The Handwriting on the Wall

Among the many things we see when we look at love is the fact that love can have limits. A young man is deeply in love with a young woman and tries desperately to win her love in return. If she never responds by loving him, his love for her will eventually reach its limits. He will give up and give his affections to somebody else.

Unfaithfulness to the marriage vow is the tragic thing that often brings love to the limits beyond which it cannot go.

God is love, but even the love of God must have its limits. The love of God cannot accept rebels into the kingdom of heaven. This would be going beyond its proper limits.

The love of God cannot go on forever forgiving a sinner while he continues to rebel and do injuries to other persons.

The Bible tells us that the love of God sets limits in sin for nations and also for individuals. The nations that God commanded Moses and Joshua to destroy had reached the limits that God’s love must set. The Bible tells us about some individuals who kept on sinning until they reached the limits that God’s love must set. We will study about one of them in this article.

The Handwriting on the Wall

In Daniel 5:22 we read a story—a very human, though tragic, story. This is the story of a man who knew what he ought to do, but did not do it. “Thou…, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this.”

Belshazzar was the king of Babylon. Babylon was one of the greatest empires, and greatest cities, of its day. Belshazzar was apparently the grandson of the great Nebuchadnezzar, who had built Babylon to its glory.

For many years we have marveled, and even doubted, at the reports that have come down through the centuries about the glories of ancient Babylon, but the modern science of archaeology has made it clear that the stories are indeed true. We know that the hanging gardens, rising terrace upon terrace, existed in all the unmatched grandeur with which legend has vested them, and its palaces were majestic. Its temples, mansions, and pleasure grounds were magnificent. Even the bottoms of the canals that crossed the city were covered with glazed tile, some beautifully ornamented with figures of trees, birds, and animals. Figures of lions, executed in brilliantly enameled tiles, have been dug from the ruins, many as bright and perfect as when they glistened on the walls of Babylon some 2,500 years ago. The royal banquet hall was 58 feet wide and 168 feet long. It is said that its pillars were figures of slaves, cast in bronze, standing upon the backs of figures of elephants, their hands supporting the ceiling.

Nebuchadnezzar, the grandfather of Belshazzar, had built this city to its greatness, but Belshazzar was not the man his grandfather, or even his father, Nabonidus, had been. On a prayer tablet from the hand of Nabonidus, archaeologists have found these words: “As for Belshazzar, my first born son, place in his heart fear of Thy great divinity, let him not turn to sinning; let him be satisfied with the fullness of life.”

Apparently Nabonidus was concerned about this son—and with good reason.

Standing Alone

Belshazzar had grown up in Babylon. He knew how God had dealt with the great Nebuchadnezzar, but he did not pay attention to this object lesson. He knew well about the exploits of his grandfather, invading the territories around the empire and bringing back slaves. He knew, too, how some of the slaves from Israel had risen to be prominent in the kingdom and how they had influenced Nebuchadnezzar so that he became a believer in the true God, instead of the sun god of Babylon.

He remembered well the time when Nebuchadnezzar had the strange dream, as recorded in Daniel, chapter 2, in answer to his question whether Babylon would last forever. He knew how Daniel had explained the meaning of the dream, showing that God had sent the dream to reveal the history of the world.

The image that was shown in this dream had a head of gold, representing Babylon, then other metals to show other future empires. Belshazzar remembered well how his grandfather had resolved to overthrow the prophecy, and had built a huge image, all of gold, to show that Babylon would not give way to another kingdom. He stood this great image on the plain of Dura. (See Daniel 3.) Here he called all the leaders of the empire to bow down before the image that he had built. Among these leaders came three who worshipped the God of Israel.

They would not bow down. It was called to the attention of the king, and he was sorry, because he greatly admired these stalwart young men from Israel whose intellectual brilliance had won them places among the advisors of his realm. So he decided to give them a second chance.

“Didn’t you understand the order?” he asked. “We will give you another chance. This time, when you hear the music, just bow down, and everything will be all right.”

