church

Were the Jewish Rulers Part of the Church?

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This is a loaded question usually asked by theological opponents who expect the answer to be yes, since the Jewish rulers and people are repeatedly called God’s people. (See for example Christ’s Object Lessons, 293.) They then expect to ask if the leaders in the structure of Adventism are not by the same criteria God’s people today. The next question is, aren’t they part of His church if they are part of His people? As with other loaded questions, multiple hypothetical assumptions are contained within the question. These underlying assumptions must be dealt with first from inspired writings. All emphasis is supplied in the following quotations.

  1. The first assumption is that profession equals the real or the true. Contrary to this assumption, inspired writings draw a sharp distinction between professed and true. Profession can be the same as true or it can be the complete opposite of true. Inspiration sharply distinguishes between those who profess to be the true church and the true church in reality.

Notice the distinction in the following two statements: “I saw that the church of God was then pure. There was no danger of men with corrupt hearts coming into the church of God then; for the true Christian, who dared to declare his faith, was in danger of the rack, the stake, and every torture which Satan and his evil angels could invent, and put into the mind of man.” Spiritual Gifts, vol. 1, 118. Who was the true church of God? It was those who were being martyred.

Who was attempting to destroy the true church? Notice who it was in the following quotation: “Through the agency of Romanism, Satan took the world captive. The professed church of God was swept into the ranks of this delusion, and for more than a thousand years the people of God [the true church, see Great Controversy, 64, 65] suffered under the dragon’s ire.” Signs of the Times, November 1, 1899. So who was it that killed members of the true church for over 1,000 years? It was “the professed church of God.”

It should be more than obvious from these two statements that inspired writings draw a sharp distinction between the true church and the professed church. The professed church is part of the true church only when she lives out her profession.

It is not the true church who persecutes those who believe differently than she, but rather it is the professed church which is actually controlled by the devil: “The civil power is called to the aid of the Church in persecuting those who keep holy the seventh day. The Church and the world are united in trampling upon God’s commandments, and those who obey these commandments they threaten with death. John declares, ‘The dragon was wroth with the woman.’ ” Review and Herald, July 16, 1901.

“ ‘The dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.’ We can see from this scripture that it is not the true church of God which makes war with those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. It is the people who make void the law, who place themselves on the side of the dragon, and persecute those who vindicate God’s precepts.” Signs of the Times, April 22, 1889.

  1. The second assumption is that the professed church is recognized by God as being equivalent to the true church. It is true that God recognizes those people who have made a covenant with Him by baptism, on their confession of faith, to serve Jesus as their only Lord and Saviour from sin. But does God equate the professed church with the true church? Again the question is loaded with a false assumption because the truth is that, “God is honored, not so much by the great number, as by the character of those who serve Him. He appreciates moral worth. He draws the dividing line between those who bear His name by profession, and those whose character shows them to be His children.” Signs of the Times, June 30, 1881. “Time proved that his profession was not real.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 278. “It is something more than a profession that distinguishes the children of obedience from the children of disobedience.” Signs of the Times, September 17, 1894. “The sum is proved by one who never makes a mistake. The contradiction between the life and the profession of the Christian who speaks evil of his brethren is self-evident.” Signs of the Times, October 30, 1901. “If sin is practiced in daily life, there is no real value in all their profession.” General Conference Daily Bulletin, February 4, 1893. “John declared to the Jews that their standing before God was to be decided by their character and life. Profession was worthless. If their life and character were not in harmony with God’s law, they were not His people.” Desire of Ages, 107.

God gives opportunity to everyone who makes a profession to demonstrate and develop a perfect character, but if a person deliberately chooses to live in sin, his profession is obviously worthless. “The Lord will not compel men to deal justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with their God; He sets before the human agent good and evil, and makes plain what will be the sure result of following one course or the other. Christ invites us, saying, ‘Follow me.’ But we are never forced to walk in His footsteps. If we do walk in His footsteps, it is the result of deliberate choice. As we see the life and character of Christ, strong desire is awakened to be like Him in character; and we follow on to know the Lord, and to know His goings forth are prepared as the morning. We then begin to realize that ‘the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.’ ” Review and Herald, March 31, 1896 (See also Christ’s Object Lessons, 318; Desire of Ages, 764; Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 4, 1143, 1144; Manuscript Releases, vol. 7, 192.)

  1. A third assumption is a false definition of the church. Since it is assumed that the professed church and the true church in reality are the same, it is assumed that the true church contains faithful and unfaithful, the loyal and the traitors, the angelic and the demonic. Statements in the inspired writings, speaking about the professed church, are used in an attempt to prove this. But definition statements of the true church in the inspired writings do not contradict, they cannot contradict without destroying the prophets and the Bible altogether. “All truth, whether in nature or in revelation, is consistent with itself in all its manifestations.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 114.

Inspired writings cannot have mutually contradictory definition statements unless they are inspired by the devil. “God never contradicts Himself. Scripture proofs are misapplied if forced to testify to that which is not true. Another and still another will arise and bring in supposedly great light, and make their assertions. But we stand by the old landmarks.” Selected Messages, vol. 1, 162.

Here is the way the true church is always defined in the writings of Ellen G. White: “The Jewish tabernacle was a type of the Christian church . . . The church on earth, composed of those who are faithful and loyal to God, is the ‘true tabernacle,’ whereof the Redeemer is the minister. God, and not man, pitched this tabernacle on a high, elevated platform.” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 7, 931. “Christ is withdrawn only from the eye of sense, but He is as truly present by His Spirit as when He was visibly present on earth. The time that has elapsed since His ascension has brought no interruption in the fulfillment of His parting promise,—‘Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.’ God has provided light and truth for the world by having placed it in the keeping of faithful men, who in succession have committed it to others through all generations up to the present time. These men have derived their authority in an unbroken line from the first teachers of the faith. Christ remains the true minister of His church, but He delegates His power to His under-shepherds, to His chosen ministers, who have the treasure of His grace in earthen vessels. God superintends the affairs of His servants, and they are placed in His work by divine appointment.” Signs of the Times, April 7, 1890.

Notice, God is still in charge and people are placed in His work, in His church, by His own divine appointment. It is up to the church to recognize those who give evidence that the Holy Spirit has called and ordained them to a certain work. However, in the dark ages the professed church chose to burn His faithful servants at the stake instead. Persecution of those who are thought to be heretics is a sure sign that the professed church has forsaken her professed Lord, is serving another Master, and is in a state of apostasy. A church that is in a state of apostasy is attracted to other churches in apostasy: “The great I AM has decided what shall constitute the rule of faith and doctrine, and He has designed that the Bible shall be a household book. The church that holds to the word of God is irreconcilably separated from Rome. Protestants were once thus apart from this great church of apostasy, but they have approached more nearly to her, and are still in the path of reconciliation to the Church of Rome. Rome never changes. Her principles have not altered in the least. She has not lessened the breach between herself and Protestants; they have done all the advancing. But what does this argue for the Protestantism of this day? It is the rejection of Bible truth that makes men approach to infidelity. It is a backsliding church that lessens the distance between itself and the Papacy.” Signs of the Times, February 19, 1894.

“The church on earth, composed of those who are faithful and loyal to God, is the ‘true tabernacle,’ whereof the Redeemer is the minister. God, and not man, pitched this tabernacle on a high, elevated platform. This tabernacle is Christ’s body, and from north, south, east, and west, He gathers those who shall help to compose it.” Signs of the Times, February 14, 1900.

“Faithful souls have constituted the church of God on earth, and He has taken them into covenant relation with Himself, uniting His church on earth with His church in heaven. He has sent forth heavenly angels to minister to His church, and the gates of hell have not been able to prevail against His people.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 2, 266.

“The church is God’s fortress. His city of refuge, which He holds in a revolted world . . . From the beginning, faithful souls have constituted the church on earth . . . God brought these witnesses into covenant relation with Himself, uniting the church on earth with the church in heaven. He has sent forth His angels to minister to His church, and the gates of hell have not been able to prevail against His people.” The Acts of the Apostles, 11.

Man may fulfill his profession and thereby demonstrate that he is a member of the true church, or he may deny his profession by his speech or actions and thereby cease to be a part of the true church and become part of the synagogue of Satan. “Satan is earnestly striving to lead souls away from right principles. Multitudes who profess to belong to God’s true church are falling under the enemy’s deceptions. They are being led to swerve from their allegiance to the blessed and only Potentate.” Review and Herald, October 15, 1903.

“Romanists have persisted in bringing against Protestants the charge of heresy and willful separation from the true church. But these accusations apply rather to themselves. They are the ones who laid down the banner of Christ and departed from ‘the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.’ Jude 3.” The Great Controversy, 51. When a person(s) lays down the banner of Christ and departs from the faith, he has separated from the true church. This is universally true and unfortunately shows that large numbers of professed Seventh-day Adventists have separated from the true church. As in the apostasy of the church in Rome during the early centuries, the unfaithful majority still had the church buildings, organization, bank accounts, pastors, and all the outward machinery of a church. Yet, they were still the separationists. The faithful, loyal, and true to God remain the true church even if they are disfellowshipped or burned at the stake.

“I was shown, Oct. 2, 1868, the state of God’s professed people. [Notice this testimony is to and about the professed church which in this case is not really the true church.] Many of them were in great darkness, yet seemed to be insensible of their true condition . . . Especially is this the case in Battle Creek. Men in responsible places at the heart of the work are asleep. They are paralyzed by Satan, that his plans and devices may not be discerned while he is active to ensnare, deceive, and destroy. [Some people believe that you can be paralyzed by Satan and at the same time be a soldier of Christ in His army. Does this not approach blasphemy? Does Christ have any army over which He Himself is not in control? Would anyone say that the Lord is not able to organize and maintain a spiritual army of human beings under His own direction and control?] Those who are occupying the position of watchmen to warn the people of danger, have given up their watch, [They are not actually watchmen anymore.] and recline at ease. They are unfaithful sentinels. [They are not the faithful who compose the true church—they are unfaithful.] They have remained inactive and indolent while their wily foe has entered the fort, and works successfully by their side to tear down what God has commanded to be built up. [Is it possible for Satan to work side by side with a soldier in the true church and nothing happen?] They see that Satan is deceiving the inexperienced and unsuspecting, yet they take it all quietly, as though they had no special interest, as though these things did not concern them. They apprehend no special danger. They see no cause to raise an alarm. All to them seems to be going well, and they see no necessity of raising the faithful, trumpet tones of warning they hear in the plain testimonies borne showing the people their transgressions and the house of Israel their sins . . .

“These are the true feelings of a large class in Battle Creek. Satan exults at his success in controlling the minds [Does Satan control the minds of the people of the true church of God?] of so many who profess to be Christians. He has deceived them, benumbed their sensibilities, and planted his hellish banner right in their midst, [Has the devil deceived the people of the true church and planted his hellish banner in their midst with no resistance?] and they are so completely deceived that they know not that it is he. The people have not erected graven images, yet their sin is no less in the sight of God. They worship mammon. They love worldly gain. Some will make any sacrifice of conscience to obtain their object. God’s professed people are selfish and self-caring. [Repeatedly, Ellen White tells you whom she is talking about, it is the professed people of God. They are not the true church because they are unfaithful, and are controlled, deceived, fraternizing with, and paralyzed by Satan, and have fellowship with the works of darkness.] They love the things of this world, and have fellowship with the works of darkness. They have pleasure in unrighteousness. They have not love toward God, nor love for their neighbors. They are idolaters—worse, far worse, in the sight of God, than the heathen graven-image worshipers who have no knowledge of a better way.” Appeal to the Battle Creek Church, 1–3.

Ellen White clearly states that these members of the professed church were not in reality members of the true church, not really children of God: “Christ’s followers are required to come out from the world and be separate, and touch not the unclean, and they shall be sons and daughters of the Lord. If the conditions are not complied with on their part, they will not, cannot, realize the fulfillment of the promise of being children of the Most High God, members of the royal family.” The Southern Work, 13, 14. [For anyone who cares to investigate, the expression “royal family” is one of the definitive descriptions of who the true church is in the Spirit of Prophecy. This is therefore, a most explicit statement that these Seventh-day Adventists in Battle Creek are not part of the true church in reality.]

“A profession of Christianity is nothing in the sight of God; but true, humble, willing obedience to His requirements designates them as the children of His adoption, the recipients of His grace, the partakers of His great salvation. Such will be peculiar, a spectacle unto the world, to angels, and to men. Their peculiar, holy character will be discernible, and will distinctly separate them from the world, from its affections and lust. I saw that but few answer to this description in Battle Creek. Their love to God is in words, not in deed and in truth. Their course of action, their works testify of them, that they are not children of the light, but of darkness.” Ibid. [Notice they are not the children of God, but they are the children of the devil. To be part of the church by profession is to claim to be a child of God, but to be part of the church in reality is to be a child of God in character by obedience.] “I call upon every church in our land to look well to your own souls. [The context shows that she is using the word “church” here, as in hundreds or thousands of other places, to refer to the professed church. However, the rest of the paragraph shows that not all in the professed church are actually children of God. All of the professed church is not part of the true church.] ‘Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?’ God makes no distinction between the North and the South. Whatever may be your prejudices, your wonderful prudence, do not lose sight of this fact, that unless you put on Christ, and His Spirit dwells in you, you are slaves of sin and of Satan. Many who claim to be children of God are children of the wicked one, and have all his passions, his prejudices, his evil spirit, his unlovely traits of character. But the soul that is indeed transformed will not despise any one whom Christ has purchased with His own blood.” The Southern Work, 13, 14.

“In both the Old and the New Testament the Lord has positively enjoined upon His people to be distinct from the world, in spirit, in pursuits, in practice, to be a holy nation, a peculiar people. The east is not farther from the west than are the children of light, in customs, practices, and spirit, from the children of darkness. And this distinction will be more marked, more decided, as we near the close of time. It is not a profession of faith, or a name registered in the church book [The church book on earth is the professed church. She is not saying not to make the profession—all of the members of the true church will make the profession. The point is that profession is not enough to really be a child of God and to actually be a part of the true church.] that constitutes us children of God. It is a vital connection with Christ. We must be one with Him, imbued with His Spirit, partakers of the divine nature, crucified to the world with its affections and lusts, renewed in knowledge and true holiness.” Review and Herald, November 12, 1914. See also General Conference Bulletin, July 1, 1900, paragraph 16; General Conference Bulletin, February 4, 1893, paragraph 8; 1 John 3:7–10.

“Who are the children of God? They are members of the royal family, a royal nation, and a peculiar people, showing forth the praises of Him who hath called them out of darkness into His marvelous light. They do not worship idols, they love God with all the heart, and their neighbors as themselves.” Review and Herald, August 1, 1893.

“Their works have been in selfishness, in unrighteousness. Their works have not been wrought in God. Their hearts are strangers to His renewing grace. They have not experienced the transforming power that leads them to walk even as Christ walked. Those who are living branches of the heavenly Vine, will partake of the sap and nourishment of the vine. They will not be withered and fruitless branches. They will show life, and vigor, and will flourish and bear fruit to the glory of God. They will be careful to depart from all iniquity, and perfect holiness in the fear of God.” For those who care to investigate, there is another parameter distinguishing between the true church in reality and those who are the true church by profession only. It is that the true church member has an inner vital connection with the true vine. The person who is a member by profession but not in reality has an outer connection but the inner vital connection is lacking. “The church [In her opening sentence she made it clear that she is talking about the professed church. The professed Seventh-day Adventist church in Battle Creek, which, according to the testimony, was not part of the true church in reality at all.] has departed from the light, neglected her duties, abused her high and exalted privileges of being peculiar and holy in character, and thereby dishonored her God, like ancient Israel. They have violated their covenant to live for God and Him only. They have joined in with the selfish and world-loving. Pride, the love of pleasure, and sin, are cherished, and Christ has departed. His Spirit has been quenched in the church.” Appeal to the Battle Creek Church, 4.

