Apostasy

Reporting from Zaire, Central Africa – A Spiritual Revival Movement

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A Specific Case of a Spiritual Revival Movement with the Zaire Union Mission of Seventh-day Adventist Church Full Member of Historic Seventh-day Adventist Family.

How the SDA General Conference Church in Zaire Central Africa Contributes Greatly to Delay the Second Coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

As Historic Seventh-day Adventists, we believe in the holiness of the Good News contained in the Holy Bible. We truly trust in the Spirit of Prophecy and we are proclaiming the message of the Three Angels. We humbly think that any ecclesiastical movement which does not confess such a goal should change its name instead of claiming to be Seventh-day Adventists.

In 1972 the General Conference Church of SDA joined a national ecumenical movement called “The Church of Christ in Zaire” (L’eglise du Christ au Zaire) as the forty-second member.

We will never forget this year during which we, as former members and/or workers of the GC church in Zaire, were informed about the affiliation of the church to the ecumenical movement.

This national movement, created as a reaction to the Catholic denomination is composed of sixty-eight, Protestant churches. These churches no longer have individual names, but are part of a “Community.” The GC Church of Zaire is now called: “The Forty-Second Community of the Church of Christ in Zaire.”

This affiliation was not free, nor under the local church initiative for it was duly accepted and sponsored by the General Conference which paid the duties of affiliation, by sending the required amount to the Union which paid it to the Ecumenical corporation.

We were also very concerned and disappointed with the management of the SDA Church because it does not reflect the Spirit of Prophecy. Tribalism, underhanded dealings, vote catching, private and informal committees instead of official ones, lack of punishment of guilty persons because of their close relationship with some officials of the Union, lack of true social projects of development such as schools for the churches sake, led us to leave the ecumenical church of the GC. In short, we saw we must stay by the old land marks and organize our group based on the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy and the Message of the Three Angels.

We could not figure out how we could preach against the Beast if we made connection with those who are worshipping it. We realized that we could not spread the Three Angels’ Messages while being involved in a fellowship with Sunday Protestant Churches. And last, we could not imagine that it is possible to observe the Law of God in its wholeness while being in connection with an ecumenical movement who are law breakers, especially disregarding the fourth commandment, the sign of God’s people from the beginning to the end of time.

From this evidence, we arrived at the conclusion that we must be self-governing as well as self-supporting. But, we are not yet self-sufficient.Consequently we have to restrain our outreach for lack of funds. May you find here our origin, Seventh-day Adventist Independent Church. Thanks to God’s blessings we have friends and brothers all over the world. We also have partners who contribute to lighten the task we have to spread the warning message to our part of the world.

Organization, of Main Objectives, and Things that Handicap the Way

The Zaire Union Missions of Seventh-day Adventist Independent Church has existed since 1990. At the very beginning, it had only 5,000 members. Today we have 16,000 members out of a population of 45,000,000 people in Zaire. We have a lot of work to do, but we cannot do it without the Holy Spirit is guidance or the benefactors assistance and the prayers of our fellow believers.

We are active in the Kinshasa, Bandundu, and East-Kasai regions. The work in the Shaba and Kivu regions will be organized in the near future.

Evangelism

We are currently using the door-to-door method in our evangelism. We lack very much the French translations of the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy, and Hymnals, as well as Bible literature for witnessing. We would like to start a Bible Correspondence School as soon as we have means to print the lessons.

Communication

The problem of communication is one of the serious problems we are facing in our ministry. In a car it can take more than a day to travel thirty kilometers during the rainy season, because of the bad condition of the roads. On these roads bicycles are faster than cars!

We have 259 workers, that includes Pastors, Evangelists, Bible Workers, Teachers, Gardeners, etc., all work without salary,trusting that God will provide. We need assistance in this area.

We need a private ham radio in order to establish a regular link between Kinshasa, the headquarters of the mission in the country. The official Post Office in Zaire as well as the telephone system are unreliable. Only cellular phones can link the country to Europe and the USA. Here again is a big problem to resolve.

We would also like to broadcast our distinct message by public radio. May the Lord help us in this project. This is the way we can reach a lot of people who we can not reach personally. There are local Sunday churches and ministries that already have broadcasts.

We think we have the best message all over the country—the message of warning given by the Three Angels. Give us a hand so that we might be the co-labourers with the angels in our country and in all the French speaking countries in Africa. God bless all of our benefactors, and may we together hasten the glorious second coming of our King and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

The End

The Track of Romanism

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If we are going to be part of the church at the end, we must be faithful in helping to give the Three Angel’s Messages to all the world. The Three Angels’ Messages are going to triumph, and the people that are teaching and preaching them will triumph with them. Seventh-day Adventists were raised up by God to take a three-fold message to the entire world. This is the reason that we are here. In this article we will study the Second Angels’ Message. “And another angel followed saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.” Revelation 14:8. What are the defining points of Babylon?

1. Babylon has fallen

“When you are lying on the ground you cannot fall. In order to fall, at some previous time you must have been in an elevated position. That tells us that at some previous time Babylon was pure and was part of the people of God.” The Great Controversy, 383.

2. Babylon has made all nations drink of her wine

This is spiritual wine. Isaiah wrote about it in Isaiah 29:9: “Pause and wonder! Blind yourselves and be blind! They are drunk, but not with wine; They stagger, but not with intoxicating drink.” Here are people who are drunk. They are staggering, but they have not drunk physical alcohol. What is the problem? They have drunk spiritual alcohol.

Notice this verse: “For the Lord has poured out on you the spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes, namely, the prophets; and He has covered your heads, namely, the seers; The whole vision has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed which men deliver to one who is literate, saying, Read this, please. And he says, I cannot because it is sealed. Then the book is delivered to one who is illiterate, saying, Read this please. And he says, I am not literate.” Isaiah 29: 10, 11. Here are people who read the Bible. Those that are educated say, “It’s sealed.” Many people today say that the book of Revelation is sealed, but there is no place in the book of Revelation that says that.

Others say, “Oh, I can’t understand it because I’m not trained in theology; I can’t explain the Word of God.”

Notice what the Lord says: “Therefore the Lord said: Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths and honor me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the commandment of men, therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work among this people, a marvelous work and a wonder; for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden.” Isaiah 29: 13, 14.

What is this spiritual wine that the people are drunk with? It is teaching the commandments of men instead of the Word of God.

All the way from Genesis to Revelation, the Bible teaches that God’s standard is His law, and all those who want to be His, must obey His law. The last part of the Third Angel’s Message says: “Here is the patience of the saints, here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” Revelation 14:12. “Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” Revelation 22:14.

Babylon defies God’s standard by teaching that you do not have to keep God’s Law, or that you cannot keep God’s Law. That is part of the wine of Babylon.

Higher criticism, destroying faith in the Bible, the doctrine of eternal torment, all of that is part of the wine of Babylon—the commandments of men instead of the Word of God. The result is that people become spiritually drunk. They think that they are saved when they are lost.

3. Babylon is a world-wide phenomenon

Being drunk from Babylon’s wine is not something that just happens off somewhere in Africa or India or China or the United States. She has made all nations drink of her wine.

One of the saddest things in the world today is that many Christians are so satisfied. They say, “Oh, I am saved.” They think they are saved, yet they are living in sin. They are drunk with the wine of Babylon.

No one is saved who is living in sin. Matthew 7:21–32. The Bible says that the end of a sinful way of life is death. Romans 6. The only people who can have assurance of salvation are those that through the power of the Holy Spirit overcome sin. Romans 8. Those that go on living in sin are of the devil. 1 John 3:8. The children of God who have His seed inside overcome sin. 1 John 3:9. John says that you can tell who are the children of God and who are the children of the devil by whether or not they are living righteously—keeping God’s Law, the ten commandments. I John 3:10.

4. Babylon is defiled by fornication

What is this fornication? It is spiritual fornication. “For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.” Revelation 18:3.

In Ephesians 5 Paul talks about marriage, which is a symbol of the relationship between Christ and His church. “For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. [He is talking about the church.] For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.” Ephesians 5:29–32.

Christ and the church are to become one. As the husband and wife become one flesh, Christ and the church are to become one spirit. “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For ‘the two,’ He says, ‘shall become one flesh.’ But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him.” 1 Corinthians 6:15–17. He that is joined to a harlot, is one flesh with her, one body with her; but he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.

When you have two, then it is holy, but when you have three, it is wicked! The church is to be joined to Christ; but if the church is joined to the leaders of this world, that is fornication.

Government and Christians

What type of relationship should the church have with the government?

Jesus said to Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now my kingdom is not from here.” John 18:36. Jesus said, “My kingdom is not a worldly kingdom.” Then if something is a worldly kingdom is that Christ’s kingdom? Absolutely not, it cannot be.

Did Jesus teach that we should just be members of the heavenly kingdom, and not even acknowledge any earthly government? Look in Matthew 22. At this time the Jews were trying to trap Jesus on this very point. He said, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” Matthew 22:21.

There are some things that belong to government. God has given human government, and we are to render to them the things that belong to them. There are other things that belong to God alone; the government has no control of those.

We are now going to examine Romans 13 and see how the apostle Paul interpreted this instruction. It is important that we understand this because we will probably face these texts before courts someday. Paul tells us that we should be subject to the governing authorities in verse one. He says if you resist the authority you resist the ordinance of God in verse two. He says that the government is God’s minister to you for good in verse four. And he says in verse five, “Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience sake.” Then he talks about paying taxes in verse six. And in verse seven he says, “Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.”

“Owe no one anything except you love one another, for he who loves one another has fulfilled the law.” Romans 13:8. Now especially notice verse nine. “For the commandments, You shall not commit adultery. You shall not murder. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness.You shall not covet. And if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this.”

The apostle Paul was the most highly educated of all the apostles. He knew the law. Why then would he quote only five commandments and say, “Now if there is any other, it’s summed up in this”? It is because of the context. God has given government the authority to enforce only the commandments in the second table of the law.

In other words, human governments have only the authority to enforce laws regarding my relation with my fellow men, but not my relationship with God.

Because of this, all down through history the devil has been attacking those first four commandments, and trying to make men break them.

Any time a church and state join together to try to enforce one of the first four commandments they have stepped over the line into forbidden territory. God will judge them for this, and He will also judge anyone that follows them. At this point we must obey God rather than men.

5. Babylon is a woman

In Bible prophecy a woman always represents a church. Babylon is called a harlot woman, or an apostate church. Because she, like the harlots of Judah and Samaria, is teaching people to break God’s law. Ezekiel 23:37, 38.

6. Babylon is richly adorned

“She was arrayed in purple and scarlet and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication.” Revelation 17:4. Notice, she is covered with jewelry and expensive clothes.

If you like beautiful things, if you like jewels, God has made a city for you that is full of jewels. The streets are gold. The foundations are adorned with twelve different types of precious stones. Each of the twelve gates are made out of one pearl. It is so beautiful! Once Ellen White said that if you could get one glance of the Holy City you would never want anything in this world again. Oh friend, you must be there! But nobody is going to be inside that city that is proud. Malachi 4:1.

Pride was the problem at the beginning. Do you know one of the things that the devil became proud of? his beauty. One of the reasons he was so beautiful was that he was covered with all kinds of jewels and precious stones. Pride is a lethal spiritual disease.

Paul said in 1 Timothy 2 that we should not wear gold and pearls and costly clothing. Why? Because our hearts might be lifted up with pride. And you will be shut out of the Holy City. We may think that it will not make us proud, but that is what God has told us. Do you think that you are wiser than God?

Friend, this jewelry and adornment issue is serious business. It is a matter of whether or not we are going to do what God’s Word says or not.

7. Babylon is a persecuting power

“I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.” Revelation 17:6. She is drunk with the blood of the saints. She is a persecuting power. In verse eighteen it says: “The woman who you saw is that city which reigns over the kings of the earth.” It’s the great city. In John’s time, when the people read this, they did not have any question in their mind what city this was. Even in the time of the reformers they knew which city it was.

Let me ask you this question: If you were going to pick out right now, today, one city which has more influence over the kings and the governments of the world than any other one city, what city would you pick? It would be the same city!

“On her forehead a name was written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” Revelation 17:5. This city has daughters—daughter churches. These daughter churches are the churches that are passing out the same wine—the doctrines of men, that she is passing out to all the world.

Stanton and His Message

In 1893, there was a man named Stanton who published a paper called the Loud Cry. He taught that you must come out of the Adventist church because it had become Babylon. He even said this message was the Loud Cry. Ellen White wrote a number of articles that were published in the Review and Herald in the latter part of 1893 condemning this man for what he was doing. In these articles Ellen White explains more than a dozen times who and what God’s church really is. She said that it is not going to go down, but will go through to the end.

She says that Babylon is the churches that cling to the doctrines and traditions of Rome and follow her worldly practices. Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 4, 233. She also says what God’s church is that is going to go through. “However weak and compassed with infirmity the people of God may be, those who turn from disloyalty to God in this wicked and perverse generation, and come back to their allegiance, standing to vindicate the holy law of God, making up the breach made by the man of sin under the direction of Satan, will be accounted the children of God, and through the righteousness of Christ will stand perfect before God.” Tesimonies to Ministers, 40, 41.

Who is it that is going to make up the breach and are the children of God and are not to be called Babylon? It is the people who do what? That vindicate the law of God! They are not telling people that you cannot keep it!

“While the Lord was pouring out His Spirit upon the people, did these men receive of the heavenly anointing? While the deep movings of the Spirit of God were made manifest among the people, and souls were being converted, and hard hearts broken, there were those who were listening to the suggestions of Satan, and they were inspired with zeal from beneath to go forth and proclaim that the very people receiving of the Holy Spirit, who are to receive the latter rain and the glory that is to lighten the whole earth, were Babylon.” Testimonies to Ministers, 49. Who is the church that is going through? It is the people that are receiving God’s Spirit.

“Through the church eventually will be made manifest the final and full display of the love of God to the world that is to be lightened with its glory.” Testimonies to Ministers, 50. The church that is going through are the people through whom God is going to make a final and full display of His love. Would you like to be a part of that group? You cannot have the love of God in your hearts and display it to others if you are not keeping His commandments. 1 John 5:2, 3.

The true church are those who keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus. Revelation 14:12.

The Path to Life

What will happen if we are not faithful to our trust? Ellen White said in Testimonies to Ministers, 362, that we were in the track of Romanism, and she wrote in 1886 to the General Conference president and said we could become a sister of Babylon. This is a matter of prophecy that we cannot contradict, so we cannot say that at some point in time the structure could not become a part of Babylon.

What can we do so that we do not become part of Babylon?

