church

My Work in Historic Adventism

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What we do is closely related to what we are. It is said of Christ that His nature and His work are inseparably intertwined and interwoven with each other, and the same is true to a lesser degree of all of us. We are what we do and we do what we are. Consider my life span. I became a Seventh-day Adventist in the year 1936, when I was sixteen years old. Although I did not realize it at the time, I was a very fortunate and privileged person, because being baptized at this particular time gave me the privilege of living some thirty years during the Golden Age of Adventism, from 1936 to 1966. The tragic book Questions On Doctrine, which brought the Golden Age of Adventism to an end, was published in l956. It took about ten years for it to really have much influence upon the church. But by 1966 the dire influence of that fateful volume had become widespread, the precious unity and harmony of the church had been destroyed, and the Dark Ages of Adventism had begun, and have continued for thirty years (until 1996.) Thus my Christian life has consisted of thirty years in the Golden Age of Adventism and thirty years in the Dark Ages of Adventism. I am able to make comparisons.

What were the characteristics of the Golden Age of Adventism that I experienced from 1936 until 1966? Not the absence of problems. We had our share of them. Not the favor of the world. The world and the worldly churches cordially hated us and maliciously lied about us. Not wealth. The depression was still in force. But we had something far more precious than any of these things. We had unity and harmony throughout the entire church. We were one in faith and doctrine.

During those years you could travel to any foreign country, find the local Seventh-day Adventist church, walk in through the front door and say, “I am home. I have never seen these people before, but I know them. I know their beliefs and I know their life style. On all of the important matters of life, their hearts beat as mine.” This was especially true of church workers. When two of them met, anywhere, there was an instant bonding and a fullness of fellowship. How precious were those days, now known only as they are held in sweet remembrance. We would have treasured them even more had we known what was ahead.

Fidelity to the Bible and to the Spirit of Prophecy was taken for granted. Infidelity was neither glossed over nor excused. Not long after my baptism in 1936 I enrolled as a freshman at Walla Walla College. By the time a few weeks of the school year had passed, it had become apparent that three of the Bible teachers, including the chairman of the Bible department, were undercutting the Spirit of Prophecy. Careful investigations were conducted, and by the end of the first quarter, all three of these teachers were gone from the campus. Two quickly found their places in Sunday keeping churches, where they belonged, and the third retired to his hog ranch. Yes, his hog ranch. But none of the three were undercutting the Spirit of Prophecy nearly as much as is being done in many of our college Bible classes today, while church administrators look on indifferently or benignly.

Our week of prayer speakers ministered to our needs in a careful and conscientious way, always teaching us the joys of victorious Christian living. If any of them had announced to us that it is impossible to stop sinning, we would have heard him no further. And the administration would have replaced him, even before the week was over.

So that is where I am coming from, and that is who I am. I listen in astonishment to earnest young Calvinists among us describing those years as the “age of legalism.” They can’t kid me. I was there.

I was taught our faith and doctrines by dedicated men who were one hundred per-cent Seventh-day Adventists. I spent fifteen years of my ministry in full-time evangelism. (The other years were divided between pastoring and teaching in college and seminary classrooms.)In my evangelistic work I was required to closely examine the false reasoning, the sophistry, and the casuistry in the writings of the “Evangelical” ministers who were desperately opposing our message, and show their tricks to the new converts. You can imagine the pain I feel when I see the same sort of material being set forth by some Seventh-day Adventist ministers now. When they proclaim that “We are Evangelicals!” my response is, “You really didn’t need to tell me. I knew that already. The methodology of your writings makes it abundantly clear.”

So my present work is preaching to and teaching the historic Seventh-day Adventists in camp meetings and seminars. I am in the pulpit virtually every Sabbath, either near my place of abode, or in some other state. I answer innumerable theological questions, by mail or by telephone. For want of a better place to go, ministry leaders often come to me for counsel. And in between these activities, I try to find time for writing. I feel guilty because I am not writing more, but I run out of time.

But in it all, I am happy. I know that I am defending God’s pure and holy truth, and I have no moments of anxious foreboding such as the Calvinists among us must certainly have. The shaking time is moving in on us. By God’s grace, I will survive it, and live again in the happy fellowship of a purified church.

Another Great Disappointment, The Church

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There was a great disappointment in Jesus’ day. The Jews thought their organized nation (denomination) was the church. They believed that in order for Old Testament prophecy to be fulfilled it was necessary to stick with that denomination and it was necessary for their denomination to be cleansed and to triumph—otherwise, they thought prophecy would be proved false.

They said, “Yes, we know that there is corruption of all kinds in the organized church structure.” The office of high priest was often acquired by murder. The educational institutions had been taken over by those who had a Hellenistic education. False theology had taken over Judaism. See Desire of Ages, 35, 36. They were actually the representatives of Satan rather than representatives of God. But they said, “The prophecies have been given to this organized structure and the prophet says that God is going to shake all nations and the church is going to be cleansed and purified.” They believed that the Messiah was going to cleanse the church from all this corruption and that the structure of Judaism, purified, was going through to the kingdom. They believed that prophecy assured this and they knew that their condition demonstrated their need of it. They believed that the vindication of God’s honor required it, and that without question God was going to do it.

Anybody who did not follow the pattern of life marked out by their church structure was looked upon as suspect at the least, and probably a heretic, because the voice of the church leaders was looked upon as the voice of God. The Jewish leaders had marked out a path that all must follow—all must not only attend worship service in the organized structure church but they must also attend the schools that this structure operated. It was because he did not follow this pattern that John the Baptist was not accepted by the Jewish leaders. This was a preparatory step in the destruction of the organized Jewish structure and most of God’s professed people of that time.

When what you believe cannot happen, happens, you are in for a great disappointment. The Jewish leaders specified how God had to fulfill prophecy and when divine providence did not follow their specifications, they rejected God in the person of His Son.

Are we not in the very same danger today? Do we have a right to say that God’s promises to His remnant are unconditional? “The promises of God to Abraham and his posterity, and through Christ to the nations of the earth, may appear to have been unconditional. But such was not the case. Whether Abraham would share in their fulfillment, was determined by the course which he pursued.” Signs of the Times, May 19, 1881. [Emphasis supplied.] Do we have a right to specify to God and to everyone else exactly how prophecy must be fulfilled? If we say that prophecy must be fulfilled by this or that organization being purified and going through to glory, we are on the same uncertain ground as the Jews were in the time of Christ.*

Concerning the controversy over the definition of the church, the only safe course is to stick with the definition statements in the inspired writings. Revelation 12 is sufficient to show who and what the church is. “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. When Ellen White talks about the Seventh-day Adventist church as the true church it is because they keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, not because they have an organization: “Let all be careful not to make an outcry against the only people who are fulfilling the description given of the remnant people, who keep the commandments of God, and have the faith of Jesus, who are exalting the standard of righteousness in these last days. God has a distinct people, a church on earth, second to none, but superior to all in their facilities to teach the truth, to vindicate the law of God. God has divinely appointed agencies,—men whom he is leading, who have borne the heat and burden of the day, who are cooperating with heavenly instrumentalities to advance the kingdom of Christ in our world. Let all unite with these chosen agents, and be found at last among those who have the patience of the saints, who keep the commandments of God, and have the faith of Jesus.” Review and Herald, September 12, 1893.

“There is but one church in the world who are at the present time standing in the breach, and making up the hedge, building up the old waste places; [seventh-day Sabbath reform] . . . those who keep the commandments of God, and have the faith of Jesus?” Review and Herald, September 5, 1893.

Who is the Organized Body?

When the church at Rome decided to keep Sunday and abolish the keeping of the seventh-day Sabbath, there were a few Christians which would not go along with the lawbreaking program. These Christians were anathematized by the Council of Laodicea in about 364 A.D. Suppose that one of these Christians would not go along with the Sunday-keeping program. He was forced out of the congregation of the lawless, but professed true church of Christ. One day he met a former brother who had decided to break the fourth commandment. This former brother said to him, “Why did you leave the church?” What should the Sabbath-keeping Christian say? (Remember that those who chose to begin breaking the law of God were in the majority; they had the church organization, the pastors, most of the money, and to all outward appearances, the whole church. But the pertinent fact is that when they began to countenance the breaking of the law of God they were not the true church anymore. They were the professed true church but not so in reality.) So the Sabbath-keeping Christian could justly say in answer to the question why did you leave the church, “Why did YOU (the Sunday-keeper) leave the church—even though you have the building, the organization, the money, the pastors, and all the appearance, you are not the true church anymore.” The true church never never countenances the breaking of the law of God. When that was insisted on (the New Theology of those days) then, “after a long and severe conflict, the faithful few decided to dissolve all union with the apostate church if she still refused to free herself from falsehood and idolatry. They saw that separation was an absolute necessity if they would obey the word of God. They dared not tolerate errors fatal to their own souls, and set an example which would imperil the faith of their children and children’s children. To secure peace and unity they were ready to make any concession consistent with fidelity to God; but they felt that even peace would be too dearly purchased at the sacrifice of principle. If unity could be secured only by the compromise of truth and righteousness, then let there be difference, and even war.” Great Controversy, 45.

Then notice the immediate conclusion of the prophet: “Well would it be for the church and the world if the principles that actuated those steadfast souls were revived in the hearts of God’s professed people.” Great Controversy, 45.

Who Are the Real Separationists?

No doubt there were some people back then just as there are today who said, “Stay in there and confront those lawbreakers and defeat the apostasy. Truth is stronger than error—stay in the church and convert the apostate leaders or pastors or get them replaced with men who are faithful. Don’t separate from the church—Jesus has promised that the gates of hell will not overcome His church so just stay there and fight for truth and at the appointed time God will weed out the apostates and bring back a pure and sanctified ministry who will prepare the church and the world for the second coming of Christ.” Those who followed that course in the third and fourth centuries lost their own souls and the souls of their children, just as multitudes of Adventists are doing today.

Do you suppose that those Christians who insisted on keeping the commandments of God and were therefore forced out of the professed church were accused of leaving the church? Without question they were. They were accused of being separationists. But who were the real separationists? Those who accepted the New Theology and led the people to break the law of God. Do not ever forget that to condone or excuse sin is to perpetrate it. There is a time to stay in a church and protest. We cannot judge the conscience of a person who has chosen to do that, but the references already quoted show that there is a time when separation from evil in the church is absolutely necessary. Anyone who dares to be conscience for another, and attempts to persuade him or her to stay where error is being taught, will be held responsible in the day of judgement for the souls lost by that course of action. “Of all the crimes that God will visit, none are in his sight so grievous as those who tempt and encourage others in sin. God would have his ministers ever in all places show themselves decidedly on the Lord’s side, loyal and true to his commandments in a rebellious world, thus rebuking the disobedient however difficult or contrary to the natural feelings.” Signs of the Times, May 20, 1880.

The Bottom Line Question

The bottom line question is always the same—who and what is the church?

It is the body of Christ. Ephesians 1:22, 23; 1 Corinthians 12.

It is those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. Revelation 12:17.

It is those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Revelation 14:12.

It is the people who are established upon the Rock against whom the gates of hell cannot prevail. Matthew 16:18.

It is the pillar and ground of the truth. 1 Timothy 3:15.

It is one body and has one faith and one baptism. Ephesians 4:4.

It is visible (although no human being can now see all of it at one time) because when there is a dispute among the members they can go to the church and tell it. Matthew 18.

It should be abundantly evident from the above Biblical definitions that the church is a spiritual thing. It is one of the things of God. (Surely nobody could argue against the “body of Christ” being one of the things of God.) Since it is one of the things of God it is never to be amalgamated with the things of the state—this is spiritual adultery or fornication. The church is to have one husband. 2 Corinthians 11:2. It is spoken of in the Bible as the kingdom of God, the holy city—Jerusalem, as the branches of the true vine, as the sheepfold and as the spiritual temple or sanctuary of truth. It is spoken of as the bride of Christ.

Ellen White agrees with these biblical definitions of the church. (The following quotation was written from Nimes, France in 1886 to faraway relatives who were not keeping the Sabbath—notice how clear Ellen White was to her non-Sabbath-keeping relatives that membership in no organization could make you a member of the church unless you loved God and were keeping the commandments of God. No matter how severely rebuked they may have felt by this letter she told them the truth. Do you believe it?)

“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.’ 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. Where two or three are present who love and obey the commandments of God, Jesus there presides, let it be in the desolate place of the earth, in the wilderness, in the city, [or] enclosed in prison walls. The glory of God has penetrated the prison walls, flooding with glorious beams of heavenly light the darkest dungeon. His saints may suffer, but their sufferings will, like the apostles’ of old, spread their faith and win souls to Christ and glorify His holy name. The bitterest opposition expressed by those who hate God’s great moral standard of righteousness should not and will not shake the steadfast soul who trusts fully in God.” Manuscript Release, vol. 17, 81, 82.

What Makes A Church?

In this statement Ellen White defines who and what the church is. It is those who love God and keep His commandments and it is where the presence of God is among them. The point that many are missing is that when Ellen White refers to Seventh-day Adventists as the church, the thing that makes them the church is the fact that they love God and keep His commandments. It is most emphatically not the fact that they have an organization that can be called the church. Ellen White makes a sharp distinction in her writings between the professed remnant church and the church which is actually the remnant church—those who love God and keep His commandments. The church existed before the organization just as it did before the existence of the medical work, even though that is the right arm of the message. The right arm could be cut off and the body still exist. That already happened once in the Kellogg apostasy. Although we are not saying that any organization will be severed from the mystical body of Christ as the arm was around the turn of the century, we still must recognize that this could happen. We cannot equate the body of Christ with church organization anymore than we can equate the medical missionary work with the whole body.

Of course, God’s people are organized, they are an organized body. But the thing that makes them the church is not because they are organized but the fact that they keep the commandments and the faith of Jesus.

Who is the Bride?

When people become confused over who the church is—thinking that it is the organization rather than the faithful people who love God and keep His commandments, they also become confused over who the bride of Christ is. They conclude that the organization is the bride of Christ and because of a wrong definition of who the church is, they proclaim all over the earth that the organization must become purified from all sin and false doctrine and every defect in order for prophecy to be fulfilled—otherwise in their view both prophecy and the church have failed. If this reasoning were actually true, it would be even more true of the apostolic church than of the remnant church, because it was to them specifically that the promise was given that the “gates of hell would not prevail” against the church. And so what was this apostolic church that has existed “through all the changing scenes of time to the present period, 1893?” Selected Messages, vol. 3, 18. If it was the organization, then a person should be trying to reform either the Greek orthodox church, or the Roman Catholic church, or the Nestorian church, or the Waldensian church. If this were so, then both the Apostle Paul and Ellen White were mistaken and the validity of divine providence in the whole second advent movement could be challenged. But of course, the Apostle Paul was not mistaken in his definitions of the church, neither was the Apostle John. Ellen White always agrees with them—the church is the people that love God and keep His commandments. Your entire thinking and conclusions are based on your definition of terms.

Adequate Facilities

At the time of the reformation, many people could not comprehend how God could leave the Roman Catholic Church and work through the tiny Protestant churches when the Roman Catholic Church had a worldwide network—such a perfect organization and such facilities as the Protestant churches could never boast even to the present day. A few years ago, and even more recently, it has been claimed, in effect, that God had to use the organization of Seventh-day Adventists because the self-supporting work and independent ministries did not have the facilities to finish the work. Do you remember the story of Gideon? Do you remember the story of Jonathan and his armor-bearer? Notice what the Spirit of Prophecy has to say.

“Whole conferences are becoming leavened with the same perverted principles. ‘For the rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.’ The Lord will work to purify his church. I tell you in truth, the Lord is about to turn and overturn in the institutions called by his name.” Special Testimonies Series A, 30.

