would the New Testament church succumb to idolatry? In the book of Revelation two women are represented. In Revelation 12 one woman is chased by a dragon. She represents God’s church. She is clothed with the sun, standing on the moon, a crown of 12 stars on her head. The church represented here keeps the commandments of God and has the faith of Jesus. These commandments are those which were given at Sinai and they are described here in the context of the heavenly sanctuary and the Ark of the Covenant.

The other woman presented in Revelation 17 is described as the harlot. She is called Babylon; she has great mysteries and a cup full of fornication which she has with the kings of the earth. She is called an adulterer because she was supposed to be the bride of Christ but has prostituted herself to the world. Just so in the Christian community there will be those who are faithfully keeping God’s commandments and having the faith of Jesus, as well as those who are unfaithful and who made their league with the world. Both of these will call themselves Christian.

In the United States of America we have seen a huge shift towards idolatry. Evangelicals and Protestants and some Sabbath keepers have shifted from God centered worship to human centered worship, and the very essence of Christianity is being sacrificed in order to gain numbers.

Some mainline Protestant churches are basically abandoning the Bible for humanistic teaching, philosophy and psychology, which has caused their numbers to go down because there was not anything there. If you take the Bible out of the church, you do not have anything to keep the people.

Some of these mega churches began to say, “We think we can get crowds if we do this right.” They set out to do it. In fact, one of the large churches was the Mecca of thousands of Protestant Evangelical ministers across the United States, including many Sabbath keeping ministers, who said they are going to teach us how to do evangelism. Recently this large church, to their credit, said that, “We are telling you we were wrong; it doesn’t work; we did get a crowd but our people are not growing spiritually.”

One writer said concerning this particular church that it has been one of the most influential churches in America for the last 30 years. Hanging outside the pastor’s door was this sign: What is our business? Who is our customer? What does the customer consider of value? What about this customer driven method? This changes Jesus’ directions to His disciples from teaching them to obey all that He had commanded them, to find out what they want. That is a major shift!

To human centered worship, I ask if this is like Aaron and the golden calf all over again? The impact has been astounding. Everywhere you go you see the Protestant, Evangelical churches and some Sabbath keeping churches absorbed in drama, disco music, clowns and puppets and anything else Madison Avenue and Hollywood have to offer become the cutting edge. Church growth has become the in, and whirly methods have become the means. However, the truth is that God demands to be worshipped on His own agenda and not ours. Church was not created for us to have a party; it was created for people to hear the Word of God so that their lives would be transformed.

There are many people who love Mary and there is no doubt that she was a godly woman and we are grateful that God chose her, but we have never ever seen such veneration of Mary as we have seen today. People are seeing images of Mary on garage doors and underpasses and people are going there by the thousands to kiss whatever looks like her. They are sincere and they mean well. This practice has been given great support from Pope John, who believed he owed his life to Mary for saving him from the bullet that was fired at him; however, the Bible does not teach that Mary is to be venerated or worshipped.

I love the apostles and I praise God for saints, but when it comes down to my theology I want to hear what Jesus has to say and not the councils of the church, or the opinion of the learned, but give me the Word of God. Luke 11:27, 28 tells when Jesus was teaching and a woman thought this was just marvelous: “And it came about, while He said those things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice, and she said to him, Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you were nursed.” Jesus did not hesitate but immediately responded and would not accept it. He said just because Mary bore me and just because I nursed at her breasts does not make her something special. On the contrary, Blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe. None of us, including Mary, are blessed unless we do the will of God.

The Council of Trent shaped the modern Roman Church. To the Virgin Mary, they pray in these words, “Oh Mother of God, queen of heaven, command thy son to have mercy on us.” The right use of images, says the Council of Trent, is to honor them by bowing down before them even though the Bible says do not bow down before them (Exodus 20:4, 5). The Bible portrays Mary as being humble and obedient, even calling herself the handmaid of the Lord (Luke 1:38); however, the Pope officially gave Mary the title, Queen of Heaven, and established a feast day honoring her. The Bible says that Mary knew she needed a Savior: “My spirit has rejoiced in God my Saviour.” Luke 1:47. The papacy says no, she was immaculately conceived, meaning she was conceived sinless, without original sin, and that she is all holy, meaning she lived a sinless life. You see, goddesses do not need salvation!

Cardinal Gibbons said, quoting Isaiah 49:15, “Can a woman forget her infant so as not to have pity on the fruit of her womb; even so Mary will not forget us.” The actual text says in the Catholic New Jerusalem Bible, “Can a woman forget her suckling child that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yes, these may forget but yet I [the Lord talking about Himself] will not forget you. Behold I have engraved you on the palms of my hand.” Verse 16.

