heart

Health – A Merry Heart

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Your body was created for action, and each system of the body has a specific need to retain its health. The immune system is one of those internal systems that needs action to work properly.

Your immune system depends upon a good internal jog each day. How do you accomplish this? You laugh! Many of us have read or heard that a good, hearty laugh relieves physical tension and stress, leaving our muscles relaxed. Laughter decreases stress hormones and increases immune cells and infection-fighting antibodies, thus improving our resistance to disease. Laughter improves the function of blood vessels and increases blood flow.

“A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.” Proverbs 15:13.

“The relation that exists between the mind and the body is very intimate. When one is affected the other sympathizes. The condition of the mind affects the health to a far greater degree than many realize. Many of the diseases from which men suffer are the result of mental depression. Grief, anxiety, discontent, remorse, guilt, distrust, all tend to break down the life forces and to invite decay and death.” My Life Today, 151.

“A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.” Proverbs 17:22.

So often we seem to overlook the simple things in life that can help to preserve or restore our immune systems, including internal jogging. The following excerpt is taken from the book, The Owner’s Manual for The Brain, Everyday Applications from Mind-Brain Research, Second Edition, Pierce J. Howard, Ph.D., Bard Press, Austin, Texas, 170, 171.

“Norman Cousins is known as the founder of phychoneuroimmunology (PNI). Originally he called the concept of mentally influencing the immune system “hardiness.” One of the four critical ingredients of hardiness is positive emotions, which Cousins defines as maintaining a sense of humor and general joyfulness. He refers to laughter as “internal jogging.” Laughter is healthy. Laughter appears to be an especially important ingredient in recovering from life-threatening illnesses. Cousins found that even a few moments of laughter can reduce the sedimentation rate, which is a measure of inflammation. Specifically, according to research by Lee S. Berk, a professor at the Schools of Medicine and Public Health at Loma Linda University in California (APA Monitor, September 1997, p. 18), laughter results in:

  • Enhanced respiration
  • An increased number of immune cells
  • An increase in immune-cell proliferation
  • A decrease in cortisol
  • An increase in endorphins
  • An increase in salivary immunoglobulin type A concentrations

“Tests of problem-solving ability yield better results when they are preceded by laughter. Laughter has a way of turning off posterior hypothalamic activity and allowing the cerebral cortex to carry on stress-free activity. Cousins reports that ten minutes of laughter can provide a person who is in pain with at least two hours of good sleep.

“Michelle G. Newman, a psychologist at Pennsylvania State University, reports from her research that people can learn to use humor as a coping device and that this learned humor has marked effects. Ibid.

Even the world is realizing that what our minds are thinking upon affects our health and that a merry heart is needed for our health. The Christian knows where to find that merry heart.

“The condition of the mind affects the health of the physical system. If the mind is free and happy, from a consciousness of rightdoing and a sense of satisfaction in causing happiness to others, it creates a cheerfulness that will react upon the whole system, causing a freer circulation of the blood and a toning up of the entire body.” Counsels on Health, 28.

Let’s put on those garments of rejoicing as stated in the following:

“Sorrow comes and goes; it is the lot of man; we should not seek to magnify it, but rather dwell upon that which is bright and pleasant. When winter spreads its icy covering over the earth, we do not let our gladness freeze up with the flowers and brooks and continually mourn because of the dismal days and the chilling winds. On the other hand, we reach forward in imagination to the coming summer, with its warmth and life and beauty. Meanwhile we enjoy all the sunshine that comes to us, and find much comfort, in spite of the cold and snow, while we are waiting for nature to put on her fresh, bright garments of rejoicing.” In Heavenly Places, 274.

Don’t think upon the negative, but look forward to our heavenly home and let some of that internal jogging take place right here and now; have a merry heart that will help to preserve our immune systems and keep them in good working order so that heaven’s influence may touch others.

Keys to the Storehouse – Spot of a Hypocrite

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There are so many distractions to lead us from that quiet time with God. Many times when our prayer season begins, we are immediately disturbed by empty thoughts of the world which have nothing to do with our time with the Lord. Much quality time is lost when distractions of mind and heart are allowed to replace the time with God.

We are told to “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” Proverbs 4:23

Be concerned! A wandering uncontrolled heart can cause the loss of your soul and may cause the spot of a hypocrite to appear on your soul. How you respond to a wandering heart is a reflection of carefulness or carelessness and gives evidence of either sincerity or hypocrisy. You see, a hypocrite can perform a round of duties never regarding the condition of his heart or its wanderings. Never be satisfied with an empty round of duties, including prayer.

“Christians should be careful that they keep the heart with all diligence. They should cultivate a love for meditation, and cherish a spirit of devotion. Many seem to begrudge moments spent in meditation, and the searching of the Scriptures, and prayer, as though the time thus occupied was lost. … To keep your heart in Heaven, will give vigor to all your graces, and put life into all your duties. To discipline the mind to dwell upon heavenly things, will put life and earnestness into all our endeavors.” The Review and Herald, March 29, 1870.

“The noble powers of the mind have been given to us by the Lord, that we may employ them in contemplating heavenly things.” “Ellen G. White Comments,” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 3, 1145.

The first thing you need to do when you find your heart under the powers of distraction is to humble yourself before God right then and call for assistance from heaven.

  • Each wandering thought should bring sorrow to your heart.
  • Lift your voice to God and ask Him to forgive you and to help you.
  • Tell Him you came to spend time with Him, but all of these thoughts are bombarding you.

Never consider this a small matter when something takes you away from communing with God. Plead for the Lord to never let you leave His presence until your heart is one with Him.

Our prayer should always be, “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.” Psalm 19:14.

Father, I come to spend time with You. I am so sorry all of these thoughts are bombarding me; please forgive me. Lord, how can I claim the promise, “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength” (Isaiah 40:31) while these distractions will not let me wait peacefully in Thy presence? I would so enjoy this time of communion with You without any distractions of mind or heart. Grant me peace of mind and heart that I may sit with You in that secret place and find that fullness of joy in Thy presence. Amen.

Keys to the Storehouse – Knock! Knock! Knock!

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With all of the distractions that are drawing our attention, it is very hard for many to be aware that Somebody is knocking at the door. “Behold, I stand at the door and knock.” Revelation 3:20.

What are these knocks?

  • “Every warning, reproof, and entreaty in the word of God, or through his delegated messengers, is a knock at the door of the heart; it is the voice of Jesus, asking for entrance.” The Review and Herald, November 2, 1886.

What happens when you do not listen to these knocks?

  • “With every knock unheeded, your determination to open becomes weaker and weaker.
  • If the voice of Jesus is not heeded at once, it becomes confused in the mind with a multitude of other voices,
  • the world’s care and business engross the attention, and
  • conviction dies away.
  • The heart becomes less impressible, and
  • lapses into a perilous unconsciousness of the shortness of time, and of the great eternity beyond.” Ibid.

Are you listening to that knock?

“The heavenly Guest is standing at your door, while you are piling up obstructions to bar His entrance. Jesus is knocking through the prosperity He gives you. He loads you with blessings to test your fidelity, that they may flow out from you to others. Will you permit your selfishness to triumph? Will you squander God’s talents, and lose your soul through idolatrous love of the blessings He has given?” Ibid.

The last appeals are now being made by the knocking.

“Christ is making His last appeal to hearts. … how reluctant He is to give you up to separation from His love and presence forever! Still is heard the step of Him who waiteth at your door; His voice is yet pleading for entrance; but there is a point beyond which His forbearance will not reach. Shall the words be written over the doomed doorway,

  • ‘Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone’ (Hosea 4:17) …
  • He is joined to his idol of earthly treasure: let him alone?
  • He is joined to his idolatry of self: let him alone?” Ibid.

No time to loiter!

  • “You have no time to loiter, no time to consult your convenience. It is now, even now, that you are to be zealous and repent. Oh, it is peace that you need—Heaven’s forgiveness, peace, and love in the soul.
  • Money cannot buy it,
  • intellect cannot procure it,
  • wisdom cannot attain to it;
  • but Jesus offers it as a gift.

It is yours if you will but reach out your hand and grasp it. … We cannot be satisfied with a form of godliness. We must have the deep movings of the Spirit of God in the soul.” Ibid.

“Open your doors, says the great Merchantman, the possessor of spiritual riches, and transact your business with me. It is I, your Redeemer, who counsels you to buy of me.” Ibid., August 7, 1894.

