Issue: 2002 October

Do You Worship the Devil?

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And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose [them]. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret.” —Ephesians 5:11, 12.

Many Christians will allow and even encourage their children to pay respect to the devil on October 31 without knowing they do so. Many Christian churches will fully sanction such action with parties, decorating with witches, cats, brooms, jack-o-lanterns and bobbing for apples.

What is the harm? How did this originate?

The Festival of Death

The custom of Halloween is traced to the Druid festival of the dead. The Roman Pantheon was built by Emperor Hadrian in the first century as a temple to the goddess Cybele and other Roman deities. It became the principle place of worship where Roman pagans prayed for the dead. Emperor Phocas captured Rome and gave the Pantheon to Pope Boniface IV in 609 a.d. He reconsecrated it to the Virgin Mary and resumed using the temple to pray for the dead, only now it was “Christianized,” as men added the unscriptural teaching of purgatory. In 835 a.d. , Gregory IV extended the feast for all the church and it became known as All Saint’s Day, still remembering the dead. It was hoped the Druid celebration would be eliminated by offering All Saint’s Day as a substitute. The truth is that Halloween’s deepest roots are decidedly pagan, and it has kept those pagan roots, despite its now Christian name.

Birth of Halloween

In the British Isles, All Saint’s Day came to be called All Halloweds since it was a day to worship all the “hallowed ones,” the Christian dead. Since the festival of the dead always occurred the evening before All Halloweds, it came to be called All Halloweds Evening or just Halloweds E’en. From this it evolved to Hallows E’en and, finally, to Halloween as we know it today. Because of the relationship in the names, and the adjacent dates, many today entertain the completely unfounded idea that Halloween is somehow a Christian holiday. This has made it much easier for the ungodly festival to move right into the churches each October and flourish there, spreading its occult poison.

Customs

Trick-or-treat came from an ancient Druid practice. One of the basic tenets in witchcraft is to control the will of another by use of fear. Even in jest, when one threatens to punish if a treat or offering is not given, they are imitating an occult practice of controlling the will of another by use of fear. Prosperity was promised to all who were generous donors, and tricks to all who refused during the Irish Druid event of trick-or-treat.

The festival of the dead celebration used nuts, apples, skeletons, witches and black cats. Divination and auguries were practiced as well as magic to seek answers for the future. Black cats were considered to be reincarnated beings with the ability to divine the future. During this festival, supernatural beings terrified the populace. Even today witchcraft practitioners declare October 31 as the most conducive time to practice their arts.

Most of the customs connected with Halloween are remnants of the ancient religious beliefs and rituals, first of the Druids and then transcended amongst the Roman Christians who conquered them.

Christian Beware

The uninformed Christian has no idea that demonic spirits are contacted and activated as people call out to them in jest or in seriousness. Every act around Halloween is in honor of false gods, which are spirits in the realm of the Satanic.

The Bible instructs us to have nothing to do with the deeds of darkness. We are forbidden to participate in the occult practices listed in Deuteronomy 18:10, 11. Such participation places us in forbidden territory, on the enemy’s dangerous ground.

Through the ages, Halloween has gone by various names but all have been tributes to the same dark force, Satan. There is no place in the life of a Christian for such participation.

Who is Harry Potter?

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What is the big deal with a young man who is a hero to millions of young readers around the world, enrapturing children as they embrace the reading experience?” The children are reading! These are the cries and shouts of praise that are being heaped upon J. K. Rowling, the author of the wildly popular four books that have been published in a series of seven (three have yet to be released). Harry Potter promoters, supporters and fans range from children, not even old enough to read, to the elderly. Never in the history of book writing has there been such an enthusiastic response to a series of books; never has a single author ever been able to bridge all age, gender and societal gaps! Religious, racial, social, and economic barriers have all seemed to disappear. The world has gone Potter crazy!

“It’s Just Magic”

When the people involved with Harry Potter and the world-wide empire it has become are questioned as to the secret of Harry’s success, they all too often have responded with: “It’s just magic! We can’t explain it . . . it is just magical!” The publisher, Scholastic Books, and the proponents of Harry Potter contend that the subjects of witchcraft, wizardry, and sorcery do not pose a threat to children because these books are “just fantasy.” They espouse that the children of today are sophisticated enough to discern fiction from reality. J. K. Rowling herself has said in numerous interviews, “Not even one time has a child come up to me and said, ‘Ms. Rowling, I’m so glad I’ve read these books because now I want to be a witch.’” Then Ms. Rowling needs to read one of the many books that have been published as a tribute to Harry Potter. One such book is entitled Harry Potter, You’re the Best! A Tribute from Fans the World Over by Sharon Moore. (Griffin Trade Paperback, N.Y., 2001.) Here is what young Ewan of Surrey, Eng-land writes: “I myself am a Christian, and I do not understand why a Christian school banned the Harry Potter books; even my minister reads them! The school says they are unchristian. Harry Potter books are like the Bible though—good against evil—and to all the tiniest details. If I were in that school, I personally would disobey that rule to the full extent.” Ibid., 11, 12. Melissa, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 9 years old, writes: “I wish I was a witch, and I wish I could go to Hogwart’s. Oh well, I do play witches with a friend, though. I’d love to know when Harry Potter’s birthday is and if he reads his own books.” Ibid., 15. (Hogwart’s School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is the make-believe school that Harry and his friends attend.) Here is another from Alicja, Ontario, Canada, 8 years old: “I think Harry Potter books are good for children of all ages. I’m trying to learn to be a wizard! It’s hard work.” Ibid., 23. Kelsey, 11 years old: “I am involved in an unofficial Harry Potter club supervised by our librarian, Mrs. Dryer. We are doing things such as making wands, creating artwork, exploring the Internet, and best of all playing quidditch.” Ibid., 136. (Quidditch is a soccer-like game that is played while flying around on broomsticks.)

Innocent Fun?

Friends, it may seem like innocent fun (or not) right now. But God has told us to have nothing to do with witchcraft or sorcery. He says: “A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death . . . .” Leviticus 20:27.

I have three different books that are tributes to Harry Potter. Each is largely built on children’s letters, however, each book also has an adult section. One parent and literary agent wrote: “From my perspective as a parent, I have a great appreciation for these books. . . . The recent negative press about the books is hard for me to understand. In today’s world, where people are sophisticated, educated, and exposed to new ideas, such an attitude seems very old-fashioned. It’s like something from the days of the Salem witchcraft trials.” Sharon Moore, We Love Harry Potter, St. Martin’s Griffin, N.Y., 1999, 96–98.

Finally, this from a parent in South Carolina: “I think it is wonderful the books let children see magic in a positive way. . . . The potential that children have when they open their minds is tremendous, and that’s what I see Harry Potter doing. He lets people into his world and shows them how wonderful life can be; indeed, how magical it can be. I am appalled to see some educational and religious institutions trying to take these books off the shelves. These books encourage kids to read! . . . I intend to start my child’s reading experience with them.” Ibid., 141.

The lack of spiritual discernment of these parents just amazes me. One of the great dangers in these books (that children and most parents do not understand) is that it is acquainting readers, especially young readers, with occultic themes, spells, charms, curses and satanic magic in such a way that the reader’s guard is lowered to the actual occult activity in the world around us. The books have sanitized the occult and have presented it as the way to life and happiness. But the truth is, “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.” Romans 15:13.

Who is Harry Potter?

Harry Potter is a likable, young wizard who is orphaned in infancy, raised by “muggles” (his non-magical relatives who are depicted as stupid and ignorant because they do not approve of magic and wizardry). He is later informed of his magical abilities and invited to study at Hogwart’s School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry Potter is espoused to be a standard tale of good versus evil. “By following Harry and his best friend Ron, the reader gets a glimpse of true loyalty and friendship, as well as self-sacrifice,” different reviewers proclaim.

On the other hand, one does not have to look very far to see that witches, wizards, and other magical characters play lead roles. And, of course Harry and his friends are the focus—they are wizards (in training). Harry and his friends practice spells, create potions (drugs) and use them, and use hexes and magic on others. And the face-offs with “evil” are predictably intense. Each of the seven books chronicle a year of Harry’s education at Hogwart’s.

Just “Fantasy”

Many supporters of Harry Potter claim that the stories are just fantasy and that they are no different than classics like Sleeping Beauty, The Wizard of Oz and others. Yes, it is true that these stories have magic and sorcery in them, which is forbidden by God. They are not good reading for Christian children either, even though in these stories the character that the reader is asked to identify with is not the wizard! Also, the reader is not introduced to the intricacies of magic and wizardry. The Harry Potter books are written as never before; the children are identifying with the wizard, with the witch, with the sorcerer.

Keep in mind that the proponents of Harry Potter justify the means because of the end. They say, “Harry wins over the evil . . . in the end. So, good triumphs over evil, and that is a good message for kids.” Never mind that witchcraft, wizardry, sorcery, divination, and evil occultic components are littered throughout the stories. Occult experts, ex-occultists, and ex-wizards all confirm that in order to do the things that Harry and his friends do in these books, the forces of evil must play their part for the wizards to have success! The source of the power for the “good” wizard and the “evil” wizard is the same, according to God. It is demonic! There is no such thing as a “good” wizard.