“God will work a work in our day that but few anticipate. He will raise up and exalt among us those who are taught rather by the unction of His Spirit than by the outward training of scientific institutions. These facilities are not to be despised or condemned; they are ordained of God, but they can furnish only the exterior qualifications. God will manifest that He is not dependent on learned, self-important mortals.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 82.

“To stand in defense of truth and righteousness when the majority forsake us, to fight the battles of the Lord when champions are few—this will be our test. At this time we must gather warmth from the coldness of others, courage from their cowardice, and loyalty from their treason. The nation will be on the side of the great rebel leader.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 136.

The Shaking

Some say with great confidence that the sinners in Zion will be the ones who are sifted out while the church remains. The direct inference is that those who have been forced out of the church organization must be the sinners and those who are sifted out. Let us look at a few statements in Letter 55 where this quotation comes from. Letter 55 can be found in Manuscript Releases, vol. 12, 318-328.

“We ought to be far in advance of any other people on the earth because we have greater light and greater knowledge of the truth, which lays us under increased accountability to advance that light and not only profess to believe the truth but to practice it. When we do practice the truth we are then following Jesus, who is the light of the world; and if we as a people are not constantly elevating, becoming more and more spiritually minded, we are becoming like the Pharisees—self-righteous—while we do not the will of God.”

Notice, in the opening paragraph of the letter Ellen White draws a sharp distinction between the professed church and the true church—those who are living what they profess.** This concept is emphasized again in the third paragraph: “I think of how many who profess the truth are keeping it apart from their lives. They do not bring its sanctifying, refining, spiritualizing power into their hearts. I think how this grieves Jesus.”

In the fourth paragraph she hopes that what happened to Jerusalem (Luke 13:34) will not happen to Seventh-day Adventists as a people (to the professed church).

In the sixth paragraph she says, “When Jerusalem was divorced from God it was because of her sins. She fell from an exalted height that Tyre and Sidon had never reached. And when an angel falls he becomes a fiend. The depth of our ruin is measured by the exalted light to which God has raised us in His great goodness and unspeakable mercy. Oh, what privileges are granted to us as a people! And if God spared not His people that He loved, because they refused to walk in the light, how can He spare the people whom He has blessed with the light of heaven in having opened to them the most exalted truth ever entrusted to mortal man to give to the world?”

Notice, it is possible for the same thing that happened to Jerusalem to happen to us. In the seventh paragraph again the difference between profession and character of life is dwelt upon.

“We are far from being the people God would have us to be, because we do not elevate the soul and refine the character in harmony with the wonderful unfolding of God’s truth and His purposes. ‘Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people’ [Prov. 14:34]. Sin is a disorganizer. Wherever it is cherished—in the individual heart, in the household, in the church—there is disorder, strife, variance, enmity, envy, jealousy, because the enemy of man and of God has the controlling power over the mind. But let the truth be loved and brought into the life, as well as advocated, and that man or woman will hate sin and will be a living representative of Jesus Christ to the world.”

Again, in the eighth paragraph, she contrasts the professed church or believer with the real or true church or believer saying, “the people claiming to believe the truth will not be condemned because they had not the light, but because they had great light and did not bring their hearts to the test of God’s great moral standard of righteousness. The people who claim to believe the truth [professed church] must be elevated by living it out [the true church].” She does the same in the ninth and tenth paragraphs by saying that we are to be “living representatives of the truth” we profess.

In the eleventh paragraph, she shows that no matter how high our profession is, internal corruption, especially the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah, will keep us from receiving the power of God and instead, bring us under His denunciation.

Again in the thirteenth and fourteenth paragraphs we are cautioned that in spite of our profession of righteousness (profession of being God’s true people), if the camp is not cleansed of aggravating sins, God cannot work with us and all our policy cannot save us from a terrible sifting. Because of sin and cherished weakness, ruin will come upon us.

It is abundantly clear over and over again that Ellen White is drawing a sharp distinction between those who make a profession of being God’s last remnant people—Seventh-day Adventists (the professed church)—with those who not only make the profession but live out what they believe (the true church). She makes this distinction in different language several times.

The Coming Great Disappointment

Then comes this statement: “Satan will work his miracles to deceive; he will set up his power as supreme. The church may appear as about to fall, but it does not fall. It remains, while the sinners in Zion will be sifted out—the chaff separated from the precious wheat. This is a terrible ordeal, but nevertheless it must take place. None but those who have been overcoming by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony will be found with the loyal and true, without spot or stain of sin, without guile in their mouths. We must be divested of our self-righteousness and arrayed in the righteousness of Christ.

“The remnant that purify their souls by obeying the truth gather strength from the trying process, exhibiting the beauty of holiness amid the surrounding apostasy. All these, He says, ‘I have graven . . . upon the palms of my hands’ [Isa. 49:16]. They are held in everlasting, imperishable remembrance.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 12, 324, 325 (Letter 55, 1886).

Who is this church that appears to fall but does not fall? It is clearly those that purify their souls by obeying the truth. The great sifting is going to separate those who profess the truth (but do not live it) from the faithful souls who have always constituted the true church of God on earth—those who not only profess the truth but live it out. God will have a pure, true, sanctified ministry prepared for the latter rain. They will not be those who just profess the truth and have a “nominal interest” Ibid., 328, but those who, by the power of God, meet God’s moral requirements. (The person who has a nominal interest is the person who takes the name of the faithful but does not live out his profession.)

There is another great disappointment coming friends. Multitudes of Adventists are getting prepared to be sifted out from the truth. When you leave the truth, you have been separated from the church even if you go to church every week and are on the earthly church books. The church is the pillar and ground of the truth, and when you leave the truth, you have left the Author of truth and are not accounted as part of His body in the registry in heaven.

Nature of Repentance

There will be multitudes of Adventists who will repent like Judas when it is too late to repent unto salvation. The entire church, the entire movement will never repent—there is no prophecy or prediction of that (unless you believe that the church is the organization, in which case, as already mentioned, you should be trying to get either the Roman Catholic Church, or the Greek Orthodox Church, or the Nestorian Church, or the Waldensian church to repent so that prophecy can be fulfilled.) Repentance, like baptism, is something that has to be done individually. Everybody must be baptized for himself and everybody must repent for himself. Now is the time to make your calling and election sure, to receive the divine gift of repentance that is unto the complete forsaking and overcoming of sin and salvation.

Many Adventists are expecting something to happen that there is no unconditional prophecy about it ever happening. Rather, there are many conditional prophecies for which we have now fulfilled the conditions which indicate plainly that organized Adventism is headed for a cataclysmic experience similar to what happened to the Jews. Here are prophecies which predict this:

In Selected Messages, vol. 1, 204, 205, is found a twelve point conditional prophecy. Eleven of these twelve conditions have already been fulfilled. The twelfth specification is the only one not fulfilled yet and this one is, “storm and tempest would sweep away the structure.”

“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.

*For more information order our booklet on new organizations: Issues, Part 3: No New Organization.

**For more information order our booklet on the church: Issues, Part 2.

Appendix:

Prophecies to Israel are conditional

“The promises of God to Abraham and his posterity, and through Christ to the nations of the earth, may appear to have been unconditional. But such was not the case. Whether Abraham would share in their fulfillment, was determined by the course which he pursued.”
ST, 5/19/ 81.

Statements on the Voice of God

“Let those in America who suppose the voice of the General Conference to be the voice of God, become one with God before they utter their opinions. The Word of God is to be lived as well as preached. It is to be brought into every phase of the Christian work done in this world. The men God has appointed to do His work must be emptied of self. Let Jesus in. Open the door of the heart to the heavenly Guest. Let no man be looked up to as God. When those who come nigh [to] God in service are consecrated, cleansed, and purified, approaching nearer and still nearer the divine benevolence, they can voice the commission of God, and be respected.” MR, vol. 13, 291.

“Those who have not a living connection with God have not an appreciation of the Holy Spirit’s manifestation, and do not distinguish between the sacred and the common. They do not obey God’s voice, because, as the Jewish nation, they know not the time of their visitation. There is no help for man, woman, or child who will not hear and obey the voice of duty, for the voice of duty is the voice of God. The eyes, the ears, and the heart will become unimpressible if men and women refuse to give heed to the divine counsel, and choose the way that is best pleasing to themselves.” TM, 402.

“As I was made to understand something of the management of the work in this great center, it was all that I could bear. My spirit was pained within me, for I had lost confidence in that which I had ever presented before the people as the voice of God to His children. It has not been the voice of God. There has been a lording power exercised over God’s heritage in decisions which were not dictated by the Spirit of God. Unconsecrated men who were brought in connection with the work have exercised their own wisdom, and have woven into the work their own unconverted peculiarities. Their own principles have been counterworking the principles of truth and righteousness. We cannot therefore present before the people that the voice of the General Conference in its decisions must move and control them; for its propositions and decisions cannot be accepted. They are not in the right line of progress. God is cropped out of their counsels.” MR, vol. 17, 221, 222.

“Yet we hear that the voice of the conference is the voice of God. Every time I have heard this, I have thought that it was almost blasphemy. The voice of the conference ought to be the voice of God, but it is not, because some in connection with it are not men of faith and prayer; they are not men of elevated principle. There is not a seeking of God with the whole heart; there is not a realization of the terrible responsibility that rests upon those in this institution to mold and fashion minds after the divine similitude.” Sermons and Talks, vol. 2, 159.

“Over and over again men have said, ‘The voice of the Conference is the voice of God; therefore everything must be referred to the Conference. The Conference must permit or restrict in the various lines of work.’ As the matter has been presented to me, there is a narrow compass, and within this narrow compass, all the openings to which are locked, are those who would like to exercise kingly power. But the work carried on all over the field demands an entirely different course of action. There is need of the laying of a foundation different from the foundation which has been laid in the past. We have heard much about everything moving in the regular lines. When we see that the ‘regular lines’ are purified and refined, that they bear the mold of the God of heaven, then it will be time to endorse these lines. But when we see that message after message given by God has been received and accepted, yet no change has been made, we know that new power must be brought into the regular lines. The management of the regular lines must be entirely changed, newly organized. There must be a committee, not composed of half a dozen men, but of representatives from all lines of our work, from our publishing house, from our educational institutions, and from our sanitariums, which have life in them, which are constantly working, constantly broadening.” MR, vol. 13, 192, 193; 1888, 1727.

“I could not entrust the light God has given me to the publishing house at Battle Creek. I would not dare to do this. As for your book committee, under the present administration, with the men who now preside, I would not entrust to them for publication in books the light given me of God, until that publishing house has men of consecrated ability and wisdom. As for the voice of the General Conference, there is no voice from God through that body that is reliable.” MR, vol. 17, 178.

Statements on the Professed Church

“The professed church of God may be possessed of wealth, education, and knowledge of doctrine, and may say by her attitude, ‘I am rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing;’ but if its members are devoid of inward holiness, they cannot be the light of the world. The church is to reflect light into the moral darkness of the world, as the stars reflect light into the darkness of the night. These who have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof, do not reflect light into the world, and will not have power to reach the hearts of the unsaved. Without vital connection with Christ the value of truth cannot be made to appear in good fruit in the world; but if Christ is formed within, the hope of glory, his saving grace will be manifested in sympathy and love for perishing souls.” ST, 9/11/93.

“The Lord hath a controversy with his people, and, although in his great mercy he bear long with them, yet if they persist in living in transgression of his law, they will not stand in the day of his rebuke. He has seen the backsliding and iniquity of his professed people. He has noted the unbelief, the hypocrisy, the pride, the selfishness, the disobedience to his law, and he will punish for these things. God cannot be in harmony with the people who will not obey his commandments who are wickedly departing from his precepts and by their example of disobedience at leading their children and their neighbor in the way of transgression. The professed church of Christ is strengthening the hand of sinners in their evil work by making void through their traditions, the commandment of Jehovah.” ST, 3/1/94.

“Through paganism, and then through the Papacy, Satan exerted his power for many centuries in an effort to blot from the earth God’s faithful witnesses. Pagans and papists were actuated by the same dragon spirit. They differed only in that the Papacy, making a pretense of serving God, was the more dangerous and cruel foe. 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 suffered under the dragon’s ire. And when the Papacy, robbed of its strength, was forced to desist from persecution, John beheld a new power coming up to echo the dragon’s voice, and carry forward the same cruel and blasphemous work. This power, the last that is to wage war against the church and the law of God, was symbolized by a beast with lamblike horns.” ST, 11/1/99.

“The Saviour said to his professed people, ‘I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.’ If ever a people needed to repent because they had lost their first love, it is those who have had so great light, and have failed to live up to it. You can never understand what the loss means, until you repent of having given so little heed to the words of Christ. ‘Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.’ There is need of repentance, because there is a lack of love to God in his professed church. He has not been loved with the whole heart, with the whole soul. The affections have been divided, and the great commandment which says, ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself,’ has not been obeyed.” YI, 6/14/94.

“Satan has woven his spell even over the professed church of Christ, and many who claim to believe in Christ seem to be in the stupor of death. But the Lord has not left them to slumber on; He has sent them a message to arouse them from their carnal security. A part of these professors arouse and repent, and do their first works; but those who take comfort in their legal religion, in their form of godliness that is devoid of the power, feel that they have been personally rebuked and injured by the repentance of those who have aroused and returned unto the Lord. Instead of humbling their hearts and confessing their backsliding, they resist and oppose the message the Lord has sent. They oppose their finite wisdom against the wisdom of the Infinite. They allow their prejudices and passions to hold sway; they work on Satan’s side of the question. Thus the advocates of truth are brought into an unexpected conflict, and they are forced to bear witness to the truth, and to resist the hostility and hatred of those who would make the truth of God of none effect. Thus dissension comes in like a sword to divide believers and unbelievers.” Bible Echo and Signs of the Times, March 29, 1894.

“The professed church of Christ has wandered from her privilege, her duty, and her God. Like ancient Israel, she has forsaken the covenant, and joined herself in harmony with the world. Pride, luxury, and pleasure are invited into the sanctuary, and her holy places are defiled. Those who have pledged their allegiance to God, enjoy the company and spirit of his avowed enemies. Their choice determines their character. Strong is the Lord God who judgeth them.” ST, 11/4/83.

The End

John Calvin in Geneva, Switzerland

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Note: Calvin was to spend the second half of his life in the little city of Geneva and make it famous as the center of Protestantism and a place of refuge for the exiles of his native France and other persecuting countries. But before he entered the city, the surrounding territories and finally the city itself were to be evangelized by William Farel and other ministers, mostly Frenchmen. The stories of their courage and boldness are some of the most thrilling of the sixteenth century Protestant Reformation. Space does not permit us to recount their mighty deeds in the detail that the reader might wish and it is hoped that this brief introduction will inspire further study of this period which D’Aubigne describes thus: “In no part of the Christian world will the resistance be so stubborn; but no where will the assailants display so much courage.” History of the Reformation, Book XV, 596 (BSI edition).

Farel in the Forest Cantons of Switzerland

Geneva lay in the part of Switzerland which had not been reached by the Reformation preaching of Zwingle. The Forest Cantons had been very resistant and remained obedient to Rome. But William Farel recognized the good to be achieved if these areas could be won to the Gospel. The people of Geneva had long been a freedom loving people who had offered martyrs, not a few, in their fight for political freedom. The location of the city, on the borders with both France and Italy, offered a good place for the headquarters of a work for these nations.

Before entering Geneva he sought to make progress in the surrounding areas. He first worked in Aigle as a school teacher under an assumed name. When his lessons had attracted a congregation of students and their families, he cast off his disguise and announced himself as Farel the preacher. He immediately mounted the pulpit and preached with his characteristic thunderous, yet eloquent voice and with a message which bore the stamp of divine truth. From one sermon, converts were won and the priests became fired with a zeal to rid their domains of this fellow. Despite letters from Protestant Bern, which ruled the area, giving Farel permission to teach the Scriptures, the priests worked the people into an army ready to make war and Farel’s followers were equally ready for the fight. Farel though undismayed decided to move on and carried his message to other towns and villages.

