Law

Question & Answer – What formed the beast and its image?

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Apostasy. “When the early church became corrupted by departing from the simplicity of the gospel and accepting heathen rites and customs, she lost the Spirit and power of God; and in order to control the consciences of the people, she sought the support of the secular power. The result was the papacy, a church that controlled the power of the state and employed it to further her own ends, especially for the punishment of ‘heresy.’ In order for the United States to form an image of the beast, the religious power must so control the civil government that the authority of the state will also be employed by the church to accomplish her own ends. …

“It was apostasy that led the early church to seek the aid of the civil government, and this prepared the way for the development of the papacy—the beast. Said Paul: ‘There’ shall ‘come a falling away, … and that man of sin be revealed’ (2 Thessalonians 2:3). So apostasy in the church will prepare the way for the image to the beast.

“The Bible declares that before the coming of the Lord there will exist a state of religious declension similar to that in the first centuries.” The Great Controversy, 443, 444.

“After the warning against the worship of the beast and his image the prophecy declares: ‘Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus’ (Revelation 14:12). Since those who keep God’s commandments are thus placed in contrast with those that worship the beast and his image and receive his mark, it follows that the keeping of God’s law, on the one hand, and its violation, on the other, will make the distinction between the worshipers of God and the worshipers of the beast.

“The special characteristic of the beast, and therefore of his image, is the breaking of God’s commandments. Says Daniel, of the little horn, the papacy: ‘He shall think to change times and the law’ (Daniel 7:25 R.V.). And Paul styled the same power the ‘man of sin’ (2 Thessalonians 2:3), who was to exalt himself above God. One prophecy is a complement of the other. Only by changing God’s law could the papacy exalt itself above God; whoever should understandingly keep the law as thus changed would be giving supreme honor to that power by which the change was made.” Ibid.

Editorial – When God Questions Man

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When God asks man a question, that man is required to answer. When God asked Adam in the garden of Eden “Where are you” (Genesis 3:9), Adam had to tell the Lord where he was. When God gave Job a science test (Job 38 and 39), Job said, “I am insignificant, what can I reply to you? I lay my hand on my mouth” (Job 40:3, 4, literal translation). After the Lord had finished speaking to Job, he said, “I repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:6). But in the future the Lord is going to ask all of us to give an account to Him (Romans 14:12).

“The only question asked in the judgment will be, ‘Have they been obedient to My commandments?’ ” Gospel Workers, 315.

“Christ would have all understand that the end of all things is at hand, that the solemn scenes of the final judgment are soon to take place. In that great day, those whose characters the Judge of all the earth can vindicate will stand before the world glorified and honored. …

“The whole world will then receive sentence. Of all the question will be asked, ‘Have you diligently studied the word of God that you might know the will of God, that you might be enabled to understand the difference between sin and righteousness?’ Sad will be the fate of those who would not come to Christ that they might be cleansed from all unrighteousness. Then sinners see the character of God as it is. And they see, too, the sinfulness of the sins that have drawn souls away from Christ, and placed them under the banner of rebellion, to war against Him who gave His life for them.

“Because Christ was one with the Father, equal with Him, He could make an atonement for transgression, and save man—not in his sins, but from his sins. Those who have despised His grace will see what they have lost by treating with contempt the One who humbled Himself to stand at the head of humanity. They hear the words of condemnation, ‘Depart from Me. By your example you have caused many to err. You have led them astray from the commandments in obedience to which they would have found eternal life.’ ” The Upward Look, 272.

Inspired: “Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, ‘Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name? and in Your name have cast out devils? and in Your name done many wonderful works?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you: depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness’ ” (Matthew 7:22, 23, literal translation).

Types and Shadows

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On May 6,1875, Ellen White published in the Review and Herald an article entitled “The Law of God.” In this article she gave attention to all of the rules and regulations that God (or Christ) gave to Israel through Moses. She divided these rules and regulations into three classes or categories, not only two, as we might have expected. She emphasized that although some are commonly called the Law of Moses, that “Moses himself framed no law,” and that they were all actually given by God (or Christ). She uses the terms God and Christ interchangeably, but emphasizes that Christ was deeply involved in the law-giving experience at Sinai: “Christ was the angel appointed of God to go before Moses in the wilderness, conducting the Israelites in their travels to the land of Canaan. Christ gave Moses his special directions to be given to Israel.”After having stated that Christ, the Angel whom God had appointed to go before His chosen people, gave to Moses statutes and requirements necessary to a living religion and to govern the people of God, she quotes 1 Corinthians 10:1-4, and continues:”Christ, who went before Moses in the wilderness, made the principles of morality and religion more clear by particular precepts….”What are the three kinds of laws, according to her arrangement of them? Two, as we might expect, are the moral law and the ceremonial law. She introduces the moral law, the Ten Commandments, in the first two paragraphs of her article and makes several comments on it later.

Putting these comments together, we can make a list of 10 characteristics which she ascribes to the moral law:

  • It dates back to creation. [Emphasis supplied]
  • It points back to creation.
  • It was worded to meet the case of fallen intelligences.
  • It was repeated at Sinai, where it was spoken and written by God Himself.
  • It is as unchangeable as God Himself.
  • It is based on love to God and love to man.
  • It is binding upon all men in every dispensation.
  • It will exist through time and eternity.
  • It is not a shadow.
  • It is as enduring as the throne of Jehovah.

This agrees with all that we have understood about the moral law, the Ten Commandments, and so we move on.

Next she introduces the ceremonial law and points out that it is “clear and distinct” from the moral law. From her various comments on the ceremonial law, we can also gather a list of its characteristics as she saw them:

  • It was given by Christ in counsel with God.
  • It was glorious
  • It was given because of man’s transgression of the moral law and did not exist from eternity like the moral law.
  • It “consisted in sacrifices and offerings, pointing to the future redemption.”
  • The sacrifices and offerings typified Christ.
  • She calls it a law of types.
  • She calls it the law of Moses.
  • She calls it the Jewish law.
  • She calls it “shadowy types” and “a shadowy ceremony of types.”
  • She emphasizes strongly that it lasted only to the sacrifice of Christ. Thus unlike the moral law, it had an earthly beginning and an earthly ending.

This, again, agrees with what we have understood. Agreement would probably be without exception among Seventh-day Adventists about these descriptions of the moral law and the ceremonial law.

But what of the third kind of law that she describes? Here, unfortunately, our agreement is not full and complete, without exceptions.

What is the third kind of law that she describes? She calls it statutes and judgments, and also sometimes includes it in the more general term, precepts. Let us make a list of the characteristics of these statutes and judgments as she describes them:

  • Christ gave them to Moses.
  • They were not the Ten Commandments, the moral law, but were given to guard it. “These statutes were explicitly given to the Ten Commandments.” “…guarding the sacred law of God….” [All emphasis supplied.] (They could not be part of the moral law if they were given to guard it.)
  • They were not part of the ceremonial law. “They were not shadowy types to pass away with the death of Christ.”
  • They were to govern the people of God.
  • They were to govern the everyday life.
  • They were for the purpose of protecting life.
  • They made the principles of morality and religion more clear.
  • They specify the duty of man to God and to his fellowman.
  • They clearly and definitely explained the moral law and were enforced by it.
  • They define and simplify the principles of the moral law.
  • They increase religious knowledge.
  • They applied to marriage.
  • They applied to inheritances.
  • They applied to strict justice in business affairs
  • They were to keep the people from following the customs of other nations.
  • They were to be binding upon all men in all ages as long as time should last

These are the statutes and judgments. She tells us that they are not part of the moral law nor yet part of the ceremonial law. They have an explaining, applying and enforcing relationship to the moral law, but apparently no relationship at all with the ceremonial law. They are not shadowy types, to end at the cross, but will retain their validity as long as time shall last.

Where did she find these statutes and judgments? In Exodus 21:1 and on to 23:11, right after the Ten Commandments in chapter 20.

“Now these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them.” Exodus 21:1 (Compare Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-6, “statues and judgments.”)

Exodus Chapter 21
(Numbers indicate verse where sections begin.)

  • Laws for men servants.
  • For women servants.
  • 12. For manslaughter.
  • 16. For stealers of men.
  • 17. For cursers of parents.
  • 18. For smiters.
  • 22. For a hurt by chance.
  • 23. For an ox that goreth.
  • 33. For him that is an occasion of harm.

Exodus Chapter 22:

  • Of theft
  • Of damage
  • Of trespasses
  • 14. Of borrowing
  • Of fornication
  • Of witchcraft
  • Of bestiality
  • Of idolatry
  • Of strangers, widows, orphans
  • 25. Of usury
  • 26. Of pledges
  • 28. Of reverence to magistrates

Exodus Chapter 23:

  • Of slander and false witness
  • 3. Of justice
  • Of charitableness

Beginning with verse 12, the topic shifts back to the sabbaths, feasts and related things. These do not typify anything. They are not types and shadows. These statutes sometimes fall short of New Testament ideals, but are far in advance of other nations of that time. For example, the “man-servant” (or slave) in other nations had no rights. He could be killed by his master. Under Hebrew law a “man-servant” (or slave):

  • Could not serve longer than six years—then he was free.
  • Was still “Thy brother.” Deuteronomy 15:12
  • Was not to go away empty. Deuteronomy 15:13-14
  • In the year of Jubilee, all went free regardless of term of service.

We must look for the principles of these statutes. We could make some modern comparisons. For example, Ellen White recommends that young girls should be taught how to harness horses. In our time she would say, no doubt, they should be taught how to change a tire on a car. We do not have an ox to gore someone, but what about our dog, horse, or car? The principle of not letting them do damage to someone else still applies. These, of course, are not found in the ceremonial law.

Ellen White writes that these are not “shadowy types.” As we look them over, we recognize that this is true. There is nothing about them that points forward to the sacrifice of Christ, as the types and shadows do.

Now we come to a crucial question. We have seen several statements that define the types and shadows as sacrifices and offerings and affirm that they ended at the cross of Christ, when “type met antitype.” But what about the days upon which these sacrifices and offerings were celebrated? They are called sabbaths. Should we still honor and observe them as holy days, sabbath days, even though we do not make sacrifices?

Perhaps we can find the answer in two ways. According to Colossians 2:14-17, which Ellen White refers to in her discussions, the ceremonial sabbaths are shadows, just as the sacrifices are shadows:

“Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.”

Clearly then, according to Paul, the days are shadows. Second, we remember that the same law that establishes the sacrifices also establishes the days, and the law, the ceremonial law, is done away. This is the message of Colossians 2:14-17 and of Ephesians 2:11-15. It is also the message of many references in Ellen White’s writings.

“There are two distinct laws brought to view. One is the law of types and shadows, which reached to the time of Christ, and ceased when type met antitype in His death.” Signs of the Times, July 29, 1886

“The Jewish ceremonial law has passed away.” Review and Herald, October 10, 1899

“If Adam had not transgressed the law of God, the ceremonial law would never have been instituted.” Selected Messages, book 1, 230

“While the Saviour’s death brought to an end the law of types and shadows, it did not in the least detract from the obligation of the moral law.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 365

“When Jesus at His ascension entered by his own blood into the heavenly sanctuary to shed upon His disciples the blessings of His mediation, the Jews were left in total darkness to continue their useless sacrifices and offerings. The ministration of types and shadows had ceased.” The Great Controversy, 430

“His lessons to His disciples are received by all who would become His disciples, to the end of time. These lessons discharge His followers from the bondage of the ceremonial law, and leave them the ordinance of baptism to be received by repentance and faith in Jesus Christ as the only One who can take away sin.” Review and Herald, June 21, 1898

“When type met antitype in the death of Christ, the sacrificial offerings ceased. The ceremonial law was done away.” Review and Herald, June 26, 1900

“After Christ died on the cross as a sin offering, the ceremonial law could nave no force.” Lift Him Up, 147

“Peter here referred to the law of ceremonies, which was made null and void by the crucifixion of Christ.” The Acts of the Apostles, 194

“Many in the Christian world also have a veil before their eyes and heart. They do not see to the end of that which was done away. They do not see that it was only the ceremonial law which was abrogated at the death of Christ.” Selected Messages, book 1, 239

“This ritual law, with its sacrifices and ordinances, was to be performed by the Hebrews until type met antitype in the death of Christ, the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. Then all the sacrificial offerings were to cease. It is this law that Christ ‘took…out of the way, nailing it to His cross.’ Colossians 2:14.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 365

“But there is a law which was abolished, which Christ ‘took out of the way, nailing it to His cross.’ Paul calls it the ‘the law of commandments contained in ordinances.’ This ceremonial law, given by God through Moses, with its sacrifices and ordinances, was to be binding upon the Hebrews until type met antitype in the death of Christ as the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world. Then all the sacrificial offerings and services were to be abolished. Paul and the other apostles labored to show this, and resolutely withstood those Judaizing teachers who declared that Christians should observe the ceremonial law.” Signs of the Times, September 4, 1884

There would seem to be no reason for doubt that the ceremonial law is passed away, according to Ellen White. If we put together the various expressions that she used to describe its passing, we are left with no doubts. She writes that the ceremonial law of types and shadows is ended, ceased, has no force, has passed away, is null and void, is abrogated, was nailed to the cross and has been abolished.

It would seem strange to believe that although she argued so forcefully that the ceremonial law had passed away, nevertheless the feast days, the ceremonial sabbaths, that were established by that law yet remain. Such a position would need to be sustained by very strong evidence, since it would contradict Paul’s statement that these sabbaths are “shadows” (Colossians 2:17). And those who advance this proposition should also present a clear explanation as to why Ellen White did not lead the church to observe the feast days while she was alive.

But no such strong evidence is offered. Instead, we are led to Ellen White’s May 6, 1875 article on “The Law of God,” and in particular this paragraph:

“In consequence of continual transgression, the moral law was repeated in awful grandeur from Sinai. Christ gave to Moses religious precepts, which were to govern the every-day life. These statues were explicitly given to guard the Ten Commandments. They were not shadowy types to pass away with the death of Christ. They were to be binding upon man in every age as long as time should last. These commands were enforced by the power of the moral law, and they clearly and definitely explained that law.”

We are asked to believe that the words “these statues” in this paragraph are a reference to the feast days of the ceremonial law. This would seem to be a grievous misunderstanding of the intention of the writer.

