Issue: 2018 November

Keys to the Storehouse – Undimmed Flame

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An undimmed flame is not dull, faint, gloomy or blurred; it is bright! “Their light burned with undimmed flame through the night of watching. It helped to swell the illumination for the bridegroom’s honor. Shining out in the darkness, it helped to illuminate the way to the home of the bridegroom, to the marriage feast.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 414.

We are in that night of watching! What is that light burning with undimmed flame? What is that light that is shining on the path of many people, directing their eyes heavenward? It is God’s character shining forth through us! This is that “undimmed flame … shining out in the darkness.” This is God’s character, His thoughts and feelings, shining through us. We are told that the “thoughts and feelings combined make up the moral character.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 310. This is that undimmed flame!

“So the followers of Christ are to shed light into the darkness of the world. Through the Holy Spirit,

  • God’s word is a light
  • as it becomes a transforming power in the life of the receiver.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 414.

As God’s word becomes a transforming power in our lives, it becomes that light shining forth into the darkness! “By implanting in their hearts the principles of His word, the Holy Spirit develops in men the attributes of God.

  • The light of His glory—His character—is to shine forth in His followers.
  • Thus they are to glorify God,
  • to lighten the path to the Bridegroom’s home,
  • to the city of God,
  • to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” Ibid.

Is your light burning with undimmed flame, lighting the path to the city of God? Has the light of God’s word become a transforming power in your life?  Remember: “Through the Holy Spirit, God’s word is a light as it becomes a transforming power in the life of the receiver.” Ibid. [Emphasis supplied.] Are you transformed?

The foolish virgins had light from God’s word, but had not the transforming power in their life. “We cannot keep Christ apart from our lives here, and yet be fitted for His companionship in heaven.” Ibid. Do you belong to Christ or the world? Do you shine or are you beclouded?

To His people God says, “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee” (Isaiah 60:1, 2).

 

Father: Let the Holy Spirit transform my life that I may shine forth. May the Holy Spirit, through Your Word, develop in me Your attributes. I do not want to end up a foolish virgin. Let the light of Thy character shine through me. Amen.

 

Inspiration – Restored Access to the Tree of Life

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Dear young friends, You live in a dark and wicked world, subject to sickness, pain and death. You may see many things that look beautiful; but how soon they fade away. You may have a dear friend that you love; but soon that one may be torn from you by sickness and death, and you will then feel lonesome.

You should have something substantial to fix your minds and affections upon, that can give real satisfaction and joy, and cheer your spirits in this dark world, and cause your sorrows to bring joy in the end.

There is a blight upon everything. The earth feels the curse that God pronounced upon it, because of the disobedience of our first parents. They broke the command of God in eating of the forbidden tree, after He had given them the privilege of eating of all the other trees in the garden. They listened to the tempter, ate of the forbidden tree, and were expelled from the beautiful garden of Eden.

The earth that was then so beautiful, was cursed, and the flaming sword was placed around the tree of life to guard it, lest man, in his sin, should approach that tree, and eat of its immortal fruit, and by so doing, live in sin forever.

The tree of life was designed to perpetuate immortality. Adam and Eve could eat of that tree, and enjoy its rich immortal fruit, until they transgressed the command of God. Death was then pronounced upon them, and all that should ever live upon the earth. There was no way of escape for us; no provision that we might again have access to the tree of life, if we would repent. Whatever evils might befall us, there was then no other way than to bear them without hope of having right to the tree of life, to eat of its leaves and fruit, and be healed. We must ever suffer and groan beneath the curse.

But the Son of God, who was with the Father before the world was, took pity upon us in our lost condition, and offered to step in between us and the wrath of an offended God. Said Jesus, I will give My life for them. I will take the burden of the sins of the world upon me, and will make a way possible for these transgressors to find pardon, and enjoy Thy favor again, that they may repent and keep Thy commandments, and again have access to the tree of life. God consented to give His only Son to die for lost man (John 3:16).

