The Cost of Revival and Reformation – A Response to Concerns and Objections

By The Special Ministries Association

“A revival of true godliness among us is the greatest and most urgent of all our needs. To seek this should be our first work. . . . A revival and a reformation must take place, under the ministration of the Holy Spirit. Revival and reformation are two different things. Revival signifies a renewal of spiritual life, a quickening of the powers of mind and heart, a resurrection from spiritual death. Reformation signifies a reorganization, a change in ideas and theories, habits and practices. . . . Revival and reformation are to do their appointed work, and in doing this work they must blend.” Selected Messages, book 1,121,128.

The Cost of Revival and Reformation

The Special Ministries Association represents various Seventh- day Adventist special ministries. These special ministries desire to work in harmony with the conferences, as fellow laborers, toward hastening the soon coming of Jesus. However, to our disappointment, we have been experiencing increasing resistance from some whom we would expect to be cooperating with us in this endeavor. This resistance has increased to the spreading of rumors and accusations. Generally these charges have not been answered. The ministries have merely kept on with their work. But the counsel of the Lord indicates that there comes a time to answer:

When man assails his fellow men, and presents in a ridiculous light those whom God has appointed to do work for Him, we would not he doing justice to the accusers, or to those who are misled by their accusations should we keep silent, leaving the people to think that their brethren and sisters, in whom they have had confidence, are no longer worthy of their love and fellowship. This work, arising in our very midst, and resembling the work of Korab, Dathan, and Abinam, is an offence to God, and should he met. Selected Messages, book 3, 348

Recently one of the conferences issued a twelve- page document concerning Marshall Grosboll, Director of Steps to Life, Inc., one of the special ministries. This document, entitled Concerns and Objections, lists a number of accusations. This paper The Cost of Revival and Reformation, is a response to the conference’s concerns and objections, and in so doing, details the principles that should prevail between workers in God’s cause.

Concerns and Objections was put together by an anonymous committee. It was read by Elder R, 1 Seventh- day Adventist conference president, to Elder Grosboll and others who were present, at a meeting on January 25, 1989. Those present at the meeting included representatives of the Union Conference, Hope International, Hartland, Steps to Life, some other ministries, and two conference presidents.

Marshall Grosboll is an ordained minister of the Seventh- day Adventist Church who took a leave of absence from the Kansas- Nebraska Conference in 1987 in order to devote full- time to the Steps to Life television ministry and its affiliate Bible worker training school (the Institute of Ministry). The leave of absence was prompted by the conference’s request for Pastor Grosboll to transfer to another district when, after considerable counsel and prayer, he felt convicted to continue the Steps to Life outreach and training ministries that were just getting started and established in Wichita.

The conference’s concerns and objections in this document involve methodology, procedure, and emphasis, not doctrine. Elder Grosboll believes and teaches all of the historical and fundamental teachings of the Seventh- day Adventist Church, and has never been charged with teaching false principles contrary to the church. The document ends with this statement:

Because of these and many other reasons we believe that Marshall Grosboll has demonstrated that he is not a true shepherd of the flock and therefore should not represent the Seventh- day Adventist Church as an ordained minister. Concerns and Objections, 12

Since Elder Grosboll has never yet been tried and is still a recognized, ordained minister of the Seventh- day Adventist Church, the Special Ministries Association has serious concerns about the conclusion of this document which calls for a change in this regard, and the reasons for arriving at said conclusion. The charges in the Concerns and Objections document involve the ministry and decisions of many people who are involved and benefitted by the Steps to Life ministry. Moreover, the charges brought against Elder Grosboll and the Steps to Life ministry can likewise be brought against many others who are conscientiously seeking to fulfill ministries for the Lord. Thus, many people have been prayerfully studying the issues raised in this document.

Pastor Grosboll’s Ministry

Elder Marshall Grosboll has served for 12 years as a pastor of the Seventh- day Adventist Church. Following is a short statement by Elder Grosboll concerning his ministry.

I have served as pastor to the best of my ability. Thanks only to the grace of God, the churches I have served have grown in attendance, tithe, and membership during my pastorates there. But I freely admit that I am not free from fault in my ministry. Realizing the high calling and sacred responsibilities of the ministry, I have always viewed myself as unworthy. Thus I have prayed for just a humble field of service in which I might serve Him.

As I view the lovely Majesty of heaven, lacerated and bleeding upon the cross, lam constantly reminded that for my sins He died. My only rightful reward is what Jesus suffered on the cross. He took my place. Knowing that, I have pledged myself to be true to Him, unworthy though I may be, to whatever calling and position He may ask me to fulfill. I fully believe that the Lord has called me and ordained me to the gospel ministry, and by His grace I am as true to that calling today as I have ever been.

Yet if I alone were being accused, I would not feel it prudent to answer. For the least of my sins is deserving of more than the goals this document is striving for. Whether I remain or not, or whether I am despised and condemned, accepted or unaccepted, is of little consequence. Jesus endured far more for me. But it is not I alone on trial, but rather it is the ministry of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God.

Let me also reaffirm that I believe, and have always believed, in the movement, message, and organizational principles upon which the Seventh- day Adventist Church was established. Moreover, I have always tried to cooperate with its leadership in a spirit of love. I have served under seven conference presidents and have had a wonderful relationship with most of them. And though, regretfully, that is not the situation here, I have sought to bring about reconciliation and cooperation with this conference. I am determined to continue to work for unity within the guidelines of biblical principle. I also, with the Protestant reformers and a multitude of others within the Seventh day Adventist Church, believe that the Word of God and the Holy Spirit must become and remain central in all that we do. All decisions of principle must be based upon this standard and this standard alone.”

Pastor Grosboll, as do most people in special ministries, desires to cooperate with the conference. Yet our perception is that the only cooperation wanted in this instance is unquestioning obedience to conference control. Ellen White said that Battle Creek operated on the “rule or ruin” principle (Testimonies to Ministers, 360). God designs that we should all work together, for His honor and glory, as brothers and sisters, willing to counsel and be counseled, and loving one another as Christ has loved us. Yet above and beyond our relationship with one another and the conference, must be our loyalty to truth and righteousness and obedience to the call and ordination of the Lord. May this become our experience. Our greatest desire is to see the conference filled with the spirit and power of the Holy Spirit. Elder Grosboll, and each of us in Special Ministries, are more than willing to work with the conference. We believe this is what God wants.

We find it unfortunate that the Concerns and Objection’s document, which was presented at the January 25 meeting, either did not seek to verify the facts, and/ or overlooked certain facts, before it was presented. Much work obviously went into this document, yet no one ever got in touch with Elder Grosboll. We also find it unfortunate that the document judges motives throughout, and does so in the most unfavorable light.

The January 25 Meeting

It should be noted that when Elder R came to speak with Pastor Grosboll, he said he was “following Matthew 18″ in coming to his brother with some concerns. Upon further investigation, it was found that this whole document had been presented, as fact, to the Executive Committee nearly two months before their meeting, without any defense or even knowledge on the part of the one being accused. The accuser and the judge were one and the same, with the Executive Committee acting as jury, but the accused was not only absent, but totally unaware of the accusations. Not only did the Executive Committee go along with the proceedings, but also not a word of these secret activities ever leaked out to any of those in question until the January 25 meeting nearly two months later.

Moreover, it should be noted that the ultimatums the president gave to Pastor Grosboll after the January 25 meeting, which he said would help to clear up the conference’s concerns; had little to do with the accusations of the document itself. This fact has caused some to question whether the accusations of the Concerns and Objections document, many of which are unfounded, were merely a means to an end, to try to gain control.

At the January 25 meeting the conference president told Elder Grosboll and the others present that a response was not wanted and would not be accepted at that time. The meeting was merely for the purpose of reading the concerns, with no chance of reconciliation or time to discuss the issues. This decision was in spite of the fact that, as soon as Pastor Grosboll found out that the president was coming, he wrote a response to him asking for an agenda. This request was

Second, the president was asked to allow enough time in order to discuss, pray about, and study whatever concerns he had. With people coming from great distances for the meeting, Pastor Grosboll desired an all- day meeting in order that there might be time to pray and discuss the issues together in brotherly love, thus allowing the Holy Spirit to guide them into true unity. Sadly, this request too was denied. Elder R, in addition to bringing friends with him from the Union Committee, invited Pastor Grosboll to bring anyone he wanted to the meeting with him, but when his group arrived, they were told there would not be time for them to make comments.

Our greatest disappointment is the lack of interest the conference seems to manifest for the soul- winning work of Steps to Life. No one has faulted the theology or content of their evangelism, preaching, or television programs. Converts from the Steps to Life ministry throughout North America are being baptized into their local Seventh- day Adventist Churches. Yet there almost seems to be a hope that this ministry will not succeed in bringing anyone into the church. Why? Could the following be part of the reason?

The word of the Lord came to Elijah; he did not seek to be the Lord’s messenger, but the word came to him. God always has men to whom He entrusts His message. His Spirit moves upon their hearts and constrains them to speak. Stimulated by holy zeal, and with the divine impulse strong upon them, they enter upon the performance of their duty without coldly calculating the consequences of speaking to the people the word which the Lord has given them. But the servant of God is soon made aware that he has risked something. He finds himself and his message made the subject of criticism. His manners, his life, his property, are all inspected and commented upon. His message is picked to pieces and rejected in the most illiberal and unsanctified spirit, as men in their finite judgment see fit. Testimonies, vol. 5, 299

The allegations and conclusions of the Concerns and Objections document must be addressed. Yet it is with great reluctance that we do so, for Pastor Grosboll and each one of us love the brethren who have formulated these concerns. We love every facet of our church, which we believe to be the remnant church of prophecy. We wish this response could have simply been shared at the meeting itself, and that understanding and peace could have ensued, without the necessity of a written response. May the Lord mold and shape each of us into a holy, united family for the infilling of the Holy Spirit and the finishing of the work of God on earth. This desired result, however, can never happen without a genuine revival and reformation. May this response paper be used by the Lord to help conferences understand the burden of special ministries and the opposition that some are encountering. May it also be used to help bring the Lord’s work together, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, for a finished work.

Mutual Concerns

The first paragraph of the Concerns and Objections document states that two of Pastor Grosboll’s goals are to bring, “revival and reformation to the membership of the church,” as well as the “evangelization of the world with the Three Angels’ messages.”

Conference leadership, in the next paragraph, elucidates how they also “deplore the sins in ourselves and in God’s true church.” They state: “We weep at the backsliding of God’s people. We pray and work for reformation and revival in our lives and the lives of our people.” We commend the conference on this stance. Yet we have never been able to engage the conference leaders into joining us in prayer and study for the guidance of the Lord. If Steps to Life, or any of us in special ministries, are doing something wrong, we want to know what it is. We do not suppose we have all the light or all the answers. In fact, we claim no new light. We are simply trying to do missionary work. We desire to sit down with our conference brethren and to work for revival and reformation. Where we are falling short of the purposes of God, we want to change.

How Concerned Is the Conference in Revival and Reformation?

In Wichita, as in each of the districts Marshall Grosboll has pastored, he concentrated his ministry on helping each member to develop a personal relationship with Christ through a daily study of the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy, earnest prayer, and following the Lord all the way in their personal lives. Pastor Grosboll stressed that, in both our personal lives and as a church body, we must put away self and sin and allow the Holy Spirit to have full control. We must follow every counsel of the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy, not from a legalistic standpoint, but from a heart of love and with faith in His Word. An analysis of the first year’s sermons reveals that sixty- six percent of the sermons were drawn from the gospels, with the rest from other portions of the Bible. Examples of these were a series that brought revival to many people, entitled, “Footsteps to Calvary,” and the sermon,” Extra Oil,” from Matthew 25.

Pastor Grosboll does not believe in concentrating on sin, for he believes that Jesus is the focus of our faith. Yet open sin cannot be overlooked by the faithful pastor, for it will prevent the blessing of the Lord. After Pastor Grosboll arrived in Wichita, he was informed by some of the elders and associate pastors that some of the leaders of the church were heavy coffee drinkers, others watched videos that were well beyond the questionable stage, and some had other such inconsistencies. Their concern was that these sins were preventing the Lord’s blessings. In an elders’ meeting which Pastor Grosboll called soon after he arrived, he asked one of his associate pastors to have the opening devotional. Before his devotional, the associate shared with Pastor Grosboll that he had spent nearly the whole previous night in prayer. He felt impressed to give a message, but felt apprehensive about the results. Marshall, as his associates called him, did not ask what the subject was, but encouraged him to share whatever the Lord had impressed him to give.

His message was on the importance of the elders being examples to the flock. He gave several illustrations, one of which caused many of the elders to be very upset: He suggested that the elders should strive toward becoming “vegetarians.”

Though this was not Pastor Grosboll’s timing, he felt that the Holy Spirit had impressed his associate to give the message he did, and he supported him. One of the elders later shared how he was convicted to change his diet following this meeting. Truly, the Holy Spirit had led in the remarks this associate had given at the elders’ meeting. But the fact that Pastor Grosboll supported his associate in the remarks given caused such a furor among the elders that Pastor Grosboll was soon called into the conference office to give an account of the meeting. Sadly, instead of supporting truth and righteousness, their sympathy was with those who had been offended. Their support seemed to be with those who could help or hurt them the most with their influence.

The associate who made the comments later told the pastor, with tears in his eyes, how much he appreciated his support. He said that before Pastor Grosboll arrived, that would not have happened.

The conference officers had called Pastor Grosboll to Wichita. The president shared that he believed the Holy Spirit had led them in this call. If the conference officers, after this elders’ meeting at the very beginning of Pastor Grosboll’s ministry, had supported the truths he preached and stood for, in spite of op position, what would have been the results? It is very probable, judging by the events which followed, that a great revival would have taken place in Wichita, and maybe even in the conference. Only eternity will show the full results of what appeared to be self- serving at this time.

“Many are the souls that have been destroyed by the unwise sympathy of their brethren; for, because the brethren sympathized with them, they thought they must indeed have been abused, and that the reprover was all wrong and had a bad spirit.” Testimonies, vol. 3, 329

Sometimes It Is Dangerous to Question

At about this same time, Marshall Grosboll presented in the Conference Administrative Committee, of which he was a member, his concerns about the new conference plan to “save” their academies. The conference was initiating a one- plus million dollar endowment program for Enterprise Academy, which the union president said would make it permanently secure.

Pastor Grosboll produced figures in the Administrative Committee to show that with a constant rate of investment, which is the only realistic way of figuring for offerings and gifts, and with currently normal inflation and interest rates, it would take 30 years just to recoup the investments made (in real buying power) without any return in the investment at all! The reason for this is that the investment is never touched, but will still be in the bank (if the bank is still solvent) when Jesus comes. The endowment plan is set up to put money in the bank forever, and just draw on the interest. To plan thirty years for a return on an investment was, in Elder Grosboll’s opinion, putting off the day of the Lord, and was being a poor steward of His goods. Does God want us to invest our money in the banks, when His work is in need? These statements were quoted: “[God] calls upon those who have money in the banks to put it into circulation.” Testimonies, vol. 7, 56

“The very means that is now so sparingly invested in the cause of God, and that is selfishly retained, will in a little while be cast with all idols to the moles and to the bats. Money will soon depreciate in value very suddenly. Evangelism, 63 Satan is much more vigilant, keen- sighted, and skillful in devising ways to secure means to himself than our brethren are to secure the Lord’s own to His cause.” Testimonies, vol. 4, 478

“The Lord desires us to let our light so shine before men that His Holy Spirit may communicate the truth to the honest in heart who are seeking after truth. As we do this work, we shall find that means will flow into our treasuries, and we shall have means with which to carry on a still broader and more far- reaching work.” Evangelism, 61- 62

Once we make a commitment never to touch the principal of an investment, we have left God clear out of the picture. Someday these investments that we legally cannot dispose of, because of binding agreements, will be a curse:

I saw that if any held on to their property, and did not inquire of the Lord as to their duty, He would not make duty known, and they would be permitted to keep their property, and in the time of trouble it would come up before them like a mountain to crush them. . . . I heard some mourn like this: “The cause was languishing, God’s people were starving for the truth, and we made no effort to supply the lack; now our property is useless. Oh, that we had let it go, and laid up treasure in heaven!” Counsels on Stewardship, 60

Why not, Elder Grosboll asked, put this money into soul winning rather than the banks? Will earning interest in the bank really bring more returns than using that same money to win souls? Moreover, soul winning will bring in new students, which our schools are really needing. If the conference really pushed the endowment program, Pastor Grosboll felt it would drain the other programs, and eventually the school could go down anyway- maybe even sooner. The real need of our academies, Pastor Grosboll felt, was the blessing of God that comes from doing His will. This is what they needed to be working toward.

Though the pastor was not adamant in his opinions, and only made one speech outlining his concerns, when called into the president’s office about the elders’ meeting, he was also criticized about his comments in the Administrative Committee about the endowment program. He was informed by the president that this endowment program was a program that he cherished and had helped to devise. The president said he could not argue with the figures but that even though the money would not bring any real increase on the investment for many years, it was an effective way to get money from the people because it was popular. Pastor Grosboll suggested that it took a great amount of promotion to make it popular.

Though Marshall Grosboll did not bring up the subject of endowments again, from that point on the program never achieved what had been hoped. Soon after, whether for this reason or for some other, Pastor Grosboll was informed that he was no longer on the Administrative Committee. A conference official told him months later, that his speech on the endowment funds was one of the main reasons the conference had withdrawn their support of him; but that many were wishing they had followed his advice, for the academy was at that point so low on money that they were having to ask some people who were putting their money into the endowment fund to reverse these pledges and give them for operating costs. This experience taught Pastor Grosboll the result of questioning a cherished project of some administrators. Was this the reason that such situations as the Davenport investments, that cost the church millions of dollars, were allowed to go on and on, even though many people clearly saw the dangers and inequities in the program?

“We Are God’s Favored People”

Pastor Grosboll developed a Preaching and Revival service for Sabbath vespers that dealt with revival and reformation. Over a hundred people attended regularly. His sermons also were calls for personal holiness and revival, for every person, from the conference worker to the lowliest member. The tapes of these sermons went far and wide. But while there was an increase in church attendance, and at all the services of the church, some did not appreciate these messages.

“Those whom God has chosen for an important work have ever been received with distrust and suspicion. Anciently, when Elijah was sent with a message from God to the people, they did not heed the warning. They thought him unnecessarily severe. They even thought that he must have lost his senses 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.” Testimonies, vol. 3, 261

The same attitude as the ancient people of God expressed, that we are “the favored people of God,” and thus we are safe from “the judgments of God,” seems to be echoed in the Concerns and Objections document. After affirming how the leadership laments the backsliding of God’s people, the document then says, in the same paragraph: “We believe that the Seventh- day Adventist Church, as presently organized, is God’s true church. We believe, despite the faults and imperfections of its leaders and members, this church is the only object of our Lord’s supreme regard” (Concerns and Objections, 1). Thus, in the context in which it is given, the thought is expressed, as in Elijah’s day, “Yes, we may have some imperfections, but we are the beloved of the Lord, rich and increased with goods. Whatever we decide to do or not do, we will yet remain God’s favored people, even “as presently organized” and functioning. Nothing evil can come to us.” But Jeremiah warns:

Do not trust in these lying words, saying, “The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord are these.” For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, . . . then I will cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever.” 2 2 Jeremiah 7: 4- 7 3

Ellen White has a most solemn warning to those in responsible positions: [God] shows us that when His people are found in sin they should at once take decided measures to put that sin from them, that His frown may not rest upon them all. But if the sins of the people are passed over by those in responsible positions, His frown will be upon them, and the people of God, as a body, will be held responsible for those sins. . . . The prejudice which has arisen against us because we have reproved the wrongs that God has shown me existed, and the cry that has been raised of harshness and severity, are unjust. God bids us speak, and we will not be silent. If wrongs are apparent among His people, and if the servants of God pass on indifferent to them, they virtually sustain and justify the sinner, and are alike guilty and will just as surely receive the displeasure of God; for they will be made responsible for the sins of the guilty. Testimonies, vol. 3, 265- 266

Of those who boast of their light, and yet fail to walk in it, Christ says, “But I Say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you. And thou, Capernaum [Seventh- day Adventists, who have had great light], which art exalted unto heaven [in point of privilege], shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.”. . .

Shall the Lord be compelled to say, “Pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee”? . . . The little sins that men think are of so trivial a character that on their account they will not be brought into condemnation, are very offensive in the sight of God. Says one, “You are too severe, a man must be allowed these little defects of character.”

. . . But this is simply soothing the conscience, and crying, “Peace, peace, when there is no peace.” Sin is sin, and it is the delusion of Satan to look upon it in any other light than that it is grievous. E. G. White, Review and Herald, August 1, 1893. (The brackets, along with the comments within them, are by Ellen White and are in the original.) vol. 3, 69- 70

Extraordinary power from God must take hold of Seventh- day Adventist Churches. Reconversion must take place among the members. . . . Renewed, purified, sanctified, the church must be, else the wrath of God will fall upon them with much greater power than upon those who have never professed to be saints. Lift Him Up, 301

The righteousness that is taught, from the conference office, from the pulpit, and beside the hearth, must include the call for reformation. It must at times include the reproof of sin and the call for repentance. But it is this very duty to call sin by its right name that is often the cause of opposition, and for this reason is often omitted. (See Testimonies, vol. 5, 676)

“Don’t Rock the Boat”

The third event that brought Pastor Grosboll into conflict with the conference was the directive given to him by the conference president not to do anything in the nominating committee to “rock the boat.” Suggestions were made by conference administration as to who should hold one of the important offices. Though he would like to have been able to see the conference’s suggestions followed, the nominating committee pointed out serious spiritual concerns with the ones suggested. The committee tried to follow the counsels of the Church Manual in this regard:

The decisions and votes of the [nominating] committee are not to be controlled or influenced by any church, group, or individual. Decisions are reached after prayerful and careful study of all aspects of the matters that come before them pertaining to the administration of the work.

Seventh- day Adventist Church Manual, 131 For years keeping a “smooth running ship” seems to have been more important than revival and reformation. There is a cost to revival and reformation- it brings the wrath of Satan. So the unwritten policy appears to have been to give lip service to revival and reformation in order to appease those concerned while shunning the consequences. Thus evil has often appeared to have been tolerated, and even encouraged.

Is it possible that, maybe unintentionally, evil has often been called good? Are there people who, according to the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy, should not be in office, who have not only been kept in office, but praised and entrusted with even greater sacred responsibilities in order to elicit their good- will? The Bible warns against calling evil good. Those who condone the evil, soon condemn the good.

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Isaiah 5: 20

The nominating committee that year was both the result and the continuation of the revival taking place in the church. This revival led the nominating committee to seek to please God first, in their selection of people for office, rather than to conciliate people, though they tried to take people’s feelings into account. In the nominating committee that year it was mentioned that there were some people whom the nominating committee of the year before had not put back into office at first, but whom the pastor later insisted that they reinstate. One of the associate pastors confided that the pastor had said these people could cost him his job [locally) if they were not put back. Pastor Grosboll told the nominating committee not to make him or his job a consideration, but one thing and one thing only- the Word of God and the leading of the Holy Spirit. Several of those on the nominating committee that year recall how they spent an hour to an hour and a half at every session in the study of the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy and in prayer, and how they felt the presence of the Lord.

The nominating committee sought to put away political concerns and to allow the Lord to lead them in every selection. No one had a controlling voice, and all voting was done by secret ballot. Most felt that the Lord was definitely leading. Yet, of nearly thirty members who had made up the board, only three were not asked to return, other than a couple who had asked not to be considered for office. Nevertheless, the changes that were made were ones that the nominating committee saw as vital for revival and reformation. These changes caused a storm of opposition.

But, as with most true revivals, some rose up against revival. Private committees were formed to develop plans to resist it. People were called in an organized manner and asked to quit paying their tithe into the conference until Pastor Grosboll was removed. Various and untrue rumors were started and circulated all the way to the General Conference. There was seen the fulfillment of the prophecy:

As the work of God’s people moves forward with sanctified, resistless energy, planting the standard of Christ’s righteousness in the church, moved by a power from the throne of God, the great controversy will wax stronger and stronger, and will become more and more determined. Mind will be arrayed against mind, plans against plans, principles of heavenly origin against principles of Satan. Truth in its varied phases will be in conflict with error in its ever- varying, increasing forms, and which, if possible, will deceive the very elect. . . .

The ministry, the pulpit, and the press demand men like Caleb, who will do and dare, men whose eyes are single to detect the truth from error. . . .

The man who rejects the word of the Lord, who endeavors to establish his own way and will, tears to pieces the messenger and message which God sends in order to discover to him his sin. . . . He begins to quibble at technicalities and manners. The spirit of Satan links him up with the enemy to bear a word of criticism on less important themes. The truth becomes of less and still less value to him. He becomes an accuser of his brethren, etc., and changes leaders. Testimonies to Ministers, 407- 409

The conference seemed to support this resistance movement to revival and the nominating committee, even to their withholding of tithe. A conference official was asked, within the hearing of a number of people, if the withholding of tithe would cause the conference to act upon their wishes. He admitted that it would have an effect. As far as could be observed, there was never one word of reproof or disapproval expressed for these manipulative tactics. In fact, a conference treasurer was quoted in an ensuing board meeting, by a discontented member who said he had gotten in touch with several treasurers for guidance, as suggesting that they collectively save their tithe in a commercial account. He later confessed that this advice came from the local conference

“Preach Only Love”

Soon after serving on the nominating committee of the Wichita church, Elder R became president of the conference. Within approximately two months of his arrival he asked Pastor Grosboll to take a call outside the conference. Pastor Grosboll had been in Wichita, at the time, for only six months. He was impressed, and still is impressed, that the Lord did not want him to leave his post of duty at that time. Most of the elders felt that if Pastor Grosboll left at that time, much of the reformation that had been accomplished would be lost.

As there had been little communication between Pastor Grosboll and the new president, he wondered why the new president seemed so anxious to have him moved before he had even gotten acquainted. He asked the president if he had received some direction from the previous president. He admitted that he had. He said that the only directive he had received from the departing president was to “do something about Wichita.” Elder R shared that he had probably made a mistake by making a decision about what to do about the Wichita situation before he had even talked to the pastor. But his attitude seemed unchanged.

Pastor Grosboll was warned by the new president not to preach any sermons that would cause anyone to be offended. “Preach only love,” he was told. Many of the members believed that this theme was what they were hearing from the pulpit. Many were being edified and reconverted. But in regard to the content and presentation of his sermons, Pastor Grosboll believed that he must submit that to prayer and allow the Holy Spirit to guide and direct in the presentation of the Word. If there were theological disputes or questions of doctrine, or if the elders, as guardians of the flock and in a spirit of prayer, were impressed that the direction of his preaching ministry was not in accordance with the direction of the Holy Spirit, Pastor Grosboll would have been happy to change. But as there were no questions of theology or doctrine, and as most of the elders believed that the Holy Spirit was leading, and as Pastor Grosboll believed that the Holy Spirit was working and directing, he could not go against his convictions to preach what was given him to preach Sabbath by Sabbath.

