Children’s Story — Muriel ’s Bright Idea

My friend Muriel is the youngest daughter in a large family. They are in moderate circumstances, and the original breadwinner has been long gone; so the young people have to be wage earners.

“Other people do not know now lovely vacations are,” was the way Esther expressed it as she sat on the side porch, hands folded lightly in her lap, and an air of delicious idleness about her entire person. It was her week of absolute leisure, which she had earned by a season of hard work. She is a public-school teacher and works fourteen hours a day.

Alice is a music teacher, and goes from house to house in town and from school to school, with her music roll in hand. Ben, a young brother, is studying medicine in a doctor’s office, and also in town, and serving the doctor between times to pay for his opportunities. There are two others, an older brother just started in business for himself, and a sister in nurses’ training.

So they scattered each morning to their duties in the city ten miles away, and gathered at night, like chickens, to the home nest, which was mothered by the dearest little woman. She prepared favorite dishes for the wage earners as they gathered at night around the home table. It is a very happy family, but I set out to tell you about Muriel’s apron, but it seemed necessary to describe the family in order to secure full appreciation of the apron.

Muriel is still a high-school girl, hoping to graduate next year, though at times a little anxious lest she may not pass. She plans to go to college as soon as possible. But about her apron. I saw it first one morning when I crossed the street to my neighbor’s side door, and met Muriel in the doorway, as pretty a picture as a fair-haired, bright-eyed girl of seventeen can make. She was in what she called her uniform, a short dress (less than floor length) made of dark print, cut lower(but modest) in the neck than a street dress. It had elbow sleeves, with white braid stitched on their bands and around the square neck setting off the little costume charmingly.

Her apron was a strong dark green denim, wide enough to cover her dress completely; it had a bib waist held in place by shoulder straps; and the garment fastened behind with a single button. But its distinctive feature was a row of pockets—or rather several rows of them—extending across the front breadth; they were of varying sizes, and all bulged out as if well filled.

“What in the world?” I began, and stared at the pockets. Muriel’s merry laugh rang out.

“Haven’t you seen my pockets before?” she asked. “They astonish you, of course; everybody laughs at them; but I am proud of them; they are my own invention. You see, we are such a busy family, and so tired when we get home at night, that we have a bad habit of dropping things just where we are, and leaving them. By the last of the week this big living room is a sight to behold. It used to take half my morning to pick up the thousand and one things that did not belong here, and carry them to their places. You do not know now many journeys I had to make, because I was always overlooking something. So I invented this apron with a pocket in it for every member of the family, and it works like a charm.

“Look at this big one with a B on it; that is for Ben, and it is always full. Ben is a great boy to leave his pencils, and his handkerchiefs, and everything else about. Last night he even discarded this necktie because it felt choky.

“This pocket is Esther’s. She leaves her letters and her discarded handkerchiefs, as well as her gloves. And Kate sheds hair ribbons and hatpins wherever she goes. Just think how lovely it is to have a pocket for each, and drop things in as fast as I find them. When I am all through dusting, I have simply to travel once around the house and unpack my load. I cannot tell you how much time and trouble and temper my invention has saved me.” “It is a bright idea,” I said, “and I mean to pass it on. There are other living rooms and busy girls. Whose is that largest pocket, marked M?”

“Why, I made it for mother; but mothers do not leave things lying around. It is funny, is it not, when they have so many cares? It seems to be natural for mothers to think about other people. So I made the M stand for ‘miscellaneous,’ and I put into that pocket articles which belong to all of us. I needed pockets last winter, when we all had special cares and were so dreadfully busy. It is such a simple idea you would have supposed that any person would have thought of it. I just had to do it this spring, because there simply was not time to run up and down stairs so much.

“It is true, ‘Necessity is the mother of invention,’” I said. “And, besides, you have given me a new idea. I am going home to work it out. When it is finished, I will show it to you.” Then I went home, and made rows and rows of strong pockets to sew on a folding screen I was making for my work room.


Just Do Your Best

 

Just do your best. It matters not how small,

How little heard of;

Just do your best—that’s all.

Just do your best. God knows it all,

And in His great plan you count as one;

Just do your best until the work is done.

Just do your best. Reward will come

To those who stand the test;

God does not forget. Press on,

Nor doubt, nor fear. Just do your best.

 

by Ernest Lloyd

Taken from Stories Worth Rereading, Review and Herald Publishing Assn., Washington D.C., 1919.

 

God The Father, The Judge

God the Father is in His own right the supreme Judge of man and of angels. He proposes to bring all mankind into judgment. Yet this work is only done in part by Himself in person. It is by Jesus Christ that God is to perform the larger part of His immense work. The following proposition is worthy of serious consideration.

  1. God the Father opens the judgment in person, then crowns His Son king, and commits the judgment to Him.

“I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of Days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool; his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him, thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him, the judgment was set, and the books were opened. I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake; I beheld even till the beast was slain and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame. As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away; yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time. I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominions, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.” Daniel 7:9–14.

The Ancient of Days represents God the Father. That one like the Son of man, who comes to the Ancient of Days, is none other than our Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew 26:64; Mark 14:61, 62. It is, therefore, not the Son, but the Father who sits in judgment as described in this vision. Those who stand in his presence either to minister, or to wait, are not men, but angels. This is a very important fact. Every student of the Bible is aware that the book of Revelation is a wonderful counterpart to the book of Daniel.

This very phraseology respecting those in the presence of the Ancient of Days, is made use of in the Revelation, and with the evident design of showing who are the persons intended by Daniel. Thus John says: “And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands.” Revelation 5:11.

Daniel describes the opening scene of the final judgment. The Father presides as judge. The angels of God are present as ministers and witnesses. At this tribunal the Son of man presents Himself to receive the dominion of the world. Here He is crowned King of kings and Lord of lords. But men are not present to witness this part of the judgment, or to behold the coronation of Christ. It is the Father and the Son and the holy angels who compose this grand assembly. Our Lord cannot act as judge so long as He ministers as high priest to make intercession for them that come to God through Him. Hebrews 7:24, 25. Nor can He act as judge until He is clothed with kingly power, for it is by virtue of His authority as king that He pronounces the decision of the judgment. Matthew 25:34, 40. The coronation of our Lord at the judgment-seat of His Father marks the termination of His priesthood, and invests Him with the sovereign authority by which He shall judge the world.

  1. It is not upon the earth that the Ancient of Days holds the session of the judgment described in Daniel 7.

Those who think this session of judgment by the Father is to be held upon our earth, understand that the “ten thousand times ten thousand” who stand before Him are the vast multitude of the human family, standing at His bar for judgment. But as this vision represents the Son as coming to the Father when He is thus seated in judgment, it follows that if the Father is already upon this earth judging its inhabitants when the Son of God comes the second time, then the Father does not send his Son to the earth, but he comes first, and then the Son comes and joins him. Yet Peter said of the Father concerning Christ’s Second Advent, “He shall send Jesus Christ.” Acts 3:20.

 

Great Sound of a Trumpet

 

It would also follow that instead of the Son of man coming to gather His saints from the four quarters of the earth, He comes to find all mankind gathered at His Father’s bar. But we do know that when the Saviour comes He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and shall gather His elect from the four winds, even from the uttermost parts of the earth. Matthew 24:31; Mark 13:27; 2 Thessalonians 2:1.

But should this difficulty be avoided by adopting the truth that those who stand before the Ancient of Days are angels, as those certainly must be who minister unto Him? It follows that our Lord is coming back to our earth thus preceded by His Father and the holy angels, comes unattended and alone. But this cannot be true, for when Jesus comes again it will be with all the holy angels. Matthew 25:31; 17:27; 2 Thessalonians 1:7, 8.

Again the Saviour is crowned king at the judgment-seat of the Father. But that judgment-seat cannot be upon our earth, else the Saviour would have to return to this earth to be crowned; whereas He receives His kingdom while absent, and returns as king of kings, sitting upon the throne of His glory. Luke 19:11, 12, 15; Matthew 25:31; 2 Timothy 4:1; Revelation 19:11–16.

It is certain; therefore, that the judgment scene described in Daniel 7 does not take place upon our earth. Indeed, were it true that immediately preceding the descent of the Saviour to our earth, God the Father should Himself descend in His own infinite majesty, and summon mankind to His bar, and enter into judgment with them, the subsequent advent of Jesus would hardly be taken notice of at all by men. But such is not the truth in this case. Matthew 24:29–31; 25:31, 32; Mark 13:26, 27; Luke 21:25–27, 36; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18; 2 Thessalonians 1:7–10.

  1. This session of the judgment by the Ancient of Days precedes the advent of Christ to our earth.

When the Lord comes again He is a king seated upon His own throne. Matthew 24:31; Luke 19:11, 12, 15; Revelation 19:11–16. But the tribunal of the Father is the very time and place where His coronation occurs. Daniel 7:7–14. It must then precede His advent.

When he comes the second time it is “in the glory of his Father.” Matthew 16:27; Mark 8:38; Luke 9:26; 2 Thessalonians1:7, 8. But it is when the Father sits in judgment that He gives this glory to His Son. Daniel 7:14. Indeed, the very majesty of the Father as displayed at this tribunal, will attend the Son when He is revealed in flaming fire to take vengeance on His enemies. 2 Thessalonians 1:7–10; Matthew 24:30, 31; 25:31. We are certain; therefore, that the revelation of Christ in His infinite glory is subsequent to that tribunal at which that glory is given to Him.

On this occasion, the Father is judge in person, and the Son presents Himself to receive the kingdom. But when the Son of man comes to our earth, having received the kingdom, He acts as judge Himself. 2 Timothy 4:1. But it is evident that our Lord’s work as judge is at a later point of time than that judgment scene at which the Father presides. We are certain, therefore, that the tribunal of Daniel 7:9–14 precedes the descent of our Lord from heaven. 1 Thessalonians 4:14–18.

  1. The coming of the Son of man to the Ancient of Days is not the same event as His Second Advent to our world.

This has been proved already in the examination of other points. Thus it has been shown from the coronation of Christ that the second advent must be at a later time than the Saviour’s act of coming to His Father in Daniel 7:13, 14, to receive the kingdom. Again, to make this the Second Advent we must have God the Father and the host of His angels here upon our earth when the Saviour comes again. But this, as has been shown, involves the contradiction of the plainest facts. We cannot, therefore, doubt that the coming of Jesus to the Ancient of Days as He sits in judgment, is an event preceding His Second Advent to our earth.

  1. The coming of the Ancient of Days, in this vision of Daniel’s, is not to this world, but to the place of His judgment scene. With regard to the place of His tribunal we will speak hereafter. We have already proved that this session of the judgment precedes the Second Advent, and that it is not held upon our earth. This fact establishes the truthfulness of this proposition.

 

Destruction of the Little Horn

 

  1. The destruction of the power represented by the little horn does not take place at the time when the Ancient of Days sits in judgment, but at a point still later, when the Son of man descends in flaming fire.