Our first question would be: How could these words enforce the feast days of the ceremonial law without enforcing the sacrifices of the ceremonial law? Second, why should we ignore her statement that these statutes are not “shadowy types to pass away with the death of Christ?” Third, why should we ignore her own definitions and descriptions of the statutes and judgments?

There are five passages in Ellen White’s article in which she discusses the statutes and judgments. Let us place them all together and examine them.

“The statutes and judgments specifying the duty of man to his fellow-men, were full of important instruction, defining and simplifying the principles of the moral law, for the purpose of increasing religious knowledge, and of preserving God’s chosen people distinct and separate from idolatrous nations.

“The statutes concerning marriage, inheritance, and strict justice in dealing with one another, were peculiar and contrary to the customs and manners of other nations, and were designed of God to keep his people separate from other nations. The necessity of this to preserve the people of God from becoming like the nations who had not the love and fear of God, is the same in this corrupt age, when the transgression of God’s law prevails and idolatry exists to a fearful extent. If ancient Israel needed such security, we need it more, to keep us from being utterly confounded with the transgressors of God’s law. The hearts of men are so prone to depart from God that there is a necessity for restraint and discipline.

“In consequence of continual transgression, the moral law was repeated in awful grandeur from Sinai. Christ gave to Moses religious precepts which were to govern the everyday life. These statutes were explicitly given to guard the Ten Commandments. They were not shadowy types to pass away with the death of Christ. They were to be binding upon man in every age as long as time should last. These commands were enforced by the power of the moral law, and they clearly and definitely explained that law.

“Christ, the Angel whom God had appointed to go before his chosen people, gave to Moses statutes and requirements necessary to a living religion and to govern the people of God.

“God graciously spoke his law and wrote it with his own finger on stone, making a solemn covenant with his people at Sinai. God acknowledged them as His peculiar treasure above all people upon the earth. Christ, who went before Moses in the wilderness, made the principles of morality and religion more clear by particular precepts, specifying the duty of man to God and his fellow-men, for the purpose of protecting life, and guarding the sacred law of God, that it should not be entirely forgotten in the midst of an apostate world.

“Christ, to enforce the will of His Father, became the author of the statutes and precepts given through Moses to the people of God.”

A relationship between the “statutes and judgments” and the moral law is stated eight times. No relationship to the ceremonial law is suggested.

All the way through this discussion she relates the statutes and judgments to the moral law and never to the ceremonial law. Their purpose is made so clear as to require no comment. And let us note in her last paragraph a reference to the mistaken practices of the Jewish people.

“They attach as much importance to shadowy ceremonies of types which have met their antitype, as they do to the law of Ten Commandments….”

When we remember that the Jewish people honor the feast days but make no sacrifices, we are forced to the conclusion that these feast days are the “shadowy ceremonies of types” to which she is referring.

Let us heed the appeal of Paul in Galatians 5:1: “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”

The End

Who are the Brethren?

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For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” Romans 1:16

I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and I hope that it is the same with you. If, however, we are going to really understand the gospel, we need to do as the Bereans did. The Bereans “were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” Acts 17:11

It used to be that Adventists were known as people of the Bible, but those days are past. No longer are we studying as we once did, and in the place of spiritual food, we are being fed pabulum. As a result, we are being blown to and fro by every wind of doctrine that comes along. Paul told Timothy: Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed—[What?]—rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15

I believe there are several scriptures that are misunderstood in Adventism today. One of the most misunderstood and misapplied passages of Scripture is the one found in Matthew 13 dealing with the wheat and the tares. This parable has been so twisted in Adventism that people today believe they are to accept any abominable thing that comes into the church. They look at you with a pious face and say; “Oh, we can’t say anything about it. Don’t you know about the ‘wheat and the tares’? The wheat and the tares grow up until the time of the harvest, and the time of the harvest is the end of the world—the Second Coming.”

So, are all of these abominations that are going on, to continue until the very end; and are we to do nothing about it? Are we to just sit back and piously say: “It’s the wheat and the tares”? Nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus told the parable of the wheat and the tares in Matthew 13:24-30, but he then went on to explain it to His disciples in verses 36-43.

Many times Jesus had to explain His words to His disciples because they could not understand their meaning. They had been so misled by the religious leaders—brain washed, if you please, that their minds seemed incapable of expanding. They had listened to a perversion of truth for so long, from those blind leaders, that they could not understand these simple truths. So, once again, Jesus privately explains this parable of the wheat and the tares.

“Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house, and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; the field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; the enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth His angels and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.” Matthew 13:36-43

What is the harvest? It is the end of the world. I am embarrassed to admit it, but for years I believed that the harvest was the Second Coming. I never really thought much about it; I just thought that somehow the Lord was going to come down and the angels were going to suddenly separate the wheat and the tares. In one sentence, however, Ellen White makes so clear how this is to take place.

“The tares and the wheat are to grow together until the harvest; and the harvest is the end of probationary time.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 72. Do you know what that means? Clearly, the harvest must take place before the close of probation. Yes, the harvest takes place in the general time period of the Second Coming, but it takes place some time before.

While at our camp meeting in Kansas—the Steps to Life camp meeting—we saw a wonderful thing taking place; the combines going through the wheat fields, and what a sight it was. All day and into the night they worked. There were long lines of trucks, large, eighteen wheelers, waiting to be weighed. I asked one old timer how long this harvesting had been going on.

He said, “Oh, this has been going on for weeks.”

I said, “Well, when is it going to be over?”

He replied, “Well, we want to get it over before the rain gets it wet.” You see, the harvest is not an instantaneous process; it takes place over a period of time.

That is the way the harvest is with God. It is not an instantaneous thing. The angels are not going to suddenly come down and with a swish, the harvest is over and boom—we all go home.

If the harvest must take place before the close of probation and the harvest is not an instantaneous thing, but a process that takes place over a period of time, it does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that the harvest is either here, or very near.

Let us consider the process that takes place in the harvest.

First of all, the wheat are bound together, aren’t they? There is a separation taking place, but there is also a unity, as they are being bound together.

What happens to the tares? They are being bound together in bundles, too; so among the tares, we see a unity also. But what is going to happen to these bundles? They are going to be burned.

I am firmly convicted that right now the harvest is going on. As never before, we are seeing a unity in separation among those who profess to be the people of God. The tares are uniting and the wheat are uniting. There is separation and unity going on at the same time, and it is taking place right now.

Do not ever let anybody try to tell you that the parable of the wheat and the tares says that we must allow sin and corruption and every abominable thing to come into God’s church, because the wheat and tares all grow together until the end. That is not what this parable teaches at all. In fact, do you know what it does teach? This parable teaches that we are not to disfellowship the wrong people.

We are told in Christ’s Object Lessons that the parable of the wheat and the tares teaches us that we are to judge people on open sin, but we are not to judge motives. If a person is keeping the commandments of God, you are to leave them alone. The workers in the parable of the wheat and the tares said, “Master, should we pull them up?” he said, “No! Leave them alone. Let them grow together until the harvest.” Now, when is the harvest? Right now. And who does the separating? The angels.

You see, according to Matthew 13, if someone is keeping the commandments of God, you have no right to touch them.

Now let us look at Matthew 18. I believe this is the most misused chapter of the Bible. According to Matthew 18, if I have seen a brother in private sin, I am to come to him and say, “I want to talk to you brother. You are doing thus, or so, violating the commandments of God.” It is just between myself and this brother. But if he says, “I do not accept that. I’m going to keep on doing it,” I am then, and not until then, to proceed to the next step.

It is now time to go to the elders. The elders say, “Brother, we need to see you. One person has already talked to you and you refused to repent, confess and forsake your sin. If you will not repent today, we are going to have to take it to the church.” If he still refuses to repent, you are left with no choice but to take it to the church, which in turn must disfellowhsip him.

When it is not a public sin, but a private matter, you are to go to the person privately and share your concern. Now, if he will repent, confess it to the Lord and say he is sorry, then you are to forget it. That is it. That is as far as it goes. But if he will not accept it or repent, then you are to take it to the elders. If he still will not accept the counsel and repent, then you are to take it to the church and he is to be put out and disfellowshipped.

If you read the passage where Mrs. White explains Matthew 18, she says very definitely that what is bound on earth is bound in heaven only if this procedure has been followed according to God’s plan. If it has been violated in any way, God does not recognize the decision. So, before we start saying we are going to Matthew 18 somebody, we had better know what Matthew 18 says. Never tell someone that you are going to “Matthew 18 them” when they are not in sin. If you want to read with someone, study with them or even talk over theology, then do what Paul did: reason with them. See Acts 17:2; 18:4-9. When you tell someone that in coming to them you are following Matthew 18, then, according to Scripture, you are coming to them as a brother reproving them for a sin they have committed, or that you believe they have done.

Matthew 18 does not apply to anyone who is threatening the prosperity of the church and leading our people into sin. Mrs. White makes this very clear in Testimonies, vol. 2, 15.
“My husband then stated that he should understand that these words of our Lord had reference to cases of personal trespass, and could not be applied in the case of this sister. She had not trespasses against Sister White. But that which had been reproved publicly was public wrongs which threatened the prosperity of the church and the cause. Here, said my husband, is a text applicable to the case: 1 Timothy 5:20: ‘Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear.’”

What is Mrs. White saying? She is saying that Matthew 18 does not apply to anyone who is leading God’s people astray—open sin. Any time that somebody, a religious leader, or whoever, does anything that threatens the prosperity of the church, you are not to Matthew 18 them. And if you do, then you do not understand Matthew 18.

I am amazed what has happened in Adventism. Open sin is to be openly rebuked, but we have become such passivists, we are afraid to even speak up against it. We have clasped hands with this ecumenical spirit, that says: “oh don’t say anything; don’t rock the boat; let’s just all be friends.” We think it is so Christian, but it is of the devil. The devil would just love to sugarcoat these differences and have us say, “Well, let’s just put aside our differences and come together on the things that we don’t agree on.” But brothers and sisters, white is white and black is black, not gray, as the ecumenical movement would have us believe.

When you read the basics of Neuro-Linguistic Programming and realize that the whole premise of NLP is that a person’s mind can be changed without them even knowing it, making white black and black white, you realize that it is the most sinister evil of the twentieth century.

Constance Cumby, author of Hidden Secrets of the Rainbow, spoke with me several times on the telephone. She said, “John, I know a lot about Adventism; maybe more than you think I know, as a non-Adventist. But, I’m here to tell you, the other churches do know what’s going on in Adventism better than Adventists know.” She said: “In my research for Hidden Secrets of the Rainbow, I came across the facts that Seventh-day Adventists were doing more to embrace Neuro-Linguistic Programming, and more Seventh-day Adventist ministers have been trained in Neuro-Linguistic programming than all other denominations of America combined.” She went on to say: “If you are blowing the whistle on NLP in Adventism, you can tell them to write or call me and I will share with them the result of my research in my book Hidden Secrets of the Rainbow. I will say without reservation, and as an attorney, it is my opinion that Neuro-Linguistic programming is the most sinister and diabolical thing that has come into Christianity in the 20th century.”

“But when he [John the Baptist] saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: and think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.” Matthew 3:7-10

Now, who were the Pharisees and the Sadducees? They were the religious leaders, the men who would not let John the Baptist speak at any of the churches. Was John part of the structure? He was an independent minister who said what had to be said. He had no degrees and carried no credentials. In fact, when the religious leaders came out to him, if he had had any training in public relations he would have baptized them; but instead, he turned to them and said, “You snakes.” More than that, he called them rattlesnakes—vipers. He said, “You bunch of rattlesnakes. You do the work of the Lord, and then I’ll baptize you. What you’re doing now is nothing but pretense. You are just trying to get on the right side of the people. You’re trying to be politicians.”

While they were putting up the facade of being so sweet, in their hearts, they really could not stand him.

Don’t be fooled; times have not changed. People, however, are so easily deceived. You will hear them say: “Oh, he is so sweet; any time we go to see him, he just invites us right in to his office and talks to us. We are so honored.”

It is snake oil folks. Whether you know it or not, these leaders of God’s professed people hate everything you stand for and they will try to destroy it in every way. They will use either the carrot or the stick, whichever they think will get the best result with you. If sugar coating you and rolling out the red carpet is the way to get your cooperation, they are going to do it; but don’t be deceived, because, if the carrot doesn’t work, they are going to use the stick.

John the Baptist knew what was in their hearts and he called them a bunch of rattlesnakes. There were no doubt, some who said: “Oh, John, you shouldn’t have said that to them. You did the wrong thing; don’t you know who those men are? Why, they could have given great success to your cause if you had just baptized them. Together we could all be one big happy family.”
Do you know why he said what he did? Because the Holy Spirit told him to say it. Man’s ways are not God’s ways.

“The forerunner of Christ’s first advent was a very plain-spoken man. He rebuked sin, and called things by their right names. He laid the ax at the root of the tree. He thus addressed one class of professed converts [we found out who they were—the religious leaders] who came to be baptized of him in Jordan: ‘O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruit meat for repentance….And now also the ax is laid unto the root of the tree; therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.’” Testimonies, vol. 1, 321. Now listen to this. “In this fearful time, [What time is she talking about? She’s talking about the harvest] just before Christ is to come the second time, God’s faithful preachers will have to bear a still more pointed testimony than was born by John the Baptist. A responsible, important work is before them; and those who speak smooth things, God will not acknowledge as his shepherds. A fearful woe is upon them.” Ibid.

We read about Moses and Aaron. Everybody loved Aaron, but they thought Moses was so terrible. Oh, the way he yanked that golden calf down, burned it, ground it into powder, threw it into water and then made them drink it. They said, “Oh, Moses, you’re so harsh, but Aaron, is such a loving man. Why can’t you be like Aaron, Moses?’ God does not, however, see things as such. Moses was the one who was favored of God and Aaron was the one who was cursed for leading God’s people into apostasy. The same thing is taking place today. Idolatry is being brought into the church by these smooth talking Aarons, and our people are saying, “Ah, but he’s such a loving man.” Let me tell you something folks. These loving preachers who are preaching nothing but love, love, will love you right into hell.