The smooth sermons so often preached make no lasting impressions. . . . It is not from love for their neighbor that they smooth down the message entrusted to them. . . . True love seeks first the honor of God and the salvation of souls. Those who have this love will not evade the truth to save themselves from the unpleasant results of plain speaking. Prophets and Kings, 140- 141

Conviction and Opposition

Paul’s worst enemies were among the Jews, who made the highest claims to godliness. . . . The truth always involves a cross. Those who will not believe, oppose and deride those who do believe. The fact that its presentation creates a storm of opposition, is no evidence against the truth. Sketches from the Life of Paul, 279

The Concerns and Objections document accuses Pastor Grosboll of refusing to accept counsel. This accusation seems to have stemmed originally from the two convictions against which the conference had advised him, namely, (1) that the church nominating committee must act upon its own convictions, in a spirit of prayer, independent of outside pressure, and (2) that the pastor is personally responsible to God for the message he gives. But what does it mean to accept counsel? For some, to accept counsel means to yield one’s entire will. For others it means to carefully weigh all the counsel received and then seek the Lord for final guidance. The latter is Pastor Grosboll’s understanding.

We cannot depend for counsel upon humanity. The Lord will teach us our duty just as willingly as He will teach somebody else. The Desire of Ages, 668

We are to counsel together, and to be subject one to another; but at the same time we are to exercise the ability God has given us, in order to learn what is truth. Each one of us must look to God for divine enlightenment. We must individually develop a character that will stand the test in the day of God. We must not become set in our ideas, and think that no one should interfere with our opinions. Testimonies to Ministers, 110

Page two of Concerns and Objections begins with the following quotation: The church of Christ, enfeebled and defective as it may be, is the only object on earth on which He bestows His supreme regard. While He extends to all the world His invitation to come to Him and be saved, He commissions His angels to render divine help to every soul that cometh to Him in repentance and contrition, and He comes personally by His Holy Spirit into the midst of His church. [Testimonies to Ministers, 15]. Concerns and Objections, 2

But the rest of the statement from Testimonies to Ministers is omitted. The rest of the statement clarifies the first part of the quotation so that people will not misuse this statement to justify a spirit of control that exalts human leadership above God or His word. The rest of the statement identifies what the church is and sets the parameters of its authority:

Consider, my brethren and sisters, that the Lord has a people, a chosen people, His church, to be His own, His own fortress, which He holds in a sin- stricken, revolted world; and He intended that no authority should be known in it, no laws be acknowledged by it, but His own.” Testimonies to Ministers, 16

Thus the church is not some intangible structure or legal order, but it is the people of God, and these people are not to acknowledge any authority or laws but those of God. Leadership has no other authority except as invested and outlined in the Word of God. Nor have they authority to enforce any other laws than those supported by clear biblical principles. This principle is the basis of Protestantism.

With the first part of the quotation as a backdrop (Testimonies to Ministers, 15), without its qualifying parameters, the Concerns and Objections document then lists, “The specific problems we see in Elder Marshall Grosboll’s ministry ht Wichita, Kansas.” We will list them numerically:

  • “[ 1] divisive tactics he uses to achieve his goals,
  • [2] his refusal to counsel and plan with his ministering brethren,
  • [3] the appearance he gives of building an institution that supports only his goals,
  • [4] the separation of his teaching and preaching ministry from the organized church and the alienation of his supporters from the local Wichita churches and the local conference.”

We have come to a new day and age in the church when a conference leader will seek, not just to remove credentials, but to actually annul one’s ordination, as this paper calls for, over such subjective charges as these. [Pastor Grosboll did not have his credentials removed when he chose to take a leave of absence, though they subsequently expired.] To seek to take one’s ordination away is a very unusual and extreme action. That is declaring that the person was either ordained by mistake, or that he has turned away from God. Yet, to our knowledge, no charge of commandment breaking, false theology, or apostasy has ever been raised against Pastor Grosboll, nor is such found in Concerns and Objections. Nor is there anything charged against him relative to Paul’s counsels to either Titus or Timothy as to what are the conditions of eldership- simply these subjective charges, all of which have been leveled against God’s messengers in all ages.

Aleander’s attack on Luther included charges of’ “sedition, rebellion, impiety, and blasphemy” (The Great Controversy, 147). Luther’s response was: “I rejoice to see that the gospel is now, as in former times, a cause of trouble and dissension. This is the character; this is the destiny, of the word of God. ‘I came not to send peace on earth, but a sword, said Jesus Christ. God is wonderful and terrible in His counsels; beware lest, by presuming to quench dissensions; you should persecute the holy word of God, and draw down upon yourselves a frightful deluge of insurmountable dangers; of present disasters, and eternal desolation” (ibid., 159). Such boldness as Luther’s was not to be tolerated, and his enemies determined to put down this “daring obstinacy.” Ibid., 201

In this context, it should be noted that it was also a belief of Protestantism, and has been taught throughout the history of the Adventist Church, in accordance with the teachings of the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy, that ordination is from the Lord. The laying on of hands is to be in recognition of the call and ordination of the Lord. Inspiration makes it abundantly clear that not all who are called ministers by man are recognized as such by the Lord, and many whom the church condemns are still ordained by the Lord. Let us be careful that we not be found to be fighting against the Lord, as the Jewish church did in their contrivances against Jesus and the apostles, and as Ellen White said we also have already done, as for example, in 1888.

The initial charge given for the removal of ordination is that Pastor Grosboll is divisive. Is that true? Or has he stood for principle in the face of opposition? The smooth preaching that creates no trouble is condemned by God. Isn’t it time for something to stir the people of God? Isn’t it time to get ready for Jesus to come? And isn’t it time to ask why He hasn’t come?

Sins exist in the church that God hates, but they are scarcely touched for fear of making enemies. Opposition has risen in the church to the plain testimony. Some will not bear it. They wish smooth things spoken unto them. And if the wrongs of individuals are touched, they complain of severity, and sympathize with those in the wrong. As Ahab inquired of Elijah, “Art thou he that troubleth Israel?” they are ready to look with suspicion and doubt upon those who bear the plain testimony, and like Ahab overlook the wrong which made it necessary for reproof and rebuke. When the church depart from God they despise the plain testimony, and complain of severity and harshness. It is a sad evidence of the lukewarm state of the church.

Just as long as God has a church, He will have those who will cry aloud and spare not, who will be His instruments to reprove selfishness and sins, and will not shun to declare the whole counsel of God, whether men will hear or forbear. I saw that individuals would rise up against the plain testimonies. It does not suit their natural feelings. They would choose to have smooth things spoken unto them, and have peace cried in their ears. I view the church in a more dangerous condition than they ever have been. Experimental religion is known but by a few. The shaking must soon lake place to purify the church. Spiritual Gifts, vol. 2, 283- 284

I asked the meaning of the shaking I had seen, and was shown that it would be caused by the straight testimony called forth by the counsel of the True Witness to the Laodiceans. This will have its effect upon the heart of the receiver, and will lead him to exalt the standard and pour forth the straight truth. Some will not bear this straight testimony. They will rise up against it, and this is what will cause a shaking among God’s people.

I saw that the testimony of the True Witness has not been half heeded. The solemn testimony upon which the destiny of the church hangs has been lightly esteemed, if not entirely disregarded. This testimony must work deep repentance; all who truly receive it will obey it and be purified. Early Writings, 270

Preachers should have no scruples to preach the truth as it is found in God’s Word. Let the truth cut. I have been shown that why ministers have not more success is, they are afraid of hurting feelings, fearful of not being courteous, and they lower the standard of truth. Spiritual Gifts, vol. 2, 284- 285

The people are asleep in their sins and need to be alarmed before they can shake off this lethargy. Their ministers have preached smooth things; but God’s servants, who bear sacred, vital truths, should cry aloud and spare not, that the truth may tear off the garment of security and find its way to the heart. Testimonies, vol. 1, 249

In this fearful time, just before Christ is to come the second time, God’s faithful preachers will have to bear a still more pointed testimony than was borne 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., 321

Man may acknowledge these preachers, but “God will not acknowledge them as His shepherds.”

Are we putting our sincere preachers into a position where they must choose between pleasing God or the conference? Must they choose between receiving the woe of man versus the woe of God?

The reason for the conference’s charge of divisiveness appears to be Pastor Grosboll’s straight preaching and emphasis on revival and reformation. The evidence put forth to prove their charge is the accusation that he split up the Wichita South Church. Is that accusation true?

The Conference, the Church, and the Pastor

The Wichita South Church has a history of dissension and trouble. Often it seems that this trouble has been due to certain people holding the lines of power, often against majority wishes. A former elder of the South Church confided recently that for many years he drove 100 miles round trip every Sabbath in order to find another church so as to escape the politics of the South Church. In 1966 the church first divided, only to come back together again a few years later in order to build a new church. It was decided at that time that the union would be only temporary, for the building of the new church building, and that when it was completed they would start planning another new church in town.

There was a time when Wichita had a thriving sanitarium with a nurses’ training school. In 1986 the church celebrated its 100- year anniversary. And yet, after 100 years, the Kansas-Nebraska Conference still had only one church in Wichita, 4 the largest city of Kansas. The medical missionary facility had long since ceased to exist.

When Pastor Grosboll came, the majority of the elders and those on the board, as well as many other members in the church, soon joined solidly behind him in order to bring about revival and reformation. But nine months later the conference president announced to the board of elders his decision to transfer Pastor Grosboll to an undecided location. The elders wanted to express their feelings on the issue, but he told them that this was, “and employee employer situation and did not involve them.” The church board promptly met, and in the absence of Pastor Grosboll, voted the following and sent a copy of the action to the president:

November 30, 1986 During a November church board meeting we voted by overwhelming majority to officially and corporately express our support of Pastor Marshall Grosboll’s ministry in Wichita and our desire to not see him removed or transferred from his current office as pastor.

We humbly ask your respect of the Church Board’s opinion in this matter and look forward to greater evidences of mutual unity and support between our church and conference leadership so that our Seventh- day Adventist message may strongly advance. Respectfully, the Wichita Seventh- day Adventist South Church Board. David Jakstis, Head Elder, Chairman by absentia of Elder Grosboll.”

There were two apparent reasons preventing Pastor Grosboll from being able to move at this time. One was the nine- month Bible worker training program (the Institute of Ministry) begun in the fall of that year. Two of the six students in that initial year had moved, with their families, over a thousand miles to attend. Pastor Grosboll did not feel he could leave until this program, which was started with conference approval, was completed in June of the following year.

The second was that an evangelistic series, which Pastor Grosboll was to hold in Wichita the next month, had been voted by the board. The brochures had been ordered, and the Century II Convention Center of Wichita had been reserved for many months. The reservation of the theater room of the convention center was itself a blessing. Pastor Grosboll and the majority of the elders felt under deep conviction to hold this series.

Moreover, there did not appear to be any pressing reason for an immediate leave. The local offerings, tithe, church school enrollment, and church attendance were all up, in spite of those who were withholding tithe and causing dissension. And, as already mentioned, the elders and the board were very anxious that the pastor should stay. In fact, many felt it would do irreparable harm for the pastor to leave at that time under pressure from those opposed to reform.

Pastor Grosboll assured the president, however, that although, after earnest prayer, he felt convicted that he should complete these two tasks that were already under way, he would be very willing to accomplish them on a self- supporting basis if the Executive Committee requested him to step down as pastor.

The president said, however, that the evangelistic meetings, with Pastor Grosboll speaking, should go on as planned. A month and a half before the meetings were to begin, however, he presented the situation to the Administrative Committee. The Administrative Committee is a small committee within the Executive Committee that sends recommendations and actions to the official Executive Committee for final approval. They took this action:

Marshall Grosboll, for various reasons, some of which are not of his own making, has become the focal point of controversy in the Wichita Church, and out of concern for both the pastor and the church members, it was voted: That Marshall Grosboll and the conference officers aggressively work together toward Marshall Grosboll’s transfer from the Wichita Church which will take place shortly after the completion of the evangelistic meetings which conclude about March 1, 1987.- Administrative Committee Minutes

At this time Elder R told the elders that they should concentrate on the meetings and that nothing else would be done about the pastoral situation until after the meetings, which was confirmed by letter as follows: “We are committed to working in harmony with the December 1986 agreement with Pastor Grosboll that we would not pursue the Wichita matter until after the evangelistic meetings. “( Letter from Elder R, February 26, 1987). He also promised the elders that when the situation was presented to the Executive Committee they would have a chance to present their feelings. Unfortunately, neither of these promises made in December of 1986 were kept. In fact they had both been broken a month before this letter was written.

The first Executive Committee of the new year met on January 26, 1987. Since the evangelistic meetings were being set up at the time, Pastor Grosboll was unable to attend. At this meeting of the Executive Committee the minutes of the December 1986 Administrative Committee were voted upon. Within the Executive Committee minutes it was made clear that by voting on the Administrative Committee minutes, the action became official. Many of the church members felt betrayed and some wrote letters of concern to the president and members of the Executive Committee. The president responded to this effect:

The matter of the Wichita Church and Marshall Grosboll, the pastor, was not on the agenda for the Executive Committee. . . . The Executive Committee action to accept previous minutes in no way alters the opportunity for church members to appeal tile decision of die Administrative Committee or any decision of the Executive Committee. This particular January 26 meeting of the Executive Committee did not address the pros and cons of the decision made by the Administrative Committee. Letter to WHK by Elder R, February 23, 1987

Many felt that this response was double talk. First they were promised that nothing would be done until after the evangelistic meetings. Then they were also promised that they would be heard before any Executive Committee action was taken. But both of these promises were broken, and then justified. But they were told that nothing wrong had taken place because the church could “appeal” the action. Yet all know that an appeal is far different from being heard before an action is taken. There were weighty spiritual interests at stake, yet the church members who were concerned were made to feel that they were rebels and troublemakers.

Because of these, and other similar actions of the conference, confusion, uncertainty as to what the conference might do next, and disappointment began to grow within the church members. It seemed that those who were giving Bible studies, working on the evangelistic meetings, supporting the church, attending prayer meetings, and who loved this message were being overlooked. It also appeared that while the conference had chosen to overlook the wishes of the elders and the board, some people seemed to have special favor and influence with the conference. If these happenings just involved some secular interest, or was indeed merely an employee- employer situation, it would not make much difference, but the results of these decisions were bound to affect the health and well- being of God’s church and the conversion of souls. The effects are eternal. Concerned members began to pray as never before. They wondered what they should do. Some read this statement and knew they must do something:

If God abhors one sin above another, of which His people are guilty, it is doing nothing in case of an emergency. Indifference and neutrality in a religious crisis is regarded of God as a grievous crime and equal to the very worst type of hostility against God. Testimonies, vol. 3, 281

But it seemed that whatever the church members who wanted the pastor to stay tried to do, it was colored in the darkest hues. The worst construction was placed upon their motives. These members were viewed as a problem to be dealt with, and the conference blamed the pastor for the problem. The problem, in these members’ eyes, was the conference.

This response paper is not for the purpose of making a complaint against the conference’s actions or attitudes. We are answering the concerns and objections of the conference. We are not here to judge motives. Nevertheless, these feelings expressed in the preceding paragraph were the feelings of many of the members at the time.

Moreover, even if individuals were wronged, it is not they who were really wronged. We are all but mere stewards. The question is: Has the Lord been wronged? The Holy Spirit most definitely worked in the evangelistic meetings, with hundreds of non- Adventists attending, and many who are still making decisions for Christ over two years later. Many believe that the Lord definitely worked in the previous year’s nominating committee. Many felt the Holy Spirit bringing revival to their hearts from the sermons and other services of the church and were enjoying new conversion experiences. But when those in authority sympathize with those whom the Lord is convicting of sin, hearts are hardened instead of softened, and souls are lost.

Many are the souls that have been destroyed by the unwise sympathy of their brethren. Testimonies, vol. 3, 329 In nine cases out of ten if the one reproved [often by the Holy Spirit] had been left under a sense of his wrongs, he might have been helped to see them and thereby have been reformed. Ibid., 359

This unsanctified sympathy places the sympathizers where they are sharers in the guilt of the one reproved. Ibid., 359 These false sympathizers will have an account to settle with the Master by- and- by for their work of death. Ibid., 329

Let us not repeat the rebellion of 1888: I can never forget the experience which we had in Minneapolis, or the things which were then revealed to me in regard to the spirit that controlled men, the words spoken, the actions done in obedience to the powers of evil. . . . They were moved at the meeting by another spirit, and they knew not that God had sent these young men to bear a special message to them which they treated with ridicule and contempt, not realizing that the heavenly intelligences were looking upon them. I know that at that time the Spirit of God was insulted. Manuscript 24, 1892

Minneapolis was a type of a greater apostasy that Ellen White predicted would take place in the last days.

If we are to bear a part in this work to its close, we must recognize the fact that there are good things to come to the people of God in a way that we had not discerned; and that there will be resistance from the very ones we expected to engage in such a work. Letter from EGW to 0. A. Olsen, Letter 19d, 1892; The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, 1024

The light which will lighten the earth with its glory will be called a false light. EGW, Review & Herald, May 27, 1890, vol. 2, 397 Because of the disappointment by such a large number of church members, the conference set another Executive Committee date to discuss the situation with Pastor Grosboll present. They set the meeting for the day the evangelistic meetings were over, on March 10. On that day, forty members of the church took off work, met at the church, and fasted and prayed throughout the day for the Lord to intervene for the welfare of His work in Wichita.

The president gave the Executive Committee five options. But the motion the committee passed was quite different from any of the options presented. The motion that was voted upon was as follows:

In appreciation and support of the present soul- winning outreach among a significant proportion of the membership in Wichita and in recognition of a very real need for healing among the members, the Conference Executive Committee urges Dr. Grosboll to devote his untiring efforts to both the soul- winning and healing ministries of the church while also carefully and prayerfully, and in close counsel with conference leadership, formulating a plan for maximizing SDA ministry in Wichita and that the plan he presented for Conference Executive Committee action in June, 1987.

The plan should address: 1. The possibility of a new church in the area 2. The possibility of a mutually agreeable transfer for the pastor. 3. Any other considerations for change that could affect healing and church growth.

Surely the Lord led in this decision to support Pastor Grosboll rather than to transfer him at this time. Over the next six weeks, approximately 40 people were baptized. There were yet four months to go before the Institute of Ministry concluded, and there were many people from the evangelistic meetings to follow up.

But though some were pleased with the action, those opposed to the pastor, whose favor the conference had been courting, were now greatly offended, and decided to take things into their own hands. The next nominating committee was coming up. Plans were laid and secret activities took place by certain individuals opposed to the pastor in an endeavor to gain control of the nominating committee.

Except that there were many people in church who had not been in church for years, and that they left as soon as the secret- ballot voting was over, the election appeared normal and the process proceeded smoothly. But when the results came in, it was immediately apparent that it was very untypical. Some who had not received more than one vote the year before now had enough votes, in a 700- member church, to be on the committee. There seemed to be a core of people on the “Committee to Select the Nominating Committee” who were bitterly opposed to the pastor, and anyone who supported him.

The head elder and head deacon were dumbfounded. As the head deacon began to look through the voting ballots, he began to see something very unusual. Many of the ballots appeared to be nearly the same. He quickly went through and pulled out 64 ballots that were nearly identical in the first nine out of the eleven names. It was apparent that these 64 votes had been influenced to all vote the same. Upon investigation, several people confessed to having had a secret “pre- nominating election.” There were 222 votes cast— 64 by the “opposition party” and 158 by the rest of the church. But the 158 were voting individually, while the 64 pooled their votes. Thus those 64 who pooled their votes outweighed the rest of the church. As was pointed out in the ensuing board, this tactic is contrary to the church manual:

The effort of one individual or a small group to dictate to the entire membership of the church is disapproved. Everything of a political nature should be avoided. Seventh- day Adventist Church Manual, 1986, 126

Pastor Grosboll, in counsel with some of the elders, immediately called for an emergency church board meeting for the following afternoon in order to discuss the situation. The conference president, however, supported the results, possibly because some of those who were on the committee were opposed to the pastor, as he was. On Sunday morning, before the board meeting, he called the pastor and demanded that he call off the board meeting. By coincidence, another elder was visiting in the pastor’s office at the time of the phone call and was shocked at the president’s responses.

When told about the secret pre- nominating committee, the president said, “Just wink at those activities. Let things stand as they are. Do not involve the board.” Pastor Grosboll responded, “I have never been put in a situation where I have had to go against the direct command of a president, but in this case, I must be faithful to my charge as shepherd of the flock. You may fire me, but as long as I am the pastor here, I feel responsible to let the board know of the situation. The Lord cannot bless this church if we knowingly allow a small faction of discontented people to take it over through a dishonest election.”

The president then claimed that nothing could be proved. When informed that some had confessed, he then claimed that even so, nothing had been done that was wrong. But the board met, with nearly complete attendance. A conference official also met with them.

After seeing the evidence, the board voted 25- 4, by secret ballot, to hold another election, and to let the church vote on 11 of the top 22 votes from the previous election. That week the president, who was on vacation, made numerous calls to the pastor to try to get him to override the board’s decision. The president then informed the pastor that he had been in frequent contact with the General Conference about this issue and that the board had no such authority, but that their decision would have to be ratified by the church as a body.

On the next Sabbath morning, when the church was to vote again, the conference secretary called and asked to speak to the board before Sabbath school in order to get them to change their decision. The pastor informed the secretary that if he used undue pressure to get the board to go against their convictions, he would have to oppose his efforts, which he had never done in public before.

Many administrators and pastors understand that a committee can often be overpowered into doing what they do not really want to do simply by being told by one of authority that they “can’t” do something, or that they “must” do something.

The truth of this statement was born out just a few weeks after this date, when the South Church board elected their representatives to the upcoming Triennial Constituency meeting. The meeting was chaired by a conference official. The constituent representatives chosen by the board were primarily supportive of the pastor. The conference official said that he would not accept those representatives and had the church board re- vote. Again he refused to accept the vote. The board meeting lasted until late- until the board chose a group of representatives that he could agree with. Whether the list of names eventually chosen was more representative of the church, as the conference official claimed, or not, is not the point. The fact that a determined official can often override a committee was once again proved.

The conference secretary withdrew his request to meet with the board, but he came to church and made a motion on the floor to “table this vote and refer the whole situation to the conference Executive Committee,” and then proceeded to vote. He was voted down, and another election was held.

The going against a president’s command, though for conscientious reasons, and the voting down of a conference officer by the church body, resulted in another special Executive Committee being called the next day. The meeting was scheduled for ten days hence, and it appeared to be with intent to have the pastor fired.

By this time the Executive Committee had been more fully influenced against the pastor. As one committee member said at the meeting: “This is the second special executive meeting on this situation I have been called to, and my time is important. I do not intend to be called again!” Yet personal convenience or irritability is no reason to make a decision of so important a matter.

For about two hours, Pastor Grosboll quietly listened to the accusations against him by the conference leadership. When at last he arose to speak, he had only spoken for a few minutes when the union president arose and interrupted him, almost with vehemence, contradicting what he had said. Pastor Grosboll sat down, and did not speak again except to answer questions. There was no willingness to hear and no reason to speak. Minds were set. Reasoning only exasperated.

When One Door Closed, Another Opened

In the meantime there were other developments that appeared to be direct leadings of the Lord. First, during the evangelistic meetings that had just concluded one month previously, one of the largest television stations in town, an ABC affiliate, had asked Pastor Grosboll if he would consider producing a weekly television program for them. At first the pastor declined, not feeling qualified for such an endeavor. But as the pastor and others prayed about it, they felt maybe it was a providential leading of the Lord and not just coincidence. After the series concluded, Pastor Grosboll called the television station to ask if they were still interested.

They assured him they were and asked him to meet with them to discuss the matter. When they met, he told them he knew nothing about television and that if he was going to produce a program for their station, they would need to do all the technical work. They said they would, and the price they quoted was reasonable.

Pastor Grosboll then inquired about airing times. Sunday morning was the time when all their other religious programs aired, but the ratings for the best times on Sunday morning showed only 5,000 local viewers. He asked them if they would allow him to go on an evening time slot. They said they would make an evening slot available for him. They had a nightly program called “The Judge” on right after Nightline at 11: 30 P. M., which they offered to replace with a program that Marshall Grosboll might produce. They said he could choose any night of the week he wished. When they checked the ratings, they found that three times more people were viewing at 11: 30 P. M. than on Sunday mornings. They also found that more people viewed on Thursday evenings than on any other evening. When they asked about the price for the Thursday evening time slot, they were told they could have it for the same price as Sunday mornings. Thus the Steps to Life television program was born and became the only evening religious program aired in Wichita at that time.

Why was the television station so generous? Surely the Lord was opening up the way to reach Wichita as well as all of central and western Kansas.

A second development took place on the morning of the second voting of the Committee to Select the Nominating Committee. Several church members, independently, came to the conviction that the South Church should start a new church, in accordance with the suggestion of the Conference Executive Committee. One elder, just the day before, had been impressed to take a different route to work than he normally took, and on the way he came across a fairly new Mennonite church that had just come on the market that week. It appeared to be just the right size.

The Lord seemed to impress this conviction to start a new church on many hearts. A church board meeting, followed by a general church business meeting, had already been called for Sunday, the following day. The starting of a new church was not what the board was called for, but it was the only item discussed. That Sunday morning, before the board, a delegation of many church members went to look at the Mennonite church. The church board, with hardly a member missing, voted unanimously to start another church at this site. They then voted unanimously, minus one, to ask the conference for Pastor Grosboll to be the pastor of this new congregation. They also formed a steering committee, by another unanimous vote.

The actions of the board were then presented to the evening business meeting, with 181 voting members present. Again it was a unanimous vote to start the new church and a unanimous vote, minus one, to ask Pastor Grosboll to be the pastor. The steering committee was also approved by a unanimous vote. It was as if an angel had poured oil over troubled waters and brought everyone together into unity for a short period of time.

Within three weeks, the new church was meeting with 220 in attendance. The average attendance from that date to the end of the year was in excess of 190. This fact also created a problem. It seems that some people envisioned that when a new church started, a few of the leaders interested in revival and reformation would leave the parent church to start the new. This development would have left the power in the hands of those who had previously held it for decades. But it wasn’t perceived how big a dent would be made in the attendance and offerings of the South Church. Few dreamed that half of the attending members would pull up roots and go out to start this new church. Nearly all of those who were involved in giving Bible studies went with the new congregation.

Many of those who attended the new church testify that over the next seven months they experienced more peace and joy and the evident presence of the Lord in that congregation than they had ever experienced elsewhere. Thus began the “Three Angels Seventh- day Adventist Church.”

The charge has gone out from both the local conference and the Union to places throughout North America, and even the world field, that Pastor Grosboll wrecked the South Church by dividing it in two. Is this true? It was with the highest of motives that the new church was started. And the South Church continues to survive quite adequately.

But if the truth were really known, the conference refused to consider the wishes of the overwhelming majority on the church board, or the board of elders. Rather, the conference united with those who were determined to maintain the church under their control, by trying to bring someone in to pastor who would suit their purposes.

Under the prevailing circumstances, it would appear that the Lord did the best He could for His work in Wichita. Circumstances indicate that the Lord directed in the establishing of the new church. He guided the surprise recommendation through the Executive Committee, impressed various spiritual leaders in the church, opened up a church, and guided the process through the church board and the business meeting.

Pastor Grosboll Faces a Decision

While the new church was being formed, ten days before to the first worship service, Pastor Grosboll was terminated from pastoring in Wichita by the specially called Executive Committee. The pastor was given several alternatives, such as going back to Andrews University or joining the pastoral staff of the College View Church in Nebraska. Later he was offered another district in Kansas. After much prayer, Pastor Grosboll still did not feel free to leave the Institute of Ministry until it was finished nor to stop the television ministry that was just beginning. The president then suggested to him that he should take a leave of absence. Pastor Grosboll accepted this advice. The president also had suggested at an earlier date, shortly after he became president, that Pastor Grosboll might consider establishing a selfsupporting ministry. He indicated that he would cooperate with such an endeavor if he would. This counsel was also considered.