Many religions scoff at the idea of idol worship, but the Hindu religion, which is a classic example of pagan religion, blatantly admits that they worship idols, believing it to be a good thing. They accept it with open arms as a simple way of expressing one’s devotion and love to God, but that is exactly what the second commandment forbids. God commands that you do not use an idol or an image to express your worship to Him. God responds personally to those who are devoted to Him.

A huge phenomenon occurred in 1995 when one night a man had an idea. He was impressed that he should go to his idol and give it some milk. When he did, the milk disappeared and pretty soon people everywhere were giving their idols milk, and milk was drying up all over India. People thought it was a hoax and some reporters out of New York said, “On Thursday, September 1, 1995, the news swept around the world of extraordinary miracles of milk drinking Hindu statues. Never before in history had a simultaneous miracle occurred on such a global scale. Television, radio, newspapers eagerly covered this unique phenomenon and even skeptical journalists held their milk filled spoons to the gods and watched humbly as the milk disappeared.”

You can bring any image you want in here made of plaster of Paris and plastic and take a hammer and knock them down and they will fall down. You can take a piece of wood and carve it up and everybody knows that these things cannot see or hear, but there is another supernatural force that you cannot see that surrounds these things. I was listening to Catholic Radio in Lansing, Michigan, discussing this incident and how wonderful Mary was. They talked about the statues of Mary crying tears and bleeding and were so excited about this. Every time I turn around there is a new miracle of weeping, crying, bleeding or something coming from a statue of Mary. Catholics call them miracles, and many people are coming to see.

The Hindu teaching is that the idols are not just a symbol, but the belief is that the idol represents something, a form with which the mind can be connected and concentrated upon. The ultimate reality is beyond the senses; it is what you cannot see.

The Roman Catholic teaching is: “That the honor which is given them (the images of saints and relics) is referred to the objects which they represent so that through the images which we kiss and which we uncover our heads and kneel, we adore Christ and venerate the saints whose likeness they are.” This is the same concept as the Hindus. We know this image is not Jesus; this is not a saint; we know that, but we are doing this in order to venerate Christ.

The second command says do not use images in the act of worship. We have a jealous God and He demands exclusive rights to your worship. You can say you will worship any way you want; go ahead, but that does not mean God will accept your worship. Worshipping God is about His agenda and not yours or mine. The Israelites thought they could worship the way they liked but God will not share His church with anyone or anything in heaven above or earth beneath.

What would happen if after your honeymoon your wife comes in with a picture of your wedding and says, That is so beautiful! You know, I have decided what I will do. I have three old boyfriends and we had great times together and those are memories I don’t want to give up. I have three pictures that are smaller and I will set them over here. I am sure you won’t mind. Will you mind?

This did not happen, but just suppose I walked into my house one day and there was my lovely wife with my picture and she was looking at my picture and kissing it saying, I love you so much! I walked in and I saw this and felt pretty good and said, Honey, your prince is home. She said, Oh yeah; I really love you and then she continues kissing my picture. I said, Honey, it is me, in the flesh, but she keeps kissing my picture and saying, Oh, I just love you so much! What would I do with that picture?

Our God is a jealous God and He is not going to put up with you just kissing His picture. He wants you to worship Him in spirit and in truth.

Pastor Jay Gallimore’s sermon was taken from the Ten Commandment Weekend, 2008 series aired on 3ABN.org. For more information contact www.3ABN.org.

Life Sketch of Ruth Grosboll, Part II

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Ruth Josephine Wallner Grosboll passed away on January 10, 2010, in Wichita, Kansas. She worked at Steps to Life Ministries for over 15 years and has been a regular contributor to LandMarks magazine.

John and Ruth arrived in Burma in 1947 just at the time the country was entering a long civil war. John became the business manager of the Rangoon Mission Hospital and, for a time, Ruth was the only nurse qualified to assist the two or three physicians working at the hospital so she gained much experience from the many surgeries in which she assisted. Help was required to take care of their children while they both worked, so a housekeeper was hired. In the latter part of 1949 John was hospitalized after developing tuberculosis so it was decided to fly the entire family back to the United States where John could be treated at the White Memorial Hospital, in California, in the early part of 1950. Later that year, John and Ruth decided to settle again, for the time being, in Toppenish, Washington. For a few weeks they lived with Ruth’s parents, Joe and Agnes Wallner, and afterwards rented a two-car garage where their family lived for one year. The garage had a bathroom and a kitchenette and was located behind Elmer and Maizie Williams’ (Ruth’s oldest sister and brother-in-law) home and also next door to one of the Adventist physicians in the town of Toppenish.