We have proved that when our Lord comes to this earth the second time, He comes as king, and must therefore come from the tribunal of His Father, for at that tribunal the kingdom is given to Him. But the man of sin, or the little horn, is destroyed by the brightness of Christ’s coming. 2 Thessalonians 2:8; 1:7–10. Whence it follows that the destruction of the Papacy is not at the Father’s judgment seat, but at the advent of his Son, at a still later point of time. But were it true that the judgment scene of Daniel 7 is opened by the personal revelation of God the Father to the inhabitants of our earth, we may be sure that there would be no man of sin left to be destroyed afterward by the brightness of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We have already proved that the destruction of the wicked power is when Christ comes to our earth, and that he does not thus come till he has first attended in person this tribunal of his Father. And to this statement agree the words of verse 11: “I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.” It appears that even while this grand tribunal was in session, the attention of the prophet was called by the Spirit of God, to the great words, which the horn was speaking. “I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake.” But Daniel does not represent his destruction as coming at once even then. He said, “I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.” The period of time covered by this “till” is thus filled up. The Son of God comes to his Father’s judgment-seat and receives the dominion, and the glory, and the kingdom, then descends to our earth in flaming fire, like that which comes forth from before his Father, and by the brightness of his advent destroys the little horn. 2 Thessalonians 1, 2. It is when our Lord thus comes that this wicked power is given to the burning flame.

And this is really the very point marked in verses 21 and 22 for the termination of the war against the saints. “I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; Until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.” But even while the Most High sits in judgment to determine the cases of his saints, the little horn is, according to verse 11, uttering great words against God. When, however, the saints have passed the test of this examination, and are counted worthy of the kingdom of God, their Lord, being crowned king, returns to gather them to himself. It is at this very point of time, the advent of the Lord Jesus, that judgment is given to the saints of the Most High, as proved by comparing 1 Corinthians 6:2, 3 with 1 Corinthians 4:5. And thus we have marked again the advent of Christ as a point of time for the destruction of this wicked power.

  1. The destruction of the Papacy is not the same event as the taking away of his dominion. Compare Daniel 7:11 and 26. The one follows after the sitting of the Ancient of Days in judgment; but the other precedes it by a certain space of time. Yet, if we read the chapter without strict attention, we would be very likely to conclude that not the little horn alone, but each of the first three beasts, had their dominion taken away at the judgment. See verses 11, 12, and 26. This, however, cannot be. For the dominion of the first beast was taken away by the second, though his life was spared; and so of each one to the last. But the little horn has a special dominion over the saints for “a time and times and the dividing of time,” or 1,260 prophetic days (see verse 25; Revelation 12:6, 14), which is taken away at the end of that period. There remains even then a space of time to “the end,” during which his dominion is consumed and destroyed. He wars against the saints, however, and prevails until the judgment is given to the saints at the advent of Christ (1 Corinthians 4:5, 6:2, 3; Revelation 20:4), when he is given to the burning flames. Daniel 7:11; 2 Thessalonians 2:8.
  2. The coronation of Christ at the judgment-seat of the Father is the same event as the standing up of Michael (compare Daniel 7:13, 14; 12:1); for Michael is Christ, and His standing up is His beginning to reign. Michael is the name borne by our Lord as the ruler of the angelic host. It signifies, “He who is like God.” This must be our Lord. See Hebrews 1:3. He is called the archangel. Jude 9. This term signifies prince of angels, or chief of the angelic host. But this is the very office of our divine Lord. Hebrews 1. Michael is the great prince that standeth for the children of God. Also He is called our prince. See Daniel 10:21; 12:1. But this can be no other than Christ. Acts 5:31.

The standing up of Michael is his assumption of kingly power. So the use of this term in Daniel 11:2, 3, 4, 7, 20, 21. But it is Jesus, and not an angel, who takes the throne of the kingdom. Daniel 7:13, 14; Psalm 2:6–12. Our Lord receives His dominion at His Father’s judgment-seat. Daniel 7. A great time of trouble follows, at which Christ delivers everyone found written in the book. This is a plain reference to the examination of the books shown in the previous vision. Compare Daniel 12:1; 7:9, 10. This shows that the judgment scene of Daniel 7 relates to the righteous, and that it precedes their final deliverance at the advent of Christ. The thrones of Daniel 7:9 will be noticed hereafter.

 

That Thy Days May Be Long

Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.” Exodus 20:12. This is a promise from God, that refers not only to your happiness and life here on earth, but also your life in the heavenly Canaan. God was talking about your days being forever.

God asks us a question in Malachi 1:6: “A son honors his father, And a servant his master. If then I am the Father, Where is My honor? And if I am a Master, where is my reverence? Says the Lord of Hosts to you priests who despise My name.”

Just as we are to honor our parents, we are to honor our Heavenly Father. What is the basis of the honor, the respect, which we give to our parents or to God? Honor runs parallel with obedience, for the Bible says, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.” Ephesians 6:1.

When you obey and honor someone, it is because they have authority, and you respect them. God has authority—authority above everyone else. In this article we will study to discern what God’s authority is based upon. This is vital because the devil has deliberately confused a large portion of the world on this question.

First of all let us look at the oppose question. What is the authority of the devil based upon? What is authority in this world based upon? Jesus said: “Jesus called them to Himself and said, You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them.” Matthew 20:25. Authority here on earth is based on the fact that the lords or rulers have power—they “lord it over them.” God’s authority is not like that. His authority is not based on power, unreasoning submission or control. Nevertheless, the devil would like people to believe that God somehow tells you what to do, and you have to do it because He is more powerful than you are.

It is amazing how many Christians believe the devil’s lie and ascribe to God the character traits of the devil. “From the beginning it has been Satan’s studied plan to cause men to forget God, that he might secure them to himself. Hence he has sought to misrepresent the character of God, to lead them to cherish a false conception of Him. The Creator has been presented to their minds as clothed with the attributes of the prince of evil himself, as arbitrary, severe, and unforgiving.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 738. [All emphasis supplied.]

The devil has presented God as clothed with the attributes of the prince of evil—arbitrary, severe, and unforgiving. He created the theory of eternal hellfire just to support that. He wanted men to believe that God would punish someone eternally for what they did in their seventy or eighty years of life. This is an example of just how severe a picture Satan has painted of God.

The first character trait the devil applies to God is that He is arbitrary. God has never in all eternity done one arbitrary thing. Look in the Bible account. It is completely against His character. God never asks anyone to do anything, “just because He said so.”

If God never exercises arbitrary authority, would God give me arbitrary authority? No! However, it seems that many today feel He has. This is one of the main reasons we are losing our young people today. Is it any wonder that youth have no interest in religion when they have been taught that God is arbitrary, or we have shown them an example of arbitrary authority? We turn our children away for, “arbitrary words and actions stir up the worst passions of the human heart.” Testimonies, vol. 6, 134.

We ask, If God is not arbitrary and He never exercises arbitrary authority, what kind of authority does He have? God clearly defined it in Deuteronomy 6:24: “And the Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always.” Our young people need to understand this, and we need to demonstrate it in all of our dealings with other human beings.

All God’s commandments are given for our good always. When the Lord said, Do not commit adultery or do not steal, there was a reason. For every command He has a reason in mind. You and I may not always understand His reason, but that does not mean it is not there. Eve could not figure out why God told her not to eat the forbidden fruit. So she decided to try it. People have been trying it ever since. God says not to do something, and they decide to see what will happen if they do. Sooner or later they find out, and suffer the consequences.

“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your good.” Deuteronomy 10:12, 13.

 

God Exercises Only Moral Authority

 

All the authority that God exercises is moral authority—never arbitrary, never severe or unforgiving. What does the word moral mean? It has to do with right and wrong. Something moral is right; something immoral is wrong. In other words, God’s authority is based on a principle of right or wrong.

Abraham understood this and he questioned the Lord about it. “And Abraham came near and said, ‘Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? . . . Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth be right?’” Genesis 18:23, 25.

Abraham knew that God was just, and would not let the righteous die with the wicked. So God promised Abraham, if He could find ten righteous people in the city of Sodom, he would spare the city. Sadly, there were not even ten righteous in Sodom, but God in His justice, spared as many righteous people as He could find, taking them out of the city before it was destroyed.

Moses said about God: “He is the rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice. A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He.” Deuteronomy 32:4.

We need this firmly fixed in our minds. God’s Word is not a list of “do’s” and “do nots.”Following it is the only true road to happiness. We are doing the greatest injury to ourselves when we think or act contrary to the will of God. We need to teach our children this from the time they are little babies, so that when they grow up, they realize that anything God says to do is for their good.

 

Absolute Authority

 

In addition to being moral, God’s authority is absolute. God has the right to have absolute authority first of all because He has infinite knowledge. The Bible says that very clearly. “In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Colossians 2:3. Because He has infinite knowledge, He never makes a mistake, and He will never err in any of His judgments.

God also has infinite love. He loves those whom He has created, and He will never use His authority or His power in a way that will hurt them. “All the paternal love which has come down from generation to generation through the channel of human hearts, all the springs of tenderness which have opened in the souls of men, are but as a tiny rill to the boundless ocean when compared with the infinite, exhaustless love of God.” Maranatha, 77. Because His knowledge, wisdom and love are infinite, He alone has the right to absolute authority.

All genuine authority is derived from the authority of God. At times God delegates authority to others. Before John the Baptist was born, God sent the angel Gabriel to talk to Zacharias. He told Him that he and his wife were going to have a son. Gabriel had authority because he was delivering a message from God.

When Zacharias did not believe, the angel said to him, I am Gabriel and I stand in the presence of God and I have come to deliver this message to you. Because you do not believe, you will be dumb until the child is born. Gabriel had authority. He did not have absolute, infinite authority as God has, but when God sent him on an errand, the message he delivered had divine authority.

God delegates His authority, not only to the angels, but also to His people. The church hasP> authority, and His ministers have authority. Where does their authority come from? It comes from the Bible. Paul said to Timothy, “Preach the Word.” 2 Timothy 4:2. If I preach the Word of God to you, that message has divine authority.

It is the same Word that gives the church divine authority. This was lost sight of by many during the Dark Ages. The Roman Church said, The Church produced the Word, therefore we have ultimate authority. If you study the history of the martyrs, you will find that they had debates on this question many times.

The relationship between the Church and the Bible is found in the Bible itself. The following is a text that the Protestant Apologists used in their debates against the Roman Catholic theologians: “Of His own will He brought us forth by the Word of truth.” James 1:18.

The church did not produce the Word. The Word produced the church. The commandment says that it is the father who is to be honored, not the child. In the same way, the Bible is to be honored above the church, because the Bible was parented, or produced by the Word. Therefore, if we are going to keep the fifth commandment, the church has to honor the Word which brought it forth.

God not only gave authority to His church or to His ministers, but He also gave authority to parents over their children as revealed in the fifth commandment. What kind of authority do parents have over their children? We have just studied that it is not to be arbitrary, but instead authority that is in subjection to God’s Word.

Consider this. In some countries, if a child becomes a Christian against the parent’s wishes, the child could lose his life. Should that child become a Christian? Yes, he should, and he might, if necessary, need to flee from home to have liberty to follow God. A child is only to obey His parents in the Lord. He has a higher power to obey.

Moral authority always has a moral reason. I am amazed that the God of heaven, when dealing with sinful people, condescends to say to us, “Come now, and let us reason together.” Isaiah 1:18. The God of heaven does not exercise authority over His children in an arbitrary, severe, unforgiving manner.

If you want your children to open up their hearts to religion and Jesus, help them to understand this. It will completely change their religious experience. There are homes, churches, organizations and schools all over the world that tell our young people, “You do this because I said so.” That is Satanic. The devil is the one who is arbitrary. Arbitrary commands, with no moral reason, are part of the antichrist power.