Pastor Grosboll accepted the decision of the Executive Committee, without question, and cooperated with them. Though asked to give a farewell speech to the church by the ensuing board meeting, at which Pastor Grosboll was not present, never again did he take the pulpit in the South Church, except to make a plea from the front to support the conference and to stay with the church, no matter what happened, because it is God’s church. Neither did Pastor Grosboll, for a time after his dismissal, take an active part in the organization of the new church. When asked by the elders of the new church to preach, he at first declined. But he then came under the conviction that, as he was called and commissioned by the Lord to preach, he should accept. This he did.

The president had promised to make the Three Angels congregation a conference church. But the conference soon set some conditions to making them a church, which conditions included total conference control of the pulpit and the board chairmanship. Pastor Grosboll was not the chairman of the board, nor the head of any department.) As the Three Angels congregation did not feel it could acquiesce to these conditions, the conference for several months ignored them. They did, however, accept their tithes and offerings. The Three Angels church was in the top 10% of the churches in the conference in both attendance and in the amount of tithe returned to the conference.

Eventually the president met with the head elder and Pastor Grosboll. His great concern was that the elders of the church were assigning who was to preach on Sabbath morning, which included Pastor Grosboll a large percentage of the time. These two elders shared that this was their understanding of the functions and duties of the elders, but that if they were wrong, and could be shown so from Scripture and the Spirit of Prophecy, they would be happy to change.

They asked the president to study with them, but he declined, stating that, “Only the Biblical Research Department has the authority to study this. We must follow the Church Manual” But the Manual does not specify what the president was insisting on. Moreover, the two elders shared that they believed that the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy must be the guide which we follow and that God would help us to understand it, if we approach it in humility, prayer, and sincerity. The Manual may be a useful guide on procedure, but it is not inspired and must not take the place of the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy. But the president still declined to study the subject, stating that unless the congregation would agree to this condition without question, they could not be a church. Because the elders could not conscientiously agree to this, Pastor Grosboll was again accused of insubordination.

You should give your authority to the people from God’s Word. You should not believe any doctrine simply because another says it is truth. The Ellen G. White 1888 material, 170

Lines of Control

The Bible has ample counsel on the duties of an elder. To the elders (plural) of the church of Ephesus, Paul said, “Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock” (Acts 20: 28- 29). It was the local elders who were called to shepherd the flock and protect them from wolves. This was the New Testament model. It was the Roman apostasy that developed a central power to control the local congregation.

It was one of the leading doctrines of Romanism that the pope is… invested with supreme authority over bishops and pastors in all parts of the world. The Great Controversy’, 50

God wants all local congregations to work together in unity. God helped us to develop a system of government within the church in ,order to enhance unity and to preserve doctrinal purity. God did not design that anyone or any entity should work independently of His Spirit, or of the people and systems His Spirit was directing. (This statement means that the organized church is just as responsible for cooperating with God’s various ministries that are not under their direct control as the ministries are responsible for cooperating with the organized church. The same responsibility of cooperation was required of the Jewish leadership when John the Baptist and his disciples, and Jesus and His disciples, came preaching the gospel.) God intends that the church should be structured and organized. But this system was never designed for the purpose of dictating and controlling the consciences of men and congregations as was done during the Middle Ages. It is the love of God, and the Holy Spirit, that must unite us together in bonds of brotherhood. There is a place for disfellowshipping and discipline of members and churches based upon biblical principles, but never upon man- made rules. There is a place for leadership, but never arbitrary control and vindictiveness. Arbitrary human control and kingly power has been one of the great shortcomings of this church that has led us into Leodiceanism. This was one of our primary problems in 1888. Whenever human leadership supersedes the leadership of the Holy Spirit, Christ is denied. In 1888, Ellen White called for us to make “Christ our righteousness;” not man.

God designs that men shall use their minds and consciences for themselves. He never designed that one man should become the shadow of another, and utter only another’s sentiments. But this error has been coming in among us, that a very few are to be mind, conscience, and judgment for all God’s workers. The foundation of Christianity is “Christ our Righteousness.” Men are individually responsible to God and must act as God acts upon them, not as another human mind acts upon their mind; for if this method of indirect influence is kept up, souls cannot be impressed and directed by the great I AND. They wilt, on the other hand, have their experience blended with another, and will be kept under a moral restraint, which allows no freedom of action or of choice. . . .

If we would be wise, and use diligently, prayerfully and thankfully the means whereby light and blessings are to come to his people, then no voice nor power upon earth would have authority over us to say, “This shall not be.” The Lord has presented before me that men in responsible positions are standing directly in the way of the workings of God upon His people. The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, 112, 113

It is not for the Lord’s delegated ministers to look to other minds to plan and devise for them. They must use the ability God has given them, and make God the center and source of all their wisdom. Ibid., 90

The feeling of Elder Butler [was that] position gave unlimited authority. Ibid., 110 When finite men shall cease to put themselves in the way, to hinder, then God will work in our midst as never before. Ibid., 114

Let no human hand place a yoke upon your neck. Take the yoke Christ gives. Learn of Him. Ibid., 141

No one must be permitted to close the avenues whereby the light of truth shall come to tile people. As soon as this shall be attempted, God’s Spirit will be quenched. Ibid., 171

These are but a small sampling of the hundreds of statements Ellen White gave on this subject during and after the 1888 experience. Let us not just try to find other statements, wrested out of their context, to “counter” and “balance” these plain statements, but let us permit them to have their full weight. Let us obey the word of the Lord, not argue it away as those do who try to avoid the responsibilities of the Sabbath. These statements are not advising against receiving proper and due counsel, which we all need. Nor are they mitigating against organization, which the Lord has ordained. But rather, they are strictly condemning “kingly power” within organization, such as we had in Ellen White’s day, and which some people believe we have even more so today. She said this spirit of over- control would quench the Spirit of the Lord. Is that happening?

Is it possible that if a president becomes conscience for a pastor, that he in turn expects the pastor to be conscience for the people? According to the above statements, this practice will quench God’s Spirit. In a meeting between Pastor Grosboll and the president during a worker’s meeting right after the first nominating committee, the president encouraged him to reinstate into office some of those who were the most bitter. Pastor Grosboll said that, though some pastors may do so, he did not feel it was right for a pastor to override a nominating committee or to impose his own will upon them. The nominating committee had seriously prayed about their decisions and felt the Lord had guided them. Moreover, he shared that he did not feel it was right, even for a nominating committee, to put people into office just to appease them. He, as a shepherd, tried to minister to all, but to allow any segment of the congregation to run the church just to avoid trouble, he believed was wrong. Then he asked the president where that policy of appeasement was working for the advancement of God’s work. Will that policy bring about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit?

It should be noted that in 1896, according to the SDA Encyclopedia (1966), Kansas had 3,000 Seventh- day Adventist members. Today it has 4,756 members, or 8% fewer per capita of the Kansas population than before the turn of the century. In 1902 Kansas had 100 churches. Today it has 58 churches. In the last 7 years, Kansas membership has grown by 1, while the population has grown by over 100,000 people. Is God’s Spirit already being quenched?

If we want the Spirit’s power to return to our work, we must have less confidence and dependence in man, and far more in God. Jesus is to have pre- eminence in the church and over the church (Col. 1: 18). “But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually’ as H e wills” (1 Cor. 12: 11). The Galatian church was severely reprimanded by Paul for yielding to the authority and influence of James and Peter from Jerusalem in going against the will of God. Is the church today any less responsible to God than was the church in Galatia?

The New Congregation Faces Change

Although the leaders of the new congregation would not yield their convictions about the duties of the elders and the limits of a conference’s rightful influence, the conference seemed to work long and hard to find a way to break down these convictions. One guest speaker who was invited in, by the elders, to speak to the congregation, reported how he was repeatedly called by the president and influenced as to what he should say to the congregation.

The conference eventually appointed a pastor for this group, although they were not yet accepted as an entity of the conference. The board of elders and the church board were both assured that this retired pastor was coming in to work with the Three Angels congregation as they were so functioning, and that he would not seek to change them. Having received this assurance, both the board of elders and the church board gladly voted unanimously to accept this new pastor. Elder Grosboll, as well as the members of the Three Angels church, wanted very much to work with the conference.

Elder Grosboll spoke only one time after the new pastor arrived, and that was a Sabbath that had been scheduled by the elders before the new pastor arrived. He was asked to speak twice more. The first time he declined, as he did not feel that the new pastor was yet comfortable with him. However, it soon appeared that the new pastor had come with an assigned purpose. The next time the elders asked Elder Grosboll to speak, the new pastor vigorously opposed it.

Person after person in the church began to experience what they felt was a concerted undermining of Pastor Grosboll’s ministry and the Institute of Ministry (now called Steps to Life, Inc.) by the new pastor. Some have shared how, in private conversations, various unflattering titles and characterizations were used to discredit Elder Grosboll and the Institute. When another minister visited the church one month after the arrival of the new pastor, he was told by the new pastor that he had come to Wichita “to straighten things out,” because “they were not what they should be.” But that was not what the board had been told as to the purpose of his coming.

Two months after the arrival of the new pastor, Elder Grosboll left on a one- month preaching tour overseas. During Elder Grosboll’s absence, the pastor began to advocate two things: 1) He wanted the elders to turn the pulpit over to him and 2) he wanted the congregation to agree to becoming a “company” within the conference. The elders had previously considered the possibility of becoming a conference “company.” They were united in their expressions that to become a company would be against all biblical and Spirit of Prophecy principles for the establishment of a group of believers, as will be explained later in this response paper. Upon Elder Grosboll’s return from overseas, the church was changed. Arriving back home on Friday afternoon, many met him with grave concerns. He was told there was to be a special organizational meeting the following evening with the president and conference- appointed pastor officiating. The church was to be officially organized into a conference company at this meeting. Many people had serious questions, not only about how this was rushed through while Elder Grosboll was out of the country and the methods used to achieve this change, but also about the biblical principles involved in being a company instead of a church. They asked if they could meet over at Elder Grosboll’s house on Sabbath afternoon to study and pray about the situation before the evening organizational meeting look place.

As the members studied and prayed together on Sabbath afternoon, they became more and more concerned about the situation. Many said they had tried to ask questions at various meetings during Elder Grosboll’s absence, but the pastor seemed to ignore these questions of concern. They related how at some of the meetings when some of them had tried to ask questions, the pastor had simply terminated the meeting. Moreover, they said that the church had never voted to become a company (as, in fact, the minutes verify. The actual motion that was voted upon was: “To proceed with the process of becoming a church.” Some people did indeed understand this to include the possibility of becoming a company first, but others did not.) These members felt that the decision had been pushed upon them.

Now, that very Sabbath afternoon, an hour before the sun was to set, there was to be a business meeting at which time they were to be officially made a company without ever having voted to be such, nor with their questions answered. They decided that before they could in good conscience sign their names to the company charter, some of their questions must be answered. With the conference president scheduled to be at the meeting, they hoped that he could answer these questions.

That evening the conference president, knowing that many had serious concerns, said that no one needed to sign the company charter who had uncertainties about doing so. Thus there was no need to ask any questions, because no one who had questions needed to become a part of the company. Everyone was free to do whatever he or she wanted. (Ever since that time, however, those who did not sign the company charter have been labeled as trouble makers or Grosboll followers.)

As this was a business meeting, however, several raised their hands to speak. When hands were not recognized, one person stood up to ask a question. The pastor asked whether the question was relevant, and thus stymied the questioner. A second person stood and sought to ask a question. When he got the floor and began to speak, the pastor suddenly interrupted him, without warning, and began to pray a lengthy prayer, asking the Lord to send the evil angels away and to “overcome the spirit of Satan.” Finally, when the prayer was over, another individual stood to ask a question and he walked up to the front to be able to speak. When he stepped up to the pulpit, the pastor said: “That is the president’s pulpit tonight, you are not allowed to speak from there.” The questioner then calmly walked over to the side mike, at which point the pastor moved the microphone and stood between the would- be speaker and the microphone. When the questioner finally managed to speak, it was but a simple question for the president.

Finally, someone got a motion on the floor to allow discussion. It easily passed. However, as soon as the first person got up to speak, several people who had previously been asked to do so, in what appeared to be an orchestrated move to block discussion, came up to sign their names to the charter- membership company book, refusing to listen to any comments or questions. (One prominent individual shared later about having been asked to come up right at the first and sign the book, evidently as an influence to get others to sign.) But the discussion continued, with little attempt to answer the questions.

Earlier that day, Elder Grosboll had jotted down some thoughts he wanted to share at the meeting. He talked for nearly an hour, outlining his concerns. It was not a prepared speech, and much of his speech concerned things said earlier by the pastor, the president, and some of the members. More on this speech later.

One of the members who spoke, simply asked the president: “Would you give us the biblical grounds for becoming a company?” The president replied, “There are no biblical grounds for becoming a company. The Bible also does not tell you not to smoke.”

Toward the end of the meeting, Elder Grosboll again took the floor and pled with the president not to divide the church. Turning to the president, he said, in effect: “We want to work together But people have honest questions and convictions. Why can’t we get together in a spirit of prayer and study these things out? Surely the Holy Spirit will reveal His will to us and bring us into harmony and unity.” iThe appeal was ignored.

That night, approximately 40 people signed the company charter. That night the church was divided.

The president said that the company status would not become effective for three more weeks, allowing more time for people to sign and become charter members.

The following night was a regularly scheduled board meeting. A motion was put forth by Elder Grosboll requesting the district pastor, who was on the conference executive committee, to express the following concerns to the Executive Committee:

  1. That the Three Angels Company he able to have regular elders, elected by the congregation.
  2. That they have a regular functioning board, with full board authority.
  3. That the congregation be allowed to admit their own members and care for their own discipline, exclusively. It was also moved:

That this church board, along with the current officers, remain as they were before the company formation, until the Executive Committee votes on the above request, and that after that date, the same church board meet together one more time, in full and regular session, in order to vote on what to do from that point.”

Thus the church could yet decide on what course it wanted to pursue. Both of these motions passed overwhelmingly, but the pastor was against it. The next day the conference president declared the actions of the board meeting null and void. The pastor of the newly formed company stated that only those who had signed the “company book,” as it was called, could remain an active part of the congregation.

Over the next several weeks, systematic visits were made to those who did not sign the book, encouraging them to sign. One person said that she was visited by two different teams on the same night. The visits went for hours, and late into the night. They tried to pressure her into signing the book. They came laden with Spirit of Prophecy quotations on yielding to authority, and other statements they thought would suit their cause. She also received calls at work by those who had signed seeking to pressure her into signing. This was typical of many people’s experience. Another family reports that when the conference- assigned pastor visited them, they were told that someone who didn’t sign the company book was a “Satanist.” Another person who didn’t want to sign was asked by the pastor if he could come over and study about “the Omega of Apostasy” with her. Yet, nothing was ever produced from the writings of inspiration to show that being a company is biblical. Eventually, 80 people either chose or were pressured into signing the book. Some who signed, however, disagreed with these pressure tactics and did not remain active with the company. Some of these were brandnew Adventist.

After the organizational meeting, the president wrote a two- page letter to every pastor of the conference, to every member of the Executive Committee, and to others, condemning Pastor Grosboll’s activities in this meeting. He requested in this letter that the letter be shared with others. There was no one to question the accuracy of the allegations made, however, because neither Elder Grosboll nor any- one associated with him either saw or knew about the letter until many months later, when someone from Washington D. C. got a copy of it from a person in the General Conference and sent it to Elder Grosboll. Other such letters have likewise been called to our attention long after they were written. At least one of these (secret) letters was sent to every conference president of North America.

Principles on Being a “Company”

As the questions began to mount, and the allegations against Elder Grosboll by the conference continued to fly, Elder Grosboll decided to put the thoughts of those opposed to becoming a company down on paper. The paper was titled, “Statement of Principles on Being a Company or Being a Church.” 5 This sixteen page paper began with this statement:

First, let it be understood that each member who does not wish to sign the company charter believes in the Seventh- day Adventist Church and in church organization, including the conference- church structure as our denomination is organized into. There is no desire for independence. Every member desires the Three Angels Seventh- day Adventist Church to be organized as a church under the Kansas- Nebraska Conference of Seventh- day Adventist.

Secondly, we have no desire for division, but seek peace and unity. “By this,” Christ said, “shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13: 35). We are pledged to work toward this unity of Spirit which will bring about the Pentecostal outpouring of the Holy Spirit. However, true unity is never achieved by compromise.”

The paper then shared that, though we seek unity, we cannot conscientiously agree to becoming a company without certain questions being answered first. It then outlined the reasons why, as follows:

1) The first four and a half pages gave quotations from the Spirit of Prophecy predicting apostasy coming into the church, and warning against the yielding of principle in order to obtain peace.

2) The next three pages gave a historical background to the situation, ending with a listing of the four points that the conference demanded before considering the group to become a church:

These conditions involved four things: 1) Pulpit control, 2) Finances, 3) No church school, 4) the Institute of Ministry. The pulpit control appeared to he the biggest concern.

3) The next section dealt with the biblical principles of the duties of the elders in regards to worship and the pulpit.

4) The next section listed seven concrete aspects of a company that are directly against the principles outlined in the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy for church organization. These were as follows:

1) A company cannot have any church elders.

2) The local, lay leader (the equivalent to an elder but without an elder’s status) is chosen by the conference.

3) The local treasurer is chosen by the conference.

4) The nomination of all other church offices, not directly chosen by the conference, is to be presided over by a person of the conference’s choice.

5) No discipline can be administered by a company, but all such matters are taken care of by the conference executive committee.

6) A company has no authoritative board or business meeting. The conference executive committee is the actual board of the group which has authority even over the entire business session of a company. Any decision- making ability of the local group is granted to it as a favor, not as a right.

7) The members of a company do not constitute a part of the constituency of the conference and have no voice or representation in conference activities.

All of these aspects of a company organization are according to The Seventh- day Adventist Church Manual. Certain conferences may make exceptions to one or more of these restrictions as a courtesy or privilege, but a company has none of these privileges by right.

5) The next section gave the clear scriptural principles for each of the seven areas of concern as listed above. It showed from the Bible and The Spirit of Prophecy that each of these organizational principles is contrary to the way God says a congregation should be organized. These principles of organization are condemned by God.

Strange fire has been offered… in restricting the liberty of God’s people, binding them about by your plans and rules, which God has not framed, neither have they come into His mind. All these things are strange fire, unacknowledged by God, and are a continual misrepresentation of His character. Testimonies to Ministers, 357- 358

Do we individually realize our true position, that as God’s hired servants we are not to bargain away our stewardship? . . We are warned not to trust in man nor to make flesh our arm. A curse is pronounced upon all who do this [Jeremiah 17: 51. Ibid., 361- 367

The chapter in Testimonies to Ministers from which this last quotation is taken is entitled, “Thou Shalt Have No Other Gods.” In this chapter she talks about the rule of the Sanhedrin, and the ruling- principle that was coming into our church, that would seek to put man’s principles and rulership above God’s. Here she talks about “the spirit of domination, “ and shows that it is morally wrong both to exercise such power and to voluntarily yield to such power. That is why we have counsel against joining such organizations as labor unions. It was for this reason that many could not conscientiously sign the company charter.

6) The document ended with these words: There is no desire to campaign or coerce our convictions upon others, except to share our beliefs. At this point, but a minority have signed the charter. But even if all but one should, the convictions should still be considered. As the Protestant reformers so boldly stated, “In matters of conscience the majority has no power” (Tile Great Controversy, 201). “The principles contained in this celebrated Protest [of the Princes] … constitute the very essence of Protestantism. Now this Protest opposes two abuses of man in matters of faith: the first is the intrusion of the civil magistrate, and tile second tile arbitrary authority of the church.” Ibid., 203- 204. 6 We desire to live peaceably with all people. We will turn the other cheek and allow ourselves to be taken advantage of. We will pray for those who despitefully use us. We will continue to work for the conversion of souls and to have them baptized into the local Seventh- day Adventist Church, We have made known our convictions, but we will not fight. We will praise the Lord in every trial. But we cannot go against our convictions nor join a movement that is working to divide the church and to fragment the believers in Christ.

. . . Beliefs cannot be legislatetl, but must be developed through thorough prayer and Bible study. . . .

May God help us never to compromise the truth, but to remain loving to one another and loyal to His church. . . . Let us determine that we are going to stand for the truth, but that we are going to maintain the spirit of Jesus. Let us rejoice under affliction. Let us do what is right, leaving the results with God, and developing a character for heaven.”

The members who could not, because of conscience, sign the charter, pledged themselves not to fight or agitate, but simply to go on with their work of winning souls. That is what they did. Even when thousands of dollars given for the Bible Worker fund for the Institute of Ministry workers, and held in trust by the Three Angels Church, and which the conference president pledged would not be touched, was diverted from what it had been pledged for and what the church body had voted to expend it for, no protest from the Institute was heard, except for a concern expressed some months later in a letter to the president. The next week after the Sabbath evening organizational meeting, Elder Grosboll spent over an hour with the conference- appointed pastor, pleading with him not to divide the congregation that God had established. He asked if the whole church might not come together for study and prayer. Surely God would lead them into truth and unity. If those who did not believe in the company concept could be shown from the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy that they were wrong, surely they would be willing to change. If the others were shown to be wrong, they should be willing to change. But in any event, there should be love and tolerance for all. All of these pleas and requests were forthrightly refused. In the Concerns and Objections paper, the most unreasonable assumptions and charges are made about the motives of Elder Grosboll in opposing the formation of the company. It states:

It is clear that Elder Grosboll believes that he is fighting against agents of Satan (unconverted ministers, administrators and other members) who are attempting to take over God’s remnant church. . . . For this and other reasons Elder Grosboll felt justified in strongly resisting (in both his preaching and writing), the organization of the Three Angels congregation into a company recognized by the Kansas- Nebraska Conference on May 7, 1988. He believes firmly that this would be yielding to the leadership of unconverted men who are taking over the congregation and would have the power to interfere in the decisions of the local company. Concerns and Objections, 6- 7

How could any fair reading of the facts lead to such a conclusion, when Elder Grosboll had been seeking and desiring the Three Angels congregation to become a church, and when he had asked the conference brethren to be willing to study this issue out with them? The company status involves clear biblical principles, regardless of who the conference officers are. To support the above charge, however, Concerns and Objections quotes a passage from an article of Elder Grosboll’s in the November 1988 Steps to Life News. The passage quoted, however, is primarily from a quotation of Ellen White’s, which reads as follows:

Who knows but that the preachers who are faithful, firm, and true may be the last who shall offer the gospel of peace to our unthankful churches? It may be that the destroyers are already training under the hand of Satan and only wait the departure of a few more standard- bearers to take their places, and with the voice of the false prophet cry, “Peace, peace,” when the Lord hath not spoken peace. . . . When God shall work His strange work on the earth, when holy hands bear the ark no longer, woe will be upon the people. Testimonies, vol. 5, 77

The quoting of this Spirit of Prophecy passage was mentioned twice in the Concerns and Objections paper to prove that Pastor Grosboll is against conference leadership. Is the Spirit of Prophecy to come under trial? Are there some passages that are now approved for quoting, but others that, if quoted, will prove one to be disloyal to the church? Have we come to a time in the church when a minister can have his ordination brought into question for quoting a statement from the published volumes of the Testimonies for the Church? The president has made much of the speech Elder Grosboll made at the time of the formation of the company on May 7. This speech has been castigated because of two illustrations Elder Grosboll used by outlining the techniques and organizational principles of Catholicism and Communism, and warning against adopting the same principles in our organization. Elder Grosboll used these examples only as illustrations of principle. However, he later apologized for using personal illustrations of people or events to show the wrong tendency of the direction they were going, stating that he should have just shared theory and principle. It is reminiscent of Luther before the Diet of Worms where he was called into question for everything he had ever written or said:

In the third class of his books he had attacked individuals who had defended existing evils. Concerning these he freely confessed that he had been more violent than was becoming. He did not claim to be free from fault; but even these books he could not revoke, for such a course would embolden the enemies of truth, and they would then take occasion to crush God’s people with still greater cruelty. The Great Controversy, 158

The above statements, about not adopting similar principles of organization as other organizations use, were made in response to the president’s comments when he admitted that a company has no self- administrative rights, except as granted by the conference. But he said, “Just trust me.”

The point was made, and still stands, that in the Catholic Church, the local church has plenty of rights- as long as they please the hierarchy. But they have no rights by right, only by privilege. The same is true of Communist satellite countries. As long as they do as the Central Communist Party desires, they have plenty of rights. But, as Hungary found out in 1956, and as Czechoslovakia found out in 1968, these rights are only privileges granted as long as they please the central party. They are not privileges by right. Both groups want you to simply “trust them.” But Inspiration warns against all such alliances, whether in labor, government, or church administration. Is there ever a time or place when it is appropriate to use such illustrations? Consider the following vision about the leaders of Battle Creek:

I dreamed that I was in Battle Creek looking out from the side glass at the door and saw a company marching up to the house, two and two. They looked stern and determined. I knew them well and turned to open the parlor door to receive them, but thought I would took again. The scene was changed. The company now presented the appearance of a Catholic procession. One bore in his hand a cross, another a reed. And as they approached, the one carrying a reed, made a circle around the house, saying three times: “This house is proscribed. The goods must be confiscated. They have spoken against our holy order.”… [I] found myself in the midst of a company, some of whom I knew, but I dared not speak a word to them for fear of being betrayed. Testimonies, vol. 1, 578

Is there a danger that we can develop a system that functions like a hierarchy with its inherent evils? Let us give an example of the way the centralization of power can be used to restrict the rights of God’s people. Take the example of the conference executive committee being able to disfellowship members of a company without a trial or vote by their fellow brothers and sisters. It is true that the conference does not often disfellowship anyone. But the very fact that they, and they alone, have the right to do so, is wrong, and contrary to all the counsel of the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy. The very principle is wrong, whether it is misused or not. And for those who say that that kind of power would never be misused, consider the hundreds of faithful Seventh- day Adventist Church members in Hungary who were disfellowshiped by the conference, apart from the local churches, simply because they voiced their disapproval of the union of church and state and the joining of the ecumenical movement that is uniting the various Christian religions of that country.

The conference president said, “Trust me.” He made it very clear that unless the congregation was willing to become a company, they did not have enough trust for the conference to make them a church. That is a “Catch- 22″ situation. It is like the young women who wants to wait until she is married to have a relationship, but the boyfriend says, “Just trust me! If you don’t trust me enough to have a relationship with me now, you don’t have enough trust for me to marry you.” But if she is willing to marry him, that should be trust enough. And if the congregation is willing and desirous to be a church within the conference, that should be trust enough. No congregation of God’s church should be forced to transgress their convictions in order to show trust.

”Kingly Power”

This principle of central control is a spirit completely contrary to all the teachings of Jesus. Yet this principle has gradually, subtly, become more and more an accepted method of administration among us. For one reason, it is often the easiest way to deal with a problem.