There are people who say, “John, you ought to be more Christlike.” I could not agree more, but let’s understand what it means to be Christlike with apostate religious leaders. Did you ever notice that Jesus never talked to the laity the way He did to the apostate religious leaders? Why, Jesus addressed them just as John had done. See Matthew 23; John 8:44.

Was Jesus part of the structure? No, and yet I have had people tell me that you have to be a part of the structure. If you are not a part of the structure, then you are not a part of the church; and if you are not a part of the church, then you are out of God’s field and you are lost. Well, then John the Baptist was lost; Jesus was lost; all the disciples were lost.

Do you know what the ultimate disfellowshipping was in Jesus’ day? Crucifixion!

You may have been told that the structure is the seventh church of Revelation 3 and that there is no eighth church. Therefore, as the structure, is the church, you must stay with the structure. Let me ask you a question. Just because God started the Jewish structure, did that mean that the Jewish structure was able to hold Him hostage for eternity? No! When the structure apostatized, he separated Himself from it. While the structure can be a part of the church, it is not the church. If it apostatizes, it ceases to be a part of the church.

The structure of the Seventh-day Adventist Church began in 1862. The seventh church, however, began in 1844. What was God’s church between 1844 and 1862? Can we conclude that God did not have a church because there was no structure? Certainly not; God has always had a church. God’s church was in existence before the structure, and if the structure apostatizes, the church will continue on. The church, God’s true church, is never dependent upon the structure for its existence.

The church is what the church has always been, and Revelation 12 identifies that church. The church is made up of those who “keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” What is the testimony of Jesus Christ? The Spirit of Prophecy. See Revelation 19:10.

Today, we attribute the Spirit of Prophecy to the works of Ellen G. White, but has the Spirit of Prophecy only been in existence since 1844? God always had prophets and they have always been part of His church. If you believed on them, you were a part of God’s church, and if you did not, you were not a part of His church. This has always been the criteria for determining who was a part of God’s church and who was not. With God there is no variableness nor shadow of turning. He is not going to change the rules for the Seventh-day Adventist Church at the end of time. Where do we get this type of twisted of reasoning? He rejected the structure in A.D. 31 because they apostatized from Him, and he can and will do it again. Who do we think we are that we can hold God hostage, and no matter what we do, God has to take us into heaven, whether He wants to or not?

The question is raised: Does this mean that we are going to start another church? Nobody is starting another church. In 1844, God started the last church—the Advent Movement. And, yes, God started a structure eighteen years later; but if that structure apostatizes from Him, He still has His church because the structure never was the church. It was only a part of it; the church still goes on.

I find people who try to make Mrs. White contradict what it says in Revelation 12, making her concept of what the church is different from all the prophets that came before her.

Let us look at Revelation 12:1-6. The first five verses tell us of God’s true church, that pure woman in the first century. Then in verse 6, we are taken to the second and third century. But, we know that an amazing thing happened at the end of the second century and the beginning of the third; the church apostatizes. How did they apostatize? Over their style and day of worship. You see, there was a wild solar holiday that the pagans kept and the church members said, “Look, if we have a special evangelistic series on Sunday, we can get our pagan friends to come.” Sure enough, it worked. In fact, it became so successful that they started having these special church growth evangelistic meetings on Sunday every week, and the pagans came by the thousands. You know the story.

We do not know the exact date, history does not tell us, but some time between the second and third century, the church of Rome, the Christian apostolic church of Rome that was founded and nurtured by Paul, had an official church business meeting and decided to start keeping the first day of the week—Sunday—and to quit going to church on Sabbath. But, there was a small group of dissident trouble makers. These divisive people who caused problems in the church stood up and said, “No, we’re not going to go to church on Sunday; we’re going to keep going to church on Sabbath.” Can you believe that?

Do you know what the majority in the church did? They disfellowshipped those who wanted to go to church on Sabbath. Do you know what it says in verse 6? It says that the church went into the wilderness. Now, let me ask you: Who went into the wilderness, the majority that disfellowshipped them or the little group that was disfellowshipped? It was the little group (who had had been disfellowshipped by the majority) who went out into the wilderness because the majority had left the truth, attaching themselves to falsehood. What then is God’s definition of the church? The little group of disfellowshipped and persecuted believers who were faithful to the truth.

On the other hand, what was man’s definition of the church in the second and third centuries? It was the large group who made up the majority, and who were celebrating on Sunday. They were the group who had money, power and the credential card-carrying pastors. They had the church buildings; they had the wealth and the worldwide organization. The majority in Rome who had disfellowshipped them had everything, or almost everything. There was one thing, however, that they lacked, and that was the truth. But, as God defines the church as the ones who have the truth, none of the other things mattered.

Do we find Seventh-day Adventists apostatizing over their method and style of worship?

“And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.” Revelation 12:10. Have you ever been called an accuser of the brethren? Do you know who are the accusers of the brethren?
First, let us establish who the real brethren are.

“And they [the brethren] overcame him [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto death.” Revelation 12:11

We find that throughout the book of Revelation, when it is explaining and classifying God’s people, the people who are going to be saved in the last days are referred to as overcomers. They find victory over sin in their life through the power of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. It says, “They [the brethren] overcame him [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto death.” This means that they are overcomers and they are willing to die for the truth. In verse 17 it says that they keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. That is the definition of who the brethren are. This means that anyone who does not teach victory over all sin in this life through the power and blood of Jesus Christ, is not one of the brethren. It means that if they do not keep the commandments of God and love, teach, read and practice the Spirit of Prophecy, they are not one of the brethren.

In days past I was rather careless about whom I called the brethren. I used that term for different sets of people. I want to tell you, after understanding Revelation 12, I am very careful of whom I call the brethren. Oh, yes. Now who are the brethren that it is talking about there? Well, let us go on to the next verse. If I come against a messenger that God has raised for the last days to preach the straight testimony to God’s people and I try to stop him in every thing that he does and I disfellowship him, what have I become? I have become an accuser of the brethren, because that man is one of the brethren in the eyes of God. Regardless of what men say, do not let anybody scramble your brain on this issue. The brethren are those who fulfill the criteria of Revelation 12. If a person does not fulfill the criteria of Revelation 12, he is not one of the brethren and you can just slice that any way you want. Those who come against the true and faithful brethren are doing the work of Satan and are the accusers of the brethren.

For so many years, Adventists have been led to believe that staying with the structure is synonymous with staying with the church; but, where are we told that? The definition of God’s church today is what the definition of God’s church has always been. Why is that so hard for us to see and accept?

Jesus had the same problem with His disciples when He said to them, “I can not tell you everything; you can’t handle it, You have been so brainwashed by your religious leaders that I have to couch everything I say and preach to you in parables, because if I came out and told you the truth, it would just blow you away.”

Unfortunately, God’s people are in the same condition today. Have we been brainwashed for so long that we cannot see that the definition of God’s church is what it has always been? Things have not changed. God’s last day prophet to his last day church told us: “From the beginning, faithful souls have constituted the church on earth.” Acts of the Apostles, 11. Nothing has changed.

“God has a church. It is not the great cathedral, neither is it the national establishment, neither is it the various denominations; it is the people who love God and keep his commandments. ‘Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them’ [Matthew 18:20]. Where Christ is even among the humble few, this is Christ’s church, for the presence of the High and Holy One who inhabiteth eternity can alone constitute a church.” Upward Look, 315

It is not any organizational structure that constitutes God’s church. The structure can be part of God’s church, but God’s church today is what God’s church has always been—faithful souls. Oh, may God take the blinders from our eyes. May we be Bereans. May we read and study like we have never read and studied before, because if we are not Bereans, if we are not last day Bereans, we are going to be lost.

The End

Identification Mark

by

Many years ago I read a book that was authored by a man that was supposedly one of the most successful sales trainers conducting seminars in large cities of the United States. During one of his seminars, he recognized a salesman who attended every year. Inquiring about the company he worked for and if any other of his colleagues were in attendance he discovered that this man was the top producer in his company. The younger salesmen that were invited felt that the course dealt with elements that were too fundamental and they did not have time to waste on things they had already studied. It was only the successful salesman that saw the necessity in reviewing the basics at least once a year.

Successful Bible workers must also review from time to time what they really understand and believe about the Bible. Jesus talked about this in Matthew 13:52. He said, “Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old.” There are some people who only want to study about new things, failing to realize the importance of understanding those things that are basic and fundamental so that they will have them indelibly imprinted in their mind.

In this article we will consider five Bible facts.

  1. It is in this life before you die that whether you are saved or lost is determined. When a person dies, their position never changes. This fact is clear in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19–31.
  2. All who are alive in the final generation will worship either Christ or anti-christ. Revelation 13:8 reveals how many will worship anti-christ: “… all who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” All who are not saved will worship the anti-christ. Revelation 14:12 says, “Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.”
  3. There are three chapters in the Bible that identify the anti-christ power. The word anti-christ comes from two Greek words, “anti” and “christos.” The primitive meaning of the word anti is somebody or something that stands in the place of somebody else. Later on in history it came to mean against. Although most people today believe this later meaning, anti-christ is someone that stands in the place of Christ. Also, the Latin word that means the same as the word anti is the word vicar. So a vicar of Christ is anti-christ. The three chapters in the Bible that explain in detail who the anti-christ power is are Daniel 7, 2 Thessalonians 2, and Revelation 13.
  4. In the last generation every person will be marked. However, not all receive the same mark. Some will be marked for destruction and others will be marked for everlasting life. Revelation 7:1–4 talks about God’s children receiving a mark of deliverance which is called the seal of God. However, many people will not receive this mark but a different seal or mark. The other mark is described in Revelation 13:16 and 17. It says, “He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” In Revelation 14:9–12 the Lord says that if you receive this mark you will receive His wrath and suffer eternal separation from Him which is His judgment of condemnation.
  5. God raised up the second advent movement to prepare a people who would not receive the mark of the beast and who would live in a way that would prepare them to receive the seal of God.

To understand those last brief Bible points we first need to know who the beast is so we can avoid his mark. Then we need to understand what the seal of God is and how to receive it.

Who is this beast in Revelation 13 and 14? Revelation 13:1–10 gives a lengthy description of this beast. In fact, in just these 10 verses there are approximately 15 different descriptions or identifying marks of this beast or anti-christ. We know that it is an anti-christ because of what it says, “… then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven” (Revelation 13:6). This is an anti-christ power.

At the close of Revelation 13:2 it says, “… the dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority.” In the Greek language it says, “his throne.” In some English translations it says, “his seat,” which means his seat of government or his throne.

Revelation 12 tells us the dragon is the devil, but although the devil is the chief anti-christ, he works through appointed or selected human agencies just as God works in this world through appointed or selected agencies. You will see that it was the devil in Revelation 12:1–6 who used Herod, the Roman governor, in an attempt to destroy Jesus Christ when He was born. Herod sent forth his soldiers to go to the homes in Bethlehem and kill the children two years old and under. It is a most horrible story. This was not a work that God authorized. This was the work of the dragon using the pagan Roman Empire to do his dastardly work. So the pagan Roman Empire in a secondary sense is the dragon.

During the first 300 years of Christianity the pagan Roman Empire attempted to obliterate all Christians and it was a miracle that they did not succeed. The capital of the Roman Empire had moved to Constantinople and in A.D. 532, 533, Justinian, the Roman governor, appointed the bishop of Rome to be the head of all the churches and gave three months for all to submit to his authority or get out of the Empire and be stripped of all of their possessions.

There were Christians who refused to submit to the bishop of Rome and his religion. They fled, leaving all of their possessions behind so that they could practice their religion in the way they saw fit. Many Christians lost their lives attempting to flee. Their enemies called them Aryans.

First fact: One of the key identifying marks of the beast is to receive its power from the dragon. We have already identified that Justinian did the work of the dragon. The Bishop of Rome then received his throne, his seat of government, and great authority. Justinian put him over all Christendom, declaring that everybody had to do what he said.

Second fact: We know in Revelation 13 that this power was a religious power because to submit to it involved worship.

Third fact: It says, “… all the world worshiped this power” (verses 3, 4). In other words, it is a world-wide religion. There is not a country in the whole world where the Roman Catholic church is not present today including Moslem, Hindu, and atheist countries.

Fourth fact: This power would receive a deadly wound. This happened in 1798 when Napoleon captured the pope.

Fifth fact: Its deadly wound would be healed. That happened in the earlier part of the 20th century.

Sixth fact: This power would speak great things. Remember the word anti-christ means someone who stands in the place of Christ. This power has stated in public, official documents: “In this world we stand in the place of God Almighty.” “We hold upon this earth the place of God Almighty.” Pope Leo XIII Encyclical Letter, June 20, 1894.

Seventh fact: This power would continue for 42 months. It would make war with the saints and overcome them.

We will never know until the day of final judgment just how many people have been killed for religious reasons, not because they did anything wrong or transgressed any civil law, but simply because they refused to worship the way this power commanded them to worship God. The Society of Friends says that the number killed could be around 70 million, but it could have easily been many more. We do know of a few times when almost a million were killed, such as the massacre of Saint Bartholomew under Pope Innocent III. In one year the church was able to kill almost a million Waldenses.

Several years ago, it was my privilege to visit the headquarters of the Huguenots in southeastern France. The Huguenots were Protestants in the early days of the Protestant Reformation. There in the museum is recorded the history of the Huguenots and how they suffered at the hands of the church. In a 100-year period almost a million people were killed. That was just in France and did not include what happened in Italy, or England, and any other country. One Protestant historian made the statement: “The fact that the Church of Rome has shed more innocent blood than any other institution that has ever existed among mankind, will be questioned by no Protestant who has a competent knowledge of history.” History of the Rise and Influence of the Spirit of Rationalism in Europe, Volume II, p. 32. Unfortunately, most people today do not have that knowledge of history.

The description of anti-christ continues in Revelation 13, stating that this power would receive authority over every tribe, tongue, and nation (verse 7), that all who dwell on the earth would worship him (verse 8), and that he who leads into captivity will go into captivity (verse 10). This latter event occurred in 1798 when the pope was led into captivity by the French. He died in Valence, France, in 1799.

There are a few other identifying marks in Revelation 13 not covered here, as a thorough reading of the chapter will reveal. However, it is not enough to know who the beast and anti-christ are; we must also know what constitutes the mark of the beast, mentioned in Revelation 13 and 14.