Concerning the true church in reality she says, “To the end of time the presence of the Spirit is to abide with the true church.” Acts of the Apostles, 55. The fruit is the difference between the true church and the church by profession only. “Satan works side by side with professed Christians; yet they are so destitute of spirituality and discernment that they do not detect him. They have not the burden of the work. The solemn truths they profess to believe are not a reality to them. They have not genuine faith. Men and women will act out all the faith they in reality possess. By their fruits ye shall know them. Not their profession, but the fruit they bear, shows the character of the true.” Appeal to the Battle Creek Church, 4. Every member of the true church in reality makes an outward profession but everybody who makes a profession is not a member of the true church in reality.

The true church has sometimes had to flee, (Revelation 12:6) but it is not invisible. Every member makes an outward, public profession of faith and is baptized in a visible service. There is great confusion about this today because of false teaching. There will be many people from Babylon and from heathen countries who will be saved, but these people cannot now be described as belonging to an invisible or any other kind of church of God. (See Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary vol. 5, 1121; Desire of Ages, 239, 638.)

“Many have a form of godliness, their names are upon the church records, but they have a spotted record in Heaven. The recording angel has written deeds. Their acts have been faithfully written. Every selfish act, every wrong word, every unfulfilled duty, and every secret sin, with every artful dissembling, is faithfully chronicled in the book of records kept by the recording angel. Very many profess to be servants of Jesus Christ who are none of His. (See Romans 8:9.) They are deceiving their own souls to their own destruction. While they profess to be servants of Jesus Christ, they are not living in obedience to His will. Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; Whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? Many, while professing to be servants of Jesus Christ, are obeying another master, and working daily against the Master of whom they profess to be servants.” Ibid., 5. (See also Testimonies, vol. 2, 439.)

  1. A fourth assumption is that the past approximately equals the present. Stated in a different way, what was true in the past is true today. This false assumption was one of the great deceptions in Christ’s day. The Jews thought that because God had started their organization, and instituted the temple and all its services, that what had been true in the past was still true then. They did not discern that having the oracles of truth and all the symbols of true religion was not worth anything without a change of heart. That being lineal descendants of Abraham was worthless unless conversion was experienced, “The Jewish people might have repented, if they would, but they were clothed with the garments of their own self-righteousness. They claimed to be the descendants of Abraham, and looked upon every promise made to Israel as theirs. But the Israel of God are those who are converted, not those who are the lineal descendants of Abraham. [It was this conversion experience and not the fact that they were lineal descendants of Abraham that made them the people of God, even in Old Testament times.] ‘What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.’ Romans 3:1, 2. ‘For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.’ Romans 2:28, 29.” Upward Look, 80.

“The Pharisees had declared themselves the children of Abraham. Jesus told them that this claim could be established only by doing the works of Abraham. The true children of Abraham would live, as he did, a life of obedience to God. They would not try to kill One who was speaking the truth that was given Him from God. In plotting against Christ, the rabbis were not doing the works of Abraham. A mere lineal descent from Abraham was of no value. Without a spiritual connection with Him, which would be manifested in possessing the same spirit, and doing the same works, they were not His children.

This principle bears with equal weight upon a question that has long agitated the Christian world,—the question of apostolic succession. Descent from Abraham was proved, not by name and lineage, but by likeness of character. So the apostolic succession rests not upon the transmission of ecclesiastical authority, but upon spiritual relationship. A life actuated by the apostles’ spirit, the belief and teaching of the truth they taught, this is the true evidence of apostolic succession. This is what constitutes men the successors of the first teachers of the gospel.” The Desire of Ages, 466, 467.

The same false assumption is evident today. The past experience of the true and faithful in Adventism does not equal anything today unless we are true and faithful as they were. The nation of Israel according to the flesh (according to profession) cannot be equated to the true church of God. (See Romans 9:6–8.) It is the children of the promise, the spiritual children that are accounted for the seed—the true church. The children of the flesh, those who make a profession but do not fulfill their profession by their life and character, are not in reality God’s church (like Ishmael). Only the children of the promise are accounted for the seed.

So, were the Jewish rulers in Christ’s day part of the true church?

  1. They were part of the true church by profession but in character or reality “they were not His people.” The Desire of Ages, 107. They were given many opportunities to repent, return and become His people in reality, but they “cut themselves away from Him.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 293.

In the chapter on the Lord’s vineyard in Christ’s Object Lessons, Ellen White is talking about the “professed church” or the “professed people of God” and often refers to this group simply as the church, but the context shows clearly what she is talking about—“the professed followers of Christ.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 303. She declares that the professed followers of Christ were “unfaithful” Ibid. She says that they bear Christ’s name, but they “are not under Christ’s rule.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 304. She says that “they are under the control of the enemy.” Ibid. Can anybody believe that the true and faithful children of God (His true church) are under the control of the devil? Obviously these people, part of the professed church are not in reality part of the true church. They do not have the true identifying marks even if they go to church every Sabbath. The reasons that these who profess to be members of the true church, who bear Christ’s name are actually under the control of the enemy is given in the same page: “They are not heeding His instruction [they will not listen to the counsel of the Holy Spirit given in the Spirit of Prophecy] and they are not doing His work.” Ibid. Anytime you see this you may know that those in whom these criteria develops, are under the control of Satan and are members of the true church by profession only and not in reality.

  1. The true church is defined as follows: “In holy vision, John saw the remnant church on the earth, in an age of lawlessness, and he points them out in unmistakable language: ‘Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.’ ” Signs of the Times, February 3, 1888. To keep the commandments of God has always been an identifying mark of the true church. But the meaning of keeping the commandments is to love God supremely and your neighbor as yourself. (See Review and Herald, November 17, 1896.) Since the Jewish rulers “did not love God” (Christ’s Object Lessons, 293), they could not possibly be described as being part of the true church.
  2. The true church from the beginning has been composed of faithful souls (Acts of the Apostles, 11). But these Jewish rulers were “unfaithful.” (Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 3, 34.)
  3. The true church is made up of the people of God but the Jewish rulers were the children of the devil. (John 8:44.) They were the children of God by profession but the children of the devil in reality or in character.

God bears long with His professed people. He gives them ample opportunities to become vitally connected with the true vine, if they choose. He gives everyone opportunity for all the tares (evil traits of character) to be uprooted from his heart so that only the wheat (the divine character traits) will be left. He gives all opportunity to develop and manifest their true character and be a member of the true church, not just by profession, but in character. But this opportunity does not go on forever. When tares go to seed, when members of the professed church of God openly demonstrate a life of sin, they are to be disfellowshipped. (See Christ’s Object Lessons, 71.)

If the tares get in control of the church (the professed church), Jesus said to “let them alone.” Failure to heed this counsel resulted in the eternal destruction of millions of Jews and (would to God that He would forbid such to happen again) could indeed happen in Adventism. The destruction of Jerusalem is a faint picture of what will indeed happen in Adventism if those who make such a high profession deny such profession by their works, and fail to be sanctified by the truth and perfect holiness in the fear of God.

As we approach the final judgment (which approach has been in process since 1844—over 150 years) the tares go to seed and are removed from the field by the angels. Another name for the separation of the wheat and the tares is the shaking. We believe that this removal and separation is taking place with alarming rapidity during these closing years. When people lay down the banner of Christ and depart from the faith once delivered to the saints, they are by that very act separated from the true church, they are bound up in bundles to be burned, all the while assuming that they are part of the true church headed for glory. The deception is the very same as was upon the Jews in Christ’s day. The National Sunday Law will make it evident to the whole universe which bundle each person is part of. “Not one who is abiding in Christ will fail or fall.” Selected Messages, vol. 2, 368.

Day by day each Adventist is preparing to be in one group or the other for the final roll call which will be the last phase of the shaking (the separation of the wheat from the tares). The fact that the Jewish rulers were not part of the true church and will end up in the blackness of eternal night, assumes ominous proportions when one considers the following prophecies:

“We want to understand the time in which we live. We do not half understand it. We do not half take it in. My heart trembles in me when I think of what a foe we have to meet, and how poorly we are prepared to meet him. The trials of the children of Israel, and their attitude just before the first coming of Christ, have been presented before me again and again to illustrate the position of the people of God in their experience before the second coming of Christ—how the enemy sought every occasion to take control of the minds of the Jews, and today he is seeking to blind the minds of God’s servants, that they may not be able to discern the precious truth.” Selected Messages, vol. 1, 406.

“In His Word the Lord declared what He would do for Israel if they would obey His voice. But the leaders of the people yielded to the temptations of Satan, and God could not give them the blessings He designed them to have, because they did not obey His voice but listened to the voice and policy of Lucifer. This experience will be repeated in the last years of the history of the people of God, who have been established by His grace and power. Men whom He has greatly honored will in the closing scenes of this earth’s history pattern after ancient Israel.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 13, 379.

“The time of the judgment is a most solemn period, when the Lord gathers His own from among the tares. Those who have been members of the same family are separated. A mark is placed upon the righteous.” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 234.

 

A Light in the Darkness

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It is hard to determine whether it was in the first century that these apostolical men planted the Christian religion at Milan, and the diocese there-unto belonging; or whether it were done in the second century; forasmuch as Milan was a considerable city in those primitive times, and we find that the Church es of Lyons and Vienna were already famous in the second age, by reason of their martyrs, apostolic men having first of all preached in the capital cities, that the Gospel from thence, as the head spring, might diffuse itself throughout the whole diocese, and so facilitate the propagation thereof.

I do not think any man can precisely define the time of their preaching, those first disciples having been much more careful to preach the Gospel, than to write the history of it.

Concerning the state of the Christian religion in the diocese of Italy, until the end of the fourth century. [It will be recognized by the reader that the church in Italy was in more or less a state of apostasy even in the second century, but nonetheless, several ancient customs still remained as follows]

Neither did they, without doubt, own any other tradition, besides that of St. Irenaeus, that nothing ought to be laid down for certain truth, but what Jesus Christ hath taught, or the Apostles written, and left to the apostolical Churches as a sacred depositum.

They had Deacons, who expounded also the Gospel, who distributed the Eucharist, who carried it to those that were absent, who baptized, and who sometimes, in less considerable places, had the oversight of Churches. They were ordinarily those that visited the sick and prisoners, and that took care of the temporal concerns of the Church.

The Diaconesses, who were of apostolical institution, and received the imposition of hands, and who, together with the virgins and widows, made, as it were, a part of the Clergy, were employed to instruct the women in their houses, to visit the prisoners, and to prepare and dispose those of their own sex for the reception of Baptism.

In the fourth century images began to be introduced into some churches, viz. The pictures of martyrs: but they knew nothing yet of painting the Deity, or of giving the images any religious worship.

In the fourth century they consecrated churches but to God alone, they read only in the churches the canonical Scriptures, with the respect due unto the word of God; to which they afterwards joined some hymns composed by some men of great renown.

They celebrated fasts that were very different as to their duration. Some of these fasts were kept every week, on Wednesday and Friday; the church of Rome fasted also on Saturday. These days of fasting having not been instituted by the authority of the Apostles, according to the general consent of ancient Christians, and every one using them with great liberty.

The body of Christian Churches continued united together by the bond of one and the same faith, and by the mutual care which every Bishop took to keep up the same zeal for the purity of manners, as for that of faith. If there happened any difference, the Bishops and the Priest of the same province assembled, and determined the matter, without any appeal: and it was not till the midst of the fourth century, when the dioceses were better formed, that the Council of Sardica granted to Pope Julius, Bishop of Rome, the privilege of examining afresh all causes that had been determined in the provincial synods; which however never took full effect, all the Greeks, and a great part of the Latins having rejected that Canon. The Bishops of Rome endeavored to attribute and preserve to themselves this authority, though they could never bring it about, but by means of the favor of the Emperors Gratian at the end of the fourth age, and of Valentinian the Thire in the midst of the fifth age.

This was the general state of the Church, whilst under the heathen persecutions, and after having endured the furies of Arianism, which almost wholly laid her waste, during the fourth century.

The opinions amongst the ancient Christians upon many questions of divinity being very different, they made use of great forbearance one with another, as long as they did but agree in matters of faith.

Every diocese was looked upon as being independent of all other authority: so that what respect soever they might have for apostolical Churches, [churches founded by one of the apostles] yet did not they think themselves obliged to follow them, in case they were persuaded that they had violated the purity of the faith.

[In the early part of the ninth century a great reformer arose in Turin by the name of Claudius, who was made bishop of Turin. He wrote voluminous commentaries on various parts of the Bible. He is referred to by Ellen White. She said, “The first question which arises in my mind as we enter one after another of these large cities, is, Would not this be a good place to present the truth? But here, [Turin] as in Milan, we are told that the people are nearly all Catholics. The time was, however, when this was not the case. It was here in the ninth century that Claudius contended so valiantly for the doctrines of the Christian Church. The mantle of Ambrose, archbishop of Milan, descended upon him, and, grasping the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, he waged a battle which did much to delay, although it could not prevent, the final overthrow of his church. The influence of his pen was felt where his voice could not be heard, and was a mighty instrumentality in preserving, even in the Waldensian valleys, then a part of his diocese, the first principles of the Christian religion.” Review and Herald, June 1, 1886.]

[Claudius Bishop of Turin] overthrows the doctrine of merits, pronounces anathema’s against traditions in matter of religion: maintains, that faith alone saves us, holds the church to be subject to error, denies, that prayers after death may be of any use to those that have demanded them; broke down images throughout his diocese, and [wrote a defense] against the adoration if images, the worship of saints, pilgrimages, the worship of relics, with other such like superstitions.

God commands us to bear our cross, and not to worship it.

He only is apostolic, who is the keeper and guardian of the Apostle’s doctrine, and not he who boasts himself to be seated in the chair of the Apostle, and in the mean time doth not acquit himself of the charge of the Apostle; for the Lord saith, that the Scribes and Pharisees sat in Moses chair.

Ellen White writes, “Our visit to the Waldensian Valleys was one of special interest on account of the close connection which this locality has with the history of the people of God in past ages. It was in the friendly shelter of the surrounding rocky peaks that they found protection when the fierce persecutions of the Roman church drove them from the fertile plains of Northern Italy. In these plains they had succeeded in maintaining their independence of Rome many years after others had yielded to her power.

Indeed, up to the eleventh century, the diocese of Milan is said to have greatly exceeded in extent that of Rome. But the very fact that her authority was disregarded on what might be called her own territory, was very humiliating to a power to whom all the world was then bowing down; and, after repeated unsuccessful attempts to induce the bishops of Milan to yield their independence, they were finally forced to submit.

“The submission, however, was by no means universal. Many refused to yield their rights, and fled, some to one country, some to another, while many retired to the Piedmontese Alps. ‘Behind this rampart of mountains, Which Providence, foreseeing the approach of evil days, would seem to have reared on purpose, did this remnant of the early apostolic church of Italy kindle their lamp, and here did that lamp continue to burn all through the long night which descended upon Christendom.’ ” Historical Sketches, 239.

Excerpts from Some Remarks upon the Ecclesiastical History of the Ancient Church of Piedmont, (The Waldenses) by Peter Allix (1821) (First edition published in 1690.)