The city, recognizing the need for their own hospital, had recently opened a community hospital and for a short time Ruth became the superintendent of nurses. While John was supposed to be resting and recuperating from tuberculosis, he decided to build a house. They purchased 5 acres of land ¾ mile from town and John built the first house that they had ever owned. In 1952 while living in this house their third child and only daughter was born. Their first son had been named after his father, their second son had been given a name by their first son and this time Ruth announced to the family that she was going to name this girl herself. She did not need any other opinions because she had already decided on the name she had chosen for this girl. It was Gwen. She did, however, allow her husband to select a middle name and he chose his mother’s name.

John became the credit manager of the Toppenish Community Hospital. In winter, the sun went down around 4 o’clock and being a faithful Sabbath keeper, John told the business manager that he could not work after sundown on Friday; however, he was willing to make up the time on Sunday if allowable. The manager told him that if he could not work until 5 o’clock on Friday he would need to find another job so John prepared to leave and look for work elsewhere. When the manager discovered how serious John was about his religion he immediately changed his mind, telling him that he could take off at noon on Friday when he needed to and work half a day Sunday. The friendship John and his family developed with this man lasted for many years.

John and Ruth both had good jobs and they owned their house and land without debt. They lived less than a mile from an Adventist church school where their children were able to attend through the eighth grade and only a few miles from Granger, Washington, where they could attend up to the tenth grade. They covered the whole area, distributing literature about the Three Angels’ Messages and the end of the world, giving many Bible studies that resulted in baptisms; however, John was not completely satisfied; he wanted to be more directly involved in God’s work.

The hospital where he worked was not a missionary hospital, but simply a commercial community hospital, so in 1954 he accepted an invitation to become the credit manager for Madison Sanitarium, a self-supporting sanitarium and college where he himself had gone to school briefly in 1934 and 1935. The family home was sold once more and they moved to Madison, Tennessee, where they lived until 1955. During that short period of time, about 15 months, it appeared that tragedy would again strike their family. Gwen, at two years of age, was exposed to Rabies and had to have injections in her stomach for 14 days and Marshall fell from a ladder and had both a head concussion and a ruptured spleen which almost caused him to bleed to death. As ominous as these things were, an even more ominous development caused the entire family to be placed in jeopardy. Ruth developed a lung disease which the physicians said could be fatal and which, it was said, could not be cured. John and Ruth had purchased a home on an acre of land about ¾ of a mile from Madison sanitarium.

In 1955 John decided to accept an invitation from his brothers to come and manage the new nursing home in Longmont, Colorado, that they had built, so in late summer of that year John, Ruth and their three children moved there, without selling their home in Tennessee. They rented a home between Hygiene and Lyons, Colorado, on historic Highway 66 right across from McCall Lake. This move to Colorado was most rewarding and satisfying and within six weeks after moving to that dry climate, Ruth’s cough disappeared and never reappeared as long as she was in a dry climate.

The next year they built a home across the street from Foothill’s Nursing Home and four years later sold that home and moved to an 80 acre farm with a home and out buildings. This proved to be too much to manage along with a nursing home so in 1963 John built yet another home near Berthoud, about five miles from Campion Academy where all of their children graduated. John and Ruth managed Foothill’s Nursing Home until 1975 and it grew to having 180 beds and over 115 workers on the staff.

1975 saw yet another move and their home in Berthoud was sold, enabling them to purchase a small fruit orchard near Weiser, Idaho. Ruth enjoyed working with fruit trees, berries and vineyards but John did not, so the orchard was sold and another home in Nyssa, Idaho, was bought where they lived a short time before moving to Prosser, Washington. While living in Nyssa, John covered the entire area with literature about the Three Angels’ Messages and the end of the world.

From 1980 until 1992 John and Ruth lived in Prosser, Washington, on a property which had fruit and nut trees, berries and vineyards which Ruth loved to take care of. Ruth always wanted to see an agricultural program developed at Steps to Life but she did not live long enough to see that fully develop. Gardening was not the only thing to occupy Ruth and at times she also worked either full-time or part-time as a registered nurse until 1992.

Again, tragedy struck their family in 1991 when in July, John and Ruth’s second son, Marshall, together with his wife Lillian and their two children, Matthew and Christine, were all killed in a plane crash near Salmon, Idaho. It was shortly after this that they decided to move to the Wichita, Kansas area. It was there that Marshall, who was an ordained Seventh-day Adventist minister, had furthered the outreach ministry that he had started while pastoring on the east coast of the United States. At first, this ministry was conducted under the auspices of the local conference and Union Conference in mid-America, but later it became necessary to be totally independent of the organizations connected with the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists and conduct a ministry in what Ellen White described as “irregular lines.”

Ruth and John again purchased five acres of land a few miles from the Steps to Life Ministry offices. They put a modular house on it, planted fruit trees and berries and also tended the grapes that were on the property. They lived there until another tragedy hit the family. John was struck by a car and instantly killed in April of 2000. Ruth was about 50 feet away and witnessed this fatal accident.