The basic principle of the Protestant was, “In religious matters we stick to the Bible and the Bible only.” One writer said, “The Bible and the Bible alone is the religion of Protestants.” William Chillingworth, 1602–1644.

This saying hit the papacy like a bomb. It was in a desperate situation because millions of people were leaving the Roman Catholic church. There were even some of their theologians who said, “We (the Catholic church) need to get back to the Bible and the Bible only.”

This caused a debate amongst the theologians, some of whom wanted to get back to the Bible and others who insisted that they hold on to their tradition. A council was convened to decide what to do about the Protestants, resulting in what is recorded in history as the Council of Trent. It was the lengthiest council ever held by the church. It did not meet continuously but lasted for 18 years, from 1545 to 1563. Protestantism at that time was a serious threat to the church.

A decision was finally made when, on the 18th of January, 1563, the Council of Trent ruled that tradition takes precedence over Scripture. A powerful speech was made by one of the arch-bishops in which he maintained that the fact that the church had changed the fourth commandment clearly proved that tradition was greater than Scripture. That was the argument: tradition was more important than God’s word.

During that time there were a number of famous debates or disputes between the Protestants and the Catholics. Martin Luther was a powerful debater however, there was one debate with Dr. Ek that he lost. Dr. Ek said, “If … the church has had power to change the Sabbath of the Bible into Sunday and to command Sunday-keeping, why should it not also have this power concerning other days, many of which are based on the Scriptures—such as Christmas, circumcision of the heart, three kings, etc. If you omit the latter, and turn from the church to the Scriptures alone, then you must keep the Sabbath with the Jews, which has been kept from the beginning of the world.” Dr. Eck’s Enchiridion, 1533, pp. 78, 79.

Martin Luther lost the debate. He could not answer that question because he was not a Sabbath keeper. The church claims that it was by her own authority that Rome changed the Sabbath. Her argument is that Protestants who say they adhere to the Bible and the Bible only are in error when they observe Sunday. The Catholic Church alone is responsible for Sunday observance.

The Augsburg confession, a Lutheran document written about 1530, acknowledges the following: “They [Roman Catholics] refer to the Sabbath Day, as having been changed into the Lord’s Day, contrary to the Decalogue, as it seems. Neither is there any example whereof they make more than concerning the changing of Sabbath Day. Great, say they, is the power of the Church, since it has dispensed with one of the Ten Commandments.” Augsburg Confession of Faith art. 28; written by Melanchthon, approved by Martin Luther, 1530; as published in The Book of Concord of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.

Many people do not understand the significance of the change of day but it is so important to the papacy that in the great hour of her crisis, the change of the Sabbath to Sunday was the deciding factor that determined which way the Catholic church would go. The Augsburg confession makes it clear that no example is held up so high by Catholics, so forcefully pointed to by them, as the change of the Sabbath. This fact has appeared in Roman Catholic publications over and over ever since that time. For example, in 1856, a Roman Catholic publication said, “The command to keep holy the seventh day is one of the Ten Commandments. You believe that the other nine are still binding. Who gave you (the Protestants) the authority to tamper with the fourth?” Library of Christian Doctrine: Why Don’t You Keep Holy the Sabbath-Day? (London: Burns and Oates, Ltd.), pp. 3, 4. Good question!

A Roman Catholic document in 1868 said, “It was the Catholic church which, by the authority of Jesus Christ, has transferred this rest to the Sunday. … Thus the observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the [Catholic] church.” Plain Talk About the Protestantism of Today, by Mgr. Louis Segur, 1868, p. 213.

A Roman Catholic spokesperson wrote the following in 1903: “It is well to remind the Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, and all other Christians that the Bible does not support them anywhere in their observance of Sunday. Sunday is an institution of the Roman Catholic church and those who observe the day observe a commandment of the Catholic church.” Priest Brady, in an address, reported in the Elizabeth, NJ ‘News’ on March 18, 1903.

The Catholic catechism, which is used for education, said the following in 1876:

Question – “Have you any other way of proving that the church has power to institute festivals of precept?”

Answer – “Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all other religionists agree with her. She could not have substituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday, the seventh day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority.” Stephen Keenan, A Doctrinal Catechism 3rd ed., p. 174.

Around the turn of the 19th century, Cardinal Gibbons, who was head of the Catholic church in the United States, had a chancellor who was responsible for answering letters on his behalf. In a letter sent in 1895, he was asked whether the act of changing the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday was recognized by Rome as a mark of power. On October 28, 1895, this was his reply:

“Of course the Catholic church claims that the change (from Sabbath to Sunday) was her act and is a mark of her ecclesiastical power and authority in religious matters.”

The Bible agrees that this is the mark of her authority. Daniel 7:25 states that this would be the mark of authority of anti-christ. Under the symbol of the little horn it says, “He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and laws. Then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time.”

Notice it says, “he shall intend.” He tries to change a law that actually cannot be changed. We are not talking about human laws. The papacy has changed human laws so many times that they probably could never be counted, but he intends to change a law that actually cannot be changed. In Revelation 13:15–17 you will see a great crisis is coming upon our world, where there will be an attempt to force everyone alive to accept this mark of authority. To accept it would be a mark of submission to the power that changed the day of worship—the papacy. To force everybody to accept that mark, a law must be made to worship on Sunday.

Revelation 13:16, last part, describes two places where this mark can be received—in the forehead or in the hand. In fulfillment of this prophecy, every nation in the world will pass a Sunday law. The only people who do not receive the mark will be those who receive the seal of God. Revelation 13:8 says that all whose names are not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life are going to worship this power. Romans 6:16 tells us how people will be submitting to this power: It says, “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?” When put into place, the Sunday law is going to divide the whole world into two classes—those who obey God and those who do not. Whom do you obey?

After the law is passed, pressure will be put on the people to obey it. Revelation 13:16, 17 says that unless you submit, you will not be able to buy or sell. During the Second World War when rationing was in force, God’s people thought they understood a little of how the government could prevent a person from buying and selling, but that was nothing compared with what is possible today. Today, many things cannot be purchased without showing a card, whether it is a driver’s license, or a credit card for identification. Cards can be scanned instantly into a central computer and if your name is flagged you will not be able to buy a thing. Many people will fold from their commitment under such a test. They may not believe it at all but will compromise in order to be able to continue buying and selling.

But the Lord states in His word that by accepting this mark, you are living in violation of His Law. And if you do accept this mark, you are also going to accept something from Him. That is written in Revelation 14:9–12 where it says, if you receive this mark, you are going to receive of God’s wrath. People are not yet receiving the mark today because the law has not yet been passed. But the time is coming when religious laws will be made in America. Other countries will follow suit. When there is an attempt made to force people to accept this mark and they understand the truth about the third angel’s message, then all must decide whom they will serve.

Those who accept the third angel’s message are described in Revelation 14:12: “Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” The one that you worship is the one to whom you submit and obey. By submitting to the beast power and receiving this mark, you cast a special dishonor upon your Creator.

The whole theme from Revelation 13 to the end of the book of Revelation is the seal of God versus the mark of the beast. What you receive determines your destiny. Will you receive the mark of the beast or the seal of God? This is important enough that it forms the major theme of the last half of the book of Revelation, which describes the end-time scenes of our world’s history. Those that accept the mark of the beast will be in the great majority.

Revelation 12:17 says, “And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the remnant (offspring) of her seed, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” (literal translation). It continues in Revelation 13:1 where John saw the dragon, a symbol for the mass of the world’s population rising out of the sea. Those that keep the commandments of God are described as a remnant, or the rest of her offspring. Revelation 15:2, 3 describes the people who receive the seal of God. It says: “… I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb. …” These are the people that are saved. They are protected and secure, acknowledged by all heaven that they do not belong to this world but the heavenly kingdom, part of the kingdom of Christ. When Jesus comes back they will be taken out of this world and be with Him.

In speaking of Abraham in Romans 4:11, it says: “… he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also.” Notice, he received a sign, which is also called a seal. The words are interchangeable.

God also has a seal. The Sabbath is God’s sign or seal. This was told to God’s people clear back when the children of Israel came out of the land of Egypt. “Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: ‘Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord Who sanctifies you.’ ” Exodus 31:13. This seal sets you apart and makes you holy.

Verse 17 says, “It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.” The Sabbath is called God’s sign. It identifies His people. Ezekiel 20:12 says, “Moreover I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me, that they might know that I am the Lord Who sanctifies them.” Verse 20 says, “Hallow My Sabbaths, and they will be a sign between Me and You, that you may know that I am the Lord your God.”

There is a misunderstanding that God’s seal is the Holy Spirit. The New Testament teaches that you are sealed by the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit is not the seal. God’s seal or sign is the Sabbath. God’s people are those that keep His commandments and have the faith of Jesus (Revelation 14:12). Revelation 12:17 says the same thing. God’s people in the last days are the people that keep His commandments. They could not be thus described if they break one.

James says in James 2:10 that if you keep the whole law and offend in one you are guilty of all. The ten commandments are not ten laws but just one law with ten parts. If you break any one of them you are a commandment breaker. This is spelled out in James 2:10–12. People with a shallow understanding have interpreted James as saying if you keep the Sabbath you will receive the seal of God. Exodus 20:8 starts out by saying, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy …” Can you keep the Sabbath holy while living a wicked life contrary to the other commandments? No. You cannot keep the Sabbath holy unless you are holy.

The ten commandments are God’s definition of holiness and a holy person is one who is in harmony with the commandments.

Many people say it is just a day but it is a day that determines whose side of the great controversy you are on. All must come to a decision. Are you on God’s side?

(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.

Holiness The Fabric of Society

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When we look at the Scriptures, we realize that they are called the Holy Scriptures. When we speak of the Holy Spirit, we must never forget that He is the Holy Spirit. When we speak about the Sabbath, we speak of the holy Sabbath; and God said of His people, “You are a holy people unto Me.”

The book of Hebrews dwells largely on the earthly sanctuary, which was the ritual, the process, that God gave to the Israelite people in the Old Testament, and then to us the heavenly sanctuary, to emphasize the plan of salvation—how it works and what the holiness of God really is. It is through this system that we learn how to approach a holy God when we have been involved in sin.

“For they [our fathers] verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but He [God] for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness.” “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.” Hebrews 12:10,14

If we do not follow after holiness, we will never see the Lord; we will never be in heaven. It will only be a holy people who inherit heaven and the new earth. It therefore behooves us, in the day in which we live, and age like that of Sodom and Gomorrah, to understand by personal experience what holiness is. In order to do this, we must have our thinking shaped all the way through with the concepts of holiness from the Scriptures.

The time brought to view in Isaiah 6 was a time of crisis for the people of God. The outlook was dismal and the future looked dark indeed. But, the Lord gave to Isaiah a vision of His holiness and His majesty in that hour of crisis. “In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory.” Isaiah 6:1-3. What a message at an hour of darkness and crisis!

We are facing an hour of darkness on this earth when the darkness of the apostasy will become as black as midnight, impenetrable as the sackcloth of hair, but God’s people are called upon to, “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.” Isaiah 60:1

It is interesting to note that the angels, in crying to one another, did not cry, “Love, love, love.” The Bible does not substitute love for holiness. Though love is God’s self-communicating attribute and character, His holiness always dominates, controls and directs His love.

Holiness is self-affirming purity, something that this generation has lost sight of. In the place of holiness, it has sought to substitute love, failing to clearly distinguish that holiness must dominate, direct and control love. As a result, we live in a generation that has lost its respect for purity and holiness and has immersed itself in the immorality of Sodom and Gomorrah. This will inevitably result in a totalitarian world state.

Holiness, according to the Spirit of Prophecy, is wholeness for God. As it was not in Rome’s interest to promote holiness, she withheld the Holy Scriptures from the people. This understanding of true holiness involves separation from all uncleanness and impurity and, of necessity, from the world. It was the Puritans’ understanding of this concept, leading them to strive for obedience to the law of God, that made them so powerful in their opposition to the Papacy.

At Vatican II, the principles of communism gained control of the Catholic Church, and particularly of the Jesuit order. The position taken in Vatican II regarding the non-Christian religions called for involving everyone, even the pagan and spiritualistic religions, in the ecumenical movement. The Jesuits were deeply involved in fostering the peace and anti-war movement, as well as the hippie movement. It is always the concept of every revolution to gain the thinking of the young people, and immediately after Vatican II, we had the student generation in revolt. Youth who belonged to middle class families suddenly joined communes. This revolt was an international phenomenon, a tremendous twisting of the thinking of the young people. Very rapidly these principles expanded out over the youth generation.

It is interesting to note that it was at this time that the Youth’s Instructor was discarded for Insight magazine and major changes came into our own Adventist structure regarding how to deal with the youth. The battle cry on the college campuses (I was on them at that time) was, “You’ve got to be relevant.” What they meant was “relative to the world.”

Suddenly the message was no longer so much one of preaching salvation, calling people to the Word of God, calling them to holiness and purity and standing on the platform of the everlasting gospel, but rather a discarding of personal piety; a going into the inner cities, doing social gospel. The social gospel supplanted the everlasting gospel and the Jesuits were very fundamental in bringing about this change.

Just before Nazism took control of Germany, there was a hippie movement among the youth. Middle class young people suddenly left their homes, drifted around the countryside and read the philosophy of Nietsche. The philosophy of Nietsche, with his concept of replacing God with self, is now the main philosophy that Americans have accepted. The man on the street who does not even know the name Nietsche has accepted his philosophy. Now the psychiatry and psychology of our day has replaced religion, to a large extent. The self-help, self-esteem movement and the church growth movement which has brought into it these philosophies, is dominating the churches and the whole nation is being smothered with this.

It is interesting to note, that, according to Professor Allen Bloom, the very concept which originated over in Europe, resulting in Nazism, was imported into America right about the time of World War II with the flight of many German professors from the universities in Germany. They were fleeing from Hitler, but they brought with them the germs of the same thinking that brought Hitler to power. Upon their arrival, they took significant positions in our American Universities, spreading their ideology throughout society.

In the Review, July 1, 1993, the question is asked: “How should we warn the world; with billboards, magazine inserts, and books like The Great Controversy?” The article goes on to question whether we should rent billboards, place ads on subway cars in the U.S. capital or buy inserts in secular magazines to openly unveil error or question churches as being false. The question is posed: Shall we mass distribute Ellen White’s book, The Great Controversy, which clearly calls the Roman Catholic Church the dragon-controlled beast of Revelation 13? It is then pointed out that in years past, certain Adventist groups and individuals have tried all of these methods.