World-wide Deception

A U.S. consumer survey reported that over half of all children in the United States between the ages of 6 and 17 have read at least one Harry Potter book. In fact, “there are 116 million books in print in 200 countries. They have been translated into 47 languages.” Claudia Puig, “Harry Potter Could Conjure Record,” USA Today, October 22, 2001.

The first three Harry Potter books have grossed a conservatively estimated $480 million in three years. Those figures do not include the most recent released book four!

At 12:01 a.m., July 8, 2000, bookstore doors opened and kids pressed in. They ran; they pushed and shoved, and began shelling out $25.95 for book four. This was the publisher’s dream come true! Scholastic, the largest publisher and distributor of children’s books in the world had advanced orders topping 1.8 million and a first printing of 5.3 million copies. Newsweek Magazine said “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the fourth installment of the series, promises to break every book-selling record in the book.” Malcomb Jones, “Why Harry Potter’s Hot,” Newsweek, July 17, 2000, 53.

Satanic Messages

But there is more to come. Ms. Rowling plans seven books in all, and she admits that each book will grow darker and darker and deal with death and loss and evil.

In just the first three books Rowling depicts many satanic themes, symbols, names, stories, and creatures—all vividly and correctly described. The fundamental occult philosophy that “the end justifies the means” permeates all of the books. To achieve a goal that is deemed good, Harry and his friends consistently break the rules, steal, defy authority figures and use witchcraft on others.

Friends, it is so amazing to me that some dare to fight for these Harry Potter books, praising them for bringing the children back to the bookstores and to the libraries. Never mind that they could lead unsuspecting children to Satan’s world of darkness. The argument that the books are fantasy just does not hold up. A recent trip to a local bookstore revealed an entire display of occult and satanic books right next to the Harry Potter display! These books are being used as a springboard into real-world witchcraft and wizardry.

There is an official web site on the Internet where children can enroll at Hogwart’s School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. A list of supplies and books is given for first year students. A search on any Internet search engine will find the needed items. When children begin searching for the supplies, however, just think what will open up to them. For instance, a search on “casting spells” will give 45,400 hits; enter “witchcraft” for 341,000 hits or “black magic” for 58,000 hits. It is not a very large step from the occultic themes in the “fantasy” books to the real occultic activity in the world.

The world has been bewitched by Harry Potter. No one seems able to explain the massive success of the books. But their success should come as no surprise. Surely Satan himself is behind Rowling’s writing! Through these books the world of Satanism has been repackaged in a powerfully fun, well-written story that is stealing the hearts, and possibly the souls, of millions of children.

Reprinted from The Shepherd’s Call, Special Issue January/February 2002, P. O. Box 1119, West Point, CA 95255.

Editor’s Note: “Says the prophet Isaiah: ‘When they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.’ Isaiah 8:19, 20. If men had been willing to receive the truth so plainly stated in the Scriptures concerning the nature of man and the state of the dead, they would see in the claims and manifestations of spiritualism the working of Satan with power and signs and lying wonders. But rather than yield the liberty so agreeable to the carnal heart, and renounce the sins which they love, multitudes close their eyes to the light and walk straight on, regardless of warnings, while Satan weaves his snares about them, and they become his prey. ‘Because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved,’ therefore ‘God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.’ 2 Thessalonians 2:10, 11.” The Great Controversy, 559.

“Rapidly are men ranging themselves under the banner they have chosen, restlessly waiting and watching the movements of their leaders. There are those who are watching and waiting and working for our Lord’s appearing; while the other party are rapidly falling into line under the generalship of the first great apostate. They look for a god in humanity, and Satan personifies the one they seek. Multitudes will be so deluded through their rejection of truth that they will accept the counterfeit. Humanity is hailed as God.

“There are but two parties. Satan works with his crooked, deceiving power, and through strong delusions he catches all who do not abide in the truth, who have turned away their ears from the truth and have turned unto fables. Satan himself abode not in the truth; he is the mystery of iniquity. Through his subtlety he gives to his soul-destroying errors the appearance of truth. Herein is their power to deceive. It is because they are a counterfeit of the truth that spiritualism, theosophy, and the like deceptions gain such power over the minds of men. Herein is the masterly working of Satan. He pretends to be the savior of man, the benefactor of the human race, and thus he more readily lures his victims to destruction.” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 364, 365.

The Disappointed God

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The Bible talks a lot about the subject of the disappointed God. Let’s look first at Isaiah 14 where we read about The Shining One. When the King James Bible was translated, they were not sure what to call this person in verse 12. The Hebrew name is Helel. This word is only used one time in the Bible, and it means “The Shining One.” Some translators believe that it means “The Morning Star” or “The Daystar.”

The Shining One

There is no question that it has to mean “The Shining One” or “A Shining Star.” Since the King James translators were not sure how to translate it, they just left it. They translated it into Latin and gave it the same translation as you would see in the Latin Bible, the Latin Vulgate. The Latin word for a shining one, light bearer, is Lucifer. Lucifer is a Latin word. It is not Hebrew, Greek, or English.

But notice what verses 12–14 say: “How you are fallen from heaven [the heavens], O Lucifer [Shining One], [the] sun of the morning [or the sun or the dawn]! How you are cut down to the ground, you [the one] who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend [go up] into heaven [the heavens], and I will exalt my throne [go up] above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation [my throne where I will sit will be in the mountain of the set meetings or set feast days where the people congregate] on the farthest side [in the sides of the north]; I will ascend [go up] above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’”

First Disappointment

This was the first time we have recorded when God was disappointed. God had created Lucifer. Lucifer did not create himself. And He made him a shining one, the sun of the dawn, the sun of the morning. He evidently was the most beautiful and gorgeous of all the angels.

The Bible says in Ezekiel 28 that his heart became lifted up because of his beauty. Not only was he made very beautiful, every precious stone was his covering. (See verse 13.) So what would he have looked like when he walked around? Talk about jewelry! This is one of the reasons, by the way, that Christians are cautioned in the Bible about not wearing jewelry, because jewelry proved one of the factors in Lucifer’s downfall.

You are going to get more jewelry than you have ever seen in your life when you go to heaven, but in this world when you have a sinful, fallen nature, it is not to be worn. Why? Well, you are in the same danger as Lucifer—pride, when you do not even know that you have a problem. And what does the Bible say is going to happen to all the proud? They are all going to burn up. (See Malachi 4:1.)

Pride is a lethal disease that has no symptoms. That is, no symptoms that the person themselves can detect. And very often people around them cannot detect it either. A proud person can be a preacher, an elder, a deacon, an evangelist, and a leader in God’s work.

You can read the story of Lucifer’s fall several places in the writings of Ellen White. One place is in the first chapter of Patriarchs and Prophets. She says there that efforts such as only infinite wisdom could devise were made to show Lucifer his error. Not only that, she says that Lucifer was convinced that he was in the wrong.

He was given opportunity to confess his wrong and return. In fact, she says that he almost made the decision to come back. Almost. But do you know what it was that kept him from doing it? Pride. (See page 39.) He had been the most exalted of all the angels in heaven. And for somebody of his exalted status to admit that he had made a mistake was too much.

Mercy and Longsuffering

How is it with you and me? Can we admit when we have made a mistake? If we have trouble with that, we have the same problem that Lucifer had. If he could have admitted that he made a mistake, the whole great controversy could have been averted. God was disappointed because His mercy and longsuffering were misinterpreted.

Friends, that is one of our major problems in the world today. Because God is merciful and longsuffering, because sentence against wickedness is not executed speedily, the heart is fully set to do evil. (See Ecclesiastes 8:11.) So Lucifer misinterpreted God’s mercy and His longsuffering. He thought that if he persisted, he would get his own way. He was warned that he would not.

Helel, Lucifer; The Shining One, The Morning Star, The Sun of the Dawn, was so intelligent that he deceived a third of the angels. (See Testimonies, vol. 5, 291.) He believed that if he persisted he could get the allegiance of the whole universe. God was disappointed because His mercy and His longsuffering were misinterpreted.

How is it in our lives? Are we misinterpreting God’s mercy and His longsuffering? Are we trying to take advantage of it? Are we in our minds thinking, Well, I know that this is wrong but I want to do it, and I am going to do it, and after I do it, I will confess it, and the Lord will forgive me.

Oh, friend, do not do it. Do not try to take advantage of God’s longsuffering and His mercy. I know a number of people that decided to go out in the world at some point and then, when they wanted to come back, they found out that it is not nearly as easy to come back as they thought. That is one of the devil’s deceptions to people—go and do whatever you please; God is merciful; He is longsuffering; He will forgive you.

Second Disappointment

So the name of Helel, Lucifer, The Shining One, was changed. And we find in the book of Job that this Helel, this Lucifer, this Shining One, is referred to by the name he received after he fell. The Hebrew is Hassatan or in English, Satan. Satan is a Hebrew word, but in Hebrew they pronounce it Sahtahn. Sahtahn means adversary. He became the adversary, not only of God, but of anyone who was faithful and true to God. He did the same thing then as he had done with the angels in heaven—he tried to win the battle by deception.

In Genesis 3, you can read the account of how Adam and Eve sinned. It says: “And they heard the sound of the Lord [voice of Jehovah] God walking in the [midst] of the Garden in the [breeze or the] cool of the day. And Adam and his wife [they] hid themselves [the man and his wife] from presence [the face] of the Lord [Jehovah] God among [in the midst of] the trees of the Garden. Then the Lord [Jehovah] God called to Adam [the man] and he said to him, ‘Where are you?’” Verses 8, 9.