God has given to men talents of influence which belong to Him alone, and no greater dishonor can be done to God than for one finite agent to bring other men’s talents under his absolute control, even though the benefits of the same be used to the advantage of the cause. In such arrangements one man’s mind is ruled by another man’s mind, and the human agency is separated from God, and exposed to temptation. Satan’s methods tend to one end- to make men the slaves of men. Testimonies to Ministers, 360- 361

God calls for cooperation. No one is called to work independently, either conference officer, pastor, or lay person. And yet we are all given capabilities and duties to which we are individually accountable to God.

The abuse of power may have its short term benefits, as noted above, but “It is a curse wherever and by whomsoever it is exercised.” Ibid. “The high- handed power that has been developed, as though position has made men gods,” Ellen White said, “makes me afraid, and ought to cause fear.” Ibid. God designs that the members of His church should learn to be responsible, stalwart workers for Him. He designs that the local members should be responsible for the work in their area. If they are under the guidance of the Lord, each church will work in harmony with every other church, and organization will be a pleasure and a blessing.

We are to be peacemakers, easy to be entreated, and cooperative, yet God holds us responsible for our individual calling and the stewardship He has entrusted into our hands. “Do we individually realize our true position, that as God’s hired servants we are not to bargain away our stewardship? We have an individual accountability before the heavenly universe, to administer the trust committed us of God.” Ibid., 361- 362

No one was easier to be entreated than Jesus. He was the King of Peace. Yet, He would not relinquish His calling for any. He had a divine call. Because He would not surrender His calling and mission, it brought great trouble and opposition. Thus Jesus said, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword” (Matthew 10: 34). During the ministry of Jesus, the great conflict was over authority. The question that both He and John the Baptist were asked was, “By what authority are You doing these thing? And who gave You this authority?” Jesus’ answer was: “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things” (Matthew 21: 23- 27). The scribes and Pharisees “sought to lay hands on Him,” that is to arrest Him, for what was, in their opinion, insubordination Matthew 21: 46).

There are two great dangers, both centered in pride. There is the pride of dominance and control, and there is the pride of independence. Satan displayed both. But of the two, the love of power and control was the great sin of the Jewish church. This, also, has been a great curse in our church, even as early as 1886. We have already looked at some of the counsels of Ellen White following 1888. Here are some counsels given at the General Conference session thirteen years later:

In reference to our conference, it is repeated o’er and o’er and o’er again, that it is the voice of God, and therefore everything must be referred to the conference and have the conference voice in regard to permission or restriction or what shall be and what shall not be done in the various fields.

Now from the light that I have, as it was presented to me in figures: There was a narrow compass here; there within that narrow is a king- like, kingly ruling power. Here the outlets are blocked. And the work all over our field demands an entirely different course of action than we have had. We have heard enough, abundance, about that “everything must go around in the regular way.” . . . To have this conference pass on and close up as the conferences have done, with the same manipulating, with the very same tone, and the same order,- God forbid! God forbid, brethren. . . . This thing has been continued and renewed for the last fifteen years or more [that is at least since 1886], and God calls for a change. . . . Let me tell you that the enemy is getting the victory all the time . . . .Every conference has woven after the same pattern. It is the very same loom that carries it, and finally, why, it will come to naught. Ellen G. White speech at the 1901 General Conference. Spalding- Magan Collection, 163- 164

How wonderful it would have been if the 1901 General Conference had made a turnaround. They did in theory, but did they carry through? A few months later, Ellen White wrote to the new chairman of the General Conference Committee, Elder Daniells:

Pharisaism in the Christian world today is not extinct. The Lord desires to break up the course of precision which has become so firmly established, which has hindered instead of advancing His work. He desires His people to remember that there is a large space over which the light of present truth is to be shed. Divine wisdom must have abundant room in which to work. It is to advance without asking permission or support from those who have taken to themselves a kingly power. . . .

God calls for a revival and a reformation. The “regular lines” have not done the work which God desires to see accomplished. Let revival and reformation make constant changes.

Something has been done in this line, but let not the work stop here. No! Let every yoke be broken. Let men awaken to the realization that they have an individual responsibility.

The present showing is sufficient to prove to all who have the true missionary spirit that the “regular lines” may prove a failure and a snare. God helping His people, the circle of kings who dared to take such great responsibilities shall never again exercise their unsanctified power in the so- called “regular lines.” Too much power has been invested in unrevived, unreformed human agencies. Let not selfishness and covetousness be allowed to outline the work which must be done to fulfill the grand, noble commission which Christ has given to every disciple. He, our Lord and Master has given us an example, in His life, of selfsacrifice, of die way in which we must work to advance the kingdom of God. . . . To each human being God has assigned an individuality and a distinct work. . . .

Christ’s commission is, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” Those who are impressed to take up the work in the home field or in regions beyond are to go forward in the name of the Lord. They will succeed if they give evidence that they depend upon God for grace and strength. At the beginning, their work may he very small, hut it will enlarge if they follow the Lord’s plan. God lives, and He will work for the unselfish, self- sacrificing laborer, wherever and whoever he may … .. The Macedonian cry is coming from every quarter. Shall men go to the “regular lines” to see whether they will be permitted to labor, or shall they go out and work as best they can, depending on their own abilities and on the help of the Lord, beginning in a humble way and creating an interest in the truth in places in which nothing has been done to give the warning message?

God grant that the voices which have been so quickly raised to say that all the money invested in the work must go through the appointed channel at Battle Creek, shall not be heard. The people to whom God has given His means are amenable to Him alone. It is their privilege to give direct aid and assistance to . . . .. . . .. And if means can be devised to reduce the expense of publishing and circulating books, let this be done. Ibid., 174- 177

How wonderful it would have been if God’s counsel had been heeded— we would have been in the kingdom long ere this. But, later that same year, she warned: “We may have to remain here in this world because of insubordination many more years.” Evangelism, 696. The fact that we are still here says something.

It should be noted that the quoting of these statements is not done as an attack on any person, nor on the General Conference or any conference. We are all responsible for being in this world too long. It should also be noted that inspired statements must be considered in the context of time and place. In the immediate aftermath of the 1901 General Conference reorganization, Ellen White cautioned people against using these statements and applying them just the same as before the reorganization. She wanted to give the new leadership a chance to prove themselves. But the point is, the same principles of organization and leadership still apply today, and if the conditions be met again, the conclusions remain the same.

Some progress may have been made in 1901. But the progress was not nearly as much as God desired. And the question remains, have we regressed from the progress we made, if we made any? Even as early as 1903, Ellen White began to write about the failure of the 1901 General Conference- not in the actions passed, but in the carrying out of the actions:

One day at noon I was writing of the work that might have been done at the last General Conference if the men in positions of trust had followed the will and way of God. Those who have had greatest light have not walked in the light. Testimonies, vol. 8, 104

In a letter she wrote to Judge Arthur on January 14, 1903, she lamented: The result of the last General Conference (1901) has been the greatest, the most terrible sorrow of my life. No change was made. The spirit that should have been brought into the whole work as the result of that meeting was not brought in because men did not receive the testimonies of the Spirit of God. As they went to their several fields of labor, they did not walk in the light that the Lord had flashed upon their pathways, but carried into their work the wrong principles that had been prevailing in the work at Battle Creek. The Lord has marked every movement made by the leading men in our institutions and conferences. Letter 17, 1903; MR 10: 6, 3- 4

It should not be construed from these statements that Ellen White gave up on the church, but the Lord through her gave the church the only formula by which it can be victorious. We are to have organization, based upon true love for God and for one another, with an attitude of service. But we are not to lord it over one another nor to become their conscience. The Lord is to be allowed to rule in His church.

Because we did not follow the inspired formula for simple, holy, humble organization, many of our institutions at our headquarters in Battle Creek were burned. For those who think that the church made a complete change for the good in 1901, it should be noted that these judgments from God took place after that General Conference. God is still waiting for His character to be more fully manifested in our organizational principles. When we, as a people, reflect His image fully, both in our personal lives and in our relationships to one another (which relationship is what constitutes the government of the church), God will come to claim us as His own.

The spirit of control still prevails in the human heart. In trying to make a congregation of 160 people, such as existed in Wichita, a company, the spirit of control is made official. These same principles also apply to the way many mission territories are organized and run in various parts of the world. In talking to ministers and leaders of the local churches in at least one large mission field in another part of the world, we have found the same abuses of power seemed to be practiced and legitimized (maybe unintentionally) there just as they are in the formation of a local company. [A mission territory is like a conference, except without the ability to be self-organized, much as a company is like a church, except without the ability to be self- organized.]

Moreover, even when the centralization of power is not official, as in the situation of a company, it is often practiced. Many churches, that officially have the full privileges of corporate self- government under the direction of the Holy Spirit and in cooperation with the world- wide fellowship of believers, are nevertheless run and controlled by the conference or mission. These methods of manipulation were among Ellen White’s greatest concerns and the motivation for some of her strongest warnings, such as found in the book Testimonies to Ministers. Here is a sampling:

The Lord has not placed any one of His human agencies under the dictation and control of those who are themselves but erring mortals. … There is a power exercised at Battle Creek that God has not given, and He will judge those who assume this authority. They have somewhat of the same spirit that led Uzzah to lay his hand on the ark. . . . Far less of man’s power and authority should be exercised toward God’s human agencies. Brethren, leave God to rule. . . . No man is a proper judge of another man’s duty. Man is responsible to God, and as finite, erring men take into their hands the jurisdiction of their fellow men, as if the Lord commissioned them to lift up and cast down, all heaven is filled with indignation. . . . The present order of things must change, or the wrath of God will fall upon His instrumentalities that are not working in Christ’s lines. Testimonies to Ministers, 347- 349

God will not vindicate any device whereby man shall in the slightest degree rule or oppress his fellow men. . . . We are warned not to trust in man, nor to make flesh our arm. A curse is pronounced upon all who do this. Ibid., 366- 367

State conferences may depend upon the General Conference for light and knowledge and wisdom; but is it safe for them to do this? Battle Creek is not to be the center of God’s work. God alone can fill this place. When our people in the different places have their special convocations, teach them, for Christ’s sake and for their own soul’s sake, not to make flesh their arm. . . . Is the president of the General Conference to be the god of the people? … The Lord has a controversy with His people over this matter. . . . Just as soon as man is placed where God should be, he loses his purity, his vigor, his confidence in God’s power. Moral confusion results, because his powers become unsanctified and perverted. He feels competent to judge his fellow men, and he strives unlawfully to be a god over them. But there must be no self- exaltation in the work of God. Ibid., 375- 377

Let me entreat our state conferences and our churches to cease putting their dependence upon men and making flesh their arm. . . . Our churches are weak because the members are educated to look to and depend upon human resources. Ibid., 380

Working the Unworked Areas

Several months before the Three Angels Church was made a company, the students of the Institute of Ministry held an evangelistic series in Winfield, Kansas, an unworked town of 10,000 people, 44 miles south of Wichita. At the conclusion of these meetings, there were a number of interests who said they would be willing to come to church if there was one in their area.

The students prayed earnestly about this. They also studied the writings of Ellen White to find what they should do in such a situation. They found such statements as these:

No field is so unpromising as one that has been cultivated just enough to give the weeds a more luxuriant growth. . . . A minister might better not engage in the work unless he can bind it off. . . . For years light has been given upon this point, showing the necessity of following up an interest that has been raised, and in no case leaving it until all have decided that lean toward the truth, and have experienced the conversion necessary for baptism, and united with some church, or formed one themselves. Evangelism, 322, 324

Place after place is to be visited; church after church is to be raised up. Those who take their stand for the truth are to be organized into churches. Ibid., 353

I saw jets of light shining from cities and villages, and from the high places and the low places of the earth. God’s Word was obeyed, and as a result there were memorials for Him in every city and village. His truth was proclaimed throughout the world. Ibid., 699

With the consideration of counsels such as these, and after talking to the pastor of the closest Adventist church to Winfield, the students who held the evangelistic series in Winfield decided to start holding Sabbath services there, which have continued ever since. Between ten and fifteen interests from the town are currently attending these services. Bible studies are continuing and the people are becoming rooted and grounded. The congregation in Winfield, though carrying out all the functions of a church, generally refer to themselves as a “mission.” The Concerns and Objections paper cites the starting of the Winfield congregation as yet another problem with Elder Grosboll’s ministry. It states:

He then started a church in Winfield, Kansas without consulting with either the district pastor or conference leaders. Concerns and Objections, 11

Neither the evangelistic meetings nor the beginning of fellowship meetings on Sabbath morning in Winfield were done without notification of the closest district pastor. Elder Grosboll also personally talked to the conference secretary about holding these meetings and he expressed no concerns. A budget request and the plans for these meetings were also sent to the president. But the president replied only by sending out a letter to the various pastors in the area condemning the holding of the meetings. He also said this action on the part of Pastor Grosboll would provide additional evidence to the Executive Committee of his lack of cooperation. It seemed that every attempt to communicate with the conference was met with a hostile reply.

It is an interesting note that the students who were involved with the Winfield evangelistic meetings and ultimately decided to continue meeting with the interests on Sabbath morning, were very “pro- conference” students (as most of our students are), who sincerely wanted to do everything to please the conference. One of them almost seemed to believe that nothing should be done if the conference is against it. But when it came to the actual salvation of souls, and after studying the inspired counsels, they decided to secure these interests.

It is inconceivable that raising up a new work, where there is no Seventh- day Adventist Church, could be placed in such condemnatory light as the conference is seeking to do. How many churches are being raised up today? This work should be encouraged, not condemned..

Moreover, the organization of churches is a part of the ministry which God commissions his ministers to perform. The same ordination that authorizes a person to baptize also authorizes him to organize churches.

Before being sent forth as missionaries to the heathen world, these apostles [Paul and Barnabas] were solemnly dedicated to God by fasting and prayer and the laying on of hands. Thus they were authorized by the church, not only to teach the truth, but to perform the rite of baptism and to organize churches, being invested with full ecclesiastical authority. The Acts of the Apostles, 161

When the members of the Three Angels group who felt they could not conscientiously sign the company book were told they could no longer be an active part of the group, they began to look for a place of service. Some went to Winfield. Some went to help a new and growing group of believers in Kingman that had been established three years before. Some went to other places. All of these people were, and are, free to serve the Lord where they wish.

It appears that certain persons sought how they might either gain control of the Three Angels group or break it up. When they succeeded and many of the members were scattered, they sought whom they might blame. But who really divided the church? If a church is divided because some members want to follow clear biblical and Spirit of Prophecy principles, and yet are willing to study these issues out and change if they have misinterpreted the inspired Word, what is the cause? And if they are dismissed from the group over these principles of conscience, which no one is willing to study with them to show where they might be wrong— we ask, if this divides a church, who divided it?

If following principle will divide a church, may every church of the land be divided! It is better to have a divided church where souls are following principle, than to have a whole church united in a Laodicean condition. Moreover, the possible consequences of our actions are not to dictate what is right and wrong. We are to act upon principle, leaving the results with God.

We should choose the right because it is right, and leave consequences with God. The Great Controversy, 460

Christ’s ambassadors have nothing to do with consequences. They must perform their duty and leave results with God. Ibid., 460

The greatest want of the world is the want of men- men who will not be bought or sold; men who in their inmost souls are true and honest; men who do not fear to call sin by its right name, men whose conscience is as true to duty as the needle to the pole men who will stand for the right though the heavens fall. Education, 57

Sometimes the heavens may seem as about to fall. Let us notice this solemn appeal by the prophet of the Lord:

Plans contrary to truth and righteousness are introduced in a subtle manner on the plea that this must be done, and that must be done, “because it is for the advancement of the cause of God.” But it is the devising of men that leads to oppression, injustice, and wickedness. The cause of God is free from every taint of injustice. It can gain no advantage by robbing the members of the family of God of their individuality or their rights. All such practices are abhorrent to God. … They were determined to bring the individuals to their terms; they would rule or ruin. … The high- handed power that has been developed, as though position has made men gods, makes me afraid, and ought to cause fear. It is a curse wherever and by whomsoever it is exercised. . . . Do we individually realize our true position, that as God’s hired servants we are not to bargain away our stewardship? We have an individual accountability before the heavenly universe, to administer the trust committed us . . . .. . . ..

The spirit of domination is extending to the presidents of our conferences. If a man is sanguine of his own powers and seeks to exercise dominion over his brethren, feeling that he is invested with authority to make his will the ruling power, the best and only safe course is to remove him, lest great harm be done, and he lose his own soul and imperil the souls of others. “All ye are brethren.” This disposition to lord it over God’s heritage will cause a reaction unless these men change their course. Testimonies to Ministers, 359- 362

We appeal to each person who believes and loves the Three Angels’ Messages to put away all differences. Let us work together as brethren, for the finishing of the work, so that Jesus can return soon. Let us not fight one another. Steps to Life, as well as all who ate called and commissioned to work for the Master, cannot relinquish the work nor water down the message God has given them to preach. The reason they have never addressed some of the activities against them is that they want to cooperate with the conference, even if they have been wronged. Let us confess our sins and let bygones be bygones. Let us join hands for the conversion of souls that are perishing. As Ellen White says:

We are to subdue not our brother soldiers but our enemies, that we may build up Christ’s kingdom. We are laborers together with God. Ibid., 296

Conditions for “Acceptable Ministry”

The Concerns and Objections document itself says nothing about any conditions of working with the conference, or even of a possibility or desire on the part of the conference for reconciliation or cooperation. It merely ends with the decision that, “Pastor Grosboll has demonstrated that he is not a true shepherd of the flock and therefore should not represent the Seventhday Adventist Church as an ordained minister.” Nevertheless, at the conclusion of the January 25 meeting, after reading the document, the conference president said that if Steps to Life would submit to the eleven points voted on by the conference as “Guidelines for Acceptable Independent Ministries,” 7 they could yet work together. He outlined which three he wanted Steps to Life to work on first:

  1. The leaders of the independent ministry are [to be] members in good and regular standing in the local Seventh- day Adventist Church.
  2. The independent ministry actively encourages its supporters to be faithful in the returning of their tithes and giving of appropriate offerings to the organized Seventh- day Adventist Church and does not knowingly accept tithe from Seventh- day Adventist members. In such cases where they are aware that the contributed funds are tithe, they will counsel the donor to place their tithe in the proper channels of the organized church.
  3. The independent ministry will have on its guiding board or committee at least some individuals appointed by the Conference Executive Committee who will represent the organized Seventh- day Adventist Church. They may be employees of the church and/ or lay persons who are elected or appointed to the church executive or governing boards or committees at the local conference or other levels of the church structure.

It should be noted that these three items seem to have little to do with the document itself. Moreover, it should also be noted that the Kansas- Nebraska Conference took the eleven points that the North American Division has accepted, 8 but modified them to suit their needs. Since Steps to Life is the only ministry we know of in the Kansas- Nebraska conference to which these points could apply, it would seem that these changes were made with Steps to Life in mind. Yet no one from Steps to Life was ever consulted or dialogued with. These “eleven points” were merely handed down.

Let us examine the three points that the conference president specified as the first (of the eleven points) that he wanted Steps to Life to comply with, as quoted above:

1. Membership:

The leaders of Steps to Life are members in good and regular standing. It was stated at the January 25 meeting, however, that unless Pastor Grosboll is regularly attending the South Church, where his membership is, he is not a member in good and regular standing. This is not according to the Manual or any known church policy. It was mentioned by Elder W, another conference president who was in attendance, that he himself did not attend his local church more than about twice a year. But he said that though this was permissible for him, as he was doing the work of the Lord, it was not acceptable for Elder Grosboll.

It should be noted that ministers are encouraged not to continue to attend the church where they formerly pastored. Should Elder Grosboll regularly attend the South Church, could this not be used against him, as this was the church that he pastored less than two years ago? Elder Grosboll is in attendance at a Sabbath service every Sabbath. When he is in the area, he generally attends the Winfield mission.

Because the president spent quite a bit of time on this item, he was finally asked whether he and the local pastor had ever discussed the disfellowshiping of Pastor Grosboll. Both he and the local pastor admitted that they had, though the local pastor said there were no plans for such an action at the present time, nor would he consent to chair a meeting called for that purpose.

2. Tithe:

Steps to Life does not solicit tithe money. Steps to Life, in their evangelism, teaches that paying tithe is a sacred duty. Usually people pay their tithe into their local conference. But if a person is convicted to channel his or her lithe in a particular manner, whether to the Quiet Hour, Amazing Facts, Weimar, the Voice of Prophecy (all of which accept tithe), or to another conference than their local conference (most of whom accept such tithe), the personnel at Steps to Life encourage people to follow their convictions. We cannot influence people to go against their convictions. Is the conference saying that it, the conference, is the only “storehouse” that is to be entrusted with the Lord’s goods? It is understood that some conferences make this boast.

We simply asked for the scriptural evidence of this. If this can be produced, Steps to Life will gladly comply. A statement from Elder Grosboll should clarify the position of Steps to Life on this point:

Ellen White said that “The tithe should go to those who labor in word and doctrine, be they men or women” (Manuscript Releases, vol. 1, 263). “A great mistake is made when the tithe is drawn from the object for which it is to be used— the support of the ministers. There should be today in the field one hundred well qualified laborers where now there is but one” (Testimonies, vol. 9, 249). Today we not only do not have 100 times more workers than when this was written in 1909, but, when figured on per capita of workers per membership in North America, we actually have 40% fewer than we had then. We, at Steps to Life, are convicted that we must do our part to fill this void in the Lord’s vineyard. Thus we have a separate “Bible worker fund,” which is set totally apart from our operating budget, that goes directly into putting Bible workers out into the field to hold evangelistic meetings, give Bible studies, train other Bible workers, and win souls to the kingdom. This not only supports Bible workers here at Steps to Life, but also missionaries elsewhere. If people are convicted to give to this fund, we do not question them first to find out what kind of money it is- that is between them and the Lord. We are carrying on the work of the Lord. Every penny that comes to us is sacred, and is always used for the exact purpose for which the people send it. Our books are annually audited by an independent auditor.

These inspired statements of Ellen White need to be looked at and accepted: I have myself appropriated my tithe to the most needy cases brought to my notice. I have been instructed to do this; and as the money is not withheld from the Lord’s treasury, it is not a matter that should be commented upon; for it will necessitate my making known these matters. . . .

Some cases have been kept before me for years, and I have supplied their needs from the tithe, as God has instructed me to do. And if any person shall say to me, Sister White, will you appropriate my tithe where you know it is most needed, I shall say, Yes, I will; and I have done so. I commend those sisters who have placed their tithe where it is most needed to help to do a work that is being left undone; and if this matter is given publicity, it will create knowledge which would better be left as it is. I do not care to give publicity to this work which the Lord has appointed me to do, and others to do. Spalding-Magan Collection, 215

The Word says, “The laborer is worthy of his hire.” When any such decision as this [to not pay ministers’ wives who were working with their husbands] is made, I will in the name of the Lord, protest. I will feel it in my duty to create a fund from my tithe money, to pay these women who are accomplishing just as essential work as the ministers are doing, and this tithe I will reserve for work in the same line as that of the ministers, hunting for souls, fishing for souls. Ibid., 117

God has not called us to be the conscience for other people, and Steps to Life will not do so. If some, after sincere prayer and the study of the word, feel convicted to send their tithe to a certain place where the Word is being preached, who can forbid them, unless one has clear scriptural reasons for doing so? Let us be careful that we do not become so concerned about paying “tithe of mint and anise and cumin,” that we neglect “the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith.” Matthew 23: 23

Is the solution for the conference’s money woes more legislation, or more confidence of the people for their work?

Tithe is to be so liberal that it will sustain the work largely; each one … to act in their capacity in such a way that the confidence of the whole people will be established in them, and that they will not be afraid, but see everything just as light as day. Spalding- Magan Collection, 166 “The Lord desires us to let our light so shine before men that His Holy Spirit may communicate the truth to the honest in he. . . … As we do this work, we shall find that means will flow into our treasuries, and we shall have means with which to carry on a still broader and more far- reaching work. Evangelism, 61- 62

Many of our laymen are burdened and earnestly praying for direction in the proper use of the tithe the Lord has made them stewards of. They witness, Sabbath after Sabbath, preachers who are being supported by the tithe who are preaching the devil’s lie that you cannot quit sinning (see The Desire of Ages, 24). They witness those who seem unconverted, and who have no fruits for their labors. Here are a sampling of statements that many of our sincere laymen, as stewards of the Lord’s goods, have been prayerfully studying and pondering over:

The people are encouraged to center in Battle Creek, and they pay their tithe and give their influence to the building up of a modern Jerusalem that is not after God’s order. Testimonies to Ministers, 254

There are fearful woes for those who preach the truth, but are not sanctified by it, and also for those who consent to receive and maintain the unsanctifled to minister to them in word and doctrine. Testimonies, vol. 1, 261- 262

We wonder if the leaders in Old Jerusalem encouraged people to “pay their tithe and give their influence to the building up of… 101( 1! Jerusalem”? Did they understand themselves to be the only “storehouse” of God’s goods? Did they understand the Bible to mean: “All the tithe is the priests’ in Jerusalem,” rather than “All the tithe is the Lord’s”? Would people, as stewards of their Lord’s goods, have been questioned for giving the Lord’s tithe to the Lord, or to John the Baptist? If the Holy Spirit, through study and prayer, would have impressed a faithful Jew to give his influence and support to John the Baptist or Simeon or some other, but the person chose, because of priestly pressure, to give his influence and support to up-building the Sanhedrin, would he not be held responsible as an unfaithful steward? And would not those priests who tried to force him to go against his convictions be equally guilty?

The conference’s work is to gain the confidence of the people through following the counsels of the Lord and by doing the work Of the Lord. If the Holy Spirit is truly evident in the church, in our schools, in our medical institutions, in our publishing houses and publications, there will be no problem with money.

All we want to do is follow the will of the Lord in every detail, including tithing. What we need, however, is not legislation, but careful Bible study. We stand ready to follow every request from the conference that is based upon clear scriptural principles.

3. Board Representation:

This is one of the points that the Kansas- Nebraska Conference altered from the North American Division’s eleven- point guidelines. The North American Division’s guidelines specify that the board must include, “Some Individuals [plural] who currently represent the organized Seventh- day Adventist Church.” The Kansas- Nebraska guidelines say that the board must include, “individuals [plural] appointed by the Conference Executive Committee who will represent the organized Seventh- day Adventist Church.” Both documents then explain that to be a representative of the “organized” church, one must be either employed by the church, and/ or be a member of the Executive Committee. Both documents, as voted, require a plurality of board members who are thus “representatives” of the conference.

To thus require board representation before a conference will accept or cooperate with (and cease to fight against) a ministry, is totally without biblical principle and would have excluded Christ and His disciples from being accepted by the church, for Jesus had no one from, or appointed by, the Sanhedrin on His board. (Was this the reason the Sanhedrin felt justified in fighting against Him?) What motive or attitude would prompt a leader or corporate board to say that a ministry is unacceptable, regardless of what they are doing or teaching, and regardless of whether they might be called and ordained by the Lord or not, unless they themselves are a part of the ministry in a controlling capacity? Jesus said, “The rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet ft shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” Matthew 20: 25- 28). Anyone who demands a position on a board, and is more interested in control than service, thereby disqualifies himself for that very position.

The changes made in the Kansas- Nebraska guidelines, where the conference must actually appoint the board members before a ministry can be acceptable in their eyes, makes their guidelines even more controlling in nature than the ones from the North American Division. Why this change?