The young men knew another chance wouldn’t make any difference, so they gave their answer to the king. Their reply is one of the great moments in history.

“We are not careful to answer, O King,” they said. “Our God is able to deliver us if He chooses to do so, but whether He does or whether He does not, know thou, O King, that we will not bow down to the image.”

Nothing quite like this had ever happened in Babylon before, and the God of heaven took notice of it.

Again the music sounded, and all the people, except these three, bowed low. Three against the thousands! Of course the devil tempted them, as he tempts Christians today—telling them it was not the letter of the law that was important, only the spirit, and that God would understand that the intent of their heart was that the image represented Him, etc., etc. But these men were not like the compromising, milk and water Christians of today—they were made of sterner stuff. They wasted no time on such rot. They would not even stoop to lace their shoes. Tall and straight they stood—three against the thousands and the might of great Babylon.

So they were thrown into the fiery furnace, with heat so great that it destroyed the men who threw them in, but the Son of God Himself came down and walked through that furnace with them and delivered them. Belshazzar knew all about this.

Stark, Raving Mad

Belshazzar knew also about the madness of his grandfather. Nebuchadnezzar had walked upon the ramparts of the city, his heart swelling with pride, as he looked across the monuments of his success. “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built,” he thought. He pushed aside all the warning and counsels that God had given him. He tried to force them out of his mind. He just could not believe anything evil could happen to great Babylon.

So the Lord sent him another dream. God saw something good in this king, and worked to save him. God said to him, “You are going to live like a beast in the fields and eat grass like the oxen, until you learn that the Most High ruleth in the affairs of men. In Daniel 4 we read how it happened. The king went mad—stark, raving mad. They drove him from the palace, and for seven long years he wandered through the forests and the fields, until his hair was like an animal, and his fingernails like claws.

Some have refused to believe this remarkable story, but the archaeologists have now deciphered a tablet of the king from the ruins of Babylon, on which appears corroborating testimony, telling of a time when the illustrious monarch conducted no business of the kingdom.

“In all dominions I did not build a high place of power. In Babylon buildings for the honor of my kingdom I did not lay out. I did not sing the praises of my Lord, I did not furnish His altars with victims, nor did I clear out the canals.”

For seven long years the king was mad. Then, even as God had said, his reason returned to him, and he returned to the throne, a changed man—a humbled, converted, surrendered man—as his prayer and proclamation in Daniel 4 indicate.

Crossing the Line

All of this Belshazzar knew. He had grown up right there in Babylon. Some of these things he had probably seen with his own eyes, and the rest had been recounted in his ears time and time again, but still he went on in folly.

We read in Daniel 5:1, 2: “Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand. Belshazzar, while he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein.”

Belshazzar, of course, did not realize that this was to be his last feast. If he had known that, he would have acted very differently, for he was like all men, in that he expected to get right with God someday. I do not believe you can find a man on earth who really intends to be lost. Deep in his heart every man plans that he will get right with God—someday. Not now, but someday.

I met a stranger in the city of Hilo, Hawaii, and invited him to attend my meetings there. He answered: “I know all about your meetings. I attended some by one of your evangelists in Florida. I know the truth.”

“Well,” I said, “why do you not live up to it?”

“Oh,” he said, “I am going to hell.”

I said, “You are the first man I ever met who was planning on it.”

“Oh, I am not planning on it,” he said, “but I am afraid that is the way it’s going to work out.”

You see, nobody really plans to be lost. Everybody plans to get right with God—someday—but for many, that day never comes.

“There is a line, by us unseen, that crosses every path—the hidden boundary between God’s patience and His wrath.”

You can not tell how close you are to that line, and Belshazzar did not know either, so in his drunken impiety, he committed a great sacrilege. He called for the golden and silver vessels that had been used in the worship of God in Jerusalem and ordered them filled with wine, that he and his companions might drink from them.