Father: I thank You for showing me that every warning, reproof, and entreaty in Your word or through Your messengers is a knock at the door of my heart, that it is the voice of Jesus asking for entrance. I do not want to be joined to these idols. Please give me spiritual discernment so that I may hear Your knock and grant me the grace to remove all obstructions so that I may open the door to You. Amen.

Hard Hearts, part 1

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Have you ever been in a situation where somebody came to you with either scripture, or a statement from the writings of Ellen White with the sole purpose of trying to trap you and show you how wrong you were with this text of scripture or this quotation? What did you do? Often, persons are not looking for evidence because they have already made up their mind. If you give an answer, it seldom accomplishes anything.

Jesus dealt with this frequently, and most of the time He never gave an answer. However, there are a few times recorded in Scripture when He did. I am intrigued with the reasonings of men and how they were so sure they had the Lord trapped. “The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, ‘Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?’ ” Matthew 19:3. This question had been debated for a long time among Jewish leaders with a great difference of opinion. One school of thought taught that a man could divorce his wife instantly for anything he did not like, period. The other school of thought taught there ought to at least be some big reason before a man could divorce his wife. This was a popular debate question. Could you divorce your wife for any reason or could you not?

Because of your Hard Hearts

“And He answered and said to them, ‘Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female.’ ” That is singular, one man, and one woman. Could Adam divorce his wife? Not if he wanted to be married. Jesus continued, ” ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” Matthew 19:4-6. A human being is not to separate something which God has joined. The Jewish leaders thought they had Jesus trapped because they knew Deuteronomy 24. “They said to Him, ‘Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?’ He said to them, ‘Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.’ And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.” Matthew 19:7-9

Why were they allowed, under the old covenant, to divorce? Because of the hardness of their hearts. They were hard-hearted. No hard-hearted person is going to heaven. That is reality. If I am hard-hearted, something has to happen to my heart or I cannot go to heaven.

Why do people get divorced? Because they cannot get along. The same things that happen in our homes so that we cannot get along, happen in church. And sometimes groups of churches begin working together and then they cannot get along. Why is it? Is it because we are hard-hearted? When we go to heaven, we will not cross the street in the New Jerusalem to avoid meeting someone we could not get along with here in this earth.

We must gain victory, or we are not going to heaven, because there will be no hard-hearted people there. “The spirit that is cherished in the home is the spirit that will be manifested in the church.” Signs of the Times, July 1, 1892. Why can we not get along in church? Why can Historic Adventists not get along? Because we do not get along at home. When we know how to get along at home, we will know how to get along in the church.

We Must Be Cured

At a Bible training school on April 1, 1906, Ellen White said, “Oh how my heart trembles for us all. Unless the hard-heartedness is melted away by the grace of Christ we shall never know what heaven is. I am pained beyond measure when I see and feel the hard-hearted methods of dealing with the Lord’s heritage. I feel so ashamed in behalf of Christ as I see how little respect and reverence are shown toward the purchase of His blood.”

The Lord has promised, “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.” Ezekiel 36:25-27. A heart of stone is a heart that is hard. The Lord says, “I’m going to take that heart out of you and I’m going to put another heart in you, a heart of flesh.”

Before we look at the cure, we have to understand what the problem is and how we get the problem. So I want to ask the question, why and how are we so hard-hearted? It has been a problem with the human race for thousands of years. They had the problem in Moses’ time. Jesus said, That’s why God allowed you to divorce your wives. It wasn’t because He wanted you to do it. In Malachi 2:16, the Lord says, “He hates divorce.” But He allowed them to do it because they were hard-hearted.

Early Training

One of the primary reasons we become hard-hearted is because that is the way we grew up. As parents we have a tremendous obligation toward our children so that they do not grow up hard-hearted. The Lords messenger says, “We must let Christ into our hearts and homes if we would walk in the light. Home should be made all that the name implies. It should be a little heaven upon the earth, a place where the affections are cultivated instead of being studiously repressed. Our happiness depends upon this cultivation of love, sympathy, and polite courtesy to one another.” Review and Herald, June 22, 1886. Our happiness depends on the “cultivation of love, sympathy, and polite courtesy to one another.” Ibid.

Sympathy is entering into the feelings of another person. When my wife is happy, I am happy. If I discover that my wife is sad, I feel some sadness coming into my heart. “The reason why there are so many hard-hearted men and women in our world, is because true affection has been regarded as weakness, and has been discouraged and repressed.” Ibid. If you do not want your child to grow up hard-hearted, every day there should be expression of affection. Do not let the devil tell you there is anything weak about it or any reason that you should not do it. Your children should hear much more affection than they hear of reproof. Before you reprove one of your children ask yourself how many times you have expressed affection to them today. Be fearful to reprove if you have not expressed affection to them.

Affection can be expressed by actions. We need to acknowledge when others do something nice for us. Recently, my wife and I had a wedding anniversary. That day we were preparing to leave and were busy from early morning until late at night. We did not take any special time to ourselves. Something really nice happened. Our daughter had purchased gifts for both of us and we both deeply appreciated her expression of love.

Are members of your family doing nice things for each other and expressing affection? If not, your children may be growing up hard-hearted. What a tragedy. Ask the Lord to help you to never let another day go by without expressing affection to the people in your family several times a day. “The better part of the nature of those of this class was perverted and dwarfed in childhood; and unless rays of divine light can melt away their coldness and hard-hearted selfishness, the happiness of such is buried forever. If we would have tender hearts, such as Jesus had when he was upon the earth, and sanctified sympathy, such as the angels have for sinful mortals, we must cultivate the sympathies of childhood, which are simplicity itself. Then we shall be refined, elevated, and directed by heavenly principles.” Review and Herald, June 22, 1886

Children are tender in heart and they will stay tender in heart if we do not make them hard-hearted when they are growing up.

Good Friends

In the Bible is the example of a man who grew up tenderhearted, but as an adult he became hard-hearted. Solomon did not grow up in an ideal home. His father had killed Uriah the Hittite in order to marry his mother. After that time, David lost moral influence with his family, especially his children. He could not talk to his children about sin and tell them not to do it because they could immediately say, “Well, Dad, why did you do it?” There were a lot of things that he would have liked to have said and done which he could not. This is one of the reasons, if you are a parent, that it is so necessary to avoid sin. Young people, very quickly spot a double standard.

Solomon was tenderhearted when he first became the king of Israel but he became a hard-hearted tyrant. “He imperiled his soul’s interest by the formation of friendships with the Lord’s enemies. What carefulness should be exercised in the formation of friendship.” General Conference Bulletin, February 25, 1895. If you form friendships with people of this world who are unconverted, it will cause you to become hard in heart and it will destroy your very capacity for happiness. “What carefulness should be exercised in the formation of friendship. Companionship with the world will surely lower the standard of religious principle. Solomon’s heathen wives turned away his heart from God. His finer sensibilities were blunted.” Ibid.

Sensibility means you are sensitive to something. Enjoying music depends on sensitivity of the ears. Enjoying food depends on the sensitivity of the tongue. All pleasure depends on sensitivity and when you lose sensitivity, you lose the capacity for pleasure and happiness. That is one of the terrible things about sin and being hard-hearted. Solomon’s capacity for pleasure was decreased. Whenever you engage in sin, your capacity for pleasure and happiness is decreased. Not because God made some arbitrary decree. You are doing it yourself and you are hardening your heart and decreasing your capacity for happiness. When Solomon’s finer sensibilities were blunted he lost his sympathy for men and his love for God. The result was, “his conscience was seared and his rule became tyranny.” Ibid. We will become hard-hearted by forming friendships with worldly people.

Forgiving Each Other

The third way we become hard-hearted is because of our failure to forgive. Have you ever met somebody who is holding a grudge? Maybe somebody really did something bad or said something bad against them and maybe it was a long time ago, but they are still holding a grudge. Holding a grudge has a terrible effect on your heart.

“We must forgive those who trespass against us, if we would obtain pardon and grace when we approach the mercy-seat. Mercy and love must be cherished by all who would be followers of Jesus. When Peter asked, ‘Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?’ Jesus replied, ‘I do not say to you, up to seven times: but, up to seventy times seven. Matthew 18:21, 22. He then enforced the duty of forgiveness, by the parable of the two debtors. [Matthew 18:23-35] One was forgiven a debt of ten thousand talents, and then refused to show mercy to his fellow-servant who owed him a hundred pence. The pardon granted to that hard-hearted servant was revoked, and he was delivered to the tormentors.” Review and Herald, December 26, 1882. If we do not have the spirit of forgiveness, we are hardening our hearts. The worse that is said or done to you, the more necessary it is for you to forgive. If you do not forgive, and you keep holding that in, your heart is going to get hard.