He would at times enter a town and while the priest was offering the mass at the altar, he would mount the pulpit and his voice would drown out the mass. This sometimes resulted in his being pulled violently from the pulpit, but at other times conviction would set in and the priest would throw off his robes and join the people in dismantling the altar and destroying the images. “In three weeks time four villages of the region had embraced the Reformed faith . . . The spring and summer sufficed to establish the Reformed faith in a great part of this region.” Wylie, The History of the Protestant Reformation, Book 14, 249, 250.

In the city of Neuchatel, known for its religious devotion, this man of short stature, red beard, glittering eyes, and stentorian voice, came to the market and announced that he had a religion, not from Rome, but from the Bible. After their first dumb astonishment, the monks and priests cried for his brains to be beaten out, but he lifted his voice above the clamor and the city was taken by storm. He again had to leave the town but returning a few weeks later the people formed around him and escorted him up the hill to the site of their cathedral and placed him in the pulpit. He preached one of his most powerful sermons and the citizens rose up and dismantled the altar, tore down crucifixes and pictures, broke images, and cast the lot down the summit of the terrace where the cathedral stood. They inscribed on a pillar of the great building the words— “On the 23rd October, 1530, Idolatry was overthrown and removed from this Church by the citizens.” Ibid., 250.

Farel’s life was in constant danger and, since it was winter, cold, hunger and weariness were his frequent attendants. The priests used tricks, threats, and violence to try to remove this danger to their “religion” and thus their tithes and offerings. They could not fight doctrine with doctrine since their ignorance prevented this approach. Instead they used violence. Once Farel was beaten nearly to death. He was so disfigured that his friends scarcely recognized him. He had to spend some time recuperating and had barely recovered his strength when he set out again to evangelize.

Due to the battles over religion, the nation was drifting toward civil war and in an attempt to avert bloodshed, a conference was held in Bern to try to work out a compromise. “Thus out of that necessity which is said to be the mother of invention, came the idea of toleration. We deem the mass idolatry, said Protestant Bern, but we shall prevent no one going to it. We deem the Protestant sermon heresy, rejoined Popish Friburg, but we shall give liberty to all who wish to attend it. Thus on the basis of liberty of worship was the public peace maintained. This dates in Switzerland from January, 1532. Toleration was adopted as a policy before it had been accepted as a principle. It was practiced as a necessity of the State before it had been promulgated as a right of conscience. It was only when it came to be recognized and claimed in the latter character as a right founded on a Divine charter—namely, the Word of God—and held irrespective of the permission or interdiction of man, that toleration established inviolably its existence and reign.” Ibid., 255.

Gospel Struggles in Geneva

On his return from the Waldensian synod in the valley of Angrogna, in October, 1532, Farel, with Saunier his companion, was able to visit Geneva. The friends of liberty in that city listened with intense interest to two sermons concerning the authority of the Word of God and the great pardon of God. “They had been shedding their blood for their franchises, but now the Reformer showed them a way by which their souls might escape from the dark dungeon in which tradition and human authority had succeeded in shutting them up . . . ‘This,’ said Farel, ‘is the Gospel; and this, and nothing short of this, is liberty, inasmuch as it is the enfranchisement of the whole man, body, conscience, and soul.’ ” Ibid., 257. His arrival was not unnoticed by the priests and he was called before the council. Thanks to the letters he carried from their Excellencies of Bern, he was released. Next he was invited to an episcopal council under the pretext of open debate but some council members carried weapons under their sacerdotal robes. “Such was their notion of a religious discussion.” Ibid. The event would have ended tragically but for the intervening of two magistrates. Outside the hall they met another armed mob and narrowly escaped. They slept with an armed guard and were escorted early the next morning to Lake Leman, to sail away.

Farel’s name was too powerful to begin the work in Geneva. A lowly minister by the name of Froment was sent to the city and he choose to begin his work, as Farel had, as an instructor of the young. His congregation quickly grew and the homes of the believers were not adequate to hold the crowds. One day the crowd carried their preacher to the market place and he expounded on “free pardon.” A band of armed priests and soldiers arrived and Froment had to be carried into hiding. He too had to quit the city. But the believers continued to meet in homes. They elected one of their number to be their leader, Guerin, who also had to flee the hatred of the priests.

Friends of the Duke of Savoy and of Rome—the Mamelukes, as they were called—determined that the only answer to the crisis was to kill all the Protestants in Geneva without an exception. They took an oath promising to perform their plan the next day. Three hundred armed priests led a host of 2,500 armed men followed by women and children with stones. These moved on a group of 400 Protestant believers who had gathered in the mansion of one of their leaders. They determined to stand their ground. Bloodshed was averted by the interposition of seven merchants from Friburg who stood between the forces and diligently worked to restore calm and succeeded in working out terms of pacification. The priests were not content with this action and a few weeks later went into the streets again armed for battle. In the darkness they fought each other as well as the foe and their leader was killed. This ended the street battles.

The papal prince-bishop of the city invited the leading Protestants to his castle for discussions and then threw them into the dungeon. Even the Catholics on the council could not tolerate this action and after giving over his captives, the prince-bishop, fearing his safety, fled the city.

Geneva’s Prolonged Struggles

With some dangers gone, Farel returned. He delivered sermons to congregations who wore helmets and carried arms. Both sides were ready for battle; some to defend the Word of God and others demanding the burning of all the Bibles in the city. Froment and Viret came to help Farel and their mighty preaching resulted in the majority of the city choosing Protestantism.

The cities’ battles were not over. One plot involved arming a large group who were disguised as pilgrims and duly outfitted, arriving outside the city gates in mass. But the citizens, recognizing a Trojan horse, refused them entry. Another plan had an army hidden without the city, ready in cooperation with the papist Mamelukes inside, to attack when the signal was given. The plot was discovered just minutes before the attack. The army retreated when they learned they were discovered. With the miscarriage of their plot, most of the Mamelukes fled the town and their priests, left without their flock, followed. The Genevans decided that they had to tear down the suburbs surrounding their city in order to have a buffer zone for security. One half of the city lay outside the walls, including the homes of rich and poor alike. They sacrificed their dwellings and gardens, which were demolished brick by brick and the area burned and cleared.

In this time of need all of Geneva’s allies forsook her. Even Bern refused aide. The duke was raising an army to force entrance into the city. The bishop published an excommunication and the Pope added his anathema against the city. It was seen as the dwelling place of devils. The Emperor Charles V joined their foes and demanded their surrender. The citizens were in constant danger when outside the walls. There were tortures and murders, as ferocious bands laid waste the country around Geneva, cut off the supplies coming to its markets, waylaid its citizens, and then tortured, beheaded or otherwise dispatched them.

A Convent Converted

An attempt to poison the three French pastors was made by a woman who claimed to be a Protestant exile, and was employed in the house where they lived. Viret alone ate the poison. He survived but suffered its debilitating results the rest of his life. The woman confessed and accused a priest of planning the attempt. She was executed and the ministers were assigned to apartments in a Franciscan Convent where it was thought they would be safe. The end of the affair was the conversion of almost all the brethren of the convent, including James Bernard, who thought it would be well to hold a public disputation. A date was fixed and invitations published and sent to a wide area. Learned men from both sides came and two Roman champions were chosen to defend the old faith. In the end, both acknowledged themselves vanquished and announced their conversion to the Reformed faith.

Tricks for Miracles

The advance of Protestantism in Geneva was accelerated by some startling revelations of frauds that had been perpetrated upon the citizens in the name of miracles. Investigations were made regarding miracles and relics that brought vast funds into Roman coffers. These investigations revealed tricks in place of miracles, and indignation intensified. Finally the Council met on August 10, 1535, to discuss the question of religion. The Protestant ministers addressed the Council, offering to submit themselves to death if the priests could prove that in the public disputation or in their sermons they had advanced anything contrary to the Word of God. Next the Council called the Cordeliers, Dominicans, Augustines, the canon, the grand-vicar of the bishop, and the parochial cures before them. They recounted the ten years of religious conflicts that had disturbed their city. They offered that the Roman religion would be restored to its former glory if they could prove the truth of their dogmas and worship from the Word of God. They declined. “The prospect of rendering Romanism once more supreme in Geneva, could not tempt them to do battle for their faith . . .They craved only to be permitted to exercise their religion without restraint. The deputation announced to them the order of the Council that they should cease to say mass, and then retired . . .On the 27th of August a general edict was issued, enjoining public worship to be conducted according to the rules of the Gospel, and prohibited all ‘acts of Popish idolatry’.” Ibid. 275.

This action infuriated the duke who determined to crush this city which had scarcely a soldier to defend it and no allies. He would starve the inhabitants with a total blockade by land and water. It so happened that Bern suffered an affront from the duke about this same time and they declared war against him. The combined efforts of Geneva and Bern resulted in a series of disasters for the duke’s army and ended by the Duke loosing not only Geneva his conquest, but Savoy and Piedmont with his capitol. He spent 17 years in humiliation and exile before his death.

Calvin Enters Geneva

Since the outside threats were diminished, the work of teaching the people and leading them to have transformed manners and habits commenced in earnest. There were two parties of the Protestants: those who had been transformed by the Gospel and those who professed a belief but did not expect this to mean any change in their licentious lives. The latter were known as Libertines for their professed love of liberty, which they defined as liberty from all restraint. Farel felt the weight of the task. He was thankfully surprised to learn that Calvin had come to the city. Calvin had been traveling and detoured from his intended route around the armies of Charles V and through Switzerland.

Farel felt that God had sent him the man he most needed to join him in his task and he immediately visited Calvin and urged him to become his comrade in the campaign. Calvin refused, for he felt that his contribution was through his studies and his pen. “But Farel would not stand aside. Putting on something of the authority of an ancient prophet, he commanded the young traveler to remain and labor in Geneva, and he imprecated upon his studies the curse of God, should he make them the pretext for declining the call now addressed to him. It was the voice not of Farel, but of God, that now spoke to Calvin; so he felt; and instantly he obeyed . . . He gave his hand to Farel, and in so doing he gave himself to Geneva.” Ibid., 281.

He was 27 years old and would spend 28 years in the service of this city. “He would display before all Christendom the Institutes, not as a volume of doctrines, but as a system of realized facts—a State rescued from the charnel-house of corruption, and raised to the glorious heritage of liberty and virtue—glorious in art, in letters, and in riches, because resplendent with every Christian virtue. To write Protestantism upon their banners, to proclaim it in their edicts, to install it as a worship in their Churches, Calvin and all the Reformers held to be but a small affair; what they strove above all things to achieve was to plant it as an operative moral force in the hearts of men, and at the foundation of States.” Ibid., 281, 282.

Calvin’s genius for system and organization was seen as he helped to draw up first a simple and brief Confession of Faith, setting forth in twenty-one articles, the leading doctrines of Protestantism. The citizens came forward in relays of ten to take the oath. This was followed by a Catechism for adults which showed the people the moral duties that were demanded by the Protestantism that they professed. “The Genevans had lifted up their hands: had they bowed their hearts? This was the main question with him.” Ibid., 282.

The Constitution for the Republic was also considered and Calvin again helped to revise the form of government of the State. There was to be a General Council which consisted of all the people, which would meet once a year to elect the four Syndics and at other times in case of an important emergency. The Syndics served on the Council of Twenty-five which actually governed the city in both legislative and judicial matters. There was also a new power to be added, the Consistory, which was to handle Church scandals. It was composed of five ministers and twelve laymen and met every Thursday. The strongest powers given this body was that of excommunication which they defined as the power to withhold the Sacraments from one whose life was “manifestly unholy.” (It did not seek to determine man’s condition before God.)

Calvin did see the need of distinguishing between the powers of the religious and the civil bodies. The religious body had no powers in the civil government but he did not clearly separate from the civil bodies, power over religious matters. Calvin held a “profound distinction between the civil and the religious community. Distinction, we say, and by no means separation . . . In this great question as to the relations between Church and State, Calvin desired and did more than his predecessors . . . he secured to the Reformed Church of Geneva, in purely religious questions and affairs, the right of self-government, according to the faith, and the law as they stand written in the Holy Books.” Ibid., 285.

Calvin’s attempts to establish a theocracy in Geneva with the government as the guardian over things both civil and spiritual, we, from our vantage point in history, “regard as a grave error.” Ibid., 284.

Sumptuary Laws

“Calvin’s theological code was followed by one of morals . . . The clergy were notoriously profligate, the government was tyrannical, and the people, in consequence, were demoralized. Geneva had but one redeeming trait, the love of liberty . . . It was clear that Protestantism must cleanse the city or leave it. Geneva was nothing unless it was moral; it could not stand a day. This was the task to which Calvin now turned his attention.”

“This introduces the subject of the sumptuary laws . . . The rules now framed forbade games of chance, oaths and blasphemies, dances, lascivious songs, farces, and masquerades. The hours of taverners were shortened; every one was to be at home by nine at night, and hotel-keepers were to see that these rules were observed by their guests. To these were added certain regulations with a view of restraining excess in dress and profusion at meals. All were enjoined to attend sermon and the other religious exercises . . . The second battle with the citizens proved a harder one than the first with the priests, and the reformation of manners a more difficult task than the reformation of beliefs.” Ibid., 285, 286.

“The Libertines, as the oppositionists began now to be called, demanded the abolition of the new code; they complained especially of the ‘excommunication’ . . . The reproofs which Calvin thundered against their vices from the pulpit were intolerable to many, perhaps to most . . . It was mortifying to find that very Protestantism which they had struggled to establish turning round upon them, and weighing them in its scales, and finding them wanting.” Ibid.

Calvin and Farel Banished

One principle which Calvin was determined not to compromise, for he believed that the Reformation would stand or fall with that principle, was that holy things were not to be given to unholy men. A question arose over whether unleavened bread should be used with the communion. Calvin and Farel said that the church could decide this issue, but that the more serious question was whether the communion should be given at all to those guilty of blasphemies and immoralities. The Libertines at this time enjoyed a majority on the Council and this left the pastors alone to uphold the standard.

The day of communion arrived and the ministers determined not to hold the ordinance at all. The Churches were filled with worshippers, many of whom had come with their swords at their sides. Farel held the services in one church and Calvin in another. When it became apparent that the Lord’s Supper was not going to be dispensed, there was a great uproar. Swords were unsheathed and men rushed toward the pulpit. They were met with resoluteness by both pastors. It was a miracle, many believed, that no blood was shed.

On the morrow, the Council banished their pastors. Farel went to Neuchatel where he completed his life’s labors. Calvin moved to Strasburg where he was able to study and commune with many other reformers. He spent three years here preaching and performing all the duties of a pastor. He lectured daily at the Academy and he attended several conferences between the Reformed leaders and the Papacy. He suffered from poverty as he was not paid for his labors and had to sell his books for his support. He met Melancthon and they became fast friends. He also married during his time in Strasburg. Idelette de Bure was to be his dearest companion. And from afar he kept Geneva from the attacks of the papacy, which was determined to reenter the city.

Calvin Returns to Geneva

Meanwhile in Geneva, the government passed more measures to try to control the manners of the populous, but without moral leadership these were ineffective. Finally after mighty turmoils, four Syndics were charged with sedition; two fled, another died trying to flee and the forth was hanged. Recognizing their need of Calvin, they sent a delegation to ask him to return. He considered this like lying on a bed of nails but agreed to return if his brethren so advised. They did, and he traveled back to his former field, ready to face the sneers, laughs, rage, plots and hatred that he would encounter for some years to come.

Calvin returned with a broader education which he received in banishment. His vision had enlarged with his travels and communications with Reformer’s throughout Europe. He learned to work for the work’s sake and although he longed for human sympathy he learned to be satisfied with the sympathy of his Master only. He also knew more of the selfishness, cruelty, and craft in the hearts of men, for he had felt the pain of receiving his deepest wounds in the “house of his friends.” His wife followed him to Geneva to be his companion during nine of the most laborious and stormy years of his life.