The Hand of Doom

Satan had convinced him that God does not care for His sacred things, even as he does with men today. He tells them that God will take no notice, but He does. Men today defile the holy things of God—His holy day, His holy money, His holy ceremonies of worship—thinking that God will do nothing about it, but He will, even as He did with Belshazzar. We read in verses 5 and 6: “In the same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. Then the king’s countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another.”

Have you ever seen a man suddenly in fear of his life? Have you noticed how quickly the curses die upon their lips, and they start imploring one another for help? I have. It makes a great difference when they are suddenly brought face to face with eternity.

So the face of the king was changed, as he suddenly became aware that there were those in the dining hall whom he had not counted. As he had looked out across the vast room, he had thought that he knew everyone who was there, but he did not. There were some in the banquet hall that he had not reckoned with, as there are in every banquet hall—the silent watchers of God, recording everything that is said and done. They do not argue, these silent watchers. They never try to force us to do what is right, but they are always there. Even when we raise our hands in blasphemy against God, they do not interfere; they just write it all into the record, for the judgment day.

In his wild alarm, the king made a mistake that has been made by many other men since then. Wanting to understand something that God had done, he appealed to the wise men of the world to help him. This is entirely useless. They may be wise in the learning of the world, but if they do not know God, there is no use asking them anything of a spiritual nature. They will give the wrong answer every time.

So the king called for his wise men, and they came. “Now all the king’s wise men came; but they could not read the writing, or make known to the king its interpretation. Then king Belshazzar was greatly troubled, his countenance was changed, and his lords were astonished.” See Daniel 5:8, 9. (NKJV.)

Called As a Witness

Now the queen had not been in the banquet hall that evening. This was apparently the queen mother, not Belshazzar’s own wife. She had been in her own palace, listening with great concern to the sound of merriment from the banquet hall, for as a matter of actual fact, there was an enemy army camped outside the city walls at that very moment, trying to find a way to get in. Belshazzar, young, arrogant, and foolish, had decided to show his contempt for them by having a feast while they were there—which was a matter of great concern to the queen mother. She knew that Nebuchadnezzar would never have done a thing like that.

So her concern mounts as she listens to the sound of feasting progressing toward drunkenness, but as the sound of merriment suddenly stops and an awesome silence prevails, she is alarmed more than ever. Hastily summoning a servant, she sent him running to the banquet hall to learn the cause of the strange silence. The servant can only report that something terrible has happened, so she goes herself. Entering the banquet hall, she sees the lords and ladies in a stupor of drunken fear, and the king paralyzed by terror. Following the direction in which all eyes are turned, she sees the writing on the wall, and she remembers Daniel. Approaching the king, she says: “There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him; whom the king Nebuchadnezzar… made master of the magicians…now let Daniel be called, and he will shew the interpretation.” Daniel 5:11, 12.

So, they sent for Daniel. Daniel was an old man now. For seventy years or more he had lived in Babylon, since his captivity as a youth. He had seen all of God’s dealing with Nebuchadnezzar, had seen him come, and had seen him go. Now he finds himself once more called to explain the works of God to a king of Babylon—but how different the message this time! As he stood before the king, Belshazzar said: “If thou canst read the writing, and make known to me the interpretation thereof, thou shalt be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about thy neck, and shalt be the third ruler in the kingdom.” Daniel 5:16.

“…Daniel answered and said before the king, ‘Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another; yet I will read the writing unto the king, and make known to him the interpretation.” Daniel 5:17.

In the hushed silence of the banquet hall, Daniel begins to speak but not, at first, to read the writing. He fastens his eyes upon Belshazzar, and as he looks at the young king, his mind runs back across the years. He remembers all that God has done to and through Nebuchadnezzar. He finally says:

“O thou king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honor: And for the majesty that He gave him, all people, nations, and languages, trembled and feared before him: whom he would he slew; and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he set up; and whom he would he put down. But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him: And he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses: they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; till he knew that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever He will. And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this!” Daniel: 5:18-22.