John Wesley, An English Reformer, part 1

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The little village of Epworth lies between the Trent, the Don and the Idle Rivers, on the Isle of Axholme, in northern England. This became the home of John Wesley who was born on June 17, 1703.

His father, Samuel, was born a gentleman and made himself a scholar. He went to school at Stoke Newington with Daniel Defoe and received instruction from Charles Morton, who later became vice-president of Harvard College in New England. He was raised a dissenter from the Church of England. He eventually served as chaplain on a man-of-war and as a curate in London. His final home was in Epworth as the rector of that village. Besides his scholarship, Samuel Wesley was noted as a poet and was one of the editors of the Athenian Mercury.

He served several terms as a representative of the diocese of Lincoln to the legislative body of the Church of England and fought for the independence of the lower house from the dominantly Whig house of bishops.

John was the second son and the fifteenth child, his elder brother Samuel was thirteen when John was born.

The rectory was burned when John was six years old and he was barely saved by the help of some neighbors. His father had given his son up for lost, so when he received him back he said that John was “a brand plucked from the burning.” The father took this as a sign that God intended great things for the boy.

Samuel was very unpopular with the people of the village due to his being a clergyman and a Tory. Also Nathaniel Reading, an attorney and collector of taxes, was a friend of his. In addition to this, he was a strict disciplinarian asking about the private lives of his parishioners and enforcing the rules of the church. Besides burning his house down, the “resentful Islonians” stabbed his cattle and maimed his sheep. The family lived in poverty as a result of the rectors running into debt and he had to appeal to his patrons to help pay his creditors.

“Unable to associate with the villagers, whom they regarded as clods and worse, cut off from the great world by miles of sullen, turgid waters, living in poverty galling to their gentility, the Wesley household was a world unto itself. And the Wesley children bore to their graves marks of their isolation, of their confinement to the weary, monotonous fen lands, of their resentment of poverty and suffering. They were all more or less eccentric; at least four of the girls made unhappy marriages; one of them brought shame on the country rectory.” Umphrey Lee, The Lord’s Horseman, 19.

The life of the Wesley family was not all gloom. The mother, Susannah, had the marvelous ability to manage her brood, teaching them to cry softly and fear the rod. The children spent six hours a day in the home school where the mother taught them the Lord’s prayer as soon as they could speak. After the age of five she taught them to read, and at the end of the day the older children read to the younger ones.

John was an exasperating child, demanding a reason for everything. His father, having been provoked to anger remarked to his wife, “I profess, sweetheart, I think our Jack would not attend to the most pressing necessities of nature unless he could give a reason for it.” Ibid., 20.

At the age of eleven, in 1714, the boy was nominated by the Duke of Buckingham to Charterhous, a school in London. At the age of seventeen, John entered Christ Church, Oxford College. He was a normal schoolboy, dabbling in verse and enjoying tennis and river sports. During his academic days his health was not always the best, so he turned to the medical field. He read many books on health and one especially which “recommended temperance and exercise forbidding highly seasoned meats, and advised drinking two pints of water and one pint of wine each twenty-four hours.” Ibid., 28.

On September 19, 1725, he was ordained deacon. Following this, in 1726, he was elected Fellow of Lincoln. This election, which included a stipend, gave him financial independence. With this independence John did not remain idle, but continued his academic studies and received a master’s degree in 1727.

 

Special Leave

 

He took special leave, twice in the next three years, to help his father by preaching at Epworth and Wroote. Wesley kept a detailed diary of his daily activities giving us a clear picture of a man well bred, interested in the souls of his parishioners, while at the same time unmindful of his own soul and body.

By this time Wesley had become acquainted with the writings of William Law, especially his latest book, Christian Perfection. The works of this man awakened his passion for the pursuit of holiness, first for himself and then for others. John attempted to introduce Law’s discipline into the Wesley family with tragic results. The father ordered him out of the house if he continued with his “apostolical nostrums.”

In 1729, Wesley received a call to return to Oxford. He lectured on Greek, Philosophy and Logic. As a teacher he was faithful and thorough. But other interests were beginning to develop in the heart of this teacher. Charles had founded a club at Oxford while John was in Epworth with his family.

John joined this club and soon became the leader. Under his leadership it became “one of the most famous in modern religious history.” Ibid., 33. George Whitefield, who later became famous as an open field preacher, joined the club. Benjamin Ingham, another well known man, joined the club. He later left the Church of England and took up with the Moravians.

The activities and philosophy of the club included attending church services and partaking of the Lord’s supper. In addition they met together in John Wesley’s room for devotions and careful study of the Greek New Testament. They also visited the sick and prisoners and organized classes for poor children. Their own funds, along with solicited money, were used to relieve the poor and occasionally to obtain freedom for a man imprisoned for debt. Wesley continued to study vigorously and read a formidable list of books, all the while carrying on a large correspondence that took a whole day each week.

By now John’s father was coming to the end of his life and he appealed to his son to come take his place in the rectory. John’s reply was that he considered that he was better able to promote holiness in himself and others at Oxford.

James Oglethorpe, a distinguished soldier and apostle of prison reform, called John Wesley in 1732 to go as a missionary to the Georgia colony he had set up. Wesley wrote, on October 10, 1735, that his main reason for going was for his own soul’s salvation. He hoped to learn the truth of the gospel by preaching to the “heathen.” Charles Wesley was also hired along with Benjamin Ingham, for the colony.

During the voyage (December 10 to February 5), they encountered at least three storms. One of these storms was so violent that the English screamed out in fear while the German Moravians sang a psalm showing no fear. Wesley was impressed by the calmness of these people.

Wesley hoped to be a missionary to the Indians, but he had agreed to take care of the parish of Savannah until another minister should arrive. A few days after his arrival John Wesley was visited by an Indian Chief named Tomo-chachi whom he called “king” of the Savannah nation. The king came with a request that the white priests feed the Indians with milk for they were only children. The king complained to Wesley that the Spanish and French were building forts and the English traders were liars.

The people in the Georgia colony became disenchanted with Wesley because of his high church leanings and his insistence that his parishioners adhere to the rigid discipline of the church. Then something happened which added fuel to the fire of opposition to him.

He had become involved emotionally with Sophia Hopkey, who at one point wished that John would ask for her hand. He solicited advice from his Moravian friends, but they did not give him any encouragement. Because of his hesitancy, the young lady ran off with another man. As a result of that action, Wesley refused to admit her to Communion because she did not communicate her intentions.

Along with all the other unhappiness, Sophia’s husband brought suit against Wesley. The Grand Jury indited him on ten counts, nine of which related to ecclesiastical usages, such as refusing to baptize a child but by immersion and refusing to read the burial service over the body of a dissenter. Wesley refused to plead on the ecclesiastical charges stating that the court had no jurisdiction in these matters. He asked for an immediate trial on the tenth point, which was regarding the charges of Sophia. The trial never occurred.

 

Disappointment

 

Disappointed with the hostility of the parishioners of Savannah and the fact that the Indians were not interested in being instructed in Christianity, Wesley left Georgia in December of 1737 and returned to England. He said, “I went to America, to convert the Indians, but oh, who shall convert me?” Ibid., 61.

Upon his return, he gave a report as to the condition of the colony stating that many had left and that the colony was in critical condition. He was cleared of the charges against him and his resignation was accepted. He looked back on his experience in Georgia and his passion for Sophia as a victory over his lower nature.

There were four advantages Wesley had realized from his time in Georgia. 1. He had learned to read German, French, Spanish and Italian. 2. That he had to leave the direction of his affairs with the Lord. 3. He had lost his fear of the sea. 4. He had become acquainted with the Moravians whom he found to be model Christians.

“Looking over this characteristic summary of personal losses and gains in Georgia, one can understand the way which Wesley was going. His search for Christian perfection through self-discipline, by good works, by a strict adherence to what he believed to be the practice of the Primitive Church, his discouragement as the result of his experiences in the New World, all prepared Wesley for a rearrangement of his life pattern. He was ready for a mystical conversion of the type recorded by Luther and Paul—although not of the type recorded by Augustine.” Ibid., 64.

The following experience occurred and was recorded by Wesley on Wednesday, May 24, 1738. “I think it was about five this morning, that I opened my Testament on those words, . . . ‘there are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, even that ye should be partakers of the divine nature.’ . . . Just as I went out, I opened it again on those words, ‘Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.’ In the afternoon I was asked to go to St. Paul’s. The anthem was, ‘Out of the deep have I called unto Thee, O Lord: Lord, hear my voice. O let Thine ears consider well the voice of my complaint. If Thou, Lord, wilt be extreme to mark what is done amiss, O Lord, who may abide it? For there is mercy with Thee; therefore shalt Thou be feared. O Israel, trust in the lord for with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him is plenteous redemption. And He shall redeem Israel from all his sins.’

“In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.” Ibid., 65.

Following this, Wesley began a program of attempting to persuade others to have the same conversion he himself had experienced. His brother Charles had been converted a few days before and he supported John in his efforts to influence others. In later years John would change his mind regarding the necessity of others having the same inner change that had developed in his own heart and life.

“John . . . was now all aflame with the ambition to visit Herrnhut, in Saxony, the home of the Moravians. He had embarked for Georgia hoping to learn the true gospel by studying the reactions of the ‘noble savage’ to his preaching; disappointed there, he now believed that Herrnhut would prove his spiritual El Dorado. He had now, he thought, learned the first lesson of the gospel; he hoped that ‘conversing with those holy men who were themselves living witnesses of the full power of faith, and yet able to bear with those that are weak’ would be a means of ‘establishing’ his soul. He plunged at once into plans for this new pilgrimage and on the twelfth of June left for Germany.” Ibid., 66, 67.

 

In the Wilderness

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Today, many who call themselves Adventist Christians are in spiritual trouble. Many are floundering in the winds of doctrine that blow with the currents of popular theories. It is astounding to see who becomes entangled in the web of the heresies and strategies of the enemy. The shaking time is upon us. Now is the time to press together in truth, but we must know what the truth is, or we will press together with the wrong people!

An important part of the truth for these last days is the knowledge of how the battle is fought; the principles of the warfare. Many do not think this is important! But when you know how the enemy thinks, you have an advantage that can be achieved no other way. Some people think this knowledge is sinful, and that is exactly what the enemy would like. He wants to be cloaked in obscurity until it is too late for his victims to escape.

In this shaking time, Satan’s mightiest efforts are put forth to hide himself and to lull “Christians” into his brand of eternal security. He understands from prophecy that we are in the last days. He has put together an agenda and formed a strategy to carry it out. His greatest fear is that we will learn how he operates and call upon God for our defense in the final struggle for supremacy. It cannot be overemphasized that now we must know who we serve and who we are fighting. It is now that we must choose to be either soldiers of the cross or slaves of the enemy. We have no other choice. To refuse to take part in the battle, to refuse to fortify the mind with truth (which includes knowing how the enemy operates), is to defect to the enemy’s side.

As the battle rages more furiously, we must know what God would have us to do. When war comes to our shores we would be traitors to be indifferent, much less openly use our influence for the enemy. So, in the “great controversy” will we deceive others into believing that God wants us to remain complacent? But this is happening and it is disturbing to see who is involved in this work of deception. The vital lesson each individual must learn is to keep their eyes fixed on Jesus; to lean on Him—not the arm of flesh; to study diligently and then decide to serve the Lord or the enemy.

 

Deliverance

 

Through the workings of providence, Abraham’s descendants found themselves in a land of strangers. There they became slaves to a cruel tyrant and for several centuries were forced to serve the enemies of God. But God did not forget His chosen people. He watched what was happening. When the prophetic time was fulfilled, God delivered His people and set them free.

Moses was chosen of the Lord before he uttered his first word. As God made provision for Israel’s deliverance, He has made provision for each one of us if we will cooperate with His plan. God, who can see the end from the beginning, knows what is best for us.

After Moses had been trained by the Lord, God prepared a way of escape for Israel and brought them into the wilderness on the way to the promised land. From this wilderness experience we can learn many lessons that will be valuable to us in our own last day struggles.

As we witness God’s tenderness with His ancient people, how He miraculously saved them from their enemies, our faith grows stronger knowing that He plans to repeat these actions. He has proven that He is willing and well able to accomplish what He sets out to do. The parting and closing up again of the Red Sea, to save His helpless children, tells of the great love of our Heavenly Father.

The lessons regarding the Sanctuary, of how it was built with volunteered generosity and for what purpose, holds lessons that are essential for us. This is not “extra curricular” work for God’s students, but a major portion of required academics. A knowledge of our sanctuary message is extremely important, and without it we are not Seventh-day Adventists.

 

The Mixed Multitude

 

Today, attacks of many kinds are being leveled against the fundamental principles of our faith. We are in the wilderness and we are not alone! We have a company of the “mixed multitude” with us.

God’s people, under the oppression of slavery, had forgotten His law. In the wilderness God gave the Ten Commandment Law to His freed children and renewed the old covenant with them. He would be their God and they would be His people as long as they obeyed Him. God said, This is righteousness and this is evil. And they answered, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.” Exodus 19:8. Their welfare was in direct relationship to their loyalty to that agreement.

Alas, while Moses was still in the mount, the faith of God’s children grew dim. As a result of weak spiritual leadership in the camp, the mixed multitude, including the “professed” children of God, led the children of Israel into idolatry. This is happening before our very eyes today.

You and I will be deceived if we are only children of God by profession. We will think we are all right when we are all wrong. We will think ourselves wise when we will be at the height of spiritual foolishness. Those who play the game of popularity are in the greatest danger! They cannot be trusted. We should have compassion for these people. We should continue to work under God’s guidance to alert them to their danger. But as a practical matter we must not allow them to have any degree of influence over us.

 

The Golden Calf

 

In the incident of the golden calf we see lessons for us today. God chose Aaron to be a leader among His children. He told Moses at the burning bush that Aaron would help him lead His people out of bondage and into the Promised Land. Aaron was second in command under Moses. The people looked to Aaron for spiritual guidance. He was in charge during Moses’ absence.

“But while Moses was thus receiving instruction from God, the people were corrupting themselves at the foot of the mount. The mixed multitude that came from Egypt with the Israelites were the principal movers in this dreadful departure from God. They were called a mixed multitude, because the Hebrews had intermarried with the Egyptians.” The Signs of the Times, May 13, 1880.

“In this multitude were not only those who were actuated by faith in the God of Israel, but also a far greater number who desired only to escape from the plagues, or who followed in the wake of the moving multitudes, merely from excitement and curiosity. This class were ever a hindrance and a snare to Israel.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 281.

“During the period of waiting, there was time for them to meditate upon the law of God which they had heard, and to prepare their hearts to receive the further revelations that He might make to them. They had none too much time for this work; and had they been thus seeking a clearer understanding of God’s requirements, and humbling their hearts before Him, they would have been shielded from temptation. But they did not do this, and they soon became careless, inattentive, and lawless. Especially was this the case with the mixed multitude. They were impatient to be on their way to the Land of Promise—the land flowing with milk and honey. It was only on condition of obedience that the goodly land was promised them, but they had lost sight of this . . . The ‘mixed multitude’ had been the first to indulge murmuring and impatience, and they were the leaders in the apostasy that followed.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 315.

In the above three statements are a multitude of spiritual treasures for those seeking them. Are “Adventist” people intermarrying with the “Egyptians” today? If their offspring in the ancient days were part of the mixed multitude that “were ever a hindrance and a snare to Israel,” what should this piece of history teach us? How about those “who desired only to escape from the plagues, or who followed in the wake of the moving multitudes merely from excitement [sensationalism] and curiosity”? What does it mean that this class was “ever a hindrance and snare to Israel”?