Ruth worked in the ministry of Steps to Life in almost every department, and over the last several years she was the main receptionist, answering the telephone during business hours and responding by letter to inquiries as well as writing material for LandMarks magazine. Her heart was in the finishing of God’s work in the world. She reminded our staff over and over again about our need to pray for brotherly love for all human beings and our great need to pray for and receive the Holy Spirit. Ruth was no stranger to tragedy but this only strengthened her faith. She was looked to for counsel by people all over the world and she was often called for advice, or simply a word of encouragement.

Ruth was an astute observer about the happenings in the church among the professed people of God and also world events. She was an early riser ever since her youth when she had to have the cows milked before going to school and she studied her Bible and the writings of Ellen White every morning. She was very concerned about the state of apostasy that she saw everywhere among God’s professed people. She loved poetry and had several books of poems that she used to read. At 93 years of age she still raised a garden and baked bread every week or two as well as canning and freezing fruit every summer.

Ruth had studied nutrition on her own in order to know how best to provide her family with a healthful diet and later studied nutrition at the University of Colorado. She was well-read in the area of natural remedies, hydrotherapy, and natural treatments.

Grandma Ruth, as she was affectionately called by many, worked her last day on December 31, 2009. She will be sadly missed by all of her family as well as many others who had the privilege of associating with her. We look forward to a glad reunion with her and all others who arrive at character perfection in the very near future.

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

Let These Sayings Sink into Your Ears

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As I was reading my Bible, I came to a verse that I have read many times before; however, this time it made more of an impression on my mind than ever before. Jesus said, “Let these sayings sink down into your ears.” Luke 9:44. This had more meaning when I considered what Jesus was talking about. He added, “The Son of man should be delivered unto men.”

He had already told His disciples that, “The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day,” Luke 9:22, but they just could not comprehend what He was telling them. They had such high hopes for themselves of having a place in His kingdom that they mistakenly expected Him to set up His kingdom in Jerusalem. They could not conceive of Jesus being taken from them or of Him suffering such a terrible trial and death.

Peter just took a hold of Jesus and said, That’s not going to happen to you. We can read about it in Matthew 16:22: “Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.” If Peter and the rest of the disciples would have just accepted what Jesus was telling them they would have prayed to be ready and they would have been prepared for the crisis. This makes me wonder, Are we prepared for what is just ahead of us?

When the most awesome thing that had ever happened in the history of the universe was transpiring, the disciples were devastated, disappointed and discouraged. It was right to be sad and solemn but at the same time they could have understood what was being accomplished and not been discouraged, disappointed and worried about what was going to happen to them. They did not understand the wonderful plan of redemption. This historical story leads me to think of something in the Spirit of Prophecy that our modern day prophet has told us.

“Let these sayings sink down into your ears.”

“Those who endeavor to obey all the commandments of God will be opposed and derided. They can stand only in God. In order to endure the trial before them, they must understand the will of God as revealed in His word; they can honor Him only as they have a right conception of His character, government, and purposes, and act in accordance with them. None but those who have fortified the mind with the truths of the Bible will stand through the last great conflict. To every soul will come the searching test: Shall I obey God rather than men? The decisive hour is even now at hand. Are our feet planted on the rock of God’s immutable word? Are we prepared to stand firm in defense of the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus?

“Before His crucifixion the Saviour explained to His disciples that He was to be put to death and to rise again from the tomb, and angels were present to impress His words on minds and hearts. But the disciples were looking for temporal deliverance from the Roman yoke, and they could not tolerate the thought that He in whom all their hopes centered should suffer an ignominious death. The words which they needed to remember were banished from their minds; and when the time of trial came, it found them unprepared. The death of Jesus as fully destroyed their hopes as if He had not forewarned them. So in the prophecies the future is opened before us as plainly as it was opened to the disciples by the words of Christ. The events connected with the close of probation and the work of preparation for the time of trouble, are clearly presented. But multitudes have no more understanding of these important truths than if they had never been revealed. Satan watches to catch away every impression that would make them wise unto salvation, and the time of trouble will find them unready.” The Great Controversy, 593, 594.

We are living in the closing scenes of this world’s history and we need to know how to face the end time events. We have heard about the Sunday laws and we hear about not being allowed to buy or sell and we have heard about being in prison. But are we sure that we understand all that we need to know about the latter rain, about the perfection of character and about Christ in you, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27)? Are we really ready to face death for our faith?

Here is another statement from the pen of inspiration that causes me to stop and think and ask myself the question—do I really understand my true condition?