The lovely Jesus laid aside His glory, and came into this dark world, and took upon Himself our nature, to be wounded for our transgression, to be bruised for our iniquities (Isaiah 53:5). O, what love for us.— He led a self-denying life, and had not where to lay His head (Matthew 8:20). He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, was despised and rejected, and finally was crucified for us (Isaiah 53:3).

But you must not think that you have nothing to do, because Christ died for you. You must repent of all your sins, and give your hearts to God, and then believe that the blood of Christ will cleanse you from all sin. Then, if you keep all the commandments of God, the Sabbath with the rest, you may through the merits of Christ, be brought back to the tree of life. This will be when Jesus comes to raise the righteous dead, and change the living saints. Then you will have right to the tree of life (Revelation 22:14), and eat of the leaves, and immortal fruit of the tree of life and live for ever in perfect happiness.

The Youth’s Instructor, August 1852.

Children Story – Captain John Smith

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Among the first people who came from England to live in the New World was a man named Captain John Smith. He and his people called the village which they built Jamestown, in honor of King James of England. This was in Virginia, in the year 1607. There were about one hundred men in the village. They had no families, or, if they had, they left them in England. Most of the men had come to find gold and get rich, and then return to England. Some wanted to see this wonderful new world that everywhere in Europe people were talking about.

About half of the men in this company were so-called “gentlemen.” They were not used to hard work. They did not want to chop wood. They did not know how to cultivate the soil. There were some who could refine gold, and these might have been quite useful if there had been any gold to refine. There was even one man who could make perfume. But these gold seekers did not care for perfume. Fortunately, there were among them a few carpenters, a blacksmith, a mason, a barber, and a tailor.

The first summer in Jamestown was a hard one. Some of the people lived in tents. Some dug caves in the hillside to live in. A few built log cabins. The food they had brought with them from England was soon gone, and the corn they had planted was not ready to be gathered. The men did not know how to take care of themselves, and many of them became sick. By September, half their number had died.

Captain John Smith was then made president of the colony. And he saved it from destruction. How did he do it? He set every man to work. He said, “Those who will not work, shall not eat.” He trained the tender “gentlemen” till they learned how to swing the ax in the forest. He taught them that the surest way to make a fortune is by hard, honest labor. He showed them how to build comfortable log huts for the winter. He made friends among the Indians, and from them he bought corn and other food.

A tribe of Indians, called the Powhatans, were the nearest neighbors of the white men. Usually they were friendly, but not always. Once during the winter, when Captain Smith was among them, they caught him and prepared to kill him. They were going to tie him to a tree to be burned.

All at once, he thought of a little compass that he had in his pocket. He pulled it out, and began to explain it to the Indians. He showed them the trembling needle. He told them it kept him from being lost in the woods. He said it always told him just which way to go to find Jamestown. They wondered how that could be.

Then he told them about the shape of the earth. He talked to them about the motions of the moon and the stars. He explained how the sun and the moon and the stars chase one another. They were so interested and delighted that they forgot to kill him.

At last he promised to give his gun to the one who would take a piece of paper to his people in Jamestown. On this piece of paper they saw him make a few marks, but they did not know what these marks meant. When the Indians who carried the paper to Jamestown found that it told his friends of his misfortune, they were astonished. They could not understand how the white man could make the paper talk. They thought he must be some kind of god, and they did not dare to kill him.

Then Captain Smith gave them some seeds. These they afterwards planted, expecting to reap a harvest for their next year. After that the Indians let the white man go free, and he returned to Jamestown in safety.

A few years later, Captain Smith was so badly burned by an explosion that he had to go to England, where he could have a doctor’s care. Here he stayed during the rest of his life. Captain John Smith will always be remembered as the man who saved from starvation and death the first English settlement in America.

True Education Reader, Fourth Grade, Pacific Press Publishing Association, © 1931, 52–55.