After the meeting, one of the local elders who was in attendance at the meeting, stayed behind to talk with the president. The president told him that he himself was the one from the conference who should be on the Steps to Life board. But if Steps to Life is so bad, why does the president want to be on the board? And again, what scriptural principle is involved here. The Bible says, “Can two walk togethe,; unless they are agreed?” Amos 3: 3

Steps to Life, as other special ministries, would be happy to have any faithful Seventh- day Adventist on the board, but they do not choose board members based upon position. They seek, as any nominating committee should, to find those who are most qualified, and who most represent the character of Christ, to fill the board, regardless of position. The decisions of who should be representative on the boards are made according to the Church Manual: “The decisions and votes of the Nominating committee [that chooses the board members] are not to be controlled or influenced by any church, group, or individual. Decisions are reached after prayerful and careful study of all aspects of the matters that come before them pertaining to the administration of the work.” Seventh -day Adventist Church Manual, 131

Again we ask, where is the biblical principle for this mandate for acceptability? May the Lord help us to come back to the Protestant principle of the Bible and the Bible only.

Why?

Since the conference had already chosen to not renew the local conference credentials for Pastor Grosboll, why are they now so intent on seeking to try to annul his very ordination to the gospel ministry? This is a most unusual move, especially when there has been no false theology or commandment- breaking alleged against Elder Grosboll. Does the conference realize the seriousness of this kind of action, especially if the Lord has called Elder Grosboll?

Ellen White wrote to Uriah Smith in 1890, saying that he was committing the sin of “Korah, Dathan and Abiram” (The Ellen G White 1888 materials, 599- 605). What was this sin of” Korah, Dathan and Abiram,” and, in the case of Uriah Smith, how did it start? It was the sin of rebellion against God’s leadership, and in the case of Uriah Smith, it had started many years before. Ellen White wrote: “I was warned of this state of things in 1882.” This referred to the time when he, as a leader in the church, sought to undermine one whom he thought was under him but whom the Lord had chosen and who was to be under His control, namely Professor Bell. She asked Elder Smith: “Have you ever made confession to Prof Bell in regard to the position and work done at that time?” Ibid.

Uriah Smith’s apostasy which had begun by fighting Professor Bell, continued at Minneapolis as he continued to fight the ministry of the Holy Spirit which was given to Jones and Waggoner. Smith’s rebellion finally culminated in His fighting against the Spirit of Prophecy. She told him: “Do not labor so hard to do the very work Satan is doing. This work was done in Minneapolis. Satan triumphed.” Ellen White replied with him: “I cannot endure the thought of you being left as were Korah, Dathan and Abiram.” Ibid.

There is evidence that Uriah Smith repented, but in the process, how many hundreds lost their souls? She warned him: “Consider how many joined Korah, Dathan and Abiram. . . .Korah, Dathan and Abiram had done a similar work as you have been doing.” Ibid.

Let us consider the seriousness of the situation. Rebellion starts small, from a heart of selfishness, pride, and envy, and grows into open rebellion against the Lord. The Jewish leaders never believed they could come to the place where they could crucify the Son of God and commit perjury in doing so. As was demonstrated in 1888, we are no more secure from the dangers of pride and self- preservation than were they.

When Pastor Grosboll took a leave of absence from the conference, he supposed that, though the conference did not support him, they would at least be able to work together as brethren. Elder Grosboll has not sought to run down the conference, but rather to develop a working relationship with the conference. Following is the transcript of one of his letters to the president:

August 3, 1988

Dear Elder______:

I was so happy to read about the Revelation seminars you are holding in your home. Our prayers are with you in all your work of soul- winning. The saving of souls is our great burden and desire here in our ministry. In fact, I was getting ready to write to ask you if there are any towns here in Central Kansas that you would especially like us to work and to seek to raise up a church in. If the Lord has impressed you with a particular need, please let us know. We are anxious to cooperate and to work together with you for the up building of the church. One of our goals is to start a new church every year. We solicit your prayers and support for us in this endeavor.

I am concerned, Elder ______, that you seem to put the worst possible construction on every action or motive we have. We want peace and unity. We are again coming to you asking for your cooperation in our work. And yet, our work is not our work, but the Lord’s.

We are very concerned about the last conference letter that went out, which seemed to many to be very divisive. We are a part of the same church, and we are both ordained for the same reason. Your statements were interpreted by many to be a direct attack. The first item of news in a personal newsletter from you to every member of the conference in which you name me, the Institute of Ministry and the 1888 Bible Conference in a most uncomplimentary manner, does appear to be very divisive. We are here to fight the devil and his agents, not each other.

It is true that throughout history the greatest enemies of God’s work have often been the leaders of the church. Thus it was in Jesus’ day, in Martin Luther’s day and in 1888. But let us not have warfare here in Kansas- Nebraska. We are living too close to the end of earth’s history for that. And yet, if you persist in attacking God’s work here, we will have to come to its defense.

Let me share with you an incident that happened just a week ago. One of our 550 Bible students happens to be a backslidden Seventh- day Adventist lady. She has been receiving lessons for some period of time now and has been filling in the questions and growing spiritually. We did not know that her name was still on the church books, but as a result, she received your letter. This threw her into great confusion. She came to our office and one of our staff members talked to her. This letter has caused her to lose a great deal of confidence in the church and the conference. She knows she is learning truth and experiencing a reconversion- so what is she to think of a leader or an organization that is fighting and opposing the very means the Lord has chosen to lead her back to Him again? Our staff member had to spend quite a bit of time trying to re- establish her confidence and faith in the church. She has written me asking me to explain your actions. What should I write to her?

I want to share with you again that our work is totally for the purpose of winning souls to the Lord Jesus Christ and to build up His Seventh- day Adventist Church on earth. I was a conference pastor for twelve years and now I am self- supporting. I feel my calling no less today than at any time in my ministry. I am doing what I am doing simply because I have sought to follow God’s leading in my life and because I have been obedient unto His call.

I have no desire to fight your ministry or anyone else’s. But I must prosecute the work God has ordained me to do. This should not threaten you. Let us join hands together for a finished work. Let us consider these texts:

“Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.,” “But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another.” Eph. 4: 3, Gal. 5: 15

Jesus also said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” Let us not be divided but united.

This cannot be accomplished by mandate, but by prayer and the unity of the Spirit. Let us pray for one another rather than trying to undermine the other.

As you know, and as you have testified, plenty of things have been done to me since I have been here. I don’t care to itemize them here, for I believe that the Lord works all these things out for good. But there is an enemy seeking to destroy God’s work here— and the best way he can do it is by causing division, jealousy, envy and strife. Let us work to defeat him.

There is another concern I have. As you know, there was a Bible workers’ fund set up and voted by the church for certain Bible workers, of whom I was one. When the church became a company, and many chose not to join the company but to remain members of the Wichita Church South, the board voted to discontinue this fund but to pay out the money as it had been previously disbursed, until the fund was liquidated in about three months. This was a very great concern to many. You yourself promised that this would continue untampered with. But the conference- assigned pastor seems to have determined that this would not be. Somehow he has accomplished his purpose.

I would like to point out that this fund was not the fund of the Three Angels’ Company. It was the fund of everyone that made up the Three Angels’ Church. The company was made a guardian and caretaker of this fund. There was a promise and an agreement that the company would not tamper with this money. This was promised by you, Elder M___, [Elder] P___ and was a voted upon agreement of the board. What has happened is total dishonesty. We can do without the money, but I fear for the souls of those involved in this action. God is still a God of justice. lam asking you, for the well- being of the church, to take a personal interest in seeing that this decision is reversed.

We are trying to develop people’s confidence in the church and its leadership. But how can people feel right about giving their money into an organization that condones this kind of action and that is using God’s sacred tithe money to fight the very work that God is seeking to build up? I am sure that you will work to rectify this wrong.

Yours in Christ for a finished work,
(signed)
Marshall J. Grosboll

P. S. This quotation was recently sent to me by a physician and church member in Nebraska. As a leader here in the Institute of Ministry, I have found these principles of divine origin to be a blessing in our work. Maybe you will find it to be a blessing too.

“A great many of the difficulties that have come into our work in California and elsewhere have come in through a misunderstanding on the part of men in official positions concerning their individual responsibility in the matter of controlling and ruling their fellow laborers. Men entrusted with responsibilities have supposed that their official position embraced very much more than was ever thought of by those who placed them in office, and serious difficulties arose as the result. {PC 298.3}
“Simple organization and church order are set forth in the New Testament Scriptures, and the Lord has ordained these for the unity and perfection of the church. The man who holds office in the church should stand as a leader, as an advisor and a counselor and helper in carrying the burdens of the work. He should be a leader in offering thanksgiving to God. But he is not appointed to order and command the Lord’s laborers. The Lord is over His heritage. He will lead His people if they will be led of the Lord in the place of assuming a power God has not given them. Let us study the twelfth and thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians, and the fifteenth chapter of Acts. “Ellen G. White, December 6, 1909. Paulson Collection, 298

Another quotation of significance that is cause for reflection is as follows:

In the 41st to 45th chapters of Isaiah, God very fully reveals His purpose for His people, and these chapters should be prayerfully studied. God does not here instruct His people to turn away from His wisdom and look to finite man for wisdom. . . . Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by Myself the word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness and shall not return, That unto Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. Surely, shall one say, in the Lord have I righteousness and strength. . . .

I write thus fully, because I have been shown that ministers and people are tempted more and more to trust in finite man for wisdom, and to make flesh their arm. To conference presidents, and men in responsible places, I bear this message: Break the bands and fetters that have been placed upon God ‘5 people. To you the word is spoken, “Break every yoke.” Unless you cease the work of making man amenable to man, unless you become humble in heart, and yourselves learn the way of the Lord as little children, the Lord will divorce you from His work. Testimonies to Ministers, 480- 481 (1907) (emphasis in the original).

One other point I would like to mention just to prevent any misunderstanding- I have always tried to confine my communications to you in private letters or phone calls, but I notice that you have sent your letters many places. Plus, I keep learning of private letters you have sent out, either to individuals or to many people, about me. I merely mention this, as I said, to prevent any misunderstanding on allowing concerned individuals to also know of my communications to you, and I ask each to join with us in prayer as we pull together for a finished work.

CC: Neal Wilson
Ron Spear
C. E. Bradford
Jim Hiner
Ralph Larson
Joel Tompkins
Bob Dale
Colin Standish
Larry Pitcher
John Grosboll
O. J. Mills
Open

This was the response to the above letter, dated September 2, 1988: Before there could be discussions with the Conference Administration and Executive Committee, about your desire to start new churches, etc., the Executive Committee will need your response to the criteria outlined in the Guidelines that I am sending you [The 11- point document as voted upon by the Kansas- Nebraska Conference.] … Regarding the question about the Bible Worker Fund, I believe that decisions about this matter are fully within the jurisdic lion of the local congregation. I am concerned that you seem to want the conference administration to be the ‘judge” in this matter whereas I believe this is a local church decision. . . . I am concerned that you chose to disassociate the Institute of Ministry from the Three Angels Company, and that during the entire time that the Three Angels Company associated with the Institute of Ministry, it is my understanding that financial reports of the Institute of Ministry and how funds were being used were not given to the Three Angels treasurer or the Three Angels Congregation. . . . Sincerely yours, G. L. R., president.

Note 1: Most of the finances of Steps to Life went through the Three Angels Congregation until they became independent at the time of the company formation. Steps to Life had no tax number at the time. Five of the local elders of the Three Angels Congregation were on the Steps to Life board. What funds did go directly through Steps to Life were audited, and the annual audited report was ready to present to the Three Angels Congregation at the time of the formation of the company. At about the same time, the conference- assigned pastor sought at one point to cut off the funds contributed to Steps to Life through the church. Thus it appeared to the Steps to Life board that, to protect the work that God had entrusted and ordained Steps to Life to do, they must become independent of the conference- controlled company, and they voted to do so.

Note 2: Steps to Life is not looking for the money that the Three Angels Company kept. But the Bible says, “You shall surely rebuke your neighbor; and not bear sin because of him” (Leviticus 19: 17). We are our brother’s keeper and should be concerned that there be nothing in the church that could prevent the Holy Spirit’s blessing.

Note 3: It is of interest to note that the local conference was sufficient of a judge over a congregation that when the church board wanted to transfer the Bible- Worker fund to the Institute of Ministry before the company was formed, their representative said, “You can’t do that” though both he and Elder R promised that the money would not be tampered with. It is also interesting to note that the only real authority of a company is the Conference Executive Committee. A company has no local authority. Furthermore, if the conference really is sincere about not judging, there would be no need for this response document. If they will not judge their own employees, we simply ask that they will also not judge those who are not under their employment.

It was shortly after this correspondence that the Concerns and Objections document was read by the president to the Conference Executive Committee, apparently as an initial step to take Elder Grosboll’s ordination away.

Yet, in answering “why” the conference is taking this drastic and dangerous step, there might be another answer. Since shortly after Elder Grosboll took a leave of absence, the conference administration has tried to keep track of every speaking appointment he has had. Over the last year, there has hardly been a speaking appointment by Elder Grosboll but that the conference president has called ahead of time and tried to get it canceled. He was able to cancel out an evangelistic series as well as a week- long 11 A. M. camp meeting speaking series for one of the large conferences of North America.

But while some conferences are withdrawing their invitations, more and more laymen are asking him to speak and are not bowing to pressure to withdraw their invitations. At the start of the school year at Loma Linda this year, the La Sierra student body representatives asked Elder Grosboll to have a weekend series for the students. When he arrived, the student representatives pulled him into a back room and said: “Your president has really caused trouble. He has gotten our local conference president involved, as well as the University president, saying that you should be barred from this campus. But we would not yield!” Praise the Lord, for a number of students made decisions on that weekend to start studying their Bibles and the Spirit of Prophecy every day and to seek to live the victorious life. A number of students also committed, or recommitted, themselves to be active witnesses for the Lord.

In another conference to which the laymen had asked Elder Grosboll to speak, they had a similar experience. Their conference president called demanding that Elder Grosboll not be allowed to speak. But when they asked him what Elder Grosboll had done, he did not know. Nevertheless he was not to speak. That weekend Marshall gave a seminar on how to give Bible studies. It is hoped that many people will be in heaven because of that weekend. Praise the Lord for solid laymen who have backbone.

Recently, on a speaking tour outside of North America, the union president for the church he was speaking in called saying he had talked to the conference officials from North America [presumably from the local or union conference] and was informed that Elder Grosboll was a trouble- maker in his home conference, and therefore he could not speak unless he had current credentials (which the president knew had expired). Pastor Grosboll told the elders that under those circumstances it would probably be better if he did not speak and asked if someone else could speak. But the elders of the church voted unanimously to allow Elder Grosboll to speak anyway, and they urged it upon him. Three other churches also asked him to speak that weekend.

In a fourth instance of seeking to block the speaking appointments of Elder Grosboll, both the conference president and the union president have tried repeatedly to get Elder Grosboll off at least one television station.

Why is the president so intent on blocking any speaking appointments by the pastor? Marshall Grosboll has seldom even mentioned the situation in Wichita when on speaking appointments, though it gets difficult to avoid at times when the president calls ahead to try to block appointments. The people in those cases want an explanation. Some people have thought that the conference is afraid that if Elder Grosboll continues his ministry, people may call into question their actions in connection to his being let go from the South Church. Whether that is true or not is not known, but for some reason there is a determined effort to stop his ministry.

The unfortunate thing is the way many administrators seem to be aligning themselves to support each other, whatever the facts. As one division president recently told Elder Grosboll and David Jakstis, the former head elder of the South Church: “It is the nature of our administration for the union president to support the conference president, and for the division president to support the union president.” Is this true justice? Is this the way God designed organization to work?

I commanded your judges, . . . saying, “Hear the cases between your brethren, and judge righteously between a man and his brother or the stranger who is with him. You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small as well as the great; you shall not be afraid in any man’s presence, for the judgment is God’s. Deuteronomy 1: 16, 17

In answering the question “Why?”, the most obvious reason appears to be that the president has not been very successful in blocking Elder Grosboll’s speaking appointments and ministry.

Maybe, if Elder Grosboll is officially “defrocked,” as John Huss was, he will have more success. Maybe he will. Jesus was barred from the churches after about the first six months of His ministry. Wesley was blocked from the churches. And Ellen White says: “If doubts and unbelief are cherished, the faithful ministers will be removed from the people” (Testimonies to Ministers, 410). But let us pray that this will not happen.

Closing Appeal:

Those who call for revival and reformation may be resisted and their characters maligned, yet there remains a rising cry being heard around the world from long- time, faithful Seventh-day Adventist members, as well as those in their first love of the truth: “What is happening to my church?” Many who have given their time, money, influence, and life to the unbuilding of this sacred institution are standing in shocked wonder at the rapid events taking place within this final movement which God established to take the everlasting gospel to the world. They are appalled at the reports of lawsuits, illegal disfellowshipings, the rapid proliferation of intercollegiate sports, increasing worldliness in dress, conversation, amusements, and drama, at the increased authoritarianism manifested from the lowest level to the highest, at the increase of “New Theology” teachings, at the hatred for the straight testimony, political entanglements, and the list goes on. Yes, what has happened? Many are giving up hope in the church and calling it Babylon. But it is not Babylon. Ellen White, in speaking of our church, said, “Everywhere the spirit of darkness in the garb of religion will confront you. If ail that appears to be divine life were such in reality; if all who profess to present the truth to the world were preaching for the truth and not against it, and if they were men of God guided by His Spirit,— then might we something cheering amid the prevailing moral darkness. But the spirit of antichrist is prevailing to such an extent as never before” (Testimonies, vol. 5, 79- 80). That was the condition of the church in 1882. She predicted that it would get worse. Yet the church is not Babylon. God loves it as the apple of His eye. He has not divorced it. “But the days of the purification of the church are hastening on apace. God will have a people pure and true. . . . The signs reveal that the time is near when the Lord will manifest that His fan is hi His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor.” Ibid.

The things we see should not discourage us. But they should call us to prayer as never before. “At this time we must gather warmth from the coldness of others, courage from their cowardice, and loyalty from their treason.” Ibid., 136

Is the church today really in as sad a condition as the Spirit of Prophecy says it is? The church could have reformed since her day; but if it has, why hasn’t Jesus come? Where is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit? Is this church correctly depicted by God in the Laodicean message, or did He make a false prophecy? Is there a message of warning and hope to be given to the church today by the watchman on the walls of Zion?

Sad to say, the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy counsels that could heal the church are often held in disrepute. Today the Spirit of Prophecy is held in contempt by many in positions of trust. They accept what they want to accept, but too often scoff at what applies to them, especially if it is quoted, even in tenderness and love, by those who are in self- supporting work or special ministries. Many have heard men of influence in the church make sly remarks to discredit various counsels of the Spirit of Prophecy that were brought to their attention. But it is like the ten commandments- you can accept all nine commandments that you agree with, but if you reject the one that goes against your traditions and practices, you have in reality rejected them all. If we merely believe God where 1- le agrees with us, we really haven’t believed Him at all.

Whether they are accepted or rejected, here are some counsels of warning that God has given to us, in love, to help us prepare for the final events of earth’s history and to know how to relate to what is about to come to pass. They are also written to keep us from fulfilling the conditions predicted, if we will hear and obey. Who knows whether God will not give you up to the deceptions you love? Who knows but that the preachers who are faithful, firm, and true may be the last who shall offer the gospel of peace to our unthankful churches? It may be that the destroyers are already training under the hand of Satan and only wait the departure of a few more standard- bearers 10 take their places, and with the voice of the false prophet cry, “Peace, peace,” when the Lord hath not spoken peace. . . . When God shall work His strange work on the earth, when holy hands bear the ark no longer, woe will be upon the people. Ibid., 77

Before looking at the other statements, let us analyze this one. Here it is pointed out that “the preachers who are faithful firm, and true” may be replaced by those who have been trained “under the hand of Satan.” The message of these false shepherds will be politically pleasing. Where are the men of courage and strength in the ministry today who are willing to stand in the breach? Where are the workers “who will not be bought or sold, . . . who do not fear to call sin by its right name, . . . men who will stand for the right though the heavens fall?” See Education, 57. Could there indeed come a time when “holy hands hold the ark no longer,” but rather those who have been trained by Satan to give a smooth message and to fight against the straight testimony will be at the helm of the work? That is exactly what Ellen White warned might happen. [In fact, she says “when” it happens] We have not given any such accusation that these things have indeed taken place. But it behooves us to know what the words of Inspiration say, and to realize that when these predicted events do happen, those fulfilling the prophecies will think they are on the Lord’s side, rich and increased with goods and in need of nothing. As Jesus said, “They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service” (John 16: 2).

Could the time be near when “holy hands bear the ark no longer,” and God will work “His strange work” (see Testimonies, vol. 5, 77, quoted above). If so, what is the strange work? Whom will it involve? The “strange work” is the woe of God being poured out first 9 upon the unfaithful Adventist ministry who have been preaching smooth and pleasing sermons when the church is in need of the stirring messages of revival and reformation. The woes of God, of course, were never intended for God’s church or for any within. They were only intended for the Beast and his followers who are at war with God.

In this fearful time, just before Christ is to come the second lime, God’s faithful preachers will have to bear a still more pointed testimony than was borne 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., vol. 1, 321

This woe upon the unfaithful ministry of the Seventh- day Adventist church, has been predicted over and over again. Our position is more serious than that of the Jewish leaders in John the Baptist’s day, for we have their example.

Ellen White graphically describes the condition of the church in the last days in the following counsel, in which she was shown a “little company,” a “faithful few” concerned Adventists in the midst of a general, Laodicean apostasy:

The leaven of godliness has not entirely lost its power. At the time when the danger and depression of the church are greatest, the little company who are standing in the light will be sighing and crying for the abominations that are done in the land. But more especially will their prayers arise in behalf of the church because its members are doing after the manner of the world.

The earnest prayers of this faithful few will not be in vain. When the Lord comes forth as an avenger, He will also come as a protector of all those who have preserved the faith in its purity and kept themselves unspotted from the world. It is at this time that God has promised to avenge His own elect which cry day and night unto Him, though He bear long with them. The command is “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.” Ezekiel 9: 4 These sighing, crying ones had been holding forth the words of life; they had reproved, counseled, and entreated. Some who had been dishonoring God repented and humbled their hearts before Him. But the glory of the Lord had departed from Israel: although many still continued the forms of religion, His power and presence were lacking.

In the time when His wrath shall go forth in judgments, these humble, devoted followers of Christ will be distinguished from the rest of the world by their soul anguish, which is expressed in lamentation and weeping, reproofs and warnings. While others try to throw a cloak over the existing evil, and excuse the great wickedness everywhere prevalent, those who have a zeal for God’s honor and a love for souls will not hold their peace to obtain favor of any. Their righteous souls are vexed day by day with the unholy works and conversation of the unrighteous. They are powerless to stop the rushing torrent of iniquity, and hence they are filled with grief and alarm. They mourn before God to see religion despised in the very homes of those who have had great light. They lament and afflict their souls because pride, avarice, selfishness, and deception of almost every kind are in the church. The Spirit of God, which prompts to reproof is trampled underfoot, while the servants of Satan triumph. God is dishonored, the truth made of none effect.

The class who do not feel grieved over their own spiritual declension, nor mourn over the sins of others, will be left without the seal of God. The Lord commissions His messengers, the men with slaughtering weapons in their hands: “Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.”

Here we see that the church— the Lord’s sanctuary— was the first to feel the stroke of the wrath of God. The ancient men, those to whom God had given great light and who had stood as guardians of the spiritual interests of the people, had betrayed their trust. They had taken the position that … the Lord . . . is too merciful to visit His people in judgment. Thus “Peace and safety” is the cry from men who will never again lift up their voice like a trumpet to show God’s people their transgressions and the house of Jacob their sins. These dumb dogs that would not bark are the ones who feel the just vengeance of an offended God. Men, maidens, and little children all perish together. Testimonies, vol. 5, 209- 211

Must we fulfill these prophecies? And while they are being fulfilled, must our people be kept in ignorance of these solemn warnings? Few of our people are taught to withstand the evil that is predicted to come into our church. Rather than teaching them to test all things, as the Bible commands, our people are too often taught, either by precept or example, to place implicit trust in human instrumentalities and organizations as long as they are under the control of the “church.” This training will surely prove their ruin. This is the very opposite of the training God would have His people receive at the present time. (see Testimonies to Ministers, 375)

Our greatest desire is to work in harmony with each brother, leader, and laymen for the soon coming of Jesus. But we must be true to the trust administered to us by God. It is time for another revival and reformation. We do not suppose that this will come without conflict. But may we maintain the spirit of Christ that was manifested in both firmness and self- sacrificing love. Like the reformers, we must build upon the Rock Jesus Christ. Pastor Grosboll shares: We stand ready to recant, apologize, change, and confess any practice, saying, or action that is shown to be out of harmony with God’s Word. We are ready to study that Word with prayer and openness with the leaders of this church. It is not time to fight one another, but to draw together in humbleness of soul. But we believe, until shown differently, that God has commissioned us to do the work we are doing. We cannot but be obedient unto that commission. We must have the same convictions and courage, with humility, that the reformers had. Ellen White thus outlines the issues of the Reformation, from which the word “Protestant” was derived:

The Protest denied the right of civil rulers to legislate in matters between the soul and God, and declared with prophets and apostles, “We ought to obey God rather than men.” It rejected also the arbitrary power of the church, and set forth the unerring principle that all human teaching should be in subjection to the oracles of God. The protesters had thrown off the yoke of man’s supremacy, and had exalted Christ as supreme in the church, and His word in the pulpit. The power of conscience was set above the State, and the authority of the Holy Scriptures above the visible church… . The protesters had moreover affirmed their right to freely utter their convictions of truth. They would not only believe and obey, but teach what the Word of God presents, and they denied the right of priest or magistrate to interfere. The Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 4, 162- 163

Steps to Life has nearly 900 Bible studies going Out weekly from their office. Those who are trained in the Institute of Ministry as Bible workers are going to the far corners of the earth to give the three angels’ messages. Those in the Steps to Life ministry feel called to this work. They have not entered into it without serious consideration and conviction. And with their training institute and Bible correspondence school, they are also carrying on an active city mission.

In a letter by Ellen White to a conference president who was raising objections to the work of some who, like Steps to Life, were carrying on a city mission, she said,

“Let those who would follow Christ fully come up to the work; even if it be over the heads of ministers and president. . . . Let each member of the church awake. Let each laborer remember that the vineyard he tills is not his own, but belongs to his Lord, who has gone on a long journey and in His absence has commissioned His servants to look after His interests; and let him remember that if he is unfaithful to his trust he must give an account to his Lord when He shall return.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 369- 380

We must give an account of our work to God. If He has commissioned us, and we should fail our trust because of human pressure, would we not be in jeopardy of losing the blessing of the Lord?

And finally, let us remember that, as in the trials of Jesus, Paul, and Martin Luther, the ones being tried are not the only ones being tried. The whole heavenly universe, as well as God’s people on earth, are looking on with intense interest to see the responses and actions of each. May the Lord grant us that fortitude and Christlike forbearance that will stand the test of the heavenly “watcher” Daniel 4: 13).