1. We must preach the Three Angels’ Messages. These messages are present truth for our time, and include the doctrine of righteousness by faith.

2. We must cleanse the camp. “We must as a people arouse and cleanse the camp of Israel. Licentiousness, unlawful intimacy, and unholy practices are coming in among us in a large degree; and ministers who are handling sacred things are guilty of sin in this respect. They are coveting their neighbors’ wives, and the seventh commandment is broken. We are in danger of becoming a sister to fallen Babylon, of allowing our churches to become corrupted, and filled with every foul spirit, a cage for every unclean and hateful bird; and will we be clear unless we make decided movements to cure the existing evil?” Testimonies on Sexual Behavior, 188.

3. We must repent and stop trying to control other men. In Testimonies to Ministers, Mrs. White says that we are on the track of Romanism because of this.

If we preach the Three Angels’ Messages, if we cleanse the camp, and if we repent and come back to New Testament church organization, we can avoid becoming Babylon.

Putting off a Decision

If we fail to do these things, we will be taking another path that ensures that we will become part of Babylon before the end.

“Oh,” somebody says, “I already knew that, Pastor John, that’s what I have believed for years, and I am waiting for that to happen, and when that happens, I am going to make the right decision.” People are preaching that today.

I have thought this through. What would have happened if you had been alive in the early part of 27 A.D. when John the Baptist was preaching? You were impressed with his preaching. It sounded like the truth, but you said, “I’m going to go and check with the local Rabbi.” You find out that John the Baptist did not have any permission from the Sanhedrin to do what he is doing. You say, “34 A.D. is not come yet and this is God’s church until the end of the 70 weeks, so I am going to follow the church and the church leaders.”

Then you set up an independent ministry and you send the word all over the country, “You have to stay with the church until 34 A.D. Stay with the leaders. We are God’s chosen people.”

Soon Jesus comes on the scene. You go to check with the Sanhedrin. They say, “Well, He came here without authorization and cleaned things out in the temple, but we do not approve of what He’s doing either because He has not come and told us anything. He does not acknowledge recognized, organized, and authorized church authority. You better get the word out.”

I want to tell you, the word did go out. Read the chapter in The Desire of Ages on the crisis in Galilee. The word went out all over the country that He was an impostor and that He was not the Messiah. It could have been said, “I’m following the church organization that God set up. We are God’s chosen people.”

The time comes that they crucify Jesus. But you say, “The end of the 70 weeks has not come yet.”

Finally you are there one day with Saul. You have been successful in convincing thousands and thousands of people that they should stay with God’s chosen people, with His church. They get ready to stone Stephen. Do you suppose that you would say then, “Well, I guess the 70 weeks are over now, I guess that we were wrong, I guess that we should turn around and believe.” Do you think you would have done that? No friend. You were lost way back there when you started listening to John the Baptist and decided to let someone else be conscience for you.

Friend, it is the same today. There are people all over the world saying, “Pastor John, I am just going to wait till the National Sunday Law, and the wicked are shaken out and then I will do what is right.” You will not. As we go through life, day by day, week by week, we are all developing habits. And if you developed the habit of just going along with the system, you will not suddenly, when a great crisis comes, turn around and do just the opposite. That does not happen.

Friend, we are living in serious times. Concerning the wine of Babylon, Ellen White said, “The neglect of plainest warnings will place us on the guilty list.” Manuscript Release, vol. 19, 381. “The wine of Babylon is received and all nations become drunken with the spiritual poison. We see that those who will not receive the truth are preparing to resist its influence.” Manuscript Release, vol. 21, 284. God has been sending a message of revival and reformation to the Seventh-day Adventist church now for many years. The vast majority are not listening. Instead they are getting ready to receive the mark of the beast.

Friend, it is time to wake up, and say, “Lord, I am going to follow you all the way, and do what you want me to do no matter what happens.” If you just drift along, you are going to receive the mark of the beast like many other Adventists.

Your only safety is to accept all of the Three Angels’ Messages and live by them. Say: “Lord, by your grace, I am going to keep all your commandments. I am going to have the faith of Jesus and do His will.”

The End

You are the Troubler of Israel

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Jesus was speaking to His disciples. They wanted to know when He would come again, and He told them that first there would be a time of great tribulation. It is most commonly referred to as the 1260 day period of tribulation. It is mentioned over and over again in the prophecies. See Revelation 11:3, Revelation 12:6, Revelation 13:5, and Daniel 7:25. Now this 1260 day/year prophecy happened during the new covenant—after the cross. For everything in the new covenant, there is a type in the old covenant, and there was a type for this. The old covenant type was during the time of Jezebel, Ahab and Elijah. We will study this time period.

The time period in the old covenant was 1260 days, just like in the new covenant. It is so important that it is mentioned twice in the New Testament. “I tell you truly many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah when the heavens were shut up three years and six months.” Luke 4:25. “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months.” James 5:17. This gives the exact time—1260 days. During this time, there was a great famine throughout all the land, because there was no rain. Rain is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. No matter how well things may be going, if the Holy Spirit withdraws because of sin, there is a spiritual famine.

Before we study the time of Elijah, and how it relates to our day; notice this description of God’s professed people—His church, during the 1260 year period of tribulation in the new covenant. “These things says the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and his feet like fine brass: I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience; and as for your works, the last are more than the first. Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent. Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation unless they repent of their deeds. I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works. Now to you I say, and to the rest in Thyatira, as many as do not have this doctrine, who have not known the depths of Satan, as they say, I will put on you no other burden. But hold fast what you have till I come. And he who overcomes, and keeps my works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations. ‘He shall rule them with a rod of iron; They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels.’ ” Revelation 2:18–27.

This is the period of great tribulation, the 1260 years during the dark ages. What was the problem? “Jezebel” was the head of the church. Now let us look back to Elijah’s time. Who was the king? Ahab was the king, but who was in control of Ahab? Was the Holy Spirit in control of Ahab? No, Jezebel was in control of Ahab. Consequently, the professed church (Jezebel) was in control of the state (Ahab.) Jezebel was the leader of their church organization and she had ultimate control over the state and it produced a period of great tribulation for God’s people. What happened to anybody if they would not go along with the program of the church organization? Well, they got destroyed.

During this three years and six months, a man named Obadiah was able to save a hundred prophets, by putting fifty each, in a couple of caves and giving them bread and water. But it was a time of great tribulation and many of God’s true people were killed. A proper understanding of this story answers many questions and accusations that people are using today against God’s messengers. We will go over some points used against rebuke of sin, and let the experience of Elijah give us the answer.

What Would Elijah Say?

1. Did God by divine arrangement, denominate the children of Israel as His special denominated people?

Answer: Yes, He did.

2. Were they called by a divinely appointed name and were they God’s chosen people?

Answer: Yes, they were.

3. Was their church organization organized by divine appointment and therefore, was it God’s chosen and organized church? History gives the answer.

Answer: Yes, it was. However, when the leadership decided to try to fight and destroy God’s people, and to go contrary to the historic truths of the organization, you cannot say anymore that the leadership had divinely constituted authority. They were no longer to be followed. In fact, if you followed the authority of the “church leadership” you were separated from God.

4. Would you say that the authority of the leaders was duly authorized or constituted church authority?

Answer: No. Elijah did not say that. In Elijah’s day, Jezebel was the ultimate leader. She had a big organization; over eight-hundred associates that were leading out with her. But, Jezebel exercised an usurped authority.

5. Is it not wrong to have a school or church not under the authority of the system that originally had been set up by God himself?

Answer: Elijah would say just the opposite. If the church structure asks you to do something contrary to the word of God, it is wrong for you to allow yourself to be under their authority. At Steps to Life we tried to work with church organization, but we came in to existence as a separate independent ministry because we were asked to do something that was contrary to our conscience. That is how it was for Elijah’s ministry, and those little home churches, out in the desert that were faithful, had to flee for their lives. The ones that had not gotten killed were, no doubt, called all kinds of names because they were not going along with the program.

An Organization or a People

6. If you had a home church somewhere in Israel, that was not recognized, could that be part of the church, or would it of necessity be an offshoot?

Answer: If you were following the principles that Moses had given to the children of Israel, you could not be an offshoot, you were part of the original historic movement that God had set up.

7. Would you have to be part of the organization to be part of the chosen people? Someone might say, “Elijah is not even part of the church organization and these other people in the caves aren’t either. They are offshoots.”

Answer: No! You would not have to be part of the organization to be part of the chosen people. In fact, those that were part of the organization would eventually have to repent or reform; otherwise, they would cease to be God’s chosen people. The home churches, in the caves, that were not recognized, were the real people of God. Those were the seven-thousand that had not bowed the knee to Baal.

8. Elijah, you say things contrary to the organization, it is being critical and divisive or faultfinding—and that is wrong.

Answer: He would say, “If you say nothing there will never be a revival and a reformation.” Elijah said to Ahab, “I am not the one causing the trouble, you are the one causing the trouble because you are not obedient to the commandments of the Lord.” See I Kings 18:18. It is not the people that point out sin that are critical and divisive. It is the people that refuse to obey that are divisive.

9. You are a separationist because you have separated from the church organization.

Answer: Elijah would say, “You that stay with the organization are the separationists because you separated from obedience to the law of God.” The real separationists are people that are not obedient to the word of God and the Spirit of Prophecy. The people that stay with the message that God has given to His people, they are the true church.

Loyal to Whom?

10. Elijah, you are just not loyal to God’s people, to God’s movement, to His church. You have to be loyal, you can’t just split off like this and do God’s work all by yourself. God wants loyalty.

Answer: Elijah would say, “The people that have stayed loyal to the commandments of God, those are the people that are loyal, and I am loyal to the commandments of God. What are you doing?—worshipping idols, bowing down and breaking the second commandment—you are the one that is not loyal.” Loyalty is determined by whether we are obedient to the law of God or not, not whether we are obedient to an organization. Ahab said, “You are the problem.” Elijah said, “I am not the problem. You are the problem. Because you are breaking the commandments of God.” See 1 Kings 18:18. The people that are not loyal are ones that are disobedient to the commandments and the Spirit of Prophecy.

11. But Elijah, you have a church that is not recognized by the church organization and therefore you are making a new movement, a new church, a new organization.

Answer:“I am not making a new movement, I am faithful to the original movement that God established. You are the ones that made the new movement. I’m not, I’m faithful to the law of Moses. How did you get so mixed up? Everything you say that I am doing is what you are doing. I am just staying with the original movement. I am an historic Israelite, I am staying with the law of Moses. I am not going to worship Baal.”

12. Elijah you are pulling apart from God’s organization, that is not a good sign.

Answer: Elijah would say, “That is not true. The organization has pulled apart from the truth. That is what really happened. I am just staying with the original movement.”

13. Elijah, why are you turning from the church with reproach and disgust?

Answer: There is nothing the matter with being angry about sin. Sin caused Jesus to go to the cross. If you can sit by and watch people openly sin like they were doing during Elijah’s day, and it does not matter to you—there is a problem with you. What side of the great controversy are you on? Sin caused our Leader to go to the cross. To just watch is the same as saying, “Well, I guess Jesus will just have to go to the cross, it’s no concern to me.” That is what you are saying by your actions. Elijah could not do it. He came to the people that were in open sin with a stern rebuke.

Deception

14. Elijah, you are allowing Satan to deceive you because you are independent of the church organization. What would Elijah say about that?

Answer: “Well, it is just the opposite. The ones who are loyal to the church organization rather than to the Spirit of Prophecy, they are the ones who are deceived. The people that are deceived by Satan are the people that are loyal to a human organization in violation of the word of God. Numbers do not count. The offshoots can be the great majority. It is the law of God that tells you which side you are on.” The only ones in Elijah’s time that were not deceived by Satan were those that were independent of the church organization.

15. Elijah, you have separated from the organized body. What would Elijah say?

Answer: “I stayed with the original movement, but because almost the whole church was in apostasy, to be true and faithful and loyal to God, it was necessary for me to separate from the apostasy.” You see, in spiritual battles and wars, the reality of the situation can be completely opposite from the way it looks to the natural sight.

16. Elijah, you are charged with denouncing the failings of the church.

Answer: “Well, yes I have. I have denounced the apostasy, because if you don’t repent, you are going to lose your soul. You are going to lose eternal life. I have denounced the apostasy, because repentance and reformation of life is your only chance, so yes, I have done that.” That was not wrong for Elijah to denounce them. “Those whom God has chosen for an important work have ever been received with distrust and suspicion. Anciently, when Elijah was sent with a message from God to the people, they did not heed the warning. They thought him unnecessarily severe. They even thought that he must have lost his senses because he denounced them, the favored people of God, as sinners and their crimes as so aggravated that the judgments of God would awaken against them.” Testimonies, vol. 3, 261. Was he inspired with the Holy Spirit when he denounced apostasy? He was. That was the work of the Holy Spirit.

17. But, Elijah, you are dwelling on the failures and problems of God’s people. Preach love and unity, get people together, don’t dwell on the failures and the faults of God’s people.

Answer:“People want to get preached to about love and unity and they are walking straight to hellfire. That’s not love at all.” It is in the world today like it was in Elijah’s day. There are professed Seventh-day Adventists that have been told that you are just going to go on and sin until Jesus comes. Yes, it is true, people are going to go on and sin until Jesus comes and then they are going to get burned up. They do not want to hear that. Friend, unless we face our situation, we are lost.

18. Elijah, don’t worry so over the mistakes of the unconsecrated leaders, God will take care of His work.

Answer: “It is true, the Lord will take care of it all right, that is not the problem.” (Fortunately He had somebody around like Elijah that was willing to help Him.) “There is coming a day of judgment and God is going to come and people who are living in sin are going to get destroyed. The problem is, are they all going to lose their souls, or should I try to give them a warning message to give them a chance to turn around first, and be saved?” Elijah gave the message.

19. Oh, but Elijah, God is going to remedy the leader’s mistakes and guide His church into port. God is faithful that has promised.

Answer: Yes, it is true, God will surely remedy their mistakes, and if there is no repentance and reformation, He will destroy every single person and church organization that remains in sin. But He is trying to give people an opportunity to repent and reform so that the remedy does not involve their destruction. The ship that finally comes into port will be the ship that contains the true and faithful, and there will not be any sin on board.

Spiritual Warfare

20. Elijah, we have been told by Jezebel and the priests of Baal that you are dividing and fragmenting the church. And we just cannot cooperate with anybody that engages in anything so divisive and schismatic as this.