Scripture tells us, “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.” 1 Corinthians 10:11. The Lord will teach us many things if we are humble students. We need to learn lessons from sacred history and apply them to our present time.

“In the absence of Moses, the judicial authority had been delegated to Aaron, and a vast crowd gathered about his tent, with the demand, ‘Make us gods, which shall go before us . . . Such a crisis demanded a man of firmness, decision, and unflinching courage; one who held the honor of God above popular favor, personal safety, or life itself. But the present leader of Israel was not of this character. Aaron feebly remonstrated with the people, but his wavering and timidity at the critical moment only rendered them the more determined. The tumult increased. A blind, unreasoning frenzy seemed to take possession of the multitude. There were some who remained true to their covenant with God, but the greater part of the people joined in the apostasy. A few who ventured to denounce the proposed image making as idolatry, were set upon and roughly treated, and in the confusion and excitement they finally lost their lives.

“Aaron feared for his own safety; and instead of nobly standing up for the honor of God, he yielded to the demands of the multitude.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 316–317.

The good news for us today is that we do not have to depend on a human leader for our salvation. In fact just the opposite is true. Throughout history the Lord has chosen men to lead and this last vestige of time is no different. But we are not to give them priority above God. Our service is to be God first and man second. There are no exceptions to this rule. Any leader who demands loyalty to him is a false leader. A true leader will lead others to Jesus and away from himself.

It matters not if it is a Conference President, a General Conference President or an Independent Leader; to follow man in place of God and give him prominence above God is spiritual death. Let us not rationalize into self-deception on this issue. We are witnesses to those around us as to what we really believe. We need to follow the admonition to the Laodiceans: “Anoint thine eye-salve, that thou mayest see.” Revelation 3:1, 8. We must make our calling sure in Jesus Christ. God will not accept or save us if we worship any man. The first commandment is: Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:3. We must ever remember that the yardstick of the true and faithful is the lovely Jesus Christ and not man. With singleness of purpose and God’s help we must determine to give our best and foremost to Jesus. Then our generous support may be given to those whom God has raised up who continually prove their calling by God’s methods.

We just do not have any time left to play games with these vital truths. We must realize that many, as did ancient Israel, will fall at the hands of the mixed multitude, within the Adventist movement. In view of this sobering fact we should be strongly motivated to use the short probationary time we have left to do our part in God’s army. If we truly wish eternal life, joy, and peace, for ourselves and others, we will cease to seek popularity and political correctness among men. We will seek to be in harmony with Jesus Christ the Founder and Finisher of our faith.

“How often, in our own day, is the love of pleasure disguised by a ‘form of godliness’! A religion that permits men, while observing the rites of worship, to devote themselves to selfish or sensual gratification, is as pleasing to the multitudes now as in the days of Israel. And there are still pliant Aarons, who, while holding positions of authority in the church, will yield to the desires of the unconsecrated, and thus encourage them in sin.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 317.

We appeal to leaders and laity alike to seek that greater treasure which has its origin not in this world but in the one to come. Let us press together in the strength and truth of our gracious Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Onward and upward!! Higher ever higher.

“If Aaron had had courage to stand for the right, irrespective of consequences, he could have prevented that apostasy. If he had unswervingly maintained his own allegiance to God, if he had cited the people to the perils of Sinai, and had reminded them of their solemn covenant with God to obey His law, the evil would have been checked. But his compliance with the desires of the people, and the calm assurance with which he proceeded to carry out their plans, emboldened them to go to greater lengths in sin than had before entered their minds . . . Of all the sins that God will punish, none are more grievous in His sight than those that encourage others to do evil. God would have His servants prove their loyalty by rebuking transgression, however painful the act may be. Those who are honored with a divine commission are not to be weak, pliant time-servers. They are not to aim at self-exaltation, or to shun disagreeable duties, but to perform God’s work with unswerving fidelity.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 323–324.

 

The Tongue of Slander

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During the rise and progress of the third message, the tongue of slander has not been silent. Men will use the best arguments they have. When unable from the Bible to meet the positions of those who teach unpopular truth, some will resort to slander as the next best argument. The case is sometimes felt to be urgent and even desperate. Truth is mighty. The people will hear, and some will obey. These are frequently the best members of the various religious bodies. Efforts at argument from the Bible, in opposition, fail to silence the voice of truth, and in some cases turn the minds of many of the people to the truth. Something must be done. And it is painful to record, that in many cases professed ministers of Jesus Christ deal in smut and blacking, and stoop to invent and repeat the vilest slanders to prejudice the people against those who plead for the truth of God.

“There are hundreds of ministers in the United States who, if disturbed in their quiet possession of the ears of the people, by the proclamation of the unpopular truths of the third message in their vicinity, would take delight in repeating the old threadbare falsehoods concerning ascension robes, and the like, to cut off the influence of the servant of God.

“In almost every place where our ministers give discourses upon the second coming of Christ, and the necessary preparation for that event, they have to labor against the prejudices of the people, caused by reports of the inconsistencies of Adventists; one of which is, that at a point of expectation in the past, many of them did prepare robes of white linen, and put them on ready to ascend and meet their coming Lord.

“While all sane persons, who have any knowledge of what the holy Scriptures do teach of the necessary preparation to meet the Lord as he shall descend from Heaven, will agree that to prepare a literal white robe made of cloth as a fitting preparation for the transit from earth to Heaven, from mortality to immortality, must be an indication of downright insanity, none will see in such an act evidences of criminality.

“But I do not believe that anything of the kind ever occurred. I have been actively engaged in the proclamation of the doctrine of the second advent for more than twenty-five years, and have traveled and preached in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Canada, and have not met a person who has seen an Adventist thus attired, or one that was able to give better proofs that anything of the kind ever did occur than vague reports. I have never found the place where the thing occurred. It was always in the next town, county, or State.

“Again, reports in relation to this matter, and slanders of a similar nature, have a hundred times been denied in Second-Advent periodicals, and proofs have been called for of the truthfulness of these statements. No one has been able to produce the proofs. But still the tongue of slander takes delight in repeating the old threadbare falsehood. Elders Loughborough and Strong met it at Orange, Michigan, in January, 1868, and Elder Cornell met the same at Johnstown, Michigan, a few weeks later. In both cases the miserable untruth was declared from the pulpit by professed ministers of Jesus Christ.

“The people, generally, credit the statements of these ministers, and conclude that the story of ascension robes is true. Especially do those who are not favorable to Second-Advent views enjoy this sort of clerical slander. And the fact that our people are not always prepared to meet it, is the reason why I have felt called upon to notice the matter at this time.

“In 1847, while on our passage in a steamboat from Portland, Maine, to Boston, Massachusetts, Mrs. W. was speaking to those around her in the ladies’ cabin, of the fearful storm we encountered in a recent passage between these two cities. She spoke of the importance of being always prepared for the close of our probation, either at death, or at the coming of Christ. A lady near her replied:

“ ‘That is the way the Millerites talk. I mean to have a jolly good time before I become a long-faced Christian. The Millerites are the most deluded set on earth. On the day they were expecting Christ to come, companies in different places put on their ascension robes, and went into graveyards, and upon the tops of houses and high hills, and there remained, praying and singing till the time passed by.’

“Mrs. W. then inquired of the lady if she saw any of these persons thus attired. She answered:

“ ‘No, I did not see them myself, but a friend who saw them told me. And the fact is so well understood everywhere, that I believe it as much as though I saw it myself.’

“At this point another lady, feeling that the testimony of the first should not be questioned, stated:

“ ‘It is of no use to deny that the Millerites did put on ascension robes, for they did it in towns all around where I live.’

“Mrs. W. asked this lady if she saw them with their robes on. She replied:

“ ‘No, I did not see them, as they were not in my immediate neighborhood. But it was commonly reported and generally believed, that they did make ascension robes and put them on.’

“By this time strong feelings were evidently controlling these two ladies, because Mrs. W. did not seem to credit what they said against the Millerites. And the first in the conversation stated with emotions of excitement and passion:

“ ‘I know it was so. I fully believe the testimony of those who have told me these things. I believe what my friends have told me about those fanatical Millerites, the same as though I saw it myself.’

“Mrs. W. then inquired of her for the names of some persons who had figured in this fanatical movement. She stated if the putting on of ascension robes was so very common, certainly she could give the names of some. To this she replied:

“ ‘Certainly I can give you names. There were the twin Harmon girls in Portland. My friends told me that they saw their robes, and saw them going out to the graveyard with them on. Since the time has passed, they have become infidels.’

“A school-mate of Mrs. W., who had never been an Adventist, was in that cabin, and had watched the conversation with mirthful interest. She had been acquainted with the Harmon girls during the entire period of their Second-Advent experience. She could no longer restrain her feelings, and broke out in a laughing mood, as she pointed to Mrs. W.:

“ ‘This is one of those twin Harmon girls. I have known them always, and know that this report of their making and wearing ascension robes is all a lie. I never was a Millerite, yet I do not believe that anything of the kind ever took place.’

“The storm that was fast arising in that cabin suddenly abated, and there followed a great calm. Mrs. W. then stated that all the stories about ascension robes were probably as destitute of truth as this one concerning the twin Harmon girls.

“Elder Josiah Litch, lately editor of the Advent Herald, Boston, in his history of the rise and progress of Adventism, makes the following statement:

“ ‘Those periods came and passed with no unusual occurrence. As soon as they had gone by, a flood of scoffing, reviling and persecution burst forth, not from the infidel world so much, but from the professed friends of the Saviour; the most idle and foolish stories of ascension robes, and going out into the graveyards to watch, going to the tops of the houses, etc., etc. These were repeated again and again, both from pulpit and press, until the public were, many of them, at least, almost persuaded to believe them true.

“ ‘How, or where they originated, except in willful falsehood, we cannot devise. Some of the reports of that character, we happen to know, originated with professed ministers of the gospel, who gave date and place when there was not a word of truth in the whole story. Others must have originated in a similar way.’ ”

The foregoing, relative to the ascension robes, was given in the Review and Herald for April 14, 1868. The article closed with the following paragraph:

“Fifty dollars reward is offered to any person who will present unquestionable proofs of the truthfulness of the statements, that believers in the second advent of Christ, on the day of expectation, did put on ascension robes. Those who can produce such proofs, are requested to forward them immediately to the writer, at Greenville, Montcalm County, Michigan, and receive fifty dollars by return mail.”

Up to this date, July 13, 1868, no one has responded in the way of furnishing proofs that anything of the kind ever took place. Why this silence on the part of our friends, as well as our enemies, if there be the least semblance of truth in the statements upon this subject, gravely made by ministers in the desk as a part of the gospel they preach? If proofs exist, why can we not have them? The reader should regard these statements about ascension robes, which opposing clergymen have the credit of repeating, more than any other class, as malicious slanders, until he has reliable proofs that something of the kind occurred.

The Review and Herald for May 20, 1868, has the following from Elder J. H. Waggoner, which fairly represents this matter of ascension robes:

“Brother White’s remarks on the falsehoods circulated on the above subject, remind me of an incident that transpired some years since in Wisconsin. A Mr. H., an M.E. preacher, deriding the Adventists, said: ‘It is a fact that they prepared and put on ascension robes in 1844.’ At the close of his remarks I stated that I was very anxious to learn about the facts on that subject, and asked him to give particulars, as to where, by whom, etc. He said that it was not always convenient to give the evidence on matters which had transpired years in the past, and he could not then comply with the request. I turned to the congregation and said:

“ ‘He has said it is a fact. Now if he does not know it to be a fact, he has made a false statement. If he knows it to be a fact, he can procure the evidence of the fact. As he has an appointment here four weeks from today, I give notice that I will be here at that time to get his statement; as that will give him time to get the information. If it occurred anywhere, it will be easy to prove it in that locality. I hope the people will all be here to get the facts he may present.’

“Being thus pressed to make good his assertion, and having the expectation of the people raised on it, he saw the necessity of doing something, and promptly confessed that he knew nothing about it, but had heard such a report!

“The way the report ran was well illustrated by the following case: A Brother T., who had lived and labored in Buffalo, and attended the Advent meetings there, was working in Erie in the fall of 1844. After the set day passed, the report spread in Erie that the Adventists in Buffalo put on ascension robes. He was so grieved over their folly, and troubled in his mind, that he determined to visit his friends in Buffalo and talk with them about it. Landing at Buffalo, he met an acquaintance, not an Adventist, who did not know where he came from. He asked if any of the Adventists in Buffalo had put on ascension robes. ‘No,’ said his friend, ‘but they all did in Erie!’ A smile by Brother T. led to an explanation. And so it was everywhere. Everybody knew it was so—the place where it occurred could not be found.”

The part which the Spirit of God has led Mrs. W. to act in close connection with the cause of present truth, has called forth against her a spirit of persecution. The apostle says, “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice.” Ephesians 4:31. But these have been employed against her by the professed followers of Jesus Christ, with the object to crush her testimony and destroy her influence. In this cruel work, with some the tongue of slander has been “set on fire of hell.”

The work of the Lord through her has been to encourage the weak, comfort the desponding, exalt the standard of morality and true piety, and reprove sin in all its forms. And why should not the dragon rage? Why may we not expect to see those who are imbued with the spirit of the father of lies, delighting themselves in the most slanderous falsehoods against one who may be engaged in such a work? Such has ever been the work of Satan in all past time, and ever will be, till he is bound. And he has ever found, and ever will find, willing tools to do his work in opposition to the work of God. And these are more frequently found among ministers than any other class. The following from Elder M. E. Cornell, which occurred on his route from Battle Creek to Ionia, will illustrate the wicked course of some of those who love to be called “Reverend:”

“While on the cars, a circumstance occurred which shows the necessity of Brother White’s article on Clerical Slander. A Presbyterian minister from Gratiot County was making special efforts to attract attention to himself by his endeavors to amuse the passengers. Among other things, he states that Mrs. White had a vision at St. Louis, Gratiot County, Michigan, that she was to leave her husband and take another man; that a man might have as many wives as he chose. He then made some, not very refined, remarks and witticisms, which excited laughter in some, but disgust in the pure-minded. In the cars were several clergymen, and many intelligent ladies and gentlemen from several different States. Of course we could not let such a base slander pass, and a wrong impression go to so many different places; we therefore watched for a chance to correct the misstatement.

“An intelligent Jew soon entered into conversation with him, and turned the tables on him by relating an old slander against Martin Luther, that he had a child by his own daughter, etc. The minister was aroused. Said he, ‘It is a base slander, invented by his enemies. There is not a particle of proof of any such thing.’ He then came down upon the Jew with the most cutting reproof for making such a statement from hearsay evidence. Now our time had come. The measure he had meted to others had been immediately measured to him again.

“We then stated to the passengers that we had known Elder White and his wife for sixteen years, and that the statement made by the clergyman was an unmitigated slander. First, Mrs. White never had a vision in Gratiot County; and second, she never had a vision anywhere, of any such nature as had been stated. We then challenged him to stop at Owasso, with any of his friends as witnesses, and we would secure for him one thousand dollars, on the condition that he should make good his statement. We urged him to the task with such earnestness, that all in the car appeared to be convinced that he had uttered a slander. He was embarrassed, and said faintly, ‘I heard so’!

“An intelligent Infidel, from Dearborn, Michigan, then rose up, and made some very pointed remarks on hearsay evidence and condemning a whole body of people because of a story about some one of their number. ‘Shall I,’ said he; ‘call the Methodists a set of cut-throats, because several of their preachers are now in our penitentiary? Shall I condemn all ministers because one in our town ran away with Brother M.’s wife last week?’ By this time, the tide was turned completely. Several of the passengers expressed themselves very freely to me, and were anxious to know more about it.” Advent Review for April 28, 1868.