The truth always involves a cross. Those who will not believe, oppose and deride those who do believe. The fact that its presentation creates a storm of opposition, is no evidence against the truth.” Ellen G. White, Sketches From the Life of Paul, 279

Endnotes

  1. This document is for the purpose of answering the Concerns and Objections document, not dealing with personalities. Therefore names are generally omitted, or initials used.
  2. Emphasis in quotations is supplied throughout this document, unless noted otherwise.
  3. Bible texts, unless otherwise noted, are from the New King James Version.
  4. Central States Conference also had a church, and a Spanish company was getting started.
  5. This paper is available from Steps to Life. P. O. Box 782828, Wichita, KS 67278- 2828. Or Call: (800) 843- 8788.
  6. Read the whole chapter, entitled, “Protest of the Princes,” in The Great Controversy.
  7. For a copy of these guidelines as voted upon by the Kansas- Nebraska Conference, write to Steps to Life, P. O. Box 782828, Wichita, KS 67278- 2828. Or call, (800) 843- 8788.
  8. The document on “Acceptable Independent Ministries Guidelines,” originated in the North Pacific Union, seemingly as an attempt to control a/ some special ministry(ies) in their area. These eleven points were later accepted and voted upon by the North American Division. However, no one in the Special Ministries in question was asked or allowed to participate in the composition of these regulatory guidelines. Former General Conference President, Elder Robert Pierson, had urged certain North American Division leaders to dialogue with representatives of the Special Ministries before adopting such a document, but this was not done.
  9. See the final paragraph from the statement quoted hereafter from Testimonies, vol. 5, 209- 211

No Time to Celebrate

No time to celebrateby Marshall J. Grosboll

The Seventh-day Adventist church is God’s true and remnant movement of Bible prophecy. As such, it is the special target of the enemy of truth and righteousness. God thus calls for His watchman to maintain a constant vigil over His purchased property. When danger is perceived within the church it is the duty of every true and faithful Seventh-day Adventist to put personal interests and ecclesiastical positions behind him, and give the warning message necessary to protect the church, however unpopular that warning may be.

“As they [God’s people] assimilate their character to the divine Pattern, men will not guard their own personal dignity. With jealous, sleepless, loving, devoted interest, they will guard the sacred interest of the church from the evil which threatens to dim and cloud the glory that God intends shall shine forth through her.” — Testimonies to Ministers, page 406.

As members of His church, God holds us each responsible for its health and well- being. “If God abhors one sin above another, of which His people are guilty, it is doing nothing in case of an emergency. Indifference and neutrality in a religious crisis is regarded of God as a grievous crime and equal to the very worst type of hostility against God.” —Testimonies, vol. 3, page 281.

Many consider that our church is today facing the worst danger and crisis it has ever faced with the arrival of the celebration movement. The celebration movement is a new attempt, within the church, to receive the Holy Spirit. The meteoric rise of this new passion within the church is too phenomenal to be taken lightly. It is indeed either the manifestation of the true Holy Spirit or the false, counterfeit manifestation of the Spirit. If it is the true outpouring of the Holy Spirit, it would be disastrous to reject it. But if it is the counterfeit working of satanic agencies, it would be equally disastrous to receive it, or even to remain neutral about it. In this situation, as between Christ and Barabas, there is no neutral ground. The celebration movement is not pail good and part bad, it is one or the other. There is no accord between Christ and Belial, or between Christ’s spirit and Satan’s. To remain neutral is as bad, or even worse, than to decide the wrong way!

“Christ’s followers have no right to stand on the ground of neutrality. There is more hope of an open enemy than of one who is neutral.” — Review and Herald, Feb. 25, 1902.

The Timing of the Movement

In considering this movement, let us analyze two aspects: The timing of the movement and the philosophy behind it.

The Bible says, “There is a . . . time for every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh” (Eccl. 3: 14, texts from the NKJV).

To do a good thing at a wrong time can be the worst of evils. To prune a tree at the wrong time can kill it. To prune it at the right time can save it. To be happy when someone dies, or to be sad when someone is healed, is the wrong timing. To worship God is a duty, but to worship Him on Sunday instead of Sabbath is rebellion. “It is the very essence of all right faith to do the right thing at the right time.” —Testimonies, vol. 6, page 24. In fact, doing a good thing at the wrong time is often worse than open evil — it is more deceptive. Worshipping on Sunday instead of Sabbath deceives many people who would not be deceived by Atheism.

One of the greatest concerns about the celebration movement is the timing. As we shall see, the Lord says that for us to celebrate at the wrong time, when we should be mourning for our own sins and for the sins of Israel, becomes an unpardonable sin!

In the Old Testament Day of Atonement, that prefigured our day just before the second coming of Jesus, those who celebrated instead of afflicting their souls were “cut off’ from Israel (Leviticus 23: 29). To us, living during the antitypical Day of Atonement, the Lord says: “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double- minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up” (James 4: 8- 10).

It is no time to celebrate when a church is in apostasy. Those who make celebration the focal point of worship during this time of crisis will not receive the seal of God. In speaking of the time just before the close of probation, the Bible says: “Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub [which were on the ark], where it had been [since 1844], to the threshold of the temple. And He called to the man with the linen, who had the writer’s inkhorn at his side; and the Lord said to him, ‘Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it. ‘ To the others He said in my hearing, ‘Go after him through the city and kill; do not let your eye spare, nor have any pity’ “ (Ezekiel 9: 3- 5).

“The time will soon come when the prophecy of Ezekiel 9 will be fulfilled; that prophecy should be carefully studied, for it will be fulfilled to the very letter.”— Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, p. 1303.

After quoting the above verses from Ezekiel 9, Ellen White comments:

“These sighing, crying ones had been holding forth the words of life; they had reproved, counseled, and entreated. Some who had been dishonoring God repented and humbled their hearts before Him. But the glory of the Lord had departed from Israel; although many still continued the forms of religion, His power and presence were lacking.

“In the time when His wrath shall go forth in judgments, these humble, devoted followers of Christ will be distinguished from the rest of the world by their soul anguish, which is expressed in lamentation and weeping, reproofs and warnings. While others try to throw a cloak over the existing evil, and excuse the great wickedness everywhere prevalent, those who have a zeal for God’s honor and a love for souls will not hold their peace to obtain favor of any. Their righteous souls are vexed day by day with the unholy works and conversation of the unrighteous. They are powerless to stop the rushing torrent of iniquity, and hence they are filled with grief and alarm. They mourn before God to see religion despised in the very homes of those who have had great light. They lament and afflict their souls because pride, avarice, selfishness, and deception of almost every kind are in the church. The Spirit of God, which prompts to reproof, is trampled underfoot, while the servants of Satan triumph. God is dishonored, the truth made of none effect.

“The class who do not feel grieved over their own spiritual declension, nor mourn over the sins of others, will be left without the seal of God.” Testimonies, vol. 5, pages 210, 211. What God is calling for today is the Straight Testimony, such as John the Baptist gave. “In this fearful time, just before Christ is to come the second time, God’s faithful preachers will have to bear a still more pointed testimony than was borne 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.” — Testimonies, vol. 1, page 322.

This calls for serious contemplation and heartfelt repentance, rather than jubilation and gaiety.

Isaiah Saw the Celebration Movement

In a striking prophecy of our day, when God is calling for heartfelt and tearful repentance because of the prevailing apostasy within the church, Isaiah predicted that some would be celebrating instead of repenting, and that this rebellion would constitute an unpardonable sin. Isaiah 21 and 22 are Old Testament parallels of Revelation. In repeating the second angel’s message, it says: “Babylon is fallen, is fallen” (Isaiah 21: 9). This must be referring to spiritual Babylon, in a primary sense, for it refers to the second fall of Babylon. The Babylon of Nebuchadnezzar’s time fell but once, whereas the second fall refers to the fall of spiritual Babylon in Revelation.

While Isaiah 21 deals with spiritual Babylon, chapter 22 deals with spiritual Israel. It is “The burden against the Valley of Vision” (verse 1). A “valley” in prophecy often refers to people, whereas a mountain refers to worship, religion, God or gods. The Hebrew uses a word meaning a “wide valley” when referring to the wicked, but a word meaning a “narrow valley” when referring to the righteous. (See, for example Isaiah 2: 2; Joel 3: 14; Psalm 121: 1; Isaiah 22: 1.) Possibly this symbolism comes from Sinai, where God spoke from the “mountain” to the people who were in the “valley” below. Here God has a message to the Valley of Vision, or the people of prophecy. In Revelation the people of prophecy, who keep the commandments, refers to God’s remnant church (Revelation 12: 17; 19: 10). This identification of the object of chapter 22 is further confirmed in verse 4, where the church is called the “daughter” of “my people.” In Isaiah’s day, God called Israel “My people” (Isaiah 51: 16), whereas spiritual Israel is here identified as the “daughter” of My people.

Isaiah 22 describes the condition of God’s people in the last days. It describes them as a “tumultuous city, a joyous city.” Yet their members are slain, though they “are not slain with the sword, nor dead in battle” (verse 2).

Today, as this prophecy predicted, our members are slain. Our young people are leaving the church in mass. Attendance figures in North America are generally on the decline. Most churches have less than half their membership even occasionally attending services. Even counting babies and visitors, most churches do well to have half as many in church as are on the books. Our people are slain, though not in martyrdom or from warfare with the enemy, but from apostasy. God’s power has seemingly been removed from the church and we are trying to replace that power with good public relations, exciting music, celebration worship, and colorful programs. Thus, while God’s people are “slain,” though not “in battle,” they are “a tumultuous city, a joyous city.” In order to secure themselves in the midst of these conditions, the leaders bind themselves together in a confederacy to support one another (verse 3). God and His people lament this condition within the church. He says: “I will weep bitterly; do not labor to comfort me because of the plundering of the daughter of my people. For it is a day of trouble and treading down and perplexity by the Lord God of hosts in the Valley of Vision” (verses 4, 5). God can no longer protect His people because of their spiritual condition. “He removed the protection of Judah. You looked in that day to the armor of the House of the Forest; you also saw the damage to the city of David, that it was great” (verses 8, 9).

God’s people do everything to cover up their losses and to turn them around — except for one thing. They look to the institutions of man’s accomplishments, they number the homes of Jerusalem, they sacrifice some institutions to preserve others, they consolidate, they expertly plan for the future — but they do not seek the wisdom of the One who established the church in the beginning through the Spirit of Prophecy. (See verses 8- 11.)

“In that day the Lord God of hosts called for weeping and for mourning, for baldness and for girding with sackcloth” (verse 12). “But instead,” what does He find in the church? He finds “joy and gladness, slaying oxen and killing sheep, eating meat and drinking wine” (verse 13).

And what is the result of this apostasy of celebrating when the Lord calls for deep repentance? “Then it was revealed in my hearing by the Lord of hosts, ‘Surely for this iniquity there will be no atonement for you, even to your death, ‘ says the Lord God of hosts” (verse 14)! As in Ezekiel 9 and Leviticus 23, this rebellion constitutes a sin that cannot be pardoned. Probation is soon to close, and those who are celebrating when the Lord is calling for sorrow for sin will find themselves without a mediator. “Satan invents unnumbered schemes to occupy our minds” — his goal is to keep us joyfully celebrating within the church, until probation’s door is forever closed and we are unprepared (Great Controversy, page 488). That day is fast approaching.

New Theology for a New Movement

The celebration movement has its roots in the New Theology teachings that Desmond Ford and others brought into the church starting in the 1950s. The New Theology taught that, since Jesus had a different human nature than we do, we cannot be like He was. We can never hope to overcome sin and live a life like Jesus lived. “He is our substitute,” it was said, “not our example.”

The gospel, according to the New Theology, was the good news of justification. Sanctification was not a part of the gospel. Jesus forgives our sins without anything being done on our part except to accept Him as our Saviour. We will continue to sin until Jesus comes, but we will still be saved because of Jesus’ righteousness. He accepts us just as we are. This was called “good news.”

I remember a prominent Sabbath morning speaker at a conference campmeeting I was helping with a few years ago. He spoke about the joy of Sabbath- keeping. Sabbath is supposed to be a day of joy, but this joy is supposed to come from having victory over sin, not because God permits us to continue in sin. But this speaker proclaimed that the Sabbath is to be a day of joy because God accepts us in sin, just the way we are. He affirmed that we are to rejoice and be happy whether we have character defects or not — not because God can help us to overcome these defects, but because God happily accepts us while we continue to sin.

The speaker gave examples from the Bible to prove his point. He said that Moses threw down the Ten Commandments from the mountain in a fit of anger, yet the Lord accepted Him, without a word of reproof, and brought him back up into the mountain to talk with him face to face, even though Moses was continuing to manifest anger. The speaker went on to say that if the Lord accepted Moses — even with his uncontrolled temper, He will accept you if you have a temper problem too. That is why the Sabbath is to be a joyful day! Thus, he taught, we are to make Sabbath a day of rejoicing without worrying about our sins.

Either the speaker had not read the Spirit of Prophecy account of this story or he did not believe what it says, for there we are assured that when “he threw down the tables of stone and broke them. . . Moses did not sin . . . . He was wroth for God, jealous for His glory.” — Early Writings, page 163. But the speaker used this story to falsely assure his hearers that sin is inconsequential — God doesn’t care!

The speaker used other illustrations. He said that Paul boastfully claimed to have kept the law. Since those who believe in the New Theology do not believe that anyone can keep the law, this statement of Paul’s is not believed. He claimed that Paul was just manifesting boastful self-righteousness, but God accepted him too. Thus, God even accepts the self- righteous and boastful, according to this speaker. Again the thought was conveyed — forget about your shortcomings, simply rejoice in the goodness of the Lord.

I was shocked and distressed over this perverted theology that taught people to rejoice in their sins, but was even more surprised to hear the comments of delight in the message by those attending.

This is superficial Christianity. “If they were really one with Christ, if His Spirit were dwelling in them, they would see the sinfulness of sin. Not only would they confess; but they would forsake that which God abhors.” — Youth Instructor, March 5, 1903. “He who is truly penitent does not forget his past sins, and grow careless about them as soon as he has obtained forgiveness. On the contrary, the clearer the evidence he has of divine favor, the more he sees to regret in his past life of sin. He loathes, abhors, and condemns himself, and is more and more astonished that he should have continued in rebellion so long. He renews his repentance toward God, while he grasps more decidedly the hand of Jesus Christ, and finds that repentance is a daily, continued exercise, lasting until mortality is swallowed up of life. He who thus repents, appreciates the righteousness of Christ as above silver and gold, above every earthly tie and affection.” — Signs of the Times, Nov. 26, 1894

“He who is truly repentant, he who is regenerated, hates sin. All manner of selfishness is distressing to him. Indifference to God on the part of those around him grieves him. He is not led to exalt self in the performance of his duty, but abhors self. ‘I abhor myself is the language of the godly of all ages, who have had a clear view of the purity and holiness of Christ.” — Signs of the Times, Aug. 13, 1894.

“When the church are united, they will have strength and power; but when part of them are united to the world, and many are given to covetousness, which God abhors, He can do but little for them. Unbelief and sin shut them away from God.” —Testimonies, vol. 2, page 149.

It is the spirit of Satan that leads to indifference to sin. And it is this indifference and blindness to sin, which has been steadily growing in the church since the New Theology was introduced, that has laid the foundation for the celebration movement. No one who truly understands the significance of sin and the Laodicean apostasy within the church today is going to join a celebration movement — rather they are going to become a part of the movement calling for contrition and repentance for sin.

The Movement Finds a Home

The New Theology laid the foundation for the acceptance of the celebration movement within the church, but what was the catalyst that caused it to materialize?

For years there has been a growing interest in statistical growth, or “numbers,” within the organization. There was the “1000 days of Reaping” program followed by “Harvest 90.” These programs encouraged the baptizing of large numbers of people throughout the world. Literally millions joined the church, often without adequate preparation.

In Inter and South America and the third world countries, dramatic growth was witnessed. In contrast to the explosive Adventist growth in these countries, the church in North America has grown at a snail’s pace. Once the mainstay of the Adventist denomination, North America is becoming more and more insignificant compared to the other divisions. It no longer dominates the world field during the General Conference session.

In my state of Kansas, there were 100 churches around the turn of the century. Today Kansas has nearly a million more inhabitants, but the Adventist church has grown downward from 100 churches to 56! In church after church of thriving communities, I have asked how their church today compares to what it was thirty years ago — in nearly every instance there are fewer in attendance today. Somehow the power of the gospel has, for the most part, left the Adventist movement in the Western Countries. Though there are local exceptions, church schools, academies, pathfinders, evangelism, prayer meetings and in-gathering are all floundering compared to the advances made in prior years. Seemingly every program that has promised revival has failed.

In short, the condition of the church in North America, as well as in Europe and Australia, has become an embarrassment.

For years, in an attempt to turn things around, we have been inviting speakers from evangelical, non- Adventist churches and seminaries to speak to our ministers and share with them how we can grow like other churches. We have copied their programs, such as their New Testament Witnessing concepts, thinking that what works for them will work for us too, but it hasn’t. The “Caring Church” concept was one such program that was primarily a disappointment. The “Lab 1” and “Lab 2” programs for conflict management have not produced the results hoped for either. Nor has Management By Objectives brought about the miracles hoped for in administration. As was predicted in Isaiah 22, we have looked in every direction for every solution to our problems, but we have not looked to the Maker of the church — to the One who fashioned it long ago (Isaiah 22: 11). Isaiah says, in verse 13, that the next solution sought would be one of celebration!

With each failure, the desire for a program that works has grown more intense. We have developed a great desire for the Holy Spirit to come and give us “numbers” in the developed countries as we have heard about in the other countries. And since we have already reached outside of our church for the expertise of the Sunday- keeping churches, we have now looked to those Sunday- keeping churches that supposedly have the manifestations of the Holy Spirit — that is, the Pentecostal churches — to make up for what we have not found in the evangelical churches.

Several of our ministers have gone to the Pentecostal churches to learn the secret of their power. In years past there was no confusion as to the source of their power — we always believed that it was a counterfeit manifestation of the Holy Spirit. We tested all manifestations of the Holy Spirit with such verses as Isaiah 8: 20. We believed that the Pentecostal power was spiritualistic, and that it would help to unite apostate Protestantism and Catholicism together, and that under this three- fold power America would “follow in the steps of Rome in trampling on the rights of conscience.” — Great Controversy, page 588.

Generally, in our past history, we would not consider renting a Pentecostal church for our own services, or renting out our facilities for a Pentecostal service. We loved the Pentecostal people dearly, but believed that the movement was a form of spiritualism. We could not worship in the same room where spiritualism reigned.

The result of this new endeavor to revitalize our church through the introduction of Pentecostalism is the celebration movement. It is of no small significance that the two most heralded celebration churches, the flag- ship churches of Portland, Oregon and Colton, California, are both conducted in Pentecostal churches.

How surprised I was to hear a sermon from a minister in one of our largest conferences, in a revival meeting that had been promoted with a full back- page color advertisement in the Union paper, say that his best friend was a Pentecostal minister. He shared how the Holy Spirit is being manifested in churches today, and is now even coming into some Adventist churches as well. But he said that most Adventists are so afraid of the Holy Spirit that if it should come, they would flee from the room. The conference president and other conference leaders heartily endorsed his speech. His purpose was to start a new celebration church in their conference.

Many of the Adventist celebration books and materials are simply re- writes from straight Pentecostal books and materials. And the whole order of service in these churches is Pentecostal in style. In preparation for this article, I visited one church. I had heard the reports from others, and am not the one to visit questionable places just to see for myself. But I thought maybe the reports had been exaggerated. I was pleasantly surprised in the foyer at the conservative attire of the greeters — no jewelry or frivolous dress (though I soon found that other leaders in the church were not similarly attired). But inside I was in for a shock. A musical drama was in process, with the lights off and spot lights on the “actors.” Following was music by the band and lead singers from up front. The music had the definite beat of rock music. When the pastor called people to come up for prayer, hundreds went forward. There was the laying on of hands by elders while the pastor and his wife prayed, and many others waving there hands back and forth in a Pentecostal manner. Throughout the service there was clapping, joking, laughter, and a happy feeling. At the conclusion the band and lead singers let loose with the loudest music of the day, with a beat that was becoming harder all the time. The lead singers clapped their hands and swayed back and forth.

Those attending appeared to be an interesting amalgamation — everything was acceptable. Many think that this is wonderful. I, too, enjoy seeing people who represent a melange of philosophy and dress in a church if the people are non- Adventists looking for truth, but that was not the case in this church. While God accepts each one where they are initially when they first find the Lord, He expects practical, spiritual growth to ensue from that point on. The road to heaven is not the broad road that includes every brand of Christian practice and life- style, it is the narrow road that Jesus walked.

I wondered what Jesus would have said if He had attended. I am sure He would have called the service sacrilegious. I will not go back, for I do not believe the Lord could protect me from the evil influences that there prevailed. Is that too old- fashioned; too far fetched? Haven’t we always told our members not to attend spiritualistic meetings and pentecostal services because the Lord could not protect us in such places?

Celebration Spreads

Ellen White says that “the final movements will be rapid ones” — Testimonies, vol. 9, page 11. We have seen the rapidity with which Eastern Europe has turned from Communism to the Pope. But nowhere have final events moved faster than they have in the celebration movement. Who even heard of a celebration church two years ago? But today it is world- wide. Pastors from all over America have been trained in the celebration concepts. Pastors from Australia and New Zealand, on the way to the General Conference, have stopped off and been trained in the celebration concepts. Celebration churches are springing up everywhere, as though empowered by some special force.

Twice before Satan has tried to bring this kind of spiritualistic experience into the church — after the disappointment of 1844 and again after the turn of the century. In both cases it was supposedly the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and was associated with music, drums, and the swaying of the people. Ellen White predicted that this phenomena would again come into the church.

“The things you have described as taking place in Indiana, the Lord has shown me would take place just before the close of probation. Every uncouth thing will be demonstrated. There will be shouting, with drums, music, and dancing. The senses of rational beings will become so confused that they cannot be trusted to make right decisions. And this is called the moving of the Holy Spirit.” — Selected Messages, vol. 2, page 36.

The Lord here said that this would take place “just before the close of probation”! Isaiah 22 says there would be no atonement made for those who join in, for probation will close. Surely, we are seeing the final events of history being enacted! This is no time to be a sleeping Christian, but as Paul said, “knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep” (Romans 13: 11).

“But,” someone may say, “Our church is becoming a celebration church and we don’t see all the extremes mentioned above manifested in our church. Our church is just incorporating the good parts of the celebration movement.” But let us consider the source. Eve found it impossible to separate the good from the bad when she partook of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Let us consider one other thing: The two flagship celebration churches were started as celebration churches. It is impossible to change an existing, traditional church into a full- fledged celebration church immediately. There must be a conditioning process. Many times I have heard conference presidents counsel us ministers not to go too fast with the people. As in every other area of life, change comes one step at a time.

A person doesn’t become an alcoholic overnight. At first it appears that alcohol is quite a pleasant entertainment. The one who drinks doesn’t consider that he will ever go to the “excesses” of the alcoholic. But one must look at the alcoholic to see where alcohol consumption ultimately leads. And so, if one wants to see the end result of the celebration movement, he must see the character of the churches that have been started as celebration churches, without the baggage of traditional Adventists in the congregation to slow the process up. The pastor of the Colton, California celebration church found that he could not introduce all of his ideas in the Azure Hills Seventh- day Adventist church, because too many of the member objected to his ideas, as they should have done. Therefore, pastors who introduce the celebration concept into established churches must progress slowly, step by step — but the end result, though it will take a little longer to achieve will be the same as the full- fledged celebration churches. Thus, even the first vestiges of celebration must be vigorously opposed in every congregation. Once a church becomes a celebration church, it is the duty of every true and faithful Seventh- day Adventist to leave that apostate congregation.

Time to Speak Up

Today it is time for every true and faithful Seventh- day Adventist to raise his voice against this apostate movement within the church. This will bring persecution.

“It needs something besides theory to reach hearts now. It needs the stirring testimony to alarm and arouse; that will stir the enemy’s subjects, and then honest souls will be led to decide for truth. There has been and still is with some a disposition to have everything move on very smoothly. They see no necessity of [a] straight testimony.

“Sins exist in the church that God hates, but they are scarcely touched for fear of making enemies. Opposition has risen in the church to the plain testimony. Some will not bear it. They wish smooth things spoken unto them. If the wrongs of individuals are touched, they complain of severity, and sympathize with those in the wrong. As Ahab inquired of Elijah, ‘Art thou he that troubleth Israel? ‘ they are ready to look with suspicion and doubt upon those who bear the plain testimony, and like Ahab overlook the wrong which made it necessary for reproof and rebuke. . . . Just as long as God has a church, he will have those who will cry aloud and spare not. . . whether men will hear or forbear. I saw that individuals would rise up against the plain testimonies.” — Spiritual Gifts, vol. 2, pages 283, 284.

Already persecution has arisen against those who speak out against the celebration movement. At least one has been disfellowshipped for this, and undoubtedly other disfellowshippings will follow.

When persecution arose in Battle Creek against the straight testimony, Ellen White wrote to the leaders of the church and recalled how she and others had been persecuted in their previous denominational churches and for this reason had to leave, and to call others out of these churches too. Then, in referring to our own church, she said: “We hoped that there would not be the necessity for another coming out.” — Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, page 357. But Ellen White found that she did have to call people out of the Battle Creek church, and to tell students not to attend school there. We, too, must recognize that we must not attend a place where God’s Spirit has left. The Seventh- day Adventist movement is going through, but, as in Ellen White’s day, there is proving to be a need for a calling out from certain congregations and institutions within the church.

In commenting on Adventists who had not accepted all the truth, the messenger to the remnant said: “I was shown the necessity of those who believe that we are having the last message of mercy, being separate from those who are daily imbibing new errors. I saw that neither young nor old should attend their meetings; for it is wrong to thus encourage them while they teach error that is a deadly poison to the soul and teach for doctrines the commandments of men. The influence of such gatherings is not good. If God has delivered us from such darkness and error, we should stand fast in the liberty wherewith He has set us free and rejoice in the truth. God is displeased with us when we go to listen to error, without being obliged to go; for unless He sends us to those meetings where error is forced home to the people by the power of the will, He will not keep us. The angels cease their watchful care over us, and we are left to the buffetings of the enemy, to be darkened and weakened by him and the power of his evil angels; and the light around us becomes contaminated with the darkness.

“I saw that we have no time to throw away in listening to fables. Our minds should not be thus diverted, but should be occupied with the present truth, and seeking wisdom that we may obtain a more thorough knowledge of our position, that with meekness we may be able to give a reason of our hope from the Scriptures. While false doctrines and dangerous errors are pressed upon the mind, it cannot be dwelling upon the truth which is to fit and prepare the house of Israel to stand in the day of the Lord.” — Early Writings, pages 124, 125.

Conclusion

Ellen White was shown the final struggle of God’s remnant people: “I saw some, with strong faith and agonizing cries, pleading with God. Their countenances were pale and marked with deep anxiety, expressive of their internal struggle. Firmness and great earnestness was expressed in their countenances; large drops of perspiration fell from their foreheads.

“Evil angels crowded around, pressing darkness upon them to shut out Jesus from their view. As the praying ones continued their earnest cries, at times a ray of light from Jesus came to them, to encourage their hearts and light up their countenances. Some, I saw, did not participate in this work of agonizing and pleading. They seemed indifferent and careless. They were not resisting the darkness around them, and it shut them in like a thick cloud. The angels of God left these and went to the aid of the earnest, praying ones. I saw angels of God hasten to the assistance of all who were struggling with all their power to resist the evil angels and trying to help themselves by calling upon God with perseverance.” — Early Writings, pages 269, 270.