Weighed in the Balances

Here Daniel spelled out the tragedy of the young king’s life. He knew what he ought to do, but he didn’t do it. Daniel went on:

“…this is the writing that was written, ‘MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. This is the interpretation of the thing: Mene; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. Tekel; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. Peres; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.” Daniel 5:25-28.

So Daniel left the banquet hall—and none too soon, for while he had still been talking to the young king, the armies of the Medes and Persians were entering the city. They had found a way to turn aside the waters of the Euphrates River, and they had marched down the riverbed, under the wall, into the city. In a few moments they burst into the banquet hall, and in that night was Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, slain.

Have you ever considered how differently sin opens her banquet, from how she closes it? As sin opens her banquet, there is laughter, gaiety, music, and song, but when she closes it—how different. Why don’t you laugh now Belshazzar? Here, have a drink! Let the clowns beguile you; let lust satisfy you; let the praise of your lords and ladies reward your bold sacrilege!

No! Sin’s banquet has closed. In all the great banquet halls, there are no smiles now—except upon the lips of the devil and his legions, who move in to look upon the faces of their victims. This is how sin’s banquet closes, then and now.

Belshazzar was weighed in the balances of God and found wanting—because he knew what he ought to do, but didn’t do it.

Dear friend, do you, today, know what you ought to do? Do not make the mistake that the king of Babylon made.

Saying Goodbye to God

Among all the names that come down to us across the pages of American history, I suppose there is no name more loaded with infamy and shame than the name of Aaron Burr. Burr was a man of great ability and of great ambition. You remember the story of how he became angry with Alexander Hamilton, then secretary of the treasury, over some trifle and challenged Hamilton to a duel.

Hamilton didn’t believe in duels, but he thought honor compelled him to accept the challenge. So they met, and Burr fired the shot into Hamilton’s heart that killed him, while Hamilton fired his shot into the air.

But public indignation was aroused against Burr. From there he went steadily downward in bitterness and sorrow, until finally he died by his own hand, disowned by his family, despised by his countrymen, loaded with infamy and shame.

This story every American knows, but few know the story of the earlier tragedy that lies behind this tragedy in the life of Aaron Burr.

When Burr was a young man, he was a student at Princeton University. While he was there, an evangelist came to town and preached the gospel of the living God. Burr, along with other students, attended the services and felt the call of God to his heart. He felt convinced that he should become a Christian.

Then he made the same mistake that Belshazzar made. Wanting advice on a spiritual matter, he went to a worldly wise man for counsel—he went to the president of the university.

“Sir,” he said, “what is your advice? I have been attending evangelistic services, and I feel convicted that I should become a Christian.”

The president answered: “I cannot tell you whether you should become a Christian or not, but this is my advice. Wait until the evangelist has left town, and no one is here to influence you. Then, by yourself, think it through and make your own decision.”

Like most of the devil’s advice, that sounded reasonable, so Burr agreed to do it. Call after call was made at the meetings, but he sat in his seat and refused to respond. Finally the meetings were closed, the evangelist moved on to his next appointment, and the revival influences ebbed away.

The fellow students of Aaron Burr reported that late, late one starry night, as they were studying in the dormitory, they heard a sudden noise. Looking out, they saw young Aaron Burr, leaning far out of his dormitory window, his face turned to the sky, gazing for a long moment towards the heavens. Then they heard his voice ring out on the silent night, “Goodbye, God. I have made my decision.”

This is the story that lies behind the tragedy of Aaron Burr. Like Belshazzar, he knew what he ought to do, but did not do it.