Arbitrary authority is one of the reasons why so many marriages break up. As a pastor, people come to me constantly, seeking counsel because their marriages are breaking up. You ought to hear the stories that I hear. It has become clear to me that one of the reasons for this is because we are arbitrary with each other. Remember, arbitrary words and actions arouse the worst passions of the human heart.

When Jesus came to earth, he came to a world where arbitrary authority reigned. The people were accustomed to leaders like Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great, who came with an army and you did what they said or else! Husbands ruled their wives this way, and parents their children. When Jesus came to the people, He did not come with an army, a dagger. When Jesus came, He said, “Come unto Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me. For I am meek [gentle] and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28–30. The authority of Jesus was only exercised with love and kindness.

Where is our love, our spirit of compassion? How many times has our wife or our child done something, and we have become angry and said “that’s it.” Consider God’s longsuffering with you. How many times has He forgiven you? We must learn the lesson found in Luke 6:37, 38: “Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.” Do not let the devil deceive you about God’s character, or about what your character must be like to enter heaven.

 

Kindness to Sinners

 

It is tragic the way Adventists treat each other. If God treated us the way we are treating one another, we would all be lost. I am astounded at how ready we are to condemn our brothers and sisters. And when someone stops to help these sinners, the report spreads all over the country. “This man is too easy on sin.” Was Jesus easy on sin? Jesus said to the woman who had been involved in prostitution, “Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.” John 8:11. He forgave all of her past sins and gave her the power to live a new life.

I have preached the gospel to rapists, murderers and others who are in prison for committing terrible crimes. I came to them in Jesus’ name, and told them Jesus could take away all their guilt. That He could give them the power to live a new life and that they could have eternal life. Some were converted and baptized from these prisons. Did I make a mistake? Should I have turned away because they were sinners?

Jesus had the same problem in His day. He got in trouble for preaching the gospel to people condemned by the Pharisees. Jesus said to the paralytic man, “Your sins be forgiven you.” This man had been to the priests and the Pharisees. They condemned him to hell, and told him that because of his sin there was no hope for him. But Jesus said, I forgive you, and I offer you eternal life.

Recently, a lady in California told me her experience. She was working with some people who had been involved in drugs. She told me of the miracles that happened in their lives. She started studying the gospel of John with them, and they gave their hearts to the Lord. Within a few days they wanted to go to church with her. So she took them to church. But there was a problem. They had just come off the street. They did not have a suit or tie, or a nice dress shirt. They were wearing jeans and T-shirts. It was obvious when they arrived at the church that they were not welcome. Nobody was friendly to them. They were from the wrong side of the tracks, the wrong part of society.

The cry of my own heart is, “Lord, I want to be all done with Pharisaism. I no longer want to be arbitrary or severe. Please make me gentle and lowly in heart and give me a forgiving spirit.” If we allow the Lord to make these changes in our hearts, our homes will be like a little heaven here on earth. When our homes become like heaven, our churches will become like heaven. When people come in wearing blue jeans and with long hair, they will see that we do have something that they do not have, and they will want it. Then our churches will become evangelistic centers. When we have put away variance, strife and fighting and arbitrary authority, God will be able to pour His Holy Spirit out on us.

Do you want it to happen? Are you willing to pray, “Lord, help me to give up all this arbitrariness, severity and unforgiving spirit and help me to wear the yoke of Christ and have His spirit and character”? We must pray about this day by day. God wants to give it to us. He has been waiting to deliver us from everything that is Satanic and put His own character into our spirit, life and homes.

 

Editorial — The Trouble

“The time of trouble, which is to increase until the end, is very near at hand. We have no time to lose. The world is stirred with the spirit of war. The prophecies of the eleventh of Daniel have almost reached their final fulfillment.” Review and Herald, November 24, 1904.

“Light has been given me that the cities will be filled with confusion, violence, and crime, and that these things will increase till the end of this earth’s history.” Testimonies, vol. 7, 84.

“Paul warns us that we may look for wickedness to increase as the end draws near. . . And he gives a startling list of sins that will be found among those who have a form of godliness.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 103.

“The judgments of God are in the land. The wars and rumors of wars, the destruction by fire and flood, say clearly that the time of trouble which is to increase until the end, is already in the world.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 4, 89.

“Already nations are angry, already Satan is working with signs and lying wonders, and this will increase until the end.” The Paulson Collection, 136, 137.

“The great truth of our entire dependence upon Christ for salvation lies close to the error of presumption. Freedom in Christ is by thousands mistaken for lawlessness; and because Christ came to release us from the condemnation of the law, men declare that the law itself is done away, and that those who keep it are fallen from grace. And thus, as truth and error appear so near akin, minds that are not guided by the Holy Spirit will be led to accept the error, and in so doing place themselves under the power of Satan’s deceptions.” Home Missionary, November 1, 1893.

“In the future, Satan is to come down with great power, to work signs and wonders. He will bring down fire from heaven in the presence of his devotees, and, to those who have allowed themselves to be led away from the only true foundation,–the word of God,–will give proof of his authority. He will deceive if possible the very elect.” Southern Watchman, March 1, 1904.

 

The Needed Help in Trouble

 

“Those who are standing firm upon the word of the everlasting God will meet Satan with the weapon with which Christ met him,–“It is written.” This will be of more power than the working of miracles. The people of God will conquer through the Holy Spirit’s working, which is stronger than miracles or aught else. It is from the Lord that we are to obtain power.” Southern Watchman, March 1, 1904.

“Our divine Lord is equal to any emergency. With him nothing is impossible. He has shown His great love for us by living a life of self-denial and sacrifice, and by dying a death of agony. Come to Christ just as you are, weak, helpless, and ready to die. Cast yourself wholly on His mercy. There is no difficulty within or without that can not be surmounted in His strength.” Signs of the Times, January 3, 1906.

“The Lord’s angels are appointed to keep strict watch over those who put their faith in the Lord, and these angels are to be our special help in every time of need. Every day we are to come to the Lord with full assurance of faith, and to look to Him for wisdom. . . . Those who are guided by the Word of the Lord will discern with certainty between falsehood and truth, between sin and righteousness.” Bible Commentary, vol. 7, 907.

“Every ray of light that Heaven sends is essential for our salvation. We are living in the last days, and the Lord does not mean to leave us in darkness and uncertainty. There are great blessings in store for those who keep the commandments of God, not in name merely, but in sincerity and truth . . . Unless divine power is brought into the experience of the people of God, false theories and erroneous ideas will take minds captive, Christ and his righteousness will be dropped out of the experience of many, and their faith will be without power or life. Such will not have a daily, living experience of the love of God in the heart, and if they do not zealously repent, they will be among those who are represented by the Laodiceans, who will be spewed out of the mouth of God.” Review and Herald, September 3, 1889.

 

The Main Theme of Jesus’ Preaching

The main theme of Jesus’ preaching and teaching is how you can have eternal life, and not lose your soul in hell. Jesus began His Sermon on the Mount by telling who is going to be in the kingdom of heaven. It will be the poor in spirit, those who mourn, those who are meek, those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, those who are merciful, those who are pure in heart, those who are peacemakers, and those who endure persecution.

He continues in Matthew 5:17–19, “Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven.” Those who break the least of the commandments, will be called the least in the kingdom of heaven, or in other words, they will not be there. “For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:20.

The keeping of the law must be more than a mere external act that you do to please others, as the Pharisees did. True obedience comes from the heart. Jesus taught this clearly later in the Sermon on the Mount. “You have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not commit adultery. But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.” Matthew 5:27–30. It would be better, Jesus said, for you to lose your eye or your hand, and to gain heaven than it would be to have everything except eternal life.

Jesus continues with the same theme in Matthew chapter 6: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19–21. You cannot inherit eternal life if your heart is in this world.

Chapter seven reveals how to obtain eternal life. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you, depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.” Matthew 7:21–23. Only those who do the will of the Father will inherit eternal life.

Jesus taught that there is a hell fire to shun and a heaven to win. Heaven and eternal life are the goal that every Christian should be aiming for—everything else should be secondary.

 

Step by Step

 

As we go along the Christian life, at every step there are some who fall off the path. “God leads His people on, step by step. He brings them up to different points calculated to manifest what is in the heart. Some endure at one point, but fall off at the next.” Testimonies, vol. 1, 187.

A person may be a very good health reformer, and very strict in their dress. He may be reading the Spirit of Prophecy and the Bible. He may even carefully observe the Sabbath and faithfully pay his tithe. A person may be following the Word of the Lord in every particular, until an incident occurs, that makes him upset. He might say, “That so-and-so! Do you know what he did?” Then he rationalizes that if a person can do something like that and be in the church, then he will not associate with them! He leaves that church and goes somewhere else.

Is God going to be able to take us all to heaven if we are upset with each other and there is division and dissension? If I say, “I am not going to go to church there, because of that person,” is God going to be able to take us all to heaven when we are in that kind of a situation?

Maybe someone really did do something wrong and my feelings are hurt. If I say, “Since that is the way it is, I am not going to have anything to do with it. I am leaving.” At that point I have fallen off the path. This is happening all over the world today. It is happening in Conference churches, in historic Adventist churches, and in home churches too.

The devil wants more than anything else to make us fall off the path. He will bring every attack he can against us. What can we do? If we keep in mind the main theme of Jesus’ preaching while walking up the path and keep looking ahead at our goal, we will soon be with Jesus and the saints. For us the path will not seem too long, or the trials too great. It does not bother us so much that someone hurt us, because we have a goal and we have our eyes on that goal.

 

Looking Back

 

Our trouble begins when we stop looking at the goal, and begin looking down or even looking behind. Those who look back and see all the steps they have taken on the path say, “I am so far ahead of everybody else on this path. All the people I used to know are way down there. Look at all these steps I have taken! I had better slow down.” At that point progress stops. They are no longer walking on the path. They are looking back.

It does not matter how many steps we have taken, if we are not at the destination yet, we need to keep walking up the path. If we look down because someone hurts our feelings or does something we do not like, we might become dizzy and fall off the path.

That is a grave danger for Adventists —even for people who have progressed along the path for many years. If we do not keep our eyes on Jesus and we start to look down at all the obstacles, progress stops. Mrs. White talked about this in Testimonies, vol. 1, 187: “Some endure at one point, but fall off at the next. At every advanced point the heart is tested and tried a little closer. If the professed people of God find their hearts opposed to this straight work, it should convince them that they have a work to do to overcome, if they would not be spued out of the mouth of the Lord. Said the angel: ‘God will bring His work closer and closer to test and prove every one of His people.’ ”

She is talking about you and me. Are we going through tests? If we are walking up the path, we will be having tests day by day. If we are not having tests day by day, we should go to our closets and in prayer ask the Lord why. Because, if we are walking on the path, inspiration tells us that God is going to test us.

“Said the angel: ‘God will bring His work closer and closer to test and prove every one of His people.’ Some are willing to receive one point; but when God brings them to another testing point, they shrink from it and stand back, because they find that it strikes directly at some cherished idol. Here they have opportunity to see what is in their hearts that shuts out Jesus. They prize something higher than the truth, and their hearts are not prepared to receive Jesus. Individuals are tested and proved a length of time to see if they will sacrifice their idols and heed the counsel of the True Witness. If any will not be purified through obeying the truth, and overcome their selfishness, their pride, and evil passions, the angels of God have the charge: They are joined to their idols, Let them alone.” Ibid.