He saw a storm coming in the pantheistic doctrines that were flooding Europe. German Protestantism was weakened with her political involvements and Calvin with his clear, calm judgment, constructive skill and his profound submission to the Bible, was the man to lead the fight in this battle. Wittemberg had battled Romanism but Geneva was to battle Romanism and pantheism.

Upon his return he began the large task of organizing the church. The Consistory was to act in Church disorders and met weekly. The pastors were to meet weekly for mutual correction and improvement. His schedule was grueling. He delivered three theological lectures weekly, spoke in the pulpit every Sunday, and everyday of the alternate weeks, presided over the Consistory on Thursdays, gave a public exposition on Fridays, and carried a full load of pastoral duties with visitations. He studied early and late and carried on a vast correspondence, never failing to write to one awaiting martyrdom and advising the kings, queens, and princes as well as other government officials throughout Europe.

For years he battled the Libertines whose influence was still strong in the city. The grossest immoralities were spoken of as desirable and adding to the perfection of the saints. He suffered a persecution not felt by other reformers. He was met with insults and scoffing daily as he traveled the streets. His detractors named their dogs Calvin, they stuck out their tongues and hissed as he passed, but he remained above the outrages he was forced to endure in the streets. He maintained a consciousness of the great task that he was performing and rode out the long storm. During this time his wife of just nine years grew ill and died. He was deeply bereaved.

Servetus Burned in Geneva

One dreadful event of those years was the execution of Servetus. We today are shocked and saddened by the blot on Reformation history. Servetus was a scholar who had written a book on anti-Trinitarian doctrine which was also filled with pantheism. He had sent his work to Calvin who had condemned it. His native Vienne had tried him in the Inquisition and condemned him to die. He escaped and came to Geneva where Calvin called for his arrest. Messengers were sent to many Reformation leaders who advised that Servetus be condemned and executed. After a long trial he was found guilty of publicly promoting opinions treasonous to society and burned at the stake.

We are horrified by this verdict and none the less with the knowledge that that century saw thirty or forty thousand stakes kindled by Rome and one by the Protestants. “We deplore—we condemn—this one pile. It was a violation of the first principles of Protestantism.” Ibid., 338.

The Libertines next tried to have the public presses closed. A strange act for those so named for their love of liberty. They were finally banished from Geneva following their open attacks on the refugees of the city. They resented the refugees being supported by public resources and after slandering these exiles they vowed to massacre all. The refugees were among the most distinguished citizens of the countries they had fled. They represented almost every nationality and Geneva was elevated by their coming to her but they came nearly penniless and the city had been generous in their support. Its citizens had saved and even chosen to eat sparingly in order to accommodate them. When the night of the massacre arrived, not one refugee was found or killed, but the Libertines suffered the beheading of four of their number following the trial and the banishment of the lot.

Calvin’s Last Years

Calvin’s influence was felt in fields near and far but especially did he work for France. He urged the Protestants there to “eschew politics, shun the battle-field, and continue to fight their great war with spiritual weapons only.” Ibid., 359. He believed that more was to be gained by martyrdoms than politics. He was able in his last years to build an Academy in Geneva.

“The position which Calvin now filled was one of greater influence than perhaps any one man had exercised in the Church of Christ since the days of the apostles. He was the counselor of kings; he was the advisor of princes and statesmen; he corresponded with warriors, scholars, and Reformers; he consoled martyrs, and organized Churches; his admonitions were submitted to, and his letters treasured, as marks of no ordinary distinction. All the while the man who wielded this unexampled influence, was in life and manners in nowise different from an ordinary citizen of Geneva. He was as humbly lodged, he was as simply clothed, and he was served by as few attendants as any burgess of them all. He had been poor all his days, and he continued so to the end.” Ibid., 359 He died, before seeing his fifty-forth year, in May of 1564, after years of weakness and illness and months restricted to his bed. He was buried in a common cemetery without a stone marker, the exact spot is unknown today.

The End

Who Shall Stand, Character Fit For Heaven

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Who shall be able to stand when Jesus returns in the clouds of heaven? This is the most important question we could ever ask. What must you and I do to inherit eternal life?

There was a group of people in the Bible who asked this very question, but acknowledged that they could not stand before God. “And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” Revelation 6:15–17.

They asked the same question we are asking, but too late. Let us not make that mistake.

One answer to our question is found in Revelation 7:1, 2. “And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the winds should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth neither the sea, nor the trees, [till what happens?] till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.”

The Sealing

In order to stand before the Lord, what must happen? We must be sealed. Just before the children of Israel left Egypt, the Lord told them that they were to kill a lamb and take the blood and put it on the door post. This was to be a sign for the destroying angel who was to pass over the city, that the firstborn in that house should not be slain. If there was no blood the first born died.

It will be the same at the end. We can see that, if we look in Ezekiel where it talks about the sealing. “And, behold six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer’s inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brasen alter. And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed with linen which had the writer’s inkhorn by his side; And the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.” Ezekiel 9:2–6.

This is very serious! Isn’t it? The mark is what made the difference. That is why it is important that we ask ourselves the question, “What does it take to receive that mark?” It is a life and death matter.

Can I be a member of a church and yet not have the seal of God in my forehead? Is it possible? “The Lord would teach man the lesson that, though united in church capacity, he is not saved until the seal of God is placed upon him.” Bible Commentary, vol. 7, 969.

A Perfect Character

In Revelation 14:1, it says the seal is the Father’s name. In Exodus 33:19 we are told that God’s name is His character. In Great Controversy, 434 it tells us: “The law of God is the transcript of His character.” “Now is the time to lay up treasure in heaven and to set our hearts in order, ready for the time of trouble. Those only who have clean hands and pure hearts will stand in that trying time. Now is the time for the law of God to be in our minds, foreheads, and written in our hearts.” Early Writings, 58. If the mind is filled with other things, present truth is shut out and there is no place in our foreheads for the seal of God. We can not be too careful about the things that we think and the things that we do.

“By the power of the Holy Spirit the moral image of God is to be perfected in the character.” Testimonies to Ministers, 506. Every act, every word, and every thought is to be in accord with the principles of the law of heaven.

Christ Within

What do the people have written in their foreheads? They have their Father’s name. “John saw a lamb on mount Zion, and with Him 144,000 having His Father’s name written in their foreheads. They bore the signet of heaven. They reflected the image of God. They were full of the light and the glory of the Holy One.” Bible Commentary, vol. 7, 978. Then she gives some conditions if we want to have the image in our foreheads. “If we would have the image and superscription of God upon us, we must separate ourselves from all iniquity, we must forsake every evil way, we must have Christ formed within.” Ibid.

We know it must be pretty urgent because it says three times “we must, we must, we must.” Why does it says that? Because we cannot serve two masters. Jesus said it is impossible. You will either hate the one and love the other or you will hold to the one and despise the other. “We cannot be half the Lord’s and half the world’s. We are not God’s people unless we are such entirely. Every weight, every besetting sin, must be laid aside.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 83. [All emphasis supplied.]

Why do we want to hold onto these sins? The things of this world are very flammable. We know that when Jesus comes it is all going to burn up. If we are attached to it we will burn with it.

Not long ago I was burning some brush at my place in Idaho. You cannot get fires going very easily this time of the year, so I took some gasoline in a can and I poured it on. You have to be very careful that the gasoline is not connected to you because it is explosive. It is the same with sin. You must throw it away from you or you will get burned.

Crucify Self

“Closely examine your own hearts, and in your lives imitate the unerring Pattern, and all will be well with you. Preserve a clear conscience before God. In all you do glorify His name. Divest yourselves of selfishness and selfish love.” Testimonies, vol. 2, 71. Destroying self is the greatest battle that we can ever fight. It is a terrible thing, and we all have a problem with it. Self! We just love it, and pity it, and feed it, and nourish it. We do a lot of things for self. But the Lord says “We must divest ourselves from self.”

“In every act of life you are to make manifest the name of God.” Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, 107. In other words, we need to reflect the character of Jesus. We can have the form of Godliness, but what good is it if we do not reflect the character of Jesus?

“It is . . . the possession of a Christlike character, that will open to us the gates of Paradise.” My Life Today 340. That is the key. If we have a Christlike character we will walk right in.

“To have a Christlike character it is necessary to act in a Christlike way.” Mind Character and Personality, vol. 2, 552. How many of us are doing this? It does not seem that there are many, because there is a lot of gossiping going around, and many things that are not Christlike.

There is good news in The Desire of Ages, 311: “A Christlike life, is accessible to every repenting, believing child of God.” Is that good news? It is available to each of us. The problem is with me. I do not want it bad enough.

“We must now strive for eternal life with an intensity that is proportionate to the value of the prize before us. It is not money or land or position but the possession of a Christlike character that will open to us the gates of Paradise.” My Life Today, 340. We spend much time and money and energy to gain the things of this life.

What is a Christlike character?. A Christlike character is obedience to God’s commandments. Christ’s Object Lessons, 315. A Christlike character is expressed in “self-denial and self-sacrifice, Christlike patience and gentleness.” Review and Herald, April 16, 1901. “The character is fashioned after the divine similitude, and integrity, uprightness, and true benevolence are manifested toward the sinful race.” My Life Today, 54.

A Perfect Portrayal of Christ

I like the book Desire of Ages. If you have not read it, you should read it. It is a perfect portrayal of what Jesus was like when He was here on earth. I would like to give you some highlights because that’s what you want to learn. Let us look at a few statements, because the only way that we can stand in the day of God is if we are like Jesus. (The following quotations will be referenced only by a page number.)

“At all times and in all places He manifested a loving interest in men, and shed about Him the light of a cheerful piety.” 86.

“Jesus worked to relieve every case of suffering that He saw.” 87.

“He spoke a word of sympathy here and a word there, as he saw men weary, yet compelled to bear heavy burdens.” 90.

“The life of Christ was marked with respect and love for His mother.” 90.

“The healing power of love—went out from Him to the sick and distressed.” 92.

“He manifested an interest in their secular affairs.” 151.

He spoke with solemn dignity in both look and tone. He expressed such earnestness that sinners were not offended, as they realized their humiliating position. See 173. How do I treat the so-called sinners? Do I look down upon them?

Peace by Compromise

“Jesus Himself never purchased peace by compromise. His heart overflowed with love for the whole human race, but He was never indulgent to their sins.” 356.

“He who taught the people the way to secure peace and happiness was just as thoughtful of their temporal necessities as of their spiritual needs.” 365.

“His love was not to be circumscribed to race or nation.” 402.

You can appreciate this if you came from another country. When I came to this country from Germany I could hardly speak English. I really appreciated the people that were understanding and kind.

“He seeks not to condemn, but to save . . . Jesus speaks words of comfort and hope.” 462. That is what we need to be like.

“Jesus was ever a lover of children . . . His gentle. Kindly manner won the love and confidence of children.” 511.

“His tender, pitying heart is ever awakened to sympathy by suffering. He weeps with those that weep, and rejoices with those that rejoice.” 533.

“[His] every feature expressed gentleness and resignation and the tenderest pity for His cruel foes.” 735.

“Jesus did not contend for His rights.” 89. We like to contend for our rights. If I am right, I am right, and I am going to fight for it. That is not what Jesus was like. He did not contend for His rights. He was always sacrificing Himself for the good of others. He was so emptied of self that He made no plans for Himself.

“The Saviour did not meet argument with argument.” 171. Are we arguing with people?

“He made truth beautiful by presenting it in the most direct and simple way.” 253.

“In all His intercourse with rude and violent men He did not use one unkind or discourteous expression.” 515.

Remember when Jesus was crucified? People were cruel to Him. As the King of the universe He had all power, He could have called legions of angels to destroy them, but He did not retaliate. Instead at this point He said, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”

When He reproved, His words were spoken with the utmost gentleness. See 535.

“It was not Christ’s purpose to humiliate His opponents.” 594.

“He shunned all outward display.” 43.

“He did not strive for worldly greatness, and in even the lowliest position He was content.” 88.

He took “no measures to bring Himself to notice.” 137.

Our Example

“He was never elated by applause, nor dejected by censure or disappointment.” 330.

“He was willing and uncomplaining.” 89. Have you ever become discouraged?

I remember years ago, I worked as a colporteur in Germany. Someone encouraged me to sell books in Northern Germany. It was terrible. I could not sell one thing, all day. As soon as the people heard the word Christian, they slammed the door. You talk about discouragement. But Jesus never became discouraged. Do we need to learn that? The only way we can do it is by submitting to Him, because humanly speaking we cannot do it.

“Amid the greatest opposition and the most cruel treatment, He was still of good courage.” 330.

“Interrupted as He was, and robbed of His rest, He was not impatient.” 364.

“He hated but one thing in the world, and that was sin.” 88. That was the only thing that He hated, and that is the only thing that we should hate. The reason that we hold onto sin is that we do not hate it.

“He dwelt among men an example of spotless integrity.” 243.

“His language was pure and refined and clear as a running stream.” 253. This is also very important because the Bible tells us that, “By thy words thou shalt be justified and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” Matthew 12:37.

“His life was a rebuke to their sins.” 587.

“In principle He was as firm as a rock, His life revealed the grace of unselfish courtesy.” 69. Is that the way we are to be? In principle we need to be firm as a rock; we cannot be shaken.

“In His industrious life there were no idle moments to invite temptations.” 72.

“He would not enter into controversy.” 89.

“He would not betray the secrets they poured into His sympathizing ear.” 92.

“Jesus had nothing to do with the various subjects of dissension among the Jews. It was His work to present the truth.” 253. That is something that we need to learn. He had nothing to do with subjects of dissension among the Jews. He just preached the truth, and He stuck with that.

“Jesus taught the Scriptures as of unquestionable authority.” 253.

“It was in faith—faith in God’s love and care—that Jesus rested.” 336. That is good advice. Many times that is all we can do.

“As the Son of Man, Christ would stand loyal to God.” 115. To whom are we loyal? Are we loyal to God, to His Word, or are we loyal to a man or a system?

“At a very early age, Jesus had begun to act for Himself in the formation of His character, and not even respect and love for His parents could turn Him from obedience to God’s word.” 86.

“He denied the right of the priests and rabbis to question Him, or to interfere with His work.” 211.

The Divine Superscription

Who shall be able to stand? “Those who enter the heavenly mansions will have the name of the Father and the name of the City of God written in their foreheads. They will bare the divine superscription and be partakers of the divine nature.” That I May Know Him, 103.

How do we become partakers of the divine nature? “When Christ took human nature upon Him, He bound humanity to Himself by a tie of love that can never be broken by any power save the choice of man himself. Satan will constantly present allurements to induce us to break this tie—to choose to separate ourselves from Christ. Here is where we need to watch, to strive, to pray, that nothing may entice us to choose another master; for we are always free to do this. But let us keep our eyes fixed upon Christ, and He will preserve us. Looking unto Jesus, we are safe. Nothing can pluck us out of His hand. In constantly beholding Him, we ‘are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.’ 2 Corinthians 3:18.” Steps to Christ, 72. We must always point our eyes to Jesus Christ and away from self. We will then be able to stand, and will receive the seal of God in our foreheads. May God give us the strength, courage, and the determination to submit to Him completely.

The End

The Track of Romanism

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

1. Babylon has fallen

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

2. Babylon has made all nations drink of her wine

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

3. Babylon is a world-wide phenomenon

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

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

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

4. Babylon is defiled by fornication

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

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

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

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

Government and Christians

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

5. Babylon is a woman

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

6. Babylon is richly adorned

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

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

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

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

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

7. Babylon is a persecuting power

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

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

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

Stanton and His Message

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Path to Life

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

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

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

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

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

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

Putting off a Decision

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The End

John Calvin and the French Reformation

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Calvin Studies Law

Calvin had been destined to become a minister at the altar of Rome but following his conversion “he resolved to devote himself to the profession of law. This mode of retreat from the clerical ranks would awaken no suspicion.” History of Protestantism, book 13, 156.