 

Six years after John Smith’s exploration, the Pilgrims set out for the New World after fleeing persecution for their religious beliefs from the Church of England. They set sail on a long and dangerous voyage across the Atlantic in the leaky, top-heavy Mayflower. Landing at Plymouth, Massachusetts, the Pilgrims befriended the Indians and endured many hardships. After a successful harvest in the New World, they celebrated their first Thanksgiving feast with their Native American friends in the autumn of 1621.

Thankful

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“In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

It is an unqualified command, and it is a command just as surely as are the words, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8).

“It is a very difficult commandment to obey,” do you say? No: “His commandments are not grievous.” It is impossible, however, to obey any commandment of God, when it is regarded from the human side, merely as a commandment; we must know it as a promise, and then it becomes a delight. Obedience to the commandment, “In everything give thanks,” not only brings, but is the highest happiness that human hearts can know.

What have we to be thankful for?—Everything. Listen: “He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things” (Romans 8:32)? Now the very thought of God’s free gift must awaken love, “and we know that all things work together for good to them that love God” (Romans 8:28). Since God cannot but give us all things in Christ, and in Him all things are for our good, how can we be otherwise than thankful in everything?

“How can I be thankful when I know that I am a sinner, and that I am lost?” Easily enough, when you know that “the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). If you feel lost, that should remind you that the Lord Jesus Christ is good at finding.

“Ah, but you don’t know how great a sinner I am; you would feel depressed if you felt yourself to be the greatest sinner in the world.”

Not by any means; so much the more for joy. “Faithful is the saying, of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief; howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me as chief might Jesus Christ show forth all longsuffering” (1 Timothy 1:15, 16, R.V.). “Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound” (Romans 5:20). The greater the sin, the greater the saving grace bestowed. Then thank God.

“But I have so many temptations; how can I give thanks in the midst of them?”

“My brethren, count it all joy, when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing” (James 1:2–4). How can one help being thankful for that which makes him perfect, and brings him everything good?

“Oh, but I have more trials and trouble than anybody else in the world.”

Good! then you have more to be thankful for than anybody else in the world; for have you never read: “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ” (2 Corinthians 1:3–5). The greater the trial, the greater the comfort.

“I am so very poor and needy, I lack everything; how can I give thanks?” Your great need should simply remind you of the promise, “My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory” (Philippians 4:19). The more needy you are, the more you get. “I am poor and needy, yet the Lord thinketh upon me” (Psalm 40:17). “Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which He hath promised to them that love Him” (James 2:5)? Your poverty is your wealth.

“But I am so vacillating, so easily swayed; the slightest breath moves me, and I cannot stand.”

Then thank God doubly for that, “because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4); and if you are so easily swayed by the Holy Spirit. Only let the breath of Christ blow upon you, and it will always carry you in the right direction with the force of “a rushing mighty wind”(Acts 2:2).

The fact is, Christ has so completely identified Himself with humanity, that there is not any circumstance in life, no condition of the soul or body, no need or frailty, that does not in itself suggest the fullness of God in Him. Whatever poverty or temptation or suffering we have, whether as the direct result of our own folly, or from causes of which we are not personally responsible, we may know that they are the sufferings of Christ, and find the joy of deliverance in the knowledge. “Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift.”

“The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16, last part). It seems to a great many that these words drive off the thought of effectual prayer further than ever, for they would not presume to say that they were righteous. But how does anyone become righteous? “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us” (Titus 3:5). “Being justified freely by His grace,” we obtain righteousness, “even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe” (Romans 3:22).

Therefore the man who is righteous becomes so by believing the glad tidings which God declares to all, “concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord.” He has learned how to take what God gives, and having learned how to take the greatest gift of all, he knows how simple a matter it is to receive all things else.

For to the man who receives Jesus Christ, everything else is given. It can not be otherwise. “He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things” (Romans 8:32)? And Jesus, speaking of food and drink and clothing, says, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33).

God does not force allegiance. He waits for it. The crown of our own individual love and loyalty must be offered by our own hands.