Answer: “We are in a spiritual war and it is time for you to stand up and be counted. Whose side are you on? Are you going to follow and obey the God of Israel and obey the Spirit of Prophecy? If not, you are the one that is dividing and fragmenting God’s people.” Jesus said, “He that confesses me before men, him will I confess before my Father and he that denies me before men, him will I deny before my Father.” Matthew 10:32,33. Are you so scared that everybody else might not stand with you that you are afraid to stand up and be counted? If everyone of God’s people would have stood up and been counted in Jezebel’s day, she could not have wreacked such havoc on God’s church.

21. Elijah, you are just an individual. You are alone and your individual judgment should submit to the authority of the church organization.

Answer: Elijah would have said, “My individual judgment submits to the authority of the word of God and you are in violation of the word of God. You are the one who needs to submit. I am already submitted to the word of God.” That is the Protestant position—that the authority of the church is underneath the authority of God’s word.

22. Elijah, don’t accuse and condemn and contend for your rights. Don’t try to have a home church. There is nothing worth contending for except the glory of God. Don’t do all that. What would Elijah say?

Answer: “There is a great spiritual war going on and I am on God’s side of the battle. What side of the battle are you on? Can you prove what side you are on?”

A Matter of Obedience

23. Elijah, you think that you are led directly by God, but He works through the leaders in the church.

Answer: Elijah would say, “Yes, it is true, when God says something, I obey. When God gives a commandment through His word, I obey. And that is how you can tell which side I’m on, and that is how you can tell which side you are on.” Someday the Lord is going to ask the disobedient a question. “Why did you disobey My law?” They will say, “Well, my church told me to.” How sick, how nauseating that is going to sound. Do not forget friends, Elijah is up there right now. God approved of what he did.

24. But Elijah, you must not be independent. God does not work that way. God works through church organization.

Answer: Who does God work through? “Then Peter opened his mouth and said: In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.” Acts 10:34, 35. God works with the person or people that fears Him enough to obey Him.

25. But you should not organize churches, or ordain ministers, or baptize people, without authorization of the church organization. You do not have a ministerial credentials card. Where does your authorization come from? Do you know what Elijah would have said?

Answer: “If God told you to do it in His word, the thing to do is to do it. If it is in the Bible, you are authorized.” It looked to Elijah that he was the only one left. It might look that way to you sometime. You may be accused of being unauthorized. Apparently, everybody else is on the opposing side. But, it does not matter if you are following the Word of the living God.

26. Elijah, there is no such thing as an individual like yourself, or these small groups in the caves, advocating something irrespective of the judgment of the church organization. God just doesn’t work that way.

Answer: But the trouble was that God was working that way. The issue in Elijah’s time was, were you going to be obedient to the word of God, or were you going to be obedient to the church organization. Every question you can ask about authorization, who can do what and who cannot do what, who is God working with, and all these questions, comes down to one basic question. Where is the authority coming from?

What is Destined to Triumph?

27. But Elijah, we are God’s chosen people. There will be no other church according to prophecy until the Messiah comes. And so we are destined to triumph. What would Elijah have said?

Answer: “Yes, you are God’s chosen people all right, but you can be divorced from being God’s chosen people.” The great majority of those people were divorced from the Lord hundreds of years before the Messiah came. “Yes,” Elijah would say, “there will be no other church according to prophecy, but the question is, who is the church?” The church were those little independent home churches in the caves, in the deserts, and in the mountains, that were fleeing for their lives. It is true, there was not going to be any other church. Who is the church? Who and what is destined to triumph? People love to say, just like they loved to say in Elijah’s day, “We are God’s chosen people and we are destined to triumph, we cannot be destroyed.” The truth is going to triumph. The three angels’ messages are going to triumph. The only question is, when it triumphs, am I going to be with it? If I am disobedient and disloyal to God by disobeying His word, I will not triumph with it. There will be people that will come right up to the end and call themselves Seventh-day Adventists that will be lost. You see, in Elijah’s time there were a lot of people that said “we are Israel,” but they still got destroyed. It is not your name that counts, it is whether you are obedient to the word of God and to His law. There are going to be a lot of people at the end of the world, they will have the right name, the right profession, maybe even the right theology; but their character is not in harmony with what they profess. How is it for you? Can you see through the mirage to spiritual reality and are you obedient to God’s word and His law? Oh, I hope that it may be that way for each one of you, because friends, very soon what happened in Elijah’s time is going to happen again. The worship of Baal is going on today. It is going to get destroyed at the end just like it did in Elijah’s day. We have to be with the people that obey God and keep His commandments, no matter what happens. If we do that, very soon when the truth triumphs, we will triumph with it.

The End

The Rending of the Kingdom

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For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord.” I Kings 11:4–6. The after effects of this tragic account are still plaguing us today.

Solomon—the wisest king that ever reigned over ancient Israel—in his old age went after strange idol gods. It is doubtful if there is anyone reading this article that has a brass or a stone god that is worshipped. Nevertheless, this story has great significance for modern Israel.

“The Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice, and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he kept not that which the Lord commanded. Wherefore the Lord said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant.” I Kings 11:9–11.

Unfailing promises

Had not God given this promise, “Behold, a son shall be born to thee, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about: for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days. He shall build a house for my name; and he shall be my son, and I will be his father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel for ever”? I Chronicles 22: 9, 10. [All emphasis supplied]

How could it be that in 1 Kings 11:11 the Word came to Solomon and said to him, “I’m going to tear the kingdom away from you”? How could both Words of the Lord be true?

God’s Word is true for all ages, for all people, for every person, for every institution, for every home, for every church. “And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; if it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.” Jeremiah 18:9, 10. God has a book full of promises and warnings. The unfailing promises are given on condition of obedience, and warnings are given to the disobedient. The disobedient cannot claim the unfailing promises.

Solomon’s fall was silent and imperceptible. He did not realize that he was walking one step at a time down the path of rebellion against God. What were those silent and imperceptible steps?

The First Step

“Prominent among the primary causes that led Solomon into extravagance and oppression was his failure to maintain and foster the spirit of self-sacrifice.” Prophets and Kings, 61. This was the first step as he started walking down the road of apostasy and oppression.

Solomon was a genius. He built the temple for the Lord. But in this very thing he took a step that led him down the path of apostasy.

God had given to the tribes of Dan and Judah special skill in workmanship. In the wilderness tabernacle, it was the tribes of Judah and Dan that did the fine craftsmanship. Their descendants, even in Solomon’s day, inherited to a large degree the talents conferred on their forefathers. “For a time these men of Judah and Dan remained humble and unselfish; but gradually, almost imperceptibly, they lost their hold upon God and their desire to serve Him unselfishly. They asked higher wages for their services, because of their superior skill as workmen in the finer arts. In some instances their request was granted, but more often they found employment in the surrounding nations. In place of the noble spirit of self-sacrifice that had filled the hearts of their illustrious ancestors, they indulged in a spirit of covetousness.” Ibid., 62.

Solomon sought for a very skilled workman, an artisan, to build the temple. He found a man from another country named Huram. His mother was of the tribe of Dan. Huram was a descendant, on his mother’s side, of Aholiab. Hundreds of years before, God had given him special skill on the construction of the tabernacle in the wilderness. His father was of the King of Tyre, and was not a worshipper of the true God. He was selfish. “Because of his unusual skill, Huram demanded large wages.” Ibid., 64. This demand was granted him.

“Gradually the wrong principles that he cherished came to be accepted by his associates. As they labored with him day after day, they yielded to the inclination to compare his wages with their own, and they began to lose sight of the holy character of their work. The spirit of self-denial left them, and in its place came the spirit of covetousness. The result was a demand for higher wages, which was granted.

“The baleful influences thus set in operation permeated all branches of the Lord’s service and extended throughout the kingdom. The high wages demanded and received gave to many an opportunity to indulge in luxury and extravagance. The poor were oppressed by the rich; the spirit of self-sacrifice was well nigh lost. In the far-reaching effects of these influences may be traced one of the principle causes of the terrible apostasy of him who was once numbered among the wisest of mortals.” Ibid. Have we repeated this today? Recently, administrators in the Adventist Health System were demanding high wages, similar to those in the world. Yes, we have been taking the same steps.

We are told in the Spirit of Prophecy; “continual giving starves covetousness.” Testimonies, vol. 3, 548. We should be giving of our lives, of our time, of our means, continually, to starve the covetousness out of our hearts.

The Second Step

The second step in Solomon’s apostasy was self-glorification, seeking, taking, and letting people give you glory that belongs only to God. “Another of the deviations from right principles that finally led to the downfall of Israel’s king was his yielding to the temptation to take to himself the glory that belongs to God alone.” Prophets and Kings, 65.

Solomon was once young and tender. When he prayed at the dedication of the temple he was humble. “Had Solomon continued in humility of mind to turn the attention of men from himself to the One who had given him wisdom and riches and honor, what a history might have been his! But while the pen of inspiration records his virtues, it also bears faithful witness to his downfall. Raised to a pinnacle of greatness and surrounded with the gifts of fortune, Solomon became dizzy, lost his balance, and fell. Constantly extolled by men of the world, he was at length unable to withstand the flattery offered him.” Ibid., 68.

“Man cannot show greater weakness than by allowing men to ascribe to him the honor for gifts that are Heaven-bestowed.” Ibid., 68. The Lord gives us one gift after another; the gift of mercy, of love, of forgiveness—the daily gifts that sustain our lives. We must give to God all the glory and credit.

The third Step

“The introduction of principles leading away from the spirit of sacrifice and tending toward self-glorification, was accompanied by yet another gross perversion of the divine plan for Israel. God had designed that His people should be the light of the world.” Prophets and Kings, 70. But Solomon lost his missionary spirit—that was the third step downward. He replaced it with a spirit of commercialism. “Placed at the head of a nation that had been set as a beacon light to the surrounding nations, Solomon should have used his God-given wisdom and power of influence in organizing and directing a great movement for the enlightenment of those who were ignorant of God and His truth. Thus multitudes would have been won to allegiance to the divine precepts, Israel would have been shielded from the evils practiced by the heathen, and the Lord of glory would have been greatly honored. But Solomon lost sight of this high purpose. He failed of improving his splendid opportunities for enlightening those who were continually passing through his territory or tarrying at the principal cities.” Ibid., 71. The Lord in His wisdom, placed Israel where the centers of travel from east to west, and north to south, went right through their nation. As travelers went through those cities, the Israelites could teach them of the God of heaven, and of His law. These travelers could take it back to their own nation, and the whole world would have known about God. In this way, God provided Solomon with a way to teach the nations without becoming corrupted by their idols.

“He failed of improving his splendid opportunities for enlightening those who were continually passing through his territory or tarrying at the principal cities . . . The missionary spirit that God had implanted in the heart of Solomon and in the hearts of all true Israelites was supplanted by a spirit of commercialism.” Ibid., 71. He figured out a way, by all those travelers passing through those cities, to make money from them. This was very displeasing to God.

Unholy Alliance

Solomon made an alliance with the nation of Egypt. God had forbidden this. “Satan knew the results that would attend obedience; and during the earlier years of Solomon’s reign—years glorious because of the wisdom, the beneficence, and the uprightness of the king—he sought to bring in influences that would insidiously undermine Solomon’s loyalty to principle and cause him to separate from God. That the enemy was successful in his effort, we know from the record: ‘Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh’s daughter, and brought her into the City of David.’ ” Ibid., 53.

“From a human point of view, this marriage, though contrary to the teachings of God’s law, seemed to prove a blessing; for Solomon’s heathen wife was converted and united with him in the worship of the true God.” Ibid. Then Solomon married many women—seven-hundred wives and three-hundred concubines. “More and more the king came to regard luxury, self-indulgence, and the favor of the world as indications of greatness. Beautiful and attractive women were brought from Egypt, Phoenicia, Edom, Moab, and from many other places. These women were numbered by hundreds. Their religion was idol worship, and they had been taught to practice cruel and degrading rites. Infatuated with their beauty, the king neglected his duties to God and to his kingdom.” Ibid., 56.

On the mountain facing the backside of the temple, Solomon built many piles of buildings to the gods of the other nations. Right in the shadow of the temple of the living God, under those trees, his heathen wives practiced degrading heathen rites. How could it ever happen? We need to be very wary of taking the first step in apostasy, because none of us know how low we can go.

Except for the Grace of God

When walking down the streets of Chicago, Dwight L. Moody came to a drunk man lying in the gutter. He got down on his knees and turned the drunk over. With tears streaming down his face he said: “Except for the grace of God, there lies Dwight L. Moody.” Do not look around and say, “Oh, how could they do it?” Friends, you and I can go straight to the bottom. We would be there right now except for the grace of God.

“From being one of the greatest kings that ever wielded a scepter, Solomon became a profligate, the tool and slave of others. His character, once noble and manly, became enervated and effeminate. His faith in the living God was supplanted by atheistic doubts. Unbelief marred his happiness, weakened his principles, and degraded his life. The justice and magnanimity of his early reign were changed to despotism and tyranny. Poor, frail human nature! God can do little for men who lose their sense of dependence upon Him.” Prophets and Kings, 58.

“By messages of reproof and by severe judgments, He sought to arouse the king to a realization of the sinfulness of his course. He removed His protecting care.” Prophets and Kings, 77.

Everything is for our benefit. Every trial that comes our way will help us. God could not talk to Solomon by blessings bestowed, so He talked to Solomon by blessings removed. “He removed His protecting care and permitted adversaries to harass and weaken the kingdom. The Lord stirred up an adversary.” Ibid., 77. Hadad the Edomite and Rezon lifted up their hand against the king. Praise the Lord, the trials did their mission of love. “For him at last the discipline of suffering had accomplished its work. Long had he been harassed by the fear of utter ruin because of inability to turn from folly.” Ibid., 77.

“None who have fallen need give up to despair. Aged men, once honored of God, may have defiled their souls, sacrificing virtue on the alter of lust; but if they repent, forsake sin, and turn to God, there is still hope for them.” Ibid., 84.

“Solomon’s repentance was sincere but, the harm that his example of evil-doing had wrought could not be undone . . . He could never hope to escape the blasting results of sin, he could never free his mind from all remembrance of the self-indulgent course he had been pursuing.” Ibid., 84. The seed was sown and there was a bitter harvest. While Solomon is enjoying eternal life—there will be many, that will be lost because of his influence. Can your mind take that in?

“And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.” I Kings 11:43.

Modern Israel and Idolatry

“Modern Israel are in greater danger of forgetting God and being led into idolatry than were His ancient people. Many idols are worshipped, even by professed Sabbathkeepers. God especially charged His ancient people to guard against idolatry, for if they should be led away from serving the living God, His curse would rest upon them, while if they would love Him with all their heart, with all their soul, and with all their might, He would abundantly bless them in basket and in store, and would remove sickness from the midst of them.” Testimonies, vol. 1, 609.