All Bible references are from the New King James Version.

To be continued next month…

Keys to the Storehouse – I Yearn for the Day

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“Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.” Hebrews 1:9.

This most wonderful Scripture refers to Jesus, but I yearn for the day to see this character representation reflected in each of God’s professed people, including myself. One of my daily Scripture prayers is, “Let this mind be in me which is also in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 2:5 personalized.)

With the mind of Christ, we also will love righteousness and hate iniquity. That word, iniquity, is the same word as transgression found in I John 3:4, “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.” When we ask for the mind of Christ, we are asking that we may also love righteousness and hate the transgression of the law, hate sin. Jesus hated sin but He loved righteousness.

And, if you will notice one more thing in Hebrews 1:9, it was because Christ loved righteousness and hated iniquity (sin), God anointed Him with the oil of gladness. That oil of gladness was the Holy Spirit. This is a real incentive to receive Christ; we also will love righteousness and hate sin.

“ ‘As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name’ (John 1:12). His promise is that if we accept His invitation, we shall be anointed with the oil of gladness, which is emptied from the two anointed ones into the hearts prepared to receive it. Shall we claim the promise? Shall we not receive the anointing of the holy oil?” The Southern Watchman, June 11, 1903.

Do you want the mind of Christ? He is knocking at the entrance into your heart. Will you open the door and allow Jesus to enter and bar every means that Satan can use to break in? If those doors are not barred, you will never hear God say to you, “thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity,” and you will never be anointed with the oil of gladness. Oh, what a sad loss, all because of loving iniquity and hating righteousness! Oh, what a terrible thing the devil has done to those who allow him to turn them around backwards and away from their Saviour!

Father, Oh, how I want the mind of Christ so that I may love righteousness and hate sin! My desire is to be anointed with the oil of gladness and to walk always in heavenly places. I choose today to take control of all of my senses and close every door in my life that Satan may have cracked. I willingly open the door to my Saviour, to receive Him for my very own, and to accept His righteousness and hate sin in its many forms. Amen.

The Six-Question Test

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All of those who are chosen (Matthew 22:14) to enter the kingdom of heaven will be able to give the correct answer to each one of the following six questions that are found in order in Selected Messages, vol. 3, 419. Some of them can be answered with a simple yes or no.

These are questions or inquiries that Ellen White says each one of us should ask ourself.

1 To whom do I belong?

On the surface this appears to be an easy question for a Christian to answer, but delve a little deeper and the answer might be surprisingly different. Christians will always say that they belong to the Lord, but John says, “He who sins is of the devil.” I John 3:8. It matters not what we claim. If we continue to live in sin, the Bible says that we belong to the devil.

The devil has only one rule under his government—to break the law of God. He does not care which part is broken. Jesus had a controversy with the Jews on this very point. They claimed God as their father, but Jesus said, “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.” John 8:44. The character of the Jews mirrored the devil. Jesus pointed out two commandments that the devil broke from the beginning; he was a murderer and also he was a liar. As Jesus was speaking, the Jews were contemplating murdering Him. While telling lies about Him, accusing Him of casting out the evil spirits by the prince of spirits—Beelzebub—they took up stones to stone Him. This confrontation occurred right after the feeding of the five thousand when the whole area of Galilee, in addition to Judea, had turned against Christ. (See John 6.) False reports were spread about Him all over the country, and so much hatred was stirred up against Jesus that His life was in danger. Their actions proved that God was not their father, but they were of the devil.

Angels of God do not get into any argument with the devil over those who are living in sin, for the devil rightly claims them as his children. But praise God that probation has not closed yet, and these people caught in Satan’s web can still repent and choose to turn around and follow the Lord. However, those who continue in sin will develop a character like the devil.

“For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” I John 5:4. “We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him.” Verse 18. “Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his bother.” I John 3:9, 10. The evidence that proves who is a child of God and who is a child of the devil is the way a person lives.

“You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” I John 4:4–6.

2 To whom do I owe allegiance?

In Romans 6:15–23, it says, “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slave whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness, I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Notice, there are some people who are unconverted and slaves of sin and they will tell you they cannot overcome certain sins. That is true. They are slaves of sin. The Bible is very clear that we of ourselves cannot overcome unless the Lord works a divine miracle in our life. In Isaiah 43:27, we are told, “Your first father sinned.” So, because of that, we have a fallen, sinful nature and of ourselves we cannot give our allegiance to God, even though we owe it to Him. As it says, there was a time when you were perfectly free from righteousness, but you were slaves of sin. But now, when you become a Christian, you’ve become slaves of righteousness and set free from sin.

Jesus said, “Whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.” John 8:34. “A slave does not abide in the house forever [meaning eternal life], but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” Verses 35, 36. The work of the gospel is to set sinners free from their sins and then their allegiance would be given to the One who set them free.

3 Is my heart renewed?

Jesus referred to this subject when he had his secret meeting with Nicodemus. He said, “Unless one is born again,” or unless you are born from above, “he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3. Nicodemus could not figure that out and became sarcastic. He said, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Verse 4.

Jesus replied in stronger language, explaining it more clearly. He said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” Verse 5. To be born again is to have a renewal of the heart.

The born again experience is spoken of as a necessity for salvation in both the Old and New Testament. David, because of his adultery with Bathsheba and the consequent killing of her husband, Uriah the Hittite, and afraid that he had committed the unpardonable sin, pled with God to “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” He said, “Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.” Psalm 51:10, 11.

David wanted to be born again. He realized that his heart was wicked. To preach in prison to a rapist, or a person incarcerated for capital murder, those people do not question their need to be born again; they know that they are sinners. However, people who have not been involved in some criminal activity, comparing their spirituality against other people, are often inclined to say, “Well, I’m OK. I could improve a little, but I’m no worse than …”

The Bible says in Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; Who can know it?” The Hebrew word used there means incurable. The carnal heart is so bad that it cannot be cured without a divine miracle. A person with this wicked heart and a weak will and sinful mind cannot keep the law of God and live a righteous life. He cannot go to heaven in that condition. He must be born again and become a new creation. Paul said, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” II Corinthians 5:17. This is a very important question for each of us to ask of ourself, Have I been born again?

It’s not enough that my wife or husband has been born again, or my parents or my children, or anybody else. The question is, Have I been born again? We are not saved as groups; we are saved as individuals. Each individual must ask himself these questions: Am I born again? Has my heart been renewed? Say like David, “I need a new spirit, I need a new heart. Lord, create me anew.” He realized that he could not just make an improvement, but that he needed a new heart, a converted heart and a new spirit. He needed God to create in him something that he did not have. Conversion is being a new creation and not just an improvement of the old self. It is a new creation that happens by divine power and until that happens, Christianity doesn’t work.

Many people think it is too hard to be a Christian because it seems to them that there are so many things they can’t do. The carnal heart is in opposition to God’s ways, but with a new heart, the things they used to hate, they will now love, and what they used to love, they hate. Paul describes it this way: “You put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.” Ephesians 4:22–24.

Notice, he talks about a new spirit, a new man, a new person. Look at Romans 12:2: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Has your spirit, your mind been renewed? Titus 3:3–7 says, “We ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But when the kindness and the love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” The regeneration here mentioned means to bring something to life again. The question needs to be asked, Is my heart renewed?

4 Is my soul reformed?

It is not enough to stop after a revival. A revival has to do with the renewing of the heart, being born again, but reformation, which is a reforming or a changing of the life follows it. Reformation is to follow revival to be beneficial. In the book of Isaiah 1:16–18, it says, “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rebuke the oppressor; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow. [That could be translated, Go to court for the widow (people who are in trouble, like widows and orphans, need somebody to defend them before the law to see that they get what they need).] ‘Come now, and let us reason together,’ says the Lord. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.’ ”

Paul, in his letter to the Ephesian church, addresses having a reformation in their lives. He said, “Therefore, putting away lying, ‘Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,’ for we are members of one another. ‘Be angry and do no sin’: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil. Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.” Ephesians 4:25–29. He talks about forsaking all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, evil speaking, and malice, and then he says, in verse 32, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you.” It is not enough for the heart to be renewed; it must be followed by a reformation in the life to live with a Christlike character. Through the power of the Holy Spirit it is possible to live a new life, one that is Christlike, in harmony with the law of God. “That you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing.” I Thessalonians 4:12.