I can understand that people who have had their thinking developed along certain lines might have a problem with billboards, but it is shocking, to say the very least, to have the distribution of The Great Controversy questioned.

The article, written by Paul Gordon, had as its basic thrust that, because we live in an ecumenical age when it is not welcome within the Christian community to speak against another church or its doctrines, we must, therefore, have a very careful approach, and he seems to be questioning the mass distribution of The Great Controversy. That which makes this most interesting is the fact that he is the secretary of the Ellen G. White Estate at Silver Springs, Maryland.

I would submit that if we do not understand what holiness—wholeness for God—really is and define our position and our activities solely with reference to a position of wholeness toward God and the Word of God, we will ultimately come to the other side of the great controversy.

God wants not only truth preached, but He wants error exposed so that people can find their way. The question we must consider is, are we going to let our activity be dictated and molded by ecumenical consciousness or will it be dictated and shaped by holiness—wholeness for God—and a complete dependence on His Word? Will we be daily asking, “Lord, what is the message that You want me to preach?”

The generations of Americans who made America great were generations that were founded in Christian concepts. They were founded in concepts of right and wrong, of personal purity and holiness. In our nation, we have a heritage that rests upon the effort of thousands of men of God over a period of centuries seeking after practical holiness. This is particularly true of the Puritan era. It was this seeking after practical holiness that developed the quality of character that led to obedience to God’s law—self-control under God. It was this quality, more than any other, that ultimately gave them the ability to found a great nation on these shores; a nation that promoted liberty and justice for all.

Holiness is fundamental to liberty, for involved in holiness is integrity and justice. These qualities of holiness confirm the soul in its fullness for God, who is the only source of liberty. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” 2 Corinthians 3:17, and that is the only place where liberty truly is. When, however, people forsake the concept of God’s holiness and fail to understand what personal holiness is by experiencing it in their own lives, those people are headed for totalitarianism and slavery.

The demise of these Christian principles has changed the whole face of an entire generation in this nation, and we now have a baby-boomer president, as well as vice-president, with these same kinds of philosophies. We are facing an onslaught of the New Age Movement with its spiritualism that is going to suffocate the exercise of conscience in our nation.

Holiness is the quality that our generation has lost. They wanted to supplant love for holiness, but what happened? They were the love children, the flower children. They had Woodstock, with all types of impurity being practiced. Those of you who have any knowledge of anyone who was involved in that movement know the degradation and impurity of that culture and thinking. And, even the people who were not hippies, per se, were still influenced in their thinking process by this movement.

The destruction of holiness in the baby-boomer, hippie generation has rendered its soul to the machinations of Satan and we see a flood of the occult. Whole sections of bookstores are now devoted to this type of material. Thinking of academia is being shaped by it, as is that of the churches. The eradication of holiness leaves the soul defenseless and open to demonic influence.

What has happened to music is another dimension of what has been taking place in our society, because the impact has been felt in every area of culture and the arts. This generation has abandoned holiness and has opened up its soul to rock music, inspired by demons, and is setting itself up for control under the tyranny of Satan.

The most fundamental attribute of God is His holiness, and this holiness of God is the attribute of God that is most damaged in people’s understanding by the hippie, New Age, occult and spiritualistic philosophy.

When we examine the spiritualistic, love doctrine from the Biblical perspective, we see that the idea of love, love, love, without it being controlled and informed and having its substance in holiness, means being involved in the spiritualistic, spiritual love doctrine of the last days, the most dangerous form of spiritualism.

“He who could appear clothed with the brightness of the heavenly seraphs before Christ in the wilderness of temptation, came to men in the most attractive manner as an angel of light. He appeals to the reason by the presentation of elevation themes; he delights the fancy with enrapturing scenes; and he enlists the affections by his eloquent portrayals of love and charity. He excites the imagination to lofty flights, leading men to take so great pride in their own wisdom that in their hearts they despise the Eternal One. That mighty being who could take the world’s Redeemer to an exceedingly high mountain and bring before Him all the kingdoms of the earth and the glory of them, will present his temptations to men in a manner to pervert the senses of all who are not shielded by divine power.” The Great Controversy, 554

As the people of God enter the end of all things on this earth, they will proclaim the Sabbath more fully. (See Early Writings, 85.) It is for one reason: the Sabbath is a holy day. It is a continual reminder of the call of God “Ye shall be a holy people unto Me, for I the Lord am Holy.” Leviticus 20:26. The Sabbath separates the Sabbath-keeper in holiness because separation from all iniquity is fundamental to holiness.

Sanctification, the experience of true holiness, was hit hard by the new Theology in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The New Theology, form the perspective I witnessed it from in the seminary, made it clear to me that we had a whole generation of preachers coming out who were going to be moving into the structure, who had the concepts of the New Theology and wanted to take over the church from the inside out. This is what has happened.

This change can be traced back not only to the doctrine regarding the nature of Christ, the nature of sin and righteousness by faith, but to the loss of the concept of personal holiness. When the concept of personal wholeness for God is lost, which is one of the most beautiful concepts in all Scripture, sanctification is gone. For the New Theology, sanctification was just good advice but it was not fundamental to salvation. Only justification was necessary for salvation, and that was only forensic, or “legal only” justification. A person did not want to even think about it too hard, lest works would be involved and the works would violate grace and your salvation would be lost.

The concepts of the New Theology, regarding forensic, or legal only justification, came right out of historical criticism, which Ellen White condemns as being the doctrine of Satan himself. Satan taught it, she says, to the people who advocated it. It denies the inspired dimension of the Bible as being the Word of God, placing it on the level of the common and the profane, which is another attack on holiness, because holiness means a separation from the common and the profane.

We are to sit in heavenly places with Christ. We are going to be a separate people. We must be separate even in the way we think. We will have to be separate even in our presuppositions.

Presuppositions are like glasses. When we wear glasses, the whole world looks different. Every person has presuppositions. This generation, particularly of the young children, is being shaped at the prepositional level. You see, Christianity is an exclusive religion. There is only one true God—the Creator. What does Hinduism teach? Many gods. Pantheism teaches that God is in everything, which is a part of the New Age movement. It is these concepts that are shaping children; concepts that dissolve and diffuse the laser sharp focus of true Christianity that there is one God and one Savior, Jesus Christ—something that is regarded as selfish and bigoted today.

Today, Hindu, new eastern toleration has spread through our society, making the idea of an exclusive truth very unpopular, smacking of bigotry. Suggestions that the papacy must be exposed raise fears that this will offend the ecumenical brother.

Have you ever been termed selfish and unloving because you have principles from the Scriptures that guide you along the narrow path of sanctification and holiness? This has been Satan’s charge since the very beginning. The unyielding purity in the life and cleanness, which is involved in and so fundamental to holiness, leading to separation from all impurity, is a fundamental principle that God’s people must have. This is particularly true as they enter into the final conflict.

What did Paul say the gospel is? It is an offense. It is an offense because it cuts across the grain. That is what it means to lift up your cross and follow Christ. It is offensive to the carnal heart.

The Lord has a message to break up the thought patterns, to break people out of the fog—out of the confusion of Babylon, out of the mold they have been molded in—to carve them out. It is the work of the three angels’ messages to carve a people out, to cleave them out of Babylon. It prepares a separate and distinct people. That is why the doctrine of the nature of the church is so important. It all rests upon these concepts of God’s holiness because God’s holiness demands exclusivity for God. Our soul must be solely God’s; the church must be solely God’s; and all of our affections are to be directed to Him.

In our society today, Satan’s counterfeit for this experience of personal holiness is existentialism. Most people in America do not even know these terms. They are not philosophically oriented like the Europeans are. But this concept of existentialism—the philosophy that God is not actively, personally involved directly in human life, that life is basically absurd and meaningless and meaning can only be found in having an experience—has worked its way into the church through the church growth movement. The concept of the caring church in the church-growth movement rests upon the language of existentialism, and a modified form of existentialism. These concepts are well nigh all persuasive through our society.

The charismatic movement, in reality, rests upon this tenant that holiness can be achieved only through the experience of emotional excitement. Christian existentialism leads to the idea that you have to whip yourself up into an emotional excitement, but Ellen White said that holiness is not rapture; it is the entire surrender of the will and the heart and the entire being to God. We are to worship God in the beauty of holiness.

For the true Christian, holiness is the fundamental attribute of God. It is inherent in His being. It is exercised in his relationship with His creation. It is received by righteousness by faith when the soul makes an entire surrender to the Lord, and thus is wholly the Lord’s.

This concept of holiness, when it is accepted by people and the culture, shapes the culture. This is what makes love in marriage and family wonderful; it is guided by holiness. It is the absence of this concept that has so debased the romantic life of the culture that there is no substance left in the relationship, leading to transitory relationships. As people fail to understand the holiness of God, they are unable to partake of His righteousness through faith, therefore, there is no substance to their love. When there is an understanding of the holiness of God, it completely alters the human race.

Holiness is the great Christian defense. Holiness is the characteristic that protects all of the other attributes communicated by God to the soul through faith. It is God’s holiness that moves Him to protect His people, and when His people abandon holiness they abandon His protection. When, however, they are interested in receiving that holiness by faith, the mighty arm of God is moved to act in their defense and all the power of human will throughout six thousand years of earth’s history is as nothing compared to the mighty will of God, which wills His purity, which wills His holiness, and which acts to defend and protect the integrity of the soul in holiness.

This abandonment of holiness is one reason why our generation has no sense of personal identity, leading them to feel as though they are nothing. They go to the psychiatrist and get even more deeply involved in existentialism and all these philosophies of self, self-help and self-esteem. They do not know who they are because they do not understand holiness.
Holiness is what protects the purity and integrity of the person in the wholeness of their surrender to God. To the extent that our generation has forgotten what holiness is, it has no defense against the demonic influences that are assaulting the souls of people throughout all society.

In order for souls to be saved, they must be renewed in holiness. They must be renewed in and partakers of the holiness of God. They must perfect holiness in the fear of God.

There is the enormous power of omnipotence in holiness. Holiness is the great guardian of liberty and purity, for where the presence of God is, there is liberty, and there is stability. As human relationships are breaking down among the people of God, there is to be a drawing together in holiness, a desiring to communicate holiness to other people and establish them in holiness, which is what true love really is.

“holiness of heart and purity of life was the great subject of the teaching of Christ. In His Sermon on the Mount, after specifying what must be done in order to be blessed, and what must not be done, He says, ‘Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.’ Perfection, holiness, nothing short of this, would give them success in carrying out the principles He had given them.” Testimonies, vol. 2, 445

So, if we would have success in carrying out the principles of the Sermon on the Mount, we must possess holiness by faith in Christ’s righteousness.

“Without this holiness the human heart is selfish, sinful, and vicious. Holiness will lead its possessor to be fruitful and abound in all good works. He will never become weary in well-doing, neither will he look for promotion in this world. He will look forward for promotion to the time when the Majesty of heaven shall exalt the sanctified ones to His throne. Then shall He say unto them: ‘Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’ The Lord then enumerates the works of self-denial and mercy, compassion and righteousness, which they had wrought. Holiness of heart will produce right actions. It is the absence of spirituality, of holiness, which leads to unrighteous acts, to envy, hatred, jealousy, evil surmisings, and every hateful and abominable sin.” Ibid.

“’No man receives holiness as a birthright, or as a gift from any other human being. Holiness is the gift of God through Christ.” Our High Calling, 214

The Initial Steps Toward Unity

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The messenger of the Lord to the remnant church has told us explicitly that unless we press together, we will be destroyed in the storm that is coming. See Signs of the Times, October 31, 1900. Unity is not something that is just nice to study about; it has to do with your survival.

“Our only hope of reaching heaven is to be one with Christ.” Upward Look, 141. Therefore, the most important unity that we need to seek is to be one with Jesus. Unless we are one with Christ, we have no chance of being saved. If we are one with Jesus, Ellen White continues, “then, in and through Christ, we shall be one with one another.” Ibid. As we come closer to Christ, we come closer to one another.

The Christian world today is seeking for unity, but they do not know how to find it. One of these days very soon, they will believe they have finally achieved it and that the whole world is in unity. See Maranatha, 209. The whole world is going to think that they are in unity, but their harmony will be with the Antichrist.

Unity is a primary subject of Jesus’ prayer in John 17; how we might be one with him. If I am not in harmony with Jesus on something, who do you think should change his mind? The Bible is crystal clear on this subject. “For I am the Lord I do not change.” Malachi 3:6. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.” Hebrews 13:8. What Jesus said when He was here almost 2,000 years ago, is still what He thinks; it is still what He believes; it is still what He is like. He is the same; His character has not varied. So, if I want true unity with Jesus I must study what He is like, as recorded in his word. Then, as we come into unity with Jesus, we will come into unity with each other.

Coming into unity is like a jigsaw puzzle—it has more than one piece and we cannot look at all the pieces at once. Right now, however, we will look at one of the initial pieces, a first step toward coming into unity.

You cannot imitate or emulate someone if you do not know what they are like. Therefore, we want to study to understand what Jesus is like. Though I do not spend a lot of time giving my opinions when preaching, I am going to share one of my personal opinions with you. As I have studied the life of Jesus, it does not appear to me that there are very many Seventh-day Adventists who know what Jesus is really like.

There are many people coming to historic Adventist preachers and saying: “You should not do that, or you should not say that; it is not Christlike.” When I hear that, the first question that comes into my mind is simply this: How do you know that it is not Christlike? I personally believe that there are many Seventh-day Adventists telling us those things who have no idea what Jesus is like.

In Hebrews 1, we see a text that graphically tells us in just a few words, something about what Jesus is like. “But unto the son He saith [This is the Father speaking to the Son and He addresses Him as God—One equal in authority with the Father.] ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness.’” Hebrews 1:8-9. Jesus loves what? Righteousness!

We cannot generate love. Love is a precious gift that we receive from Jesus. See Ministry of Healing, 358. If we are to become like Jesus, coming into unity and harmony with Him, we must learn to love righteousness just as He does.