Calvin and many law students both before and after him were trained under the maxim that it was necessary for the state to punish crimes both civil and religious. This theory had been propounded as an incontrovertible truth and “had passed in Christendom for a thousand years as indisputably sound, serving as the corner-stone of the Inquisition . . . Under no other maxim was it then deemed possible for nations to flourish or piety to be preserved; nor was it till a century and a half after Calvin’s time that this maxim was exploded, for of all fetters those are the hardest to be rent which have been forged by what wears the guise of justice, and have been imposed to protect what professes to be religion.” Ibid.

One useful aspect of his education at this time was that he found a scholar who taught him the Greek of the New Testament. Now he could study the New Testament in its original language which was a very useful ability as he would, in a few years, begin to write his “Institutes” which were very helpful documents to the cause of the Reformation.

The Martyrdom of Berquin

Calvin traveled to Paris in 1529 and was present to witness the martyrdom of Louis de Berquin, of whom the historian Beza wrote: “Berquin would have been a second Luther had he found in Francis I a second elector.” Ibid., 159. Berquin was a nobleman and a knight who was devoted to study and loved reading. With polished manners and high morals, frank, courteous, and full of alms giving, he was much loved and was often seen at court. He had been a great papist and despiser of Lutheranism but God had opened his eyes.

The Sorbonne was angry and with authority from Parliament they imprisoned him three times between 1523 and 1526. Each time the king set him free.

From the writings of the Sorbonnist Berquin extracted twelve propositions which he presented to the king and charged them to be contrary to the Bible and therefore, heretical. His enemies were confounded and more so by the king’s request that they disprove them from the Bible. This might have proved a very hard task for the Sorbonnist but at that time an image of the Virgin was mutilated. “‘These are the fruits of the doctrines of Berquin,” it was exclaimed; ” all is about to be overthrown—religion, the laws, the throne itself—by this Lutheran conspiracy.’ War to the knife was demanded against the iconoclast: the people and the monarch were frightened; and the issue was that Berquin was apprehended (March, 1529) and consigned to the Conciergerie.” Ibid., 160.

His trial ended in a sentence of the stake and not a day’s delay was allowed least the king send a pardon. Berquin was radiant and wore his finest clothes as he was escorted through streets thronged by spectators to the Place de Greve. Dreading the effect of his dying words the monks gave a signal and “instantly the shout of voices, and the clash of arms, drowned the accents of the martyr. ‘Thus,’ says Felice, ‘the Sorbonne of 1529 set the populace of 1793 the base example of stifling on the scaffold the sacred words of the dying.’” Ibid., 162. When the fire had done its work the Sorbonnists were overjoyed: the Protestants were bowed down with sorrow. But in a way Berquin’s stake was a candle that shone all through France.

Paris Hears the Gospel a Second Time

There followed three years of relative peace in France. Calvin stayed on in Paris and continued to work in the homes of the people, going from home to home instructing the families in the Gospel. While many students were ever ready to do verbal battle on religious topics, Calvin was coming from daily prayer and perusal of the scriptures to devote his time to evangelization rather than debate. He was not just silencing opponents but enlightening minds.

Francis, the king, in a political move against his opponent, Charles V, made some attempts to league with the Protestants of Germany. The king’s sister Margaret, Queen of Navarre, saw this as her chance to promote Protestantism in France. She arranged for her pastor Roussel to preach in the Louvre. Five thousand gathered daily. “Nobles, lawyers, men of letters, and wealthy merchants were mingled in the stream of bourgeoisie and artisans that each day, at the appointed hour, flowed in at the royal gates, and devoutly listened under the gorgeous roof of the Louvre to the preaching so unwonted.” Francis granted his sister’s request for possession of two churches and she placed Courault and Berthaud, both Augustinian monks to preach in them. She was delighted with the effect and Paris was full of signs of reformation.

The Sorbonnists were anxious to burn Roussel. The king would not grant them permission and neither the chancellor nor the archbishop would help so they turned to the populace. They sent their preachers into the pulpits and with “shouting and gesticulating these men awoke, now the anger, now the horror of their fanatical hearers, by the odious epithets and terrible denunciations which they hurled against Lutheranism.” Ibid., 171. They sent mendicants into the homes to drop seditious hints that the Pope was above the king and that Francis would not long be king. Processions of many days duration were organized in the streets with penitents imploring the saints to smite this heresy.

“Nor did the doctors of the Sorbonne agitate in vain. The excitable populace were catching fire. Fanatical crowds, uttering revolutionary cries, paraded the streets, and the Queen of Navarre and her Protestant coadjutors, seeing the matter growing serious, sent to tell the king the state of the capital.” Ibid. He ordered Beda sent into banishment but the excitement did not quickly cool. Fiery placards were posted on the houses and ballads were sung demanding the stake for Protestants. The Protestant sermons continued and there were conversions but the masses remained with Rome. Twice now France had been given the gospel and twice they had turned away from it.

Alexander’s Martyrdom

The year 1533 saw the Sorbonnists choosing another victim for their fires. They dared not choose Margaret’s preacher Roussel so they arrested a former Dominican friar who called himself Alexander. He had first heard the Gospel in Paris and had thrown off his monkish name and garments and fled to Geneva where he was taught by Farel. He was eloquent and burned with zeal. He began his work in Switzerland but feeling a desire for the French he made his way to Lyons and fanned the flames of the ancient faith of the in that city. He was pursued but he escaped repeatedly. Finally he was arrested and taken to Paris. He succeeded in converting the captain of the company who escorted him and he was allowed to preach all along the way. At his appearance before the Parliament he confessed his Reformed faith and he was tortured cruelly and left a cripple. He was straightway condemned to the flames, underwent the ceremony of degradation and carted in a rubbish wagon to the stake. All along the way he preached to the crowds. The people were astonished and many cried for his release. He was joyful even chained to the pile and extolled the Savior to all around. There were many tears and much wailing that this man was not worthy of death but he met his end with confidence in his future. In 1534 the churches of Paris were closed and 300 Lutherans were imprisoned. The burnings resumed shortly thereafter.

Calvin Escapes Paris

Calvin made his escape from Paris just before the storm broke. He and his good friend Nicholas Cop, Rector of the Sorbonne devised a plan to preach the Gospel in the University itself. Cop was to give an address for the inaugural of a new session and he agreed to read an oration written by Calvin. The monks saw this as an act of treason and both Cop and Calvin narrowly escaped. Calvin found refuge in the mansion of the Du Tillets where he spent six months studying in their excellent library. “Nights without sleep, and whole days during which he scarcely tasted food, would Calvin pass in this library, so athirst was he for knowledge.” Ibid., 177. Here he planned his Institutes which were “composed on the model of those apologies which the early Fathers presented to the Roman emperors on behalf of the primitive martyrs. Again were men dying at the stake for the Gospel. Calvin felt that it became him to raise his voice in their defense. . . He prepared himself by reading, by much meditation, and by earnest prayer.” Ibid.

“Parliament, in the beginning of 1534, at the instigation of Beda, passed a law announcing death by burning against those who should be convicted of holding the new opinions on the testimony of two witnesses.” Ibid., 201. Despite the new law in France, Calvin made another short visit in Paris, attended by the young Du Tillet, where he ministered to the church there which was outwardly composed of mostly humble common men. Calvin went from home to home teaching. Here he found that there were elements attempting to enter the young church. Some came bringing pantheistic and atheistic doctrines to deform the church. Calvin knew that his work would be to resist these frightful doctrines as well as the errors of Rome.

Francis Tries to Embrace Both Rome and the Reformation

Francis I, ever plotting against his bitter enemy Charles V, proposed a plan to Pope Clement to join their houses by marriage between his second son and Clements niece. Catherine de Medici was a lovely girl of fifteen when the marriage took place but she would become a power in the royal family. She became noted for “an inordinate love of power. Whoever occupied the throne, Catherine was the real ruler of France.” Her husband’s and sons’ reigns were blackened by her scheming. “Her will must be done, and whatever cause or person stood in her way must take the consequences by the dungeon or the stake, by the poignard or the poison-cup.” Ibid., 186.

After arranging this fateful marriage Francis startled the members of his council by announcing his intent to seek union with the Protestants of Germany. He wanted to be on both sides at once. Francis thought to cause Charles more discomfort by uniting Rome and the Reformation. He met with Phillip of Hesse and offered to help finance the armies of the league. He asked Melancthon, Bucer and Hedio to send proposals to his council. Melancthon proposed a scheme in which the Reformation would bring its doctrine and Rome would bring its hierachy to form the new church. This would never have worked for new wine in an old bottle was not the solution. But the Reformation was saved from this union which would have brought a respite but no real Reformation. An unexpected event took place which changed the king’s course and ended his vacillation.

The Posting of the Placards

There were two parties in the young Church in France. One was inclined to wait on the outcome of the king’s council and trust in these men of power to make reforms. The other was very distrusting of the king’s ways for he embraced the Pope one day and the Protestants the next. He sent a Romanist to prison and followed this with the burning of a Reformer. They wanted to see a bold policy put into action that would lead to the overthrow of the Papacy in France. These two parties sought advice from the French Reformer, Farel, in Switzerland.

They sent a messenger who found Switzerland a very different place from Paris. There altars and images were being torn down and the Reformed worship being set up. The Swiss Reformers “assembled, heard the messenger, and gave their voices that the Protestants of France should halt no longer; that they should boldly advance; and that they should notify their forward movement by a vigorous blow at that which was the citadel of the Papal Empire of bondage—the root of that evil tree that overshadowed Christendom—the mass.” Ibid., 206. It was proposed that a paper be published and posted all over France. It would be composed in Switzerland and Farel is generally believed to be its author. “It was no logical thesis, no dogmatic refutation; it was a torrent of scathing fire; a thunderburst . . . But the author who wrote, and the other pastors who approved, did not sufficiently consider that this terrible manifesto was not to be published in Switzerland, but in France, where a powerful court and a haughty priesthood were united to combat the Reformation.” Ibid., 207. The messenger was sent back with their advice and the proposed publication.

Immediately the members of the little Church met to deliberate about the placard. There were many present who thought that gentler words would go deeper. But the majority were impatient of delay. France was behind other countries in the advance of the Reformation, and they voted to publish. They chose the night of October 24, 1534 to post the placard all over France. “They displayed them on the walls of the Louvre, at the gates of the Sorbonne, and on the doors of the churches.” Ibid., 208.

At an early hour Montmorency and the Cardinal de Tournon knocked at the king’s closet door to tell him of the dreadful night. As they entered they took down a copy of the placard which had been hung there and handed it to the king who had his courtiers read it. “He stood pallid and speechless a little while; but at length his wrath found vent in terrible words: ‘Let all be seized, and let Lutheranism be totally exterminated.’” Ibid., 208. The king summoned Parliament to meet, and execute strict justice in the affair and he commanded his lieutenant-criminal, Jean Morin, to swiftly bring all to justice who had played a part in the matter.

Morin knew the man whose job it was to call the Protestants from their homes to meetings and with threats caused him to join in a plan to capture all of the offenders. The betrayer walked before a priest bearing the Host in a procession that was called to do expiation for the affront to the “Holy Sacrament.” As they went through the street the betrayer pointed out the houses of the Protestants and the family was dragged out and manacled. “Morin made no distinction among those suspected: his rage fell equally on those who had opposed and those who had favored the posting of the placards. Persons of both sexes, and of various nationalities, were included among the multitude now lodged in prison. . . Every scaffold would be a holy alter, every victim a grateful sacrifice, to purify a land doubly polluted by the blasphemous placard. And above all, they must maintain the popular indignation at a white heat. The most alarming rumours began to circulate through Paris. To the Lutherans were attributed the most atrocious designs. They had conspired, it was said, to fire all the public buildings, and massacre all the Catholics . . . These terrible rumours were greedily listened to, and the mob shouted, ‘Death, death to the heretics!’” Ibid., 209.

There were many scaffolds and all Paris was to be able to see what kind of men these were for they witnessed bravely through the tortures that Francis ordered. The indiscriminate vengeance caused many who had been sympathetic to the Gospel to fear and they rose up and fled. Within a few days there were many blanks in the society of Paris and each one represented a convert to the Gospel. These were the first of what was to be a long train who would flee in the years to come and carry with them “The intelligence, the arts, the industry, the order, in which, as a rule they pre-eminently excelled, to enrich the lands in which they found an asylum.” Ibid., 213. Among those who fled was Margaret, the king’s sister. She went to her little realm and Bearn became a refuge to the persecuted.

On January 21, 1535, the king marched in a procession that drew all of Paris. He was doing penance for the crime of his Protestant subjects. Following the procession he gave a speech—eloquent and touching—urging all to become participants in purging their country of this perverse sect by informing on their friends and relatives and declaring that he would not spare even his own child. He wept and the crowd wept with him. He swore to make war on heresy and the spectators declared. “We will live and die for the Catholic religion!” Ibid., 218. “When Francis I re-entered his palace and reviewed his day’s work, he was well pleased to think that he had made propitiation for the affront offered to God in the Sacrament, and that the cloud of vengeance which had lowered above his throne and his kingdom was rolled away. . . The populace of the capital were overjoyed; they had tasted of blood and were not soon to forego their relish for it, nor to care much in the after-times at whose expense they gratified it.” Ibid. Francis’ war on Protestantism even included a ban on printing. How strange this act from one who claimed to be a promoter of learning. “It is one among a hundred proofs that literary culture is no security against the spirit of persecution.” Ibid., 220.

Calvin and the Institutes

Just a little before the storm, Calvin had left Paris and traveled to Strasburg and then to Basle. He had a chance to visit with some of the leaders of the Reformation in these cities. In Basle word reached him of the atrocities in Paris. “He knew the men who had endured these cruel deaths. They were his brethren. He had lived in their houses; he had sat at their tables. . . He knew them to be men of whom the world was not worthy; and yet they were accounted as the off-scouring of all things, and as sheep appointed to the slaughter were killed all day long. Could he be silent when his brethren were being condemned and drawn to death?. . He had a pen, and he would employ it in vindicating his brethren in the face of Christendom. . . He could vindicate these martyrs effectually not otherwise than by vindicating their cause.” Ibid., 225.

Calvin set to work writing the Institutes of the Christian Religion. Which was “a confession of faith, a system of exegesis, a body of polemics and apologetics, and an exhibition of the rich practical effects which flow from Christianity—it was all four in one.” Ibid., 227. It was dedicated to Francis I, declaring the cause of the truth so defamed by its enemies as simply the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the only crime of the martyrs as that of believing the Gospel. He called for Francis to embrace this truth. It is doubtful Francis ever read it.

The Institutes set forth in a systematic way the beliefs of the Reformation. This work was adopted by the Reformed Church, and published in later years into most languages of Christendom. As it spread through many lands it became a powerful preacher to many.

It contained his views on predestination which were called into question even in his day. “The Reformer abhorred and repudiated the idea that God was the Author of sin, and he denied, too, with the same emphasis, that any constraint or force was put by the decree upon the will of man, or any restraint upon his actions; but that, on the contrary, all men enjoyed that spontaneity of will and freedom of action which are essential to moral accountability. . . Calvin freely admitted that he could not reconcile God’s absolute sovereignty with man’s free will; but he felt himself obliged to admit and believe both.” Ibid., 232.

(Note: The ultimate effect of the error of Calvin’s doctrine on predestination is seen today as Satan has succeeded in using it to present God as having Satan’s character. Calvin’s followers have carried the idea to its lengths and made a satanic god to present to Christianity. Adventism has also been infected. The Reformers were not free of error but we are to examine the historical evidence and cast away the dross while learning from their examples of courage.)