You create somebody. You create paradise for them. You give them everything that the heart could desire and give them dominion and rulership over the entire world, and they turn traitor on you and listen to your archenemy. And God said, “Where are you?” That is the voice of a disappointed God. “Where are you?” They are running to hide. “Where are you?” That voice of God has spoken so many times since then, asking the very same question. “Where are you?”

You Will Not Be God

Some people say, Oh, I was just trying to have a good time. What are people after? The devil told Eve, “God knows that in the day [that] you eat of [from] it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God [gods] knowing good and evil.” Verse 5. Were their eyes opened?

Well, yes, their eyes were opened all right, but what a sad opening. And our eyes have been open ever since that time. Every single member of the human race knows good and evil. We know good because God has placed within us a conscience. And when we do evil, our conscience complains. We have a guilty conscience. And the devil told Eve, “You will be like God!”

That is still what the men and women of this world who are not converted want to be. It is a great disappointment to God. The devil lied, but let me tell you the truth. You and I are never going to be God. If you are saved, a billion years from now you will still be a created being that was saved by the blood of Christ. You will not be God.

Let me explain to you what the difference is between a created being and God, because the devil has people confused on this point. The difference is, God can do whatever He pleases.

That is a true statement. The devil knows it; that is how he tempted the angels. The devil said to the angels, “God can do whatever He pleases, and you cannot because you have to obey the law.” Do not ever forget that God can do whatever He pleases, and He is above the law.

In fact, if God were not above the law, then it would not have done any good for Jesus to come and die on the cross. An angel could not become a human being and then die on the cross, because an angel was a created being, created under law. Every created being is created under law. But God is not under the law. Some people think that God is under His own laws. The Bible does not teach that. God is above the law.

But the devil tempted both Adam and Eve and the angels, telling them they could be like God. You can do whatever you please; including breaking the law, if you please. That is what the great controversy has been about ever since the beginning and what it still is about today. The vast majority of the Christian world today believes that they can be like God.

They believe that they can alter God’s law. A Catholic priest said to a friend of mine, “We did not change the law of God; we just adjusted it.” The question is, Does God’s law need to be adjusted? No! If you can adjust something that God has done, then you are equal or above God yourself. You are like God. That is what the devil wanted us to think. That is what he persuaded the angels. That is what he persuaded Adam and Eve. That is the second time recorded that God was disappointed.

Greatest Sacrifice

After that God said to the devil, “I [am going to] will put [hatred] enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed [your descendants] and her Seed [her descendants]; he will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.” Genesis 3:15. He was speaking to the devil, the serpent. The devil is called that ancient serpent in Revelation 12:9 because he spoke through a serpent to deceive our first parents.

This was the first intimation to Adam and Eve that there was going to be a plan of redemption. And the plan of redemption, of course, involved all heaven in the greatest sacrifice. It is a marvelous thing to study how our God has responded to His disappointments. It would have been so much easier for Him to say, We will just let this thing play out. The whole universe will see what sin is like.

Let me tell you, they did not ever want anything to do with sin again. You can read in the first part of The Desire of Ages that after the sin problem had gone on for 4,000 years the earth was so wicked that the angels were waiting and expecting God to wipe out this planet. The devil was hoping that he would be able to carry his rebellion to other planets. (See page 37.)

Third Disappointment

One of the most astonishing things about God to me is how He responds to His disappointments. Do not think, however, that it is always with mercy, because sometimes He responds with judgments. Let us look at a third example of the disappointed God in Genesis 6:3. This was after the marriage institution was perverted by the antediluvians.

“And the Lord [Jehovah] said, ‘My spirit shall [will] not strive [struggle] with man forever, for [because] he is indeed [also is] flesh; yet [but] his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.’” Verse 5 says, “Then the Lord [Jehovah] saw that the wickedness [evil] of man was great in the earth, and that every intent [imagination] of the thoughts [and meditations] of his heart was only evil [all day long] continually.”

And then it says in verse 11: “[And] The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.” Now these are significant Scriptures, because Jesus said in Matthew 24:37–39, “But as the days of Noah were, so [shall it] also will the coming of the Son of Man be [in the days when the son of man is revealed]. For as in the days [that were] before the flood, they were eating and drinking, and marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and [they] did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will [shall] the coming of the Son of Man be.”

What was it like before the flood? We just saw four things:

  1. They perverted the marriage institution.
  2. God said, You are not going to do that forever; you are going to have a time of probation, but it is coming to an end.
  3. The evil was great and the thoughts of men’s hearts, their imaginations, were only evil all day long.
  4. The earth was corrupt, and it was filled with violence.

It was so bad that this is the time that God repented Himself that He had made man. That is how disappointed He was. And so God sent Noah.

Fourth Disappointment

I want to come now to a fourth example of when God was disappointed. A third of the angels had proved unfaithful; they had fallen. Adam and Eve had proved unfaithful; they listened to the devil. The whole world except for Noah and his three sons had turned against God before the flood. The whole world appeared to turn against God after the flood. It looked like the devil was winning.

It looked like idolatry had completely overspread the world, but God chose a man who was faithful. His name was Abraham. Actually his name was Abram, but God changed his name later to Abraham, which means the father of the peoples or father of the nations. There are many, many nations today who look directly to Abraham as their father.

But when we talk about Abraham, we are not talking about the children of the flesh, like Ishmael and his descendents; we are talking about the children of the promise, the descendents of Isaac. The devil immediately tried to overcome this people.

Just look at the hatred that developed against Joseph. Look at the experience of the children of Israel, just a few weeks after the ten commandments were given, worshipping a golden calf. Then they murmured and complained through the wilderness.

What was going on? The devil was trying to stir things up to get God’s own people to turn against Him. Read the Book of Judges and you see one time after another that the Lord delivers them and they are faithful for about a generation, 40 years. Then they go back into idolatry again.

In Isaiah 63:9, 10, we read that “in all [of] their affliction He was afflicted, and the Angel of His Presence saved them; and in His love and in His pity [mercy] He redeemed them; and He bore them and carried them all the days of old. But they rebelled and grieved [they vexed] His Holy Spirit; [and] so He turned Himself against them as [to become their] an enemy.” This is the fourth time that we read about the disappointed God.

Fifth Disappointment

We see the culmination of this in the New Testament. In the Book of Luke we read the account of Jesus at the triumphal entry into Jerusalem on what is called today Palm Sunday, about five days before the crucifixion. “As He drew near, He saw [seeing] the city and [He] wept over it, saying, ‘If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make [belong to] your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. [Because they will come] For the days will come upon you when your enemies will build [against you] an embankment around you, and will surround you [all about and will shut] close you in on every side and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you a stone upon another [stone], because you did not know the time of your visitation.’ ” Luke 19:41–44.

Does this sound like the cry of a disappointed God? Jesus said to the Jews, “You, Jerusalem, you are the one. You are the one that killed the prophets and stoned those that are sent to you. How often I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you did not want to.”

I read these words for many years just as a historical story, but I found out a few years ago now that these words of Jesus, the disappointed God, is not just about the past. In The Review and Herald, October 8, 1901, Ellen White wrote: “When the Saviour saw in the Jewish people a nation divorced from God, He saw also a professed Christian Church united to the world and the Papacy.” When He saw the church divorced from God and united to the world, He was disappointed.

So we have a fifth example of the disappointed God. He said, I would like to gather you together, I would like to save you all. But in Luke 19, Jesus is looking at the loss of a whole nation, and He is looking forward into the future to the loss of a church that is united with the world and with the papacy.

We cannot change the fact that God is disappointed in a world that has forsaken His law, turned their back on Him, and will not listen to Him. But the real personal question is, Is God disappointed in me?

In Revelation 3:14–22, we see God’s invitation to Laodicea. These are people that think they are all right when they are all wrong. They have left their first love. They are just lukewarm. Oh, friend of mine, how is it in your heart today? Do you love Jesus with all your heart, soul, and mind? Is He Number One in your affections? Or have you lost your first love? Are you lukewarm?

“Leaving the first love is represented as a spiritual fall. Many have fallen thus. In every church in our land, there is needed confession, repentance and reconversion. The disappointment of Christ is beyond description. Unless those who have sinned speedily repent, the deceptions of the last days will overtake them. Some, though they do not realize it, are preparing to be overtaken. God calls for repentance without delay. So long have many trifled with salvation that their spiritual eyesight is dimmed, and they can not discern between light and darkness. Christ is humiliated in His people. The first love is gone, the faith is weak, there is need of a thorough transformation.” Review and Herald, December 15, 1904.

Well Pleased

There was One who caused no disappointment. In John 8:29 we read, “And [the One] He who sent Me is with Me. The Father [He] has not left Me alone, for [because] I always do those things that please him.” God said, when He spoke concerning His Son, both on the Mount of Transfiguration and at His baptism, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:17; 17:5.

God was not disappointed. Would you like to be restored through the power of the Holy Spirit so when God looks at you, He can say to the devil and to the fallen angels and to the whole lost, wicked world what He said about Job? He said, Do you see My servant Job over there? He is a perfect man. Job did what was pleasing in God’s sight. (See Job 1:1, 8; 2:3.) Would you like God to be able to say that about you?

