Fear and Trembling

Troubled times have come upon the Earth.

Far more than we do, we need to understand the issues at stake in the conflict in which we are engaged. We need to understand more fully the value of the truths that God has given for this time and the danger of allowing our minds to be diverted from them by the great deceiver.” Testimonies, vol. 8, 312.

During the COVID 19 pandemic of the past few months, different voices from even the most unlikely individuals have been heard predicting that a spiritual awakening would come out of this experience. It is quite common for humanity to cry out to God in times of trial. However, too often when the trial is over, those who cried to God in their despair easily forget the experience and soon return to life as usual.

As believers and students of the word of God, we know that prophecy is fulfilling. We believe and proclaim the messages of the three angels of Revelation 14 and that we need to prepare ourselves for that blessed hope of the glorious appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ. We must not forget what Jesus said in Matthew 7:21-23 “Not every one who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day [the day of His return] many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ did we not prophecy in your name, cast out demons in your name, and do mighty works in your name? And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you: depart from me… .”

Do you not agree that those would be the most startling and tragic words spoken to anyone thinking that they were going to be taken to heaven with Jesus? The apostle Paul admonished in his epistles that we must work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, that we must continue to cultivate and press to complete the goal, not trusting to self or shrinking back from whatever might discredit our profession of faith. “

You have to talk faith, you have to live faith, you have to act faith, that you may have an increase of faith; and thus exercising that living faith you will grow to strong men and women in Christ Jesus. SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 5, 1121 Jesus said “Abide in Me.” We must strive to keep our lamps filled with the oil of the Spirit. Are we indeed acting like the wise virgins that have awakened at the message (sounds) that the Bridegroom is coming? How well are you “working out” your salvation, friend? The Lord expects every believer to exercise the gift of faith.

The worldwide scale of this pandemic most certainly captured the attention of many with thoughts of whether some prophetic occurrence was taking place and asking questions like “Are we on the verge of more troubled times?” Others are just happy thinking it will soon be a thing of the past.

“You have to talk faith, you have to live faith, you have to act faith, that you may have an increase of faith; and thus exercising that living faith you will grow to strong men and women in Christ Jesus (MS 1, 1889).” SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 5, 1121.

There are too many who are striving to obey all of God’s commandments who have little peace and joy. Why should this lack even exist in the Christian’s experience? This lack is the result of a failure to exercise true faith, to maintain regular communion with the Father, and of not fortifying the mind with God’s word and not meditating on the words of life. Although the enemy works tirelessly to discourage us, we must keep our eyes on Him who is true and faithful, remembering that grace and peace are multiplied through knowing the lovely Jesus, as it is our privilege to know Him. Too many habitually dial their earthly acquaintances or a “prayer partner” and pour into human ears their woes. Jesus said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

“It is the real, vital essence of Christianity to grasp the unseen by faith, reaching out constantly to lay hold of the spiritual efficiency found in Christ.” Christ Triumphant, 53.

“When in trouble, when assailed by fierce temptations, [Christians] have the privilege of prayer. What an exalted privilege! Finite beings, of dust and ashes, admitted through the mediation of Christ, into the audience-chamber of the Most High. In such exercises the soul is brought into a sacred nearness with God, and is renewed in knowledge, and true holiness, and fortified against the assaults of the enemy.” An Appeal to Mothers, 24.

The Lord is coming. Through the agitations in the physical world, in the strivings of men and nations, we hear the footsteps of an approaching God. He comes to punish the world for its iniquity. That is why the Lord said “Watch and pray.” We are to prepare the way for Him by acting our part in preparing a people for that great day.

“A storm is coming, relentless in its fury. Are we prepared to meet it?” Testimonies, vol. 8, 315.

As the apostle Paul exhorted Timothy “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life” (1 Timothy 6:12).

The choices we make today in this life to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, to live righteously in this present world, are what will determine if we receive either eternal life or eternal death. How many who know the truth for this time are working in harmony with the principles of the gospel?

“If today we would take time to go to Jesus and tell Him our needs, we should not be disappointed.” The Desire of Ages, 363.

“Day by day, God instructs His children. … It is the issue of the daily test that determines their victory or defeat in life’s great crisis.