The Ship that is Going Through

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We have been told that what we are about to study is one of the most important subjects that we can study. Ellen White says, “A revival of true godliness among us is the greatest and most urgent of all our needs.” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, March 22, 1887.

This is both the greatest need that we have and the most urgent. “The most urgent” means that we need it right now. In fact, it says in that statement, that to seek this should be our first work. That was written in 1887.

The Revival Is to Come Among Us

Now let us look at a little two-letter word in that first sentence. It says, “A revival of true godliness among us is the greatest and most urgent of all our needs.” There is a little word there in the center, it is spelled u-s. Who is the us? Now maybe I should give you a hint. This statement was written in the Review and Herald. What is that? That is the church paper of who? The Seventh-day Adventist Church. So who is the “us?” It would be Seventh-day Adventists. So what is the greatest need of the Seventh-day Adventist Church? I am not talking only about home churches or the historic Adventist movement worldwide, but about every person who professes, anywhere in the world, to be a Seventh-day Adventist—all the conference churches, all the institutions, the General Conference—everything. What is our greatest need? A revival of true godliness is our greatest and the most urgent of our needs.

What Is Godliness?

Have you thought recently about what godliness is? We are not going to look so much at what, as we are going to start looking at how. However, if you want to understand more about it, read the first chapter of 1 Peter very carefully and you will understand what godliness is. Godliness is Godlikeness. What is God like? Peter explains it there. He quotes from the Old Testament where the Lord says to His people, “Be holy, for I am holy.” Leviticus 11:45; 19:2; 20:7. God and His law are holy. See Romans 7:12. A life in harmony with that law will be a holy life.

How Will This Revival Occur?

What we want to take a look at is how. It does not do you any good to know what needs to happen unless you start to understand how it happens. How is this revival of true godliness supposed to happen in Adventism? People are asking the question, will the Seventh-day Adventist denomination or structure go through to glory? There are a number of different answers that are being given to this question. Within the last year or so there has been an increasing number of people who have given a resounding “No” to that question. What they are saying is, “No, the Seventh-day Adventist Church structure is not going through to glory, because it is Babylon and it is just waiting to be destroyed.” There are also other people that believe very similar to that, but they say that it is not Babylon quite yet, but that it is on the verge and then it will become Babylon. They are not sure that the actual decree that it is Babylon has been pronounced. The whole issue that some people believe that the structure is Babylon has to be addressed because there are people all over the world starting to say that, and the question is, “On what basis are they saying it?” Where is the theological evidence?

Spiritual Babes

Before we go on to some other answers that are given to that question, I want you to see a few texts of Scripture. “Whom will He [that is the Lord] teach knowledge? And whom will He make to understand the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just drawn from the breasts?” Isaiah 28:9. That is, those who are spiritual babies. The Bible talks about spiritual babies—people who have just accepted the Christian faith. Peter addressed people who had just accepted the Christian faith and he says; “As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby.” 1 Peter 2:2.

If you were in trouble in your financial life, or in your business life, or in your marriage, would you go to a baby to find a way out of your trouble? Why not? That is what people do spiritually all the time! People that have been Christians for two or three years feel that they know enough about the Christian religion that they should solve the theological problems of the Christian church. See 1 Timothy 3:6, 10. You do not go to a baby Christian to find out the answers to the difficult problems you have. There is nothing against being a baby; we all love babies. We want them to grow, but we do not go to them to get the answers to hard problems.

No Lie is of the Truth

Let us look at another principle. “I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth.” 1 John 2:21. What does it mean that no lie is of the truth? “All truth, whether in nature or in revelation, is consistent with itself in all its manifestations.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 114. You can look up all the texts in the Bible, you can look up all the passages in the Spirit of Prophecy about Babylon, and if you know the truth, you will be able to see that they all agree. If they do not all agree, there is something the matter with what you believe. You have not studied it out enough. The truth is always consistent with itself, no lie is of the truth. If two things are the truth, they will not contradict.

Is the Probation for the Church Just About Over?

There are a lot of people today who are being asked, “Do you believe that the Seventh-day Adventist Church structure is going to go through to glory?” An answer that is given is that the structure is in the same position that Israel was in just before the crucifixion.

Do you remember when Jesus came into Jerusalem? It talks about it in the book Desire of Ages, 578. It says, “When the fast westering sun should pass from sight in the heavens, Jerusalem’s day of grace would be ended.” It was not yet too late. Right at that time they could have turned around, they could have accepted the Messiah. The door was still open for them to do it, but they would not. Some people say they believe that the structure is in that kind of a situation. It is just about over, it is just about too late, but there is still time to turn around.

What is the day of grace all about? What is salvation all about? It is about having my sins taken away. Salvation from sin involves two things. First, Jesus delivers me from my guilt. Secondly, He delivers me from the power of sin in my life. That is what salvation is about. That is what primitive godliness is about. That is what our greatest and most urgent need is.

If your besetting sin is beating your wife, Jesus does not save you so that you can go on beating your wife. He wants to save you from that so that you do not do it anymore. A person is not saved from beating his wife, if he is still beating his wife. He is not saved yet. Jesus came to save you from your sins. Are people saved from alcohol if they are still drinking? No! That is the gospel according to antichrist, that you can be saved while you are still going on living a life of sin. That is taking such a large hold over much of the Christian world that there are actually people today that are killing people and they believe that they are saved because they go and confess it to their priest. But friend you are not saved while you are living in sin. Nobody will be taken to heaven who has sin in their life. To be saved from sin means you are pardoned for the guilt of your past sins and you overcome so that you do not go on sinning. See Romans 6 and 8. The church that goes through to glory must give up all sin, repent of it, confess it and forsake it; and by the power of the Holy Spirit practice righteousness.

What Organization Is Going Through to Glory?

Now I want to look at the traditional or the most common answer to this question. The majority of Seventh-day Adventists today do not believe that the denomination will be cast aside as was the Jewish nation. They believe that the Seventh-day Adventist Church denomination will go through to glory, and if it will go through to glory, you had better stay with it. We had better find out what is true from the Bible.

Some of you know that a few years ago, not by my choice, the local Seventh-day Adventist conference church of which I was a member disfellowshipped me. So I am not part of that structure anymore. After that happened, I had a friend that wrote me a letter and indicated that I was no longer part of the church. If that is so, I need to do something about it right away. I want to go to heaven. I do not want to have a false hope and think that I am going to heaven and have the Lord come and say, John, you are not part of the bride of Christ. You will have to stay here. We must understand the answer to this question really well. It involves eternal consequences. When Jesus comes back to this earth again, He is coming to take His bride back to heaven and those are the only people living upon the earth that will be going. We will be lost if we are not part of His bride. See Revelation 19:7, 8.

The Wheat and the Tares?

Now of course, the people that believe that the Adventist Church structure will not be cast aside as was the Jewish church, but will go through to glory, are not naive enough to believe that every member of the church will be part of that triumphant body. The way they explain that is generally with the parable of the wheat and the tares. They say, “We know that there is a lot of apostasy and corruption in the church now, but before Jesus comes, He is going to move it all out.” That is encouraging! Let’s see if we can figure out how that is going to happen. Remember that we are going to study how?

The Bottom Line

Has it crossed your mind that if you are ever going to find out the truth, it might be of vital importance for you to know who and what the church is? You see, these different teachings are based on a different definition of who and what the church is. Do you think that God knows who the church is? I am not asking this irreverently, but I want you to think it through. If God knows who the church is, do you suppose that any time He wanted to, He could tell one of His prophets who the church is? If a prophet came to you and told you who the church was, would you believe it? That is a hard question. I have noticed that when prophets come and tell people who and what the church is, they do not believe it. I remember hearing people read some of the plainest definitions in the Spirit of Prophecy about who and what the church is, and you know what they would do? They would explain it all away. Have you ever seen anybody do that?

Balancing Statements

The important question is, what does the prophet actually say, not what do I think? Is it enough if a prophet just comes right out and says this is what it is? Somehow with this subject, it is not enough for most people. There is such a deep prejudice, that most people will not accept it. They have another definition and they say, “Well, there are balancing statements.” Have you ever heard that expression? There are balancing statements. Red is red. “Oh, no, it’s not, there’s balancing statements.” What does that mean? It is another way of saying that there are other statements that contradict it. What did we read in 1 John 2:21? There is no lie that is of the truth. If it is all true, does it all have to agree? There could never be a balancing statement that would contradict the truth.

Faithful Souls Constitute God’s Church

In the inspired writings, are there plain definition statements about who and what the church is?

I am going to share two plain statements with you. I do not know why these statements are not accepted, but they are not. Almost every time I have heard anyone read them, they try to explain them away. But when I read them, they still say the same thing. This is a plain statement that defines who and what the church is. This is the first chapter in Acts of the Apostles, and the whole chapter is about the church. I will just read one sentence. It says, “From the beginning . . .” Is this talking about the church triumphant? When does the church triumph? It triumphs right at the end, just before Jesus comes. People say that it is talking about the church triumphant. Now wait a minute, this is talking about the church from the beginning, not at the end. “From the beginning, faithful souls have constituted the church on earth.” Now does that sound to you like a plain definition statement of who and what the church is? Is this statement talking about a perfected church? No, a faithful soul can make many mistakes and have many defects of character not yet overcome. Peter and the rest of the twelve disciples are described in the Spirit of Prophecy as faithful souls but they certainly made many mistakes. And this statement is not talking about an invisible church either—look up the context.

Somebody may say that they have so many objections that have not been answered. I have checked out these hundred or so objections that people raise and every single one of them can be answered from the Bible and the Spirit of prophecy in simple language. The biggest question is, can you simply believe what God says, or does God have final authority in your life? Have you made the commitment? Are you really part of the church or do you just go to church? Jesus is looking for the very same thing today as He was looking for in the Garden of Eden. He wanted to know from Adam and Eve, “Can I trust you”? The root word for trust, faith, faithful and believe in the Greek, is all the same. The church is faithful souls. Who are they? They are the people that believe. They are the people who have made a public commitment with the Lord. See Matthew 10:32, 33. Jesus is looking for people that He can depend on and He is going to find them. There is no question that He is going to find them, but the question is, Am I going to be one of them? When things happen that you cannot explain and it seems like other people let you down, can Jesus still depend on you?

“Those who keep God’s commandments, those who live not by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God, compose the church of the living God.” Manuscript Release, vol. 1, 296. Who is it? God knows who it is. He tells us, This is who it is: it is the faithful souls, it is the ones that don’t live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of My mouth. They say, “Lord, whatever You tell me, by Your grace I will do it.” God says, “That is the people that compose My church.” When Jesus comes, what is going to matter is not whether or not I have my name on the books down here, it is whether He will recognize me as being part of His own. See Isaiah 66:5.

When you marry somebody, that person then belongs to you. Jesus is coming to get His bride—people that belong to Him. Do you belong to him? “Oh, yes,” somebody says, “I belong to him.” How do you know? Jesus says this is the way you know it. “If you live by every word that proceeds out of My mouth.” Do you want to be part of that group?

The End

John Calvin and the French Reformation

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Anciently, Pepin of France had been the first of the Gothic princes to lay his kingdom at the feet of the Pope. He was awarded the title of “Eldest Son of the Church” for this act of submission and for centuries since, France strove to justify the distinction she bore by being the firmest pillar of the Papal See. Protestantism fought a noble battle in this land, testifying in word and deed and with pen and blood. When Paris drove the Gospel from its gates she knew not that a long and dismal train of woes would follow—faction, civil war, atheism, the guillotine, siege, famine, death. Three hundred years after the first martyr of the sixteenth century Protestant Reformation in France was burned in the Place de Greve, France was visited by the French Revolution, and its dreadful instrument of death was set up to accept its first victims in the Place de Greve. (History of Protestantism, book 13, pages 174, 136, 142)

France, although dark for centuries, had never been totally without light. The Albigenses and Waldenses had stood strong for the truth, and witnessed to it with their blood. Their efforts, that kept the Bible alive in France, would bring forth fruits in the the French Reformation. The Reformation begins around 1510; at the same time as it was forming in Germany. Here is the story.

The First Protestant Teacher

In 1510 Jacques Lefevre was nearing seventy. He was a devout Papist and a scholar and theologian. He was a professor in the Sorbonne, or Theological Hall of the great Paris University. Lefevre had a great love for the saints and wished to give them a token, not perishable, like the flowers he offered at their images. He thought to collect and re-write their lives. He was well into the task when he wondered if a study of the Bible might give him any useful insights. “The virtues of the real saints dimmed in his eyes the glories of the legendary ones.” Wylie, Book 13,126. He found a church unlike the Roman Church and he turned from the voice of Rome to the voice of God. He found the plan of free justification and in 1512 wrote a commentary on the Epistles of Paul, saying, “It is God who gives us, by faith, that righteousness which by grace alone justifies to eternal life.” Ibid.

He did not receive the light to hide it under a bushel. He knew the dangers but he began to teach the doctrine of salvation in his classroom. A great commotion arose and soon was felt in the whole University. Objections were heard on every side. Lefevre made it his job to answer the few honest questions, and to make it plain that this was not a new doctrine having been anciently taught by Irenaeus, but that it had come from God as revealed in His Word.

This all took place in 1512, five years before the name of Luther would be heard in France. The Reformation here did not come from Germany but was kindled by the Bible, the Word of God. Peter Robert Olivetan, the translator of the first French Bible, was a cousin of Calvin and it was he who shared the Gospel with Calvin.

( Note: Benjamin Wilkinson, in his book “Truth Truimphant” on pages 215 and 216, states that Oliveton was from the Waldensian valleys and that he used the Vaudois Bible for his translation. In the Preface to his 1535 translation he credits these ancient people for having received the book from the Apostles and having enjoyed and possessed it to that day. This makes the Reformation in France a direct outgrowth of the ancient Bible held by faithful Waldenses through the centuries.)

Early Reformers

William Farel, was a student of Lefevre and like his teacher was eminently pious in the Roman tradition. They often joined each other on their rounds to the shrines, kneeling before the images. As light began to break on Lefevre’s heart he taught it in his classes, and God had prepared Farel to accept it. He had been tortured by doubts as to his ability to save himself, and yet were all of his prayers and visits to the saints for nothing? The Scriptures cleared his doubts, and he wrote that where his heart was once murderous toward any who spoke against the Pope, it was now quiet and harmless, withdrawn from the Pope, and given to Jesus Christ.

While his teacher taught in the classroom, he went forth to preach in the public places and the temples, causing them to ring with his “voice of thunder.” He was driven to Meaux by persecution, but finally labored in his native land, introducing the Gospel in Switzerland; preceding Calvin in the work there.

William Briconnet, Count of Montbrun, and Bishop of Meaux, also played a part in the early Protestant movement. He had been sent by Francis I to Rome as an ambassador to Leo X, the same Pope who is quoted as saying, “What a profitable affair this fable of Christ has been to us!” There he saw the Rome that Baptista Mantuan, a Carmelite, wrote about, saying, “Good and virtuous men, make haste and get out of Rome, for here virtue is the one thing ye cannot practise: all else ye may do.” Ibid., 130 footnote. “The Rome of that age was the chosen—home of pomps and revels, of buffooneries and villanies, of dark intrigues and blood-red crimes.” Ibid., 130.

Briconnet came home much less a son of the Church. He found, on his return, that that Gospel which was a fable to the Pope had become a reality in France and he turned to his old friend Lefevre to tell him what was causing this change. Lefevre put a Bible into his hands and he found it easy to enter into this religion which consisted of love to God and personal holiness. He began immediately to make changes in his diocese. He removed the ignorant pastors and tried to replace them with able men. When this task was found impossible, he started a school of theology to supply the lack of laborers, and preached himself.

His friendship with the king opened the doors of the palace, and to all the court “the bishop made known a higher knowledge than that of the Renaissance. The most illustrious convert in the palace was the sister of the king, Margaret of Valois.” Ibid., 132. The king chose to cast his lot with Rome and he made battle with the Reformation. His sister’s influence was a restraint on Francis, and not a few lives were saved from martyrdom through her interposition.