A few years ago I read a story of a beautiful young lady who experienced an automobile accident. Not having her seat belt on, she was thrown through the windshield of her car. Though she survived, her face was badly disfigured. As a result of her change in appearance, her husband divorced her. He had married a beautiful face and when that face was no longer there, there was nothing to hold the marriage together.

What is called love in the world today is often nothing short of selfishness. There are many people who have been married for years but who have never really loved each other. They have gotten married because of what the other person could do for them, and that is not godly love at all.

It took me a long time to learn that I did not have the ability to generate love of any kind, not even for my wife. But, Jesus’ heart is full of love, and He wants you to have that love. His final request in his last prayer, recorded in John 17, is that He would be in his followers and that this love would be in them.

Jesus loves righteousness, and if we ask him for this precious gift of love, he will give it to us. See Romans 8:32.

What is righteousness? Sometimes the easiest way to explain an idea is to express it in opposite terms. What is unrighteousness? In 1 John 5:17, we are told that all unrighteousness is sin. And, what is sin? “Sin is the transgression of the law.” 1John 3:4. Then what is righteousness? It is being in harmony with the law.

Did you know that there are things Jesus hates? Though there are some people who do not seem to believe this anymore, Hebrews 1:9 (last part) tells us that Jesus not only loves, but that He hates as well. So, if you are really going to be like Jesus Christ, you are not only going to have love in your heart, but you also have hatred there. Notice what it says in Hebrews 1:9 “You have hated lawlessness.” (NKJV)

Another text that also reveals this hatred is Psalm 87:10, “You who love the Lord hate evil.”

Some people think that they should just put up with everything, but Jesus is not like that. Jesus is not like that. Jesus and His father have decided that lawlessness is something that they are going to obliterate because they hate it. If you love Jesus, you will also hate lawlessness, especially when you realize that it was this lawlessness—this sin—that caused Jesus to go to the cross. You cannot love Jesus and something that caused Him to go to the cross. That is why Ellen White tells us that, even though those who teach people to break God’s laws may consider themselves Christians, God considers that they hate Him.

The first angel’s message says to fear God.

What does it mean to fear God? For one thing, it means to hate evil. “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil.” Proverbs 8:13. This idea that we can just live a good life, setting a good example, is not enough. If we are really going to be Christlike, we must not only love righteousness, but we must hate lawlessness. We will never achieve Christian unity until we hate lawlessness as much as we love righteousness.

So, what are you to do in a world of evil, among people who profess to follow the Lord, but are not living righteously. The first step that must be taken before we can have Christian unity is that someone is going to have to stand up and attack the evil? It is not enough just to teach the truth; not enough just to set a good example. It is not enough to be loving and kind; you must attack evil. Now we will see the evidence for this from the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy.

In about the 1920s, Julius Gilbert White wrote a manuscript called The Alpha and the Omega of Apostasy. In this book he accurately describes a departure from truth that was then taking place in Adventism, and that I have seen during my whole lifetime. The result of this departure from truth is the great apostasy that we see in the church today; the greatest apostasy that has ever been seen in the 6,000 years of this world’s history, except perhaps at the time of the flood.

“Those who reject the apostasy [he is speaking to Adventists] will be severely charged with criticism because they will protest against it. [Have you ever been accused of being too critical?] A great effort has been made for a long time to eliminate ‘criticism.’” The Alpha and the Omega of Apostasy, 57

What is it that he says has been going on for a long time? “A great effort has been made for a long time to eliminate criticism.” Remember now, this was written in the 1920s. This plot of the devil was laid a long time ago.

“It [criticism] has been terribly condemned far and near in sermons, articles, conventions, institutes, camp meetings and conferences. Honest protest has been stifled and suppressed by branding it ‘criticism’ and then condemning it. A distinction must be made between ‘protest and criticism.’ For if not, no voice can be raised against wrong! Pernicious criticism is a wicked thing, and ought to be confessed and forsaken. Criticism of men is that bad. But there is another side to this question of criticism.

“If men have gone so far in criticism that they criticize the work of the Spirit of God and the messages from the Spirit of God and denounce those who are maintaining those messages as having the spirit of the devil, that would come terribly close to being a sin against the Holy Spirit and would call for alarm and utter humiliation and abasement before such men should dare lift up their heads and ask God for the gift of His Holy Spirit in the latter rain.

“This criticism of the work of the Spirit of God is more heinous and disastrous to ourselves and to the work of God than is criticism of men.

“If leaders so criticize the Spirit of Prophecy that men are moved by the Spirit of God to protest against such apostasy, there must be a distinction made between such protest and evil criticism. When men are in the wrong and do not see it and God sends brethren to counsel them and they persist in denouncing such counsel as unjust criticism, they are indeed in a great delusion, and it is most difficult for God to reach them.

“According to Inspiration, there will be various voices in the church from this time forward till after the shaking is over. There will be false reformations that will sweep in thousands; there will be great worldliness and there will be those who ‘sigh and cry’ over the condition of the church as God sees it, and these will reprove and warn and ‘will not hold their peace to obtain the favor of any.’ (See Testimonies, vol. 5,209).” Ibid., 58,59

Ellen White here describes two groups of people. One group of people put a cloak over the existing iniquity, but another group will not hold their peace for anyone. They are going to protest. Now, if you would like to know who is sealed and who is not, you need to read the rest of the chapter.

There have been times in the past when God has sent people to attack evil. Concerning these people, Ellen White says, “They have ever been received with distrust and suspicion.” Testimonies, vol. 3, 261. Anciently, when Elijah was sent with a message from God, the people did not heed the warning. They thought him unnecessarily severe.

Today, someone says, “Do you have to state it so strongly?” Yes, I do, in order to have a clear conscience.

“They [children of Israel] even thought that he must have lost his senses.” What did they think about Elijah? They thought he had gone crazy! Why? “Because he denounced them, the favored people of God, as sinners and their crimes as so aggravated that the judgments of God would awaken against them.” Ibid. (All emphasis supplied.) Many people have never noticed this.

Is there to be an Elijah message to the church just before the end? Do you know what the Elijah message is? It is a lot different than what many people have thought. Very soon the judgements of God are going to fall on apostate Seventh-day Adventists and it is going to be worse than you can imagine. It is necessary to preach a message that will shake people right down to their toes and make them realize that if they do not change their ways they will be in worse trouble than they can imagine.

“Oh,” somebody says, “Pastor John, Jesus would never do anything like that.” Well, did Jesus approve of what Elijah did or not? Who was inspiring Elijah to denounce them? Many people think that anybody that does anything like that is the devil’s instrument, but according to the Spirit of Prophecy, Elijah was the Lord’s instrument. He denounced them because he was Christlike and was filled with the Holy Spirit.

“They abhorred not the sins which had brought them under the chastening rod, but hated the faithful prophet, God’s instrument, to denounce their sins and calamity.” Review and Herald, September 23, 1873

“But,” someone will say, “don’t you realize that we must respect our leaders?” Well, let me tell you, Elijah did not. “The prophet, as God’s messenger, had reproved their sins, and denounced the judgments of God because of their wickedness. Elijah, standing alone in conscious innocence, firm in his integrity, surrounded by the train of armed men, shows no timidity, neither does he show the least reverence to the king. The man whom God has talked with, who has a clear sense of how God regards man in his sinful depravity, has no apology to make to Ahab, nor homage to give him. Elijah, now as God’s messenger, commanded, and Ahab obeyed at once the command, as though Elijah was monarch, and he subject.” Ibid., September 30, 1873

There is a time when a rebuke must be given; and when God’s people are in apostasy, if God’s messengers do not stand up and rebuke it and reprove it, we will lose our own souls.

There was a time in the New Testament when there was perfect unity. It says in Acts 2:1 that they were all of one accord in one place. That is going to happen again. I long for it and want to be part of it, but do you know that that unity which they enjoyed would never have come to pass without the cross and the resurrection? Now the cross and the resurrection would not have done for the disciples what it did if they had not been acquainted with Him first for three years and gotten to know what He was like. But, they would never have gotten acquainted with Jesus and found out what he was like if it had not been for the ministry of John the Baptist. The ministry of John the Baptist was the initial step that finally brought that unity three and a half years later. What we are studying now is one of the initial steps that finally results in unity.

When John the Baptist came, the angel told his father that he would come in the spirit and power of Elijah. So, what did John the Baptist do? “John denounced the corruptions of the Jews, and raised his voice in reproving their prevailing sins.” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol.5, 1089.

From time to time, someone will say, “Your preaching is not Christlike because Jesus would speak in a calm, soft voice; He would never raise His voice like you Historic Adventist preachers do.”

But, John the Baptist did not speak in a soft, quiet voice—he raised his voice and shouted it out. “Amid discord and strife, a voice was heard from the wilderness, a voice startling and stern.” Desire of Ages, 104

Stern is another adjective that Ellen White uses quite often in regard to both Elijah and John the Baptist; they were stern in their preaching. When they were stern, were they Christlike or not? Were they filled with the Holy Spirit, or were they filled with another spirit? The Bible says that John the Baptist was full of the Holy Spirit from his mothers womb. “With the spirit and power of Elijah he denounced the national corruption, and rebuked the prevailing sins. His words were plain, pointed, and convincing.” Ibid.

We want to have unity. Who is it in the last days who is going to have unity? Well, let us consider what took place at the first advent of Christ, which is a type of our day, and find out who came into unity then. It was the people who listened to John the Baptist, accepted his rebuke and reproof, reformed their lives and followed Jesus. Three and a half years later they were in a condition of perfect harmony. Do you think there is any parallel between then and our time?

Before Gethsemane, one of the last things Jesus told His disciples was that when the Holy Spirit comes, He will reprove, that is, rebuke. See John 16. If you are receiving the Holy spirit into your life, you will be rebuked; but if you persist in rejecting that rebuke, you will eventually lose the Holy Spirit.

Who is it today that is going to come into unity? Is it those who are fighting the messengers that God has sent to denounce the apostasy and make a call to repentance? Will it be the people who are following the New Theology, who are stepping off the platform of truth, or is it the people who are listening to the messages of rebuke from the Spirit of Prophecy and reforming their lives?

The people who are going to come into unity in Adventism today are the people who allow the Holy Spirit to rebuke them in any way God chooses. It is the Historic Seventh-day Adventists, those who stand on the three angel’s messages and accept all of the Spirit of Prophecy, who believe the fundamental truths that the Lord revealed to our spiritual forefathers. These are the only people who are going to come into unity.

You can trust the One who loved you enough to be nailed to the cross for you, that He will not rebuke you more than you need. This does not mean, however, that you may not need a lot.

Sometimes we meet someone who says, “I know that there are problems and that there is apostasy, but you are never going to get reformation by talking about the problems all time. You should talk more about positive things.”

Listen to this: “They treated the warnings of the Spirit of God as a matter of indifference, as though that voice were human in place of divine. What there was to make any demonstration of on there part they could not see. If they had done wrong, why dwell upon it so much?” Special Testimony to the Battle Creek Church, 1 (published in 1882)

This is what they were thinking in their minds: “Just go on; let it all drop, and say as little about it as possible.” Ibid. Have you ever heard it said; “You are talking about this all the time; you should not talk about it so much. Talk about it as little as possible. Talk about positive things. Teach people how to develop their character and how to have love and how to be patient and kind; don’t be rebuking all the time”? That is what they thought in Battle Creek.

Do you know who Ellen White says would be pleased if they did that? The next sentence tells us. “This is the very thing the enemy of souls wants them to do.” Ibid. It was the devil! The problem, friends, is not going to be solved unless we face the issue straight on and attack it. Evil must be opposed.

Somebody has to attack what is going on today, and it has to be a firm unflinching attack. It must not be some mild little talk; it must be like Elijah, like John the Baptist.

Ellen White says, concerning the rebuke that was given to the children of Israel, “This firmness was essential; in no other way could the existing evils have been rebuked….The messengers of the Lord are never to fear the face of man, but are to stand unflinchingly for the right.” Conflict and Courage, 202

Inspired writings tell us that when Elijah rebuked Israel, he was angry. Yet, he was filled with the Holy Spirit when he was angry. He was also Christlike when he was angry.

“Never seek to cover sin; for in the message of rebuke, Christ is to be proclaimed as the first and the last, He who is all in all to the soul.” Selected Messages, book 1, 380

Friend, are you going to be one of those who come into unity? If you are, you will have to be humble enough to accept rebuke from whomever God chooses to send.

Anytime God sends anyone to reprove the evil, people do not like it and the messengers of reproof are accused of being the cause of the division. Have you ever heard anyone accuse Historic Adventists of being the cause of the division? Elijah was accused of being a troubler of Israel.

“God’s plan for the salvation of men, is perfect in every particular. If we will faithfully perform our allotted parts, all will be well with us. It is man’s apostasy that causes discord, and brings wretchedness and ruin.” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 2, 999

So, what is the real cause of the lack of unity in Adventism today? It is not the people who are calling for repentance, but the apostasy that is responsible for the discord; and the only Adventists who will ever have unity again are those who will fight apostasy. Brothers and Sisters, we will never have unity until we are willing to stand up and fight the apostasy.

What is the purpose of rebuke? When we look at the preaching of John the Baptist and the early preaching of Jesus, as recorded in Matthew 3 and 4, we see that the burden of both Jesus and John the Baptist was repentance. See Matthew 4:17. The purpose of the rebuke is that we may repent, and it is only when people are willing to repent that they are able to come into perfect unity.

The End

A Better Sacrifice

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The apostle Paul had a far better education than the other apostles, other than what Jesus gave to him. The apostles had three and a half years with Jesus, but they did not have anything like the apostle Paul’s knowledge of the Scriptures and of the history of Israel. The three and a half years that the apostles had with Jesus could be compared to the two years in which Ellen White tells us that Paul was personally instructed by Jesus in the desert of Arabia before he set out upon his ministry. The instruction by Jesus, added to the background of information that Paul had, gave him an advantage.

He understood some things more quickly and more fully than the other apostles, for example: the difference between the two laws, the moral law and the ceremonial law. I did a little exercise once that was an eye opener to myself. I isolated every New Testament witness from Jesus, John the Baptist, then all the New Testament writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul and so on. I put to each writer, as it were, the question: What do you have to say about the two laws? From every single one, except the apostle Paul, the answer was absolute silence. If you did not have the writings of the apostle Paul in the New Testament, you would have no way of knowing that the ceremonial law is passed away. He is the only one who ever mentioned it.