I do not believe that all ministers who differ with us in faith and practice are alike guilty with this man. No decent men, in or out of the ministry, would take pleasure in uttering such vile slander before a car full of ladies and gentlemen, however much he might feel opposed to the religious sentiments of Seventh-day Adventists. I believe there are God-fearing ministers in all the churches who would no sooner bear false witness of a slanderous character against those who are devoting their lives to the cause of Christ, than they would have the same done to themselves. But while these may be few and far between, the experience of a quarter of a century in teaching unpopular truth has taught me that, where personal interest is concerned, there are but very few ministers who will not stoop to the repetition of the vilest slanders, to injure the influence of those who get the ears of the people, if they differ with them. But in reference to the statements of Elder Cornell, I will say:

  1. Mrs. W. never was at St. Louis, Gratiot County, Michigan.
  2. She never had a vision in Gratiot County.
  3. Her standard of morality ever has been the Ten Commandments.
  4. Her views, her public and private labors, her books and oral teachings, have ever been in strict harmony with the law of God, the highest standard of morality on earth.
  5. She has ever borne the most decided testimony against any departure from the principles guarded by the Ten Commandments.
  6. She has borne a public testimony for twenty-five years, in the several States of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, and in Canada. She has, during this time, written books amounting to more than twenty-one hundred pages, besides many articles for several periodicals. And all who are acquainted with her teachings know that any statement that they are not in strict harmony with God’s standard of morality, is a slanderous untruth. Then let her enemies point to one impure sentence in all her writings, or prove that in her religious teachings she has uttered one unchaste word, or cease their slanderous persecution of a self-sacrificing Christian woman.

But I do not indulge the thought that whatever may be said to show the falsity of statements concerning ascension robes, and the views of Mrs. W., will silence the tongue of slander. No. These ministers know the influence they have with the public mind, and the advantages they have over us in this respect. Regardless of justice and truth, they will doubtless continue to do this scandalous work, wherever the glorious doctrine of the coming of Jesus shall be proclaimed. We can only expose their sin in this thing, and disabuse honest minds.

The dragon is wroth with those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. The Devil will use any willing tool to slander and abuse the followers of Jesus Christ. Scoffers will scoff, and liars will lie, whether they bear the title of Reverend, or be patrons of brothels. And the higher the position, the greater the criminality. But for all these things will God bring them into Judgment. Those who fear God and keep His commandments, and suffer reproach for the sake of Christ and the truth, will have their reward. Those who employ the vile tongue of slander against them, in order to crush their influence and keep others from obeying the commandments that they may live, will perish in all their villainy. They, also, will have their reward. The True Witness has spoken relative to the present controversy and the final destiny of both classes of actors, as recorded by the prophet John.

First Class. “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. These are doing right. Although they suffer for well doing, all the hate and slander that wicked men and demons can invent, their reward is the holy city and the tree of life.

Second Class. “For without are dogs, and scorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.” Revelation 22:15. These are commandment-breakers, and commandment-haters, and haters of those who keep the commandments of God. They are also noted for two things in particular, namely, loving and making lies. The application of these two items is so natural to these reports of ascension robes and the like, that no further comment is needed. They make lies, and love to publish them from the pulpit and the religious press. But, thank God, in the Judgment they are without. The happiness of those who love God and keep His commandments is then no more to be marred by their poisonous influence. Would God that they would repent of, and forsake, their wicked course, and live, and finally share the holy city and the tree of life. But as they will not do this work, that they may share that reward, their corrupting influence must be borne with Christian patience and fortitude while the controversy lasts.

 

Who and What is the Church?

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Who is at the helm of the ship?

 

“There is no need of doubts and fears that the work of God will not succeed. God is at the head of the work, and He will set everything in order. Let us have faith that he is going to carry the noble ship which bears His people, safely into port. At one time when I sailed from Portland, Maine, to Boston, a storm came upon us, and the great waves dashed us to and fro. The chandeliers fell, and the trunks were rolled from side to side like balls. The passengers were frightened, and many were screaming, waiting in expectation of death. After a while the pilot came on board. The captain stood near the pilot as he took the wheel, and expressed fear about the course in which the ship was directed. “Will you take the wheel?” asked the pilot. The captain was not ready to do that, for he knew that he lacked experience. Then some of the passengers grew uneasy, and said they feared the pilot would dash them upon the rocks. ‘Will you take the wheel?’ asked the pilot; but they knew that they could not manage the wheel. When you think that the work of God is in danger, pray, ‘Lord, stand at the wheel; carry us through this perplexity; bring us safely into port.’ Have we not reason to believe that the Lord will bring us through triumphantly?” Signs of the Times, July 15, 1892.

“I know that Satan’s work will be to set brethren at variance. Were it not that I know that the Captain of our salvation stands at the helm to guide the gospel ship into the harbor, I should say, Let me rest in the grave.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 15, 26.

 

Where are we to get our orders?

 

“You should remember that the Master of assemblies is here. God does not leave the ship for an ignorant pilot to steer anywhere; He just stands at the helm, and then we work under orders. Now, we want the orders, and we want the orders from the Captain of our salvation.” 1888 Materials, 565.

 

Who has God promised to carry through the storm?

 

“The cause is the Lord’s. He is on board the ship as commander-in-chief. He will guide us safely into port. He can command the winds and the waves, and they will obey Him. If we follow His directions, we have no need to be anxious or troubled. In Him we may trust. He bestows His richest endowments upon those who love Him and keep His commandments. He will never forsake those who work in His lines.” Review and Herald, July 16, 1901.

 

Will a ship go through if men are at the head?

 

“Every ship sailing the sea of life needs to have the divine Pilot on board; but when storms arise, when tempests threaten, many persons push their Pilot overboard, and commit their bark into the hand of finite man, or try to steer it themselves. Then disaster and wreckage generally follow, and the Pilot is blamed for running them into such dangerous waters. Do not commit yourselves into the keeping of men, but say, “The Lord is my helper”; I will seek His counsel; I will be a doer of His will. All the advantages you may have cannot be a blessing to you, neither can the highest class education qualify you to become a channel of light, unless you have the co-operation of the divine Spirit. It is as impossible for us to receive qualification from man, without the divine enlightenment, as it was for the gods of Egypt to deliver those who trusted in them. Students must not suppose that every suggestion for them to prolong their studies is in harmony with God’s plan. Let every such suggestion be taken to the Lord in prayer, and seek earnestly for His guidance—not only once, but again and again. Plead with Him, until you are convinced whether the counsel is of God or man. Do not trust yourself to men. Act under the divine Guide.” Fundamentals of Christian Education, 348.

“Should there be less sermonizing by men who are unconsecrated in heart and life, and were more time devoted to humbling the soul before God, then might we hope that the Lord would appear to your help and heal your backslidings. Much of the preaching of late begets a false security. Important interests in the cause of God cannot be wisely managed by those who have had so little real connection with God as some of our ministers have had. To entrust the work to such men is like setting children to manage great vessels at sea. Those who are destitute of heavenly wisdom, destitute of living power with God, are not competent to steer the gospel ship amid icebergs and tempests. The church is passing through severe conflicts, but in her peril many would trust her to hands that will surely wreck her. We need a pilot on board now, for we are nearing the harbor. As a people we should be the light of the world. But how many are foolish virgins, having no oil in their vessels with their lamps. May the Lord of all grace, abundant in mercy, full of forgiveness, pity and save us, that we perish not with the wicked!” Testimonies, vol. 5, 104.

 

Are men to control God’s church?

 

“ ‘The head of every man is Christ.’ God, who put all things under the Saviour’s feet, ‘gave Him to be the head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him that filleth all in all.’ 1 Cor. 11:3; Eph. 1:22, 23. The church is built upon Christ as its foundation; it is to obey Christ as its head. It is not to depend upon man, or be controlled by man. Many claim that a position of trust in the church gives them authority to dictate what other men shall believe and what they shall do. This claim God does not sanction. The Saviour declares, ‘All ye are brethren.’ All are exposed to temptation, and are liable to error. Upon no finite being can we depend for guidance. The Rock of faith is the living presence of Christ in the church. Upon this the weakest may depend, and those who think themselves the strongest will prove to be the weakest, unless they make Christ their efficiency. ‘Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm.’ The Lord ‘is the Rock, His work is perfect.’ ‘Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him.’ Jeremiah 17:5; Deuteronomy 32:4; Psalms 2:12.” The Desire of Ages, 414.

 

What constitutes God’s church—“the ship”?

 

“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. In every age the Lord has had His watchmen, who have borne a faithful testimony to the generation in which they lived. These sentinels gave the message of warning; and when they were called to lay off their armor, others took up the work. God brought these witnesses into covenant relation with Himself, uniting the church on earth with the church in heaven. He has sent forth His angels to minister to His church, and the gates of hell have not been able to prevail against His people.” The Acts of the Apostles, 11.

 

Who will you be connected with if you are truly part of God’s church?

 

“Very close and sacred is the relation between Christ and His church,—He the bridegroom, and the church the bride; He the head, and the church the body. Connection with Christ, then, involves connection with His church.” Evangelism, 318.

 

Is apostasy going through?

 

“Those who apostatize are voicing the words of the dragon. We have to meet the satanic agencies who went to make war with the saints. ‘The dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.’ (Rev. 12:17). Those who apostatize leave the true and faithful people of God, and fraternize with those who represent Barabbas. ‘By their fruits ye shall know them’ (Matt. 7:20) . . . There is a decided testimony to be borne by all our ministers in all our churches. God has permitted apostasies to take place in order to show how little dependence can be placed in man. We are always to look to God; His word is not Yea and Nay, but Yea and Amen.” Selected Messages, vol. 2, 395.

“Shall we give heed to the warning of Solomon’s apostasy, and shun the first approach to those sins that overcame him who was called the wisest of men? In these days of peril, nothing but obedience will keep man from apostasy. God has bestowed on man great light and many blessings. But unless this light and these blessings are received, they are no security against disobedience and apostasy. When those whom God has exalted to positions of high trust turn from him to human wisdom, their light becomes darkness, and how great is that darkness! Their entrusted capabilities are a snare to them. They become an offense to God. There can be no mockery of God without the sure result.

“Till the conflict is ended, there always will be a departing from God. Satan will so shape circumstances that unless we are kept by divine power, they will almost imperceptibly weaken the fortifications of the soul. We need to inquire at every step, ‘Is this the way of the Lord?’ As long as life shall last, there is need of guarding the affections and the passions with a firm purpose. Not one moment can we be secure only as we are relying upon God, the life hid with Christ in God. The safeguards of our purity must be watchfulness and prayer. We must do nothing to lower the standard of our religious principles . . . Let none venture into sin as he did, in the hope that they, too, may recover themselves. Sin can be indulged only at the peril of infinite loss.” Review and Herald, February 2, 1906.

 

Do we struggle with a similar problem as Hus did if we believe the conference must go through?

 

“ ‘The mind of Hus, at this stage of his career, would seem to have been the scene of a painful conflict. Although the church was seeking to overwhelm him by her thunderbolts, he had not renounced her authority. The Roman Church was still to him the spouse of Christ, and the pope was the representative and vicar of God. What Hus was warring against was the abuse of authority, not the principle itself. This brought on a terrible conflict between the convictions of his understanding and the claims of his conscience. If the authority was just and infallible, as he believed it to be, how came it that he felt compelled to disobey it? To obey, he saw, was to sin; but why should obedience to an infallible church lead to such an issue? This was the problem he could not solve; this was the doubt that tortured him hour by hour. The nearest approximation to a solution which he was able to make was that it had happened again, as once before in the days of the Saviour, that the priests of the church had become wicked persons and were using their lawful authority for unlawful ends. This led him to adopt for his own guidance, and to preach to others for theirs, the maxim that the precepts of Scripture, conveyed through the understanding, are to rule the conscience; in other words, that God speaking in the Bible, and not the church speaking through the priesthood, is the one infallible guide.’ Wylie, b. 3, ch. 2.” The Great Controversy, 102.

 

Is God’s church the national establishment or grand institutions?

 

“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’ (Matt. 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 inhabiteth eternity can alone constitute a church.” Upward Look, 315.

“It is not numerous institutions, large buildings, or great display that God requires, but the harmonious action of a peculiar people, a people chosen by God and precious. Every man is to stand in his lot and place, thinking, speaking, and acting in harmony with the Spirit of God. Then, and not till then, will the work be a complete, symmetrical whole.” Christian Service, 74.

 

What is God seeking to do for His church ?

 

“God is seeking to make His church the continued incarnation of Christ. The gospel ministers are the under-shepherds, Christ is the divine shepherd. The members of the church are the working agencies of the Lord. His church will stand out prominently. It is the Lord’s body. With all its working forces it must become one with the great Head. Among the members of Christ’s body there must be unity of action. They are partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. This lust has many branches and comprehends much; but those who are partakers of the divine nature will hold the doctrines of God’s word in their purity. The Bible is to be followed implicitly.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 7, 91.

“In Christ our hope of eternal life is centered . . . Our hope is an anchor to the soul both sure and steadfast when it entereth into that within the veil, for the tempest-tossed soul becomes a partaker of the divine nature. He is anchored in Christ. Amid the raging elements of temptation he will not be driven upon the rocks or drawn into the whirlpool. His ship will outride the storm.” That I May Know Him, 79.

 

What is the mission of the church ?

 

“The church is God’s appointed agency for the salvation of men. It was organized for service, and its mission is to carry the gospel to the world. From the beginning it has been God’s plan that through His church shall be reflected to the world His fullness and His sufficiency. The members of the church, those whom He has called out of darkness into His marvelous light, are to show forth His glory. The church is the repository of the riches of the grace of Christ; and through the church will eventually be made manifest, even to ‘the principalities and powers in heavenly places,’ the final and full display of the love of God. Ephesians 3:10.” The Acts of the Apostles, 9.

 

The Multitude

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“Israel had been a favored people; God had made their temple His habitation; it was ‘beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth.’ Ps. 48:2. The record of more than a thousand years of Christ’s guardian care and tender love, such as a father bears his only child, was there. In that temple the prophets had uttered their solemn warnings. There had the burning censers waved, while incense, mingled with the prayers of the worshipers, had ascended to God. There the blood of beasts had flowed, typical of the blood of Christ. There Jehovah had manifested His glory above the mercy seat. There the priests had officiated, and the pomp of symbol and ceremony had gone on for ages.” 576. [All page numbered references are from The Desire of Ages by Ellen White.] What was the condition of this favored people when their rightful King came to save them?

God had chosen Israel to reveal God to men, “But the Israelites fixed their hopes upon worldly greatness.” 28. After the return from Babylonian captivity, schools were established “to teach the principles of righteousness. But these agencies became corrupted.” 29.

Finally, the people who God chose to reveal His righteousness to the world became the agents for its destruction. “They had hoarded the living manna, and it had turned to corruption. The religion which they tried to shut up to themselves became an offense. They robbed God of His glory, and defrauded the world by a counterfeit of the gospel. They had refused to surrender themselves to God for the salvation of the world, and they became agents of Satan for its destruction. The people whom God had called to be the pillar and ground of the truth had become representatives of Satan . . . The ordinances which God Himself had appointed were made the means of blinding the mind and hardening the heart. God could do no more for man through these channels.” 36.