“Those who fail to realize their constant dependence upon God will be overcome by temptation.” Ibid., 382.

In His Steps In His Steps July – August 2020 Article

by John Grosboll Director of Steps to Life

Co-authored by Hilde Nunez Contributing Editor

Make Your Calling and Election Sure

The most important election is the one that is taking place in heaven right now.

The world becomes intrigued every four years with the presidential election in the United States. There is a race, a competition, to influence the people to vote for certain people or parties. The people are bombarded with advertising and solicitations of all kinds and through every available media. Ellen White makes this relevant comment: “An intensity such as never before was seen is taking possession of the world. In amusement, in moneymaking, in the contest for power, in the very struggle for existence, there is a terrible force that engrosses body and mind and soul. In the midst of this maddening rush, God is speaking. He bids us come apart and commune with Him. ‘Be still, and know that I am God’ (Psalm 46:10).” Education, 260.

In God’s election, our vote—that is the life you live—will be the decision-making move.

The most important election is the one that is taking place in heaven right now and has been for 175 years. This is the election that will determine your eternal destiny. It is an election over which God the Father presides and over which Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, is devoting His intercession 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. (See Daniel 7, Zechariah 3 and Matthew 22.) It is an election in which your vote—that is the life you live—will be the decision-making move. The apostle Peter wrote, “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:10, 11).

“Every soul is elected who will work out his own salvation with fear and trembling. He is elected who will put on the armor and fight the good fight of faith. He is elected who will watch unto prayer, who will search the Scriptures, and flee from temptation. He is elected who will have faith continually, and who will be obedient to every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. The provisions of redemption are free to all; the results of redemption will be enjoyed by those who have complied with the conditions.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 208.

“There is an election of individuals and a people, the only election found in the word of God, where man is elected to be saved. Many have looked at the end, thinking they were surely elected to have heavenly bliss; but this is not the election the Bible reveals. Man is elected to work out his own salvation with fear and trembling. He is elected to put on the armor, to fight the good fight of faith. He is elected to use the means God has placed within his reach to war against every unholy lust, while Satan is playing the game of life for his soul. He is elected to watch unto prayer, to search the Scriptures, and to avoid entering into temptation. He is elected to have faith continually. He is elected to be obedient to every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God, and that he may be, not a hearer only, but a doer of the word. This is Bible election.” Testimonies to Ministers, 453, 454.

God’s word tells us that we are His “elect.” The apostles Peter and Paul made sure that this wonderful truth was never forgotten. We are privileged to still have their letters to the churches, God’s elect, because “. . . the word of God, … lives and abides forever” (1 Peter 1:23).

After the apostle Paul opens his first epistle to the Thessalonians expressing his ardent love and thankfulness for the report of his fellow worker Timothy concerning their faithfulness, he goes on to mention “O, brethren, beloved of God, we recognize and know that He has selected (chosen) you” (1 Thessalonians 1:4 [Amplified Bible]). Are you steadfastly fighting the good fight of faith “to make your calling and election sure (1 Peter 1:10)?”

“The apostle Peter had had long experience in the things of God. His faith in God’s power to save had strengthened with the years, until he had proved beyond question that there is no possibility of failure before the one who, advancing by faith, ascends round by round, ever upward and onward, to the topmost round of the ladder that reaches even to the portals of heaven.

“For many years Peter had been urging upon the believers the necessity of a constant growth in grace and in a knowledge of the truth; and now, knowing that soon he would be called to suffer martyrdom for his faith, he once more drew attention to the precious privileges within the reach of every believer. In the full assurance of his faith the aged disciple exhorted his brethren to steadfastness of purpose in the Christian life. ‘Give diligence,’ he pleaded, ‘to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.’ ” Acts of the Apostles, 533.

Nomination rivalry of leaders of an established nation can propel the people into sheer madness.

History has recorded that the rivalry between individuals competing for the nomination of leader of an established nation can propel the people into sheer madness. These historical frenzied circumstances would never have occurred if the people of this earth had never chosen to have an earthly ruler instead of the Creator, the Ruler of heaven and earth.

“When they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man…even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind. (Romans 1:21-25, 28).”