A possible exception is in Acts 15:10. Peter made a statement which could be understood to mean that the ceremonial law was passed away. “Why tempt ye God, to put a yoke on the neck of the disciples, which neither we nor our fathers were able to bear.” We presume that he was talking about the ceremonial law as misinterpreted by the priesthood of his time, which was indeed a yoke, very, very difficult to bear.

The apostle Paul understood clearly how the doors of the church were to be opened to the Gentiles. Paul tells us in the first two chapters of Galatians how Peter was having a little trouble with that concept, even though he had been involved in God’s instruction on the matter. If you go to Romans 10 and 11, you see how Paul reaches into his knowledge of the writings of Isaiah to show that this was right and proper and was entirely in harmony with God’s great plan of salvation.

There is one more thing that the apostle Paul understood better than the other apostles—the destruction of the city of Jerusalem and the temple. “Now,” you may say, “all the disciples knew that. They were talking to Jesus about it on the Mount of Olives when Jesus said that ‘there will not be left one stone upon another.’” Yes, they understood that, but they thought it was going to be at the second coming of Christ. I do not think that Paul made that mistake. And here I am not just relying on my own thinking, I am borrowing a thought from Elder M.L. Andreason. Some of you older folks may remember Elder Andreason. He was one of the finest Bible scholars we ever had in our church—a very great and good man. He believed that the apostle Paul wrote the book of Hebrews because he knew that the temple was going to be destroyed and he knew what an awful shock that would be to the Jewish Christians. The Jewish people, even though they became Christians, loved that temple. It was to them the symbol of Israel. Paul realized that they needed some help, otherwise they would become confused and disheartened and perhaps even discouraged when that temple was torn down, which was to be only a short while ahead. Se he set out to show, in the book of Hebrews, that we have something better.

I believe the word better is the key word in the book of Hebrews. In this book you find the words better, higher, more excellent, and more perfect.

In the first chapter of Hebrews, Paul begins by arguing that Christ is better than the angels. “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; being made so much better than the angels.” Hebrews 1:1-4. He quotes from Psalm 110:5, and says, to what angel did the Lord ever talk like that, like he talked to His Son? In Hebrews 1:6, you see that “all the angels of God worship Him.” In verse seven and in verse 13, quoting again from Psalm 110, he makes a reference to the angels. To what angel did He ever say, “Sit on My right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool”?

In chapter 3, Paul goes on to argue that Christ is better than Moses. He compares Moses to the one who is faithful in the house, but he says that Christ is the Son of the Builder of the house. And that puts him higher than Moses.

In chapter 5, verses 4 and 5 and onward, he argues that Christ is better than Abraham. He says that because Abraham paid tithe to Melchisedec and Jesus is a priest after the order of Melchisedec, Jesus is better than Abraham. Then as a sub-point, he says, the Levites descended from Abraham, so Jesus is better than the Levites. In Hebrews 5:4,5 Jesus is better than Aaron. Then in Hebrews 7:19, “For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.” “By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.” Verse 22. Then, in Hebrews 8:1, he considers the sanctuary and says that we have a better sanctuary, one that is made without hands, in the kingdom of God. He goes on to say we have a better High Priest. Look especially at Hebrews 8:6, “But now hath he obtained a more excellent [better] ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.” So it is better, better, better all the way through.

Now, let us look back over this for just a moment. Jesus is better than the angels. Jesus is better than Moses. Jesus is better than Aaron and the Levites. Jesus is better than Abraham. We have a better hope. We have a better testament. We have a better sanctuary. We have a more excellent ministry, a better covenant and better promises. And then he settles in on the point, a better Sacrifice. Look back to Hebrews 7:26,27, “For such an high Priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for His own sins, and then for the people’s: for this He did once, when He offered up Himself.” He is going to pick up this thought and enlarge on it in about fifteen more verses, which we want to notice. The sacrifice is better because it only had to be made once.

In Hebrews 9:23,24, Paul is talking about the dedication of the earthly as compared to the dedication of the heavenly tabernacle. “It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens [those are the earthly things, of course] should be purified with these [that is, with the blood of calves and goats and so forth]; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. [When you meet someone who says, “What are you talking about, ‘cleanse the heavenly sanctuary’? How could anything defile the heavenly sanctuary?” you just show them Hebrews 9:23.] For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.” Hebrews 9:24.

Take your pencil in your hand and be prepared to do a little marking. We are going to show you the words once in contrast with the word often. I would like to suggest that you circle the word once and underline the words that mean repeated, frequent or often. Beginning with Hebrews 9:25-10:3; “Nor yet that he should offer Himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; for then must He often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? [They would not make sacrifices again if the first sacrifice was fully adequate, fully complete.] because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.” [Verses 4-9 are parenthetical. We are going to skip those.] Let us read verses 10-14: “By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: but this man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made His footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.”

What is Paul trying to prove? He is trying to prove that you do not compare the sacrifice of Christ with the sacrifice of an animal, except in a symbolic sense. The animal sacrifices made on earth were right; they were good, but they cannot be compared with the sacrifice of Christ, which only had to be made once. The reason it only had to be made once is that it was fully adequate; it was not weak or faulty in any way; it was absolutely perfect and complete. We need to take note of this and notice how carefully our beloved messenger to the remnant, Ellen White, followed the thinking and the writings of the apostles, especially of the apostle Paul, because she writes about the sacrifice of Christ in the very same way that Paul did. Unfortunately, this has not always been understood correctly by her readers.

I want to show you something that may surprise some of you if you have not had occasion to study into this. The writer of the book Seventh-day Adventists Believe, religiously followed the language of Ellen White. Let us settle something in our minds before we go any further. Ellen White wrote in Selected Messages, book 1, 20: “Different meanings are expressed by the same word; there is not one word for each distinct idea.” Would you consider for a moment the word fast. If a horse can run with speed, he is fast. If you tie him to the tree so he cannot run at all, he is fast to the tree. If you go without food, that is a fast. If a woman has loose morals, she is fast. Just think of all the different ways the word fast is used. Take, for example the word gamble. This is one of the most frequent little tricks that you will hear some people use, and it is strictly a trick. You are talking about the gambling dens in Las Vegas, shall we say, and a person says to you, “Do you gamble?” Gamble is being defined as the playing of a game of chance. You say, “No, I do not gamble.” He switches definitions and says, “You gamble every time you cross the street.” Now gamble is being defined as the acceptance of an unavoidable risk. That is quite different from playing a game of chance. You see that kind of thing in the writings of people who are either careless or deceitful; I do not know which. We will leave that to the Lord. But to switch definitions of a word in the middle of a discussion without telling the reader that you are changing your definitions, creates confusion.

Now Seventh-day Adventists should not have any trouble with the idea that people in different groups use the same words with different meanings, because their heads are filled with Adventist jargon. (Jargon is what the English teachers call this sort of thing.) For example: What does “the work” mean to you? You know what it means—taking the third angel’s message to all the world; that is “the work.” Now, if you walk up to an Episcopalian minister and ask him what “the work” means, will he tell you that it is taking the third angel’s message to all the world? I do not think so. “Are you going to have a part in the loud cry?” You ask someone who is not an Adventist that question and see what kind of a look they give you. The finishing of the message, the loud cry, the work, the truth, to take stand for the truth, the Spirit of Prophecy, to have an effort—these are examples of Adventist language. “Brother so and so had an effort down in a certain city.” You tell some non-Adventist that and see what kind of a blank look you get. We Seventh-day Adventists have a lot of words that we use with our own definitions.

Now, Ellen White uses certain words that Calvinists use, but she does not use them with Calvinistic definitions. Get that clear before we start. She is not using these words with Calvinistic definitions; she is using them with Pauline definitions (The definitions given by the apostle Paul.) For example, here are eleven references in which Ellen White uses the word atonement and puts with it the word made:

“He bore the curse of the law for the sinner, made an atonement for him.” God’s Amazing Grace, 117

“He has made an atonement for us.” In Heavenly Places, 71

“Christ has made an atonement for the sins of the world.” Lift Him Up, 245

“Christ has made an atonement for you.” Medical Ministry, 44

“But Christ has made atonement for every sinner.” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 4, 1178

“Jesus has made atonement for all sins of ignorance.” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 5, 1145

“He made an atonement for every repenting, believing soul.” That I May Know Him, 100

“The Saviour made an atonement for the fallen race.” Signs of the Times, Dec. 17, 1902

Look carefully at this one. This combines making and made:

“He has withdrawn from human sight into the immediate presence of God. There he is making intercession for those who by faith come to God. He presents them to the Father, saying, ‘By the marks of the nails in My hands, I claim pardon for them. I have made an atonement for them.’” Signs of the Times, December 30, 1903

He makes atonement by pointing to the cross saying, “I have done it. I have made it.” He does not shed his blood again before the Father’s throne.

“Jesus…made an atonement for us.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 14, 81

“He has made an atonement for sin.” Battle Creek Letters, 56

Now some examples for the words full atonement still using a Pauline definition.

“Christ made a full atonement.” Lift Him Up, 345

“How full the atonement of the Savior for our guilt! [Notice the language.] The Redeemer, with a heart of unalterable love, still pleads [not sheds] His sacred blood in the sinner’s behalf.” Testimonies, vol. 4, 124

“The precious blood of Christ was of such value that a full atonement was made for the guilty soul, and this was to Paul his ‘glory.’” Signs of the Times, November 24, 1890

In the next quote, Ellen White is talking about the soldiers outside the tomb of Christ and how they could not face the heavenly messenger sent to relieve the Son of God from the debt of sin for which He had become responsible:

“And for which He had now made a full atonement.” Youth’s Instructor, May 2, 1901

The word complete.

“God has accepted the offering of His Son as a complete atonement for the sins of the world.” The Faith I Live By, 91

“In the wisdom of God it was complete [the sacrifice of Christ].” Signs of the Times, December 30, 1889

“In every part His sacrifice was perfect; for He could make a complete atonement for sin.” The Youth’s Instructor, June 14, 1900

“We are to rejoice that the atonement is complete; Christ is our complete Saviour.” Review and Herald, November 11, 1890

“His atonement was complete in every part.” Signs of the Times, July 31, 1901

She is talking about quality, you see. “He made a complete sacrifice to God.” Faith I Live By, 50

Please notice carefully the language in the following quotation:

“He [Christ] planted the cross between heaven and earth, and when the Father beheld the sacrifice of His Son, He [the Father] bowed before it in recognition of its perfection. ‘It is enough,’ He said. ‘The atonement is complete.’” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 7A, 459

These quotations are talking about quality. The sacrifice is absolutely faultless. It is total; it is complete. Nothing more needs to be added to that sacrifice.

The word perfect.

“A perfect atonement was made.” Lift Him Up, 319

“Then a perfect atonement was made.” That I May Know Him, 73

Then we have the words making an atonement. This is the present tense, now.

“Now, while our great High Priest is making the atonement for us, we should seek to become perfect in Christ.” Great Controversy, 623

“And now, while the precious Saviour is making an atonement for us.” Maranatha, 275

Ellen White applies the words made atonement, full atonement, complete atonement, finished atonement and perfect atonement to the sacrifice, but there is one word that she never applies to the sacrifice, that is the word final.We have references of this type:

“So in the great day of final atonement and investigative judgment.” Great Controversy, 480

“The blood of Christ, while it is to release the repentant sinner from the condemnation of the law, was not to cancel the sin; it was to stand on record in the sanctuary until the final atonement.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 357

“His work as High Priest completes the divine plan of redemption by making atonement for sin.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 10, 157

“As the priests in the earthly sanctuary entered the Most Holy once a year to cleanse the sanctuary, Jesus entered the Most Holy of the heavenly, at the end of the 2300 days of Daniel 8, in 1844, to make a final atonement for all who could be benefited by His mediation, and to cleanse the sanctuary.” Spiritual Gifts, vol. 1, 161

Ellen White uses this language, but not with Calvinistic definitions. She is using Pauline definitions (definitions that she gathers from the apostle Paul), and she uses all of these words made atonement, full atonement, complete atonement, finished atonement and perfect atonement referring to the perfection of the sacrifice. Then she turns her attention to the priesthood and talks about the final atonement being made now, which, again, is strictly following Scripture.

If you turn to the book of Leviticus and read the first fifteen chapters, you will find there, eighteen descriptions of a person coming to the sanctuary with a sacrifice; in every one of those eighteen cases, it says the atonement is made. Then turn to chapter sixteen and you will find five statements that on the great Day of Atonement the high priest makes atonement for those very same people who brought their sacrifice every day throughout the year, and had atonement made for themselves. So, there is perfect Biblical background for describing what Jesus is doing now in the courts of heaven as “making an atonement.”

The apostle Paul was afraid that the people were fastening their faith to a building. What happens to your faith if the building is destroyed? What is the lesson for us?

  • Do not fasten your faith to any building, any number of buildings or any worldwide aggregate of buildings. They may be swept away.
  • Do no fasten your faith to a priesthood that may be swept away—a ministry, we would say, that may be swept away. If all of the ministers were gone, would that do anything to Jesus Christ? He is still there. Do not fasten your faith to a ministry that might be swept away.
  • Do not fasten your faith to a church organization that might be swept away. I did not say will be swept away; I said might be swept away. I do not know, but I am prepared for anything now, as I see what is happening in the organization.
  • Fasten your faith to Jesus Christ. He is better than all of these things.
  • Fasten your faith to His Word and to His counsels, the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy. You can sweep away the buildings; you can sweep away the organization; but you still have the Word of God.
  • Fasten your faith to His promise that where two or three are gathered together, He will be present there; and that is the church. That is the highest, purest and best definition of the church.

The End

Bible Study Guides – God’s Kingdom Challenged

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October 2, 2016 – October 8, 2016

Key Text

“And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15).

Study Help: Patriarchs and Prophets, 33–43.

Introduction

“By the facts unfolded in the progress of the great controversy, God will demonstrate the principles of His rules of government, which have been falsified by Satan and by all whom he has deceived.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 79.

1 THE EVERLASTING THRONE

  • From the descriptions of the position and power of the Son of God, what can we learn about God’s government? Psalm 45:6; Hebrews 1:1–3.