Praise the Lord, we serve a God that Who, even when disappointed, is still willing to work miracles in the lives of the people who disappointed Him—if they are willing to turn and repent, if they are willing for His divine power to work in their hearts and lives and change them.

[Bible texts quoted are literal translation.]

Remember The Sabbath Day . . . Part II

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There must be a reform among God’s people in the observance of Sabbath-keeping.

The Holy Spirit must be allowed to convict us individually of our duty to God, not to man, in keeping His Sabbath. We must raise the standard of God high, exalting the Sabbath to its rightful position.

Ellen White wrote: “The Sabbath is a golden clasp that unites God and His people. But the Sabbath command has been broken. God’s holy day has been desecrated. The Sabbath has been torn from its place by the man of sin, and a common working day has been exalted in its stead. A breach has been made in the law, and this breach is to be repaired. The true Sabbath is to be exalted to its rightful position as God’s rest day.” Testimonies, vol. 6, 351, 352.

“And [they that shall be] of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.” Isaiah 58:12.

We must, as a church, restore the waste places—restudy the things once taught us—making sure that we, and what we have been taught, are grounded in the faith once delivered to the saints.

Uplift the Standard

“The Sabbath question is to be the issue in the great final conflict in which all the world will act a part. Men have honored Satan’s principles above the principles that rule in the heavens. They have accepted the spurious sabbath, which Satan has exalted as the sign of his authority. But God has set His seal upon His royal requirement. Each sabbath institution bears the name of its author, an ineffaceable mark that shows the authority of each. It is our work to lead the people to understand this. We are to show them that it is of vital consequence whether they bear the mark of God’s kingdom or the mark of the kingdom of rebellion, for they acknowledge themselves subjects of the kingdom whose mark they bear. God has called us to uplift the standard of His downtrodden Sabbath. How important, then, that our example in Sabbath-keeping should be right.

“In establishing new churches, ministers should give careful instruction as to the proper observance of the Sabbath. We must be guarded, lest the lax practices that prevail among Sunday-keepers shall be followed by those who profess to observe God’s holy rest day. The line of demarcation is to be made clear and distinct between those who bear the mark of God’s kingdom and those who bear the sign of the kingdom of rebellion.

“Far more sacredness is attached to the Sabbath than is given it by many professed Sabbath-keepers. The Lord has been greatly dishonored by those who have not kept the Sabbath according to the commandment, either in the letter or in the spirit. He calls for a reform in the observance of the Sabbath.” Testimonies, vol. 6, 352, 353.

Reform Necessary

There must be a reform; we must begin it today! It is of vital importance that we, as God’s professed people, understand the true meaning of the Sabbath. Character perfection must be a steady movement toward reflecting Christ more fully and completely. If we stand still in faith, if we neglect the needful study—especially in this day and age—we will lose the light that has been given to us. But if we move forward, from victory on to victory, by faith, prayer, study and patience, the Holy Spirit will lead us into all truth. (See John 16:13.) But a word of warning, let us not make the Sabbath a burden, as did the Pharisees.

“If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, [from] doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking [thine own] words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken [it].” Isaiah 58:13, 14.

This is why it is important that we, as true and faithful Seventh-day Adventists, learn the necessity of Sabbath preparation—physically and spiritually.

Daily Preparation

“All through the week we are to have the Sabbath in mind and be making preparation to keep it according to the commandment. We are not merely to observe the Sabbath as a legal matter. We are to understand its spiritual bearing upon all the transactions of life. All who regard the Sabbath as a sign between them and God, showing that He is the God who sanctifies them, will represent the principles of His government. They will bring into daily practice the laws of His kingdom. Daily it will be their prayer that the sanctification of the Sabbath may rest upon them. Every day they will have the companionship of Christ and will exemplify the perfection of His character. Every day their light will shine forth to others in good works.” Testimonies, vol. 6, 353, 354. The Sabbath is not merely to be kept by the letter but by the spirit, willfully wanting to observe the Sabbath—a Sabbath that is not a burden.

“When the Sabbath is thus remembered, the temporal will not be allowed to encroach upon the spiritual. No duty pertaining to the six working days will be left for the Sabbath. During the week our energies will not be so exhausted in temporal labor that on the day when the Lord rested and was refreshed we shall be too weary to engage in His service.” Ibid., 354.

This is an important key point of which many of us have been guilty. How many times have we rushed throughout the week, working 10 to 15 hours a day, then when Sabbath comes we cannot stay awake for the Sabbath school and church service?

Preparation Begins at Home

“In all that pertains to the success of God’s work, the very first victories are to be won in the home life. Here the preparation for the Sabbath must begin. Throughout the week let parents remember that their home is to be a school in which their children shall be prepared for the courts above. Let their words be right words. No words which their children should not hear are to escape their lips. Let the spirit be kept free from irritation. Parents, during the week live as in the sight of a holy God, who has given you children to train for Him. Train for Him the little church in your home, that on the Sabbath all may be prepared to worship in the Lord’s sanctuary. Each morning and evening present your children to God as His blood-bought heritage. Teach them that it is their highest duty and privilege to love and serve God.

“Parents should be particular to make the worship of God an object lesson for their children. Passages of Scripture should be more often on their lips, especially those passages that prepare the heart for religious service. The precious words might well be often repeated: ‘My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from Him.’ Psalm 62:5.” Ibid.

“Explain your work and its purpose to your children, and let them help themselves and their parents in their preparation to keep the Sabbath according to the commandment. Lead your children to consider the Sabbath a delight, the day of days, the holy of the Lord, honorable.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 13, 293.

Daily morning and evening worship is very, very important for not only spending time with God, but for teaching our children the importance of reverence, not just in family worship but also in the Sabbath school and church services.

“While preparation for the Sabbath is to be made all through the week, Friday is to be the special preparation day.” Testimonies, vol. 6, 354.

Scriptural Example

Let us look at an example from the Bible as to how we must prepare for the Sabbath. “And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which [is] between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt. And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness: And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, [and] when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger. Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no. And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare [that] which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.” Exodus 16:1–5. God instructed them to pick up and prepare their food daily, but on the sixth they were to pick up a double portion and prepare it also for the Sabbath.

“And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I [am] the Lord your God. And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the host. And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness [there lay] a small round thing, [as] small as the hoar frost on the ground. And when the children of Israel saw [it], they said one to another, It [is] manna: for they wist not what it [was]. And Moses said unto them, This [is] the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat. This [is] the thing which the Lord hath commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, [according to] the number of your persons; take ye every man for [them] which [are] in his tents.” Verses 11–16.

“And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning. Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank: and Moses was wroth with them. And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating: and when the sun waxed hot, it melted. And it came to pass, [that] on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one [man]: and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. And he said unto them, This [is that] which the Lord hath said, To morrow [is] the rest of the holy sabbath unto the Lord: bake [that] which ye will bake [to day], and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning. And they laid it up till the morning, as Moses bade: and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein. And Moses said, Eat that to day; for to day [is] a sabbath unto the Lord: to day ye shall not find it in the field. Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, [which is] the Sabbath, in it there shall be none. And it came to pass, [that] there went out [some] of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none.” Verses 19–27.

“[And] the people went about, and gathered [it], and ground [it] in mills, or beat [it] in a mortar, and baked [it] in pans, and made cakes of it: and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil.” Numbers 11:8.

Preparation Includes . . .

“There was something to be done in preparing the heaven-sent bread for the children of Israel. The Lord told them that this work must be done on Friday, the preparation day. This was a test to them. God desired to see whether or not they would keep the Sabbath holy.

“This direction from the lips of Jehovah is for our instruction. The Bible is a perfect guide, and if its pages are prayerfully studied by hearts willing to understand, none need err upon this question.

“Many need instruction as to how they should appear in the assembly for worship on the Sabbath. They are not to enter the presence of God in the common clothing worn during the week. All should have a special Sabbath suit, to be worn when attending service in God’s house. While we should not conform to worldly fashions, we are not to be indifferent in regard to our outward appearance. We are to be neat and trim, though without adornment. The children of God should be pure within and without.

“On Friday let the preparation for the Sabbath be completed. See that all the clothing is in readiness and that all the cooking is done. Let the boots be blacked and the baths be taken. It is possible to do this. If you make it a rule you can do it. The Sabbath is not to be given to the repairing of garments, to the cooking of food, to pleasure seeking, or to any other worldly employment. Before the setting of the sun let all secular work be laid aside and all secular papers be put out of sight. Parents, explain your work and its purpose to your children, and let them share in your preparation to keep the Sabbath according to the commandment.

“We should jealously guard the edges of the Sabbath. Remember that every moment is consecrated, holy time.” Testimonies, vol. 6, 356.

Do not miss the Blessing

“The Sabbath should be as sacredly observed on the campground as it is in our homes. We should not let the bustle and excitement around us detract from its sacred dignity. No cooking should be done on that day. The instruction which God gave to Israel should not be disregarded: ‘Bake that which ye will bake today, and seethe that ye will seethe’: ‘Tomorrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord’ [Exodus 16:23]. God meant what He said when He gave these directions, and shall we, who are presenting to the people the claims of the divine law, break that law ourselves, merely to please the appetite? God forbid. There has sometimes been almost as much cooking done on the Sabbath as on other days; and the blessing of God has been shut out by our failure to honor Him in keeping the Sabbath according to the commandment.—Undated Manuscript 88.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 13, 293, 294.