No matter who we are—an evangelist, a pastor, a teacher, an elder, or a deacon, we must keep moving up the path toward the Holy City. Along the way, we must overcome certain things.

If we do not overcome, the angels of God have the charge, ” ‘They are joined to their idols. Let them alone,’ and they pass on to their work leaving these with their sinful traits unsubdued to the control of evil angels.” Ibid. If there are sinful traits that we are not overcoming, we need to pray, “Lord, do not take the angels away from me. Give me power to overcome.”

“Those who come up to every point, and stand every test, and overcome, be the price what it may, have heeded the counsel of the True Witness, and they will receive the latter rain, and thus be fitted for translation.” Ibid. That is a promise to us, from the Lord. In order to do that, we need to take the long view. I am so concerned when I see Adventist people who are looking down at all the trouble around their feet, or who are looking back to see how much progress they have made.

It does not matter how much progress we have made if we are not at our destination, we must keep walking up the path. In fact, Ellen White said that we need to step fast. She wrote to people and said, “The hours of probation are fast passing. We have no time—not a moment—to lose.” Maranatha, 311. We need to keep walking up the path. We do not have time to stand still. We have a goal to reach.

 

Seeking a Better Life

 

Children who are born and grow up in the ghetto generally do not like their environment, especially when they see how other people are living outside of the ghetto. Most of these children have a goal that they will not be like their parents. They would tell you that when they grow up, they are not going to live in the ghetto. It is interesting however, that very often these children do end up living in the ghetto as adults.

When children grow up in a home where one or more of the parents drinks, the children do not like to be with a drunk father or a drunk mother—never knowing what is going to happen next. When still young, most make up their minds that they are never going to be like their parents when they grow up. Statistics show a different pattern. Forty percent of children who had one alcoholic parent will be an alcoholic. Eighty percent of the children who were raised in homes where both parents were alcoholics, will become alcoholics as adults. How can this be when all of these people decided when they were children that they were never going to be alcoholics?

First of all it is because of what they saw. Your adult life typically becomes like what you saw while you were growing up. That is the law of the human mind. “By beholding you become changed.”

There is another factor that operates in the ghetto. A child may decide that he is not going to be like his parents. However, his parents were probably in the ghetto partly because of a lack of self-discipline. If he is going to escape the ghetto, he must develop something that his parents did not have.

 

Striving For the Goal

 

Suppose that there are two brothers in the ghetto. They look around and say to themselves, “When we grow up, we are not going to be like our parents. We are not going to live in the ghetto. We are going to get an education and become physicians.”

They are determined and press forward all through high school. After graduation, they are accepted at the state university where they begin their pre-med courses. They have their eyes on a goal.

One of these young men is talented athletically and he is invited to become a member of the basketball team and accepts. The other boy looks over the situation and says to himself, “I think I should use every spare moment that I have to study.” He joins a special study group.

As time goes on, both brothers get part time jobs. One of them uses money from his part time job to buy a car. The other decides to save his money to pay his medical school expenses, and he puts it in the bank.

One of these boys develops a friendship with a girl. Considering the situation, his brother decides: “I want to get into medical school. I do not think I should take time to have a girlfriend right now. I will devote all my time to my studies.”

The one that has the car, is on the basketball team, and has a girlfriend, earns enough money so that he can buy some nice clothes. The other one says, “I think I am going to wear my old clothes and just put my extra money in the bank.”

The time comes when they both graduate from the university. One of them put everything he had into achieving that one goal. His brother had the same goal, but he was enjoying life along the way.

The brothers apply at a medical school. Suppose one of these boys is accepted, and the other one is not. He still has his girlfriend, his car, his nice clothes and he has won a lot of basketball games. But when he sought to get into medical school, he was not accepted. He says, “What is the matter? This has been my goal for years. Why am I not accepted?”

Jesus speaks about this. “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Matthew 7:13, 14.

“Strive [struggle], to enter in through the narrow gate.” Luke 13:24. Some would say, “Is not eternal life free? Why does He say to strive and struggle?”

Is there a chance that even though all Adventists have the same goal, some of them will be much more likely to reach that goal than others? When Jesus comes, there will be many who will stand outside the door that was shut by the master of the house, and knock saying, “Lord, Lord, open for us.” And He will answer and say to them, “I do not know you. Then they will say, “We ate and drank in your presence. You taught in our streets.” But He will say, “I tell you, I do not know you. Depart from me all you workers of iniquity.”

Are you striving, are you struggling? Have you decided that this goal of having eternal life is the all-consuming passion of your life? Or are you like the boy who is going through college and says, “Yes, I want to get there some day, but I am going to enjoy life now.”

Paul had his eyes fixed on the goal when he said, “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:12–14.

Do you have your eye on the long term goal. Are you pressing forward with one goal in mind. Can you say with Paul, “This one thing I do”? If that is your attitude, you will make it. No one at the end will say to the Lord, “I chose to make this the number one priority in my life, and I have pressed toward the goal, and now I am lost.”

 

Fanaticism to Apostasy

 

One of the reasons that so many fall off the path today is because of fanaticism. Fanaticism is going beyond what is written. It is also beating the drum on one point. To those who are in fanaticism, one subject becomes everything, and they go beyond what God has written. “The very beginning of the great apostasy was in seeking to supplement the authority of God by that of the church. Rome began by enjoining what God had not forbidden.” The Great Controversy, 289, 290.

There are things that God has not commanded, but neither has He forbidden. When someone dictates to another person that they mustdo something that God has not commanded—that is fanaticism.

Where will it lead? “Rome began by enjoining what God had not forbidden, she ended by forbidding what He has explicitly enjoined.” Ibid. That is apostasy. If we go into fanaticism, and add to what God has told us, the end-result is apostasy.

According to the Spirit of Prophecy, all the types of fanaticism that appeared at the beginning of the Advent movement will reappear at the end. That is what is happening today. All the controversies that we thought were solved years and years ago, are reappearing.

In the early ages of Christianity there were many fanatical theories that arose concerning the nature of Christ, the nature of God, and the nature of the Holy Spirit. The same theories are all surfacing again.

What can we do to keep on the path? David wrote in the Psalms, “Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Psalm 119:105. Jesus is the way, He is the path. As we follow up the path, the light moves and we must keep pace with it. Jesus said, “Walk while you have the light.” John 12:35. If we do not walk while we have the light, the light will keep moving and eventually we will be left in darkness.

Strive! Keep walking up the path. So often people come up to a certain point and stop. They are afraid that if they learn truth, they will be obligated to change something. It is written down beside their names in the kingdom of heaven, that they do not want any more truth. If they do not overcome that attitude it becomes for them the unpardonable sin. We each need to ask ourselves this question: Is there something in my life where I am not following the light? If we are not following the light, it is only a matter of time until we will be in darkness.

 

Jesus Leads On

 

If we keep looking at the goal and keep walking, we will arrive at the destination. It will not be too long. The journey will not be too hard. The obstacles will not be too great.

This was a major focal point of the very first vision that the Lord gave to Ellen White. Quoting from Early Writings, 14: “While I was praying at the family altar, the Holy Ghost fell upon me, and I seemed to be rising higher and higher, far above the dark world. I turned to look for the Advent people in the world, but could not find them, when a voice said to me, ‘Look again and look a little higher.’ At this I raised my eyes, and saw a straight and narrow path, cast up high above the world. On this path the Advent people were traveling to the City, which was at the farther end of the path. They had a bright light set up behind them at the beginning of the path, which an angel told me was the midnight cry. This light shone all along the path and gave light for their feet so that they might not stumble. If they kept their eyes fixed on Jesus, Who was just before them,leading them to the City, they were safe.”

Jesus is leading us up the path. He is at the head of the line and He is leading us up the path to the Holy City. If we keep our eyes on Him, we will be safe. “But soon, some grew weary and said the City was a great way off, and they expected to have entered it before. Then Jesus would encourage them by raising His glorious right arm, and from His arm came a light which waved over the Advent band, and they shouted, ‘Alleluia.’ Others rashly denied the light behind them and said that it was not God that had led them out so far. The light behind them went out,leaving their feet in perfect darkness, and they stumbled and lost sight of the mark and of Jesus, and fell off the path down into the dark and wicked world below.” Ibid., 14, 15.

As we go up the path, an immediate goal is to receive more of the Holy Spirit’s power. In order for us to receive the Holy Spirit, we must be overcomers. The latter rain cannot come until we have overcome sin. (See Early Writings, 71.)

Before Jesus comes the second time there will be faithful ones, who are waiting and preparing for His arrival. There will be some who will stay on the path until they arrive at the destination. Will you be one of them? The following questions will help you to see if you are pressing up the path:

  1. Do I take time to attend a prayer group or prayer meeting every week where we can study the Bible and pray?
  2. Do I take time for my personal devotions every day? Do I have time to study the life of Jesus every day, to memorize His Word, and to pray?
  3. Do I have time to actively witness to the world that Jesus is coming soon?
  4. Who do I love and who do I like to talk about?

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” Matthew 6:33.

 

The Mystery of Godliness

For the Pharisees in Jesus’ day, the church was a club for the saints. But the church that Jesus came to establish was not a club for the saints, it was a hospital for sinners. A place where they would be changed and healed. We must never forget that. Sometimes when we come to church we look around us and say, “Look at that brother or that sister.” But that is not what we are supposed to be looking at. When you go to the hospital, do you say, “Oh, no, I should not be here. Look at that man. He is sick! Look at that lady. She is sick! Everybody in this building is sick. I do not think I should be here”? Of course not! You are all there to get well. It is the same with the church. We do not go to look at each other with our faults. We go to look at Jesus, the Great Physician. Jesus wants to heal us from the sting of sin. That, Paul says, is the great mystery. “Without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory.” 1 Timothy 3:16. Satan hates this verse of Scripture. The devil does not like any part of the Bible, but there are certain parts that he especially hates. 1 Timothy 3:16 is one of those verses.

In the early centuries, before the printing press was invented, the only way you could get a copy of the New Testament was if someone copied it out by hand. There were professional copyists in those days, called scribes.

There were many scribes who copied the entire New Testament. We have over five thousand ancient manuscripts of the New Testament, although not all are complete. That is more than the writings of Homer or of any of the Greek philosophers or historians. In fact, there are more copies of the New Testament than any other ancient document.

In the ancient world, after the time of the apostles, there were two places where a gigantic apostasy developed against the true Christian faith. One was in Rome and the other in Alexandria, Egypt.

In Egypt by the second and third centuries there developed a counterfeit Christianity. Because Egypt is a desert country, we have many manuscripts from the third and the fourth centuries, whereas most of the other manuscripts we have, from other parts of the Middle East, are later copies.

In all the manuscripts there are mistakes. But in the Egyptian manuscripts we find not just random mistakes, but the type of mistakes that indicate to us that there was a conscious attempt by someone to weaken the testimony of the New Testament about the divinity of Jesus Christ.

That is one of the major reasons why many conservative Bible scholars, for many years now, have said that they do not have confidence in the Egyptian manuscripts. They instead have confidence in the great majority of the manuscripts of the New Testament from different areas.

In this text, I Timothy 3:16, it says, “God was manifested in the flesh.” In the Egyptian Manuscripts the word “God” is left out. This is the way it was done. The word for “God” in the Greek language is Theos. If the first two letters (“Th” in Greek is one letter) are removed, then just os is left. “Os” is a pronoun, and this makes the verse completely nonsensical. There is no appropriate antecedent for this pronoun in the sentence. Versions translated from the Egyptian manuscripts read like this, “He was manifested in the flesh.”