The Present Truth (UK) 80. February 2, 1899.

Who’s in Charge?

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Though it often leads to a dispute when made the subject of conversation, the Bible is very clear about who is in charge of this world.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus refers to Satan three times as “the ruler of this world.” (See John 12:31, 14:30, and 16:11.)

John also made it clear in his first epistle when he wrote, “We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one” (1 John 5:19).

Paul, in his second letter to the Corinthians, also acknowledged the power of the enemy in this world: “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them” (2 Corinthians 4:3, 4).

In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul used a different term, referring to Satan as “the prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2).

Later in that same letter, Paul expresses even more clearly the scope of Satan’s power and of the fallen angels who are in allegiance with him: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).

Lest there be any doubt as to who the above texts refer to, the Revelator makes it clear in Revelation 12:9: “So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”

How did it come to be that Satan acquired the power to deceive the whole world and claim it as his dominion?

“Satan was determined to succeed in his temptation of the sinless Adam and Eve. And he could reach even this holy pair more successfully through the medium of appetite than in any other way. The fruit of the forbidden tree seemed pleasant to the eye and desirable to the taste. They ate and fell. They transgressed God’s just command and became sinners. Satan’s triumph was complete. He then had the vantage ground over the race. He flattered himself that, through his subtlety, he had thwarted the purpose of God in the creation of man.

“Satan made his exulting boasts to Christ and to loyal angels that he had succeeded in gaining a portion of the angels in heaven to unite with him in his daring rebellion; and now that he had succeeded in overcoming Adam and Eve, he claimed that their Eden home was his. He proudly boasted that the world which God had made was his dominion; that having conquered Adam, the monarch of the world, he had gained the race as his subjects, and should now possess Eden, making that his headquarters, and would there establish his throne and be monarch of the world.” Confrontation, 15, 16.

“Mighty issues for the world were at stake in the conflict between the Prince of light and the leader of the kingdom of darkness. After tempting man to sin, Satan claimed the earth as his, and styled himself the prince of this world. Having conformed to his own nature the father and mother of our race, he thought to establish here his empire. He declared that men had chosen him as their sovereign. Through his control of men, he held dominion over the world.” The Desire of Ages, 114, 115.

“When Satan was thrust out of heaven, he determined to make the earth his kingdom. When he tempted and overcame Adam and Eve, he thought that he had gained possession of this world; ‘because,’ said he, ‘they have chosen me as their ruler.’ He claimed that it was impossible that forgiveness should be granted to the sinner, and therefore the fallen race were his rightful subjects, and the world was his.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 69.

Although our first parents did indeed succumb to Satan’s specious argument that “You will not surely die” (Genesis 3:4), God, in His incredible mercy and love for the pinnacle of His creation, provided a remedy for the repentant. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

This fact should not be taken to mean that all will be saved. Many places in the Bible make it clear that all individuals have a role to play in their personal salvation. Ezekiel speaks directly against the assertion “once saved—always saved” in Ezekiel 18:24, when he wrote, “But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All the righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; because of the unfaithfulness of which he is guilty and the sin which he has committed, because of them he shall die.”

The Revelator also made clear the importance of overcoming “the accuser of the brethren” in his efforts to ruin the souls of all mankind when he wrote, “Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, ‘Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death’  ” (Revelation 12:10, 11).

So, the answer to the question “Who’s in charge” depends on you. Are you claiming the promises in God’s word and complying with the conditions on which those promises are based? Or are you loving your life to the death?

All Bible quotes NKJV unless otherwise noted.

John R. Pearson is the office manager and a board member of Steps to Life. He may be contacted by email at: johnpearson@stepstolife.org.

Created for Happiness

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“ ‘Even though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it [a land that sins against God by persistent unfaithfulness], as I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘they would deliver neither son nor daughter; they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness.’ ” Ezekiel 14:20

There is coming a time when no human being will be able to save you.