Possessions: “Jesus immediately tears off his sense of security by referring to his idols, his possessions. He had other gods before the Lord, which were of greater value to him than eternal life. Supreme love to God was lacking. Thus it is with some who profess to believe the truth. They think they are perfect, think that there is no lack, when they are far from perfection and are cherishing idols which will shut them out of heaven.” Testimonies, vol. 1, 484.

Appetite: “They have other gods before the Lord. Their taste, their appetite, is their god.” Ibid., 486. Then there is pride of dress and love of money—anything that you worship and you love more than God, is an idol.

Rehoboam

Solomon slept with his fathers and Rehoboam, his son, went to Shechem to receive the kingdom. Solomon, because of his devotion for idolatrous luxury, had overtaxed the people. The people said to Rehoboam, “Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee.” I Kings 12:4. Rehoboam sent them away for three days. He asked counsel of the old counselors that stood before his father. They said, “Give the people what they want and they will serve you for ever.”

That did not satisfy Rehoboam. “And the young men who were grown up with him spake unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou speak unto this people that spake unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it lighter unto us; thus shalt thou say unto them, My little finger shall be thicker than my father’s loins and now whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father hath chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.” I Kings 12:10. “Their expressed determination to perpetuate and add to the oppression introduced during Solomon’s reign was in direct conflict with God’s plan for Israel, and gave the people ample occasion to doubt the sincerity of their motives.” Prophets and Kings, 90.

Those that had studied the Word of God, the true and faithful in Israel, knew that the Messiah was to come through Solomon. God had promised that Solomon’s throne would be established forever. But even though the promised Messiah was through this lineage, God had a different idea about the government than Rehoboam had. “The Lord did not allow Rehoboam to carry out the policy he had outlined. Among the tribes were many thousands who had become thoroughly aroused over the oppressive measures of Solomon’s reign, and these now felt that they could not do otherwise than rebel, against the house of David.” Ibid. “So Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day.” I Kings 12:19. Was that wicked? Friends, it is never wicked to rebel against sin. It is never wicked to protest against idolatry. It is always right to stand up for God’s law. The Bible says, “the cause was from the Lord.”

The Kingdom was rent

The kingdom was rent. The very throne that God established, He removed. The kingdom that had been established by God was rent. The throne, the people, that the Messiah was to come through, was rent. Whenever we enter into idolatry, the rending of the kingdom is sure to come.

“The high-handed power that has been developed, as though position has made men gods, makes me afraid, and ought to cause fear. It is a curse wherever and by whomsoever it is exercised.” Testimonies to Ministers, 362.

“This lording it over God’s heritage will create such a disgust of man’s jurisdiction that a state of insubordination will result . . . ‘All ye are brethren.’ This disposition to lord it over God’s heritage will cause a reaction unless these men change their course. When men who profess to serve God ignore His parental character and depart from honor and righteousness in dealing with their fellowmen, Satan exults, for he has inspired them with his attributes. They are following in the track of Romanism.” Ibid.

Friends, are we following any less today in the track of Romanism than in 1895? I think we are further down the path.

“When one who professes to be a representative of Christ engages in sharp dealing and in pressing men into hard places, those who are thus oppressed will either break every fetter of restraint or they will be led to regard God as a hard master.” Ibid., 363.

“In order to reign and become a power, they employ Satan’s methods to justify their own principles. They exalt themselves as men of superior judgment, and they have stood as representatives of God. These are false gods.” Ibid., 364.

Elijah came, but the ten tribes went deeper and deeper into apostasy until they were dispersed among the nations centuries before A. D. 34. By that time there was a small remnant left of the original nation. God still works upon the same plan. He will never harbor sin in any form.

“The Lord Jesus will always have a chosen people to serve Him. When the Jewish people rejected Christ, the Prince of life, He took from them the kingdom of God and gave it unto the Gentiles. God will continue to work on this principle with every branch of His work. When a church proves unfaithful to the work of the Lord, whatever their position may be, however high and sacred their calling, the Lord can no longer work with them. Others are then chosen to bear important responsibilities. But, if these in turn do not purify their lives from every wrong action, if they do not establish pure and holy principles in all their borders, then the Lord will grievously afflict and humble them and, unless they repent, will remove them from their place and make them a reproach.” Upward Look, 131.

God has not made any new plan to work upon. He’s working upon the same plan as He worked on then and as He works on now. When all was in apostasy, He had a church. He’s always had a remnant to serve Him, and it has always been His church. “The church is God’s fortress, His city of refuge, which He holds in a revolted world. Any betrayal of the church is treachery to Him who has bought mankind with the blood of His only-begotten Son. From the beginning, faithful souls have constituted the church on earth.” Acts of Apostles, 11. It does not say the invisible church on earth. It says the church on earth. That is a definition statement.

Some of those souls are Joseph, Caleb and Joshua, Elijah, Nehemiah, Ruth, Mordecai, Daniel, Paul, Wycliff, Huss, John Wesley, William Miller, James White, and many others. They are not invisible. Their work has stood the most visible of all time and eternity. God has always had them.

“A blessing or a curse is now before the people of God—a blessing if they come out from the world and are separate, and walk in the path of humble obedience; and a curse if they unite with the idolatrous, who trample upon the high claims of heaven. The sins and iniquities of rebellious Israel are recorded and the picture presented before us as a warning that if we imitate their example of transgression and depart from God we shall fall as surely as did they.” Testimonies, vol, 1, 609.

We don’t have God held hostage—not one of us here. He does not have to use us. He is not dependent on us. But He will use whomever humbles their soul before God, and lets Him purify their soul. May the Lord bless you.

The End

The Swelling of the Jordan

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“If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?” Jeremiah 12:5

Recently I spent two hours listening to a video tape, which, as nearly as I could tell, came from the North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists. Four speakers spent two hours explaining how, when, and why they are going to bring celebration worship into the whole North American Division. The voices were soft and gentle; the faces were smiling; but the message was unmistakably clear: If you do not like it, get out. There was no credence whatsoever given to the idea that those who object to celebration worship might have a valid reason for doing so. The whole discussion was based on the assumed principle that the people who do not want celebration worship just have a psychological problem and cannot handle change. You are to be patient with them as long as you can; but if you have tried everything else and they just will not accept it, then you just say to them very kindly, “We want you to be ministered to so we are going to find some place where you can go.”

As I understood, they had not decided yet whether it will be on Sabbath or Sunday; but for two hours every week, you will be able to phone in to an 800-number and they will tell you how to handle anybody resisting your attempts to bring celebration worship into your church.

Jeremiah Challenges God

In Jeremiah 12, the Lord is being challenged by Jeremiah. Very carefully Jeremiah is presuming to cast a little bit of reflection on the Lord because he does not understand what He is doing. “Righteous art Thou, O Lord, when I plead with Thee: yet let me talk with Thee of Thy judgments. Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously?” Jeremiah 12:1. In other words, Jeremiah is saying, “Lord, I am not criticizing You, You understand. I am not finding fault with You, but I certainly do not understand what You are doing. May I ask a question or two?”

The Lord looks on the heart and understands what is going on inside. He did not enter into any disputation with Jeremiah about his understanding. But if you look carefully at the words that follow, what He is really saying to Jeremiah is, “Jeremiah, you have a problem. You are putting understanding ahead of trust. If I were to try to explain the whole plan of salvation to you, you could not understand it. You could not wrap your head around all of that. You have to learn to trust Me whether or not you understand.”

We are going to be very deeply puzzled by things that we see taking place. Even though they are puzzling, perplexing, and bewildering, they must never affect our trust in God. We must never put understanding ahead of trust. We must learn to say with Job, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.” Job 13:15. The Lord is not worrying about the swelling of the Jordan. He knows what He is going to do. We are told that not one single cloud has ever risen over the church that He has not prepared for. Clouds are no problem to Him.

I want to review quickly and briefly with you just a little bit of what does lie ahead of us.

“The days are fast approaching when there will be great perplexity and confusion. . . . Every wind of doctrine will be blowing.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 80. Ellen White might have said it would be like a hurricane.

“God will arouse His people; if other means fail, heresies will come in among them, which will sift them, separating the chaff from the wheat.” Ibid, 707. I had a struggle with this statement. I had to get down on my knees like Jeremiah and say, “Lord, I am not criticizing You, but I have a question. Why are You letting heresies come into the church?”

“Before the last developments of the work of apostasy, there will be a confusion of faith. One truth after another will be corrupted.” Signs of the Times, May 28, 1894. Those who seek to confuse our faith begin with criticizing the sanctuary doctrine. But anyone who criticizes the sanctuary doctrine has to deal with the Spirit of Prophecy which strongly affirms that truth, so they end up taking a position against the Spirit of Prophecy; one thing comes right after another and you can see what is happening; one truth after another is being corrupted.

“In the very midst of us will arise false teachers giving heed to seducing spirits whose doctrines are of Satanic origin. These teachers will draw away disciples after themselves.” Ibid, January 7, 1904. This is a hard thing to understand, too. Why are people deceived and confused? Sometimes literature comes to my desk; and I look at it and think, How in the world can anybody be deceived by something as crude and clumsy as that? But people are being deceived.

“Many will stand in our pulpits with the torch of false prophecy in their hands, kindled from the hellish torch of Satan.” Testimonies to Ministers, 409, 410. Now a man does not walk in off the street and step into a Seventh-day Adventist church pulpit, does he? He has to be placed there by authorities that are higher. So what does this tell us about what will be happening in offices of authority, positions of authority? They will be assigning false teachers to the pulpits of Seventh-day Adventist churches.

“The enemy will bring in false theories such as the doctrine that there is no sanctuary. This is one of the points on which there will be a departing from the faith.” Counsels to Writers and Editors, 53

Ellen White writes that there will be changes in our worship. (See Testimonies, vol. 5, 491.) I was attending a worship service in a church where they had a guest speaker who was a professor from some university. After the choir sang, he stepped up to the pulpit and said, “Now folks, if you were attending a concert and heard a musical number like that, would you not give some applause? Come on, give them some applause.” I thought, “Oh, dear Lord, this man has a doctor of philosophy, but he does not know the difference between the sacred and the secular. He does not know what worship is all about.” Things that might possibly be accepted some other place are not acceptable in church.

 

In Selected Messages, book 2, pages 36 and onward, Ellen White talks about worship with a bedlam of noise. She is addressing what had taken place in Indiana where a little group of people were doing some different things with worship services. They were using a big bass drum and lots of bedlam of noise, as she describes it. Writing to Elder Haskell, she said, “The things you have described as taking place in Indiana, the Lord has shown me would take place just before the close of probation. Every uncouth thing will be demonstrated. There will be shouting, with drums, music, and dancing. The senses of rational beings will become so confused that they cannot be trusted to make right decisions. And this is called the moving of the Holy Spirit.

“The Holy Spirit never reveals itself in such methods, in such a bedlam of noise. This is an invention of Satan. . .”

An Invitation to Demons

I want to point out to you something that you might overlook as you read this section. Notice that Ellen White said that the same music would be all right if it were conducted differently. It is the way it is being performed that she is objecting to. But in six places in three pages she points out that Satan is present there; demons are present there; Satanic agencies are present there. Seventh-day Adventists have been very well protected against spiritualism by our belief about the state of the dead. What Seventh-day Adventist would accept an invitation to go to a seance where the spirits of the dead are being called up from the grave, presumably? Why, you would not give that a thought, would you? Listen folks, you can forget about seances. You do not have to go to a seance to get into direct contact with Satan; all that you have to do is go to a celebration worship program. If you think that statement is too strong, go back and read what she says. You can get into direct contact with Satan by going to the wrong kind of worship service.

“Before the final visitations of God’s judgments upon the earth there will be among the people of the Lord such a revival of primitive godliness as has not been witnessed since apostolic times.” The Great Controversy, 464. Do not give up your hope; something wonderful is just around the corner. “The Spirit and power of God will be poured out upon His children. At that time many will separate themselves from those churches in which the love of this world has supplanted love for God and His Word. Many, both of ministers and people, will gladly accept those great truths which God has caused to be proclaimed at this time to prepare a people for the Lord’s second coming.” Ibid. That is the good news; but before this can take place, we read: “The enemy of souls desires to hinder this work; and before the time for such a movement shall come, he will endeavor to prevent it by introducing a counterfeit [a counterfeit revival]. In those churches which he can bring under his deceptive power, he will make it appear that God’s special blessing is poured out; there will be manifest what is thought to be great religious interest. Multitudes will exult that God is working marvelously for them, when the work is that of another spirit.” Ibid.

Now, this is a little bit cynical perhaps, but I think it is realistic; I think it is practical. If you are a preacher and you would like to have an opportunity to visit camp meetings across the land and preach to people, let me tell you what to do. If you prepare some sermons which subtly, ingeniously, and cunningly undercut the Spirit of Prophecy and the sanctuary doctrine, you will receive invitations from all over the country. “Come to our camp meeting.” Conference presidents will call you. Is that too cynical? I think it is real.

On the other side of that, you cannot put all of the blame on the preachers, folks. I have another supposition, and this is a supposition; you take it for what you think it is worth. My supposition is this: I have observed that these preachers do not need to present good, solid evidence. Maybe this is a little extreme, but this thought has occurred to me as I watch what happens. I believe that those preachers who are trying to undercut our message could stand up in front of the people and say, “Mary had a little lamb. Its fleece was white as snow. Now there you have absolute proof that you do not need to stop sinning;” and a lot of the people would say, “Ah, that is the great truth of God. That is what we have been waiting for.” They do not have to present strong, carefully researched evidence. Any garbage will work if you are appealing to the carnal spirits of human beings.

Changes in our theology are already here. There are changes in our worship, but they are going to get worse. There is going to be a great false revival, and the result is going to be the forming of two parties. You hardly need to go beyond a Sabbath School class in any church on a Sabbath morning to observe that there are two schools of thought working there; two parties are forming in the church.

Two Parties to Develop

“As trials thicken around us, both separation and unity will be seen in our ranks.” Testimonies, vol. 6, 400. Well, how can this be, both separation and unity? There is a separation into two parties, and the individuals within the two parties are drawing closer and closer to each other.