“We want to understand the time in which we live. We do not half understand it. We do not half take it in. My heart trembles in me when I think of what a foe we have to meet, and how poorly we are prepared to meet him. The trials of the children of Israel, and their attitude just before the first coming of Christ, have been presented before me again and again to illustrate the position of the people of God in their experience before the second coming of Christ—how the enemy sought every occasion to take control of the minds of the Jews, and today he is seeking to blind the minds of God’s servants, that they may not be able to discern the precious truth.” Selected Messages, Book 1, 406.

It is time that we, as Seventh-day Adventists, spend much time on our knees and examine our characters. Are we really ready for probation to close? Are we ready to experience the greatest event that has ever happened? Are we ready to see the dead in Christ rise and the living take on immortality and go up in the clouds with Jesus and the angels? It will be real and I pray that each one who reads this article will be ready to enter into eternal life.

This was the last article written by the late Ruth Grosboll just prior to her death. She was an integral part of the team working at Steps to Life until December, 2009.

Are You Wise?

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“There is a time to weep, And a time to laugh; A time to mourn, And a time to dance.”

Ecclesiastes 3:4

There is a time for everything. The devil has been very successful at this present time in getting people so confused that they laugh when they should cry, and they cry when they should laugh. This is very common in our society.

When I was a child, everybody understood that when you went to a funeral, that was the time to mourn. Today, it is announced at funerals that those attending are there to have a celebration, which is completely out of context. A funeral is not the time to have a celebration. The Bible speaks of death as an enemy, of which Jesus came to destroy and there is no Biblical record of anybody having a celebration at a funeral. When Jesus attended Lazarus’ funeral, Jesus did not laugh; He wept. People in this generation today are very confused—a funeral is not a time to laugh; it is a time to weep.

Consider the situation written about in Isaiah 22:12, 13: “In that day the Lord God of Hosts called for weeping and for mourning, For baldness and for girding with sackcloth. But instead, joy and gladness, Slaying oxen and killing sheep, Eating meat and drinking wine: Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”

The Lord said for that situation it is time to be mourning but the people said we are going to have a celebration. And the Lord said to go ahead. Then He said, “That your iniquity will not be forgiven until the day of your death.” Verse 14. In other words, you just passed sentence on yourselves.

There is a time for joy and gladness but there is also a time to mourn. We have just read how dangerous it is when people decide they are going to laugh when God says it is time to mourn.

If God were to make a lament, would it be time to mourn or to laugh? It would be time to mourn, because God always does the right thing at the right time.

Matthew 23:33–39 describes God lamenting. Jesus, speaking to the leaders of the Jewish church, says, “Serpents, and brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell? Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, Then on you will come all of the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zacharias, son of Barachias, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar [II Chronicles 24]. Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you are not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate [spoken as He departed from the temple for the last time]; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord [after the millennium at the resurrection of the wicked]!”

Another example of God’s lament is found in Luke 19:41–44: “Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, ‘If you had known, even you, especially this in your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you do not know the times of your visitation.’ ”

It says there that as Jesus saw the city, He wept over it. Looking into the future He saw the destruction of Jerusalem, but that was not all He saw. The destruction of Jerusalem was a type of the end of the world.

In The Review and Herald, October 8, 1901, Ellen White wrote: “When the Saviour saw in the Jewish people a nation divorced from God, He saw also a professed Christian Church united to the world and the papacy. And as He stood upon Olivet, weeping over Jerusalem till the sun sank behind the western hills, so He is weeping over and pleading with sinners in these last moments of time. Soon He will say to the angels who are holding the four winds, ‘Let the plagues loose; let darkness, destruction, and death come upon the transgressors of my law.’ Will He be obliged to say to those who have had great light and knowledge, as He said to the Jews, ‘If thou hadst known, even thou at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes’ [Luke 19:42]?”

As Jesus wept over Jerusalem, “He saw also a professed Christian Church united to the world and the papacy.” It is alarming to look around and see how Seventh-day Adventists are becoming afraid to be different. We want to be accepted so much that we are willing to do anything to be accepted by the World Council of Churches, by the government, or by other churches. The danger of this is that just as all of the other churches are becoming united with the papacy, eventually, so will we be united.

Ellen White, in vision, saw what was going to happen in Adventism in the last years of this world’s history. “In His Word the Lord declared what He would do for Israel if they would obey His voice. But the leaders of the people yielded to the temptations of Satan, and God could not give them the blessings He designed them to have, because they did not obey His voice but listened to the voice and policy of Lucifer.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 13, 379.

God promised Israel many blessings if they would obey His voice. Ellen White said the leaders, instead of obeying God, listened to the voice and policy of Lucifer. Because the leaders in the past were listening to the voice and policy of Lucifer, God could not do for them all that He wanted to.

This is what is going to happen in the future. “This experience, [the leaders of God’s people not obeying His voice but listening to the voice and policy of Lucifer] will be repeated in the last years of the history of the people of God, who have been established by His grace and power.” Ibid.