Just when this great deception had reached its height, God sent His Son into this world to save it. “At the very crisis, when Satan seemed about to triumph, the Son of God came with the embassage of divine grace . . . the Deity was glorified by pouring upon the world a flood of healing grace that was never to be obstructed or withdrawn till the plan of salvation should be fulfilled.” 37.

 

The Multitude

 

When Jesus came, what was His work? “It was His work to reach the multitudes who were in ignorance and error. He gave His lessons of truth where they could reach the darkened understanding. He Himself was the Truth, standing with girded loins and hands ever outstretched to bless, and in words of warning, entreaty, and encouragement, seeking to uplift all who would come unto Him.” 298.

“Jesus ministered to the vast multitudes that gathered about Him.” 349. “The Saviour’s teaching moved their hearts as they hung entranced upon His words.” 716. The sick, the lame and the blind flocked to Jesus. The dying were laid at His feet. He healed the sick, cast out devils and raised the dead. His power was felt in the hearts of men. They recognized the teaching of Christ as superior to all that had ever been given.

“Those who received the heavenly instruction He was always ready to impart were greatly blessed. As the multitudes followed Christ through the open fields, He unfolded to them the beauties of the natural world.” 524, 525. “Multitudes who were not interested in the harangues of the rabbis were attracted by His teaching.” 205.

After Christ was rejected in Judea, He moved His work to the seaport towns along the Sea of Galilee. At first His work among them seemed very successful. “To those busy towns about the Sea of Galilee, heaven’s richest blessings had been freely offered. Day after day the Prince of life had gone in and out among them. The glory of God, which prophets and kings had longed to see, had shone upon the multitudes that thronged the Saviour’s steps. Yet they had refused the heavenly Gift.” 489.

How could the multitude that had “hung entranced upon His words,” refuse the heavenly gift of love? Evidently, the satisfaction that comes from hearing a powerful, truth-filled sermon is not enough. Even the sermons from the lips of Jesus did not keep the multitude. How did it happen that the multitude turned from following Jesus? How could their love turn to hatred and their praise to curses so quickly?

 

An Innovation

 

One of the main reasons the multitude rejected Jesus was because He did not come the way they expected Him to. They looked upon the priests and rabbis as “the church.” They always believed that the Messiah would come through the priestly system. But they looked on Jesus work as an innovation. Webster’s defines that to be: “the introduction of something new,” “a new idea, method or device.” You could say that the people looked at the priests as “the” organization and they looked on Jesus as a “new” organization. Oh yes, they were impressed with Jesus, but they did not surrender their lives to the truth He taught. They failed to see that the church is where the truth is.

Multitudes of Jews began rejecting Jesus even when they were impressed with Him. They made the fatal mistake of not realizing the absolute authority of truth. “They were impressed by the divine authority of Jesus; but with them the influence of the priests and rulers was paramount. They regarded Christ’s mission as an innovation, and questioned His right to interfere with what was permitted by the authorities of the temple.” 164. They stifled their convictions of truth because Jesus had offended them, and fell back to their pre-conceived opinions of how the Messiah was to appear.

 

A Cross

 

The multitudes loved the blessings that Jesus came to bestow. But, to deny self, to endure ridicule and hardship, they would not accept. They “did not desire to see the cross in the work of Christ.” 415. But Jesus was very explicit. He said, “whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after Me cannot be My disciple.” Luke 14:27. “If men could have had the world with Christ, multitudes would have proffered Him their allegiance; but such service He could not accept.” 383.

The cross is not optional if one is following Jesus—it is a part of salvation. “They must walk in the narrow path traveled by the Man of Calvary, if they would share in the gift of life and the glory of heaven.” 391.

“When the crowds follow, and the multitude s are fed, and the shouts of triumph are heard, their voices are loud in praise; but when the searching of God’s Spirit reveals their sin, and bids them leave it, they turn their backs upon the truth, and walk no more with Jesus.” 392. “When truth is brought home to the heart, they see that their lives are not in accordance with the will of God. They see the need of an entire change in themselves; but they are not willing to take up the self-denying work. Therefore they are angry when their sins are discovered. They go away offended.” 392.

 

Caiaphas

 

Because Jesus’ work was regarded as an innovation and He required His disciples to bear their cross—the multitude s rejected their Creator. Rather than an innovation, Caiaphas and his associates were viewed by the multitude as the highest authority on earth.

Caiaphas was seeking the same things the multitude was—worldly greatness and honor. The Jews wanted dominion over the Romans. They were very willing to have Jesus as their king if He would give them a piece of the pie. But Jesus could not accept their allegiance on these conditions. “Multitudes who desired to exalt Him to the throne today would turn from Him tomorrow. The disappointment of their selfish ambition would turn their love to hatred, and their praise to curses.” 383.

The multitude s ended up following Caiaphas rather than Jesus. Caiaphas was predicting a Messiah to appear who would give them worldly blessings. The priests taught the people from the Bible, that the Messiah would give them riches and honor. To the multitude, it seemed much easier to follow Caiaphas than to walk on a path of self-denial and hardship. Their pre-conceived opinions of truth, were stronger in their minds, than the truth it self. Martin Luther correctly said: “I feel more and more every day how difficult it is to lay aside the scruples which one has imbibed in childhood.” The Great Controversy, 143. Not a few of the multitude who had once praised the name of Jesus eventually raised the awful cry, “Crucify Him, crucify Him.” The multitude pressed by Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin, called for the crucifixion of Christ. It is never safe to follow our pre-conceived opinions.

 

The Chosen

 

When the multitude turned away from Christ there were only a few who remained. It was to these few, who were willing to deny self and follow Christ, the Rock, that He spoke these words. “Upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Matthew 16:18. There is no foundation that can be laid than what is already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 3:11. Jesus Christ, in His humiliation and self-denial, in His agony and death on the cross, is the foundation of the true church and the Christian’s hope.

“In the presence of God, and all the heavenly intelligences, in the presence of the unseen army of hell, Christ founded His church upon the living Rock. That Rock is Himself,—His own body, for us broken and bruised. Against the church built upon this foundation, the gates of hell shall not prevail.” 413.

There are very few who are willing to follow these conditions in order to be a part of God’s church. Notice in the following paragraph that only those who choose Jesus in His self-denial were referred to as the church; the great multitude and even the Sanhedrin were excluded. “How feeble the church appeared when Christ spoke these words! There was only a handful of believers, against whom all the power of demons and evil men would be directed; yet the followers of Christ were not to fear. Built upon the Rock of their strength, they could not be overthrown.” 413.

Not the multitude , but only the few who were willing to take up their cross of self-denial are Christ’s church. Not the evil men who are fighting Jesus’ followers, but the meek ones are His church. Even the disciples of Jesus struggled with this concept. It was foreign to everything they had ever been taught by priest and rabbi. The disciples believed that Jesus would take over the temple and reign as Israel’s King. “That the hatred of the priests and rabbis would never be overcome, that Christ would be rejected by His own nation, condemned as a deceiver, and crucified as a malefactor,—such a thought the disciples had never entertained.” 415.

When Jesus was on earth, “the disciples were still far from understanding Christ’s mission. The opposition and misrepresentation of the priests and rulers, while it could not turn them away from Christ, still caused them great perplexity. They did not see their way clearly. The influence of their early training, the teaching of the rabbis, the power of tradition, still intercepted their view of truth. From time to time precious rays of light from Jesus shone upon them, yet often they were like men groping among shadows.” 412.

The disciples were slow to comprehend that the entrance to Christ’s church was through the door of self-denial. “It was to Peter a bitter lesson, and one which he learned but slowly, that the path of Christ on earth lay through agony and humiliation. The disciple shrank from fellowship with his Lord in suffering. But in the heat of the furnace fire he was to learn its blessing.” 416.

If the disciples, who listened for three years to the greatest teacher this world has ever know, could not understand—what about us? How often are we, like the disciples, groping among the shadows? Does the influence of our early training, the teaching of the rabbis, the power of tradition, still intercept our view of truth today? Our pre-conceived ideas are so difficult to get past. The only way to understand is in learning to bear our cross.

 

The Church Today

 

Like the Jews of old, God raised up Seventh-day Adventists to represent Him to the world. As temple and priests were to minister God’s grace and truth to the nations of old, so we were organized for service to give the Three Angels’ Messages to the world. God organized us through the special guidance of His last day messenger. We, too, have been a favored people. But time has passed and as a people, we have let the truth slide. In fact, many who call themselves Seventh-day Adventists are fighting the truth as the Jews did in Christ’s day. “These men who refuse to receive truth, interpose themselves between the people and the light. But there is no excuse for any one’s refusing the light, for it has been plainly revealed. There is no need of any one’s being in ignorance. We must clear the King’s highway; for God will remove hindrances out of the way. God calls you to come up to his help against the mighty. Instead of pressing your weight against the chariot of truth that is being pulled up an inclined road, you should work with all the energy you can summon to push it on. Shall we repeat the history of the Jews in our work? The leaders of the people in the time of Christ brought all their power to bear against the work of Christ, that His way might be hedged up. The people must go to God for themselves, and pray that all wrong impressions may be removed from their hearts,—pray that the word of God may not be clouded by men’s interpretations.” Review and Herald, March 18, 1890.

Here is another warning, which should be ringing loudly in our ears. “The trials of the children of Israel, and their attitude just before the first coming of Christ, have been presented before me again and again to illustrate the position of the people of God in their experience before the second coming of Christ—how the enemy sought every occasion to take control of the minds of the Jews, and today he is seeking to blind the minds of God’s servants, that they may not be able to discern the precious truth.” Selected Messages, vol. 1, 406.

Satan succeeded with the Jewish nation as a whole. There was a small remnant who followed Jesus, but as a whole, the nation was lost. We are given graphic descriptions of the Jews before Christ’s first coming. Since the prophet saw again and again the similarity of our position to theirs—could this description of them fit us? “They robbed God of His glory, and defrauded the world by a counterfeit of the gospel. They had refused to surrender themselves to God for the salvation of the world, and they became agents of Satan for its destruction.” 36. To apply this description to Seventh-day Adventists leaves one reeling and could not be considered except by the special warning from God’s messenger.

We cannot demand of God to finish the work the way we think it must be. It will be finished very much out of the natural order of things. Those who are fighting the truth will have no part in it. There is no set of men whom God is forced to use. When He came the first time, He was not forced to use the priests of His day. Rather God is looking for the meek of the earth, those who do not bow to human authority, but submit to His authority.

The Multitude

 

Multitude s of Seventh-day Adventists are seeking for the original power we had when our pioneers first gave the warning message. We speak of the “good old Seventh-day Adventist message.” We long for it but seldom hear it. Once again God has sent messengers with a call to repent. They have instructed us in the “old [historic] paths, where is the good way.” Jeremiah 6:16. The multitude loves this preaching that has power. We love to sit entranced listening to the words of truth. It makes us feel that we are still on the right road.

But, we reason, no matter how wonderful the truth is—the work cannot be finished without the “regular channels,” these “irregular channels” are only an innovation. We still want to stick with what is established and not stake everything on some innovation.

Worst of all, the reformation preachers call for obedience to the Spirit of Prophecy and the Bible. That means self-denial, health reform and all those reforms. That would be too embarrassing. We would not want to be a fanatic!! Unbelief takes possession of the heart. It “will ever find excuse for doubt, and will reason away the most positive proof.” 386.

We conclude that we will continue to listen to the wonderful messages based on the Spirit of Prophecy and the Bible. But we would not want to put all our eggs in one basket. So we reason on and on until we are ready to follow Caiaphas—the symbol of human authority.

 

Who to Follow?

 

It is no small question one asks, who wants to know if he is following truth. Many times various forms of this question were asked of Jesus. Yet, even with His clear answers, few ended up applying His answers to themselves. “Christ’s humanity so completely veiled His glory that it was difficult for even His disciples to believe in Him; and when He died on the cross, they felt that their hopes had perished. As Christ told them the things He must suffer at the hands of wicked men, He said, ‘If they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?’ Luke 23:31. If they do these wicked acts to your divine Lord, what will they do to those that bear the testimony that He came from God, that He was God in human flesh?” Manuscript Releases, vol. 12, 393.

Jesus spoke of His time on earth as the time of the green tree. “By the green tree, Jesus represented Himself.” 743. The time of the green tree was a time when the world could see the embodiment of truth and righteousness in human flesh. The living Messiah, the Creator, the Saviour of the world was in their midst. They could walk and talk with Him. A whole nation of millions of people were expecting the Messiah to appear. Yet when He was on earth, there were very few who followed Him to the end. “At one time there remained only eleven and a few faithful women.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 138. Even though it was difficult to believe, these few stayed with Jesus. The only safe place was with them. To be in Jesus’ church is always safe—even though it was only eleven men and a few women. To be out of it is always disastrous.

However today we are in the time of the dry tree. Jesus said, “For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry”? Luke 23:31. Jesus was the express image of His Father. And still people rejected Him, the way, the truth and the life. But, God’s messengers today are faulty human beings. Today there is not even a living prophet among us. We truly are in the time of the dry tree. This question comes with pounding force upon us: How can we find the track of truth today, since so few people found it in Jesus day? We are not going to find truth by making our decisions from our pre-conceived opinions of truth, or from the scribes and Pharisees, it will not be found at the university or even in the pew at the churches of today.

The only place to find the truth seems below our dignity: “When man is willing to be instructed as a little child, when he submits wholly to God, he will find the truth in His word. If men would be obedient, they would understand the plan of God’s government. The heavenly world would open its chambers of grace and glory for exploration. Human beings would be altogether different from what they now are, for by exploring the mines of truth men would be ennobled.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 114.

To follow the truth, we must respect God’s messengers. Paul said, “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 11:1. We are here commanded to follow along with a messenger when he is following Christ.

 

Who Not to Follow

 

It is not safe to follow Caiaphas or anyone who follows Caiaphas. That is anyone who puts tradition above the commands of God. The one who wants to be recognized and honored in this world is never safe to follow. The Lord will show us who not to follow. “Before the great trouble shall come upon the world such as has never been since there was a nation, those who have faltered and who would ignorantly lead in unsafe paths will reveal this before the real vital test, the last proving, comes, so that whatsoever they may say will not be regarded as voicing the True Shepherd.” 1888 Materials, 1002.

The question comes, “What about Nicodemus?” Was he safe to follow? Nicodemus was safe to follow once he started following Christ. But I would rather have been by the side of Matthew and Peter than Nicodemus. As long as Nicodemus was following the ideas of Caiaphas, it would be dangerous to follow him. What about the “great company of the priests [who] were obedient to the faith?” Acts 6:7. They were unsafe to follow until they started following Jesus.

There was one, a respected scribe, to whom Jesus said: “Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.” Mark 12:34. He understood something about righteousness and the inability of man to obtain it through his own works. But until the scribe followed Christ, he was not in His kingdom. “The scribe was near to the kingdom of God, in that he recognized deeds of righteousness as more acceptable to God than burnt offerings and sacrifices. But he needed to recognize the divine character of Christ, and through faith in Him receive power to do the works of righteousness.” 608. Not even the sincere scribe, who was commended, was safe to follow. Jesus said concerning the churchmen of His day: “All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.” Matthew 24:3. Jesus did not instruct the people to follow error: “Jesus bade His hearers do that which the rabbis taught according to the law, but not to follow their example.” 612. Evidently, they sometimes taught the truth.