“Two parties will be developed.” Selected Messages, book 2, 114. People sometimes say to me, “Ralph, I see three parties out there.” Well, that is true in a sense; but in a sense it is not true. Kenneth Sample, the Calvinistic theologian who inherited the work of Walter Martin when Walter Martin died, looked at our church; and he saw three parties also. He said that in the Seventh-day Adventist Church today you have Calvinists, Liberals, and Historics. Well that is true enough. You see, the Liberal says that nothing is important anyway, so what do standards matter. The Calvinist says, “The Bible guarantees me the right to sin and nobody is going to take my right to sin away from me.” So they meet on the ethical platform, or should I say, the unethical platform. They come to it from different sides, but that is where they get together. I have seen this happen.

I watched a church business meeting where a nominating committee report was being discussed in which the question was, “Are we going to let some conservative Historic Adventist people be put into church office?” It was very, very obvious there that the Calvinists and the Liberals ganged up against the Historics. It was just as clear as could be.

“The wheat is being bound up for the heavenly garner. The true people of God are now pulling apart, and the tares are being bound in bundles to burn.” Letter 12, 1892. When somebody accuses you of pulling apart, show them this statement.

And then we have the final separation, the mass exodus. It will not be small. Remember that we read in Testimonies to Ministers, 409, “Many will stand in our pulpits with the torch of false prophecy in their hands, kindled from the hellish torch of Satan.” Many, not a few. Again the word many in Testimonies, vol. 5, 81,

“Many a star that we have admired for its brilliancy will then go out in darkness.”

“The light given me has been very forcible that many would go out from us, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils..” Evangelism, 363

“As the storm approaches, a large class who have professed faith in the third angel’s message, but have not been sanctified through obedience to the truth, abandon their position and join the ranks of the opposition.” The Great Controversy, 608

“Standard after standard was left to trail in the dust as company after company from the Lord’s army joined the foe and tribe after tribe from the ranks of the enemy united with the commandment-keeping people of God.” Testimonies, vol. 8, 41. During the General Conference in Texas, years back, Elder H.M.S. Richards, who was still alive at that time, read this statement to the delegates from all over the world and then posed the question, “What is a company? What is she describing as a company here? We have our own definition today. A company is a Sabbath School group that grows and grows until it finally becomes a church. Is that what she is talking about or is she talking about something else? Is she talking about a conference? Is she talking about a union conference? A division?” My observation is that any of these definitions could be appropriate.How do we cope with these things? First of all, do not despair. “But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and He that formed thee, O Israel, ‘Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art Mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee; when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour; I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.’ ” Isaiah 43:1–3

Let the Jordan overflow, who cares? “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee.” The Lord is perfectly able to take us through the troublous times ahead in the way that He sees best.

Trust Before Understanding

Now let us go back to where we started, folks. Our situation is pretty much like Jeremiah’s. The things ahead of us could be put in the same category as what was ahead of Jeremiah, with a little adaptation of course. It is a pretty gloomy picture. In the midst of all this, poor Jeremiah is saying, “Lord, I am not criticizing You; I am not telling You that You are making any mistakes; but would You please let me ask? I have some questions, Lord.” And the Lord’s response to him: “Jeremiah, I understand your questions, and I sympathize with your condition; but, Jeremiah, you have to put first things first. Do not put understanding ahead of trust. You must trust Me, Jeremiah.” Let us take that message given to Jeremiah as a message for every one of us. May God bless you.

The End

Highest of Our High Callings

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It may seem that we are few, that the cause of evil is prospering when we look at one location, or one little group; but it is not true. You are most emphatically not alone. There are thousands like you, clinging firmly and resolutely to the faith of our fathers, the faith that came to us by the gift of prophecy, if you will, and has been affirmed as our true faith. Paul had a very keen awareness of, and appreciation for, the calling of God when he wrote, “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13, 14. Reflecting on the call of Abraham, he wrote in Hebrews 11:8, who, “when he was called . . . went out, not knowing wither he went.” In doing so, from that time forward, Abraham became the head of the family of faith—those who respond to the call of God. He knew, of course, about the call of Jacob and of the call of Moses at the burning bush. More recently, he had learned of how Jesus had called the twelve apostles; nor could he forget his own calling, when on the Damascus road the Lord had spoken to him and later when the Holy Ghost told those who were ministering in Antioch to set aside “Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.” Acts 13:2.

The calling of God was very significant in Paul’s thinking. As he saw it, not only the leaders like himself, but every Christian was called of God. Notice in I Corinthians 7:17–22 a passage in which the word call appears seven times. “But as God hath distributed to every man, as the Lord hath called every one, so let him walk. And so ordain I in all churches. Is any man called being circumcised? Let him no become uncircumcised. Is any called in uncircumcision? Let him not be circumcised. . . . Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called. Art thou called being a servant? Care not for it: but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather. For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord’s freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ’s servant.” The strong emphasis here on the call and the calling of God makes it very clear how important it was in Paul’s mind. (See also Ephesians 4:4; Colossians 3:15; 1 Timothy 6:12.)

The Ekklesia

As Paul saw it, every individual Christian is called; and as he responds to that call, he is then brought into a fellowship of the called ones. We find in 1 Corinthians 1:9 that “God is faithful, by Whom ye were called unto the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord.” We are individually called. When we respond to the call, we, as individuals, are brought into a fellowship; and this fellowship of the called ones, this community of the called ones, becomes the ekklesia. That was Paul’s word for the church. We use it in our own language today. Ek means “out,” and klesia means “call.” Klesia is a past participle of kaleo. And so the ekklesia are the called ones. That is the church. We are the called ones, the community of the called ones, the fellowship of the called ones; we are the church.

In 2 Timothy 1:9, he also calls it a “holy calling.” In Hebrews 3:1, he calls it a “heavenly calling;” and in Ephesians 4:1, he appeals to us to be worthy of that calling. “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called.” Worthy in many ways, worthy in many aspects. There are many aspects of the calling, this high calling.

Called to Imitate Christ

We are called to a Christian lifestyle. We are called to imitate the life of Christ. “He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked.” 1 John 2:6. “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not grievous.” 1 John 5:3. It is a high calling to the work of witnessing for Christ. Our own Lord said, “I must work the works of Him that sent Me.” John 9:4. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto My Father.” John 14:12. “I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do.” John 17:4. These are high callings, but these are not the highest calling. These are not the highest of our high callings. The highest, beloved, is this: the calling to Christ-likeness in suffering and persecution. This is the test above all tests that shows whether we are really responding to, and are faithful to, the calling of our Lord.

Today we are dealing with spiritual wickedness in high places. We are in a situation which is getting rather grim and that is soon going to be much more so. What some are already calling the great Adventist inquisition has been announced in the church paper; and in some places, it has already begun. I recently spoke to a physician in the sate of Arizona who, along with his wife, was disfellowshipped from the church on trumped up charges, using wholly improper, illegal, and unchristian procedures. Within a few hours after that, we had another telephone conversation with a couple in New Mexico who had experienced a similar situation. The signal for this inquisition was given at a campmeeting in Hope, British Columbia, last spring when the President of the General Conference issued a fierce tirade against independent ministries. This was followed by the declaration of Perth, which some are already calling a declaration of war against independents, quite appropriately I would think. It finally reached its next move in the publication of the “Issues” tract that you saw in the Review and the 467-page Issues book which also followed.

I want to briefly point out to you the unrighteous methods that are being used in this inquisition, the invalid arguments that are being advanced, and the accusations that are being made, methods that compare very favorably with the great Inquisition of the Dark Ages. The two are uncannily alike.

We have been in the habit of recommending that everybody be familiar with the last few chapters in The Great Controversy, and that is wise; but you need, just now, to take a careful look at the first few chapters. I think that you will be absolutely astonished at the parallelism between what happened during the Reformation and what is beginning to take place right now.
On page 148, we have an expression of he scornful attitude of church authorities toward those feeble few who were pleading for Scripture. “The same arguments are still urged against all who dare to present, in opposition to established errors, the plain and direct teachings of God’s Word. ‘Who are these preachers of new doctrines?’” Did you catch that? New doctrines. We are being accused of setting up new standards in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. We are being accused of setting up new ideas, which is absolutely, categorically, unconditionally false. Everything that we are preaching and teaching is written in the statement of faith. Let no one ever confuse you about that.

The Spirit of Erasmus

There are men who have, in the past, held very high positions of responsibility within the Seventh-day Adventist Church who communicate with me quietly, almost secretly. I appreciate the fact that their thinking appears to be in line with the truth of God, but I wonder about their timidity and self-protectiveness. In The Great Controversy, 216, I find an interesting comment on Erasmus, the greatest of all Reformation scholars. Erasmus was a far greater scholar than either Luther or Calvin. Beyond any question, he was the greatest scholar of Reformation times. We are greatly indebted to him for translations and for the recognition and use of the best manuscripts upon which to base translations; but notice what Ellen White says about him. “The timid and time-serving Erasmus, who with all the splendor of his scholarship, failed of that moral greatness which holds life and honor subservient to truth.”

At one time, Erasmus wrote to a young man whom he sensed to be in danger. He said to him, “Ask to be sent as ambassador to some foreign country; go and travel in Germany. You know Beda [this was a Catholic leader] and such as he—he is a thousand headed monster, darting venom on every side. Your enemies are named legion. Were your cause better than that of Jesus Christ, they will not let you go till they have miserably destroyed you. Do not trust too much to the king’s protection. At all events, to not compromise me with the faculty of theology.” Ibid. Cowardly words, are they not?

I wish that I knew how to appeal to men who privately defend the faith but publicly keep their lips tightly closed. There are a lot of them around Loma Linda. I could name half a dozen right now, men who have held very high offices in the church and who do not in any way condemn the work that I am doing, as some would do. It seems to me, however, that men such as these have an obligation to speak up when the time comes that thousands of innocent people are about to be disfellowshipped for the crime of holding to the doctrines that they were taught when they joined the church. It seems to me that it is unconscionable for any man who has ever been a leader in God’s work to stand by and do nothing at such a time.

Moving on, let us consider how we shall relate to this inquisition. Shall we react in fear and surrender? That is something that Jesus never did. “Jesus Himself never purchased peace by compromise.” Christians are to “’follow after the things which make for peace’ (Romans 14:19); but real peace can never be secured by compromising principle. And no man can be true to principle without exciting opposition.” The Desire of Ages, 356.

How shall we handle the inquisition? When we see outrageous violations of principles and brazen violations of procedure, it is difficult not to react in anger. Perhaps a degree of righteous indignation can be permitted, but we need to make sure that we do not echo the baying of the wolves.

Standing Against Apostasy

A church in Australia was told by the officials to get rid of two members of that church who were faithful Historic Adventists. The church manual, however, says that the local churches make those decisions and that higher authorities have nothing to do with it. The pastor gathered the people in the church together and said, “We have to get rid of these two members. What do you say? And the members said, “Nothing doing. We want to keep them.” They voted in a church business meeting to retain them in membership. As a result, the conference disfellowshipped the whole church. They then said, “Those of you who wish to discuss it with us, we will put your names on the conference church books.” Now there are two churches in the area—the faithful, historic church and the timid, time-serving one; the disciples of Erasmus are there.

We must remember that the battle is the Lord’s; and when we are called upon to stand in trial, we must remember Paul who, when he was in prison, called himself the prisoner of the Lord. The Lord did not put him there; but He permitted it, and Paul accepted it. If you and I are called before a church council, we must not falter or fear. We must not react with bitterness and anger, even though we are terribly shocked at the injustices that are unfolding right before our very eyes—people who are supposed to be standards for righteousness in church leadership actually lead in the unrighteous actions. When the shepherd plays the role of the wolf, we must be able to handle that; we must not let that surprise us or dismay us. Just remember that it has happened to our Lord; it has happened to many others of God’s people who have gone before us.

We need to remember Jesus and how He handled that very same experience. “He spoke no burning words of retaliation. His calm answer came from a heart sinless, patient, and gentle, that would not be provoked. . . . Of all the throng, He alone was calm and serene. . . . Patiently Jesus listened to the conflicting testimonies.” The Desire of Ages, 700, 703, 706.

“On His face he [Pilate] saw no sign of guilt, no expression of fear, no boldness or defiance. . . . He stood unmoved by the fury of the waves that beat about Him. . . . Pilate was filled with amazement at the uncomplaining patience of the Saviour.” Ibid., 724, 726, 736. While they lied about Him, while the judges tried to do evil things against Him, “the Son of God had taken upon Himself man’s nature. He must do as man must do.” Ibid., 729. Therefore, we must do as He did.

The Highest Calling

Remember the words of Peter when he said, “For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? But if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. For even hereunto were ye called; because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth: Who, when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not; but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously.” 1 Peter 2:20–23. “For even hereunto were we called.” This is the highest of our high calling.

There is going to be another trial. There is going to be another judgment. There is going to be another judge and another jury; and in that great trial, there will be absolute, total justice laid to the line. Every man will give account for what he has done.

“We can, we can, reveal the likeness of our divine Lord.” Yes, we can do it. We can stand before false accusers and listen to them lie about us, misrepresent us, distort our words, and misquote things that we have said. We can listen to all of that and still be like Jesus. Yes, “We can, we can, reveal the likeness of our divine Lord.” Signs of the Times, May 10, 1910.

Just now, let us kneel and present our weakness before the Lord and plead with Him for that special grace that will make us equal to that highest of our high callings.

Birth of the King! The Church Structure Of Jesus’ Day

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From Wichita, Kansas to Kongsberg, Norway, and around the world, the colorful sights and delightful sound of Christmas once again pervade the earth. Many Christians observe Christmas as a commemoration of the birth of Jesus in lowly Bethlehem. Though in all probability it is not His birthday, let us use this time of Christmas awareness to review the events surrounding that glorious occasion.

“When the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son” for whom it was proclaimed that “of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end.” He was to sit “upon the throne of David, and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever.” “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder.”” Galatians 4:4; Isaiah 9:7, 6.

Thus, according to Scripture, when Jesus was “born,” He was to sit upon the “throne of David” and to establish the kingdom in justice and peace. Though the chosen nation should suffer economic chaos, theological apostasy and political corruption, its members were sure it would ultimately recover, for the Messiah would once again bring justice and peace, prosperity and dominion to God’s people.

Was not “the government” to be “upon His shoulder”? And does the government not refer to the leaders and authorities of the nation? Thus, the people confidently looked to their leaders to proclaim the Messiah King.

While the world of Israel thus looked expectantly toward Jerusalem for the birth announcement of their Saviour and King, a newborn babe lay sleeping on the beaten-down straw, under strips of linen, in a Bethlehem barn. He was a normal looking infant, born of peasant stock. He was the Messiah, the Creator of the universe. The future of Israel’s prosperity and existence lay huddled beside Him.