The majority of the modern translations of the English Bible are translated from the Egyptian text and are, therefore, not as accurate as Bibles that are translated from the great majority of Greek manuscripts. Read 1 Timothy 3:16, in your Bible. If the word “God” is left out it means that your Bible was translated from an Egyptian text. It would be well to get a Bible that is more accurate, such as the King James or the New King James versions.

 

God In the Flesh

 

The New Testament states unequivocally that Jesus is God. He is a divine person. “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21. This is the prediction that Mary, who was a virgin, would produce a child, conceived by the Holy Spirit. His name was to be called Jesu, or in the Hebrew language Joshua, or in English Jesus. That name means a Savior, or a Deliverer.

Who is this Jesus, who is going to save us from our sins? It says in Matthew 1:23, “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel, which is translated, God with us.” Matthew 1:23. He is God, God with us, God in the flesh.

The New Testament states this over and over again. Jesus existed before He was born of Mary. “John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, ‘This was He of Whom I said, He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ ” John 1:15.

John the Baptist was six months older than Jesus, yet, he said that Jesus was before him. How much before? “And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.” John 17:5. “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.” John 17:24. Jesus said to His Father, “I remember the love You had for Me before the world existed.”

How long before the world was? “But you, Bethlehem Ephratah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.” Micah 5:2. God the Father is saying that the one born in Bethlehem had been with Him from the days of eternity.

God has always been. In our human speech, when we go as far back as we can, we call that the beginning. The Bible says that in the beginning God already was. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1. “In the beginning (you cannot go back beyond that) was the Word. And the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life . . . And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:1–4, 14.

A person would have to be God in order to fully reveal God, because God is infinite. No created person could reveal the Father completely. Jesus could do what no angel, or created person could do. “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, Who is the Head of all principality and power.” Colossians 2:8–10.

Many Christians do not believe that verse. Yet, it is still in the Bible. “You are complete in Him Who is the Head.” That is the Chief, the One who is in control. The head is the top of the body. He is the head of all principality (rulers) and powers.

 

Seen by Angels

 

“Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels.” As being part of this great mystery Paul talks about Jesus being seen by angels. What was it that was seen by angels that was so mysterious? When Paul said Jesus was seen by angels, he was not only talking about God’s angels. He was talking about the devil’s angels, also.

The book of Revelation teaches that the devil has angels. There were angels that joined the devil in his rebellion against the government of heaven.(See Revelation 12:7–9.) Part of this great mystery is that when Jesus came down to this world, He was manifest in the flesh. The angels—the people in the heavens —saw something. What was it that they saw?

They saw what the great men of the earth saw as described in Psalm 48: “For behold the kings assembled, They passed by together. They saw it, and so they marveled; They were troubled, they hastened away. Fear took hold of them there, and pain, as of a woman in birth pangs, as when you break the ships of Tarshish with an east wind.” Psalm 48:4–7.

Jesus was crucified during the celebration of the Passover. At that time there were kings, representatives from foreign courts, nobles, princes—men who exerted a wide influence in the world, assembled from all parts of the world in Jerusalem for the Passover. These people witnessed the scenes of Christ’s death.

Many Jews read the inscription on the cross, and it caused such a stir that the chief priests went to Pilate and said, “Please change what you wrote, because it is having such an effect on the people.” It was at that time, when the kings, nobles, and so many important peoples were watching, that Jehovah struck a blow that was felt and has been felt all over the world. The tidings of Christ’s trial and crucifixion were taken by these people to all parts of the world.

This was by divine foreknowledge and decree, because God wanted all the people of the world to focus their attention on the meaning of what happened when Jesus died on the cross. That is to be the all absorbing theme. Everyone in the world is invited to look, to study, and to understand. That is to be the great center of attraction in our world.

The angels of heaven want to understand what happened. Peter, when writing to the Christians later in his life, said the angels desire to understand this great mystery.

What was seen on Calvary? One of the things seen was that God’s throne is a throne of justice. Many today have forgotten all about God’s justice. But the cross proves that our God is a God of justice. When His law is broken, the price has to be paid. It cannot be overlooked. The sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross paid the price for our sin. It also restored honor to God’s government which had been under attack.

Satan said to God, “You cannot be just and forgive the human race of their sins.” God said, “Yes, I can.” The cross is an unanswerable argument. At the end of the world the result of the cross upon the heavenly universe, upon satanic agencies, and upon everyone in this world will be, as the Bible predicts—every mouth will be stopped. In making this infinite sacrifice, Christ exalted and honored the law.

Many things are revealed at the cross besides God’s justice. God could have been just and destroyed the whole world. When man rebelled against God, God could have been just and righteous and destroyed every sinner in the world. God is just, but His character is infinite, it involves more than justice. It is merciful. Even though the devil claimed that God could not be just and merciful, the cross proved this also.

The cross proved that God is right, and the devil wrong. Was the penalty paid, terrible? Jesus exhausted the wrath of God against a broken law. He exhausted the penalty so that you and I would not have to pay it.

The cross shows that God is just and shows at the same time that He is merciful. It shows that His hatred against sin is as strong as death, but it shows that His love for sinners is even stronger than death. When it is all done, and God presents to the entire inhabitants of the world a panoramic view of the life and death of Christ, every mouth will be stopped, every rebellious voice silenced. God will have done everything that He could do to save each one. No one will be able to say to the Lord, “Lord, I had a bad inheritance, I had a poor marriage partner, I had bad health, or I had trouble on my job.” Every mouth will be silenced. God will say, “I did everything possible to save you. There were abundant opportunities for you to be saved. All you had to do was accept, all you had to do was commit your life to Me and I would have helped you. The plan of salvation would have worked out in your life.” What are you going to say when the Lord presents to you millions of other people that were just as weak as you were?

He will be able to show you people who had just as bad a marriage as you had, just as bad health as you had, just as much trouble on their job as you had, and all the kinds of trouble you had. Yet they committed their lives to Christ and He saved them, why didn’t you? What will you say? The Bible says every mouth will be stopped. It is the cross that will stop the great controversy.

 

Thoughts Revealed

 

The cross of Jesus has a dark side and a light side. The light side is how much God loves you and me. God loves you enough that He would rather die than leave you lost.

The dark side is this: God’s Son was permitted to endure the enmity of an apostate, called Satan, against the commander of all heaven. It was demonstrated what Satan was like.

This was predicted in the Bible. “Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, behold, this child is destined for the rise and fall of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (yes a sword will pierce through your own soul also) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” Luke 2:34, 35. What does it mean that the thoughts of many hearts are going to be revealed?

When Jesus came, the character of God was revealed to the whole universe. His justice, His mercy, His love for the lost, His kindness, His tact, His courtesy, His cheerfulness, His helpfulness, and His tender compassion. The character of God was perfectly reflected to us through the life of Christ.

The thoughts of God are revealed through the life of Jesus. God loves you so much that He would rather His Son die on the cross than you be lost. This is impossible to explain. We cannot understand the love of God, but it is real. The life of Christ revealed the thoughts of God’s heart.

The heart of the devil was also revealed. The heart of the devil had never been revealed before like it was when Jesus was on earth. It was the devil who inspired the men who crucified Christ. It was the devil who stimulated the people to taunt Christ, and the Roman soldiers to mock Him. He persuaded Pilate to condemn Jesus to crucifixion, even after Pilate said three times in the most emphatic language, “I find in Him no fault at all.”

The thoughts of the devil were revealed. But that is not all. In the life and death of Christ your heart is revealed. When you read the story you will take one side or the other. Either you accept Christ, or you deny Him and become His enemy. You cannot be neutral. When you read the story of Christ, especially about His crucifixion, you have to go one way or the other.

When you see that the devil has no mercy, but is only cruel, do you want to follow him any more? “Oh,” somebody says, “I have never been following the devil.” Oh? I wish I could say that.

Who is following the devil and who is not following the devil? “He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” 1 John 3:8. Jesus wants to destroy the works of the devil. He was manifested to deliver us from sin.

The people who are given eternal life will be people in whom the Lord Jesus has destroyed the works of the devil, delivered them from sin. Do you want to be part of that group? Do you want Jesus to deliver you?

Sin is cruel. Sin is not something that anyone would want to have anything to do with. We see when we study the cross, it would be better for us to lose our lives than to be involved in sin.

“Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifested in the flesh . . . seen by angels.” Is this mystery going to change your life? Are you studying about it, thinking about it, praying about it? Are you saying, “Lord, I want this salvation that was worked out for me in the life of Jesus on the cross. I want this salvation to change my life. I do not want to follow the devil any more. I do not want to live a life of sin any more.”

Has this been your experience? It is a great mystery. It is beyond our understanding. But we serve a God of mysteries, a God of miracles, a God that wants to work a miracle in your life and mine.

 

Editorial – Who Are Loyal?

Years ago I was working with several ministries who were sponsoring revival and reformation camp meetings in all regions of the country. Shortly before one of these camp meetings the pastor of a nearby church preached a sermon against the camp meeting and its sponsors. His subject was concerning loyalty to the message and the church etc… Since, in this magazine, we have explained many times from inspired writings who and what the church is, we will not enter into that subject here. We will merely ask, “what is the bottom line about who is loyal and who is not loyal to the work of God today?

Jesus had this problem when He was on this earth. See Desire of Ages, 111. Following are a few guidelines from the writings of Ellen G. White about who are loyal.

The loyal obey all the commandments of God: “The keeping of the Sabbath is a sign of loyalty to the true God.” Great Controversy, 438.

“How can fathers consent to their children attending school on the Sabbath, or any part of the Sabbath, the same as on any common weekday? Here is a cross to life. Here the line of separation is drawn between the loyal and disloyal. This is the sign that there is a people who will not make void the law of God although it is at a sacrifice to themselves.” Manuscript Release, vol. 5, 79.

The one who is loyal will refuse to obey earthly powers if they require him to violate a command of God. “The laws of earthly kingdoms are to be obeyed only when they do not conflict with the laws of God…when they try to control the minds and consciences of those whom Christ died to make free, God’s children are to show their loyalty to him by refusing to disobey his commandments.” Signs of the Times, May 13, 1897.

The one who is loyal will be at war against sin and evil: “In every age the true church of God has engaged in decided warfare against satanic agencies. Until the controversy is ended, the struggle will go on, between wicked angels and wicked men on the one side, and holy angels and true believers on the other.” Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 2, 5.

The One who is loyal will rebuke evil. (He generally will be accused of being critical, backbiting, and divisive when he does this duty.) “God would have His servants prove their loyalty by faithfully rebuking transgression, however painful the act may be.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 323, 324.

The loyal will not be found imbibing of worldly pleasure and will be practicing self-denial and humility: “Beware of those who preach to others the word of life, but do not themselves cherish the spirit of humility and self-denial which it inculcates. Such men cannot be depended on in a crisis…many today assert their loyalty to God, but their concerts and other pleasure gatherings, their worldly associations, their glorifying of self, and eager desire for popularity, all testify that they have not obeyed his voice.” Testimony to the Battle Creek Church, 71.

“How shall we know that they are disloyal and untrue?—‘By their fruits ye shall know them’…The Lord will not write as wise those who cannot distinguish between a tree that bears thorn-berries and a tree that bears olives.” Review and Herald, September 7, 1897.