“Speak not lightly of the restrictions placed upon Israel in Sinai regarding the cooking of manna. The Lord has placed barriers around His Sabbath, that it may not be regarded with the least carelessness or irreverence. When the Lord said, ‘Tomorrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath; bake that which ye will bake today, and seethe that which ye will seethe,’ He means that Friday shall be our preparation day, in which we are to do all our cooking.

“The Sabbath is not to be a day when tidbits shall be prepared or cooked. If it is really essential to have beans on the Sabbath, let them be cooked on Friday, and kept warm in the oven. They need not be eaten cold unless preferred. But let no remarks be made as though it is a very light thing whether we regard the special requirements of God in regard to the Sabbath or not. It is not left for any man or woman to venture to disregard any commandment of God—Manuscript 21, 1897.” Ibid., 294, 295.

The preparation of food on the Sabbath is breaking God’s precepts, and this is not to be lightly regarded by commandment-keepers.

“All needful preparation should be made beforehand. On Sabbath morning, if the weather is cool, let hot gruel, or something equally simple, be provided, and for dinner some kind of food may be warmed. Further than this, all cooking should be avoided as a violation of the Sabbath command.” The Gospel of Health, April 1, 1898.

Avoid Intemperance

Do we eat more on the Sabbath day than we normally do on the other days? Is this not wrong of us?

“We should not provide for the Sabbath a more liberal supply or a greater variety of food than for other days. Instead of this the food should be more simple, and less should be eaten, in order that the mind may be clear and vigorous to comprehend spiritual things. Overeating befogs the brain. The most precious words may be heard and not appreciated, because the mind is confused by an improper diet. By overeating on the Sabbath, many have done more than they think to dishonor God.

“While cooking upon the Sabbath should be avoided, it is not necessary to eat cold food. In cold weather let the food prepared the day before be heated. And let the meals, though simple, be palatable and attractive. Provide something that will be regarded as a treat, something the family do not have every day.” Testimonies, vol. 6, 357.

“I see no question in this matter as to what we shall have on the Sabbath day. The food which we have provided on the preparation day can be placed on the table warm, especially in cold weather. In traveling, persons eat cold lunches for days together, and realize no inconvenience or harm. We want palatable, healthful food every day of the week; but upon the Sabbath, let your cook have her day of rest, in the place of cooking for a family. Let every provision be made on Friday. But do not let the Sabbath be regarded as a day in which to get something especially gratifying to eat. Educate your children and every member of the family to enjoy plain, simple food, and to be ready to receive the blessing which the Lord of the Sabbath is waiting to bestow upon all who are in an attitude to receive it. He has this for every one who shows his love for God in keeping holy the Sabbath day, God’s great memorial of creation. Speak softly, walk softly. Let not a word of lightness or trifling come from your lips. This is God’s day. He has blessed the seventh day, as His Sabbath, to be sacredly observed.” Review and Herald, June 8, 1897.

Put Away Differences

Another special instruction has been given to us. All difference between brothers and sisters in the church of Christ, and even those not of our faith, should be put away. There should be a close examination of the heart of the past week, a confessing of sin before the Sabbath begins.

“There needs to be much more close investigation of the week past. Review it and see if, as a branch of the living Vine, you have drawn nourishment from the parent Vine to bear much fruit to the glory of God. If there has been feverish excitement, if hasty words have been spoken, if passion has been revealed, these have surely been the working on Satan’s side of the question. Clear the heart by confession. Sincerely make everything right before the Sabbath. Examine your own selves, whether ye be in the faith. We need to guard our own souls constantly, lest we make a great profession but, like the flourishing fig tree spreading its branches in pretentious foliage, reveal no precious fruit. Christ is hungering to see and receive fruit. Leaves of profession without fruit are to Christ just as worthless as those of the fig tree which He cursed. . . .” That I May Know Him, 147.

“There is another work that should receive attention on the preparation day. On this day all differences between brethren, whether in the family or in the church, should be put away. Let all bitterness and wrath and malice be expelled from the soul. In a humble spirit, ‘confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed.’ James 5:16.” Testimonies, vol. 6, 356.

“When difficulties arise among church-members, let them be cleared away before the Sabbath comes. This should be regarded as a Christian duty by every church-member. ‘Let the peace of God rule in your hearts, and be ye thankful.’ Are you troubled and perplexed? Sweep away the rubbish that has been accumulating before the door of the heart, and open the door, inviting Jesus to come in and abide as an honored Guest. Bring peace and comfort into your own hearts and the hearts of others.” Australasian Union Conference Record, April 15, 1903.

To be continued . . .

The Race to Contact the Dead, Part I

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There is something that no skeptic in the world can deny. The Bible, heaven, God and Jesus may all be rashly denied, but none dare deny the fact that all are headed toward death. Because of this undeniable fact, a haunting question vaunts itself into the minds of many: “After death, what?” The subject of death creates a range in the emotional spectrum that can go from paranoia to fascination. The fascination with death, and the realization of the impossibility of escape from death, has led many into a race to contact the dead.

Recently there has been an explosion of interest in the unknown mysteries of death. The phenomenon of claiming to contact the dead is becoming almost common place. Hollywood movies fill the screens with plots revolving around contact with the dead. The television program Crossing Over features a host who claims to contact the dead. Books, movies, television programs, magazines, the Internet, all seem to be feeding America’s interest in contacting the dead. A popular magazine once caught my attention while standing in line at the grocery store. The cover said, “A hit movie has people asking, is there a Sixth Sense? Whether they’re mediums with a message or phonies after a fast buck, a new breed of psychic has made believers of millions who long to talk to the dead.” J. D. Reed, Ivory Clinton, Natasha Stoynoff, Eric Francis, Fannie Weinstein, Johnny Dodd, Glenn Garelik, “Across the Great Divide,” People Weekly, October 25, 1999, 117–126.

The article took a look at mediums (those who claim to communicate with the dead) and their opponents. It declared, “In a 1994 USA Today-CNN-Gallup poll, almost 70 million Americans said they think it’s possible to communicate with the dead. Meanwhile, the afterlife business is booming in the U.S. [United States]. Books about contacting the dead have crowded onto The New York Times bestseller list in the past two years, and the paranormal is at full boil on TV. Leeza, Montel, and Larry King Live regularly feature segments on the spirit world. . . . On the Internet, hundreds of niche sites spread the ghostly gospel, including some devoted to home snapshots of eerie ectoplasmic forms floating around backyard parties, and instructions on how to have your own ADC (after death communication) with loved ones.” Ibid., 118. Clearly the race to contact the dead has well-nigh swept across America.

With the increased interest in afterlife, it becomes necessary for every Christian to thoroughly investigate the Scriptures to see what God’s word teaches about what happens at death. If this is something that the Scriptures commend, then surely Christians should not be left out of the race to contact the dead, but if this is something that the Scriptures explicitly forbid, every Christian should be foremost in warning their friends of this dangerous deception.

The Abomination

The Bible is actually remarkably clear upon whether it is safe for a Christian to contact their dead loved ones. “Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be defiled by them: I [am] the Lord your God.” Leviticus 19:31. Clearly it is defiling to seek after mediums. The Lord said to “give no regard” to them. “When you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you [anyone] who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, [or one] who practices witchcraft, [or] a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things [are] an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you. You shall be blameless before the Lord your God. For these nations which you will dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, the Lord your God has not appointed such for you.” Deuteronomy 18:9–14. This even gives us an idea as to why the Canaanites were driven from the land of Canaan. They had become inundated with practices of spiritualism. There is an entire list that the Lord gives us so we will not be misled. The very foundational cornerstone of most of the ones mentioned in the list above is the supposed ability to contact the dead. Just so there is no misunderstanding, the Lord adds, in unmistakable words, “or one who calls up the dead.” It is an abomination before the Lord to go to someone who claims to contact the dead. This was one of the reasons the Lord’s anger was kindled against the inhabitants of Canaan, and it will rekindle His anger if we get involved with the deceptive practices of spiritualism.

It is an insult to the God of heaven to communicate with the dead for any reason. When King Ahaziah of Israel fell through a lattice and was injured, he sent a messenger to ask of Baal-Zebub of Ekron whether he was going to recover from his injury or not. Elijah met him with the stern message, “[Is it] because [there is] no God in Israel [that] you are going to inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron?” 2 Kings 1:3. Because the king had gone to inquire of Baal-Zebub instead of the God of Israel, he was to die, and it happened exactly as prophesied. The Lord regards it the same way if we turn to the dead instead of to the God of heaven. “And when they say to you, ‘Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter,’ should not a people seek their God? [Should they seek] the dead on behalf of the living? To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, [it is] because [there is] no light in them.” Isaiah 8:19, 20. By going in search of what the dead have to say, we are turning our back upon the God of heaven. He says, “Should not a people seek their God?” Why do those who profess His name turn to the dead instead of to the living God? It is an abomination and an insult to God to attempt to contact the dead instead of seeking Him for wisdom and guidance.