Angels, bursting with eagerness to tell the good news, flew from house to house, synagogue to synagogue, throughout the length and breadth of Judea, searching for receptive hearts, to announce the birth of this newborn Son. They searched and searched. Where were the 7,000 faithful of Elijah’s day? Though Elijah had not known their whereabouts, these angels had known every name and address. But now they searched in vain! Yet the people of Israel were zealous Sabbath-keepers. They sent their children to the rabbinical schools and daily studied the Scriptures. And most of all, they were of the lineage of Abraham, loyal Jews, as demonstrated by their loyalty to their human leaders.

In one classroom an angel lingers as a scholar lectures his students. “It is nearly time for the Messiah to come,” he says. The angel starts forward with breathtaking joy—has he found a worthy group? He readies to lighten the room and share the good news, but the teachers continues:

“Beware, however, that the historic beliefs, based upon simple Bible statements, must today be balanced with modern scholasticism. Rabbi Benikel, for example, in his recent dissertation of the linguistic origins of Daniel, which has received the endorsement of Rabbi Honohan, points out several exegetical problems with the theory of the Babylonian origin of Daniel. He asserts that portions of Daniel were written during the early Maccabean period and that the Messiah prophecy was an attempt to strengthen the support of Judas Maccabeus in his resistance to the Antiochan occupation of Judea. The Sanhedrin Council has yet to decide on this theory, but Rabbi Benikel, understandably, has not wanted to submit it to their jurisprudence until he has more support in the council.”

The angel folds his wings and turns to leave. The professor drones on—Rabbi El-Sevens has also shown problems with the year-day theory. This theory, he says, developed as a result of Israel’s disappointment when the Messiah did not come when expected shortly after Cyrus’ decree. . . . But the angel has gone. The rejection of the Messiah had already begun.

Thus it was that “angels came . . . unseen to Jerusalem, to the appointed expositors of the Sacred Oracles, and the ministers of God’s house. . . . Yet Jerusalem was not preparing to welcome her Redeemer. With amazement the heavenly messengers beheld the indifference of the people whom God had called to communicate to the world the light of sacred truth. . . . They rehearsed their meaningless prayers, and performed the rites of worship to be seen by men, but in their strife for riches and worldly honor they were not prepared for the revelation of the Messiah. The Desire of Ages, 43, 44

The angel returns from his search to the hayloft headquarters of Bethlehem: “I’ve searched the classrooms of Judea,” he reports. “The teachers are expounding the Scriptures, but they are very proud and degree-oriented. ‘They love . . . to be called . . . Rabbi.’ (Matthew 23:6, 7.) The students’ minds are crowded with material that . . . [is] worthless, and they are so busy with their biblical studies that they have no time for ‘quiet hours to spend with God.’ Thus they do ‘not hear His voice speaking to the heart.’ The Desire of Ages, 69. They have elevated human philosophy above simple faith and have ‘set human teaching above God’s Word.’ Christ’s Object Lessons, 304. They pray before every class, but there is no real desire for divine enlightenment. I am sad to report that I have not been able to find a single classroom of Judea within which I could give the glad tidings of Jesus’ birth. Even if I had told them, unless it was endorsed by the Sanhedrin and came through the official channels, they would not have believed it.”

“That’s the kind of reports we’re getting from all over,” was the answer from the coordinating angel. “It is pretty bleak. If we could even find some in individual dwellings with whom we could share the goodness, but the angels visiting the homes report that the people have ‘respected the priests and rabbis for their intelligence and apparent piety’ for so long, that ‘in all religious matters they [have] yielded implicit obedience to their authority.’” The Desire of Ages, 611. They have almost made their human leaders infallible.

“We have found two persons, however, named Simeon and Anna, who are ‘just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel’ and filled with the Holy Spirit. (See Luke 2:29, 36.) Of course, they are so old that few will listen. What’s more, Anna is a prophetess, and you know how the testimony of the Spirit has been received of late. Completely made of none effect by many, I fear.

“Another detachment of angels have found some philosophers in Persia who are sincere seekers for truth. They have the writings of Balaam. Possibly we can reach them through their belief in astrology. Balaam said, ‘A Star shall come out of Jacob’ (Numbers 24:17); now if we make a visible star arise over Bethlehem. . .”

But the commander was interrupted by the entrance of another angel who appears radiant with joy—”I’ve found some who believe!” he announces. “There are some shepherds herding their sheep right outside this very city,” he says, “who are praying and meditating on the Scripture and are expecting the Christ to come!”

“But who will listen to shepherds?” asks one of the angels standing nearby. “They have no degrees, no preaching license, no literary or oratorical skills, no friends in the synagogue, no influence at all—if they preach this gospel it will turn many away!”

“But God is no respecter of persons” responds the angel. “They are worthy and I must tell them.”

“We’re all coming,” responds the commander. “You are the only one who has had success tonight—we’re joining you!”

That night the lowly shepherds became the best and only true theologians of Israel. They did not know four of five variant possibilities of prophetic interpretations; they could not quote rabbinical sources; they did not even know the dictionary definition of exegesis, but they knew the truth. True theology is the process of humbly arriving at truth, not the process of proudly elucidating human speculation.

Those who do not understand or believe in God’s holy Sabbath are not theologians. They may be sincere, but they are not theologians. The most common and illiterate person who understands and keeps the Sabbath is a greater theologian than is the wisest scholar who is ignorant of such a basic, plain truth of the Bible. Those who do not understand the closing events of earth’s history as delineated in Daniel, the Revelation, and The Great Controversy, are not theologians. Those who do not understand the power of Christ to deliver from sin, of the plain and simple gospel story of who Jesus was—”the seed of David according to the flesh” (See Romans 1:3.)—are not theologians. Those who have known and rejected God’s voice through the Spirit of Prophecy may be applauded for their great speculative skills, but their wisdom is no greater than was that of the scribes and Pharisees in Jesus’ day—they are not theologians. And if the church, or individuals, permit themselves to be educated by these broken cisterns, they will be deceived and rejected by God, as were the Jews in Jesus’ day.

As in Jesus’ day,

“There are men among us in responsible positions who hold that the opinions of a few conceited philosophers, so called, are more to be trusted than the truths of the Bible, or the testimonies of the Holy Spirit. Such a faith as that of Paul, Peter, or John is considered old-fashioned and insufferable at the present day. . . . God has shown me that these men are . . . to prove a scourge to our people. They are wise above what is written. This unbelief of the very truths of God’s Word because human judgment cannot comprehend the mysteries of His work is found . . . in most of our schools and comes into the lessons of the nurseries.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 79.

Few so-called scholars are true theologians, and few theologians are recognized scholars. Jesus said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and have revealed them to babes.” Matthew 11:25.

As with ancient Israel at Christ’s first coming, so with modern Israel “in the last solemn work” before His Second Coming—”few great men will be engaged.” They “have trusted to intellect, genius, or talent . . . [and] did not keep pace with the light. . . . God will work a work in our day that but few anticipate. He will raise up and exalt among us those [like the shepherds] who are taught rather by the unction of His Spirit than by the outward training of scientific institutions. . . . God will manifest that He is not dependent on learned, self-important mortals.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 80, 82.

In Jesus’ day the people had been led to believe that God’s work depended upon the priests and rabbis, as “we have been inclined to think that where there are no faithful ministers there can be no true Christian, but this is not the case. God has promised that where the shepherds are not true He will take charge of the flock Himself. God has never made the flock wholly dependent upon human instrumentalities.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 80.

The Jewish people could not fathom the Lord ever forsaking them. Their leaders had emphasized the texts that spoke of their eternal heritage to the exclusion of texts that spoke of the conditions of prosperity. This led to a false sense of security in the system. They forgot that God has not made Himself dependent upon any man, nation or church. Anyone, such as John the Baptist, who said, “God can raise up children to Himself from these stones,” was thought of as a schismatic and separationist. The question they asked both John and Jesus was, “By what authority do you do these things?” —What rabbi, priest, or synagogue has endorsed you?

The rejection of Jesus and the destruction of a nation followed a very simple path:

The leaders became political with only an outward appearance of piety in order to retain the people’s confidence and support.

The educational system elevated the human above the divine.

The people were taught that all questions of administration or policy must be submitted to ecclesiastical authority and that only those under such authority could preach, write or teach.

The people were taught that the chosen nation would continue to be blessed regardless of what it did.

The people were led to believe that the work of the Lord consisted totally of the political system then in control of the nation. God was not recognized as the Head of His church as stated in Ephesians 1:22, 23. The Lord Himself was obliged to go through the “proper channels” of the church. No one could ever hope to be the Messiah without the Sanhedrin’s recognition.

Following the anointing of Jesus at His baptism, the Father gave proof after proof of Jesus’ Messiahship. But the one proof He was lacking was the official approval of the church—or at least what the people thought was the church.

Of course, Jesus was the church. He was the government.

For “where Christ is, even among the humble few, this is Christ’s church, for the presence of the High and Holy One who inhabiteth eternity can alone constitute a church.” The Upward Look, 315.

No human council or organization, either today, in Martin Luther’s day, or in Jesus’ day can either establish or annul a church body by mere human fiat. The true church in Jesus’ day was not the temple in Jerusalem, but the believers that surrounded Jesus. This has constituted the church “in every age.” This is the church that “the gates of hell have not been able to prevail against,” and “is the one object upon which God bestows in a special sense His supreme regard.” Acts of the Apostles, 11, 12. But to even suggest such a thing in Jesus’ day would have been considered divisive, insubordinate and apostate. Thus the leaders were able to take a whole nation with them to ruin in their rejection of the humble King of Israel. The leaders were too proud, entrenched and educated to follow Jesus or to submit to His authority, and the people cast their lot with the priests.

Witness one of the most dramatic of Jesus’ healings. The man was born blind, the result, supposedly, of a curse from the parents’ or grandparents’ sins. But Jesus made clay, packed it upon his eyes, and told him to go wash in the pool of Siloam.

The man came seeing and rejoicing. Though he had never seen Jesus, he knew that He was the Messiah, and acknowledged Him so before the priests. The priests knew this man. They knew he had been blind from birth. They had tried to suggest in previous healings of Jesus, that it was by sleight of hand, but they could not deny this miracle. Neither could they accept the One who performed it, for it was done by Jesus, who was not under their authority or jurisdiction. To acknowledge Him would mean to humble themselves. It could possibly lead to the whole moral and economic collapse of their system. Tithes and offerings would probably start flowing to Jesus. Their own authority would be limited. If they should yield their authority here, what would prevent any and every other upstart from beginning his own ministry? What would preserve the “purity” of the church? To their way of thinking, the whole prosperity of a nation depended upon their handling of this case in such a way as to deprive Jesus of His glory and yet retain the confidence of the people. It would require the utmost skill in administrative tact and crisis management.

“So they . . . called the man who was blind, and said to him, ‘Give God the glory! We know that this Man [Jesus] is a sinner.’” But the healed man would not relinquish his faith in Jesus. “Then they reviled him and said, ‘You are His disciple, but we are Moses’ disciples.’” John 9:24, 28.

As one last attempt to break through the stubborn resistance of the Jews, Jesus raised a man to life who had been dead for four days. The priests knew that they could not refute this miracle. In their hearts they knew that He was divine. But to acknowledge Him now would destroy their whole social, economic and political system. And to their way of thinking, it would therefore destroy God’s church. That, as “faithful stewards,” they could not allow. Thus Caiaphas said, “It is [more] expedient for us that one man should die for the people, . . . [than] that the whole nation should perish.” John 11:50.

Corruption and political maneuvering they could permit; but someone calling for repentance, someone speaking without their authority, they could not tolerate. When the decision came to choose between Barabbas and Christ, they unanimously, save for Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, demanded Barabbas, and the multitudes followed suit.

“At the time of the first advent of Christ to our world, the men who composed the Sanhedrin exercised their authority in controlling men according to their will,” and the people blindly accepted their dominion.” Testimonies to Ministers. 301. In their acceptance of human authority they rejected God’s. And though the true church of Israel never fell, the human machinery that the people thought was the church did fall.

“The sin of ancient Israel was in disregarding the express will of God and following their own way according to the leadings of unsanctified hearts. Modern Israel are fast following in their footsteps and the displeasure of the Lord is as surely resting upon them.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 94.

“The religion of many among us will be the religion of apostate Israel, because they love their own way, and forsake the way of the Lord. . . . I know that a work must be done for the people, or many will not be prepared to receive the light of the angel sent down from heaven to lighten the whole earth with His glory.” Testimonies to Ministers, 468, 469.

When the earth was lightened with the glory of the angels at Jesus’ first coming, few were ready to receive it—only the humblest were lightened by their glory. Just so, another angel is to lighten the earth before Jesus’ Second Coming. Again, only the humblest will receive His glory. The church, purified, is going through. But not everything that purports to be the church today is going to triumph with it. Only the pure and holy are going to triumph. Nothing that in any way bespeaks corruption or political maneuvering will survive.

“The Lord Jesus will always have a chosen people to serve Him. When the Jewish people rejected Christ, the Prince of Life, He took from them the kingdom of God and gave it to the Gentiles. God will continue to work on this principle with every branch of His work. When a church proves unfaithful to the work of the Lord, whatever their position may be, however high and sacred their calling, the Lord can no longer work with them. Others are then chosen to bear important responsibilities.” The Upward Look. 131.

“Let a church become proud and boastful, not depending on God, not exalting His power, and that church will surely be left by the Lord, to be brought down to the ground.” Testimonies, vol. 8, 127.

Throughout the land it is Christmas time again. Though the origins of Christmas preceded the Christian era, let us review the meaning of the Bethlehem scene. While all eyes were fastened upon Jerusalem for the official birth announcement of their Saviour and King, a newborn babe lay sleeping on beaten-down straw, under strips of linen, in a Bethlehem barn. While the church went on with its forms and ceremonies and Sabbath rituals, the lowly shepherds were bowing beside His cradle. They were the true theologians of Israel, but none would accept their inspired announcement. There in that cradle of Bethlehem lay the government of Israel. The prosperity of a nation, a church, a people, lay huddled beside Him. Though many rejected Him, God’s true church accepted Him. That church still lives!

The Indifferent Church Of Laodicea

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In this study, I would like to consider the indifferent church. I believe that God has a people who are going to be ready to meet Him when He comes and that this is going to be His church. What, however, would happen if these people were to become indifferent—indifferent to the gospel, indifferent to the signs of the times, indifferent to things that are going on in the world? What if they even became indifferent to one another? Perhaps we have adopted the attitude that we could care less whether we did anything or not to hasten the coming of the Lord. Very few people will admit that; but sometimes, by our fruits we are known. If, however, we understand by Scripture that we can hasten the coming of the Lord, then we should be looking around for something that we can do to hasten that coming. Is not that right?