The First Protestant Congregation in France

In 1522, Lefevre translated and published the New Testament into French. Bishop Briconnet did all in his power to spread the Bible throughout his diocese, the little city of Meaux being its center. He had copies of the gospels distributed freely to the poor. The effect was that the Bible became the study and theme of talk in town and country alike. The shops where wool was carded, spun and woven, began to have Bible readings during the meal times. These simple people began to be wiser than their former Franciscan monk teachers. “Compared with the husks—on which these men had fed them, this was the true bread, the heavenly manna. . . These disciples had planted their feet not on Briconnet, not on Peter, but on ‘the Rock,’ and that ‘Rock’ was Christ: and so not all the coming storms of persecution could cast them down.” Ibid., 135.

“At the close of the day, their toil ended, they diligently repaired from the workshop, the vineyard, the field, and assembled in the house of one of their number. They opened and read the Holy Scriptures; they conversed about the things of the Kingdom; they joined together in prayer, and their hearts burned within them. Their numbers were few, their sanctuary was humble, no mitred and vested priest conducted their services, no choir or organ-peal intoned their prayers; but One was in the midst of them . . . even He who has said, ‘Lo, I am with you alway’—and where He is, there is the Church.” Ibid.

“The members of this congregation belonged exclusively to the working class.” Their lives were changed and a refinement of character was revealed in their speech and manners giving an example of the effect Protestantism might have had in all the country had it been given freedom. Evidence of the changes could be seen in the complaints of the tavern-keepers and of the monks as the taverns were more empty and the begging friars “returned from their predatory excursions with empty sacks.” Ibid., 136.

The churches were opened to them and the Christians of Meaux were able to hear qualified persons expound the Scriptures. “These were happy days. The winds of heaven were holden that they might not hurt this young vine; and time was given it to strike its roots into the soil before being overtaken by the tempest.” Ibid. But the first mutters of trouble ahead were heard from the Sorbonne. The proud champions of orthodoxy there began to call upon the king to put down these new opinions with force. “Francis did not respond quite so zealously as the Sorbonne would have liked. He was not prepared to patronise Protestantism, far from it; but, at the same time, he had no love for monks, and was disposed to allow a considerable margin to ‘men of genius,’ and so he forbade the Sorbonne to set up the scaffold.” Ibid.,136.

The pleasure-loving king could not be counted on for protection and Lefevre and Farel accepted Briconnet’s invitation to “Come to Meaux.” So Paris lost the lights and Meaux took its place as the center of Gospel knowledge. Visitors carried away French New Testaments as seeds of the Gospel, and founded churches in their own districts. For decades it was said of one who was known to have “Protestant sentiments, that ‘he had drunk at the well of Meaux.’ ” Ibid.

The Commencement of Persecution

Events in Paris were building for a storm. Three persons rose to oppose the Gospel. One was Noel Beda, head of the Sorbonne, who was determined to keep his University uncontaminated by rays from heaven. He drove Dr. Lefevre from the University. The second player was Antoine Duprat who had done a great favor for the king that won him the position of Chancellor of France. He was haughty, greedy, and never scrupled to employ violence to compass his ends. The third actor was Louisa, mother of Francis I. Her house had long hated the Gospel and had been persecutors of the Waldenses. “There were points on which their opinions and interests were in conflict, but all three had one quality in common—they heartily detested the new opinions.” Ibid.

The Franciscan monks of Meaux were very vocal in their protests against growing Protestantism. They found an active audience for their complaints in Duprat and Beda. But it was Louisa who first moved, calling on the Sorbonne to determine “‘By what means can the damnable doctrines of Luther be chased and extripated from this most Christian kingdom?’ The answer was brief, but emphatic: ‘By the stake;’ and it was added that if the remedy were not soon put in force, there would result great damage to the honour of the king and of Madame Louisa of Savoy. Two years later the Pope earnestly recommended vigour in suppressing ‘this great and marvellous disorder, which proceeds from the rage of Satan;’ otherwise, ‘this mania will not only destroy religion, but all principalities, nobilities, laws, orders, and ranks besides.’ It was to uphold the throne, preserve the nobles, and maintain the laws that the sword of persecution was first unsheathed in France!” Ibid., 140, 141.

Bishop Briconnet was called before the Parliment. At first he stood firm and refused any concession, but it was made plain that he must abandon Protestantism or go to prison and perhaps the stake. He declined the stake and obeyed the demands of the Parliament to pay a fine and publish three edicts, restoring public prayers to the Virgin and the saints, forbidding the reading of Lutheran books, and silencing Protestant preachers. This sent Lefevre to Strasburg, and Nerac and Farel turned to Switzerland.

The First Martyrs

“Briconnet had recanted: but if the shepherd had fallen the little ones of the flock stood their ground. They continued to meet together for prayer and the reading of the Scriptures, the garret of a woolcomber, a solitary hut, or a copse serving as their place of rendezvous. This congregation was to have the honour of furnishing martyrs whose blazing stakes were to shine like beacons in the darkness of France.” Ibid., 141. Denis, one of the “Meaux heretics,” was apprehended and was there visited by his former pastor, Briconnet, who was forced on such tasks to add to his humiliation. The bishop detailed how a recantation would buy his liberty. Denis listened and then “fixing his eyes upon the man who had once preached to him that very Gospel which he now exhorted him to abjure, said solemnly, “Whosoever shall deny me before men, him shall I also deny before my Father who is in heaven!’ Briconnet reeled backwards and staggered out of the dungeon. The interview over, each took his own way: the bishop returned to his palace, and Denis passed from his cell to the stake.” Ibid., 142.

This stake was followed by one for Pavane who at first recanted but found this to be one hundred times harder than the stake to which a hasty trial of this “relapsed heretic” brought him. Hermit of Livry was burned before the steps of Notre Dame as bells tolled, drawing people from all parts of Paris. The spectators were told that this man was on his way to the fires of hell but his step was firm and his look undaunted as he offered up his life.

Calvin : His Birth and Education

Calvin was born July 10, 1509, the grandson of a cooper and the son of the secretary to the bishop. From a young age Calvin was thoughtful and scholarly. His father hoped that his son would be great in the church.

The Black Death came to Noyon, his home town, and his father fearing for his fragile health sent him to study in Paris. At fourteen years he entered the college of La Marche, learned Latin and came to understand the power of language and the written word and worked to perfect his skills. He proved a great scholar. After three years, in 1526, he passed on to the College of Montaigu, one of two seminaries in Paris—the Sorbonne being the other—for the training of priests. Here the old dogmas filled the air and Calvin satisfied even the most scholastic and churchy of his professors, for he was never absent from mass or failed to fast or to keep a holiday to the saints. In his studies he was ardent, often missing meals and keeping late hours, well past midnight, poring over his books. “His teachers formed the highest hopes of him. A youth of so fine parts, of an industry so unflagging, and who was withal so pious, was sure, they said, to rise high in the Church.” Ibid., 149.

Calvin ’s Conversion

Before Calvin could play a role in the true Church he must be brought out of darkness himself. God had provided a way of reaching him through his cousin Olivetan, a disciple of Lefevre, who now came to Paris. They were often together and their debates were heated. Olivetan pointed out the two classes of religion, one of works and the other of salvation by grace. Calvin was angry to think that his cousin thought he had lived in error all his life, but his words had gone deep, and when they parted, Calvin would fall into prayer with tears, and vent his doubts and anxieties. Calvin ‘s struggles grew into “the sorrow of death.” He had come to see one holier than the saints and he began to see his own vileness. “The severity of Calvin ’s struggle was in proportion to the strength of his self-righteousness.” His blameless life and the punctuality of his devotions had helped to nourish this feeling into “a pride which had been waxing higher and stronger with every rite he performed, and every year that passed over him.” Ibid., 153.

Finally he agreed to open the Bible and search for himself. “He began to read, but the first effect was a sharper terror. His sins had never appeared so great, nor himself so vile as now.” But he continued to read as he seemed to find help nowhere else. Finally he caught a glimpse of the great Sufferer bruised for our iniquities. “‘O Father,’ he burst out—it was no longer the Judge, the Avenger— ‘O Father, his sacrifice has appeased thy wrath; his blood has washed away my impurities; his cross has borne my curse; his death has atoned for me!’ In the midst of the great billows his feet had touched the bottom: he found the ground to be good: he was upon a rock.” Ibid., 153.

He had one formidable obstacle yet to meet—the Church. “How many have fallen over this stumbling-block and never risen again; how many even in our own age have made shipwreck here! . . . How many have commenced this battle only to lose it! They have been beaten back and beaten down by the pretended Divine authority of ‘the Church,’ by the array of her great names and her great councils, and though last, not least, by the terror of her anathemas. . . Must he leave this august society and join himself to a few despised disciples of the new opinions? This seemed like a razing of his name from the Book of Life.” Ibid., 154. Calvin could not have conquered here if he had “not had recourse to the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God . . . He sought for the Church as she is there shown—a spiritual society, Christ her Head, the Holy Spirit her life, truth her foundation, and believers her members—and in proportion as this Church disclosed her beauty to him, the fictitious splendour and earthly magnificence which shone around the Church of Rome waned, and at last vanished outright.” Ibid.

“‘There can be no Church,’ we hear Calvin saying to himself, ‘where the truth is not.’ . . . ‘The Pope,’ concluded Calvin, ‘is but a scarecrow dressed out in magnificences and fulminations. I will go on my way without minding him.’ In fine, Calvin concluded that the term ‘Church’ could not make the society that monopolised the term really ‘the Church.’ High-sounding titles and lofty assumptions could give neither unity nor authority; these could come from the Truth alone; and so he abandoned ‘the Church’ that he might enter the Church—the Church of the Bible. The victory was now complete . . . He stood in the liberty wherewith Christ had made him free. Here truly was rest after a great fight—a sweet and blessed dawn after a night of thick darkness and tempest.” Ibid. The year was 1527 and the place—Paris.

The End

A Purified Church

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There are two texts of scripture upon which to build our study. The first is found in Ephesians 5:27. “That He may present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” That sounds exciting! For as we look at our church today, it is a far cry from perfection; but God states in His holy Word that His church will become holy and without blemish. John the Revelator describes this purified church in these words of which you are very familiar, “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Revelation 14:12.

There will be a violent shaking within God’s remnant church, which will leave only the precious wheat within the city of Jerusalem. Of this we read in Joel 2:24: “And the floor shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.” “In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks.” Isaiah 26:1. Jerusalem will be a completely united city. Her inhabitants will be fully armed, covered with the protection of Christ’s righteousness. She shall be enabled to stand against the enemy.

“The forces of the enemy will no more be able to overpower her than is the chaff to resist the whirlwind.” Testimonies, vol. 8, 11. In Early Writings, 270, this is explained: “Said the angel, ‘Look ye!’ My attention was then turned to the company I had seen, who were mightily shaken. I was shown those whom I had before seen weeping and praying in agony of spirit. The company of guardian angels around them had been doubled, and they were clothed with an armor from their head to their feet. They moved in exact order, like a company of soldiers.”

Concerning the remnant, the Word of God describes this purified and victorious church with these words: “Thus saith the Lord, I am returned unto Zion, and I will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the Lord of hosts the holy mountain.” Zechariah 8:3. “And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem.” Isaiah 4:3.

Polishing the Jewels

We are nothing but rough stones; we have no light or beauty in ourselves. We are nothing but common, warped and drab. “None is good, save One, that is, God.” Luke 18:19. But when the true light of Christ shines through us, we become living stones and emit His light. We become purified, polished, tested and tried, fitly representing the perfection that God wishes as He places us without a flaw to mar the reflection of Christ. Isaiah describes it in this way, “Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God.” Isaiah 62:3. Then in that beautiful book, Our High Calling, 167: “The company of believers may be few in number, but they have been taken by the cleaver of truth as rough stones from the quarry of the world . . . to be fitted up by test and trial for a place in God’s heavenly temple, and they are very precious in the sight of the Lord . . . Even in the rough, they are precious in the sight of God. The ax and the hammer and the chisel of trial and test are in the hands of the One who is skillful, and are used not to destroy, not to bring to nothingness, but to work out the perfections of every soul. The divine Worker spends little time on worthless material. Only the precious jewels does he polish after the similitude of a palace, cutting away all the rough edges. This process is severe and trying; it hurts human pride. Christ cuts deep into the experience that man in his self-sufficiency has regarded as complete, and takes away self-uplifting from the character. He cuts away the surplus surface, and putting the stone to the polishing wheel, presses it close, that all roughness may be worn away. Then, holding the jewel up to the light, the Master sees in it a reflection of Himself, and He pronounces it worthy of a place in his casket.” [All Emphasis Supplied]

We must allow Christ to measure, test, cleanse, and polish us; to fit us into the very temple of God. In the judgment all will be measured, whether we are good or evil, and all who do not measure up to the pattern will be rejected. But those who are wise, that is they are willing to be made ready, will be used in God’s building. “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house . . . acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” I Peter 2:5.

Let us compare God’s last day remnant church with the following found in Bible Commentary, vol. 2, 1029. “The Jewish temple was built of hewn stones quarried out of the mountains; and every stone was fitted for its place in the temple, hewn, polished, and tested, before it was brought to Jerusalem. And when all were brought to the ground, the building went together without the sound of ax or hammer. This building represents God’s spiritual temple, which is composed of material gathered out of every nation, and tongue, and people, of all grades, high and low, rich and poor, learned and unlearned. These are not dead substances, to be fitted by hammer and chisel. They are living stones, quarried out from the world by truth; and the great Master-Builder, the Lord of the temple, is now hewing and polishing them, and fitting them for their respective places in the spiritual temple. When completed, this temple will be perfect in all its parts, the admiration of angels and men; for its Builder and Maker is God.”

The Harvest of Babylon Ripened

There is another city, Babylon, embracing the whole world, that must also be ripened for the harvest before Christ comes the second time. How can this be accomplished? Just as God is able to transform His subjects into living stones, so He produces the circumstances that will prepare the harvest of Babylon for the reapers. Even though the people of God, His very small remnant, have experienced victory over the beast and over its image and over every sin, there is still a great work for them to do on this earth. The remnant are to give the harvest producing message, the Loud Cry, designed to ripen the harvest within Babylon.

Who will give the Loud Cry? Many suppose it will be given by the whole church, those represented as the wheat and the tares, but the Spirit of Prophecy is very plain; this will never happen. “The third angel’s message is to lighten the earth with its glory; but only those who have withstood temptation in the strength of the Mighty One will be permitted to act a part in proclaiming it when it shall have swelled into the loud cry.” Review and Herald, November 19, 1908. Now that can mean only one thing: those represented by the tares will not be permitted to give the Loud Cry.

This is also explained in Testimonies, vol. 9, 40. “In the future the earth is to be lightened with the glory of God. A holy influence is to go forth to the world from those who are sanctified through the truth.” You see, the loud cry will be a demonstration given by those who have been sanctified. In this last call, the world is to be warned not by theories of the truth alone, nor of judgments, terrible as they are as foretold in the third angel’s message. No! They are to be given a demonstration! “The world can only be warned by seeing those who believe the truth sanctified through the truth, acting upon high and holy principles, showing in a high, elevated sense, the line of demarcation between those who keep the commandments of God and those who trample them under their feet. The sanctification of the Spirit signalizes the difference between those who have the seal of God and those who keep a spurious rest day.” Bible Commentary, vol. 7, 980.