Some day soon, before Jesus comes, each Christian must go through a Gethsemane experience. Those who have developed a shallow experience based upon emotionalism will not go through this time. But those who have learned to stand for truth and principle now, will be helped to stand true then.

There is coming a true outpouring of the Holy Spirit. But it will not be accompanied by worldly music, clapping of hands, lightness and triviality, and fanaticism — it will rather lead to deep contrition of soul. But before the genuine outpouring of the Holy Spirit will come a counterfeit movement, just as before the second coming of Christ will come a counterfeit second coming. I would rather choose to wait for the genuine Holy Spirit, and the genuine second coming.

Someday there will be a genuine celebration church. There will be the most beautiful, holy music in this church. There will be rejoicing and jubilee. There will be no sin within this church, and no tempter to destroy, for it will be the celebration of the redeemed of all the ages celebrating around the throne. Just as I can wait for the true Holy Spirit, and the true second coming, so I can wait for the true celebration church.

“And it will be said in that day: ‘Behold, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for Him; we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation” (Isaiah 25: 9).

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Four Old Things, Part II

Why do you exist? Some people think that this question has already been answered, and if you know the answer, that is fine. But this is a question that I keep getting asked, and people are very sincere when they ask it. Why does there even have to be a place like Steps to Life? Why do independent ministries exist? Why do such special ministries have to exist?

There was a time when they did not exist. They did not need to exist, and they would never have had to exist. It would be just fine with me if we still did not have to exist, but we do. Why?

Not too long ago I went to talk to a young pastor of a conference church. Now he is your average, run-of-the-mill type pastor, and I do not know what happened in his life, but some time in the past he decided that he was going to start studying and reading the writings of a woman by the name of Ellen White. Surely the Holy Spirit was speaking to his heart! He started studying these books, and he made a 180-degree turn. All of a sudden his preaching changed; everything changed! It changed too much, according to some people.

About six months ago he preached a sermon in his church in which he dealt at great length with the subject of jewelry. He had been reading the writings of Ellen White; do you think he was for or against jewelry? He was against it. He not only preached against it, but he took the position that all conference pastors took when I was a conference pastor, years ago. When I was a conference pastor ministers could not baptize someone who wore a wedding band—not to mention any other jewelry. As this pastor was preaching, he said, “We cannot go on like this; we cannot have officers in our church who are wearing the kind of adornment that is forbidden in God’s Word.” Oh, oh! There just happened to be 60 or 70 people in that church who were adorned. When they found out that they could not be an officer of the church under this pastor, they decided that he had gone too far. They went to the conference office. The conference leadership asked this pastor to resign.

A friend of mine went to him and said, “You have not done anything wrong; do not resign. Let them fire you if they are going to.” He did not resign. The conference fired him. Do you think that he should keep preaching, or do you think that he should stop preaching? If you think he should keep preaching, where do you think he should preach?

Peace and Unity

Perhaps at this point we should take a look at the subject of peace and unity. We are approached from time to time by people who say, Why can’t you make peace and have unity with the conference today? There are even some people in some independent ministries and some special ministries and self-supporting work that believe that they can get along with the conference, and they say, Since you cannot get along with the conference, something must be wrong with you.

[Editor’s Note: Pastor Grosboll and his brother Marshall, the founder of Steps to Life, were raised in a Seventh-day Adventist family. Both became ordained ministers of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and worked for several years within that organization. During the time of their ministry, several large issues rocked the church. They sought counsel from the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy to reaffirm the foundations of their faith and beliefs. While others seemed to be stepping off the Rock, they planted their feet more firmly on the Rock. As they endeavored to continue to proclaim the Three Angels’ Messages, they encountered more and more opposition within the organized church from those stepping off the Foundation. They were finally forced out of its membership.]

I want to review with you some of the reasons why we are not seeking unity with the conference at the present time.

Because . . .

Because they are trying to destroy us. My brother wrote a booklet in 1989 called The Cost of Revival and Reformation, in which he described what happened in Wichita, Kansas, where he was pastoring when he was driven out of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Such action is so rampant all over the world that we no longer have to prove it occurs.

We were in a situation where we were working in a conference church—sending tithe to the conference church, trying to work with them in every way that we could. But every dollar—several thousand dollars—that we had in our bank account was suddenly taken, just like that! We had absolutely no money. We were not rich. We had a television program, and we had several office staff, so we had expenses. We have not seen that money since.

If I understand my Bible correctly, thieves are not going into the Holy City. (See Exodus 20:15; Revelation 12:17; 14:12, 1 Corinthians 6:9, 10.) When you are willing to rob someone of every dollar that they have, you are trying to destroy them. The wrongs we experienced against us at that time have not been made right. I am not pointing a finger at anyone, and I pray for these people. I believe that when we come to the end of time there will be a lot of people in high places, who call themselves Adventists, who are going to find out that they have lost their soul, because they have not made things right. They have lied and stolen, and they have never confessed or made amends. This is serious, friends. Many will be shut out from the Holy City on this basis.

In The Great Controversy, 608, we are told: “As the storm approaches, a large class who have professed faith in the third angel’s message, but have not been sanctified through obedience to the truth, abandon their position and join the ranks of the opposition. By uniting with the world and partaking of its spirit, they have come to view matters in nearly the same light; and when the test is brought, they are prepared to choose the easy, popular side. Men of talent and pleasing address, who once rejoiced in the truth, employ their powers to deceive and mislead souls. They become the most bitter enemies of their former brethren. When Sabbathkeepers are brought before the courts to answer for their faith, these apostates are the most efficient agents of Satan to misrepresent and accuse them, and by false reports and insinuations to stir up the rulers against them.”

If you decide to take somebody to court and put them in jail, like was done with John Marik [lay pastor of 12-member Seventh-day Adventist Congregational Church, Kona, Hawaii], you are trying to destroy them. Ellen White wrote that it is not the true church that makes war against those who keep the commandments! (See The Signs of the Times, April 22, 1889.) Keep that uppermost in your mind. Don’t ever forget that! The devil is trying to deceive people today, but when you see a group of Christians making war on another group of Christians who are keeping the Law of God, you know that the group who is doing the persecuting is not the true church. It is that simple!

I could go into great detail about how the conferences are trying to destroy the Revival and Reformation Movement all over the world. People are being taken to court and some are put in jail, not by unbelievers but by professed brethren. Although you may know about those things, it is necessary to review them once in awhile, since people come to us and want to know why we cannot work with the conference.

Because they are trying to control us. You may ask what is wrong with that. What is wrong is that it is forbidden in the strongest language in the Spirit of Prophecy. Ellen White repeatedly states that the church of God is not to be brought under human control. One reference is, “In his ministry, Paul was often compelled to stand alone. He was specially taught of God and dared make no concessions that would involve principle. At times the burden was heavy, but Paul stood firm for the right. He realized that the church must never be brought under the control of human power. The traditions and maxims of men must not take the place of revealed truth. The advance of the gospel message must not be hindered by the prejudices and preferences of men, whatever might be their position in the church.” The Acts of the Apostles, 199, 200. [Emphasis supplied.] Never is that to be done! The Lord has forbid it.

It is interesting how people’s minds work. In Wichita, at the same time they were trying to destroy us, they were trying to control us—telling us which people we should allow on our board. My brother said, “This does not make sense. Should we put people on our board of directors who have demonstrated that they are trying to destroy us?” We did not think we should do that!

Ellen White called it the “rule or ruin system.” “Men have taken unfair advantage of those whom they supposed to be under their jurisdiction. They were determined to bring the individuals to their terms; they would rule or ruin. . . .” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 360. “The rule-or-ruin system is too often seen in our institutions. This spirit is cherished and revealed by some in responsible positions, and because of this God cannot do the work He desires to do through them. By their course of action those who reveal this spirit make manifest what they would be in heaven if entrusted with responsibility.” Ibid., 280. We have seen this system—either we are going to control you or we will ruin you—in operation! Ellen White said that God would not sanction or serve with that.

Because of a difference in theological belief. Ellen White said, “We are to unify, but not on a platform of error.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 15, 259. Our opponents in conferences claim that they believe in revival and reformation. They claim there is nothing they want more than that—until someone comes along to bring them that, then they try to destroy them. It has happened over and over throughout the world. In other words, their actions show what they really believe. The Jews said that they were looking for the Messiah, but when He came, they destroyed Him.

If you encourage celebration-style worship, the preaching and the teaching of the new theology, a new gospel whereby men are qualified for heaven on the basis of justification only—a teaching that the Adventist pioneers never taught or believed—then we are not dealing with just some minor difference in beliefs. We are dealing with the most fundamental teachings about how a person is saved and what the Christian life involves. We are dealing with the most radical differences about who and what the church is, and what is New Testament gospel order and discipline. There is a difference of opinion on that, and that is very basic and fundamental. We believe both in the New Testament definition of the church, and we believe in New Testament gospel order. Incidentally, New Testament gospel order excludes all hierarchical methods.

Because we cannot but protest the apostasy. This is one of the very reasons the conference thrust us out in the first place. When I was disfellowshipped, one of the four reasons given for the action was because I said the organized church was in apostasy. I had to agree with them, because I did say they were in apostasy, and they are. The apostasy is worse now than when I was disfellowshipped, a lot worse. The average Seventh-day Adventist in the structure church cannot seem to tell the difference between fault finding, back biting, and criticism and protesting on the basis of a “thus saith the Lord.”hvy5w12q

It is a frightful thing when God’s professed people cannot tell the difference between the work of God and the work of the devil. We should pity these people and pray for them, because they are the victims of false education just like the children of God were in Jesus’ day.

Because the organization is linking itself up with Rome. We cannot, with a clear conscience, do this or join or support an organization that is doing it. The evidence was hidden for a long time, but God has allowed it to be revealed, out in the open. When you take three hospitals [in the Denver, Colorado, metro area] worth millions of dollars and just give them into the control of the Catholics, you are linking yourself up with Rome. That cannot be denied. When this action was reported in a well-known church publication, it met no protest. In the Bible we are told, “be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean [thing].” 11 Corinthians 6:17.

Because we must be free to preach our conscientious convictions. When I go out to preach, no one tells me what I have to preach. We have to be free to preach our conscientious convictions.

This is one of the major reasons that my brother, Marshall, was fired from the Kansas-Nebraska Conference. He was told, “You must not preach what you are preaching. You have to preach love and unity. You must not rock the boat so much.” And he said, “I have to preach my conscience, and if you are going to fire me for preaching my conscience, you will just have to do it.” They did.

Paul said, “For now do I please men or God? Or do I seek to please men? If yet I am a man pleaser, I am not a servant of Christ.” Galatians 1:10. He went on to say that the gospel that he preached did not come from men; men did not teach it to him; he got it from the Lord. The Lord is the One who gave Paul the message he preached, and he had to preach what the Lord told him. It is still true today. If you want to kill your church, institute a system where the preacher gets instructions on what to preach from some man. It takes the Holy Spirit completely out of the loop.

Because the organization is linking itself up with the ecumenical movement. We cannot be part of an organization that is linking up with that movement, which we believe is condemned in Revelation 13, 17, and 18. Ellen White wrote, “It is impossible for you to unite with those who are corrupt, and still remain pure.” Review and Herald, January 2, 1900. It is impossible!

When our brethren in Germany put out a newspaper containing the Three Angels’ Messages, they printed millions of them and started sending them all over. They put the local conference’s telephone number on it so that people could find out where there was a Sabbath-keeping church that they could attend. They sent these newspapers all over Eastern Europe. The conference took them to court, and these brethren were forced to remove the conference’s telephone number from the newspapers. Why? Because the conference is linked up with the ecumenical organization, and the Sunday-keeping churches came to them and asked them why they were allowing that paper to be distributed all over the country. They said, “Well, we can’t stop it, but we won’t allow them to use our telephone number.” So they took our brethren to court and sued them and forced them to remove the phone number. One of the brothers called and asked if they could put the phone number of Steps to Life on these papers. I told him, “Sure. I don’t know who will call us from Germany, but if you cannot find anyone there who will let you use their phone number, you can put ours on, and we will give information to anyone who calls.”

We cannot be part of the ecumenical movement. God has forbidden it, and for those people who link up with it, if they do not get loose soon, it will be too late for them.

Because the organization is practicing deception on all levels. There is much documentation that can be given on that. (See The Kulakov File. Compiled in 1993, this book contains correspondence written during the late 1970s between Russia and the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.) An Adventist attorney was told that the reason the conference trademarked the name Seventh-day Adventist was because they did not want homosexuals to use the name. At that very time they were taking faithful Seventh-day Adventists in the South Pacific to court and trying to force them to stop using the name. That is double-talk, what we used to call a forked tongue.

Because the Spirit of Prophecy links up the idea of an image to the beast with the idea of a universal creed, which then becomes enforced. “Charles Beecher, in a sermon in the year 1846, declared that the ministry of ‘the evangelical Protestant denominations’ is ‘not only formed all the way up under a tremendous pressure of merely human fear, but they live, and move, and breathe in a state of things radically corrupt, and appealing every hour to every baser element of their nature to hush up the truth, and bow the knee to the power of apostasy. Was not this the way things went with Rome? Are we not living her life over again? And what do we see just ahead? Another general council! A world’s convention! Evangelical alliance, and universal creed!’—Sermon on ‘The Bible a Sufficient Creed,’ delivered at Fort Wayne, Indiana, February 22, 1846. When this shall be gained, then, in the effort to secure complete uniformity, it will be only a step to the resort to force.” The Great Controversy, 444.

The General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists has formed such a creed. How do we know? Because they come into our churches and disfellowship us, not with the Bible, but with a little red book. They open that book, The Church Manual, and if you are not in harmony with the things written in that book, you are going to be disfellowshipped. If you can be disfellowshipped on the basis of that book, it is a creed.

The Bottom Line

The bottom line is that all these things are separating them from God, and we cannot go back into the organized church without the risk of losing our souls. We tried to stay in it as long as we could. For years we did everything we could think of, until my brother said, “I cannot violate my conscience.” Then we were separated.

Ellen White tells us what is going to happen, and it is very encouraging. It helps us understand what is going on right now and what is going to happen in the future. “As the last conflict with Satan will be the most decisive, the most deceptive and terrible that has ever been, so also will his overthrow be the most complete.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 10, 317. I want to tell you, friends, the Three Angels’ Messages are going to triumph! We must stick with them and keep proclaiming them. We must keep telling the people. The people are judgment bound, and if we do not share this message with them, they will not be able to choose to save their souls. The Three Angels’ Messages are going to overthrow the whole government of Satan.

I want to be on the Lord’s side in this final controversy, how about you? It does not matter whether or not you are few or many. Look at Gideon’s 300; they took on an army of 120,000. (See Judges 7, 8.) Moses said, “Two of you will put to flight ten thousand.” (See Deuteronomy 32:30.) Do not worry about numbers. Actually, a few people who are fully converted are 100 times more powerful than a large group that is half converted.

Such a Time as This

Why do we exist? Oh, the Lord put us where we are for such a time as this. Are you going to be faithful to your calling? Will you say, “Lord, By your grace, if I am the only believer in this area, I am going to get the Three Angels’ Messages out, so the people have a chance to be saved.” The judgments are coming! We need to warn the people. If we are faithful, when the Three Angels’ Messages triumph, we will triumph with them.

[Bible texts quoted are literal translation.]

Pastor Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life Ministry and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by e-mail at: historic@stepstolife.org or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

Preparing for Heaven

Time is speeding by and changes are constantly being made. Children are growing up and every day we all get a little older and hopefully wiser. Amazing scientific progress has been made in business, education, transportation, health resources and everyday life activities. The greatest changes seem to be in communication and travel. Many of you cannot imagine what it would be like to carry all the water you need each day into the house by bucket. Heating water, and all cooking and baking was done on wood burning stoves. Once the daylight was gone, a candle or a kerosene lamp had to be lit in the evenings. The differences in lifestyle are too many to be mentioned here. Even museums cannot accurately depict the way people used to live. It is certainly a different world in which we live today than the one in which our grandparents lived.

We have been told in the Word of God that, “Many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall be increased.” Daniel 12:4. This prophecy is literally being fulfilled before our eyes. We are living in the closing days of this earth’s history. Are we really aware of the fact that Jesus is planning to come and gather His people to take them to a better country? Are we truly His people and are we earnestly preparing for the move, or are we planting our interests here in the present country where we are now living?

Are we too involved with the numerous modern inventions and allowing everyday responsibilities to take the lion’s share of our time? Does spending hours on our computer or Internet take precedence over studying our Bible and talking to the Lord on our knees? Are we living above our means and constantly worried about debts, or have we learned to be like Paul and can honestly say, “I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” Philippians 4:11.

Those planning for a future home in the New Jerusalem are seriously preparing their lives to fit into the heavenly society of that beautiful city. It is necessary to know how to get ready. The Bible and the inspired writings of the Spirit of Prophecy are the precious gifts that have been given as a guide to the eternal light.

Jesus said, “Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.” Mark 13:35–37. Are we sleeping or watching? Do we see so much wickedness and hear so much of the world’s music that we do not realize its sinfulness? Do we get so busy that we are not wide awake to do the Lord’s will and have time for prayer and Bible study?

“And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them. But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by. Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.” Luke 21:8–11. Only diligent study of the inspired writings will prepare us to recognize truth from the error of every wind of doctrine that is blowing today. Jesus said to “take heed that you be not deceived.”

And Paul said, “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.” Romans 13:11. Are we wide awake as to the time in which we are living? Are we ready to go home with Jesus if He should come today? Jesus also said, “Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.” Matthew 24:44.

Knowing the attributes of the kingdom of heaven makes us aware of the necessity for a personal commitment to shape our characters so fit we may in with the heavenly environment. For instance, Jesus said, “Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 19:14. And again He said, “Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:3. We must be as humble and as dependent as a little child. As a little child has to look to his parents for love and acceptance and for food and clothing, so we must realize our dependence on our heavenly Father for our very existence and sustenance.

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.” Matthew 13:45, 46.

Eternal life is as a goodly pearl; it is worth everything we have. We must be like Job who said, “Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.” Job 23:12. We must rather miss our breakfast or our dinner than to miss worship or the study of His word.

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world: “the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just.” Matthew 13:47–49. Notice, only the good fish are kept. All that are in the net are not fit for the kingdom of heaven. There is a judgment coming and although our names may be on the church books and we may be in the net or profess to be Christians, that does not ensure us of a home in the kingdom of heaven.

Just as in Jesus’ parable, it takes all to buy the field. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.” Matthew 13:44. Heaven is worth more than anything we might attain on this earth and we must be willing to give up all for it, even our mortal life itself if necessary. Jesus gave all to save us and we must be willing to deny ourselves and give all that we have to gain eternal life.

“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 7:21.

How do we do the will of the Father? To do His will we must first know what it is and that is found out by studying His word and talking to Him in prayer. We must daily study our Bibles and the Spirit of Prophecy so that we can recognize His voice and be guided by His word. Once we know the Lord’s will, we must be like Daniel and purpose in our heart to do His will regardless of the cost.

“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.” Psalm 1:1, 2.

“But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” I Corinthians 2:9.

A member of Steps to Life staff, she worked for many years with her husband in the mission field. She may be contacted by e-mail at ruthgrosboll@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at 316-788-5559.

Preparing for Home

I’ve been waiting for Jesus to come back again;

I’ve been longing, preparing for home;

I’ve been praying and working for fitness within;

I’ve been longing, preparing for home.

I’ve been watching the final events tell their tale;

I’ve been longing, preparing for home;

I can almost see glory from heaven’s opening vale;

I’ve been longing, preparing for home.

I must join in the final great controversy;

I’ve been longing, preparing for home;

I must follow my Master through Gethsemane;

I’ve been longing, preparing for home.

by Marshall Grosboll

How to Study the Word

By Marshall J. Grosboll

How to Study the WordA master deception

The prophecies foretell of a coming master deception to the Christian world: “He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do” Revelation 13: 13, 14. (Texts are from either the KJV or NKJV.)

In Acts 2, when fire came down from heaven, the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the disciples. In the last days, there is going to be a counterfeit outpouring of the Holy Spirit (fire from heaven) that is going to deceive the world. Even many Christians will be deceived, for Satan will “deceive, if possible, even the elect” Matthew 24: 24.

That is why Satan will use Christian ministers to be his agents— he would not deceive Christians with witch doctors! Satan’s ambassadors come “transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness” 2 Corinthians 11: 13– 15.

The coming of the false outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the counterfeit Christ will be with “all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved” 2 Thessalonians 2: 9, 10.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus warned that many Christians who call Him “Lord, Lord,” who think that they are saved, who have known and taught the prophecies, who have had spiritual gifts and have done many wonderful things in His name, will find out too fate that they are forever lost. Jesus will say to them: “1 never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” Matthew 7: 21– 23.

It will be among God’s professed people that “Satan will take the field and personate Christ. to deceive, if possible, the very elect” Testimonies to Ministers, 411. Anytime God’s people begin to seek for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, without a corresponding interest in knowing and following the truth, they are in danger of having their prayers answered by the wrong spirit. If most of the world is going to be deceived, how can we keep from being deceived ourselves?

Only Bible students saved!

The answer comes from the following insight, taken from one of the greatest books I have ever read, The Great Controversy:

“Only those who have been diligent students of the Scriptures and who have received the love of the truth will be shielded from the powerful delusion that takes the world captive. By the Bible testimony these will detect the deceiver in his disguise. To all the testing time will come. By the sifting of temptation the genuine Christian will be revealed. Are the people of God now so firmly established upon His word that they would not yield to the evidence of their senses? Would they, in such a crisis, cling to the Bible and the Bible only? Satan will, if possible, prevent them from obtaining a preparation to stand in that day. He will so arrange affairs as to hedge up their way, entangle them with earthly treasures, cause them to carry a heavy, wearisome burden, that their hearts may be overcharged with the cares of this life and the day of trial may come upon them as a thief”— pp. 625, 626.

This brief passage summarizes the teaching of the Bible on this point. The word that jumps out at me in this passage is the word “only.” Is it true that only those who have been “diligent students of the scriptures,” and those who have “received the love of the truth,” will be saved from delusion and found ready when Jesus comes?

Why only a few will be saved

Many will find out too late that the prophetic warnings are all too true. Many who have been professed followers of Christ— faithful in tithes and offerings, leaders in various departments of the church, preachers of the Word, and who truly believe that they are saved because they “know the truth,”— will find out, too late, that they have been sadly deceived because they never had time to become “diligent students of the Word.”

“Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” Matthew 7: 14. While only a few will be saved, many will think they have been saved because they have been a part of the church and active in supporting the Lord’s institutions and spreading His message (see Matthew 7: 21— 23). “But a small number of those now professing to believe the truth . . . [will] eventually be saved— not because they could not be saved, but because they would not be saved in God’s own appointed way” Testimonies, vol. 2, 445.

Why only a small number? Because the majority have not been diligent students of the Word nor received the love of the truth. Thus they have been deceived into thinking they are saved, into thinking they have received the Holy Spirit, when they are yet in their sins.

Note again these two essentials: (1) We must become, not just surface readers, but diligent students of the Word, and (2) we must study it with the right attitude (because we love the troth). The scribes and Pharisees in Jesus’ day were great students of the Word, but they studied it for argument’s sake and to support preconceived ideas. They did not crucify the lusts of the flesh nor the pride of opinion, but rather they studied the Word to elevate themselves and their ideas.

Ways to study the Word

Though we must be willing for God to teach us new truth, we must not study the Word in order to find something new and exciting (to show our superior wisdom). One of the things that led the early church into apostasy during the first few centuries was that they “had become wearied of the oft- repeated truths. They desired a new phase of doctrine, more pleasing to many minds” Seventh- day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 7, 958.

Nor is our study to be primarily for the conversion of other people, although our study will help enable us to witness better. We are not to study in order to earn merits with the Lord. We are not to study in order to prove our opinions right. Neither are we to study in order to appear pious to other people. “How many are lost by their effort to keep up a name! If one has the reputation of being a successful evangelist, a gifted preacher, a man of prayer, a man of faith, a man of special devotion, there is positive danger that he will make shipwreck of faith when tried by the little tests that God suffers to come. Often his great effort will be to maintain his reputation” Ibid.

But rather, we are to study in order to learn the will of God for our own lives, personally. We are to study in order to allow the Holy Spirit an opportunity to change our characters into the likeness of Jesus’ character. Unless we spend this personal time with the Word so that this character change can happen, we cannot be saved!

Of course, God makes up the difference for those who are blind or who have no access to the Bible or who have some other handicap that makes it impossible to study on their own. But for those to whom God has given the abilities to read and has provided them with the Word, He will not make up the difference. Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him” John 6: 53— 56. Thus Jesus warned that only those who eat His flesh will have eternal life, and He identifies that flesh in verse 63 as, not His literal body, but the words which He speaks.

Peter describes how the Christian can receive the new life in Christ in 2 Peter 1: 3, 4. He says, “As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” Thus we receive the “divine nature” through the promises of the Word and the knowledge of Jesus Christ. As Jesus said in John 17: 3, 17: “And this is life eternal, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent… Sanctify them by Your truth, Your word is truth.”

How could anything be more plain? We cannot expect to reach heaven unless we are spending serious, diligent time in the Word! I may decide that I am a solitary exception to this rule, but like millions of others, I will find out too late that I am no exception. There is no amount of tithe or offerings that can be given to make up for our need of personal Bible study. It cannot be done by proxy. There is no preacher we can pay to do it for us. There is no profession or church activity that can make up for this need of personal devotion with the Lord.

How to increase your intelligence!

Before entering the gospel ministry, the Lord graciously showed me the need and blessings of Bible study. I had always felt a call to the pastoral ministry and was starting out my freshman year at a Christian college in preparation for this calling.

My brother had graduated from the same college the year before and had made good grades, so they thought I would be a good student also. Thus they allowed me to choose however heavy a study load I thought I could handle. I took Theology I, History, Freshman Composition, five hours of Greek and a few other courses that equaled 17 hours of credit— a fairly heavy load.

Now, while “the spirit was willing” to handle this much study, the flesh was weak. While I wanted to do well, I had never really learned how to apply myself to study. I was much more adept at playing tennis and other enjoyable things than I was at sitting at a desk. I was also working part- time to help defray the cost of my tuition. As the weeks passed, my grades got further and further behind.

Two weeks before the end of the first quarter, many of the teachers gave preliminary grades to the freshmen to help them know how to study for their final tests. They displayed the cumulative points for the quarter for each student on the board and each student was given their points so they could see where they ranked in relationship to all others. Lines were drawn between certain numbers on the board indicating grades of A, B, C, D and F. To my horror, out of 17 hours I had accumulated 11 hours of solid F, and in two of those courses, including Greek, I was the lowest F in the class! My doom was nigh! I felt sure that my college career was nearly over. I said, “Lord, I’m sorry! You called me into the ministry but I have failed You. Look what a miserable job I have done.”

But the Lord brought to my mind a statement on page 90 from another favorite little book of mine, Steps to Christ. The statement reads:

“There is nothing more calculated to strengthen the intellect than the study of the Scriptures. No other book is so potent to elevate the thoughts, to give vigor to the faculties, as the broad, ennobling truths of the Bible. If God’s word were studied as it should be, men would have a breadth of mind, a nobility of character, and a stability of purpose rarely seen in these times.” With this statement in mind, I decided to do an experiment. I made a covenant with the Lord. I said: “Lord, I’ve failed You and I’m sorry. But starting today, I would like to make a covenant with You to spend at least an hour every day with Your Word. I am not asking You to do anything specific, except to help me keep my part of the covenant. You do whatever You want with my life.”