After many years of man’s departure from his Creator, God called out Abraham to be father of all who would have Him alone to be their God. … They worshipped Him, were faithful to Him for a while. Then, again, they rejected him as their ruler. They wanted to be like the nations of the land. They wanted a king.

“The first form of government over men was established by God himself and acknowledged him as the only Sovereign. He made known His will by written commands and revelations, by messages to His chosen servants, by dreams, by signs, and wonders. He would have continued to be their king, had they content with His paternal care. …

“The government of Israel had never been conducted with so great wisdom and success as under Samuel’s sole administration. In no previous ruler had the people reposed so implicit confidence. He had labored with untiring and disinterested zeal for the highest good of the nation. In every transaction he had been governed by justice and benevolence. And not only was his course wholly unselfish, but he was often inattentive to his own dues and rights. Hence, the selfishness manifested by his sons appeared more striking in contrast with the course of their faithful father.

“The arrogance and injustice of these judges caused much dissatisfaction among the people, who were far more troubled by dangers threatening their temporal interests than they had been by the profligacy and sacrilege of Hophni and Phinehas. Ere long many who considered themselves aggrieved presented their complaints to the elders of Israel. A pretext was thus furnished for urging the change which had long been secretly desired.

“Had Samuel been informed on the unjust course of his sons, he would at once have removed them and appointed others more upright in their place. When, however, the complaint against his sons was laid before him, followed immediately by the petition for a king, Samuel saw that the real motive was discontent and pride. He perceived that the desire did not spring from a sudden impulse, but was the result of long deliberation and a determined purpose. …

“Samuel carried this new and, to him, difficult matter to the Lord in prayer, and sought counsel alone from Him. His petitions were heard; ‘and the Lord said unto Samuel, hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee; for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee.’ The prophet was reproved for grieving at the conduct of the people toward himself as an individual. They had not manifested disrespect for him, but for the authority of God, who had appointed the rulers of his people. …

“It is a hazardous step to place the scepter in the hands of finite man and crown him monarch.” Signs of the Times, July 13, 1882

“It is a hazardous step to place the scepter in the hands of finite man and crown him monarch. God understands the human heart far better than men understand it themselves. A departure from the Lord’s wise arrangement would pervert authority into tyranny and subjection into slavery. Even if a ruler were naturally merciful and benevolent, unlimited power over his fellow-men would tend to make him a despot. Such power God alone is able to use with justice and wisdom. “The Lord had, through His prophets, foretold that Israel would be governed by a king. But it by no means follows that this form of government was according to His will. Though He foresees all things, He often permits men to take their own course when they refuse to be guided by the counsels of infinite wisdom. In this instance, He instructed Samuel to grant their request, but to faithfully warn them of the Lord’s disapproval, and also make known what would be the result of their course: ‘Now therefore hearken unto their voice. Howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and show them the manner of the king that shall reign over them.’ …

“But the people were bent upon following their own course. The solemn warnings from God, through His aged prophet, had no effect to turn them from their purpose. They returned the answer, ‘Nay; but we will have a king over us, that we may also be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.’

“ ‘Like other nations’–the Israelites did not realize that to be in this respect unlike other nations was a special privilege and blessing. God had separated Israel from every other people to make them His own peculiar treasure. But they, disregarding this high honor, eagerly desired to imitate the example of the heathen. What blindness! What ingratitude! …

“Would that this passage in Israel’s history had no counterpart in the present experience of God’s people! But alas, we see it frequently repeated! A discontented desire for change, a longing to conform to worldly plans and worldly customs, too often controls even professed Christians. As they depart from God, they become ambitious for the gains and honors of the world. Those who stand firm against conformity to the world, discouraging pride, superfluity, and extravagance, and enjoining humility and self-denial, are looked upon as critical, peculiar, and severe. Some argue that by uniting with worldlings and conforming to their customs, Christians might exert a stronger influence in the world. But all who pursue this course thereby separate from the source of their strength. Becoming friends of the world, they are the enemies of God. …” Signs of the Times, July 13, 1882

Article by John Grosboll Director of Steps to Life
Co-authored by Hilde Nunez Contributing Editor