In ancient Israel, this act was so offensive to God that He gave the instruction that anyone who went against the word of God and attempted to contact the dead should be stoned. “A man or a woman who is a medium, or who has familiar spirits, shall surely be put to death; they shall stone them with stones. Their blood [shall be] upon them.” Leviticus 20:27. One who attempted to contact the dead or one who dealt with spirits was not to live long. A similar warning is given in the New Testament: “But outside [the New Jerusalem] [are] dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.” Revelation 22:15. “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” Revelation 21:8. This time it is not just physical death; the sorcerers receive the lake of fire. (Sorcery is based on the supposed contact with evil spirits and the spirits of the dead, and is grouped with contacting the dead in Deuteronomy 18:9–11.) God is very clear upon this subject. Those in Israel’s day who ventured onto the forbidden ground of communication with the dead met the sentence of death, and those who follow suit today will partake of the lake of fire.

It is clear from the Bible that neither anciently, nor now, are God’s people to have anything to do with mediums or with calling up the dead. It is an abomination, and the Lord explicitly tells us to give no regard to them. Paul, writing in the New Testament, counsels, “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose [them].” Ephesians 5:11. Although the seriousness of this matter can be seen, the question naturally arises, why such a strict prohibition? Is it not simply an innocent communication with our loved relatives? We communicated with them while they were alive; what could be wrong in talking with them once they are dead?

The Impassable Gulf

God in His great love and mercy for us has put an impassable gulf between the dead and the living. The living cannot communicate with the dead, and the dead cannot communicate with the living. “As the cloud disappears and vanishes away, so he who goes down to the grave does not come up. He shall never return to his house, Nor shall his place know him anymore.” Job 7:9, 10. The word of God plainly declares that once a person dies, he does not come back up from the grave. Job says that he is like a cloud; once it disappears and vanishes, it does not return. Though there will, of course, be a resurrection. Job was not trying to say that once a person died it was all over, but he was making it clear that once a person goes down to the grave, they will not return to this earth again. “So man lies down and does not rise. Till the heavens [are] no more, they will not awake Nor be roused from their sleep.” Job 14:12. The same concept is explained in the following verses, but with more detail given. Once man dies, he is not going to come back until the heavens are no more. Since the dead are never going to return to their place, it would be futile to attempt to communicate with them, for his place shall know him no more.

God, in His love, has given us this prohibition so we will not be deceived. We are warned in the New Testament about this deception. “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons.” 1 Timothy 4:1. “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” 1 John 4:1. There are deceiving spirits out there, so we are exhorted to test the spirits in order that we are not deceived. If we are not testing the spirits, we will inevitably be deceived. That the dead cannot cross the gulf back to the living, is one of those tests. God has given us this test because He knew that without it the devil could counterfeit our loved ones and thus deceive us.

The Bible tells us that the devil can, and frequently does, transform himself! “And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.” 2 Corinthians 11:14. The devil can be transformed into an angel of light, and his agents put on his wily masks as well. “Therefore [it is] no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.” Verse 15. It is no great thing for the devil or his fallen angels (see Revelation 12:9) to appear in the guise of a loved one. After all, did not Satan first come in the form of a serpent in the Garden of Eden? (See Genesis 3:1–5, 14, 15.) God knew that these deceiving spirits could impersonate our dead loved ones and that we would be unable to tell the difference, so He put an impassible barrier between the dead and the living. We know from the Bible that if someone claims to be a deceased loved one, they are not from God. God has said that will not happen. Once a person goes down to the grave, they will not come up again. Thus, if there is one who claims to be able to hold conversation with the dead, in reality he is conversing with the devil or with one of his angels. When we understand this, it is not hard to see why God calls communicating with the dead an abomination. It is not hard to understand why God instructed that all who did this be put to death. It is not hard to explain that those who continue to do this without repenting will have their part in the lake of fire.

The Sleep of Death

In order to understand this subject fully, it is also necessary to understand how death is described throughout the Bible. In the overwhelming majority of texts, in both the Old and New Testaments, death is referred to as a sleep. Job was probably one of the earliest patriarchs, and he knew what death was: “Why did I not die at birth? . . . For now I would have lain still and been quiet, I would have been asleep; Then I would have been at rest.” Job 3:11, 13. Moses knew what death was: “And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers . . . .” Deuteronomy 31:16. David knew what death was: “Consider [and] hear me, O Lord my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the [sleep of] death . . . .” Psalm 13:3. Jeremiah knew what death was: “‘And I will make drunk Her princes and wise men, Her governors, her deputies, and her mighty men. And they shall sleep a perpetual sleep And not awake,’ says the King, whose name [is] the Lord of hosts.” Jeremiah 51:57. Daniel knew what death was: “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, Some to everlasting life, Some to shame [and] everlasting contempt.” Daniel 12:2. Our Lord Jesus Himself testified as to the state of death: “He said to them, ‘Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.’ Then His disciples said, ‘Lord, if he sleeps he will get well.’ However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus said to them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead.’” John 11:11–14. There is no mistaking what Jesus was talking about. Jesus plainly calls death a sleep. Paul knew what death was: “Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.” 1 Corinthians 15:51. Lastly, we find that Peter also called death a sleep: “Scoffers will come . . . saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as [they were] from the beginning of creation.’” 2 Peter 3:3, 4. This is such predominant terminology in the Bible that in the King James Version similar words such as “sleep, sleepeth, asleep,” are used to describe death in no less than 60 verses.

Since this is something that is so widely taught throughout the Bible, we must take note of it and try to understand what it is telling us. Over and over again death is referred to as a sleep. What is sleep? Sleep is an unconscious state when man is totally oblivious to all that goes on around him. A person that is peacefully sleeping does not know of the calamities and problems or anything else that is happening. World War III could break out, and they would not know it. The silent sleeper is unaware of anything taking place around them until the moment they awake. The first thing that they have cognizance of when they awake may be the alarm clock ringing or the sun rising. There may have been ten minutes that have elapsed or eight hours, but it was as a moment of time to the sound sleeper. How fitting and comforting a representation of death. Instead of trying to explain the soaring of some spirit to unknown worlds afar, the one who dies is simply sleeping in the grave where he was laid. This is something that our ancestors knew. Years ago the letters R.I.P. (Rest in Peace) were engraved upon many tombstones—sleep silently in the grave until your Maker calls you forth. Thus, if death is a sleep, a resting in the grave as the Bible testifies over and over again, it can clearly be seen why there is an impassable gulf between the dead and the living. None can awake until they hear the voice of the Creator Himself, so it is an impossibility to communicate with our dead loved ones. They are sleeping in the grave awaiting the voice of the Son of God.

Conscious or Unconscious

While we are taking a nap, it is common to have dreams or even nightmares. What kind of sleep is this “sleep of death”? Is it an unconscious, dreamless sleep or is there a conscious existence? Once again, our only safety is in turning to the word of God. There is no one who truly knows the mysteries of death aside from the One who said: “You shall surely die.” Genesis 2:17. The testimony of the Bible is once again unmistakable. “For the living know that they will die; But the dead know nothing, And they have no more reward, For the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished; Nevermore will they have a share In anything done under the sun. . . . Whatever your hand finds to do, do [it] with your might; for [there is] no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.” Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6, 10. Solomon, the wisest man that has ever lived upon the earth, declared, “the dead know nothing.” Obviously the sleep of death is an unconscious state. He further says that all of the emotions of the dead have perished. They have no more love or hatred. Then the warning is given to the living to do what they can with their might, because in the grave they will be unable to do anything; there is no wisdom or knowledge in the grave. The Psalmist testifies of this same thing: “Put not your trust in princes, [nor] in the son of man, in whom [there is] no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.” Psalm 146:3, 4. The thinking process comes to a standstill. Problems are no longer wrestled with; solutions are no longer sought or found. The amazing organ of the brain ceases to turn; the neurons and electric currents of the brain no longer carry their messages back and forth. At the moment of death every thought ceases to exist. The conflicting emotions stop. Knowledge and wisdom come to an end. The thoughts perish. Instead of this life of turmoil and problems, there is a silent and peaceful sleeping in the grave. Time is frozen for the dead. Although life moves on in our world, it is all unbeknownst to the deceased. They are neither writhing in anguish and pain, nor looking down from bliss, seeing the agony and suffering that the living are enduring. The dead are unconsciously sleeping in the grave where they have been laid.

Another way we know from the Bible that the “sleep of death” is an unconscious state is because we are repeatedly told that the dead are not praising God. “Will You work wonders for the dead? Shall the dead arise [and] praise You? Shall Your lovingkindness be declared in the grave? [Or] Your faithfulness in the place of destruction?” Psalm 88:10, 11. “For in death [there is] no remembrance of You; In the grave who will give You thanks?” Psalm 6:5. “The dead do not praise the Lord, Nor any who go down into silence. But we will bless the Lord From this time forth and forevermore.” Psalm 115:17, 18. The Psalms repeatedly declare that it is the living that praise God. “The dead do not praise the Lord.” Surely if the righteous dead have a conscious existence, they would be praising God. If they had ascended to heaven where all worship and praise the Lord, they would certainly join in the praise. But no, the inspired record declares that they do not praise the Lord and that there is not even remembrance of Him in death. Why? Because in the very day of death the thoughts perish. The righteous, with the wicked, are sleeping in their graves, awaiting the call of the Master.

[All Emphasis Supplied.]

To be continued . . .

Adventism and Spiritualism, Part I

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A question that is always on my mind is, How are we going to help God’s people to be prepared for the great crisis that is coming in the closing days of this world?