God’s Noblemen

During the Loud Cry, the Sabbath will be preached to the world by a sanctified group who are showing the difference between keeping the Sabbath as commanded by God, and keeping Sunday as commanded by men. Merely representing the arguments of worship on the seventh day is not the third angel’s message. It is sanctification that draws a distinct line between those who proclaim the true Gospel and those who proclaim the Devil’s false theories. Sad to say, few of us today seem to realize this, nor do we fully comprehend the meaning of the third angel’s message, for it contains the glory of God that will lighten the whole earth. This is explained in Testimonies, vol. 6, 19: “The message of Christ’s righteousness is to sound from one end of the earth to the other to prepare the way of the Lord. This is the glory of God, which closes the work of the third angel.” How is this revelation of Christ’s character to be proclaimed to the world by men? “To give glory to God is to reveal His character in our own, and thus make Him known. And in whatever way we make known the Father or the Son, we glorify God.” Bible Commentary, vol. 7, 979. Then compare this with Christ’s Object Lessons, 414: “The light of His glory—His character—is to shine forth in His followers. Thus they are to glorify God, to lighten the path to the Bridegroom’s home, to the city of God, to the marriage supper of the Lamb.”

In Christ’s Object Lessons, 415, are these amazing words: “It is the darkness of misapprehension of God that is enshrouding the world. Men are losing their knowledge of His character. It has been misunderstood and misinterpreted. At this time a message from God is to be proclaimed, a message illuminating in its influence and saving in its power. His character is to be made known. Into the darkness of the world is to be shed the light of His glory, the light of His goodness, mercy and truth. Those who wait for the Bridegroom’s coming are to say to the people, Behold your God.” They will see in us the revelation of God’s character.

“God will make known the mystery which has been hidden for ages, He will make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you the hope of glory.” Selected Messages, vol. 1, 386. So you see, Christ will be within us. And as Christ represented the Father, so with Jesus in us, we will represent God. In Testimonies, vol. 8, 50, we read: “In the time of confusion and trouble before us, a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation, the uplifted Saviour will be presented to the people of all lands, that all who look to Him in faith may live.”

Now during this little time of trouble, the attention of the entire world will be directed upon those who cannot be moved from their position of truth. This is exactly what God has proposed should take place. In vision, the Lord’s messenger was shown the remnant who had passed through the shaking, and had obtained the victory over every sin. They are the ones that will now go to Babylon and will give the truth with great power. “My attention was then turned to the company I had seen, who were mightily shaken. The company of guardian angels around them had been doubled, and they were clothed with an armor from their head to their feet. They moved in exact order, like a company of soldiers. . . The numbers of this company had lessened. Some had been shaken out and left by the way . . . I heard those clothed with the armor speak forth the truth with great power. It had effect . . . I asked what had made this great change. An angel answered, ‘It is the latter rain, the refreshing from the presence of the Lord, the loud cry of the third angel.’ ” Early Writing, 270, 271.

“Clad in the armor of Christ’s righteousness, the church is to enter upon her final conflict. ‘Fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners, she is to go forth into all the world, conquering and to conquer.’” Prophets and Kings, 725. The message of a purified church is to go forth triumphant as a conqueror.

“They are made indeed a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. They are marked characters because of their purity of heart and life, their strength of purpose, their firmness and usefulness in the cause of God. They are God’s noble men.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 578. Just to think that we will be God’s noblemen! The church will give not only a final demonstration, but the full display of God’s character will be revealed within every individual. “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.” The Acts of the Apostles, 9.

“While multitudes are devoted to mammon, and serve not the Holy One of Israel, there are a few who have not defiled their garments, but have kept them unspotted from the world; and these few will be a power.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 482. “Character is power. The silent witness of a true, unselfish, godly life, carries an almost irresistible influence. By revealing in our own life the character of Christ we cooperate with him. And the wider the sphere of our influence, the more good we may do. When those who profess to serve God follow Christ’s example, practicing the principles of the law in their daily life; when every act bears witness that they love God supremely and their neighbor as themselves, then will the church have power to move the world.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 340. “He will restrain the forces of darkness until the warning is given to the world and all who will heed it are prepared for the conflict.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 453.

As an example, do you remember how Nebuchadnezzar persecuted the truth, yet it only served to spread the truth? The king thought to force the worship of the golden image by casting the three Hebrews into the fiery furnace, but God preserved His servants in the midst of the flames. Thus the knowledge of the true God was presented to all the assembled princes and great men. “The efforts made to retard the progress of truth, will serve to extend it.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 554. That is encouraging. What is holding us back from having this wonderful experience? It is because God’s people are not ready to receive the great power of the Latter Rain.

Unfitted to Receive the Latter Rain

“Ministers and people are unprepared for the time in which they live, and nearly all who profess to believe present truth are unprepared to understand the work of preparation for this time . . . They are wholly unfitted to receive the latter rain . . . Ministers and people must make greater advancement in the work of reform. They should commence without delay to correct their wrong habits of eating, drinking, dressing, and working.” Testimonies, vol. 1, 466.

“God’s people are not prepared for the loud cry of the third angel. They have a work to do for themselves which they should not leave for God to do for them. He has left this work for them to do. It is an individual work; one cannot do it for another. ‘Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.’” Testimonies, vol. 1, 486.

“The great outpouring of the Spirit of God, which lightens the whole earth with his glory, will not come until we have an enlightened people, that know by experience what it means to be laborers together with God. When we have entire, wholehearted consecration to the service of Christ, God will recognize the fact by an outpouring of His Spirit without measure; but this will not be while the largest portion of the church are not laborers together with God.” Review and Herald, July 21, 1896. This experience will not take place until the shaking first shakes out the tares. And this will happen when the Sunday Law bursts upon us. Why did the lamps of the foolish virgins go out? Because character, not theology, lightens the way to the Bridegroom. This is why the tares are ruled out of having a part in giving the Loud Cry.

The false brethren have never fully comprehended the third angel’s message. Thus they will be left in darkness, and Satan will so delude these that they will actually denounce the Loud Cry as a false, spiritualistic phenomena. Where do I get this? In Review and Herald, May 27, 1890: “The third angel’s message will not be comprehended, the light which will lighten the earth with its glory will be called a false light, by those who refuse to walk in its advancing glory.” At Pentecost, the foolish virgins declared the demonstration of the Former Rain to be the result of the use of alcohol by the leaders of the church.

Only the members of the purified church will receive the Latter Rain, and give the Loud Cry. The storm of persecution perpetrated by Babylon in the Sunday Law harassment will finally separate the tares from the wheat and leave a small remnant perfectly united and holy. “As trials thicken around us, both separation and unity will be seen in our ranks . . . Those who have had great light and precious privileges, but have not improved them, will, under one pretext or another, go out from us.”

“The promises of God now repeated as if the soul had never tasted of His love, will then glow upon the altar of the heart, and fall in burning words from the lips of the messengers of God. They will then plead with souls with an earnestness that cannot be repulsed. Then the windows of heaven will be open for the showers of the latter rain. The followers of Christ will be united in love.” Review and Herald, February 25, 1890. “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.” Testimonies, vol. 6, 293.

Oh, how God wants to prepare His people now for this marvelous work of presenting the last message of mercy! As millions leave the true and faithful, as the tares separate, so millions from Babylon will take up the ranks of those that leave, because of the Divine Power of the Loud Cry which will sweep the world like fire in stubble. May we be among those faithful few who will have a part in the closing work; for there is a bright and glorious day just ahead for the church—a purified church, a triumphant church.

The End

What Inspiration Says About – Conditional Promises

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1. Could the SDA Church become corrupted?

“If the church pursue a course similar to that of the world, they will share the same fate. Nay, rather, as they have received greater light, their punishment will be greater than that of the impenitent.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 100.

“Jerusalem is a representation of what the church will be if it refuses to walk in the light that God has given. Jerusalem was favored of God as the depositary of sacred trusts. But her people perverted the truth, and despised all entreaties and warnings. They would not respect His counsels. The temple courts were polluted with merchandise and robbery. Selfishness and love of mammon, envy and strife, were cherished. Everyone sought for gain from his quarter. Christ turned from them, saying: ‘Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how can I give thee up? How often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!’ Matthew 23:37.” Testimonies, vol. 8, 67.

“If most earnest vigilance is not manifested at the great heart of the work to protect the interests of the cause, the church will become as corrupt as the churches of other denominations.” Testimonies, vol. 4, 513.

2. What is coming in among God’s people?

“But O, sad picture! those who do not submit to the influence of the Holy Spirit soon lose the blessings received when they acknowledged the truth as from Heaven. They fall into a cold, spiritless formality; they lose their interest in perishing souls: they have ‘left their first love.’ And Christ says unto them, ‘Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.’ He will take his Holy Spirit from the church, and give it to others who will appreciate it.

“There is no greater evidence that those who have received great light do not appreciate that light, than is given by their refusal to let their light shine upon those who are in darkness, and devoting their time and energies in celebrating forms and ceremonies. Thoughts of the inner work, the necessary purity of heart, are not entertained. The absence of harmony with God becomes apparent. The light grows dim, goes out; the candlestick has been removed.” Review and Herald, July 16, 1895.

3. What causes this wickedness?

“I have been shown that the spirit of the world is fast leavening the church. You are following the same path as did ancient Israel. There is the same falling away from your holy calling as God’s peculiar people. You are having fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. Your concord with unbelievers has provoked the Lord’s displeasure. You know not the things that belong to your peace, and they are fast being hid from your eyes. Your neglect to follow the light will place you in a more unfavorable position than the Jews upon whom Christ pronounced a woe.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 75, 76.

“God gives men the light, but many are filled with a self-sufficient, masterly spirit; and they strive by carrying out their own ideas to reach a height where they will be as God. They place their mind first, as if God must serve with them. Herein lies the danger in this: Unless God shall in some way make these men understand that He is God, and that they are to serve Him, human inventions will be brought in that will lead away from Bible truth, notwithstanding all the cautions that have been given.” The Upward Look, 131.

4. Upon what will we be judged?

“In the balances of the sanctuary the Seventh-day Adventist church is to be weighed. She will be judged by the privileges and advantages that she has had. If her spiritual experience does not correspond to the advantages that Christ, at infinite cost, has bestowed on her, if the blessings conferred have not qualified her to do the work entrusted to her, on her will be pronounced the sentence: ‘Found wanting.’ By the light bestowed, the opportunities given, will she be judged.” Testimonies, vol. 8, 247.

“The church cannot measure herself by the world nor by the opinion of men nor by what she once was. Her faith and her position in the world as they now are must be compared with what they would have been if her course had been continually onward and upward. The church will be weighed in the balances of the sanctuary. If her moral character and spiritual state do not correspond with the benefits and blessings God has conferred upon her, she will be found wanting. The light has been shining clear and definite upon her pathway, and the light of 1882 calls her to an account. If her talents are unimproved, if her fruit is not perfect before God, if her light has become darkness, she is indeed found wanting. The knowledge of our state as God views it, seems to be hidden from us. We see, but perceive not; we hear, but do not understand; and we rest as unconcerned as if the pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night, rested upon our sanctuary. We profess to know God, and to believe the truth, but in works deny Him. Our deeds are directly adverse to the principles of truth and righteousness, by which we profess to be governed.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 83, 84.

5. What will happen if we do not repent?

“The patience of God has an object, but you are defeating it. He is allowing a state of things to come that you would fain see counteracted by and by, but it will be too late. God commanded Elijah to anoint the cruel and deceitful Hazael king over Syria, that he might be a scourge to idolatrous Israel. Who knows whether God will not give you up to the deceptions you love? Who knows but that the preachers who are faithful, firm, and true may be the last who shall offer the gospel of peace to our unthankful churches? It may be that the destroyers are already training under the hand of Satan and only wait the departure of a few more standard-bearers to take their places, and with the voice of the false prophet cry, ‘Peace, peace,’ when the Lord hath not spoken peace. I seldom weep, but now I find my eyes blinded with tears; they are falling upon my paper as I write. It may be that ere long all prophesyings among us will be at an end, and the voice which has stirred the people may no longer disturb their carnal slumbers.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 77.

“Will the churches heed the Laodicean message? Will they repent, or will they, notwithstanding that the most solemn message of truth—the third angel’s message—is being proclaimed to the world, go on in sin? This is the last message of mercy, the last warning to a fallen world. If the church of God becomes lukewarm, it does not stand in favor with God any more than do the churches that are represented as having fallen and become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and the cage of every unclean and hateful bird. Those who have had opportunities to hear and receive the truth and who have united with the Seventh-day Adventist church, calling themselves the commandment-keeping people of God, and yet possess no more vitality and consecration to God than do the nominal churches, will receive of the plagues of God just as verily as the churches who oppose the law of God. Only those that are sanctified through the truth will compose the royal family in the heavenly mansions Christ has gone to prepare for those that love Him and keep His commandments.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 19, 176.

“A sin-hating God calls upon those who claim to keep His law to depart from all iniquity. A neglect to repent and to render willing obedience will bring upon men and women today as serious consequences as came upon ancient Israel. There is a limit beyond which the judgments of Jehovah can no longer be delayed. The desolation of Jerusalem in the days of Jeremiah is a solemn warning to modern Israel, that the counsels and admonitions given them through chosen instrumentalities cannot be disregarded with impunity.” Prophets and Kings, 416, 417.

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

“These are no idle tales, but truth. Again I ask: On which side are you standing? ‘If the Lord be God, follow Him: but if Baal, then follow him.’ 1 Kings 18:21.” Testimonies, vol. 8, 68.

6. Could God pass the SDA Church by?

“The Lord says, ‘Shall I not visit for these things?’ Jeremiah 5:9. Because they failed of fulfilling God’s purpose, the children of Israel were set aside, and God’s call was extended to other peoples. If these too prove unfaithful, will they not in like manner be rejected?” Christ’s Object Lessons, 304.

“The words of God to ancient Israel have a solemn warning to the church and its leaders today. Of Israel the Lord said, ‘I have written to him the great things of My law; but they were counted as a strange thing.’ Hosea 8:12. And to the priests and teachers He declared, ‘My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee; . . . seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.’ Hosea 4:6.

“Shall the warnings from God be passed by unheeded? Shall the opportunities for service be unimproved? Shall the world’s scorn, the pride of reason, conformity to human customs and traditions, hold the professed followers of Christ from service to Him? Will they reject God’s word as the Jewish leaders rejected Christ? The result of Israel’s sin is before us. Will the church of today take warning?

“‘If some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; boast not. . . . Because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear; for if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest He also spare not thee.’ Romans 11:17-21.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 306.

“If the church refuses to hear the voice of the Heavenly Merchant man, refuses to open the door, then Christ will pass on, and it will be left destitute of His presence, destitute of true riches, but saying in self-righteousness, ‘I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing’ Revelation 3:17.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 11, 291.

7. Will God always have a faithful people, who will serve Him?

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

8. Who are God’s true denominated people?

“Who are these? God’s denominated people—those who on this earth have witnessed to their loyalty. Who are they? Those who have kept the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ; those who have owned the Crucified One as their Saviour.” SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 7, 981.

9. Who can we trust to take us through to the end?

“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.” Desire of Ages, 414.

“The word of finite man is fallible. Human laws, that are supposed to take the place of the law of God, are not to be respected. Henceforth the nations are to be in a very uncertain state. Kings and rulers will be involved in greater perplexities than they have ever thought possible, and this because they are disobedient to the word of the Lord, and work entirely contrary to his principles. The question now comes home to all who have their Bibles, Are we prepared to follow the word of God? ‘If any man will come after me,’ says Christ, ‘let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.’ You cannot depend upon priests, rulers, human lawmakers; for, as in Christ’s day, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men. They know not the Scriptures, nor the power of God. Man made theories are placed above a plain ‘Thus saith the Lord.’ But the searching of the soul has come. Are we obedient to the law of God? Will every soul look up in faith, and answer to God, as did Elisha, ‘As the Lord liveth . . . I will not leave thee’? Whatever may come, persecution, reproach, falsehood, or anything that shall arise—will not leave the source of my strength.” The Youth’s Instructor, April 28, 1898.

The End