Children look to their parents for security, for deliverance from trouble, for help, for salvation, and that is not wrong. In fact, Ellen White says that parents stand in the place of God to their young children (see The Adventist Home, 293).

But there is coming a time when your parents are not going to be able to help you, and it could be sooner than you realize. Have you ever been in a situation where you wish more than anything else that you could just die? The Bible records a number of such instances. Numbers 11 describes how anxious Moses was being burdened by the complaints of the Israelites over the manna that God had supplied for them. He told God, “If You treat me like this, please kill me here and now” (verse 15, first part). Moses would rather die than face the situation with the people.

After the miraculous display on Mount Carmel and exhausted from his flight from Jezebel, Elijah also found himself in a situation where he no longer wanted to live. However, probably the most outstanding character of the Bible who felt this way was Job. The situation he found himself in was not just for an hour or a day, but for many days. It says in Job 3:20–22:

“Why is light given to him who is in misery, and life to the bitter of soul, who long for death, but it does not come, and search for it more than hidden treasures; who rejoice exceedingly, and are glad when they can find the grave?”

Zephaniah 2:1, 2, literal translation, says, “Gather yourselves together, yes, gather together, O undesirable nation, before the decree is issued, or the day passes like chaff, before the Lord’s fierce anger comes upon you, before the day of the Lord’s anger comes upon you!”

One of the main ways that young people are being lost today is because of their desire for happiness which, in itself, is not wrong. The framers of the Declaration of Independence believed that every human being had inalienable rights. They had a right to life, they had a right to liberty, and they had a right to the pursuit of happiness.

The pursuit of happiness is not wrong, but unfortunately what most people think will make them happy doesn’t work.

God created man for happiness so it is natural to want that. Those who will have eternal life will never again experience unhappiness. They will have happiness that will continue to increase for eternity.

Ellen White wrote, “He [God] desired that the earth should be filled with joy and peace. He created man for happiness, and He longs to fill human hearts with the peace of heaven. He desires that the families below shall be a symbol of the great family above.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 290.

God not only wants you to be happy as an individual, but He wants you to have a happy family. It seems as if happy families today are in the minority. The majority of people fill their lives with those things that cannot satisfy. Let’s look at just a few quick examples.

Do you know anybody who thinks that if they had a lot more money they would be happy? The Bible has a lot to say about this. The wise man says in Ecclesiastes 5:10: “He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver.” Silver and gold have been used since ancient times for money. The one who loves money will never be satisfied because he thinks that he never has enough.

While pastoring in North Dakota, one of my church members shared the story about one of the local farmers there who owned many sections of land along the Red River and was one of the biggest farmers in that area. In winter, while things were quiet, farmers maintained their equipment, and this farmer had a building as big as a warehouse where his equipment was maintained and repaired and readied for the next growing season.

The farmer was one of the most successful and richest farmers in that entire region. However, one Sunday morning he did not come home for breakfast. A search began and in a very remote place on his farm, he was found. He had taken a pistol, put it to his head and pulled the trigger. He may have had wealth but he was devoid of happiness. He had found out that no amount of money could buy him happiness.

Yet somehow the masses of people continue to strive to find happiness with the pleasures of this life: television, movies, video games, concerts. The devil has something prepared for all tastes. The problem with all of those activities is that while they are fun, that fun is only temporary. Once finished, we immediately begin looking for the next source of fun.

The Bible tells us that Moses chose “rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season” (Hebrews 11:25, KJV).

The second chapter of Joel describes a time that the young people need to become alarmed and a warning needs to go out to them. Joel 2:16 says, “Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children and nursing babes; let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, and the bride from her dressing room.”

A time is coming when sin is going to be destroyed and all who are attached to those sins will also suffer with them. The devil deceives both the old and the young into believing that if you become a Christian and forsake these worldly pleasures, then you will not experience any happiness. The temptation to believe his lie is so powerful because for some the only pleasures they know are sinful pleasures. From their point of view, if those sinful but pleasurable things are taken away, there is nothing left that is enjoyable. That is a lie, of course.