The story of the woman who was caught in adultery is recorded in John 8. Jesus told her not only that she was pardoned but that she was to go and sin no more. Then He stated: “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

The Jews did not like being told they were in the dark, and they started arguing with Jesus about it. Jesus explained to them, “I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide [not remain] in darkness.” John 12:46. In other words, Jesus is telling the Jews, “You are in the dark, but if you will look to Me, you will come out of the dark, and you will have light.” Always remember that the experience of God’s people at the first advent is spoken of by Ellen White as a representation of the experience of God’s chosen people at the time of the second advent. (See The Great Controversy, 351.)

Earth Will be Dark

Now in the last days of the world’s history, the Bible predicts that the earth all over will be dark. “For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And deep darkness the people; But the Lord will arise over you, And His glory will be seen upon you.” Isaiah 60:2. What is this darkness that is going to cover the earth and the deep darkness the people? “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.” Revelation 12:9. The devil deceives the whole world.

Revelation 16:13, 14 says, “And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs [coming] out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, [which] go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.” The earth is going to be filled with darkness, spiritual darkness, as a result of the deceptions of the devil. How much of the world does mystical Babylon cover? All of it. Revelation 18:23 talks about Babylon: “The light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore, and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore. For your merchants were the great men of the earth, for by your sorcery all the nations were deceived.”

Do you believe we are living in the last days of this world’s history? If we are living in the last days, then what we just read in Revelation is happening, and we should be aware of it. What is the masterpiece of deception? “As spiritualism more closely imitates the nominal Christianity of the day, it has greater power to deceive and ensnare.” The Great Controversy, 588.

Last Great Deception

The last great deception is going to appear to be a Christian teaching, but it is actually going to come from the wrong spirit. Ellen White says, “Satan himself is converted, after the modern order of things. He will appear in the character of an angel of light. Through the agency of spiritualism, miracles will be wrought, the sick will be healed, and many undeniable wonders will be performed. And as the spirits will profess faith in the Bible, and manifest respect for the institutions of the church, their work will be accepted as a manifestation of divine power.” Ibid. The devil himself professes to be a Christian!

The spirits will be professed Christians. They will go to church. They will profess faith in Christ. But it is a deception, a masterful deception. “The line of distinction between professed Christians and the ungodly is now hardly distinguishable. Church members love what the world loves and are ready to join with them, and Satan determines to unite them in one body and thus strengthen his cause by sweeping all into the ranks of spiritualism.” Ibid.

Does the devil’s plan to sweep all people into the ranks of spiritualism include the Roman Catholics? How about the Protestant churches? Are they all going to be deceived?

“Protestants, having cast away the shield of truth, will also be deluded. Papists, Protestants, and worldlings [people who do not go to any church] will alike accept the form of godliness without the power, and they will see in this union a grand movement for the conversion of the world and the ushering in of the long-expected millennium.” Ibid., 588, 589.

The devil decides that through spiritualism he is going to get all people—the Roman Catholics, all the Protestant churches, and all the people who do not go to any church—and sweep them all into one big church. They are going to say, “This is the greatest religious revival there has ever been. We are now going to have the millennium of peace; the world is going to be converted. Christianity is finally going to triumph.”

When I first studied these things, 30 years ago, I thought that it referred to all the other churches and the worldlings, but not to the Seventh-day Adventists. However, I have found that Ellen White gives warning after warning to Seventh-day Adventists. Do not think that, because you are a Seventh-day Adventist, you cannot be taken in by spiritualism.

One Form of Spiritualism

Spiritualism has more than one form. There is one form of spiritualism by which Adventists cannot easily be deceived but by which most of the rest of the world can be. Most other churches do not understand what happens to a person when they die. They think that, when you die, you do not really die; there is some part of you that goes on living. If some part of you goes on living, why could not that part of you contact somebody who is still living in the world? Through that misunderstanding of death, the devil will deceive millions and millions of people.

The Bible says that the dead know not anything. (See Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6.) The dead are asleep; they are unconscious. That is how the Bible repeatedly describes death. Jesus spoke of death as a sleep in John 11:11–14. The dead are not up in heaven praising the Lord. “The dead do not praise the Lord, Nor any who go down into silence.” Psalm 115:17. The dead do not know anything, the Psalmist says. Their anger, their hatred, their love, their envy has all perished. Most Christians today do not know that.

So when an apparition comes to them and says, “I am the Virgin Mary, and I have a message for you from the throne of God,” they believe it. But friends, both Roman Catholics and Protestants have acknowledged for many years that Mary died. If Mary died, then she cannot be talking, because when a person dies, they cannot communicate with anybody until after they are resurrected. Job 7:9, 10 says, “. . . He who goes down to the grave does not come up. He shall never return to his house, Nor shall his place know him anymore.” How long will he be in that condition? Job 14:12 tells us: “Man lies down and does not rise. Till the heavens [are] no more, They will not awake Nor be roused from their sleep.” When are the heavens (and the earth) going to pass away? When Jesus comes. “‘Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.’” Matthew 24:35.

So one way the devil deceives people through spiritualism is by appearing as someone who has died. Incidentally, the Virgin Mary apparitions are encouraging people to keep Sunday, which is directly contrary to the commandments. The message given is contrary to God’s law and the Bible tells us that if a spirit does not teach according to the law and to the testimony, there is no light in it. (See Isaiah 8:20.) Light and darkness.

Fundamental Lie

The foundation of spiritualism is the first lie that the devil told to Eve: “Then the serpent said to the woman [Eve], ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat it [the fruit] your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’” Genesis 3:4, 5.

But after Eve ate of that fruit, did she have more light? No, she had less light, and her mind was darkened by sin. She with Adam had to leave the garden. That began the experience that the Bible calls the darkness, the blackness, the awfulness of sin.

That was just the first experience where something that was dark was called light. In Isaiah 5:20, it says, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light.” There is a progression. First evil is called good and then good is called evil. That is the first step.

If you take something that is dark, and you call it light, eventually, your whole definition, your whole frame of reference will get all confused. That is the underlying principle of all spiritualistic teachings. You take something that is dark, and you call it light.

Spiritual Darkness

We need to understand what the Bible says about spiritual darkness and spiritual light. First, let us find out what spiritual darkness is. “The way of the wicked [is] like darkness; They do not know what makes them stumble.” Proverbs 4:19.

What causes wickedness? Sin. What is sin? Sin is the transgression of God’s law. (See 1 John 3:4.) If you are living a life in which you are breaking God’s law, you are in the dark—spiritually. You cannot see. Many people in this world are just going along, living in sin, and they are in the dark. They do not realize that, at the end of the line, they are going to be destroyed. They do not know, because they are in the dark. The devil has told them, “You can keep on sinning, keep on disobeying the law of God, and still live.” That is the basic, fundamental lie of spiritualism. That which is dark is called light.

Spiritual Light

By contrast, what does the Bible say is spiritual light? If you are in the dark, and you want to get out of the dark, then how do you turn on the light? “For the commandment [is] a lamp, and the law a light; Reproofs of instruction [are] the way of life.” Proverbs 6:23. Jesus said, “I have kept My Father’s commandments.” John 15:10. In the life of Jesus we have an example of perfectly keeping God’s law. If we look to Jesus and follow Him, we will be in the light.

The devil says you can break God’s law and live. The Bible says, if you break God’s law, the end result is going to be death. In Psalm 119:105 we read: “Your word [is] a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.” Psalm 119:130 says, “The entrance of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple.” The Bible, God’s word, is spiritual light, and if you follow it, you will be in the light.

Dark Called Light

The devil takes something that is dark and calls it light. People are fooled, and they say, “This is great light!” But it is dark. In Luke 22:53 Jesus said, about the devil, “When I was with you daily in the temple, you did not try to seize Me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.” The devil is in charge of all the spiritual darkness. This is the darkness that is going to cover the whole world and the deep darkness that will be upon the people. It is the deception that you can sin and still live.

What does the devil do with this darkness? 2 Corinthians 11:14 says, “And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.” He is really the prince of the power of darkness, but he transforms himself, and he puts a label on himself, and he says, “I am an angel of light.” People today are fooled, just like Eve was fooled. And we read in the book of Revelation that this deception is going to cover the entire world. All nations are going to be deceived by these sorceries.

We have now covered the foundation principles of spiritualism. People like it when you just talk about foundation principles—it does not get too close to home. But friends, that is not good enough for today. We have to understand how these principles of light and darkness get worked out in our lives, in our families, and in our churches. Otherwise we are going to be deceived by spiritualism.

Warnings for Adventists

Almost one-fourth of volume 8 of Testimonies for the Church is warnings to Seventh-day Adventists against spiritualism. The book Ministry of Healing contains over 60 pages of the same warnings. There are other scattered references throughout the writings of Ellen White. Are Seventh-day Adventists in any danger of spiritualism? Evidently. You see, we thought we were not in any danger because of our understanding of the state of the dead. We just assumed we were okay.

But when you are dealing with somebody who is a master at taking darkness and calling it light, unless you know and understand the principles from God’s word, you will be deceived and not even know it.

Come Out of Babylon

What are some of the practical ways that this works out so that people take darkness, and want to be in the dark; they do not want to be in the light? If you want to be in the dark instead of being in the light of God’s word, the devil is influencing your mind, and you probably do not even know it. Revelation 18:1 says, “After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated . . . .” Is this light or dark? This is light. It is such a great light that the whole world is lighted up.