 

Caiaphas’ Destination

 

Those who follow Caiaphas will be found undermining God’s messengers. They will use any means to turn the multitude against the truth. “The Pharisees had sought to condemn Him as a Sabbathbreaker. They had tried to arouse the Herodians against Him. They represented that He was seeking to set up a rival kingdom [new organization], and consulted with them how to destroy Him. To excite the Romans against Him, they had represented Him as trying to subvert their authority. They had tried every pretext to cut Him off from influencing the people.” 538.

Caiaphas offers an easy road, one of worldly greatness, of full churches, large crowds and great honor. But the end of that road is destruction. Caiaphas promised that Jerusalem would be freed from the Romans, but the Romans destroyed it and its inhabitants.

“Christ came to save Jerusalem with her children; but Pharisaical pride, hypocrisy, jealousy, and malice had prevented Him from accomplishing His purpose. Jesus knew the terrible retribution which would be visited upon the doomed city. He saw Jerusalem encompassed with armies, the besieged inhabitants driven to starvation and death, mothers feeding upon the dead bodies of their own children, and both parents and children snatching the last morsel of food from one another, natural affection being destroyed by the gnawing pangs of hunger. He saw that the stubbornness of the Jews, as evinced in their rejection of His salvation, would also lead them to refuse submission to the invading armies.” 577. Those who follow Caiaphas or even his followers, are stubborn to their own destruction.

 

Followers of Christ

 

The followers of Christ eventually end up faced with the cross. The cross of reproach and loneliness looks hard to carry at first. But in lifting the cross we find it lifts us. “As you lift the cross of Calvary, it lifts you. Bearing the cross after Jesus, following in His consecrated, self-denying footsteps—only thus can you find salvation.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 2, 25. “We are to lift the cross, and follow the steps of Christ. Those who lift the cross will find that as they do this, the cross lifts them, giving them fortitude and courage, and pointing them to the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world.” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 5, 1095. In full surrender of our will to God we find the only path of real happiness. As we come to partake of His sufferings we revel in His love. “It is by beholding His love, by dwelling upon it, by drinking it in, that we are to become partakers of His nature. What food is to the body, Christ must be to the soul. Food cannot benefit us unless we eat it, unless it becomes a part of our being. So Christ is of no value to us if we do not know Him as a personal Saviour. A theoretical knowledge will do us no good. We must feed upon Him, receive Him into the heart, so that His life becomes our life. His love, His grace, must be assimilated.

“But even these figures fail to present the privilege of the believer’s relation to Christ. Jesus said, ‘As the living Father hath sent Me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth Me, even he shall live by Me.’ As the Son of God lived by faith in the Father, so are we to live by faith in Christ. So fully was Jesus surrendered to the will of God that the Father alone appeared in His life. Although tempted in all points like as we are, He stood before the world untainted by the evil that surrounded Him. Thus we also are to overcome as Christ overcame.” 389.

Jesus invites us to pick up our cross and follow Him. “Whenever men reject the Saviour’s invitation, they are yielding themselves to Satan. Multitudes in every department in life, in the home, in business, and even in the church, are doing this today.” 341 Today is not the time to follow the multitude. It is time to be a part of the faithful few who follow Jesus when the multitude forsake Him for Caiaphas. It is the time to take up our cross; for only those are His disciples—His church, and only Jesus’ church will go through.

 

Hus the Heretic

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One of the most heart-moving books you will ever read, Hus the Heretic by Poggius the Papist, is new from the press. Reprinted from very old book, and translated into English for this printing, it tells the inspiring story of one of the greatest reformers, as seen through the eyes of Poggius, the papist. Poggius delivered the summons to John Hus to appear at the council of Constance, and participated as a voting member on the council. As the trial unfolds, so potent is John Hus’ humble testimony contrasted with the amazing rudeness and injustice of priests and cardinals, even some of his ardent foes become his defenders. Even Poggius himself is profoundly affected.

The following is taken from Hus the Heretic by Poggius the Papist, 71–75:

Great shouting silenced the noble martyr. They tore the priestly garb from his body and ripped it to pieces, which they tied to their clothes as a remembrance of their victory over Hus. After that, they fought and argued among themselves whether they should disfigure his head with shears or razor, until they procured shears and pressed his head downward, cutting a star into his hair, while they were deriding him. This displeased many and caused remonstrating. A majority was glad about it and they raised their weapons against Hus’ protectors. There were only a few Bohemians, whom it had been forbidden to bring weapons into the church and they were searched at the door. The Bohemian Knight von Meneczesch, who had hidden a long dagger in the leg of his boot, was in the midst of the crowd and when he perceived his friend’s distress, he drew the dagger and plunged it between the ribs of the man who held Hus’ head, so that he dropped without a sound. Immediately Hus’ enemies turned upon Meneczesch with their knives and tried to kill him, but he was a courageous man, defended himself well and escaped without a scratch, through the small door in the choir. Hus, however, cried and clasped his hand above his shorn head and prayed God for a blissful end.

When Hus stood thus shorn before his enemies, they ridiculed him, threw clumps of earth, moistened by saliva, at him and found it funny when they hit his face. Despite this derision, the poor man remained without hate and consoled himself with the thought of his redeemer, who had borne in silence the scourge and the fists of his enemies. “Why do you mock me? Your shouting cannot destroy the triumph of my heart! I hear sweet music above the heights of Golgotha and the sounds of joyful Hallelujah, so that Jerusalem’s foolish battle cry cannot hurt me at all!” Such praise-worthy words spoke Hus, while they cast him out, half-naked, from the temple of the Lord. Outside the church, the bishop of Constance placed a paper cap, upon which three ugly devils had been painted, on his head, saying: “Now we deliver you to the worldly courts and your soul we turn over to the devil and his disciples!”

Hus answered to this terrible curse by folding his hands and by praying: “O Lord, Jesus Christ, into thine hands I deliver my soul, which thou hast redeemed by thy blood. Father in Heaven, do not hold against them the sins which my enemies commit against me, and let mine eyes see them blissfully with thee, when their souls fly to they throne after an easy death. O Holy Ghost, enlighten their deceived hearts, so that the truth of the holy gospel may open their eyes and its praise be spread everywhere, for ever and ever, Amen” The town soldiers had formed a wide circle in front of the church portal, into which the expulsed man was being led. A small fire was lit and several books by Wycliffe and Hus were cast into it, with a lot of shouting. A red-garbed jester moved the books about with a long poker, while he executed peculiar and comical jumps over the fire, so that his feather-tail caught fire and he ran about, crying in feigned distress, for water. These shameless doings lasted for an our, during which Hus was often brushed with this feather-tail, from which water was dripping. The sun was high in the skies and sent down much heat. This made many people thirsty and they drank very much of the wine, which was distributed free. They drank so much that they began to be unsteady on their feet, rioted and sang, without regard for Hus’ feelings, like barbarians.

These event put off the last moments of the unhappy priest for several hours. During this time there was a kirmess, everybody feasted with viands and drink and they were eager for the coming spectacle for the evening, young and old, boys and girls and especially the Latin papists, among whom were several who had never seen the roasting of an heretic before. Meanwhile the wood pile had been decorated with motley hangings, tassels, flags, stars and other tinsel, and many women believed it to be good handiwork to burn pieces of their underwear or clothing with the condemned, to atone for their sins or for the sins of those who roast in purgatory. “Give me a drink of water,” asked Hus of his guard, “so that I might refresh my tongue and not die from thirst, lest your joy, to see me at the stake, might be taken from you. I would regret this for the sake of those who have come here to see me burn and have spent much money on my account.”

Full of pity a soldier offered his filled goblet to Hus, but he did not drink from it and asked for pure water, which was given to him at once. This equanimity and pity shown by Hus impressed the heart of the guard. He rose, approached his sergeant and resigned from the service with these words: “I have fought many a battle in my day and I have seen many a brave man die at Raefels in the Glarner lands, at Buergen, Niedau, Unterfern and in the lands of Appenzell, but my old eyes have never seen such courage and fearlessness in the face of certain death. Therefore I think that this Bohemian is a just man, suffering in innocence and I have no wish to serve masters who persecute the feeble and protect the lewd papists. Take back my spear and my sword, for I shall leave Constance today, before the smoke rises to smother Hus and the fires blaze, which will consume his bones.”

And so the hour of five of the afternoon came, when the procession started, with Hus, for the Bruehl gate, where, on the left side, the woodpile had been erected and had been splendidly decorated. Three trumpeters upon black horses rode in advance and their loud trumpeting called together the people from afar and drew everybody from the chambers of the houses to the windowsills.

There were only few streets in Constance through which the procession did not wind its way and its duration was longer than two hours. Many cried, many made fun and many prayed for Hus. He sang the praise of God in Latin songs; called out many times with Job the Visited: “My harp also is turned to mourning and my pipe into the voice of them that weep. Doth not he see my ways and count all my steps? If I have walked with vanity or if my foot hath hastened to deceit; if my step hath turned out of the way and mine heart walked after mine eyes, and if any blot hath cleaved mine hands; if I rejoiced because my wealth was great and because mine hand had gotten much; and my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand; this also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge; for I should have denied the God that is above? I would be joyous like a King although I go to my death.” Then he sang in verse, with elated voice, like the psalmist in the thirty-first psalm, reading from a paper in his hands:

“In thee, O Lord, I put my trust,

Bow down thine ear to me.”

With such Christian prayers, Hus arrived at the stake, looking at it without fear. He climbed upon it, after two assistants of the hangman had torn his clothes from him and had clad him in a skirt drenched with pitch. At this moment the elector of Palatinate, Ludewig, rode up and prayed Hus with fervor to recant, so that he might be spared a death in the flames. But Hus replied: “Today you will roast a lean goose, but a hundred years from now you will hear a swan sing, whom you will leave unroasted and no trap or net will catch him for you.” Full of pity and filled with much admiration, the Prince turned away . . .

You may order your copy of Hus the Heretic by Poggious the Papist from Steps to Life.

The Reformation in Scotland

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“The Reformation in Scotland seems to have been accompanied by greater violence than elsewhere in Europe. It has been stated that the corruption of the Catholic Church had reached a greater height in Scotland than in any other country, unless it was Italy.” Gideon D. Hagstoz, Heroes of the Reformation, 85.

The Reformation in England dealt with the freedom of the throne from the supremacy of the pope, whereas in Scotland the reform movement was concerned primarily with the religious center.

“The more prominent outcome of the Reformation in England was a free state; the more immediate product of the Reformation in Scotland was a free Church. But soon the two countries and the two Reformations coalesced: common affinities and common aims disengaged them from old allies, and drew them to each other’s side; and Christendom beheld a Protestantism strong alike in its political and in its spiritual arm, able to combat the double usurpation of Rome, and to roll it back, in course of time, from the countries where its dominion had been long established, and over its ruins to go forward to the fulfillment of the great task which was the one grand aim of the Reformation, namely, the evangelising and civilising of the earth, and the planting of pure churches and free governments.” J. A. Wylie, The History of Protestantism, Book 24, 466.

Scotland, before the ninth century, was inhabited by savage tribes who practiced the rites and worshipped the same gods as the Assyrians. This country had no harbor where ships could put into port. Because of this no mariner visited this land, ensuring that Scotland would remain a backward country for many years.

Caesar had attempted to conquer Scotland without success. He was followed by missionaries who were more successful in gaining a foothold. Columba, born in 521, began evangelizing the northern and western parts of Scotland, as well as England, from the island of Iona off the Scottish coast.

 

Catholicism Enters Scotland

 

In the twelfth century, the light of Iona was waxing dim, paving the way for Roman Catholicism to establish itself in Scotland. This did not come about as the result of the conversion of the inhabitants of that land, but by the power of the king. The men, as well as the system, came from another land.

The limits imposed upon ecclesiastics of other countries, such as France, were not set up in Scotland. “Bishops and abbots filled all the great posts at court, and discharged all the highest offices in the state.” Ibid., 467.

“Scotland had no centralized government. The prince bishops owned about one half of the land, and the secular nobility owned or controlled the other half. The king had very little power. He had no standing army of his own and no personal body-guard, but had to depend on the feudal militia for protection and support.” Lars Qualben, A History of the Christian Church, 312.

Darkness covered the land, but there was a glimmer of light, and Pope John XXII complained that there were heretics in the land. The first martyr John Resby, was burned in 1406. He was an Englishman and a follower of Wycliffe. Others followed him to the stake in the next few years. In the same year, the University of St. Andrews was founded. A requirement for the Master of Arts degree was that the applicant must agree to defend the Roman Church against all accusers.

Because the writings of Luther were so eagerly read, the Parliament, in 1525, prohibited the printing and distribution of his literature. The two most prominent men to be burned at the stake were Patrick Hamilton, who was arrested by order of Cardinal Beaton in 1528, and George Wishart in 1546. Their teaching of the reform faith came to the attention of the Cardinal whose only goal was to completely control all Scotland. His efforts to destroy the heretics only added fuel to the fire. For every martyr who perished, a little company of followers arose to fill his place. From this time on, the Reformation in Scotland was dependent upon the political power in control.

It can be said that the Reformation in Scotland began with the entrance of Tyndale’s New Testament into that country, the circulation of Luther’s and Reformed writings, and by returning students from universities on the Continent and in England. By Act of Parliament, March 15, 1543, all the people had access to the Bible in their own tongue.

When Margaret, the daughter of Henry VII of England, married James IV, King of Scotland, the Scottish nobility feared that Scotland would come under the control of England. To prevent this happening, they made alliances with France against England. James V married Mary of Lorraine, sister of the Duke of Guise, who was violently opposed to Protestantism.

At the death of James V the crown was left to his infant daughter, Mary Stuart. The Queen, Mary of Guise, was made the Queen-regent until her death in 1560. It was her policy to suppress Protestantism. Mary Stuart was sent to France for her education and while there she married Francis II, King of France. She made an agreement with Francis that Scotland would be controlled by France at her death, when she left no heirs.

 

Defenders of Scottish Freedom

 

The defenders of Scottish freedom, and the friends of Protestant reform merged to form a strong party which was friendly toward England. The secular nobility saw that the Reformation would aid them in crushing the power of the detested prince bishops. A large number of the prominent noble families openly accepted Protestantism.

It was at this point that John Knox enters the picture. By 1546 he was well known as a powerful preacher. In his preaching he proclaimed that the Roman Catholic Church was the Synagogue of Satan and that the Pope was the anti-Christ. In 1547, Knox was captured by the French and made a galley slave for nineteen months. On his release he spent some years in England and in Europe, but always wrote to his countrymen encouraging and instructing them. Knox returned to Scotland in 1556, preaching against the mass, and made a petition to Mary of Guise begging her to support the Gospel. The petition was refused by the Queen-regent. This refusal forced Knox to flee to Europe. In 1559, when Elizabeth became Queen of England, he returned to Scotland.

Mary Stuart, Queen of the Scots, denounced Elizabeth as an illegitimate usurper, and proclaimed herself as the rightful queen of England. This claim by Mary threatened to bring both Scotland and England under the control of France. Knox began preaching powerful sermons, proclaiming that Scotland must be free and upholding the idea that the secular power was not to control the religious. “Wherever Knox went, his preaching was like a match set to kindling wood.” Ibid., 315. He was supported militarily and politically by John Erskine, the leader of the First Scottish Covenant. This Covenant was formed by a number of Scottish nobles on December 3, 1557, stating that the signatories would “stand by one another with life and fortune to ‘establish the most blessed Word of God and His Congregation.’ ” Ibid.

The Scottish people revolted against the Catholic Church, breaking images, storming and looting monasteries, and commanding priests to cease saying mass. The result of all this “rebellion” on the part of the people was that the Queen ordered French troops to put it down. Knox encouraged the people to meet force with force and the combat ended in a draw. France then sent reinforcements in order to maintain her hold on Scotland.