There is one standard to enter heaven, not one for adults and another for young people. All who are engaging in sinful pleasures must be willing to leave them aside and substitute them with something wholesome.

Consider some of the following things that I have found to give me great pleasure that do not involve sin:

Gardening – Gardening is a lot of fun and I am often astonished when I meet young people who are 30 years old and have never grown a garden. They may live in an apartment but it is still possible to grow some things in a small way.

The book The Apartment Farmer describes a person who lived in New York City on the 30th floor in a high-rise building. He had no yard but wanted to be a gardener. There was a small patio allowing him to grow a small variety of crops in containers: corn, tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, and about every garden vegetable. If it is possible to grow a garden on the 30th floor of a high-rise building in New York City, you can do it just about anywhere.

When I was 9 years old, my mother gave me a 20 square foot patch in the garden to care for. She was a nurse working at the local hospital and also had a garden much bigger than mine. In my garden I planted several rows of green beans. The planting, watering, and weeding them was easy, but harvesting was not so easy. Those beans produced more beans than I’d ever seen in my life. After I picked them my mother would help me by taking them in apple boxes to the hospital to sell. At that time I was playing trumpet in the Yakima Junior Academy Band with a borrowed instrument. I really wanted a trumpet of my own but my parents couldn’t afford to buy one for me.

My mother had been the superintendent of nurses at the hospital so knew everyone in the hospital. One day while selling my beans she talked to a nurse who had found out that I wanted a trumpet and was willing to trade a really old cornet that still worked for a box of beans. How happy I was to be able to purchase my own cornet with the fruit of my own labor.

Gardening is God ordained and a righteous pleasure. Adam and Eve enjoyed their work in the Garden of Eden. It is something that the saved will do in heaven again.

Scripture songs – There are some people who get immense pleasure from music. Scripture songs are a way to enjoy and to learn the promises of God in His word. There is nothing evil or harmful about Scripture songs.

Hiking in nature – Though under the curse of sin, this world still has much beauty. When I was a boy, we always lived around mountains. As a young man I would hike into the Rocky Mountains. For the last 45 years, my wife and I have lived in the plains and I’ve learned to hike in the plains. There is so much to see when you take the time to get outside, and there are also great health benefits.

Games – All children should be taught to play wholesome games, not games that are sinful. How do you tell the difference between a game that is wholesome and a game that is not?

Wholesome games imitate life skills or adult work. Children learn by imitating. My 2-year old grandson as he pushes toy trucks and cars around starts making the noise, imitating the engine sounds which is something he has taught himself by playing. He also likes to try on my shoes, which are so big for him that as he starts to walk he steps right out of them.

War games are never constructive for children. There was one war in heaven that will never happen again. Those preparing for heaven have no need to learn about war.

Telecommunications – We live in a telecommunications age and are exposed to television, video, and internet, and all these different kinds of things. I believe that children should have moving pictures to watch as long as they are of a positive informative nature like a documentary on nature, science or history. Any of those categories are educational, interesting and pleasurable.

Music – It is wholesome to learn to play an instrument. Once when I was a little over 20 years of age, I was sick and almost died. While recuperating, there were several weeks when I couldn’t work. I needed something to do to fill my time. My father had an organ that I never before had opportunity to play. I could play piano a little so fiddled with the organ until I learned how to play it. The challenge gave me a lot of fun. For some people, learning to play a musical instrument can give a lot of pleasure.

Manufacture a garment – God gave people the ability to be creative. After God had finished creating each day, He looked at what He had made and said that it was very good! So it can be for those who learn to create a garment. Years ago, mothers passed on to their children the art of sewing garments or at least how to sew on a button or mend a tear in a garment, but today, in first world countries, that art is seldom taught. We live in a throwaway society where there is much waste. Learning how to produce something gives great pleasure.