Being raised in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, one of the hard things for me to do is to admit that Laodicea, the lukewarm church that really needs to be revived, is talking about us. It is hard to put ourselves in the right position and to say that this is the church that God was speaking about, to admit that we are lukewarm and need a change—a revival. There is counsel throughout the Spirit of Prophecy identifying our church as being in the Laodicean state. When we read how lukewarm we are and of our need for a revival, we say, “Well, yes, but it can not be quite that bad.” It is horrible! In fact, it is worse than that. We need a change. God wants that change to come about in our lives. To be indifferent and lukewarm is to be taken by the enemy.

Satan wants to trap God’s church. What does a person do when he is setting a trap? Does he just set the trap out in the open and say, “Hey, come on; get in this thing”? No! He camouflages it, hides it, puts things over it. And so, you are caught before you know it. You did not intend to get in that trap. You really did not want to make that mistake; but, dear friends, somewhere along the line, you took your eyes off of Jesus.

We have to realize that we are to be a witness to all the world; and when we are the kind of witness we need to be, Jesus will come. When the light of the Holy Spirit burns within us, we are going to see that it will draw people to us. Is it not sad that we, as God’s last-day church, having the last message going to all the world, find it so difficult to find people who even want to study the Bible with us? Could it be, dear friends, that we are not in the right relationship where God can use us to study with someone? Could it be that we need a change in our lives? When we are changed, when we are filled with the Holy Spirit of God, then God can use us to reach out and touch others.

People say, “I have been in the church for years, and I have never led a soul to Christ.” Dear friends, what is wrong? I am not trying to scold you; I am wanting you to think with me. The purpose for our being here is to win souls for God’s kingdom. Is that not right? Are we usable for Christ, or are we used up? If you love your fellowman like you say you do, you are going to be praying, begging, and pleading that God will give avenues, open up doors, that you may be able to reach some souls for Him before it is everlastingly too late. I cannot help it; it is always impressed on my mind how many thousands have gone to Christless graves. They are going to burn in hell, dear friends. Why? Because we did not do our job.

When we get to the kingdom, will there not be those who will be there who will come up to us and say, “It is because of what you said or what you did that I am here”? We will, of course, realize that we could do nothing of ourselves, so we will point them to Jesus; but they will recognize us as a willing vessel that Jesus used. They will recognize us as the one who put our arm around them when they needed someone, as the one who mentioned the name of Jesus, or who smiled at them. People have made my day sometimes when they just smiled. They do not have to say anything, just smile.

Oh, how we need to be pleading on our knees. We are either going to heaven or we are going to hell; it is just that simple. And you will have to decide where it is going to be. Only you can decide; salvation is very individual. It would be nice if we could go as couples and groups. Every person is going to have to give an account. Every person has to give an account to God individually; so I can never apologize, dear friends, for advocating that God must be first in our lives. Jesus said, “If you put anyone before Me, you are not worthy of Me.”

I get so tired of hearing people say that they have to sow their oats. You sow some oats and you are going to reap a crop. The crop does not come up overnight. Many times it comes up a lot later; but what you sow will eventually surface, and people will know what you have been sowing. Now is the time, dear friends, to be sowing righteousness and the love of Jesus and instilling it in the hearts of our children and in the church, when we so desperately need changes.

Satan knows what is going on. He knows what will take place when he causes us to neglect secret prayer. He knows what will take place when we are not searching the Scriptures, so he keeps us away from that.

Very few who believe that Jesus is coming are spending sufficient time in prayer each and every day. Now do not ask me what sufficient time is. The Bible does not say that we have to spend so many minutes or so many hours, but we need to recognize that we need more help than ever before since the enemy is consolidating and coming together and is going to throw everything at God’s people. Our only safety is in keeping our hand in the hand of God, staying on our knees, and spending time in the Word of God.

Every day we need to be putting on the whole armor of God. That is our protection. I think of the armor as being something like the manna. If you did not get out and get that manna, when the sun come up, it melted. If a person slept in, he did not eat. We ought to have a little bit more of that today. As with the fresh manna, we must go out and get it every day. The fact that you put that armor on last week or you prayed on Sabbath is not relevant to your condition today.

Yet, most people get up late to go to work. They just barely get to work on time. They do not know what is going on until nearly noon. They have spent no time with God or studying the Word; the enemy is working them over right and left, and they do not even know it.

How is your relationship with Jesus? As we read, the devil wants to keep us in sin. Someone will say, “Well, I am not committing those big sins over here. I’m not doing this.” We may be acting selfishly, but we do not think about selfishness as being sin. We think of selfishness, pride, and pride of our own opinion as being separate from sin.

One day I went to visit someone, and I knocked on the door. She saw me standing at the door, and it was obvious that she was not pleased to see me. (Now it is sad when you think that, as a pastor, you have to warn the people before you come to visit. You almost feel like you have to call and tell them that you are coming because you do not know what they will be up to.) I said nothing, just walked in the door. The TV was blaring and a soap opera was on. I did not think much about it until she jumped me.

“Oh, so you think I’m a sinner because I watch soap operas.” I did not say anything, and she continued, “So you think I’m a horrible, terrible person.”

I said, “No, it never entered my mind. I never thought about it. Give me a chance here.”

“Well,” she replied, “I will just tell you right up front, right now. That is the only fault that I have.”

I said, “I wish I could say that. If that were the only fault I had, I would just put my foot through that screen right quick, and then I would not have any.”

Do you see how people reason? Their conscience is bothering them, and it causes them to think that other people are condemning them.

The more you study the Word and the closer you get to Jesus, the more filthy you become. It is getting close to Jesus that helps us to see ourselves as we really are. If we stay away from Jesus, we cannot see the changes that need to be made. But when we have a real relationship with Jesus, those changes come out and we are able to see them. We can submit them to Jesus and gain the victory.

Now is the time to put the whole armor of God on. Put it on every day; put it on fresh and clean. Do it by spending some time in prayer. If your schedule is hectic, get up a few minutes early. It will not hurt you. If you find that you can not get up any earlier, then go to bed earlier.

“The agencies of evil are combining their forces and consolidating. They are strengthening for the last great crisis. Great changes are soon to take place in our world, and the final movements will be rapid ones.” Testimonies, vol. 9, 11. Now the enemy is well aware that the last movements are going to be rapid. He knows that if the agencies for evil combine together, he will be stronger. I do not know how the devils have unity, but evidently they have some. Somehow, it says, they are consolidating; they are combining. Yet here we are, the people of God, and we are having a difficult time finding unity. Dear friends, there is unity in consolidating—working together—and this is what God wants us to do.

“Satanic agencies are in every city, busily organizing into parties those opposed to the law of God.” Testimonies, vol. 8, 42

If you say that you love Jesus and that by God’s grace we can keep the law, the devil hates you. Is not that interesting? Now some people get concerned and they say, “Oh, we do not want to get the devil mad at us.” He is already angry with you. “I do not want to get the neighbors upset.” They are already upset. “I do not want to get all Protestants angry at me.” They are already angry at you. “I do not want to get the papacy or Romanism upset with me.” They are already upset. It is just going to get worse. The Protestants are not going to love you before it is all over; the Roman church is not going to love you when it is all over; and your next door neighbor is not going to love you when all is said and done—not if you are faithful to Jesus Christ. Jesus tells us that they hated Him before they hated you.

Somehow, too many of God’s people are trying to get out in the world where everybody loves them. If you can get out in the world and everybody loves you, dear friends, you will be going to the wrong place. Now think about it. If you stand for what is truth, people do not like you. If you tell them about God’s Sabbath, they do not like you. They look at you like you have some type of disease. They avoid you. They were fine until you began to talk about Jesus or you changed your lifestyle.

The evil angels are combining their forces, organizing, to get rid of those “who keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus.” So let us admit it; you are on the bad list, not the good list, as far as the evil angels are concerned.

“To hold the people in darkness and impenitence till the Saviour’s mediation is ended, and there is no longer a sacrifice for sin, is the object which he seeks to accomplish.” The Great Controversy, 518. What does the devil want to do with us? He wants to hold us in darkness, or in sin, until probation closes. And when probation closes, it is all over; he has us.

Dear friends, let me challenge you today. We must be born again if we are going to see Jesus. We have to be willing to say, “Lord, I want to change. I want to be more and more like You.” Be willing to submit your life to Jesus each and every day. Let Him come in and reveal the things that need to be changed in your life. He will do it, dear friends. He wants to do it because He wants to spend eternity with you.

Let us not become weary in well-doing. Let us continue to fight the good fight of faith, and let us spend eternity together. That is my prayer today.

The End

Good Men Good Church

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“And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.” Revelation 3:14-17 (KJV)

How could a people or a church ever become so blind that they are actually naked and think they are clothed? It is because they have learned to depend upon their own works and their own righteousness rather than the righteousness of Christ. And, though they think they are clothed, their own righteousness cannot clothe them.

It is a situation similar to the one Jesus spoke of in Luke 18:10-14. “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector [or publican]. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God be merciful to me a sinner!’” Today, Pharisees are looked down upon; but back in Jesus’ day, they were respected. Publicans, on the other hand, were the worst of people in the eyes of the Jews. They did not respect God’s church, and the Jews considered them to be collaborating with the Romans. Yet Jesus said, “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other, for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

I have often studied with sadness the history of Saul. Here was a man who was chosen and ordained of God. He knew that he had been ordained by God to lead his church. When he went out to fight God’s battles, God fought for him. But when God told him to destroy the Amalekites, he failed to do as he was told. He reasoned, “Let’s take these animals and show our appreciation and gratitude for God. Instead of just killing them and wasting them, we will sacrifice them to God.” Look, however at God’s assessment of what had taken place. “So Samuel said, ‘when you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel? And did not the LORD anoint you king over Israel? Now the LORD sent you on a mission, and said, ‘Go, and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD? Why did you swoop down on the spoil, and do evil in the sight of the LORD? And Saul said to Samuel, ‘But I obeyed the voice of the LORD, and gone on the mission on which the LORD sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal.’ So Samuel said: ‘Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubborness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He also has rejected you from being king.’” 1 Samuel 15:17-23

Saul thought he was so good, but he was blind. He thought he was clothed with righteousness, but he was absolutely naked. It says in verse 23, “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He also has rejected you from being king.” It is a solemn reality that whom God ordains for service, He can remove; and what He has ordained for service He can also remove. God ordained the children of Israel to be His people. Of them, He said, “Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for a light by day, the ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, who disturbs the sea, and its waves roar (The LORD of hosts is His name): if those ordinances depart from before ME, says the LORD, then the seed of Israel shall also cease from being a nation before Me forever.” Jeremiah 31:35, 36. Even if the sun, moon, and stars should be removed, Israel would not be removed from being His people.

The children of Israel reasoned in Jesus’ day, “We are God’s people’ nothing can change that. The tide is still coming in; there are still the sun, moon, and stars.” But somehow they forgot that what God establishes, He can also remove. Though God had established Saul, he also removed Him. As with Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, though God appointed them, He also removed them. Thus it was with the leadership in Jesus’ day, and thus it is today. When men begin to think that they are good because of position or works, they are absolutely blind. There is not a position or work in which we can engage that can make any one of us good. If there is any goodness in it, it is the goodness of Jesus that comes by faith in Him. But men have come to the place where they believe that they can break the Sabbath and be held guiltless. They believe that they can lie and bear false charges as the scribes and Pharisees did against Jesus in His day in order to preserve the system because it is for a good purpose, and somehow still be guiltless.

Korah, Dathan, and Abiram were in the holy service of God. They had come out of Egypt and gone through the Red Sea; they had eaten manna and drunk the water from the rock. More than that, some of these leaders, possibly even Korah, Dathan, and Abiram themselves, had gone up on Mt. Sinai with Moses. God chose them, through Moses, to be representatives for Him. Moses, on the other hand, was not a representative of leadership; he was a prophet. Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, since they were elected and had all of the evidence of God’s leading, came to the place where they became good in their own eyes. They thought that they were “rich and had need of nothing and knew not that they were miserable, poor, blind, and naked.” They came to the place where they thought that they could do things that God had never given them permission to do.

In A.D. 364, the Council of Nicea declared that the sanctity of the Sabbath had been changed from the seventh day to the first day of the week. They did not do this by God’s authority but by church authority and church decree. They did so because they were leaders of God’s church.

It has interested me how people study the Bible and seem to twist everything to their own wishes. That was taking place in Ellen White’s day in the 1890s. The leadership was likening themselves to Moses, and anyone who did not go along with them was like Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. You see, in 1888, God had chosen Jones and Waggoner and others to give the message of Christ our righteousness; but the leaders said, “Listen, this message did not go through us. What right do these people have to preach? They are not ordained by us; they have not come through our authority. We are the leaders of God’s church.” Do you know what Ellen White says about that? They were actuated by the same spirit that inspired Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.” 1888 Materials, 1067. This is just one place where she says that the leaders were likened to Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.

I have been shocked by the way committees of the church today can somehow come to believe that they have been vested with authority to disregard God’s commandments and laws. When we suppose that we can overlook all of God’s counsels on competitive sports and introduce intercollegiate sports into our schools, are we not committing the sin of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram? Are we not coming to the place where we think that we can go against God’s counsels and make our own decisions? When we follow the practices and policies of the world instead of those laid down in the Word of God, are we not committing the sin of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram? When Ellen White says that God will not even hear the prayer of those who go to court against a brother, and we go to court against our brethren, which the Bible strictly prohibits and condemns, are we not committing the same sin as Korah, Dathan, and Abiram? When the church fights the very ministries that God has called into existence, are we not committing the sin of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram? That is the sin of the papacy; and, dear friend, it is becoming the sin of the church today. It is the sin of anyone who decides that they are so good that they do not need to follow God exactly; they can make their own decisions in life.

In Jesus’ day, the church of God had been sending some of their promising young men to the universities of Greece, especially down to Alexandria, Egypt. Of course, they remained members of God’s true church; but they learned and brought into it the Greek philosophy, which is the basis of higher education.

The Greeks had come the place where they believed that the way to be truly educated was to reject everything until it has been proved. When you incorporate that philosophy with the Word of God, it is disastrous because the word of God must be studied by faith and not by doubt. I talked with an educator at one of our colleges, an ordained Seventh-day Adventist minister, teaching according to the principles of Greek philosophy. He was asking people how they could know that God had really created the world in seven days. I asked him, “How can you instill this doubt into students’ minds?” He said, “I believe that the way we are educated is to doubt everything. That is the way we learn. This is true faith.” He said, “Faith is when you doubt so much that you come to doubt your doubts and that is faith.”