Remember what happened to them? Because God could not do for them what He wanted to because the leaders listened to the voice and policy of Lucifer and did not obey, they had to go into captivity. This experience is going to be repeated in the last years of the history of the people of God who have been established by His grace and power.

These people are Seventh-day Adventists. She goes on to say, “Men whom He has greatly honored will in the closing scenes of this earth’s history pattern after ancient Israel.” Ibid. Then is quoted Hebrews 3:7–13 and Mrs. White continues saying, “Bear this in mind. History is being repeated. The perils that God’s people encountered in past ages, they will encounter again, intensified. Satan has obtained influence over men whom God has honored above all human intelligence, as He honored Solomon.” Ibid., 380. Then she quotes Hebrews 2:1–3.

God’s lament in the Old Testament is found in Deuteronomy 5:29. God is speaking to Moses and He says, “Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all of My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!” God lamented that if they would only have listened, they would have been spared what they ultimately had to go through. Moses saw the children of Israel being taken into captivity. The Lord did not want that to happen but they would not listen. Moses also saw in vision before he died the children of Israel being brought under the power of Rome.

In Deuteronomy 32:29 God says, “Oh, that they were wise, that they understood this, That they would consider their latter end!” In verse 28 God laments that His people do not understand. He says, “Oh, I wish they were wise.”

The wise are going to shine as the stars forever. The children of Israel went out of Egypt with 600,000 men. Of those men, only two were wise and went into the land of Canaan. Noah prayed and preached for 120 years, but only eight people entered into the ark. In all of history, the wise have always been few in number. When the world comes to an end, are you going to be one of those who are wise and heed the warnings, or are you going to be part of the big majority? This is a question we all must ask ourselves. Am I one of the few wise ones? The Bible says that great men are not always wise (Job 32:9).

Some Principles of Wisdom

“Who is wise? Let him understand these things. Who is prudent? Let him know them. For the ways of the Lord are right; The righteous walk in them, But transgressors stumble in them.” Hosea 14:9.

If you are wise, you already know that the ways of God are right. Foolish people do not know that.

Job 28:12–28 asks this question: Where can you find wisdom? It seems to be hidden from everybody. You cannot buy it and people do not have it. Death and destruction say they have heard a report about it. How are you going to get it? God knows what it is. If you want to get started it says, “ ‘The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, And to depart from evil is understanding.’ ” Verse 28. That expression is found in more than one place in the Bible. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. A good understanding have all those who do His commandments.” Psalm 111:10.

The fear of the Lord is wisdom. Moses taught the children of Israel the statutes and judgments in Deuteronomy 4:5. Then in verse 6 he says, “Therefore be careful to observe them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the people who will hear all these statutes, and will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ ”

Moses said if you keep the statutes and the laws that the Lord has given me to give to you, the whole world will find out that you are a wise and understanding people. When you study history and compare the laws that Moses gave to the children of Israel with the laws of the other nations at that time, you will find out right away how superior were the Laws of God.

Wisdom is something that cries out to people. The Bible describes that in a number of different places. In Proverbs 8:1 it says, “Does not wisdom cry out, And understanding lift up her voice?” Verse 7: “My mouth will speak truth; Wickedness is an abomination to my lips.” Verse 8: “All the words of my mouth are with righteousness; Nothing crooked or perverse is in them.” Verse 11: “For wisdom is better than rubies, And all the things one can desire cannot be compared with her.” Verses 35, 36: “Whoever finds me finds life, And obtains favor from the Lord; But he who sins against me wrongs their own soul; All those who hate me love death.”

Wisdom was with God from the beginning. There never was a time when that wisdom did not exist [verses 22, 23]. Solomon says this same thing in Ecclesiastes 7:12, that if you get wisdom it will do something for you that riches will not do. It says, “For wisdom is a defense as money is a defense, But the excellence of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to those who have it.” If you get wisdom you will have life, eternal life.

Where is all wisdom? The Bible says wisdom is hidden. You cannot buy it. “The knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and Christ, in whom are hidden all of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Colossians 2:2, last part. Christ has been manifested to the people of this world, not only as the Son of God, but as the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:24, 30).

All the wisdom in the universe is hidden in the Father and the Son. Where and how do we get this wisdom?

Matthew 25:1–13 is a description of the experience of the church, God’s people, who are living in the evening of earth’s history. Here Jesus is talking about His church in the last days and He said that there were some who were wise and some who were foolish. These were all virgins and all had a pure faith and they all had a lamp which represents the Bible. In Psalm 119:105 it says, “Your word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” These virgins are all people who have a pure faith and they have the Bible and they know the truth. The difference was that the wise virgins took extra oil. The foolish virgins also had some oil but they did not take any extra and they were not prepared for an emergency.