Which Church is Going Through? Part III

There is a text in the Bible that says, “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” Psalm 11:3. No matter how wonderful the building is that you build, if the foundation is not solid, if it is not secure, it can all go to ruin. Every one of you have seen instances, perhaps on television, when a flood swept away large houses. In Matthew 7, Jesus told a story about the man who built his house on the rock and the man who built his house on the sand. When the storm came, one house did not have a foundation. This is true not just for physical buildings. Jesus did not tell that story just so we would know how to build our house. What house was Jesus talking about? What does the Bible say is the house of God? Look at 1 Timothy 3:15 “…if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.” If the church is built on the rock, it will stand the storm. But every church that is not built on the rock is going to get blown away. In Matthew 16:18 Jesus said to Peter, “…you are Peter, [Petros: that is a stone] and on this rock [petra: that is a large rock or boulder] I will build My church.” Jesus is the living rock. If the church is built on the right foundation, it will go through. Every church that is built on the right foundation will go through and every church that is not built on the right foundation will not go through. It is very important to know what the foundation is because otherwise we will not know which church is going through. Let me give you an illustration on that.

There are texts in the Bible that tell us to flee from Babylon. How can you flee from something if you do not even know what it is? Have you ever thought about that?

Who is the Church of God?

There are texts in the Bible that tell us that we should seek to find the way to Zion. We know Zion is a symbol of God’s church. But, how can you go to Zion if you do not know what Zion is? I receive many letters from historic Seventh-day Adventists who do not know what Zion is. I also have books on the subject. What these books and letters tell me is a common misconception and a common false theory about the foundation of the church. These letters and books tell me that the church organization is the church. Have you ever heard that? These people tell me that the church organization is the church, and they send me stacks of material with references from the Spirit of Prophecy or from the Bible. I have read all of these references very carefully and I have not found one statement yet that says that the church organization is the church. I have read the books where they have attempted to prove this point, and I have read all of the statements and all of the inspired statements in these books. There is not one statement, I believe, in the Spirit of Prophecy, which defines the church this way. Not even one! There are many statements in Inspired writings, however, that exactly define God’s church. We read some of those in our previous articles.

In Acts of the Apostles, page 11 Ellen White says, “from the beginning, faithful souls have constituted the church.” That is a statement that people have spent a tremendous amount of time trying to explain or get around. They say that is about something that is invisible. But if you read the whole context, it is not talking about anything invisible, it is talking about something very visible that you can see. Or the one in Manuscript Releases, vol. 1, page 296 that is also in the SDA Bible Commentary, page 949, tells us who it is that composes the church of God. It says it is those that keep God’s commandments. It is those that live by every word that proceeds out of the Lord’s mouth. That is who it is.

The Faith of Jesus

One of the commandments that first began to be broken in heaven by Lucifer was the ninth commandment. The ninth commandment says that you shall not bear false witness. Did you know that it is very possible for a person who comes to church, who is a Christian, and who is a member of a church to bear false witness? How does a person become a member of a church, and what does it mean to become a member of a church? When a person studies the Bible and they learn the truth of this Book, they learn about the commandments of God and decide that they are going to keep all the commandments of God, including the fourth one. They learn about the faith of Jesus. The faith of Jesus is a faith that gives you the power to change your life—to obey. You receive divine power through the Holy Spirit to live a new life. That is recorded all through the New Testament. (Romans 8; Romans 6; 1 John 3.) When a person studies those things and wants to be part of this group that it talks about in Revelation 14:12—those who keep the commandments of God, those who have the faith of Jesus, they will be one of those who will be ready to go to heaven when Jesus comes, and I want to be part of that group.