When this system of doubt is applied to the Word of God, it destroys faith. You cannot study God’s Word except by faith.

In Jesus’ day, the Jew who was not educated was looked down upon as being a heathen because everyone was supposed to have a Christian education; that was a duty of a Jewish parent. The educational system, however, had been taken over by a group of liberals called the Sadducees. They rejected much that was in the Old Testament although they claimed to be true followers of God. What could not be proved, they reasoned away.

You know, it is interesting that there is not a record of a single Sadducee being converted or accepting Jesus as his Saviour. It is a deadly disease, this liberal philosophy that causes people to doubt the Word of God and put human reason and human logic above the Word. But in reaction to the Sadducees came a group of conservative people who said, “We do not believe in this liberal philosophy that puts logic above the Word. We believe the Word simply because God says it.” They were called the Pharisees; but sadly, they became so conservative that they began to look at themselves as good people because they were doing everything the Bible said. As time went on, they began to confuse conservatism with structuralism and to place more and more faith in a structure and in a system rather than in God. They began to worship the church instead of God. In fact, the church was so sacred and so important that if anyone suggested that the church would be destroyed or said that the temple would be destroyed, as Jesus said it would be, that person was worthy of death and they sought to kill him because he was blaspheming God. Any criticism of the structure became criticism of God in their minds, so they killed the person who said that the church would be destroyed.

Do you know what is interesting? The Pharisees were the ones who became the most bitter enemies of Jesus, much more so than the Sadducees. In their minds, anything that did not go through the structure was wrong and was not of God.

The Elijah message was the message that John the Baptist had to bring to the people in his day. (See Matthew 3:7-10). It is interesting that this same message that was to prepare a people before Jesus’ first coming is the same message that is to be brought back to the church today before Jesus’ second coming. Ellen White says, “In this fearful time, just before Christ is to come the second time, God’s faithful preachers will have to bear a still more pointed testimony than was borne by John the Baptist. A responsible, important work is before them; and those who speak smooth things, God will not acknowledge as His shepherds. A fearful woe is upon them.” Testimonies, vol. 1, 321

As Saul so sadly learned, what God ordains, He can also remove. John the Baptist told the people of his day that God could raise up children to make a church out of the stones, and God did it. He took the stony hearts of the Gentiles and fashioned them into the true church of Israel in the New Testament. Paul says in Galatians 3, Ephesians 2, and Romans 2, that the Gentiles had now become the true church of Israel. The church survived, but it was made up of different people. John the Baptist said “Do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father [we are the church]’….Even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree [not just the trees in John the Baptist’s day but every tree from Saul’s day until Jesus’ second coming] which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

The truth will go through; the movement will go through; God’s true Seventh-day Adventist people, the movement that He has ordained for these last days, is going through. God promised it would go through. This is the last church, but the church is more than a structure. The structure is only an aspect of the church. God can raise up children to this church from the stones.

God says that every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down. In Jesus’ day, the church had become so structuralized that God could not reach it through the system. God had to send John the Baptist as an independent minister, independent of the system. When Jesus came down, He also came as an independent minister. He was never sanctioned or ordained by the church. The church never laid their hands upon Him, and they did not recognize Him.

It is interesting to note that even among those who were in independent ministry, pride and self-sufficiency often came in. We find it in Peter and John. They, thankfully, eventually overcame. But this became the spirit of Judas; and Jesus Himself was betrayed by someone from the independent ministry, from the self-supporting work, even from His own group.

Jesus said that the prevailing problem with the church in the last days would be the problem that has been with the church in all ages—self-righteousness. That is what has brought in all of the errors of the Christian church. It is that righteousness that makes a person so righteous that they no longer need to obey God and they can decide for themselves what is right or wrong. That was the temptation of Eve in the Garden of Eden. “God knows that in the day you eat this fruit, that you will be so wise and so good that you will know yourself what you should do and what you should not do.” Self-righteousness, the fig leaves of self-righteousness.

God has a message to the church today. It is called the Elijah message—the Laodicean message. It is a message of love. God says, “I love you too much to let you go. If you will accept Me as your Lord and Saviour, if you will simply come and follow Me, I will give you righteousness; you will not have to earn it. I will give it to you as a free gift, and then you can obey Me because you love Me. I will give you the power to obey every precept from a heart of love.” You will no longer try to find out how little you can do to get to heaven. No! You will have salvation because God has given it to you, and you will be doing everything you can do because you love Him. None of if will earn you a place in heaven; that was earned on the cross of Calvary two thousand years ago. Praise the Lord! But it is a gift to the obedient.

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The Church Without a Pastor

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Do you know any churches that have no pastors? Are you aware of the fact that many of God’s faithful people attend churches that do not have a regular pastor? This situation is not going to get better in the sense that there are going to be more pastors; it is going to get worse. This is actually good news, however, because there are going to be more churches developing so fast around the world that there are not going to be enough pastors to care for them all.

Today many are meeting in homes or in unheated buildings because they have no other place to meet. There are some churches where the members are meeting in secret because of religious persecution, and most of these churches do not have a pastor.

By the way, how many people do you have to have to form a church? Have you ever thought that through? According to Matthew 18, you have to have two. In the book Upward Look, 315, Ellen White wrote an interesting statement about the church. It says, “God has a church. It is not the great cathedral, neither is it the national establishment, neither is it the various denominations, it is the people who love God and keep His commandments. ‘Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.’ Matthew 18:20. Where Christ is, even among the humble few, this is Christ’s church. For the presence of the High and Holy one who inhabits eternity can alone constitute a church. Where two or three are present who love and obey the commandments, of God, Jesus there presides. Let it be in the desolate place of the earth, in the wilderness, in the city, enclosed in prison walls.”

Many people think it is a great calamity to be without a pastor, especially people who have attended large churches where they have had somone to preach to them regularly. They are used to going and sitting in a pew, listening to the choir, organ and piano, and listening the the speakers and sermons; and they think, “My, if we had no pastor, what would we do?” However, even if you consider it a calamity, it is certainly not nearly the worst thing that could happen to you. Do you know what is an infinitely worse calamity than having no pastor? It is having an apostate pastor. It is much better having no pastor than to have one who is an apostate. So, do not get to feeling too sorry for churches that have no pastor. They are not in nearly as bad as shape as they might be.

Every Christian today needs to understand what the Bible says about apostate pastors. Are you aware of how dangerous it really is? If you sit and listen to an apostate pastor, you are in danger of losing your soul.

According to the Bible, one of the primary characteristics of an apostate pastor is that they preach a peace and safety message. “Because from the least of them even to the greatest of them, everyone, is given to covetousness; and from the prophets even to the priests, everyone deals falsely. They have also healed the hurt of My people slightly saying ‘Peace, peace! When there is no peace.” Jeremiah 6:13, 14

It is the natural human tendency, when there is the belief that there is going to be peace and security, to relax and feel secure. A false sense of security, however, is not going to keep you from being destroyed.

Part of the peace and safety message is the concept that you cannot keep the law of God perfectly. When a person who has been taught this peace and safety message meets someone who knows what the New Testament truth of obedience is, it is a very shaking experience for him. His initial reaction is to go back to his pastor and to his fellow church members, who have been taught this same lie, and talk to them about it.

Now one of two things has to happen. When a person is confronted with the truth, they will either yield to the truth or decide to keep believing the lie that the Christian’s experience is one of sinning and confessing. If they choose to believe the lie, they will then feel the need to rid themselves of those people who keep troubling their conscience.

In Testimonies to Ministers, 409, 410, there is a prophecy. It was prophetic then, but it is taking place now. She said, “Many will stand in our pulpits with the torch of false prophecy in their hands, kindled from the hellish torch of Satan. If doubts and unbelief are cherished, the faithful ministers will be removed from the people who think they know so much. ‘If thou hadst known,’ said Christ, ‘even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto they peace! But now they are hid from thine eyes.’”

If you go to a church and listen to apostasy being preached, convicting yourself that you are strong and that you are going to do missionary work, you are committing the sin of presumption; and God will not work a miracle to save you. I cannot overstate how serious this is. It has to do with understanding how the human mind works. If you have studied psychology, you already know that if you tell someone something long enough, they will believe it. That is the way the human mind works.

There are going to be millions of people who sat in churches and listened to this type of smooth preaching, who will come to the Lord in the day of judgment, and who will be lost. We are talking about a serious matter. We are dealing not with life and death; we are dealing with eternal life and death.

So, if you are listening to false doctrines being preached that are not according to the New Testament, if you stay listening to that, you will eventually believe it, even if you do not believe it now. You might say, “My pastor is wrong.” Listen, if you know your pastor is wrong and you keep returning to listen to that error, the time will come when you will believe it. If you do not accept and follow all of the truth, eventually you will believe a lie and be deceived and be lost. This is very clearly spelled out in 2 Thessalonians, chapter 2.

“I was shown the necessity of those who believe that we are having the last message of mercy, being separate from those who are daily imbibing new errors. I saw that neither young nor old should attend their meetings; for it is wrong to thus encourage them while they teach new error that is a deadly poison to the soul and teach for doctrines the commandments of men. The influence of such gatherings is not good. If God has delivered us from such darkness and error, we should stand fast in the liberty wherewith He has set us free and rejoice in the truth. God is displeased with us when we go to listen to error, without being obliged to go; for unless He sends us to those meetings where error is forced home to the people by the power of the will, He will not keep us. The angels cease their watchful care over us, and we are left to the buffetings of the enemy, to be darkened and weakened by him and the power of his evil angels’ and the light around us becomes contaminated with the darkness.

“I saw that we have no time to throw away in listening to fables. Our minds should not be thus diverted, but should be occupied with the present truth, and seeking wisdom that we may obtain a more thorough knowledge of our position, that with meekness we may able to give a reason of our hope from the Scriptures. While false doctrines and dangerous errors are pressed upon the mind, it cannot be dwelling upon the truth which is to fit and prepare the house of Israel to stand in the day of the Lord.” Early Writings, 124, 125

The question remaining in people’s minds is how to start a church without a pastor. This is keeping any people from starting home churches which they should have started long ago but were afraid to. Yet in the New Testament, there were many churches that had no pastor; and before the end there are going to be many more. So, we are going to look at the divine counsel for a church that has no pastor. We are going to look at how to have a Sabbath school and how to have a church service when you have no pastor.

“On the Sabbath, the few friends here assembled in Edson’s parlor for Sabbath school. There are four families—twelve persons in all—who usually meet for worship. Edson conducts a Sabbath school when he is at home. After Sabbath school they either have a Bible reading or a prayer and social meeting.”

The first service you want to have on Sabbath morning, if you have a church without a pastor, is Sabbath school. Notice that for church they did one of two things. They either had a Bible reading or they had prayer and a social meeting.

Ellen White goes on to say, “The family altar should be established in every home; and if in any locality there are more than two or three of like precious faith, they should meet together.” Ibid.

You do not say, “Well, I do not have a pastor, or my pastor is preaching heresy, so I am just going to stay home and not go to church.” What does it say in Hebrews 10:25? “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.” Is the Day approaching?

We have more need to get together for worship now than we have ever before. I have been a pastor now for some years, and over and over again, I have observed that when people do not meet together and worship, their faith and love grow cold. If you go directly contrary to Bible counsel, you are guilty of the sin of presumption; and, as we said before, God is not going to work a miracle to keep the result from taking place. It is just like jumping off of a building and saying, “Lord, please keep the law of gravity from working now so I will not get hurt.” It is not going to happen.

Did you know that God writes down in His book which people meet together and worship Him today and which people do not? “Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord listened and heard them; so a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who meditate on His name.” Malachi 3:16. You must never think that because you have an apostate pastor and you cannot go to this particular church that you are to just stay home and have church. You have a worship service. Did you notice that she said they either had a Bible reading or prayer and a social meeting? Do you know what a Bible reading is? A Bible reading is when nobody preaches. Instead, you study the Bible together. It is something that anyone who is able to read can do. In fact, people who cannot read can do it if they can ask questions of people who can read.

“Well,” someone asks, “What should we study?” There is more than one subject that Ellen White lists that should always be included, but I am only going to mention one. This is never to be left out when you come together and worship. She calls it by two names; she refers to it in one place as practical religion and in another place she calls it practical godliness. What is practical godliness? It is “to see the necessity of religious principle and righteousness in everyday life.” Testimonies, vol. 3, 237. Practical godliness has to do with the way we live every day. You cannot read much from the Bible without getting into that subject.

Suppose that you are responsible for the church service and you cannot preach. Can you talk? Can you read? If you can talk and read, you can have a Bible study; and that is all that is necessary. In fact, Ellen White told our ministers that they were doing too much preaching. She said they would be better off, if when they went to church, they just had a Bible class.

Suppose that we had a Bible class for about ten minutes on the subject of practical godliness. Are there any passages of Scripture that come to your mind? What was the greatest sermon ever preached? The “Sermon on the Mount.” That whole sermon is about practical godliness.

In a sermon, if you ask questions and have the Bible texts to answer the questions you have time to go through about twelve to fifteen texts at the most. If you are in a home church, you do not have a preacher, and you have to prepare a Bible study, you do not need a hundred texts. Ten to fifteen is all you need on the subject.

By the way, you could have a Bible study on practical godliness every Sabbath for a year and you would never run out of material. You would have more and more and more; the more you started studying it, the more it would start opening up to your mind and you would have more and more material. Practical godliness is not something that happens in an instant; it is something that takes time.

Here is a passage you could read in a Bible study on practical godliness in 2 Peter 1:5-7. “But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue, knowledge, to knowledge, self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.”

Peter goes on to say that if you do this, you are going to be saved. This passage is called Peter’s ladder. It is very practical. The top rung of the ladder is love. Do you know what love is? To understand what practical godliness means is to understand what God’s love is like and to partake of that love in our life. The Bible is just full of illustrations, stories, and examples on this subject.

If you understand this subject of practical godliness, then God can use you to start churches anywhere in the world that He might send you.

Every one of us here can look back into the past and remember a time when, if someone had not brought us the precious truth about Jesus and His soon coming, we would have been left in the dark. There are still some people out there friends. They are not going to drive one hundred or maybe not even fifty miles to go to a church. If we are going to save them, somebody is going to have to start some churches closer to where they are.

You do not have to have buildings and money and ministers. All you must have is an understanding of practical godliness. You have to be experiencing sanctification yourself and understand what the Bible teaches. Then share your faith with somebody else. You can start a home church if there are only two of you. Let us pray that the Lord will use each one of us to do this.

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