The loyal are involved in evangelism: “He has opened a fountain for Judah and Jerusalem, and every member of his church is to show his loyalty by inviting the thirsty to drink of the water of life.” Review and Herald, November 12, 1914.

They will engage in acts in of love and reverence for Jesus: “Acts of love and reverence for Jesus are an evidence of faith in Him as the Son of God.” Desire of Ages, 564.

They will participate in the ordinance of the Lord’s House: “This ordinance of feet washing was made a religious service…It was given as something to test and prove the loyalty of the children of God.” Evangelism, 275.

“The loyal have given the affections of their entire heart to Jesus: It is the whole heart that Jesus prizes. The loyalty of the soul is alone of value in the sight of God.” Testimonies vol. 5, 73.

“They will not fail to declare all the Word of God: “in order to retain their position in the church, some consented to be silent in regard to their hope; but others felt that loyalty to God forbade them thus to hide the truths which He had committed to their trust.” Great Controversy, 372.

The loyal will be separate from the world: “It is impossible for a man to become loyal to God, rendering obedience to all his commandments, without finding himself immediately marked as odd from the rest of the world, and cut off from the society of those who transgress that law…a separation becomes necessary.” Review and Herald, January 13, 1885.

The First Commandment

When we study God’s word, a correct understanding of that word is the result of a number of factors and ingredients. Not only do we need an understanding of the people and the times of the particular book under consideration, but the overall context.

We see God in His word as One attempting to initiate and desiring to establish and maintain an intimate relationship with His people. His desire has always been to make an atonement for the world in general and His people in particular. This provides the background of our studies, not only for the commandments, but for every law, every rule, every ordinance, prohibition, every sanction, as well as every blessing, promise and every prophecy that God gave to His children and through them to the world.

From the time God asked Abraham to look into the sky and count the stars, through the long period until the first stone hit the holy brow of Stephen, there was something very special that God wanted to do with the Jews, to the Jews, for the Jews and through the Jews to the world. So, Jesus began to codify in Exodus a set of laws predicated on the demonstrated fact that you can do, because He has already done. God enjoins that to His people today. We can indeed do all things because of what Christ has already done.

When we were kids and we were playing, my dad many times would tell us to do something, or more accurately tell us to stop doing something. Sometimes we would get a little insubordinate, a little obstinate or hardheaded and the context for what ensued was the fact that my father did not take a particular liking in saying anything twice. There were times as kids when we thought we were out of range and in a safety zone, that we would actually question one of my father’s directions. He would say, “Don’t do that.” Sometimes in a fit of insanity we would say, “Why”? My old-schooled dad would provide a context for the discussion. “Because I am your father,” he would say. “I brought you in; I will take you out,” or “Because I said so.”

Once when I was 10 or 11, I searched my brain and it occurred to me that because “I said so,” or “because I am your father,” was not sufficient justification to alter or abate my intended course of action. I might have even used the word, “Stupid.” I thought I was out of reach and I thought he had not heard me, but my father sprang like a cat with blinding human strength and lifted me off my feet and said, “Because if I catch you doing that again I will kill you.” While growing up in my house there were many infractions to which death was the ultimate penalty. But I stayed alive long enough to baptize my dad into the Seventh-day Adventist church.

Yet over and over again we see this preamble that we are about to look at that contextualizes the perspective future relationship and activities between God and His people.

Exodus 20:2 says, “I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” We see this pattern over and over again no less than ten times—four times on God’s behalf and six times it was recited by the Lord Himself. He recited this many times to a people who in many instances did not know God and even when they were introduced to Him they were disposed to develop an almost irresistible case of spiritual Alzheimer’s. There are pages in the Old Testament riddled with stories of a people afflicted with a selective memory loss. This loss resulted in their continual wandering from God. They never really got it right.

A loving Lord, knowing the unstable nature of his chosen people, would often have to reformulate in their minds the reality that He was the Lord God and beside Him there was no other.

He is the Lord God. Not just any god, but your God. He is the God who brought you out of Egypt. Pharaoh was a type of Satan, a type of sin. Jehovah is saying, I delivered you from their presence and their power. This is what I did for you; now I want you to do the following for me.

Verse 3 says, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” I always thought it was interesting that the Lord would have to put that there. It occurred to me that, other than Jehovah God, the one true God, there is no other god.

The word used in the Hebrew is Elohim, the im is a plural ending. It is mostly used in Scripture for God and often denotes the title or office of God. El was also the head of the Canaanites Pantheon, so it was a borrowed word. They had El; we have Elo—our God is greater than your god. Elohim bespeaks divinity, might, power and keeping ability. It is masculine in gender and always plural. Sometimes it means Jehovah, the real God; other times it means the false god. How do you know the difference?

When the context is singular with a plural Elohim, it is the true God. An example of this is found in Genesis 1:27: “So God created man in his own image.” So Elohim created man in his image. You have the plural Elohim with the singular word his. The plural with the singular is talking about the true God.

Another example is found in Genesis 1:29: “And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb.” Again Elohim plural with singular word I. Look at Deuteronomy 6:4: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord.” When you have a singular with a plural, you are talking about the true God.

When you have a plural with a plural, you are talking about a false god. It is the same word but a different god. God says, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me [Exodus 20:3].” No false gods before God.

There is but one true God. The mixed multitude in the desert thought that there were many gods. They had been seduced by 400 years of living in Egypt, over 200 of which they were in Egyptian bondage. But God would have them to know that there is only one true God and anything else is fiction or an idol. How dare we attempt to replace the real God with fiction.

The core meaning of the first Commandment is not to elevate to god status anyone or anything that can never really be God.

As bad as it is not to know God, it is arguably and grievously worse to know Him and live like He does not exist. Nothing comes before God. Nothing is more important than God. Not your money, your home, your job, your reputation, not your spouse or your family. Family is very important—next to God, but none of these temporal things can save you. Like jaundice—these things that replace God are symptoms of a deeper problem.

If your job is more important than Jehovah, you have a problem because the real issue is not your job and may lie somewhere else that is far more invasive and sinister.

The real demigod is not what we own; it is what we are. What you own is a symptom of what you are. Some say, “Tell me where a person spends his money and I will show you what he is.” Paul says, “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves.” II Timothy 3:1, 2. People are going to fall out of love with God and in love with themselves. God says that the prevailing sin of these last days, of the end times, the fertile garden from which so much misery grows, is the sin of self love. The problem we have is that we are so much in love with ourselves that we do not have room for God. We have replaced God with us.

Man’s god today is himself. What was alluded to in Timothy is stated emphatically in Romans 1:25: “Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator.” Heaven’s complaint is that those who were created for God’s glory have decided they don’t want Him anymore.

At the beginning of Christ’s mediatory work in the Holy of Holies in the days surrounding 1844, heaven stepped into high gear and so did Satan.

Just as God began to raise up young people like James White, 1821, and Ellen White, 1827, with strength, stamina and the Holy Spirit, Satan also raised up his champions, Karl Marx, 1818, and Fredrick Engels, 1820.

Charles Darwin in 1831, the same year that William Miller preached his first sermon, jumped aboard a ship called HMS Beagle. As an unpaid naturalist, he made amazing discoveries in the Galapagos Islands about 1,000 leagues west of the country of Ecuador. By the time he returned in 1836, he had convinced himself that mankind was the product of an evolutionary process that he called natural selection. Chance was in, God was out. He fine tuned his ideas for 23 years. Others bought into his theories and during the days of the Great Disappointment, October, 1844, Darwin was saying that God had nothing to do with creation.

By the time the first edition of the Origin of the Species came out in 1859, it sold out in one day. Five additional editions also sold out within days of their release. One doctor said, commenting on Darwin’s work, “He is the single most influential individual on planet earth in the last 250 years.” And it is no coincidence that Darwin came to the front about 1844. When Christ stepped up His ministry, Satan also stepped up his.

Another doctor stated, “With the publishing of the book, Origins, mankind had finally escaped from God.” Satan didn’t stop there. Karl Marx and Fredrick Engels collaborated on a book called The Communist Manifesto, released in 1848. The Communist Manifesto served as inspiration for countless 20th Century and 19th Century dictators and tyrants, including Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, Polpot and many others who got their theology from The Communist Manifesto. None of them had any value for human life. When you take God out of the picture, all you are left with is an animal in a world that asserts that daddy was a gorilla and mommy was a chimpanzee.

The Bible says, “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.” Psalm 53:1. There are scientists that will tell you that it takes more faith to believe in evolution than it does in creation. Dr. Mike Denton says that by the time Darwin’s last edition of Origins came off the press in 1872, even Darwin himself was plagued by self doubts because he was unable to meet the many objections to his own theories. By the end of his life, Charles Darwin wasn’t even buying what he was selling.

In 1844 one month after the great disappointment, Engels collaborated on another book called The Holy Family. There was nothing holy about it. The book was described as a sarcastic assault and revolt against the state, the family, religion and God Himself. Engels lived with a woman all of his life but he never married her. He refused to marry her. As an affront to God, he taught that marriage was unnatural, unethical and evil.

It was not a coincidence that these men came to the front about the end of the 2300 days because Satan knew his time was short. Now the whole world accepts a myth or theory as fact.

Science was the hook used to pull God from His throne and to replace Him with us. So a new ideology is born. Nobody buys that God is dead. The new theology simply is that God is unnecessary because we have science, art, medicine, college degrees and PhDs. We are not illiterate; we don’t live in tents, we live in houses and we rely on ourselves. God is just not necessary. “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.” Romans 1:22.

The most overused, underrated, bankrupt word in the English language is love. “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.” 1 John 4:8. The concept of love, like ethics and morality, has absolutely no meaning without God. You can talk about emotionalism and physical attraction, but if you are talking about real love you have to be talking about God. How curious it is that the further we move from God or stray from God in these last days, the more we tend to use words that substitute for God and the more we use terms that have their relevance and meaning only in God.

We tend to deify the terms and forget about God. We have made a god of love. I love my dog. I love my cat. I love my new clothes. I love my television. I love this summer. I love, I love, I love and if any of them get old and rusty I am turning them in on a new model. The concept of the word love itself has been adulterated. We talk about love, we read about love, we hear about love and sing about it, we sell love, we worship love. Ever searching, never finding, looking for love in all the wrong places.

You cannot purchase a $1,500 handbag or a $4,500 watch for a cool $25. Love in today’s world is little more than justification of self-indulgence.

God is love, but love is not God. The God of love, as much as He loves, says you cannot have any other gods before me, not even love itself. So man is latter day’s god. Love is his holy spirit and the logical, predictable end to that kind of ideology is evolution. When you put man at the top and take God off the throne, you are in for trouble. We see how twisted we can become when we leave out the pure gospel. I am my god and you are yours.

Have you heard of the story of the self-made man who worshipped his own god? He is absolutely pathetic, and of all men most miserable. If you are your own god, may I suggest to you that your god is too small. If you are your own god, one day you are going to run into something that your god can’t handle. If you are your own god, some days your god is going to be sick. If you are your own god, occasionally your god is going to have a day where he simply does not want to be bothered. If you are your own god, sooner or later your god is going to face a problem he can’t solve. If you are your own god and your god can’t keep you, can’t heal you, can’t help you, can’t cure you or comfort you or free you or constrain you or transform you—if your god can’t save you, then what in the world is your god going to do with me?

Theology aside, it just makes sense to serve the living God. If you reject God, all you are left with is you. When it comes to my salvation you are not good enough for me. The Lord said, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore in loving kindness I have drawn you.” Jeremiah 31:3. That is the God I want.