What does the Lord tell people to do if they want to be part of His church? What did He say to His disciples just before He left? He said, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved.” Mark 16:15, 16. So when a person decides they are going to live by every word in the Bible, and they say that is what they choose to do; they leave aside their sinful life. The apostle Paul spoke to people in the Corinthian church who had been involved in all kinds of sin, and I want to tell you, friend, if you want to be saved, you can be saved. There is nobody who cannot be saved because they are too bad of a sinner. God can save every single one of us. Look what it says in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11. “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.” Paul lists a whole bunch of terrible sins. He says these people are not going to be in the kingdom of God. But notice verse 11: “And such were some of you.” There were people in the Corinthian church who had been sodomites, thieves and adulterers; they had been involved in every kind of sin. Paul said those people are not going to inherit the kingdom of God. Some of them were like this, but notice what happened to them: “…but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.” Ibid. These people had been involved in every kind of sin that you can think of. He lists a whole bunch of awful ones right there in verses 9 and 10. He said the people who do these things are not going to be in the kingdom of God. You were like this, but you have been washed. Washed! What are you washed in? Revelation 1:5 says, “To Him Who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood.” Washed—you cannot get sin out of your life with just water. But Jesus came and washed us from our sins with His blood.

There may be some whom the devil has tempted so much that you have felt like you will have to give up. You think you are so bad you cannot make it. You are no worse than these people were. These people were saved. God is no respecter of persons. God can save you. Is that good news? I am so happy when I preach the gospel. In fact, if I could not share this good news, I do not know if I could preach. How would you like it if a preacher got up to preach and said, “Look, some of you here can be saved because you are in this category, and some of you are such bad sinners that you cannot be saved. You are just stuck. You might as well leave the church right now because you cannot make it.” How would you like to hear that? That would be bad news would it not? But the word ‘gospel,’ means the glad tidings, the good news, “…that Christ Jesus came [Paul said] into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.” 1 Timothy 1:15.

Paul was a bad sinner; he was a murderer. Can God save murderers? Yes! The apostle Paul is going to be in heaven, and he was a murderer. The people he murdered were not criminals. They were the most holy men and women on the face of the earth. But Paul was changed; he was washed. Do you want to be washed from your sins? Are you willing to commit your life to Christ and say, ‘Lord, I am committing my life to You. I will follow You. I am surrendering to You; please wash me from my sins.’ That is what it means to get baptized. When you are baptized, that is a symbol of the fact that your sins have been washed away by the blood of Jesus.

God’s People Have Two Qualifications

Remember we were looking at the ninth commandment? Is it possible for me to make all of that profession, and then not follow through? Is that possible? It not only is possible, but it has happened hundreds of millions of times. What if I make a profession but then I do not live according to my profession? You see, there is a church that is God’s people by profession. God’s remnant church, by profession, are those who call themselves Seventh-day Adventists. Seventh-day Adventists are the only people in the world who meet the specifications in Revelation 14:12. This text specifies who God’s people are going to be in the last days; and they have two qualifications.

First, they keep the commandments of God. James 2:10 says that if you keep all the law but you offend in one point you have broken it all. The Ten Commandments are not ten laws; the Ten Commandments are one law. Always remember that. (See Exodus 24:12.) If you break any one of the precepts, you have broken the whole law. God’s last day people will be people who keep all ten of the Ten Commandments.

Secondly, they have the faith of Jesus. I love to talk about the faith of Jesus. Do you have the faith of Jesus? What does the faith of Jesus do? If you have the same kind of faith that Jesus had, you are trusting God completely that He is going to get you through each test. Jesus prayed to His Father in the Garden of Gethsemane because He was afraid. Have you ever been afraid? Do you know why Jesus was afraid? Jesus was afraid that His humanity would not be able to stand the test, because He knew what test was coming; He knew He was going to the cross. He was afraid that His humanity would not endure. So He prayed. Did God answer His prayer? A mighty angel came from heaven to strengthen Him. Not to take away the test, but to strengthen Him. That is the faith of Jesus. Are you having any tests? Do you ever become afraid and say, “Oh, Lord, I will never make it. I will not be able to survive this test; I am going to fall; what am I going to do?” Do you ever feel like that? What is the faith of Jesus? The faith of Jesus is when you are depending on God and crying out to Him to give you the power and the strength to get you through whatever test it is that you are facing.