This angel is telling the world, “You are in the dark, and if you do not get out of there, you are going to burn up.” Verse 4 says, “And I heard another voice from heaven saying, ‘Come out of her [Babylon], my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.” If you are in the dark, you think you can go on sinning and still have eternal life. But the Bible says, if you do not come out of there, if you keep sinning, you are going to go to eternal destruction. If you do not quit, you are going to endure the seven last plagues. This is the light, and this light is going to cover the earth.

The word that is translated angel, the Greek word angelos, means messenger. When God sends an angel from heaven, how is that angel going to speak? It will speak through men, through human messengers. So if you are on the earth in the last days and the Lord chooses to speak through you, what message are you going to give to the people who are in Babylon all over the world? You are going to tell them to come out, because if they stay in Babylon and share in her sins, keep on sinning, they are going to suffer the seven last plagues. The whole world is deceived, according to Revelation 18:23, by this sorcery that you can keep sinning. It is the darkness that is called light.

If somebody starts preaching this message, to come out of Babylon and to keep God’s commandments and quit sinning, are they preaching light or darkness? They are preaching light.

The Devil’s Response

If you were the devil, what would you do about it? The devil wants to keep people in the dark and tell them that the darkness is light, so the devil would want to stop that preaching. He gets representatives in Babylon to complain about the people being brought out of the darkness. He gets them to say, “We want them to stay where they are. We want them to stay in the church where they are. We want them to stay in the darkness.”

Who does the devil use to try to stop the people who are preaching the light and to keep the people in darkness? In New Guinea the people that the devil used were the Seventh-day Adventists! It was a Seventh-day Adventist church organization that came to the street preachers and said, “Stop preaching this.”

Spiritualism in Adventism

When you have somebody preaching the light and somebody else is trying to keep the people in the dark, they are under the control of supernatural forces of evil. And the church organization in New Guinea, which is under the control of the church organization in Australia, which is under the control of the church organization in Maryland, tried to stop the preaching of the light!

When things like that are going on, there is spiritualism right in the Adventist Church, because they are trying to put out the light and turn on the dark. You think that the Seventh-day Adventist Church is not in danger of spiritualism? The whole organization is permeated by the influence of demons that are trying to stop the preaching of the three angels’ messages all over the world. I just gave you an example in New Guinea.

Have no Fellowship

In Ephesians 5:11 we read: “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose [them].” 1 Corinthians 5:11–13 says, “But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother [that is a member of the church], who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person. For what [have] I [to do] with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? But those who are outside [that is outside the church], God judges. Therefore, [put away from yourselves the evil person].”

The Apostle Paul is telling us that if the Spirit of God is in the church and there is light in the church, to not have any fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. Expose them if somebody continues in sin. Now we are not talking about somebody who slips and falls into sin and repents and wants to come back to the Lord. We are talking about the person who insists on living a life of sin, like the man in 1 Corin-thians 5 who decided he was going to live with his father’s wife.

He says, “Put those people out of the church.” Do you believe what the Bible says? The Bible says you are not to have fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness in the church. If somebody refuses to keep the law of God, and they are living in open sin, they are to be disfellowshiped. You are not to have fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness.

What does the devil say; what does the devil do? Remember he is the master of darkness, of wickedness, of sin. The wicked are the people who are living in sin, but the devil calls it light. He says, “Just accept everybody together.” He uses the parable of the wheat and the tares to persuade people on this point. (See Matthew 13.) A tare represents somebody whose heart is not right, but on the outside they are living according to the commandments.

The devil uses and misrepresents this parable to try to convince people that they have to let all the sin stay in the church. Do you know what will happen to the church if you allow sin in it? This is what has happened in Adventism, and it is the result of spiritualism. It is spiritualism that teaches people to have the darkness and light mingled all together. If you took half a cup of sewer water and half a cup of pure water and poured it together, would you be willing to drink half of it? Well, that is what spiritualism teaches. Just mingle it all together.

The Bible says, do not have anything to do with it. What will happen if you do? “Your glorying [is] not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?” 1 Corinthians 5:6. What will happen to the church? It will ruin the whole church if any open sin is allowed in. It is calling darkness light to allow people living in open sin in the church. It is the result of spiritualism, and it completely wrecks the church.

Do you know what the devil also does, in addition to saying to people to let all the sin in the church? If there is a preacher who says, “I do not believe we should have this sin in the church,” the devil will have all those people who do not want sin in the church disfellowshiped.

That, my friends, in a simple sense is what happened in Hungary. Over 1,000 people were disfellow-shiped in Hungary because there were a few preachers who said, “There is open sin in the leadership of the church here, and it needs to be dealt with.” The response was: “We are not going to deal with that. We are going to deal with you and get you out.” What did they do? They put darkness for light. That is a spiritualistic teaching. That is the way the devil gets control of the professed people of God. It is happening all over the world.

People say, “Just preach love. Do not deal with these things.” When you turn on the light, people want to stay in the dark. It is an evidence that evil spirits are at work in our churches all over the world, because we are putting darkness for light.

In 2 Corinthians 6:14 we read: “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness?” If you put darkness for light, you are just going to be in the dark, and you are going to eternal destruction.

What About You?

The Lord says, “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the Lord Almighty.” 2 Corinthians 6:17, 18. The world says, “Let us get everyone together. Get all the people who are living in all kinds of sin and let them all come together into one great, big church.” God says, “Get out from that. Righteousness does not have any fellowship with lawlessness. Light does not have any fellowship with darkness. Get out from that and be separate. If you do, you will be my child, and I will be your Father.”

Where are you headed, friend? Are you with the mass of people in this world who are breaking God’s law? It is called light, but it is really darkness, the Bible says. Or are you willing to come out and be separate and say, “Lord, I am going to follow you all the way. Whatever you want me to do, that is what I am going to do. And whatever you do not want me to do, that is what I will not do.” Come out from the darkness. Choose to follow the light. You cannot mix light and darkness. You cannot mix obedience and disobedience. As soon as you mix them, it is disobedience. As soon as you mix it, it is dark.

Do you want to be one of those who is not having fellowship with lawlessness and darkness and unrighteousness? Do you want to say, “Lord, I am willing to be separate. I am willing to be all by myself, if I have to.” There are a lot of God’s people all over the world by themselves right now. But they are acknowledged as God’s children, because they will not join with the wickedness. Do you want to be one of them? It is a big group, but they are mostly separated right now. You will find out, at the end of the world, that it is a huge group.

Do not accept or believe the devil’s lie. Watch. The labels have been switched. Darkness is not light, no matter how many times the devil says it is. God says, “Be separate. Come out, and I will be a Father to you and you will be My child, really, not just by profession, but in reality.”

The spirits of devils are at work in Adventist families and churches today. But Jesus said, “He that follows Me will not stay in darkness, but he will have the light of life.” John 8:12.

To be continued . . .

Editorial – Great Wrath, Part II

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We are living in the last days. “Jesus Christ is the only refuge in these perilous times. Satan is at work in secrecy and darkness. Cunningly he draws away the followers of Christ from the cross, and brings them into self-indulgence and wickedness.” Signs of the Times, April 20, 1876.

“Satan was determined to keep his hold on the land of Canaan, and when it was made the habitation of the children of Israel, and the law of God was made the law of the land, he hated Israel with a cruel and malignant hatred, and plotted their destruction. Strange gods were introduced through the agency of evil spirits; and because of transgression the chosen people were finally scattered from the land of promise.

“The same experience is repeating in the history of God’s people. God is leading them out from the abominations of the world to keep his law in the land of the enemy, and the rage of ‘the accuser of the brethren’ knows no bounds. . . .

“It is time to heed the Saviour’s injunction as never before: ‘Watch and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.’ Trust in God, however perplexing may be your situation. Seek his counsel, and turn not after them that have familiar spirits to be defiled by them.” Ibid., August 26, 1889.

We see the truth of the above statements everywhere we look. The great mass of those professing the Adventist faith, in Western countries, is doing very little for the advancement of the three angels’ messages. If a person is not witnessing for his faith, if he is not genuinely converted, is he really a Christian? Is he really part of the body of Christ, if he has not the same spirit as his Master? (See Romans 8:9.) We hear constantly talk about the work being finished, while the great majority are doing almost nothing to help finish it, and there is unconfessed, open sin in the camp of the Lord’s professed people!

“If the youth could only awake to deeply feel their need of strength from God to resist the temptations of Satan, precious victories would be theirs, and they would obtain a valuable experience in the Christian warfare.” Testimonies, vol. 3, 373.

“The only safety for the young is in unceasing watchfulness and humble prayer. They need not flatter themselves that they can be Christians without these. Satan conceals his temptations and his devices under a cover of light.” Ibid., 374.

“I am filled with sadness when I think of our condition as a people. The Lord has not closed heaven to us, but our own course of continual backsliding has separated us from God. Pride, covetousness, and love of the world have lived in the heart without fear of banishment or condemnation. Grievous and presumptuous sins have dwelt among us. And yet the general opinion is that the church is flourishing and that peace and spiritual prosperity are in all her borders.” Ibid., vol. 5, 217.

“The time has come when all the differences must be put away fully and thoroughly; and now, without delay attempt a united, systematic effort for the one great object: sanctification through Jesus Christ to the obedience of the truth.” Atlantic Union Gleaner, January 8, 1902.

Are you willing, without delay, to attempt a united systematic effort for the one great object? Your decision will determine your eternal destiny.

[All Emphasis Supplied.]