Look around. We have paid a heavy price for our arrogance. This year I heard on the news that nine fourth graders were arrested for plotting the murder of their teacher. It was so well organized that it shocked the community. When asked why, they said it was because she talked mean to one of them. The god of this world has replaced reason, sanity, morality, humility, kindness and sympathy. And terrorists, allegedly in the name of God, flew a plane into a 110 story building and we cry, where was God? He is right where you left Him.

He has not gone anywhere. He is right where you left Him. In the beginning God—He was there, and He is still there now. He says in Jeremiah 29:13, “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”

What are the ideologies of this world? They are contingency, temporality, relativity and autonomy.

Demi-god #1: Contingency

This suggests that everything that happens in this world is the result of cause and effect. You do something, you get a response so there is no need to ascribe any of the outcomes in my life to God. I do the work, I get the reward. In other words, 299 people apply for a job. I get the job, 298 did not get the job. It was not because God helped me; it was because I deserved the job. I worked for the job, I am better than the rest of them or just plain dumb luck. The bottom line—no God. The new god—man. Man controls his own destiny, not God.

Some Christians believe that they have to help God out. If I don’t do it, it won’t get done. Do you see how that pushes God to the side, takes Him off the throne and puts self on top?

Demi-god #2: Autonomy

This concept is, I determine who calls the shots in my life. I reserve the right to make my own decisions. The concept is that it is my life and I can do what I want. There is no need to seek or follow God for direction. If I want something I get it and I don’t need to ask God or anybody else about it. I don’t owe anything to anybody. An animal lover will leave five million dollars to his pet and leave nothing to feed starving children in Haiti who are eating mud patties. “I” determines what has value. Autonomy says I report to me. Bottom line—no God. New god—autonomy. I give meaning to my life and I don’t need God. God is unnecessary. Defacto god—man.

Demi-god #3: Relativity

This suggests the idea that absolutes are unintelligent and unreasonable. It insists that the idea that one size fits all, that there is one rule or one set of rules is stupid. In any situation you adjust the rules to fit the situation. That is relativity. I am different and you are different so the rules for each one of us must be different. Why would we ascribe to one set of rules? Bottom line, there is no God. New god—relativity. Defacto god—man.

Situational ethics says that what is right for me, is what is right. What is right for you is not right for me. What is right for me is not right for you. You determine what is right for you and I will determine what is right for me and this idea that there are ten rules that never alter or change, that is not right. That is relativity.

Demi-god #4: Temporality

This simply suggests that nothing lasts forever. Your car, house, your wife, your job, your religion—they are not going to last forever. They will all change. There are people today who expect things to change and even engineer change. My car is going to last so many years; I will have to get a new one. They don’t expect to be in the same place or relationship. The idea that some things can be unchangeable, the same yesterday, today and forever, is incomprehensible. Bottom line, there is no God. New god—change. Defacto god—man. If this marriage were to get rough, I am gone. It will never last, so why work at it.

Just imagine what a world we would have if we all could simply put all man-made gods away and put God first. The tall skyscrapers are built on a firm and deep foundation. The glory of all of the ten wonderful commandments, the constitutional reality of man’s existence, is foundation and revolves around the fact that In the beginning God (Genesis 1:1) and God desires and deserves no rival, for truly there is no god but God. There is none like Him.

God does not try to justify, explain or rationalize it. He simply says, In the beginning God. You have to accept that first page, that first chapter, that first line or else close the book because everything else in the book is based on In the beginning God. If you are going to live with Him and live for Him, then you can’t have anybody else in front of Him. God says, I am a jealous God (Exodus 20:5). God, God and only God.

“Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God. And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and shall come, let them show unto them. Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.” Isaiah 44:6–8.

Ellen White says, “We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us.” Christian Experience and Teachings of Ellen G. White, 1922, 204. If you cannot see the future, look back toward the past. You should be able to see a pattern of God inserting His hand into your life and bringing you from day one to today. You should be able to look and see where God kept you, directed you, instructed you. It is not an accident that you are here. God is in control of all life. There is no god but God.

Our God says, Don’t put anybody in front of me—not your children, not your sister, your husband or your wife. He is going to say to you, I knocked but you didn’t answer; you didn’t hear me over the sound of the television. I sent a letter, but you left it in the mailbox. I prayed for you, but you didn’t answer. Thou shall have no other gods because no one on this earth has a heaven to give you or a hell to keep you from. We owe our all to God and there is none other than God and one day very soon we are going to see Him face to blessed face.

Don’t let anything get between you and God. When you put your hand into His hand, nothing can take you out of His hand. He will take us home if we will but walk with Him.

Pastor C.A. Murray’s sermon was taken from the Ten Commandment Weekend, 2008 series aired on 3ABN. For more information contact www.3ABN.org.

Editorial – Separation And Loyalty

God’s work cannot be amalgamated with people or organizations who do not obey the law of God.

 

The results of disregarding inspired counsel on this point is plainly prophesied: “I raise my voice of warning against the mingling in our institutions, of the worldly element with those who believe…If in our institutions persons are placed in positions of trust, they are educators. Others are taught to look to these persons for instruction, and in this is a snare to the unwary; their ideas become confused in regard to righteousness and truth. They hear those persons who have no respect for the truth, sneer and speak disparagingly of the truth, which should be held firmly and sacredly as truth. When the day’s work on Friday should be planned with reference to the Sabbath of the Lord, there is Satan working with those children of disobedience to prolong the service into the sacred hours, and give their orders that those under their direction shall do work on the Sabbath, and then they exult and Satan triumphs. And when men in the highest responsible positions make no difference between those who serve God and those who serve him not, they evidence that their eyes are not single to the glory of God; therefore their whole body is full of darkness. When these men in authority have so mingled with the spirit of worldlings that the words of complaint from the lips of these unbelievers are gathered as verity and truth, they know not what spirit they are of. When they encourage this spirit, and complaints against the people of God, they evidence that they are working on the enemy’s side, to belittle and humiliate those whom the Lord loves, and that they strengthen the hands of the wicked, who are doing evil work. When they feel free to suffer the accusers of God’s children to plan for them against his chosen ones, they do not have Christ to plan with them.

 

“…If any workers in our institutions for health are murmured against…Go to those supposed to be in error, talk with them, not working with duplicity and hypocrisy, meeting them day by day with apparent friendship, and at the same time plotting against them in perfect unity with the satanic agencies at work to uproot, to tear down, to remove from the institution the ones the unbelieving element wants removed, while not a word is spoken with the brethren or sisters in the faith to redeem them, to heal them, if they are in error; and if they are not in the wrong, to vindicate the right, and put the rebuke where it belongs,—upon the plotters of an evil work, because Satan is behind the scene…The Lord hates all deception, secrecy, and guile. This Satan’s work; the work of God is open and frank…may the Lord bless his people with spiritual eyesight, to see that the children of God and the world can never be in copartnership…While every individual should work with Christ to transform the children of darkness, by showing them the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world, they cannot have overflowing sympathy with worldlings in such a degree that they lend them their influence to carry out their suggestions to weaken and do injustice to God’s chosen ones. God does not work in this way. In perfect and complete unity there is strength. Not in numbers, but in the perfect trust and unity with Christ, one can chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight. Let us not form unholy bonds of union, with the friends of the world; for God has pronounced his curse upon all such unions…Already we see the terrible consequences of uniting believers with unbelievers. The result is, the unbelievers are given the confidence that belongs to those only who love and revere God.

 

“Already has the power of darkness placed its mold and superscription upon the work that should stand forth, untainted, unpolluted, from Satan’s cunning devices. We lift our voice of warning upon the social attractions by worldly bids and worldly baits. Keep clear, Touch not the unclean thing. Let not the world’s direction and propositions be given to God’s people to control them. Woe be unto him whose wisdom is not from above but from beneath! Men of superficial piety, by their desire to receive patronage, to obtain fame, betray the most sacred interests into the hands of unbelievers. Let not money be obtained by touching or sanctioning any unclean practices. Let the grace of Christ be brought into the heart, and if the workers be few, and God can work with them in our institutions, they will prevail. There must be no deceiving power at work, for it is an unclean thing.” Special Testimonies Series A, 11-16.

Purified and Refined

I want to study with you one of the mysteries of the Bible—when God swears. The highest form of taking an oath or judicial swearing is when a man swears by God. He swears that God is his witness, and that what he is saying is the truth. There are many instances in the scriptures where holy men swore by God concerning an important issue. See Genesis 24:3, 2 Chronicles 36:13, Nehemiah 13:25, Psalms 15:4.

Although it is awesome when a human being takes an oath with God as his witness, it is much more awesome when the Creator of the heavens and the earth decides to say something under oath. That is He decides to swear that He will do a certain thing. When God swears He swears by Himself. See Jeremiah 22:5 and Exodus 32:13.

Anytime God swears something exceedingly important is being communicated, and especially important when it is recorded that God swore not to a human being, but to another member of the Godhead. I believe that anytime you find in the scripture that one member of the Godhead swore to another member of the Godhead, something exceedingly important is being communicated that is far beyond my human mind to comprehend. But I want to comprehend it as much as possible.

One of these times is recorded in Zechariah 6:12,13. Another is recorded in Psalm 110:4. And another one very similar, probably the same as is recorded in Zechariah 6:12,13, is recorded in Desire of Ages, 834, where it says: “Before the foundations of the earth were laid the Father and the Son had united in a covenant to redeem man if he should be overcome by Satan. They had clasped their hands in a solemn pledge that Christ should become the surety for the human race.” In the same way that you go to a court and swear that something is exactly the way you describe it, God the Father and God the Son made an official agreement with each other concerning the salvation of the human race.

I would like to look more closely at another time that God swore, from the latter part of the book of Daniel. This time God the Son swore something in the name of his Father.

In Daniel 10 we see Daniel having a vision. Notice what he says in verse 6: “I lifted my eyes and looked and behold a certain man clothed in linen whose waist was girded with gold of Uphaz. His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like torches of fire, his arms and feet like burnished bronze in color, and the sound of his words like the voice of a multitude.”

Who is this man that Daniel sees? Did you recognize this description as being similar to the descriptions of Jesus Christ in the book of Revelation? Ellen White says this in Sanctified Life, 49, 50, after she quotes Daniel 10:2–6: “This description is similar to that given by John when Christ was revealed to him upon the isle of Patmos. No less a personage than the Son of God appeared to Daniel.” So who was this? It was Jesus Christ.

Daniel received this great vision which describes and predicts what would happen from the time in which he received the vision, up until the time of the end, and even beyond. We read in Daniel 11:32–34, a description of the great Papal persecution. Notice what he says in verse 35: “And some of those of understanding shall fall, to refine them, purify them, and make them white, until the time of the end.”

This Papal persecution was to go on until the time of the end. This is not the end of time, but the time of the end—the last epochal period in earth’s history.

Daniel is told in Daniel 12:4: “Shut up the words and seal the book until the time of the end.” In the time of the end, the book is going to be unsealed, but until the time of the end, these prophecies were not going to be comprehended, especially the prophecy in regard to time.