A Form of Godliness

There is a church that is God’s chosen people by profession. They claim to believe Revelation 14:12, to be part of that group; and some of these people really are that group. Unfortunately, some make a profession, but their profession is not true. They are breaking the ninth commandment. Often the professed church of God has gone so far in apostasy that it has persecuted the true church. This is predicted to happen at the end. “He [God] draws the dividing line between those who bear His name by profession and those whose character shows them to be His children.” Signs of the Times, June 30, 1881. God draws the dividing line, and some people are on one side of the line and some people are on the other side of that line. All the people make a profession, but where is the line? The line is between those who simply make a profession and those who show by their character that their profession is true. On which side of the line are you?

“Not their profession, but the fruit they bear, shows the character of the true. Many have a form of godliness, their names are upon the church records but they have a spotted record in heaven.” Appeal to the Battle Creek Church. It is not the profession, but the fruit. This is the difference between the wheat and the tares. The wheat bears fruit. The tares do not bear fruit. They look just like wheat for a long time, but in the harvest time there is no fruit. The Bible tells us what the fruit is in Galatians 5:22, 23. It talks about the fruit of the Spirit. If you really have the Holy Spirit inside and it is not just a profession, some fruit will appear in your life. Even if you have committed all of those sins that we just read about in 1 Corinthians 6:9 and 10, the Holy Spirit can purify your heart and give you love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, self-control, and temperance. All of those things the Holy Spirit can produce in your life no matter what your past has been. Is that good news? The gospel, Christianity, is a miracle religion. The person who has been beating his wife, stops. He does not just make a profession; he actually changes his behavior. The person who has been an alcoholic, stops using that poison. The person who has been a profligate, living an immoral life, becomes faithful and true. Their family, their spouse, can depend on them. The gospel actually changes their life. We all need to make the profession, but the profession needs to be true.

The Truth is to Change My Life

It would be better for us if we had never seen the light of truth than to profess to accept it and not be sanctified by it. If I profess to accept the truth, the truth is to change my life. Like we read in the last part of 2 Peter 2, it would be better if a person never even knew the truth than to know it and not be changed in character and in life. The good news of the gospel is that God wants to change your heart and mine through the Holy Spirit so that our profession becomes real and there is actually spiritual fruit in our lives. Because if there is not fruit in the life, the time is near when we are going to be separated. The wheat and the tares are going to be separated. It is a scary subject, but it is true and it is going to happen. It is not only going to happen, but it is happening right now. There is plenty of Inspired instruction that shows that clearly.

There is a reason that we have to spend so much time talking about who and what is the church, if you do not understand who and what it is, at the end you are going to be lost, because you will be going from the wrong place to the wrong place. Now if you are going from the wrong place and you are going to the wrong place, how can you be saved? In other words, if you think this is the church and you are running towards it, but it is not; and if you think that that is not the church and so you are running from it and it is the church, what is your situation? You are lost. Let us think this text through, and let us remember the inspired definitions of who and what the church is.

They Went Out From Us

The only thing that you can depend on is inspiration. There must be a “thus saith the Lord” for what you believe if you are going to be saved. In 1 John 2:19, it says, “They went out from us.” Who is the ‘us’? Is ‘us’ the church organization? Be careful! Who is the ‘us’? If you read from 1 John 1 up to 1 John 2:19, you should be able to figure out who the ‘us’ is, because it tells who the ‘us’ is. For instance, look at 1 John 2:13. It says, “…I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the wicked one.” Look at verse 14. He says again, “…and you have overcome the wicked one.” John calls these people His little children and he specifies in the first part of chapter 2, verses 3-11, the test of those who really know God. Notice, he says in verses 3 and 4, “Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” Where is he drawing the line? It is those who keep the commandments. Does that sound similar to Revelation 14:12? Continuing in verse 6 we read, ” He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.” He has the faith of Jesus. These are the people who are overcoming. These are the people who keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus. That is who the ‘us’ is.