There was a great delay. These virgins were not expecting the wedding to be between 12:00 and 1:00 in the morning; they were expecting it to be a lot sooner than that. The wise virgins were prepared for an emergency and had extra oil. Zechariah 4:1–14 tells us that the oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the fuel, the power, which makes it possible for your light to shine.

The difference between those who were wise and those who were foolish is that the wise had the Holy Spirit and the foolish did not. Does that give you and me cause to pause?

The foolish virgins went to church and they were known as commandment keepers. They were known as people who had a pure faith. They were known as people who were waiting for the bridegroom to come but when He finally arrives they are not ready, because they do not have the Holy Spirit.

We need a wisdom that you cannot get from this world. The Bible says that the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. It is possible to get all the wisdom of this world and yet not be ready for Jesus to come. You can know Greek, Hebrew, church history and systematic theology and all about the Bible and still not be ready for Jesus to come. It is the presence of the Holy Spirit that makes faith real. A lamp with oil sheds light but if there is no oil, there is no light.

When the Holy Spirit dwells within, you will become wise; not necessarily what the world calls wise because the Lord says the world’s wisdom is foolishness with Him. If you want to be wise and understand what to do and when to do it in this, the most deceptive time in earth’s history, then you must have the Holy Spirit or you will be among the foolish virgins.

Paul says in I Corinthians 12:7, 8, “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit.” The Spirit ordains for certain people in the church to receive special gifts and the first gift that Paul mentions is the gift of wisdom.

This is a gift that everybody in the church can receive because it says, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” James 1:5. The way to become wise is simply to ask.

As we are approaching the end of earth’s history, the whole universe is looking down at this world to find out something that God’s true church is going to reveal. What is it that God’s true church is going to reveal to the whole universe?

In Ephesians 3:8–11 Paul says,

“To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Paul said that the many sided (manifold) wisdom of God is going to be made known even to principalities and powers in heavenly places by the church.

Even though the early church, the Ephesians church, had all this information, they didn’t do it. The early church predicted it, the apostles predicted it and Jesus predicted it and as the apostles died away the early church tobogganed into apostasy. For ages, people in heaven and people on this earth in the church have asked the question, “How is this ever going to happen?”

In the time of the Protestant reformation, people looked around at the church and said, How is the manifold wisdom of God going to be revealed to the people in heaven through this? The people said that the church needs to be revived. Even the pope, bishops and theologians said it. In fact, at the Council of Constance in 1414 one of the major things of concern was to bring revival and reformation to the church because they said the church was in a terrible condition.

The best thing that Council could figure out to do was to burn John Huss at the stake, demonstrating the church’s method of trying to bring revival and reformation. They said that Huss was a troublemaker and when you study religious history, God has had this problem with His professed people over and over again.

In 1888 the leaders in the Adventist church looked for a way to have a revival and reformation. They said they had a couple of troublemakers named Jones and Waggoner. They decided not to let Jones preach in an Adventist church, but Ellen White said God had sent these men to the Adventist church with their message of reformation. Because the church would not let him speak in an Adventist church, when Jones was in Battle Creek Mrs. White and others had to rent a hall so he could speak.

Anywhere you go today and talk to God’s professed people they will tell you of the need for revival and reformation. When God sends somebody to bring it, they try to get rid of them. God’s professed people today are going through a terrible shaking and people are asking if the church will ever survive.

Only the wise will survive, and the wise are the people who know that God’s ways are right. If God says something, they will do it and if He says not to do something, they will not do it. The wise have that figured out. Are you one of the wise?

The wise have the Holy Spirit to interpret the Bible so are able to see the spiritual meanings. Other people read and do not understand. There are theologians all over the world, who have spent their whole lives studying church history, Hebrew, Greek and theology and do not even know that Jesus is coming again. It does not matter how much you study; if the Holy Spirit does not enlighten your mind, you will not be among the wise. Real wisdom comes from God through the enlightenment of His Holy Spirit. Will you be among the wise? At the end of this world’s history Ellen White says there is going to be a group of people who will reveal the character of Jesus Christ fully. This is an astonishing statement and it is possible to be one of those people. This group will be in the minority. Remember, Jesus said that in the end it will be like the days of Noah and the days of Lot, but there will be a group of people who will become like Jesus Christ. They will have that heavenly wisdom and will understand how to live.

Am I becoming wise? The Bible describes what wisdom is. Listed below are some characteristics of wisdom:

  • A person who is wise is humble (Proverbs 11:2).
  • A person who is really wise understands what to do (Proverbs 10:23; Proverbs 14:8; Proverbs 14:33).
  • A person who is really wise obtains counsel (Proverbs 13:10).
  • A person who is wise is a person who has experience. In Job 12:12 it says that wisdom is with aged people. Why? Because they have had more experience than the young people. There is no mechanism by which you can take the wisdom of age and put it into a young person.