Reformation is essential, because the world at large is studying and watching how Christians live. One reason that evangelism is so powerless to bring people into the church today is because of how people perceive professed Christians. If they are not Christlike, they see a contradiction and have no attraction to the church. The world is watching!

When the Lord has a people who reflect the character of Christ, He will use them to finish His work in a very short time. In the upper room before Pentecost, there were only 120 faithful followers, and within 20 years there was a church right in Rome itself. Within approximately 25 years after that time, the apostle Paul said the gospel had been preached to every creature, all over the world. There were no airplanes, cars or trains, and the ships then did not have diesel engines to take them across the water at 30 miles-an-hour like we have today. There were no telephones, Internet or newspapers or the means of mass communication that we now have available. Besides that, the believers in the early church were poor, yet look at what they accomplished in 20 to 25 years—the gospel was taken to the whole world.

It will happen again, and next time it is going to happen a lot faster. The day of God’s preparation has been going on for 150 years plus. But when God has a people who are ready, it won’t take 20 or 25 years to finish the work. Ellen White says, “When divine power is combined with human effort, the work will spread like fire in the stubble.” Last Day Events, 207. In another place, she says, it will be fast, like the lightning going between the heavenly creatures that Ezekiel saw in his visions. But before that can happen, God has to have a people who have not only been renewed in their hearts, but their lives have been reformed to reflect the character of Jesus. As you study the life of Jesus, you will become like Him.

5 Have my sins been forgiven?

As Seventh-day Adventist Christians, we understand that salvation from sin is a two-step process. First, there is forgiveness of sin, then later on, as most people in the Protestant world don’t understand, there is the removal of sin.

“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Matthew 6:14, 15.

To many people this is one of the most awful texts in the Bible. Elder W. D. Frazee, a Seventh-day Adventist minister, used to tell a story about a family with whom he was studying that struggled with forgiveness. Their little daughter had been enticed into the woods where she was killed. The culprit was in the state prison, and they found it impossible to forgive him for his crime.

The problem is that you and I did not make the rules. Jesus said, “If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” The majority of people never have to deal with an experience anywhere near that bad, but to some people, this is one of the hardest texts in the Bible to apply, because it seems impossible to forgive some people for what they have done.

Notice the example of Jesus: “When they had come to a place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.’ And they divided His garments and cast lots.” Luke 23:33, 34.

The whole universe was watching this. Actually, it appears when you read the Greek texts, it is very possible that this was something Jesus said over and over again. “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

The desire to get even or take revenge on those who have done you wrong is the spirit of Satan. Those guilty persons who have harmed another must stand before the Lord and give an answer for what they have done. If they are going to be in the kingdom of heaven, they will have to have their sins forgiven and make restitution. Actually, their salvation is not your problem. Your problem is, can you forgive them? The promise of forgiveness to us is only as we forgive others. This principle is in the Lord’s prayer (Matthew 6:12). I know that this is one of the hardest things that any preacher has to deal with, situations where somebody has been wronged so terribly that he just has a natural desire to kill the one or ones causing the pain or to get even. In heaven, before the fall of man, Satan became jealous of Christ and decided that he had been wrongly treated. His spirit of revenge has been passed on to the inhabitants of this world. Once it gets a hold of your mind, eventually you will want to kill the person that has wronged you. The choice must be made either to continue in revenge or find forgiveness, leaving justice with the Lord who is righteous and will deal with it in His way and in His time. In Mark 11:25, we are told, “Whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.”

Peter came to Jesus asking how long he should forgive his brother, possibly seven times! Peter thought that he was being very generous, because the Pharisees taught that you should forgive only three times. Peter had learned that Jesus went way beyond anything the Pharisees did, so he thought he’d be really generous and suggest seven times. How shocked he was when Jesus replied not seven times, but seventy times seven!

Then Jesus told the story about the unforgiving servant who had been forgiven a large debt by the king, but did not offer the same grace to those who were indebted to him. “His master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.” Matthew 18:24–35. The way that the human mind works is that we either forgive the person, or eventually we will want to kill him. Our sins must be confessed and forsaken if we want them to be forgiven (Proverbs 28:13).

6 Will my sins be blotted out when the time of refreshing shall come?

It is not enough to have outward sins forgiven. Sin actually has to be taken away. This is a second step that has to happen before it is safe to allow a person into heaven. God is not just going to forgive the outward act of sins, but He will blot out the sins by cleansing the heart. Once a sin has been confessed and no unforgiveness is harbored against another, the sin is forgiven immediately. But the blotting out, or cleansing of sins, is a process that must take place before entering heaven where sin does not exist. David’s prayer in Psalm 51 referred to this. He said, “Lord, I want You to blot out, I want You to obliterate, take away my transgressions.” He realized that he was in such a bad shape, that he had something inside that had to be taken away and destroyed. That must be the heart cry of all who are waiting for Jesus to come and take them to His kingdom.

“Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.” Acts 3:19. Sins will be blotted out during the times of refreshing that occur just before the close of probation and the coming of the Lord.

I have reached the conclusion that no human being understands exactly what the blotting out of sins means, but whether you understand what it means or not, you can experience sanctification day by day as you receive power from above to overcome habitual sins. Daily studying the life of Christ and following His example you will discover that what you once loved you will now hate, and what you once hated, you will now love. Those whose sins are blotted out will be ready to receive the seal of the living God and enter into the New Jerusalem.

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New King James Version.)

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church of Free Seventh-day Adventists in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

If you Believe-Then Follow

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Many of the most famous people who have ever lived were not at all popular among their contemporaries during their lifetime. Abraham Lincoln received only forty percent of the popular vote in 1860. The apostle Paul was despised and considered a teacher of dangerous doctrines by both the pagans and the Jews. Even many Christians had an intense dislike for him.

Why were so many people in New Testament times, all over the Roman Empire, so upset with Paul and his teachings? Interestingly, one of the prominent reasons that many people, Jews and Christians alike, were upset with him was because of his teaching about how a person is saved. What he taught is recorded in his letter in Romans 4:1–5. He says, “What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.”

Paul clearly states that a man is not saved by his own works. Salvation comes through grace alone, through faith, and not by means of money or by any effort on his part.

In the early church there were leaders, as there have been in all ages since then, who asked what would motivate people to do what is right. Notice what Paul said about that in Ephesians 2:8, 9: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

Salvation comes as a free gift from God when you exercise faith in Jesus Christ. That is what the apostle Paul told the Philippian jailor in Acts 16 when he came and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved? So they said, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.’ ” Acts 16:30, 31.

Salvation is not complicated; it’s very simple.

If you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you will be saved. Sometimes people say that they believe in Jesus Christ but they really do not know what that demands. In the New Testament, the words “to believe,” or “to have faith” mean that you believe something strongly enough to make a commitment. To “believe” in Jesus Christ therefore means that you believe in Him to the extent that you acknowledge Him to be your Lord and act accordingly. Notice what Jesus said about that in Luke 6:46. Jesus asked the following question to the Jewish people. He said, “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do the things which I say?”

When you believe in Jesus Christ as the Lord of your life, you will choose to follow Him. At that time you will receive salvation as a gift of the grace of God. It will not be because of anything that you do or that you deserve. Over and over again the apostle Paul taught this in his letters. Notice what he said in Galatians 2:16 when speaking to a group of churches in what we call Turkey today that had gone into apostasy. He said, “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.”

Paul taught that salvation came through grace alone when faith is exercised and when you believe in Christ as your Lord and Saviour. There are millions of Christians, even today, that do not believe this. Notice what Paul wrote to a young minister in Titus 3:3–5. He said, “For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.”

He emphatically taught that you cannot be saved by going through any manner of religious rituals. The Jews tried that. Expanding on the writings of Moses they added all manner of religious rituals and customs. There were so many rules and regulations that it was almost impossible for anybody to keep them all. Paul wrote that nobody can be saved because he goes through a certain religious rite or exercise.

Some may believe that being baptized saves them. Baptism, like other religious rituals, is a symbolic act. If all you have is the symbol, but do not understand what is symbolized, then you do not have the reality. That was the problem with the Jewish religion. Every sacrificed animal was a symbol of the promised Messiah to come Who would offer His life for the sins of the world. Unfortunately, they lost sight of the reality and rejected the Messiah. They continued with the sacrificial services, even though once Christ had come they had lost their meaning. In Paul’s letter to the Hebrews, in the 10th chapter, he wrote that animal sacrifices cannot take away your sins or provide salvation (Hebrews 10:4). It is only the blood of Jesus Christ that can take away sins and enable us to enter by faith “the Holiest” (verse 19) where our sins are forgiven.