Then who are the ‘they’? Look at verse 19 again. “They went out from us.” Now the us are the people who are keeping God’s commandments. They are the people who have the faith of Jesus because they are walking like He walked. (See 1 John 2:6.) These are the people who keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus. That is who the us is in verse 19. Then who are the ‘they’? It says, “They went out from us.” They used to be part of us then. Or did they? Have you read the whole verse yet? They went out from us, but they were not of us. How do you explain that? They used to be here with us, but they were not of us. Continuing in verse 19 we read, “If ‘they’ had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.” How do you explain that? They were apparently church members; they were part of the church, but they were not really, they just professed to be. Apparently they were church members; they were apparently part of us, but not really. This verse is worth a lot of study. “They went out from us.” They left those who were keeping the commandments of God and had the faith of Jesus. They left them. That does not necessarily mean that they left the church building or quit going to church. The Spirit of Prophecy makes that very clear.

Editorial – Satan’s Victims, Part II

The vast majority of this world in every generation, but especially in the last generation, accepts Satan’s lies and thus become his victims.  This is a matter of Bible prophecy (See Matthew 7:13, 14; Revelation 12:9; 13:8; 13:14; 16:12-14; 18:23 and 6:14-17.)

We live in a world that has become partly fatalist; partly believing in behaviorism; and partly believing in atheistic blind chance so that nothing really matters. Many believe that human action is simply the result of electrical-chemical forces such as genes, heredity, hormones, plus external stimuli that trigger the built-in machinery in the human body and mind.

Some scientists now believe that homosexuality is simply the result of some abnormal or untoward event (“stress”) happening to the mother during the sixth to eighth week of gestation. Many have wanted for a long time to simply call alcoholism a “disease.” Scientists have been looking for years for evidence of the link between heredity and obesity.  We are doing the same kind of research with regard to aggressive or violent behavior.  Is it possible to decrease violent behavior, and thus reduce crime, with hormones and with diet? Yes, it is.

The conclusion of this kind of reasoning is that we live and act in the manner, first of all, that we are programmed to genetically, and secondly, after the manner that our parents and society around us have programmed us during the first few decades of life.

The Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy recognize that the two factors mentioned above are very powerful forces in influencing human behavior. “Their children often receive this stamp of character before their birth; for the appetites of the parents are often intensified in the children. Thus unborn generations are afflicted by the use of tobacco and liquor. Intellectual decay is entailed upon them, and their moral perceptions are blunted. Thus the world is being filled with paupers, lunatics, thieves, and murderers. Disease, imbecility, and crime, with private and public corruption’s of every sort, are making the world a second Sodom.” Signs of the Times, October 17, 1878.

 “The first three years is the time in which to bend the tiny twig. Mothers should understand the importance attaching to this period. It is then that the foundation is laid.” Child Guidance, 194.

But there is another element in human behavior that the devil does not want you to see. The devil wants you to believe that you are helpless to overcome your evil heredity and environment.   It was he who worked that your parents might transmit to you an increased depravity, that you might be spiritually crippled by perverted home training or none at all. If you truly are helpless to overcome, then how can you justly be taken to judgment? And this is the argument that many believe today; it is one of the devil’s lies that creates millions of victims. The Bible teaches that we are all going to judgment. (Acts 24:15; II Corinthians 5:10).

Why are we going to judgment even though we have a defective heredity and come from a terrible environment so that we are internally and externally programmed to do evil? The reasons are first, that God has not given to the devil; or to our parents, or to anybody else the power to force us to sin. Sin is breaking God’s law through an act of the will. The devil can make it easier to sin than to obey God’s law—he did this for Joseph, Daniel and Jesus and He will do it for you.  But the actual decision to commit sin, to break God’s law, is still up to us, the devil cannot force us to do it.

Though in ourselves we cannot resist the evils of our natures, God has provided all the help we need there too, He has promised, “The power that is near to deliver from physical harm or distress is also near to save from the greater evil, making it possible for the servant of God to maintain his integrity under all circumstances, and to triumph through divine grace.” Prophets and Kings, 545.