Note: “Not by its own inherent energy does the earth produce its bounties, and year by year continue its motion around the sun. An unseen hand guides the planets in their circuit of the heavens.” Education, 99.

  • What do we know about the law which forms the basis of this kingdom? Psalm 19:7; Matthew 22:37–40.

Note: “The law of God is an expression of His very nature; it is an embodiment of the great principle of love, and hence is the foundation of His government in heaven and earth.” Steps to Christ, 60.

“The law of love being the foundation of the government of God, the happiness of all created beings depended upon their perfect accord with its great principles of righteousness. God desires from all His creatures the service of love—homage that springs from an intelligent appreciation of His character.” The Great Controversy, 493.

2 A RIVAL KINGDOM

  • Through the figure of the king of Tyre, how does the Bible describe the fall of Lucifer? Ezekiel 28:11–15.

Note: “Sin originated with him who, next to Christ, had been most honored of God and who stood highest in power and glory among the inhabitants of heaven. Before his fall, Lucifer was first of the covering cherubs, holy and undefiled.” The Great Controversy, 493, 494.

  • How did Lucifer, now called Satan, challenge God’s government? Isaiah 14:12–14.

Note: “Leaving his place in the immediate presence of the Father, Lucifer went forth to diffuse the spirit of discontent among the angels. He worked with mysterious secrecy, and for a time concealed his real purpose under an appearance of reverence for God. He began to insinuate doubts concerning the laws that governed heavenly beings, intimating that though laws might be necessary for the inhabitants of the worlds, angels, being more exalted, needed no such restraint, for their own wisdom was a sufficient guide. They were not beings that could bring dishonor to God; all their thoughts were holy.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 37.

  • What did this challenge result in? Revelation 12:7–9; Luke 10:18.
  • Having been cast into the earth, what position did Satan assume? Job 1:7; John 14:30.

Note: “Satan’s dominion was that wrested from Adam, but Adam was the vicegerent of the Creator. His was not an independent rule. The earth is God’s, and He has committed all things to His Son. Adam was to reign subject to Christ. When Adam betrayed his sovereignty into Satan’s hands, Christ still remained the rightful King. … Satan can exercise his usurped authority only as God permits.” The Desire of Ages, 129, 130.

3 THE CONTROVERSY ON EARTH

  • What was the original position in which human beings were placed? Psalm 8:4–6.
  • Through the serpent, how did Satan seek to draw Adam and Eve into the controversy? Genesis 3:1, 4, 5.

Note: “By partaking of this tree [in the midst of the garden], he [the serpent] declared, they would attain to a more exalted sphere of existence and enter a broader field of knowledge. He himself had eaten of the forbidden fruit, and as a result had acquired the power of speech. And he insinuated that the Lord jealously desired to withhold it from them, lest they should be exalted to equality with Himself. It was because of its wonderful properties, imparting wisdom and power, that He had prohibited them from tasting or even touching it. The tempter intimated that the divine warning was not to be actually fulfilled; it was designed merely to intimidate them. How could it be possible for them to die? Had they not eaten of the tree of life? God had been seeking to prevent them from reaching a nobler development and finding greater happiness.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 54.

  • Through Satan’s temptations, what happened to the human race? Romans 6:16; 5:12.
  • How was humanity’s dominion lost on the earth? Genesis 3:24; 9:2.

Note: “Under the curse of sin all nature was to witness to man of the character and results of rebellion against God. When God made man He made him ruler over the earth and all living creatures. So long as Adam remained loyal to Heaven, all nature was in subjection to him. But when he rebelled against the divine law, the inferior creatures were in rebellion against his rule. Thus the Lord, in His great mercy, would show men the sacredness of His law, and lead them, by their own experience, to see the danger of setting it aside, even in the slightest degree.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 59, 60.

4 HOPE IN A COMING KING

  • Describe the promise embedded in the curse upon the serpent. Genesis 3:15.

Note: “This sentence, uttered in the hearing of our first parents, was to them a promise. While it foretold war between man and Satan, it declared that the power of the great adversary would finally be broken. Adam and Eve stood as criminals before the righteous Judge, awaiting the sentence which transgression had incurred; but before they heard of the life of toil and sorrow which must be their portion, or of the decree that they must return to dust, they listened to words that could not fail to give them hope. Though they must suffer from the power of their mighty foe, they could look forward to final victory.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 65, 66.

  • How was this promise to be fulfilled? John 12:31, 32; I Timothy 3:16.

Note: “The plan for our redemption was not an afterthought, a plan formulated after the fall of Adam. It was a revelation of ‘the mystery which hath been kept in silence through times eternal’ (Romans 16:25, RV). It was an unfolding of the principles that from eternal ages have been the foundation of God’s throne. From the beginning, God and Christ knew of the apostasy of Satan, and of the fall of man through the deceptive power of the apostate. God did not ordain that sin should exist, but He foresaw its existence, and made provision to meet the terrible emergency. So great was His love for the world, that He covenanted to give His only-begotten Son, ‘that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life’ (John 3:16).” The Desire of Ages, 22.

  • In what royal language did the prophets describe the character of the coming Messiah? Genesis 49:10; Isaiah 9:6, 7.

Note: “This hope of redemption [of humans and their forfeited dominion] through the advent of the Son of God as Saviour and King, has never become extinct in the hearts of men. From the beginning there have been some whose faith has reached out beyond the shadows of the present to the realities of the future.” Prophets and Kings, 682.

5 TWO CLASSES DEVELOPED

  • Comparing the following verses, describe the two classes of people that developed within the human race. Romans 8:14; I John 3:1; Romans 1:21, 22; Ephesians 2:1–3.

Note: “As men increased, the distinction between the two classes [of worshipers] became more marked. There was an open profession of loyalty to God on the part of one, as there was of contempt and disobedience on the part of the other.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 80.

  • How does the experience of Cain and Abel illustrate the state of humanity? Hebrews 11:4; I John 3:12.

Note: “Cain and Abel represent two classes that will exist in the world till the close of time. One class avail themselves of the appointed sacrifice for sin; the other venture to depend upon their own merits; theirs is a sacrifice without the virtue of divine mediation, and thus it is not able to bring man into favor with God. It is only through the merits of Jesus that our transgressions can be pardoned. … There is no other provision made whereby they can be released from the thralldom of sin.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 72, 73.

  • What choice is presented to each child of Adam today? Romans 6:16.

PERSONAL REVIEW QUESTIONS

1 How do we know that the law of God has existed from eternity?

2 How did Lucifer challenge the very foundation of God’s government?

3 How is humanity today still being deceived by the serpent’s lies?

4 What was the hope which animated the faith of the believers in ancient times?

5 Identify the modern equivalents of Cain and Abel.

Copyright © 2015 Reformation Herald Publishing Association, 5240 Hollins Road, Roanoke, Virginia. Reprinted by permission.

Bible Study Guides – The Investigative Judgment

by

November 6, 2016 – November 12, 2016

Key Text

“Some men’s sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after” (I Timothy 5:24).

Study Help: The Great Controversy, 479–491.

Introduction

“While the investigative judgment is going forward in heaven, while the sins of penitent believers are being removed from the sanctuary, there is to be a special work of purification, of putting away of sin, among God’s people upon earth.” Maranatha, 254.

1 YOUR CASE PENDING

  • Who has a case pending in judgment? 2 Corinthians 5:10. With whom does it begin? I Peter 4:17.

Note: “As the books of record are opened in the judgment, the lives of all who have believed on Jesus come in review before God. Beginning with those who first lived upon the earth, our Advocate presents the cases of each successive generation, and closes with the living. Every name is mentioned, every case closely investigated.” The Great Controversy, 483.

  • When are most people judged? Hebrews 9:27. Why?
  • On what evidence is the judgment based? Revelation 20:11, 12. What is recorded in the books? Jeremiah 2:22; Malachi 3:16; Nehemiah 13:14.

2 THE STANDARD AND THE ADVOCATE

  • What is the standard by which we are to be judged? James 2:10–12. What is the character of this standard, and what does it require? Psalm 19:7; Matthew 5:48.

Note: “The law of God is the standard by which the characters and the lives of men will be tested in the judgment.” The Great Controversy, 482.

“In His teachings, Christ showed how far-reaching are the principles of the law spoken from Sinai. He made a living application of that law whose principles remain forever the great standard of righteousness—the standard by which all shall be judged in that great day when the judgment shall sit, and the books shall be opened.” Selected Messages, Book 1, 211.

  • What is the penalty for unrighteousness? Romans 6:23. Is there any hope for one with a bad record? I John 2:1, 2.

Note: “The death of the spotless Son of God testifies that ‘the wages of sin is death’ (Romans 6:23), that every violation of God’s law must receive its just retribution. Christ the sinless became sin for man. He bore the guilt of transgression, and the hiding of His Father’s face, until His heart was broken and His life crushed out. All this sacrifice was made that sinners might be redeemed. In no other way could man be freed from the penalty of sin.” The Great Controversy, 540.

  • How are we to receive the propitiation? Romans 3:25; I John 1:9.

Note: “The examples in God’s word of genuine repentance and humiliation reveal a spirit of confession in which there is no excuse for sin or attempt at self-justification. Paul did not seek to shield himself; he paints his sin in its darkest hue, not attempting to lessen his guilt. …

“The humble and broken heart, subdued by genuine repentance, will appreciate something of the love of God and the cost of Calvary; and as a son confesses to a loving father, so will the truly penitent bring all his sins before God. And it is written, ‘If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness’ (I John 1:9).” Steps to Christ, 41.

3 TIME OF THE JUDGMENT

  • What will happen to those who have truly accepted the Advocate? John 11:25; John 5:24–29.

Note: “All who have truly repented of sin, and by faith claimed the blood of Christ as their atoning sacrifice, have had pardon entered against their names in the books of heaven; as they have become partakers of the righteousness of Christ, and their characters are found to be in harmony with the law of God, their sins will be blotted out, and they themselves will be accounted worthy of eternal life.” The Great Controversy, 483.

  • When Jesus returns, what will He bring with Him, and what does He do with it? Revelation 22:12; 2 Timothy 4:7, 8.
  • What must happen first in order that Christ may reward the faithful? I Timothy 5:24; I Peter 4:17; Luke 20:35, 36.

Note: “Before the final reward is given, it must be decided who are fitted to share the inheritance of the righteous. This decision must be made prior to the second coming of Christ in the clouds of heaven; for when He comes, His reward is with Him, ‘to give every man according as his work shall be’ (Revelation 22:12). Before His coming, then, the character of every man’s work will have been determined, and to every one of Christ’s followers the reward will have been apportioned according to his deeds.

“It is while men are still dwelling upon the earth that the work of investigative judgment takes place in the courts of heaven. The lives of all His professed followers pass in review before God. All are examined according to the record of the books of heaven, and according to his deeds the destiny of each is forever fixed.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 310.

“There will be no future probation in which to prepare for eternity. It is in this life that we are to put on the robe of Christ’s righteousness. This is our only opportunity to form characters for the home which Christ has made ready for those who obey His commandments.” Ibid, 319.

4 THE BLOTTING OUT OF SINS

  • What will have happened to the sins of the righteous who receive their reward at the resurrection? Micah 7:19; Isaiah 43:25.

Note: “The work of the investigative judgment and the blotting out of sins is to be accomplished before the second advent of the Lord. Since the dead are to be judged out of the things written in the books, it is impossible that the sins of men should be blotted out until after the judgment at which their cases are to be investigated. But the apostle Peter distinctly states that the sins of believers will be blotted out ‘when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and He shall send Jesus Christ’ (Acts 3:19, 20). When the investigative judgment closes, Christ will come, and His reward will be with Him to give to every man as his work shall be.” The Great Controversy, 485.

  • Explain how the parable of the unjust servant (Matthew 18:23–35) shows the difference between forgiveness and blotting out. Although we may be faithful today, what sobering reality should keep us ever vigilant? Ezekiel 33:13–16.
  • What happens to the name of an unfaithful person, written in the book of life? Exodus 32:32, 33. How is a name written there in the first place, and whose names will be retained? Philippians 4:3; Revelation 3:5.

Note: “We are now living in the great day of atonement. In the typical service, while the high priest was making the atonement for Israel, all were required to afflict their souls by repentance of sin and humiliation before the Lord, lest they be cut off from among the people. In like manner, all who would have their names retained in the book of life should now, in the few remaining days of their probation, afflict their souls before God by sorrow for sin and true repentance. There must be deep, faithful searching of heart. … Though all nations are to pass in judgment before God, yet He will examine the case of each individual with as close and searching scrutiny as if there were not another being upon the earth.” The Great Controversy, 489, 490.

5 EXAMINATION AND REWARD

  • In order for sins to be blotted out, what must happen first, as described in the parable of the man without a wedding garment? Matthew 22:9–14. What is symbolized by the wedding garment? Revelation 19:8; Philippians 3:9.

Note: “By the king’s examination of the guests at the [wedding] feast is represented a work of judgment. The guests at the gospel feast are those who profess to serve God, those whose names are written in the book of life. …

“By the wedding garment in the parable is represented the pure, spotless character which Christ’s true followers will possess. … It is the righteousness of Christ, His own unblemished character, that through faith is imparted to all who receive Him as their personal Saviour.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 310.

  • What work is Christ doing for each repenting sinner now, and what pronouncement will be made when that work is done? Hebrews 2:17; Revelation 22:11, 12; Daniel 12:1.
  • Since the judgment concludes with the final generation who are judged while living, what is Jesus’ warning to us? Mark 13:33. What assurance do we have? Hebrews 4:14–16; 13:20, 21.

Note: “The judgment is now passing in the sanctuary above. … Soon—none know how soon—it will pass to the cases of the living.” The Great Controversy, 490.

PERSONAL REVIEW QUESTIONS

1 Why is the time of judgment such a solemn time in which to live?

2 How can we be sure to be judged “not guilty”?

3 Why must the judgment of professed believers happen before the Second Coming?

4 What is the distinction between forgiveness and blotting out of sins?

5 What experience must Christ’s true followers have who will be judged while living?

Copyright © 2015 Reformation Herald Publishing Association, 5240 Hollins Road, Roanoke, Virginia. Reprinted by permission.