What about baptism and circumcision?

In Colossians 2:11 Paul addresses that. He wrote, “In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.” Circumcision and baptism are both symbols. Circumcision is a symbol of cutting away sin in your life. Baptism is a symbol of washing away the sins from your life. If you go through the symbol, but never have the experience that is symbolized, then you can have no assurance of salvation.

Notice 1 Corinthians 12:13, where Paul said, “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.” Here he talks about being baptized by the Holy Spirit. There will not be any person who is truly baptized with the Holy Spirit that will not be in the kingdom of heaven. But there will be millions of people who have been baptized with water that will not be in the kingdom of heaven because they merely had the symbol, but were never baptized by the Spirit. In fact, on the Day of Pentecost, it says in Acts 2:38: “Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’ ” The whole purpose of baptism was to receive the Holy Spirit.

Acts 19:2–6 records a time when Paul met some men who had been baptized by John but had not received the Holy Spirit: “He said to them, ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?’ And they said to him, ‘We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.’ And he said to them, ‘Into what then were you baptized?’ So they said, ‘Into John’s baptism.’ Then Paul said, ‘John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.’ When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.” A baptism of repentance is not enough. You need to receive the Holy Spirit. Have you received the Holy Spirit?

Baptism is a symbol of dying to the old life and rising to walk in newness of life. It is a symbol of being baptized by the Holy Spirit, receiving the new birth so that you have a new heart, a new spirit and a new mind. It was for this reason that many Jews and others did not like what the apostle taught because they wanted a religion where you had to do something to be saved. Paul taught the opposite: you cannot be saved by doing anything yourself. Salvation is a gift by grace through faith alone to all who believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and choose to follow Him. But this was not the only reason the people were unhappy with Paul.

The Futility of Pagan Religion

Throughout his letters and preaching he showed the worthlessness of pagan philosophy, which made the pagans very unhappy with him. He opposed the philosophers when he spoke to them in Athens, as recorded in the 17th book of Acts. It says, “Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, ‘Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.

“Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’

“Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising. Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead. And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, ‘We will hear you again on this matter.’ ” Acts 17:22–32.

He pointed out that the true God is the One that made the heavens and earth, that He is Lord of all of it, and that He is not worshiped by replacing Him with things that you can make. The pagans did not like this teaching of the apostle Paul because, as you can see in the 19th chapter of Acts, they realized that if the apostle Paul’s teachings were accepted, the income that they made from their idolatrous religion would end. They were loath to lose that money.

The apostle wrote about this again in Romans 1. He explained the worthlessness, the futility of pagan philosophy. Notice what he said: “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things.

“Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

“For this reason, God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.

“And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them.” Romans 1:20–32.

The pagans did not like Paul’s teachings because it revealed that their way of life was futile, worthless, and even worthy of death. He exposed the futility of pagan philosophy over and over again in his letters. The pagans were upset with him because he explained that their way of life was empty and did not lead to life everlasting or salvation, but was worthless because it rejected the wisdom of the Creator.

The Jews Reject Paul’s Teachings

Although there were many pagan people, idolatrous people, who were unhappy with the apostle Paul as is documented in the book of Acts, the people that caused him the most trouble were the Jews. Why were they so upset with what he taught? The Jews, who had the Old Testament, believed themselves to be the greatest religionists in the world. Yet they too hated Paul because he exposed their heresies. He said, “You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law? For ‘the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,’ as it is written. For circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law; but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? And will not the physically uncircumcised, if he fulfills the law, judge you who, even with your written code and circumcision, are a transgressor of the law? For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.” Romans 2:23–29.

Over and over again the apostle Paul dwelt on this matter. It is not whether or not you go through outward rituals, performing outward religious symbols, or keep certain religious observances that makes the difference. What makes the difference is whether or not you have been changed on the inside.

Jesus also reprimanded the Jewish people about this same experience. He said, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. … first clean the inside … that the outside of them may be clean also.” Matthew 23:25, 26.

Paul effectually told the Jews that all of their religion was worthless if it was just a matter of outward action and their hearts had not been changed. In Romans 9:6–8, he said, “But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, ‘In Isaac your seed shall be called.’ That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed.” The Jews considered that simply because they were Jews, they were assured of salvation, but Paul told them that they were mistaken and that some of them were not even part of Israel.

Notice that for a person to be part of spiritual Israel he must be born again. It is the inward spiritual experience that determines a man’s destiny. When the heart is changed, it will be seen in his actions, but trying to change the outside when the heart is corrupt will not result in any lasting change. This is the doctrine that Paul taught the Jews that the majority rejected. Religion must involve a change of heart and not just a change in outward appearances.

The ceremonies that were given to Moses to instruct the children of Israel, had their time and place, but once Christ had fulfilled His mission they had lost their purpose and became empty forms. In Galatians 6:15, Paul says, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation.”

Paul Teaches the New Birth Experience

Have you been born again? Has your heart been made new? Remember, a birth creates a new being. Jesus said to Nicodemus, “Most Assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” John 3:5. Have you allowed Jesus to create a new heart in you? If you have, you are a new person and what happens on the outside will reflect the new heart. You will hate the things you once loved and love the things that you once hated.

When you study the life of the apostle Paul, one of the most unbelievable things that stands out is that it was not only the pagans or the Jews who rejected his theology, but it was even many of the Christians who thought he was a teacher of dangerous doctrines. There are many Christians even today who do not understand that Paul clearly taught the importance of the new birth, even though it occurs in one form or another throughout his writings (see Ephesians 1:4, II Corinthians 7:1 and Colossians 3:1–3). Over and over again, the apostle taught that it was necessary to “follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.” Hebrews 12:14.

Paul taught that only those who were sanctified; in other words, only those who were living a holy life, would receive the gift of salvation. Now we are not holy, and we cannot make ourselves holy, for only God can make any person holy, but God has promised to make His children holy. He has promised His children that if they would follow Him, and follow His instructions, He would make them holy. That is what the new birth is about also, changing a person’s heart so that they live a different life. Paul says in Romans 7 that the law is holy, just and good (verse 12). The person who is a holy person will be keeping the principles of the law, the Ten Commandments.

Friend, do you have that essential ingredient to obtain the gift of salvation? Has the Holy Spirit made you new? Has the Holy Spirit given you a new heart? Are you living a new life because you have been made clean and holy on the inside? If not, ask the Lord to give it to you, so that you may be changed inside, and be made ready to receive the gift of salvation and eternal life when Jesus returns.

“And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.” Matthew 21:22.

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New King James Version.)

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church of Free Seventh-day Adventists in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

Inspiration – My Son, Give Me Thy Heart

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The heart belongs to Jesus. He has paid an infinite price for the soul; and He intercedes before the Father as our Mediator, pleading not as a petitioner, but as a conqueror who would claim that which is His own. He is able to save to the uttermost, for He ever lives to make intercession for us (Hebrews 7:25). A young heart is a precious offering, the most valuable gift that can be presented to God. All that you are, all the ability you possess, comes from God a sacred trust, to be rendered back to Him again in a willing, holy offering. You cannot give to God anything that He has not first given you. Therefore when the heart is given to God, it is giving to Him a gift which He has purchased, and is His own.

There are many claimants to the time, the affections, and the strength, of youth. Satan claims the youth as his property, and a vast number render to him all the ability, all the talent, they possess. The world claims the heart; but that heart belongs to the One Who redeemed it. If given to the world, it will be filled with care, sorrow, and disappointed hopes; it will become impure and corrupted. It would be the worst kind of robbery to give to the world your heart’s affections and service, for they belong to God. You cannot with profit give your heart to pleasure-seeking. The enemy of righteousness has every kind of pleasure prepared for youth in all conditions of life; and they are not presented alone in crowded cities, but in every spot inhabited by human beings. Satan loves to secure the youth in his ranks as soldiers. The arch fiend well knows with what material he has to deal; and he has displayed his infernal wisdom in devising customs and pleasures for the youth which will separate their affections from Jesus Christ. The various amusements of society have been the ruin of thousands and tens of thousands who, had it not been for these attractions, would have been obedient children, respectful to their parents, upright, pure, and noble in their pursuits and in their character. In order to break away from the fascinations of pleasure, they will have to make a desperate effort. They will have to arise in all their strength, taking hold by faith of the Divine power in their efforts to be Christ’s only.