John Knox appealed to Queen Elizabeth to send a fleet to resist the French. She sent both an army and a fleet to help the Protestants in Scotland. Knox worked as chaplain and liaison officer negotiating with the English government that the cause of Protestantism might continue to be victorious. The presence of an English army induced the French to withdraw and leave the government of Scotland under the control of the Council of Lords. The treaty was signed on July 6, 1560, shortly after the death of Mary of Guise, the Queen-regent. The Treaty stipulated that all foreign troops and arms should be removed from Scotland and that no Frenchman could hold any important office of state.

Following this treaty, the most important parliament met on July 1, 1560. It was attended by a large number of barons, nobles, and lords—Knox being among them—and it abolished the celebration of the mass and the jurisdiction of the pope. The law against the mass was so strong that any offender was threatened with the death penalty on the third conviction.

Knox became the church leader in Scotland and at the request of Parliament he prepared a Confession of Faith, the Confessio Scoticana, which was adopted on August 17, 1560. The following week the Parliament passed the Laws of the Estate resulting in the complete rupture with Rome. In January, 1561, the Parliament adopted the “First Book of Discipline” which had been written by Knox. “The system worked out by Calvin was applied to the entire nation. In each parish the pastor and the presbyters constituted an administrative and disciplinary board. The presbyters were elected by the congregation. In the larger centers meetings for discussion were held which later developed into ‘presbyteries.’ Pastors and congregations within specified regions were governed by synods, and over all was the ‘General Assembly’.” Ibid., 316.

 

Knox and Mary, Queen of Scots

 

“Knox had still another battle to fight. Mary, Queen of Scots, the unfortunate Mary who by her own unwise acts lost her crown and later her life, returned from France as a widow at eighteen, in August, 1561. She was determined to restore Scotland to the Catholic Church.

“The most dramatic period of Knox’s life doubtless falls during her reign as he tilted and sparred verbally with Mary when she repeatedly summoned him into her presence. The first such skirmish resulted when Knox condemned the mass which she had celebrated her first Sunday after arriving in Scotland. He had said that one mass was more terrible to him than 10,000 armed invaders. Five times, some say six, she called him before her.

“The second occasion was Knox’s sermon against the persecution of the Huguenots in France, an event Mary celebrated with a ball at Holyrood. The next also concerned the mass. The fourth, which left an aftermath of peril, resulted when Knox had vehemently spoken against her proposed marriage to a Catholic, the son of the king of Spain. This time she dissolved in tears and sobs as she railed against him; but Knox maintained that he was not preaching his own words, but the words that were given him out of the Scriptures.” Heroes of the Reformation, 86.

Knox was charged with treason among other things, and brought to trial before Queen Mary. The future of Knox and the Reformation in Scotland hung in the balance at this trial. The great Scottish Reformer was acquitted and the Queen, because of her indiscretions, was imprisoned and removed from the throne. John Knox died in 1572 and his work was ably carried on by Andrew Melville who died in 1622. When Queen Elizabeth of England died in 1603, England and Scotland were united under one crown.

“It would have but little availed Scotsmen in the nineteenth century if Knox had wrought up their fathers to a little political enthusiasm, but had failed to lead them to the Bible, that great awakener of the human soul, and bulwark of the rights of conscience. If this had been all, the Scots, after a few abortive attempts, like those of misguided France, to reconcile political freedom with spiritual servitude, would assuredly have fallen back under the old yoke, and would have been lying at this day in the gulf of ‘Papistrie.’ Discarding this narrow visionary project, Knox grasped the one eternal principal of liberty, the government of the human conscience by the Bible, and planting his Reformation upon this great foundation stone, he endowed it with the attribute of durability.” The History of Protestantism, 515.

The void left by the death of Knox was more than ably filled by Andrew Melville (1545–1622). Melville was one of the greatest teachers and administrators of his day. It was under his guidance that the educational system in Scotland was established, and in fact made it one of the most noted systems anywhere in the western world. In 1572 the system of episcopacy, which was not in reality episcopacy, for it had no authority and exercised no oversight over the churches in Scotland, was introduced into that country. Knox had opposed the introduction and work of the Tulchan bishops and Melville continued the fight to his dying day. (A tulcan is a calf’s skin stuffed with straw, set up to make a cow give her milk freely. The Tulcan bishops, known only in Scotland, were introduced into the Presbyterian Church by some nobles wishing to take a portion of the churches income through appointment to rich benefices.)

Melville carried on a running battle for the firm establishment of the Presbyterian form of church government free of all secular control. He not only opposed the Roman prelates in Scotland but he also had to deal with the king, James VI. For it was this James whose first goal was to obtain the throne of England, which he did upon the death of Queen Elizabeth in 1603, and then to make the Roman Catholic Church supreme in both countries. This war for supremacy he waged to his death in 1625.

Melville’s fight was an uphill battle for the people and ministers were not strong enough to establish sufficient power in the Parliament and other ruling bodies to completely eliminate the Roman prelates from maintaining a firm control over the secular arm of the government.

Melville, after spending some years in Paris and Geneva, pursuing his studies and teaching, returned to Scotland in 1574 and began his battle against the Tulchan episcopate, which was joined onto the Presbyterian church. He was successful in getting the General Assembly of 1580 to unanimously declare, by resolution, “‘the office of a bishop, as then used and commonly understood, to be destitute of warrant from the Word of God, and a human invention, tending to the great injury of the Church, and ordained the bishops to demit their pretended office simpliciter, and to receive admission as ordinary pastors de novo, under pain of excommunication.’ ” Ibid., 518.

“The first part of the mighty task which awaited Protestantism in the sixteenth century was to breathe life into the nation . . . The second part of the great task of Protestantism was to make the nations free . . . It was not the State in Scotland that gave freedom to the Church: it was the Church that gave freedom to the State.” Ibid., 530, 531.

We will leave the story of the Reformation in Scotland at this point for it was to be a continuing struggle between Episcopacy and Presbyterianism on the one hand and the King of England and Roman Catholicism on the other which was to be waged even to the present day. The light continued to shine at times brighter, then dimmer, but never extinguished. The Great Controversy continues to go on in that land.

“Thus the Scottish Vine, smitten by the tyranny of the monarch who had now gone to the grave, was visited and revived by a secret dew. From the high places of the State came edicts to blight it; from the chambers of the sky came a ‘plenteous rain’ to water it. It struck its roots deeper, and spread its branches yet more widely over a land which it did not as yet wholly cover. Other and fiercer tempests were soon to pass over that goodly tree, and this strengthening from above was given beforehand, that when the great winds should blow, the tree, though shaken, might not be overturned.” Ibid., 536.

 

Don’t Turn Back!

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After the flood came and took them all away, the earth was as desolate as were those who, in the spiritual sense, had been taken away by the judgments of God. The apostasy became so bad in Noah’s day that only eight were saved off the whole earth! Had it not been for Noah’s unfailing courage and unselfish dedication, the whole world would have been lost. God, in His eternal mercy gave man another chance, and the world was washed clean and new.

“To re-people the desolate earth, which the Flood had so lately swept from its moral corruption, God had preserved but one family, the household of Noah . . . Yet in the three sons of Noah was speedily developed the same great distinction seen in the world before the Flood.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 117.

Very soon after the flood the apostasy started all over again. Through the family of Ham the agenda of apostasy, from within the camp, continued. Humans often try to figure out how to go their own way. We want “to do our own thing,” and get away with it. The days following the Flood were no exception. First the people had not taken God at His word when He said there was to be a flood. Then, they would not believe Him when He said there would not be another!

In the undertaking of raising up the Tower of Babel, “the people were fully united in their Heaven-daring undertaking . . . Their confederacy was founded in rebellion; a kingdom established for self-exaltation, but in which God was to have no rule or honor. Had this confederacy been permitted, a mighty power would have borne sway to banish righteousness—and with it peace, happiness, and security—from the earth. For the divine statutes, which are ‘holy and just and good’ (Romans 7:12), men were endeavoring to substitute laws to suit the purpose of their own selfish and cruel hearts.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 123.

“The very last deception of Satan will be to make of none effect the testimony of the Spirit of God . . . Satan will work ingeniously, in different ways and through different agencies, to unsettle the confidence of God’s remnant people in the true testimony.” Selected Messages, vol. 2, 78.

 

Babylon is Born

 

“But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Matthew 24:37. How true are these words. Babylon found its birth on the plains of Shinar. The essence of Babylon is to make of none effect the true testimony; to replace the true testimony with the opinions and rebellions of men. It wants to shake the confidence of God’s people in His Word, and turn away the present generation from the true God. To exalt self and to lead the people into idolatry, are Babylon’s goals.

“The whole undertaking [the building of the Tower of Babel] was designed to exalt still further the pride of its projectors and to turn the minds of future generations away from God and lead them into idolatry . . . The people rejoiced in their success, and praised the gods of silver and gold, and set themselves against the Ruler of heaven and earth.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 119.

This is exactly what is going on right now. The results demonstrated in the history of the Tower of Babel will be the same, without deviation, for the present generation if they continue to choose the same course. Sister White wrote: “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 neighbor’s 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?” Manuscript Releases, vol. 21, 380. [All emphasis supplied.]

God is in the business of saving every single soul who will accept Him. God calls the wandering soul unto Himself through various methods and agencies. One who has the knowledge of God and then rejects it is far more guilty than one who has not come to the light of truth. It follows then that an Adventist is held in higher responsibility because of his profession to a higher knowledge. Our responsibilities increase with the privilege of greater truth. To be a leader in Adventism, a representative of Christ Himself, and misuse this office or mislead people, is to deepen one’s damnation! The claim to Adventism has very serious consequences, and the acceptance of leadership, the highest consequences.

In years past, God turned away from those who united in their apostate agenda and chose Abraham to carry out His will. Just so in this age, God turns from those who persist in apostasy, to men of His own choosing who will carry on the closing work. Abraham grew up “in the midst of superstition and heathenism.” The world beckoned on every side, but Abraham promptly answered God’s call. Because he was well acquainted with heathenism and idolatry he could view with sharp eyes the stark contrast between God’s way and the way of the world.

He became different from his friends and relatives when he answered the call, breaking many close ties that would have pulled him downward. It was by necessity that God asked him to separate himself from his former associates.

“Now that Abraham was, in a special sense, connected with heaven, he must dwell among strangers. His character must be peculiar, different from all the world. He could not even explain his course of action so as to be understood by his friends. Spiritual things are spiritually discerned, and his motives and actions were not comprehended by his idolatrous kindred.

“It was no light test that was thus brought upon Abraham, no small sacrifice that was required of him. There were strong ties to bind him to his country, his kindred, and his home. But he did not hesitate to obey the call . . . God had spoken, and His servant must obey; the happiest place on earth for him was the place where God would have him to be.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 126.

 

Conformity to World

 

Lot, Abraham’s nephew, was not as mature or wise as his uncle. I am sure Lot felt, as many of us perhaps have, that the influences of worldliness would not eclipse his dedication to God. Lot, by choice, settled in the thriving metropolis of Sodom. In this city of unchecked frivolity was found a society of “if it feels good, do it” inhabitants. A people that closely parallel the society of the present world. This was the society in which Lot chose to live. Maybe he felt he could do some good for these poor people, and perhaps bring a little religion into their lives. But as the years went by it was not Sodom who was being converted to Christianity, but Lot’s family who was being converted to heathenism.

“Conformity to worldly customs converts the church to the world; it never converts the world to Christ. Familiarity with sin will inevitably cause it to appear less repulsive. He who chooses to associate with the servants of Satan will soon cease to fear their master. When in the way of duty we are brought into trial, as was Daniel in the king’s court, we may be sure that God will protect us; but if we place ourselves under temptation we shall fall sooner or later.” The Great Controversy, 509.

The condition of Sodom had become so bad that it provoked the Lord to destroy it. Christ Himself came down to oversee the task and spoke about it with Abraham. He was willing to hold off the destruction of that thriving city for only ten souls, but there were not ten righteous souls in that city.

Lot had placed his family in association with those who scoffed at the Word of God. They did not believe that God paid attention to or would punish their crimes against His kingdom of righteousness. All of this had taken a toll on Lot’s family, and perhaps he did not even realize until the test came, that it was too late to improve his circumstances.

The angels arrived in Sodom on that last night, and were besieged at Lot’s house by a lawless crowd inflamed by the vilest passions, saying, “Bring them out to us that we may them (that is sexually).” Such is the perversion in the minds and lives of those who disregard God.

Lot’s family was warned of the destruction soon to fall, but they were reluctant to leave the city. How powerful the gravity of Satan’s deceptions over the human heart. In this generation, do we have less to fear from the effects of our own society? As many are running back to apostate conference churches, please read the next words carefully, and apply them to today. “The angels revealed to Lot the object of their mission . . . The strangers who Lot had endeavored to protect, now promised to protect him, and to save also the members of his family who would flee with him from the wicked city . . . Lot went out to warn his children. He repeated the words of the angels, ‘Up, get you out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city.’ But he seemed to them as one that mocked. They laughed at what they called his superstitious fears. His daughters were influenced by their husbands. They were well enough off where they were . . . Lot returned sorrowfully to his home and told the story of his failure. Then the angels bade him arise and take his wife and the two daughters who were yet in his house and leave the city. But Lot delayed . . . He did not realize the terrible necessity for God’s judgments to put a check on sin . . . But for the angels of God, they would all have perished in the ruin of Sodom. The heavenly messengers took him and his wife and daughters by the hand and led them out of the city . . . Hesitancy or delay now would be fatal. To cast one lingering look upon the devoted city, to tarry for one moment from regret to leave so beautiful a home, would have cost their life . . . If Lot himself had manifested no hesitancy to obey the angels’ warning, but had earnestly fled toward the mountains, without one word of pleading or remonstrance, his wife also would have made her escape. The influence of his example would have saved her from the sin that sealed her doom. But his hesitancy and delay caused her to lightly regard the divine warning. While her body was upon the plain, her heart clung to Sodom, and she perished with it.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 159–161.

 

Spiritual Suicide

 

Brothers and sisters, we must understand that to once have left, or have been disfellowshipped from a church, for the reason of fidelity to God, and then to go back, is doing the same thing as Lot’s wife. We cannot afford to turn back unless we are obeying the truths and principles of God’s guidance. To return to a conference, self-supporting ministry or church that continues to demonstrate an agenda of apostasy is spiritual suicide!

Did you notice that the influence of Lot could have saved his wife? I can tell you this. If either my wife or I went back to a ministry or a church that was still preaching and promoting apostasy, we would go alone. This was part of our original wedding vows and our personal vows to our God. He must, and will always, come first in the life of true Christians and that means even above wife, husband or family members.

My friends, God understands your desire for fellowship. He shares that desire with you, and as quickly as He safely can, He wants to bring you into physical companionship with Himself, forever. But loneliness or a lack of fellowship will not excuse one from the consequences of disregarding the express requirements of our Lord. We are not to look back as did Lot’s wife! To do so would be fatal.

“It is only those who render perfect and thorough obedience to God that He will choose. Those who follow the Lord are to be firm and straightforward in obeying His directions. Any deviation to follow human devising or planning disqualifies them for being trustworthy. Even if they have to walk as did Enoch, [a representation of the 144,000] with God alone,—His children must separate from those who do not obey Him, who show that they are not in vital connection with Him.” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 2, 1036.

My dear beloved friends in Jesus, once having laid your hands to the plow, do not look back, save to remember how God has graciously led you in the past.