Let’s look at this vision more deeply starting with Daniel 12:5, 6: “Then I, Daniel, looked. And there stood two others, one on this riverbank and the other on that riverbank. And one said to the man clothed in linen, [This is Jesus Christ, as we saw earlier] who was above the waters of the river, ‘How long shall the fulfillment of these wonders be?’ ” Now let’s stop right there for a moment. What wonders is he talking about? He’s talking about all that has been described in this vision that started clear back in chapter 10 and goes all the way through chapter 11. He wants to know how long it’s going to be until the time of the end?

Now if you were Daniel, wouldn’t you have wanted to know that? Yes, of course. This is an important enough question that the Son of God answered it by taking an oath. He answered this way: “Then I heard the man clothed in linen, [Jesus Christ] who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever, that it shall be for a time, times, and half a time, and when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered, all these things shall be finished.” Daniel 12:7.

Notice what Daniel then says in Daniel 12:8, 9: “Although I heard, I did not understand. Then I said, ‘My lord, what shall be the end of these things?’ And He said, ‘Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.’”

Daniel understood chapters 10 and 11, but he did not understand about the three and a half times or three and a half years. But this period of time was important enough in the plan of salvation and in working out the mystery of God that the Lord Jesus swore in the name of His Father.

If it is so important, then we need to understand this time period, the 1260 day prophecy. In the Jewish calendar, a month had 30 days, and a year had 12 months. So a year was 360 days. Figuring that up, then three and a half years would be 1260 days.

This 1260 day period of time is so important that it is mentioned over and over again in the books of Daniel and Revelation. It is even referred to by Jesus Christ himself in Matthew 24 and in Mark 13. Without this time period, many of the prophecies in Daniel and Revelation would be impossible to comprehend or interpret. It is extremely important!

To begin our study of Bible prophecy, we have to understand something about this period of time. We are going to go over a number of facts concerning the 1260 day prophecy.

First of all this prophecy is in prophetic time because it was to extend until the time of the end. It could not possibly be literal days.

This period of time is an anchor point. If you study everything in Bible prophecy about this period of time you cannot be led astray by people who say that this happened a long time ago, or that it is going to happen way in the future. This period of time anchors the events in Bible prophecy, and it forces only one type of interpretation of Bible prophecy, the historical interpretation. If you understand the 1260, you cannot be led astray by futurism or by any of these other interpretations of Bible prophecy.

We are now going to look at a number of prophecies in which this time period of 1260 years appears. The first is in Daniel 7:25. In Daniel 7, Daniel has been enumerating and explaining the characteristics of the little horn power which makes war against the people of God. He says: “He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time.” Daniel 7:25.

Notice, this little horn power is going to have the power to persecute for three and a half times or three and one half years which would be 1260 days or 1260 literal years. For that period of time, for over a thousand years, the little horn power is going to have the power to persecute the saints.

Another characteristic of the little horn power can be seen in the prophecy of Daniel 7. Daniel has been describing the four world empires in the beginning of the prophecy—Babylon was represented by a lion, Medo-Persia by a bear, Greece by a leopard, and the Pagan Roman Empire by a great and dreadful beast.

These are the four great empires of the world, and the Bible teaches all the way through the book of Daniel, that there is not going to be another world empire. It teaches that the fourth kingdom would be divided or broken up. This is exactly what it teaches in Daniel 7, where this dreadful beast has ten horns. Notice what it says in verse 8: “I was considering the horns, and there was another horn, a little one, coming up among them, before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots. And there, in this horn, were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking pompous words.”

What does a horn represent? It represents a king or a kingdom. Daniel 7:17, 24. So the Western Roman Empire was to be divided up into ten kingdoms. This happened between A.D. 351 and A.D. 476. The Bible also predicted that a little horn was to arise that would uproot three of these ten kingdoms.

This little horn power could not arise until the ten kingdoms were in place which was not until A.D. 476. It is interesting to note that the little horn power could not possibly be Antiochus Epiphanes, as many believe. He existed 600 years before that time.

Well, somebody says, how then do you understand this power applying to the Papacy, because it existed long before the sixth century, or long before A.D. 476? That is not hard to explain. What is a horn? A horn is a king, someone that has civil, governmental authority. The papacy existed before these ten horns existed, but it did not exist as a horn, it did not have a civil government.

In the days of the apostle Paul, the bishop of Rome did not have a kingdom. Caesar was the king, and anyone else who claimed to be king would be crucified. The apostle Paul talks about this very thing in 2 Thessalonians where he talks about the Papal power, the man of sin. Notice what he says in 2 Thessalonians 2:6: “And now you know what is restraining, that he (the Papacy) may be revealed in his own time.” What was then restraining? The Pagan Roman Empire. The papacy could not develop its real power until the Caesar was taken out of the way. You see, 2 Thessalonians 2 agrees perfectly with Daniel 7. The mystery of lawlessness already existed, the anti-christ power was already there, but Paul says he couldn’t really be revealed yet.

Even when the Roman Empire was divided up, and there were no more Ceasars, there was still someone who had civil authority in Rome. His name was Odoacer, and he ruled the kingdom of the Heruli, who were Arians. They controlled the whole country of Italy. No one could even be chosen as Pope without his permission. This power kept the papacy in check. The papacy was not the little horn power as long as Odoacer was in control.

Something had to be done to get Odoacer out of the way. So an alliance was made, and Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths came down with his army and he defeated Odoacer in A.D. 493. Actually though, that did not help very much, because Theodoric and the Ostrogoths were Arians too. The Pope still could not have his way, because he was still under the control of the Ostrogoth’s power right there in Rome.

One Down Two to Go

Now the Ostrogoths were in control. They had enemies in northern Africa, called the Vandals. These people built great ships and every year they would go to one of the court cities in the Roman Empire, and they would go through and loot the city, taking its wealth. One year they looted Rome. In fact they looted the city for 14 days and took all the wealth that they could find and many prisoners. Understandably this made the people in Rome very unhappy.

So we see that the papacy could never exert its power as long as the Vandals and the Ostrogoths were in control of Italy. Something had to be done. The papacy contacted Justinian, the head of the Eastern Roman Empire in Constantinople. They needed help and they got help. Justinian sent the armies of the Eastern Roman Empire and the Vandals were destroyed around A.D. 534.

There is still one kingdom left, and that was the Ostrogoths. They were driven from the city of Rome in A.D. 538 That was the earliest time that the papacy could exert civil power and authority and be called a little horn power.

Incidentally, that wasn’t permanent, the Ostrogoths came back. They were not driven out permanently until almost ten years later. But they were driven out for the first time in A.D. 538. And so that is the first time that the papacy can be called a horn power, called a little horn. It now had become the little horn that would persecute the saints for 1260 years.

From A.D. 538, if you extend the 1260 year period, you come to 1798. Many people around this time began to realize that something important was about to happen. One of those persons was John Wesley. A few decades before that, John Wesley was preaching the gospel, both in America and in England. He realized that something important was about to happen, and he wrote and taught that the time of papal persecution was about to end.

Persecuted and Broken

We have learned quite a bit about the 1260 year period from Daniel 7:25. We learned from Daniel 12:6, 7, that during this period of time, the power of the holy people would be broken or graphically translated, shattered, and destroyed.

Friends, this is the mystery that I cannot explain, and do not understand. Why would God allow His people to be persecuted, and broken? We won’t fully understand this until we get to heaven, but we have been given a few hints in the Spirit of Prophecy as to why and how God allowed this to happen. In Desire of Ages, in the chapter “It Is Finished,” Ellen White says that Satan was not then (at the cross) totally destroyed. She said, that both for the sake of angels and for men the devil must be allowed to live to more fully develop his principles so that both angels and men could understand what his character was like.

That is an incredible statement. The devil must be allowed to develop the true principles of his government, of his character. The 1260 year period of persecution was a period when that happened. The Bible says in Nahum 1:9, “What do you imagine against the Lord? affliction will not rise up the second time.” Why will affliction not rise up a second time? Because all humanity will have seen the consequence of sin, and it will be abhorrent to them.

We also cannot explain why it took so long. Daniel couldn’t understand it, neither could Adam and Eve. They thought that the Messaiah would come quickly. They didn’t realize it was going to take thousands of years. God knew that the people of past ages, could not bear to comprehend all of this, so He said, “The words are going to be sealed until the time of the end.”

Measuring the Temple

There is an amazing prophecy, which some people think is still in the future, which I would like to study with you. It is in Revelation 11. Notice, right in the middle of the prophecy, we are given some specifications. Revelation 11:1–3: “Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood, saying, ‘Rise and measure the temple of God.’ ”

What is the temple of God? Paul said over and over that it is the church. You can see that clearly if you study the following chapters: Ephesians 1, 2, 4 and 1 Corinthians 3, 6.

“Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there.” What altar is this? You remember Paul said in Hebrews 13:10: “We have an altar from which those who minister in the temple [that is in the earthly sanctuary] have no right to eat.” This is the altar of the New Covenant.

“But leave out the court.” In the New Covenant, where is the court? The court is this world, in the New Covenant. The altar was where the sacrifice was slain. Where was the sacrifice slain in the New Covenant? In this world. And then, after you come to the altar, before you come into the sanctuary, you come to the laver and the laver is where people are washed and purified.

Get this point: If you’re going to be purified at all, you must be purified in this world. You are not going to be taken up to heaven and be purified there, like some people think. If you’re ever going to be purified, you’re going to be purified right here. The laver is in the court. Don’t ever forget that. Only the pure will see God. Matthew 5:8. Only the sanctified, only the holy, will dwell in His presence. Hebrews 12:14.

You must be washed, you must be purified. “Everyone who has this hope in him must be purified even as He is pure.” 1 John 3:3. Friend, don’t let anyone talk you out of your birthright. Jesus died on the cross so that you could have eternal life, but He can not give it to you unless you are purified.

“Leave out the court which is outside the temple and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles.” Who are the Gentiles? It is not talking about Jews and Gentiles by blood, it is talking about spiritual Israel, versus those who are not part of spiritual Israel.

Who are these Gentiles? They are professed Christians. They are professed Jews. Remember, a curse is pronounced twice in Revelation against those who say that they are Jews but they are really not. That’s in Revelation 2:9 and 3:9. They are the Gentiles spoken of here.

“It has been given to the Gentiles. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months.” Here again you have the 1260 day period again. They will tread the holy city for forty-two months. What is the holy city? Oh friend, if you belong to Jesus, if you have given your heart to Him, your name is written down in a city already.

“They will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months.” This holy city is the church. The holy city is a representation of the church. They’ll tread it down, persecute it, for forty-two months.

Verse 3: “And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.” As I said already, this is a mystery. I cannot tell you why God determined that it was going to take this period of time in order for the whole universe to see the full development of the character of Satan.

This is the period of time also when the woman would have to flee into the wilderness for 1260 days, prophesied in Revelation 12. We cannot explain the mystery of the 1260, it’s one of the great mysteries of Bible prophecy.

Daniel was told something about this mystery in Daniel 12:9, 10. “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand.” None of the wicked shall understand these things that we are studying. But there will also be many people who despite the persecution and tribulation and the treading down of the city. They will be purified and made white and tried. Many people will have washed their garments in the blood of the Lamb.

It is a number that is so great that the Bible says it will be a number like the sands of the sea, like the stars of heaven. That number is not yet made up. God wants to use the young people of the present generation to help make up this number that will be as the sand of the sea and as the stars of heaven.

God wants to use you. Do you want to be a part of that group that will be purified and made white and tried? Do you want to receive an eternal inheritance, a birthright where there won’t be anymore tribulation or pain? Do you want to be part of that?

The End