The lesson of the prodigal is given for the instruction of youth. In his life of pleasure and sinful indulgence, he expends his portion of the inheritance in riotous living. He is friendless, and in a strange country; clad in rags, hungry, longing even for the refuse fed to the swine. His last hope is to return, penitent and humbled, to his father’s house, where he is welcomed, forgiven, and taken back to a father’s heart (see Luke 15:11–32). Many youth are doing as he did, living a careless, pleasure-loving, spendthrift life, forsaking the fountain of living waters, the fountain of true pleasure, and hewing out to themselves broken cisterns, which can hold no water.

God’s invitation comes to each youth, “My son, give Me thine heart; I will keep it pure; I will satisfy its longings with true happiness.” God loves to make the youth happy, and that is why He would have them give their hearts into His keeping, that all the God-given faculties of the being may be kept in a vigorous, healthful condition. They are holding God’s gift of life. He makes the heart beat; He gives strength to every faculty. Pure enjoyment will not debase one of God’s gifts. We sin against our own bodies, and sin against God, when seeking pleasures which separate our affections from God. The youth are to consider that they are placed in the world on trial, to see whether they have characters that will fit them to live with angels.

When your associates urge you into paths of vice and folly, and all around you are tempting you to forget God, to destroy the capabilities God has intrusted to you, and to debase all that is noble in your nature, resist them. Remember that you are the Lord’s property, bought with a price, the suffering and agony of the Son of God. [Emphasis author’s.]

God says, “My son, give Me thy heart” (Proverbs 23:26). Will you refuse Him that which you cannot give with merit because it is His already—that which you cannot refuse without ruin to your own soul? He asks your heart; give it to Him, it is His own. He asks your intellect; give it to Him, it is His own, lent you in trust. He asks your money; it is His own, give it to Him. “Ye are not your own; ye are bought with a price” (I Corinthians 6:19, 20).

The Lord Jesus claims your service. He loves you. If you doubt His love, look to Calvary. The light reflected from the cross shows you the magnitude of that love which no tongue can tell. “He that keepeth My commandments, he it is that loveth Me” (John 14:21). We are to become acquainted by diligent study with the commandments of God; and then show that we are His obedient sons and daughters.

The mercies of God surround you every moment; and it would be profitable for you to consider how and whence your blessings come every day. Let the precious blessings of God awaken gratitude in you. You cannot number the blessings of God, the constant loving-kindness expressed to you, for they are as numerous as the refreshing drops of rain. Clouds of mercy are hanging over you, and ready to drop upon you. If you will appreciate the valuable gift of salvation, you will be sensible of daily refreshment, of the protection and love of Jesus; you will be guided in the way of peace.

Look upon the glorious things of God in nature, and let your heart go out in gratitude to the Giver. There is in nature’s book profitable study for the mind. Be not thankless and reckless. Open the eyes of your understanding; see the beautiful harmony in the laws of God in nature, and be awed, and reverence your Creator, the supreme Ruler of heaven and earth. See Him, by the eye of faith, bending over you in love, saying with compassion, “My son, my daughter, give Me thy heart.” Make the surrender to Jesus, and then with grateful hearts you can say, “I know that my Redeemer liveth” (Job 19:25). Your faith in Jesus will give strength to every purpose, consistency to the character. All your happiness, peace, joy, and success in this life are dependent upon genuine, trusting faith in God. This faith will prompt true obedience to the commandments of God. Your knowledge and faith in God is the strongest restraint from every evil practice, and the motive to all good. Believe in Jesus as One Who pardons your sins, One Who wants you to be happy in the mansions He has gone to prepare for you. He wants you to live in His presence; to have eternal life and a crown of glory.

The Youth’s Instructor, January 5, 1887.

Lessons from the Heart

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“I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind,

Even to give every man according to his ways,

According to the fruit of his doings.”

Jeremiah 17:10

Inspired writings have much to say about the heart of man. A study of the heart in both the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy will yield a deeper understanding of the natural heart, the behaviors that the natural heart provokes, and how to overcome the temptations to which the natural heart is inclined to yield. The purpose of this article is to give a brief overview of the vast amount of information that Inspired writings provide concerning the natural heart to stimulate in seekers of truth a desire to study for themselves the workings of the heart and to know how God changes the natural cold stony heart into a heart of flesh that throbs with the love of Christ.

Two of the most common Scriptures that quickly come to mind when considering what the Bible says about the heart are Genesis 6:5, 6 and Jeremiah 17:9.

“Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.” Genesis 6:5, 6. (Emphasis added.)

Ponder how these two verses reveal the sharp contrast between the natural heart of man and the wise and omniscient heart of our Lord.

The second Scripture that commonly comes to mind is Jeremiah 17:9.

“The heart is deceitful above all things,

And desperately wicked;

Who can know it?”

Fortunately, Scripture not only shows us the evil and deceitfulness of the natural heart, but it also gives us precious texts that promise us a way out of this condition. One of the most powerful is in Ezekiel 36:26, 27. “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.”

Who, claiming this promise, can be disheartened?

Inspiration gives us a fairly succinct assessment of the natural heart in The Acts of the Apostles, page 273: “The refining influence of the grace of God changes the natural disposition of man. Heaven would not be desirable to the carnal-minded; their natural, unsanctified hearts would feel no attraction toward that pure and holy place, and if it were possible for them to enter, they would find there nothing congenial. The propensities that control the natural heart must be subdued by the grace of Christ before fallen man is fitted to enter heaven and enjoy the society of the pure, holy angels. When man dies to sin and is quickened to new life in Christ, divine love fills his heart; his understanding is sanctified; he drinks from an inexhaustible fountain of joy and knowledge, and the light of an eternal day shines upon his path, for with him continually is the Light of life.”

Not only do Inspired writings give us hope for a new heart, they also provide examples of—and therefore warnings against—the actions of a deceitful heart.

In the book of Esther, we are given an example of the deceitfulness of the natural heart. It is a familiar story and one that the Jews even to this day take particular delight in reviewing each year during Purim. The climax of the story is in chapter 6.

“That night the king could not sleep. So one was commanded to bring the book of the records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king. And it was found written that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, the doorkeepers who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus.

“Then the king said, ‘What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?’

“And the king’s servants who attended him said, ‘Nothing has been done for him.’

“So the king said, ‘Who is in the court?’

“Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king’s palace to suggest that the king hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him. The king’s servants said to him, ‘Haman is there, standing in the court.’

“And the king said, ‘Let him come in.’

“So Haman came in, and the king asked him, ‘What shall be done for the man whom the king delights to honor?’ Now Haman thought in his heart, ‘Whom would the king delight to honor more than me?’

“And Haman answered the king, ‘For the man whom the king delights to honor, let a royal robe be brought which the king has worn, and a horse on which the king has ridden, which has a royal crest placed on its head. Then let this robe and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king’s most noble princes, that he may array the man whom the king delights to honor. Then parade him on horseback through the city square, and proclaim before him: “Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!” ’

“Then the king said to Haman, ‘Hurry, take the robe and the horse, as you have suggested, and do so for Mordecai the Jew who sits within the king’s gate! Leave nothing undone of all that you have spoken’ (Esther 6:1–10).”

Haman had convinced himself that he was worthy of royal honor, only to discover that he had been self-deceived.

Christ gave another example of the potential actions of a deceitful heart when He was invited to a meal at a Pharisee’s home one Sabbath and He saw how, as the guests arrived, each sought the best place to sit. He gave divine instruction to those who were invited. The story is in Luke 14:8–11.

“When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him; and he who invited you and him come and say to you, ‘Give place to this man,’ and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, go up higher.’ Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Christ was reminding the Pharisees of the words that the Holy Spirit had moved upon Solomon to write in Proverbs 25:6, 7.

“Do not exalt yourself in the presence of the king,

And do not stand in the place of the great;

For it is better that he say to you,

‘Come up here,’

Than that you should be put lower in the presence of the prince,

Whom your eyes have seen.”

It is likely that Solomon had seen just this kind of behavior in his own court when he had invited guests to dine with him.

In addition to the example we read in Esther about Haman, there are other examples in Scripture of people “thinking” in their hearts. In common language today, we would say, “saying to himself” or “thinking to himself.”

One example is given in Genesis 24:45, when Abraham’s oldest servant went to Laban to find a wife for Isaac.