In this world a lot of people think that if you are over 30 you are over the hill. If this world did not have some people who were over 30 for some advice and counsel and understanding, we would be a lot worse off than we are now.

Even now, some in the Adventist church think that you can put a young person in charge of anything and if anybody goes against that they are accused of opposing the young people. The Bible and Spirit of Prophecy are very clear that a more mature person is needed than those without experience. You cannot become wise when you are just 15 or 20 years old. To become wise it requires experience and experience takes time.

The children of Israel had rulers and they called them the elders and that term is still used today. The word elder means an old man.

A person who is really wise will build on the rock (Matthew 7:24). When the Lord tells a wise person something, he will realize that God has lived a lot longer than he has and so He has a lot more wisdom. If God tells him something he will listen even if he cannot figure it out. A wise child will realize that his/her parents have more experience and heed their counsel. A wise person builds on the rock and listens to what the Lord says and obeys. “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; And he who wins souls is wise.” Proverbs 11:30. He who wins souls is wise. Nobody is going to heaven alone. If you are one of God’s children, God will use you to win at least one other person and most of the time He will use you to win many more than one. If you are not involved in doing anything for outreach to help other people or to help somebody else find salvation, Ellen White says you are not even written down in the book as a Christian. You may go to church but if you are not doing anything to win anybody to Christ, you are not a Christian. You are not wise at all.

There are people without any education or training and who are in obscure areas of the world who are reaching out. If you are wise you will be doing something to reach out to somebody.

  • The Bible says that the words of a wise person are gracious.
  • A wise person does not practice partiality. They do not treat rich people and poor people differently. Ellen White says that Jesus makes no difference between His friends and His enemies. To me that is one of the most astonishing statements in the Spirit of Prophecy. He will love you and try to appeal to you and try to win you (The Desire of Ages, 86).
  • A wise person will contend with foolishness. In the book of Proverbs there are many descriptions of what folly and foolishness is. A wise person will contend with foolishness and not just sit around and watch it (Proverbs 29:9). No practicing of partiality can be found in Proverbs 23.
  • A wise person holds his feelings back; he just does not tell you everything that is on his mind (Proverbs 29:11).

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

Editor’s Letter – Fall Feasts

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In previous issues we have covered all of the spring feasts in the New Covenant and now we will look at the fall feasts. The first one was the feast of trumpets. Trumpets were used in the Old Covenant to announce and summon people to important events. It was most important that the trumpet not give an uncertain sound (I Corinthians 14:8). The trumpet in prophecy has special reference to events in the last days (e.g., Joel 2) and the messages of the book of Revelation are given as with a trumpet (Revelation 1:10; 4:1). The feasts of the spring prefigured events associated with the first advent of Christ, but the feasts of the fall prefigured events associated with the second advent of Christ. This feast of trumpets was announced ten days before the coming Day of Atonement, the most solemn day of all the year in the Old Covenant. During the ten years preceding 1844, the announcement that the Day of Judgment was at hand was sent with trumpet tones throughout the world, reaching every civilized nation and mission station worldwide. Just as with the spring feasts, this feast in the New Covenant could only occur once for all time. Today we are not announcing anymore that the Day of Judgment is at hand—we have to say that it has been in progress for over 160 years; and no longer are we preaching just the first angel’s message which was the original message of the Second Advent Movement, but rather the third angel’s message—the last message of mercy that God has sent for a dying world. (The third angel’s message includes the first and the second.) The feast of trumpets summoned the people of God to appear before the Lord. Nobody will experience the feast of the trumpets in the New Covenant who is not actively working to spread the Three Angels’ Messages to the world.

The fifth feast of the year was the feast of the Day of Atonement. This was the typical Day of Judgment. In the Old Covenant, this occurred every year because the blood of bulls and goats could not really take away sins (Hebrews 10:4). But in the New Covenant it occurs just once in the end of the ages (Hebrews 9:25, 26) and is the Day of Atonement, or cleansing of the sanctuary, or time of investigative judgment. This is called the investigative judgment because all court trials even in this world have three phases: an investigative phase in which, if you are acquitted, the judgment then is over for you; a sentencing phase; and an executive phase, which is the execution of the sentence. God’s judgment also has three phases. To see the sentencing phase in Scripture, look at Revelation 20:4. To see the executive phase, see Revelation 20:11–15. The investigative phase occurs while the gospel is still being preached in the last days. See Revelation 14:6, 7.

This service or feast in the New Covenant results in the complete removal of sin from all of God’s people so that they are just the same as if they had never sinned!