Cooking and baking – The dinner table was a time where the family was all together to share a home cooked meal and share the events of the day with each other. Life has become so hectic with everyone on a different schedule that many pick and run without sitting down to eat. With much dining out and takeaway food, there are many who have lost the art of simple food preparation and baking. Ellen White wrote, “There is more religion in a good loaf of bread than many think.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, 316. Much pleasure can be found in kneading a lump of dough and forming it into loaves for the family to enjoy or give to a neighbor. It takes skill to prepare a variety of wholesome foods, sweet breads, pies or cakes.

I decided when I was very young that cooking was a pleasurable activity; so I started learning to do it. In fact, when I was in college and lived at home, I worked to earn part of my college education by cooking and I enjoyed it.

My father once managed a nursing home that had over a hundred patients and I cooked two meals a day for all those patients. Cooking is fun.

I meet men who can’t do anything much more than boil water. That’s too bad. If their wives are gone from home, all they have to eat is milk and cereal, or a piece of bread. By not being able to prepare healthy, delicious food they miss out on a lot of pleasure.

Visit the elderly – Young people should know how to visit the elderly, the sick, and the shut-ins. By reaching out to add happiness to the life of someone else you will end up being happy yourself.

Be a practical problem-solver – It is pleasurable to be able to solve problems. Some people never learned that. Let me give you just a few examples. I have met people who do not know how to change a flat tire and when they find themselves in that situation, they have to stand beside the side of the road and wait for somebody to come and help them out. That person lacks self-sufficiency. The more skills we have, the more useful we can be in God’s service. Knowing how to solve problems brings great pleasure.

These are just a few ideas concerning exchanging sinful pleasures for other things that can give more joy and be a benefit to both self and others. When Jesus gave talents He expected that they be increased and not just lie idle. This takes time of which we are all given 24 hours each day. It would be beneficial for all to consider just how we spend our waking hours and whether there are many wasted hours spent on useless sinful pleasures that could be exchanged for righteous pleasure.

The Lord is speaking: “There is no love greater than Mine in earth or heaven. His greatest happiness will be found in loving Me.” The Desire of Ages, 57.

Dear young friends, Do not be deceived into thinking that if I could just get ……, then I could have …… and that would make me happy. Be assured, as soon as you have what you desire, it will not be enough and you will certainly want something else. There have been many movie stars and successful men and women who have had all that this world could offer and then found that their life is hollow. They reach the same conclusion as the wealthy farmer, that life is not worth living.

If you have not yet discovered the happiness that is to be found in loving the Lord, you do not know what real happiness is. All the things that you think will make you happy will not give you perfect happiness unless you have this. If you do not know the Lord, if you do not love Him, you will never, ever be perfectly happy. Jesus promises “you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deuteronomy 4:29).

 

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New King James Version.)

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

 

Editorial – The Atonement

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On the cross of Calvary Jesus paid the price for the sins of the whole world. However, He told the angels four thousand years before this, right after Adam and Eve sinned, that “few would receive Him as the Son of God.” Early Writings, 150. By His death on the cross, Christ began the work which after His resurrection He ascended to complete. The cross was the means of atonement for the human race and by His death on the cross, the conditions of atonement were fulfilled. Christ had won the kingdom, wresting it from Satan becoming heir of all things.

Today Jesus is making an atonement for us before the Father. A review of the earthly sanctuary service in the book of Leviticus reveals that the atonement has at least three phases:

  • an atoning sacrifice (Leviticus 17:11)
  • the priest must make atonement with this blood (Leviticus 4:18–20)
  • the sinner must be cleansed (Leviticus 16:30)

This is stated in beautiful simple language by the apostle John: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Those who neglect this work of confession will eventually be “cut off” (see Leviticus 23:29, 30) when probation is over and the plan of salvation is complete.

“We are in the great day of atonement, and the sacred work of Christ for the people of God that is going on at the present time in the heavenly sanctuary should be our constant study.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 520.

It was to this silent, unnoticed close of human probation that Jesus looked forward to when He said, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from’ ” (Luke 13:24, 25).