“But before I had finished speaking in my heart, there was Rebekah, coming out with her pitcher on her shoulder; and she went down to the well and drew water. And I said to her, ‘Please let me drink.’ ”

But perhaps the most familiar example of one thinking to himself is in Nehemiah 2:1-5, when Nehemiah stood despondently before King Artaxerxes.

“And it came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, that I took the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had never been sad in his presence before. Therefore the king said to me, ‘Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing but sorrow of heart.’

“So I became dreadfully afraid, and said to the king, ‘May the king live forever! Why should my face not be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire?’

“Then the king said to me, ‘What do you request?’ So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said to the king, ‘If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.’ ” (Emphasis added.)

Sister White refers to praying under these kinds of circumstances as darting a prayer to heaven. Probably each of us has more than one memory of having darted a prayer to heaven in times of trial. It is a wonderful comfort to know that we have an all-knowing, omnipresent God who hears and answers sincere prayers offered from a sincere heart.

Scripture also alludes to the heart as the condition of the human mind. Look for an example in Exodus 23:9: “Also you shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the heart of a stranger, because you were strangers in the land of Egypt.”

The principle that God is impressing upon Moses here is that we should be compassionate toward and understanding of others. Remember the trials and tribulations you have experienced and have compassion on others when they are in similar situations.

Another bit of light about the condition of a man’s heart is provided in 1 Samuel when the Lord had instructed Samuel to examine Jesse’s offspring to select a king to replace Saul, after Saul had proven himself unworthy of the office. When Samuel saw Eliab, whom he thought surely to be the Lord’s anointed, the Lord responded, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” I Samuel 16:7.

What a lesson this incident provides for us. How often do we judge from outward appearance, only to realize when the fruit reveals the true condition of the heart that our initial assessment was incorrect.

The obvious question that arises from our study of the actions of the natural heart is, How can we overcome the natural tendencies and have that heart promised us in Ezekiel 36? Consider the request of Solomon:

“At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, ‘Ask! What shall I give you?’

“And Solomon said: ‘You have shown great mercy to Your servant David my father, because he walked before You in truth, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with You; You have continued this great kindness for him, and You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. Now, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king instead of my father David, but I am a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. And Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a great people, too numerous to be numbered or counted. Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?’ ” I Kings 3:5–9.

James may have been reflecting on this story when he wrote in his epistle, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, Who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” James 1:5.

Perhaps the most wonderful encouragement we are given, though, came from the lips of Christ Himself, on the night of His betrayal: “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27.

Can we not conclude from this brief overview that through prayer, such as Nehemiah’s or Solomon’s, and by exercising faith, as Christ commanded to His disciples, that we can have that heart of flesh and persevere against the fiery darts of the enemy of souls under all circumstances? Such is my prayer daily. May it be yours as well.

NJKV unless otherwise noted.

John Pearson is the office manager and a board member of Steps to Life. After retiring as chief financial officer for the Grand Canyon Association, Grand Canyon, Arizona, he moved to Wichita, Kansas, to join the Steps to Life team. He may be contacted by email at: johnpearson@stepstolife.org.

Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled

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“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”

These words of Jesus recorded in John 14:1–3 were spoken by the Savior at the last supper. He had washed the feet of the disciples. He had given them the bread and the wine and He was speaking with them there round the table. He had spoken of His going to the Father. The disciples were troubled that there should be any thought of separation. Although He had told them about the cross which was just ahead, they had no idea that before another sun should set, Jesus would be hanging on the tree.

There, gathered in the upper room, they heard this wonderful assurance of Jesus, these wonderful words of comfort. It is significant that the Savior was thinking not of His own suffering and sorrow but was reaching out in the endeavor to comfort these who were so near and dear to Him. “Let not your heart be troubled,” He said, “ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”

As we meditate on this beautiful passage, let us drink in, first of all, the precious assurance that He wants to be with us; He wants us to be with Him. That’s the whole purpose of the entire plan of salvation, to get man and God together. This is why the gospel condemns sin and points to the remedy for sin. Sin is an intruder; sin is a troublemaker; sin is what is responsible for the separation. Your iniquities have separated between you and your God (Isaiah 59:2). And the reason God hates sin is that sin has brought separation between those that God loves and God.

If you love somebody, you want to be with them very much. Jesus loves us very, very much and He wants us to be with Him; He wants to be with us. So He says, I’m going to the Father’s house to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself, in order that, where I am, there ye may be also.

What is the purpose of the second coming reunion? To unite God with His people. That’s why all heaven is soon to come to this planet; that’s why Jesus is going to bring the angels with Him and send them all over this world to gather the resurrected saints and the translated together to meet the Lord in the air. Then all will enter the pearly gates and enter in to rejoice in that fellowship, that wonderful association, with Jesus and with the good and blessed of all ages. “I will come again” (John 14:3). Sweet promise, wonderful assurance. Jesus is coming again.

But thank God for the reason that He’s coming – He’s coming for us, you and for me.

“Jesus, my Savior, shall come from on high,

Sweet is the promise as weary years fly;

O, I shall see Him descending the sky,

Coming for me, for me!” Seeking for Me, author unknown, 1878.

Yes, it’s for me that He is coming, as if I were the only one. He thinks I am valuable enough that He would make the whole trip just to get me. Isn’t it nice to be worth that much to Heaven? You are, my friend, whether you know it or not. Whether it’s ever dawned upon your soul or whether you’ve reveled in it for years, you are worth that much to Heaven. You are worth that much to Jesus. That’s why He paid redemption’s price.

He does not desire us to be in uncertainty and fear during the interval between His first coming and His second coming. “Let not your heart be troubled,” He says. “Ye believe in God, believe also in Me.” Is it really true that believing in Him we need not be troubled; is that really true? That’s what He is saying. Does He tell the truth? Oh, yes, for in the sixth verse He says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”

Man is feeble, utterly lacking in what it takes to help us, and by the same token, lacking in what it takes to hinder us or hurt us. Man is powerless to lift us up and man is powerless to knock us down if we are abiding in Christ. We want to note especially the security, the comfort, the help and courage that come from looking unto Jesus. “Let not your heart be troubled,” He said, “ye believe in God, believe also in Me.”

I love that wonderful hymn, “Jesus, I my cross have taken, All to leave and follow Thee.” There is a stanza tucked away in the body of the hymn: “Man may trouble and distress me, ’Twill but drive me to Thy breast. Life with trials sore may press me; Heaven will bring me sweeter rest. Oh, ’tis not in grief to harm me If Thy love be left to me; Oh, ’twere not in joy to charm me, If that love be hid from me.” Jesus I My Cross Have Taken, Henry F. Lyte, 1824. Yes, friends, “man may trouble and distress me, ’twill but drive me to His breast.” The utter inability of man to meet our needs draws us and drives us to the Fountainhead of help and courage and strength and blessing, even Jesus Himself. So He says, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me.”

In the closing conflict of the great controversy, those who are standing for God will find every earthly support cut off, but we need not despair as we look forward to that. As David says, “Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident. One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple. For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion: in the secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me; He shall set me up upon a rock. And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me” (Psalm 27:3–6). How nice it will be to hear David sing some of his own original compositions, accompanying himself on the harp as he used to do there at Bethlehem. Thank God that now we can learn those Psalms of faith and hope and trust and courage that direct our eyes from men with their frailties and failings to God, Who doeth all things well.

Let us think of why it makes sense to trust in God. He says, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me.” In the first place, friends, God always knows the answer. God always knows the answer. Things are expensive today but one of the most expensive commodities on the market is good advice. No matter how much a man can earn working with his muscles, the highest fees are still paid for good counsel, solid sense, and advice. Too bad so much of it is misspent; too bad so much of the confidence is misplaced. Now what a wonderful thing it is to find in Jesus a Counselor Who never makes a mistake, Who knows everything in all dimensions. He was from all eternity. He will be to all eternity. He knows everything that ever happened. He knows everything that’s ever going to happen. There is nothing hid from Him.

How ardently men are maneuvering to get certain information in Washington today. Well, the Lord knows all about it and did before they ever started squabbling about it. The Lord knows what the stock market is going to be next week, what the war news is going to be. He knows how you are put together personally. He knows what makes you happy better than you do. He knows your future. Yes, God is infinite in wisdom. How wonderful to have an audience with the One Who knows all things. But that is only the beginning of the wonder. He not only knows everything—He has all power. Sometimes people are strong in good advice but they lack what it takes to implement their counsel, but God is not short there. He is all mighty. He is omnipotent.

What do those expressions mean? They mean that there is nothing impossible with God. He has demonstrated that thousands of times – from Creation right on through to today. God spoke, and the Red Sea rolled back, and Israel went through on dry land. God spoke and the walls of Jericho fell down with no human hands touching them. God spoke and the dead were raised in the days of Elijah and Elisha and then in the ministry of Jesus here on earth. God spoke and blind eyes were opened, deaf ears unstopped, the lame went like deer leaping over the earth. Oh, friends, God is not only wise, He is also powerful. God can do more than heal sick bodies; He can relieve weary hearts. He can heal the sick soul. He can bring forgiveness to sin. He can take away the guilt. He can do anything. He is all wise, He is all powerful. But beyond His wisdom and His power is His love.

There are people who have money that you and I might sometimes desire in order to solve some problem that we think money could solve. However, if the people who have the money are not interested in helping us, what good does it do us? What good does it accomplish? Not a bit. But Jesus has demonstrated that all the resources of the universe are available to help those He loves—and He loves you. Thus there is nothing kept back, nothing in reserve that you cannot have that you need.

Now let’s put that together. Infinite wisdom, infinite power, infinite love – all harnessed to the one task of helping you with every problem, filling every need. Isn’t that wonderful? Well, somebody says, I wish I could believe it. Of course, if you can’t believe it, it’s hard to get any good out of it, isn’t it? That’s why our text says, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me.” As Jesus said to the two blind men who approached Him, “According to your faith be it unto you” (Matthew 9:29), and so my dear friends, infinite possibilities are for you and me if the hand of faith reaches up to the hand of love that’s stretched out to help us. Infinite possibilities, wonderful blessings – according to your faith be it unto you. Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me.

What does it mean to believe in the sense that Jesus is speaking of here? This expression is oft repeated by John, who wrote these words. We remember those immortal words in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Notice that God’s love has been poured out and everyone who believes in Him will not perish but instead have everlasting life. It all hinges on believing. Not only our present peace but our eternal salvation is dependent on believing.

John 1:12: “But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.” [Emphasis added.] Who gets the power? Those who believe on His name. Now this is also spoken of here as receiving Him. “As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.” [Emphasis added.] Those who receive Him believe Him. Those who believe Him receive Him. Again it says in John 5:24: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” [Emphasis added.] Jesus says that passing from death to life depends upon two things: hearing and believing.

This agrees with what we read in John 1:12: “As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.” Jesus was speaking to a multitude of people when these words were given. Among them, some believed and some did not. Jesus said that those who believed were entering into life, and those who did not were in condemnation. It is possible for me to make a decision which places me either on the side of belief or on the side of unbelief.

God has given to every one of us the ability to choose – not only what we will do but what we will believe. We can either believe God and enter into His promises or we can disbelieve Him and go the way of rebellion. Think of Adam and Eve back in the Garden of Eden. God made them perfect, but He gave them the power of choice. He instructed them concerning obedience and for some time they cooperated with their Creator. But the third chapter of Genesis tells us the story of Eve’s listening to Satan, speaking through a serpent. Sad to say, she chose to believe the serpent instead of believing God.

Her unbelief in what God said led her to do what the serpent said. Unbelief always precedes an outward transgression. Whenever we do anything that is contrary to the law of God, it is because something has happened in our mind in which we’ve lost some of that precious faith, that belief in what Jesus says. Eve lost it listening to the serpent. You and I can lose it in the same way. Faith comes by listening to the word of God. “He that heareth My word and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life.” Unbelief comes by turning from what Jesus says and listening to what the enemy says.

Consider this: If the person who is strongest in faith, the most experienced Christian, spends next week listening to the serpent instead of Jesus, he will lose some of the faith He has and begin to believe the devil’s lies. On the other hand, if the weakest person, the one that has the least faith, who finds it hardest to believe, if he will shut his ears to the voices of sin in this world and open his heart to the word of God and listen to Jesus speaking, faith will grow in his soul. He will become more and more conscious of what a joyful thing it is to trust in Christ for salvation, full and free.

The choice is yours. You can decide. We become what we behold. We are affected by what we listen to. “He that heareth My words,” Jesus says, “and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation.”

Let’s examine Romans 10:17: “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Faith is just the opposite of unbelief. As unbelief comes by listening to the serpent, faith comes by hearing the word of God. Do you want more faith? Then listen more to the Word. Not only are you to hear His word, but you are to believe. Put your will on the side of faith and action. This is the way we all began to learn.

Jesus said, “Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3). You know how little children learn. Dad and Mother say to the little one, “See this star?” And what does the little one lisp? “Star, star.” How did you learn that was a star out there in the sky? Somebody you loved and trusted told you and you repeated it. Think of the alphabet. How do you know that A is A? Somebody you loved and trusted pointed to a certain symbol and said, “A” and you said, “A.” And so it was with B and C. Oh, that God may help us to be that simple in our faith and our attitude toward Jesus. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater.

It has been said that there are some things that we do not believe unless we can understand them, but there are other things that we cannot understand unless we believe them. Ponder that. One of the great problems with the skeptic, the scoffer, the infidel, the higher critic, the modernist is this: He does not know how truth is received into the inner sanctuary of the soul. He supposes that by argument he can arrive at an understanding of truth. He supposes that spiritual things can be comprehended by the same tools that are used in solving a mathematical equation. But all the mathematics in this world will not make plain to anybody the taste of a watermelon or a peach, will it? Never. So David says, “Taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8).

So we are dealing with the experiential, and if, without arguing when God says something, we open our minds and hearts to His assurance, we can grow in faith; we can understand by believing first instead of waiting to believe until we understand. I repeat, this is the way most of us have learned most of what we know in life. It is also the law of progress in the spiritual experience. “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me.” He wants that little band of disciples gathered around the table in that upper room to be at peace, especially in light of what is soon to transpire.

Turn again to John the 16th chapter. This is part of the same message that Jesus was giving to the disciples in chapter 14. “These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). When Jesus spoke these words, He was even then in the shadow of the cross. Yet He looked beyond. He saw the triumph and He longed for the courage of it, the cheer of it, the hope of it to grip every heart. “Be of good cheer, He says, I have overcome the world.” He speaks of His victory as already accomplished. By faith He knows that He will plant the banner on the eternal heights and He wants His friends to share with Him in that hope. Are you sharing it? He invites you to turn aside from the temptations of Satan and pay no attention to them. He invites you to turn aside, turn away from men who have no power to lift you and who cannot hinder you if you will stand with Jesus. He wants you to abide with Him.

Jesus says, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me.” You know whether you are resting in Jesus or not. I cannot read your heart. But if you are resting in Jesus, are you not thankful for it?

“Under His wings, oh, what precious enjoyment!

There will I hide till life’s trials are o’er.

Sheltered, protected, no evil can harm me,

Resting in Jesus, I’m safe evermore.” Under His Wings, William O. Cushing, 1896.

Do you mean that safely resting in Jesus works, even if committees don’t vote right things? Do you mean it works, even if some government agency doesn’t understand? Do you mean that holds true even if there is sickness or lack of money? It is always true provided we believe—and we can choose to believe.

If you are resting in Jesus, thank Him for it. If you are thinking that you would give anything if you could have what I have described, realize that you cannot buy it with money. It will take everything you have. That rich young ruler who came to Jesus needed just what we are studying. He saw Jesus bless the little children and he thought, Oh I wish I could get blessed too. But when Jesus, responding to his question, What lack I yet? said, you lack just one thing – sell everything you have and give it away and come take up the cross and follow Me, He went away sorrowful (see John 19:13–23). He kept his possessions and his sorrow. Sin, selfishness, gets in the way. There is no way to have peace and hang on to self and sin. No way. We cannot buy it with money, but we can open our hearts to receive it if we just surrender fully to Jesus and then trust Him. If you need that peace, I invite you to find it in the Saviour.

Elder W.D. Frazee studied the Medical Missionary Course at the College of Medical Evangelists in Loma Linda, California. He was called to Utah as a gospel medical evangelist. During the Great Depression, when the church could not afford to hire any assistants, Elder Frazee began inviting professionals to join him as volunteers. This began a faith ministry that would become the foundation for the establishment of the Wildwood Medical Missionary Institute in 1942. He believed that each person is unique, specially designed by the Lord, of infinite value, and has a special place and mission in this world which only he can fill. His life followed this principle and he encouraged others to do the same.