I thought I had always spent some time with the Word each day before, but it must have been very little. I guess if a person spends 10 or 15 minutes a day with the Word, he thinks he has accomplished a great feat. But when I tried to spend a whole hour with the Word, I found it was the hardest, most boring thing I had ever done in my life! I could have spent two or three hours with the television or playing basketball without any problem— but an hour with the Word! Yet I had made a covenant and I was determined to keep it, even if it killed me! Day after day I forced myself to sit and study my Bible. I could hardly sit there for that whole period of time, but I stuck it through.

After a month or two, the strangest thing began to happen. The Word began to be interesting! Pretty soon I found myself spending two hours and even three hours at a time with the Word, just like other people do with television, not realizing how the time had gone by. Something else was also happening. The Lord worked a miracle in my studies— in the two- week period I had remaining before the close of the first quarter, the Lord helped me to bring every grade up to a C! Now a C may not be anything to write home about, but for me, coming out of the pit I was in, it was a miracle! I could hardly believe that Scripture study could actually make that much difference!

I kept on studying an hour a day, and by the next year the lowest grade I made was a B. I continued to spend the time studying the Word systematically every day and my grades continued to climb right through graduate school. I was not doing a lot more studying than before, but I had learned to study more efficiently and my mind was retaining and comprehending more.

The discipline never ends

I found something else very interesting. Over the years I have tried to keep that covenant with the Lord, but after more than two decades I find that it is just as hard to get into the Word every morning today as it was the day I began. The only difference is that once I sit down to study the Word now, it is even more interesting than I found it after those first few months of study. As David said, God’s word is “sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb” Psalm 19: 10. The Word becomes more enjoyable every day it is read, but I still have to discipline myself to begin my study each morning.

There is a determined foe who works every day to prevent me from finding time to do what I know I must. As the earlier statement from The Great Controversy says, “Satan will, if possible, prevent them from obtaining a preparation to stand in that day. He will so arrange affairs as to hedge up their way, entangle them with earthly treasures, cause them to carry a heavy, wearisome burden, that their hearts may be overcharged with the cares of this life and the day of trial may come upon them as a thief’— p. 625.

I am convinced that Satan must spend hours dreaming up schemes just to keep me from finding time to read the Word. I find if I do not get it done in the morning, generally things become so complicated during the day that there is never a moment to sit down and read the Word until I am so tired I cannot concentrate anymore on what I am reading.

So over the years, I have had to make sacrifices and decisions as to whether I would study the Word or not. I remember taking a college Biology class which was very difficult. I thought the teacher must be trying to weed out some of the pre- med students. With 204 students in his class, he gave only four A’s— just two percent!— which I thought was far too low. I was working four hours a day, taking a full class load and was spending that hour a day with the Word. Yet, though I concentrated as hard as I could in class, I found out that I had very little time to prepare for the final exam. After I got off work the day of the exam, I had one hour and 45 minutes before test time, and I had not yet studied for the final. So I faced a decision: Would I put my Bible study off until after class or some time that evening and spend my hour and 45 minutes preparing for the test, or should I spend my hour with the Bible first and then a mere 45 minutes preparing for my final exam? I chose the latter, by faith.

A close friend of mine, who was not working or spending consistent time with the Bible, studied hard for two weeks in preparation for that exam. I had but 45 minutes! I asked the Lord to make my mind as clear and sharp as possible, and to help me know what I should study during that short period of time. When the exam came, my mind was able to recall nearly everything we had covered in class, and I received one of those four A’s. My friend could not understand what had happened since he had spent much more time studying than I had but ended up with a lower grade. Another difficult time I remember was when I was taking Anatomy and Physiology. It was a college summer course where a normal half- year course is crammed into just six weeks, with four hours of lecture a day. If you missed a day, it was like missing a week in a regular college course. My uncle died during the middle of the course and I was one of the pallbearers. Because of the funeral preparations, I had not had a chance to prepare for my mid- term test. I got back from the funeral just one hour before I was to take the test. Again, somehow I had not spent the time in my devotions that day and I had a choice to make— Bible study or Anatomy and Physiology. I told the Lord: “Lord, I may have to take this course over again. I may flunk. But I would rather flunk Anatomy and Physiology than my course for eternal life! Help me with my devotions over this next hour.” I went to that test without having prepared one minute, yet the Lord helped me in that emergency to get a very good grade. The Lord promises: “Those who honor Me I will honor” 1 Samuel 2: 30.

These experiences are miracles which the Lord performed. He will not make up for our willful negligence, but if we make Him first, and then do the best we can, He will help us out of every emergency. On the other hand, if we should spend an hour in Bible study and then watch television the rest of the day, hoping God will somehow help us in some assignment we may have, we would be utterly disappointed. I am sure that had I not been doing the best I could at all other times in my studies, the Lord would not have helped in these emergency situations. But the Lord was also testing me to see what I would put first— my earthly schooling or my heavenly schooling.

I wish I could say I have passed every test of the Lord like those two, but too many times I have had to learn the same lesson by failure— putting the Lord last never works.

Every day you are also being tested. There are a thousand things to keep you from the Word if you allow them to. In fact, there is probably only one way you can get in the daily, faithful Bible study that you need for salvation, and that is to make it the highest priority of your life; to be willing to sacrifice anything and everything in order to spend that time with the Lord.

God is not looking for hermits or monks. He is not asking us to spend eight or ten hours a day with the Word. That would be fanaticism. Studying the Word is like our daily food; if we spent eight hours a day eating our physical food, we would be bloated and useless. And so it is with our spiritual food. If we did nothing else but study, we would be useless Christians.

But though we are not to eat all day long, we should spend some time every day eating. And we should eat the best food available. When we combine good food with exercise, sunshine, fresh air, rest, pure water, temperance, and trust in divine power, the Lord blesses us with abundant health. Thus it is with our spiritual food— the Bible— and our spiritual health. Eating is not the only thing we need, but if we do not eat, we will die.

What should we study?

First of all, it should be realized that there is no supplement for God’s Word. The Word should remain the basis of all our study.

Although there are a number of profitable magazines and books of a spiritual nature, some of which I try to read in my spare time, devotional time itself should be dedicated to the Word alone. During my covenanted hour of devotional time with the Lord, I allow myself to read and study nothing but the inspired words of God. Nothing else counts as a part of that time, and nothing else is read or studied until that time is over. I try to read from both the Old and New Testament in a consistent manner, and when studying a particular subject, I try to read everything of seeming importance from the Bible about that subject, instead of just skipping from one passage to another with no definite plan or goal in mind. I find this method of consistent study gives a balanced spiritual “diet.”

How should I begin?

There are two basic ways of studying: The first is to read and study certain books of the Bible, such as Matthew, Isaiah, Revelation, or even the whole Bible from Genesis to Revelation. The second method is to pick out certain subjects, such as the “second coming of Jesus,” “baptism,” “how to overcome sin,” “law and grace,” et cetera, and to look up everything the Bible says about that subject, comparing text with text.

I try to do both. I generally like to pick out two books of the Bible to read— one from the New Testament and one from the Old Testament. I will spend part of the time on one book and part on the other. As I come upon a subject that I am not sure of or would like to know more about, I look up everything else in the Bible about that subject. I may thus spend several days on one verse. To do this, you need a good concordance, such as Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance or Young’s Exhaustive Concordance, or one of the new computer Bible programs that helps you to find all the verses on any subject or word in the Bible. The concordances in the back of most Bibles are rather worthless because they are so selective in what they are able to list that they often do not list the very texts that explain the subject best.

We must do more than just read the Bible. We must study it. Do not worry about how far you get into the book each day. Do not set yourself a goal to read so many pages or chapters a day. But rather set yourself time goals and go no faster or further than the mind can comprehend and you can put into practice. “There is but little benefit derived from a hasty reading of the Scriptures. One may read the whole Bible through and yet fail to see its beauty or comprehend its deep and hidden meaning. One passage studied until its significance is clear to the mind and its relation to the plan of salvation is evident, is of more value than the perusal of many chapters with no definite purpose in view and no positive instruction gained” Steps to Christ, 90.

How much better would it be for one who is reading the Bible to come upon one of God’s holy commandments that he is not obeying and spend days, or weeks if necessary, on that one passage until it is understood in relationship to the rest of the Bible and in relationship to his obligation to the Lord, and to choose to obey it, than to merely hurry on and finish reading the Bible in some prescribed length of time with no real benefit gained?

Be careful not to rush through your study, but on the other hand, do not allow yourself to get bogged down in trivia. There are elements of Scripture that are comparatively unimportant for salvation. Some people specialize on minor points and overlook the major points of the Bible. Paul says to give no “heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith” 1 Timothy 1: 4. Even in Bible study there are a thousand things, which may not be the most important, to absorb one’s time. One person I know began to study everything the Bible said about “dogs.” That may be interesting, but is it profitable?

We should read the Bible and know what it contains from Genesis to Revelation. Yet, if we simply read the Bible without any deeper study than mere reading, we will never understand the deeper messages that God has hidden in it for us. Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field” Matthew 13: 44. God intends for us to dig deep, to search for treasure, to be diligent students. We must study “line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little” Isaiah 28: 10.

If an individual has not studied the Bible before, I recommend this plan of study: Spend a half- hour a day reading the Bible through. Read it through from Genesis to Revelation the first time so that you have at least read everything it contains. Then spend a half- hour studying the Bible by subject. Purchase a good concordance to help you in this study. Steps to Life has an excellent, free Bible course that categorizes many important subjects of the Bible and gives you the Bible texts to look up on each subject. Thousands of people have been helped by these lessons. Like others, you may find it profitable to spend a half- hour a day reading the Bible through, and then a half- hour in studying the Bible by subjects, using the Steps to Life lessons as a help in finding the different subjects. All you have to do to receive these important lessons for your own personal study is to write and ask for them and we will begin to send them to you with no obligation whatsoever. This is a part of our ministry for the Lord. The address and phone number are on the back of this booklet.

It is important to do both kinds of study: To study certain subjects in detail as well as to find out what the whole Bible says. When Satan quoted the Scriptures to Jesus in the wilderness, Jesus replied that “Man shall live. . . by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” Matthew 4: 4. So we need to know the whole Word. Yet there are certain portions of the Scriptures to which we must give special attention. Two of these are the life of Christ and the prophecies for the last days. One author says: “It would be well for us to spend a thoughtful hour each day in contemplation of the life of Christ. We should take it point by point, and let the imagination grasp each scene, especially the closing ones.. . . If we would be saved at last, we must learn the lesson of penitence and humiliation at the foot of the cross” The Desire of Ages, 83.

As you begin your study of the Bible, ask God to guide you; He has promised to do so. “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened” Matthew 7: 7, 8.

Daniel and Revelation

The prophecies of Daniel and Revelation need to be prayerfully studied. “Read the book of Daniel. Call up, point by point, the history of the kingdoms there represented. Behold statesmen, councils, powerful armies, and see how God wrought to abase the pride of men, and lay human glory in the dust..

“The light that Daniel received from God was given especially for these last days…. All the events foretold will soon come to pass. . . .

“The book of Revelation opens with an injunction to us to understand the instruction it contains When we . .. understand what this book means … [there will come] a great revival” Testimonies to Ministers, 112, 113.

Be afraid of human invention and guess work in the interpretation of these books. Study them carefully, allowing the Scriptures to interpret their meaning. One of the finest books to help in the understanding of Daniel and Revelation is the book The Great Controversy, which combines history with prophecy. This book will add light to these prophecies. Let the light of prophecy illuminate prophecy rather than human speculation. That is not saying that the Lord is not going to add new light to the understanding of Daniel and Revelation, but the new light will never contradict established truth. There is within the heart of man a constant yearning for uniqueness, for some new theory to attach one’s name to, and to surpass one’s fellow men in understanding and recognition.

We should not reject any light that the Lord, out of love, may send us, but we should not accept new light without careful and prayerful study for ourselves from the Inspired Word. What we think is light may sound very good at first, but may eventually lead far away from real truth.

“So closely will the counterfeit resemble the true that it will be impossible to distinguish between them except by the Holy Scriptures. . . . [Thus] we should day by day study the Bible diligently, weighing every thought and comparing scripture with scripture. With divine help we are to form our opinions for ourselves as we are to answer for ourselves before God….

“We should exert all the powers of the mind in the study of the Scriptures and should task the understanding to comprehend, as far as mortals can, the deep things of God; yet we must not forget that the docility and submission of a child is the true spirit of the learner. Scriptural difficulties can never be mastered by the same methods that are employed in grappling with philosophical problems. We should not engage in the study of the Bible with that self- reliance with which so many enter the domains of science, but with a prayerful dependence upon God and a sincere desire to learn His will. We must come with a humble and teachable spirit to obtain knowledge from the great I AM. Otherwise, evil angels will so blind our minds and harden our hearts that we shall not be impressed by the truth” The Great Controversy, 593– 599. Today there are many surface readers of Scripture who are not prepared for the emotional, heart- touching manifestations of power and counterfeit teachings of the last days which will shake many people out of the truth. “When the shaking comes, by the introduction of false theories, these surface readers, anchored nowhere, are like shifting sand. They slide into any position to suit the tenor of their feelings” Testimonies to Ministers, 112.

Two special reasons for Bible study

There are two basic and specific reasons for becoming diligent students of the Scriptures. The first reason is so that we might know the truth and be shielded from the deceptions and delusions of Satan that are to take the church and the world captive. The second reason is that we might have power to overcome sin and have Jesus’ character formed within. “Temptations often appear irresistible because, through neglect of prayer and the study of the Bible, the tempted one cannot readily remember God’s promises and meet Satan with the Scripture weapons” The Great Controversy, 600.

Special Bible study helps

Before every great event of history, such as the Flood, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the first coming of Jesus, God has sought to warn the world and to prepare His people for the events foretold by sending a call for revival and reformation through messengers of His own choosing. He has promised to do so again before the greatest event of all— the second coming of Jesus.

I have found two books to be like special messengers that the Lord has sent to my life, and the life of many others, to help better understand the Bible. The Bible says we are not to accept every purported preacher or message that supposedly comes from the Lord, for there will be many false shepherds. And yet, the Lord does send true messages, too, because He loves us. Thus we must neither gullibly accept, nor carelessly reject, any light that the Lord may send, but we must test it by the tests of the Bible— never by feeling. Some of the tests are found in Isaiah 8: 20; Matthew 7: 15– 20; 1 Corinthians 14: 22; 1 John 4: 1– 3; Galatians 1: 8; Revelation 12: 17 compared to 19: 10; Revelation 14: 12 and James 1: 17. Any preacher or messenger of the Lord who teaches something that is contrary to the Bible is not from God.

The Bible says of those in Berea that they “were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word [of Paul] with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, [to find] whether those things [which Paul was teaching] were so” Acts 17: 11. The Bible must always remain paramount. Even if God sends a true preacher, he can never take the place of the Bible. I must never substitute anyone’s preaching for personal devotions. But there are, occasionally, those rare books or preachers that God especially uses to lead one to Bible truth. As Paul says: “How shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent?” Romans 10: 14, 15.

The two books that I have found to be like messengers from the Lord to my life are The Great Controversy and The Desire of Ages. These have helped me more than any other source, outside of the Bible itself, in my Christian growth. The Great Controversy, on the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation, covers the prophetic events of history from the days of the apostles until the end of time. The Desire of Ages is on the life of Christ, which is my favorite topic.

One year when I was in graduate school I got up each day at 4: 00 AM. and studied for two hours on the life of Jesus. During that time I read The Desire of Ages through, looking up every Bible passage used or referred to (which was nearly 3,000) in the book. I generally ended up reading the whole passage in the Bible to get the context of the verse used. I had never realized before how the whole Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, talked so much about Jesus. When I finished I had a clearer grasp and appreciation of the plan of salvation than I had ever had before, and I had a stronger desire to follow Jesus and be true to His calling.

Years later I read the same book through again, and it was as though I was again reconverted. I again fell in love with Jesus even more than ever before. This time I coded different Bible subjects presented in the book in connection with the life of Christ. You can code different subjects by using different colors of markers, or, as I do, by using symbols and abbreviations. In this study, I cross- referenced every statement on the incarnation and the nature of Christ (coded “I” in the margin), the love of Christ (“ L”), church organization (“ O”)— which there is a surprising amount about in the gospels,— victorious living (“ V”), how to have devotions (“ D”) and how to witness (“ W”). I soon found there was another subject I should have coded— humility and selfsurrender (“ S”).

This same plan of coding for future study and reference can be followed with any book of the Bible. You need to read the book through, first to find out what its general theme is, and then prayerfully pick out the subjects you think the Lord is trying to teach you in that book. Then, read the book through again, coding and cross- referencing the verses that talk about each subject.

Getting children started with the Bible

As apparent in this morally degenerate age, l am very conscious of my children’s Christian experience. I want them to be with me in heaven, yet I know that I cannot save them. The Bible says, “‘ Though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in [the land] ‘ . . . ,says the Lord God, ‘they would deliver neither son nor daughter; they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness’ “ Ezekiel 14: 20.

I know that if my children are going to be with me eternally, they must individually accept Jesus as their personal Saviour. They cannot inherit eternal life because of my conversion. I can set them the right example, but they must develop their own characters for heaven; and this can be done only by spending time in prayer and the Word, and then in living the victorious Christian life through the grace given them of the Lord.

When does that start? We started praying with our children and reading to them from the Bible every morning and evening from the time of their birth. We wanted the habit of Bible study to be there from their earliest recollection and even before.

As the children grew older and began to comprehend, we did not want to bore them with the Bible (we wanted them to love it!), so we would read short passages from the Bible and then tell them Bible stories on their own level. Sometimes we used Bible felts to illustrate the stories.

We also tried to instill in them the importance of having their own personal devotions, even apart from family worship. We taught them to commit themselves to God in prayer as soon as they were awake and then to read their Bibles. Before they could read on their own, we bought cassette players and Bible story tapes for them to listen to. We made sure the cassette players did not have radios with them— we did not want them filling their minds with today’s popular songs.

God said: “Hear, 0 Israel . . . You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart; you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up Deuteronomy 6: 4– 6.

Seven divine rules of study

First Rule of Study

1. We must believe that the Bible, and the whole Bible, is inspired by God. As soon as we begin to decide what portions are inspired and what portions are not inspired, we set ourselves above the Bible and can no longer be taught by the Bible. God abhors such pride and self- sufficiency. The Bible says, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” 2 Timothy 3: 16,17. The Bible was written by human penmen. It is not, except for the Ten Commandments, the very words of God, but it is the thoughts of God expressed through human agents. Different agents may use different expressions and different words, but every sentiment and thought is as infallible as the throne of God. There may indeed be inadvertent mistakes in copies, translations, or even the recording of certain details. Matthew records that there were two demoniacs and Mark mentions one, but these are not areas that should trouble the mind. God knew how to give the Word and He knows how to preserve it, and any criticism of the Word is criticism of God Himself. “Some . . . say, ‘Don’t you think there might have been some mistake in the copyist or in the translators? ‘ This is all probable, and the mind that is so narrow that it will hesitate and stumble over this possibility or probability would be just as ready to stumble over the mysteries of the Inspired Word, because their feeble minds cannot see through the purposes of God. . . . All the mistakes will not cause trouble to one soul, or cause any feet to stumble, that would not manufacture difficulties from the plainest revealed truth.

“God committed the preparation of His divinely inspired Word to finite men. This Word, arranged into books, the Old and New Testaments, is the guidebook to the inhabitants of a fallen world, bequeathed to them that, by studying and obeying the directions, not one soul would lose its way to heaven” Selected Messages book 1, 16.

Jesus summarized this principle best when He said that “man shall . . . live . . . by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” Matthew 4: 4. God does not want us to have a refined, malnourished spiritual diet. Every word of the inspired account is important for total spiritual health.

Second Rule of Study

2. We must be humble and teachable. Jesus said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes” Matthew 11: 25.

We should remember, however, that the Bible was written by common people (filled with the Holy Spirit) for common people. It was not written in a sloppy way. God chose intelligent people to write the Bible and they weighed and considered every word that they used. But, nevertheless, they used the language and expressions of the common society around them. Paul said, “And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. . . . And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God” 1 Corinthians 2: 1– 5.

For this reason, it is more difficult for the educated person who trusts in his intelligence and who seeks to study the Bible as he would some technical scientific book, to understand the Bible, than it is for the common, humble person who sincerely and prayerfully dedicates himself to the understanding of the Scriptures. It is an interesting fact that most of the errors of theology, which have been many, have originated and been handed down through those who have a degree in theological study. Throughout history, theological study has more generally led away from the true understanding of the Word than helped in its understanding. Thus it was in the days of Jesus with the priestly scholars. Thus it was in the Dark Ages, and thus it is today.

“The Bible was not written for the scholar alone; on the contrary, it was designed for the common people” Steps to Christ, 89. We are to be careful and systematic Bible scholars, but it is only as we become humble in thought and teachable in spirit that we can truly understand the Word.

Third Rule of Study

3. We must compare scripture with scripture, letting the Bible explain itself. God asks the question of Himself: “Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine?” He answers that He will teach those “weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.” In other words, those who are spiritually mature. And what does it mean to be spiritually mature? God answers that question in the next verse: “For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little” Isaiah 28: 9, 10.

Too many people find a passage from the Bible and begin to build a whole theology upon one statement. But in any language, words and sentences can be understood in many different ways, so who is going to be the interpreter of the Word: The scholar? The preacher? The Pope? The one who can articulate his ideas the best? No, the Bible must be the one that interprets itself. This is done by studying everything the Bible says on a given subject to make sure that we are not falsely interpreting it.

There are two great dangers in Christendom: Worldliness, on the one hand, and fanaticism on the other. Now, anyone can be called a fanatic, but true fanaticism is that which goes beyond God’s Word. If God says to keep one day a week holy, obedience does just what God says. Fanaticism says that if God says to keep one day, why not go beyond God’s request and keep two days, or every day, holy. Worldliness says it does not really matter; we do not need to keep any day holy, for God is not that particular.

If God says to keep a particular day holy, true obedience keeps the very day God said to keep. Worldliness says that any day will do, and fanaticism makes restrictions upon the day that God never intended.

God is looking for simple obedience from a heart of love. Should we try to work our way to heaven by going beyond God’s Word, it would be selfrighteousness and fanaticism. Should we decide that God is not important enough to be obeyed or does not mean what He says, and we do not need to be particular about His requirements, that would be disobedience and a lack of faith.

The true study of God’s Word protects us from sinful worldliness, as well as false conservativism and fanaticism. Fanaticism is especially prevented by comparing scripture with scripture to make sure we are not misinterpreting the Word.

Nearly every false religion and religious idea is based upon some passage of scripture that someone has interpreted to suit their own ideas, rather than allowing the Bible to interpret itself. If certain passages of the Bible do not harmonize with our thinking, we are misinterpreting the Word. We should study, struggle, and pray, crucifying our pride and preconceived ideas, until our understanding of the Scriptures is supported by every passage and statement of the Bible. If we have to argue away certain portions of the Bible because they do not agree with us, it is not the Scriptures that are wrong, but our ideas. We may be able to find a text to “prove” our point, but if another text disproves our theory, we are misinterpreting the first text.

Forth Rule of Study

4. We should always pray for the aid of the Holy Spirit before studying the Scriptures. “But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery,” Paul said. “[ For] no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” 1 Corinthians 2: 7– 14.

It is impossible for us to understand the Bible in our own wisdom. That is why the scholar who is full of self- importance and champions his degrees before the world will never arrive at the true understanding of the Word. We must humble our hearts and ask the Holy Spirit to guide our minds.

“Never should the Bible be studied without prayer. Before opening its pages, we should ask for the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit” Steps to Christ, 91. “Everyone must. . . search the Bible for himself upon his knees before God, with the humble, teachable heart of a child, if he would know what the Lord requires of him” Testimonies, vol. 5, 214.

Many have found that studying the Bible on their knees with prayer allows the Holy Spirit to guide them into a fuller understanding of the truth. After Bible study, we should ask the Lord to help us retain those thoughts we have learned and to obey its precepts.

Fifth Rule of Study

5. We must truly want to know the truth before we can know the truth. Remember, it is those who have been diligent students of the Scriptures and who have received the love of the truth who will be shielded from the delusions of Satan. 2 Thessalonians 2: 9– 11 says, “The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie.”

We can pray all we want to, we can supposedly humble our hearts all we want to, and search the Scriptures all we want to, like the scribes and Pharisees did in the days of Jesus, but unless we really want to know what the truth is, we will never find it. But if we will sincerely and earnestly pray for this love of truth, God will give it to us.

Any time we want to find an argument against a truth of the Bible, God will let us find it. He does not want to “prove” something to us against our will. That is why it is very dangerous to try to find arguments against some truth the Holy Spirit has impressed upon our hearts from our study or hearing of the Word, because we will find the arguments we want every time— but we will still be lost! Of course, we are not to accept any teaching blindly. We are to study to find out whether what we have learned, or what we have heard, is actually what the Bible is teaching. The principle is that we must honestly search for the truth— not for an excuse not to believe the truth.

No one who has an argumentive spirit can be taught truth unless they are willing to humble themselves. Jesus said, “Except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” Matthew 18: 3.

We are to approach the Word of God in a totally different attitude than the way we approach the teachings of man. In studying the words and works of men, we should have a highly discriminating attitude, not being unwilling to learn, but being careful to see that what is being said is true according to the whole Word of God. God may have rich truths to share with us through some human instrumentality. We do not want to be found rejecting this truth, but we must approach the words and works of men in a different way than we approach God’s Word. When we hear a sermon in church, we should listen with a degree of reserve, not criticizing the human agent himself, but listening and studying to see whether what he is saying is based upon all Scripture. I do not want to base my salvation upon the integrity of any human being.

While we should gain all the benefit possible from sermons and religious material truly based upon the whole Word, we need to remember the warning of Jesus to “beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees” Matthew 16: 11. The Pharisees and Sadducees were the preachers and religious leaders of the day, and the leaven represented their teaching (Matthew 16: 12). Millions of people will be lost because they listened to their preachers and teachers without carefully comparing their messages with the Bible.

But this attitude of reserve is just the opposite of the way we should approach the Bible. When we read the inspired Word of God, we let down our guard and open our minds to be instructed, completely and unreservedly. We must approach this Word as a little child. When the mother or father says to the little toddler, “Ball. Ball. This is a ball.” The little one tries to answer, “Ball.” He believes that the round object is a ball because his parents told him it was. He does not question the truthfulness of the parents at all, but believes them 100%. That is the way the truth is learned from the Bible. We believe it simply because God says it.

It is our own ideas and structured thought that we must question and hold in suspicion, not the Word of God. We must accept the teachings and sentiments of the Word of God without question. This is faith. God gives us ample evidence that He is true and trustworthy, and because of that, we believe what He says. The Bible says, “Without faith it is impossible to please Him” Hebrews 11: 6.

Sixth Rule of Study

6. We must search the Scriptures. Jeremiah 29: 13 says, “You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”

Jesus likened the kingdom of heaven to “a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it” Matthew 13: 45, 46. We must search for truth. That is one of the requirements God has laid down in His Word for finding truth. We can have all the good intentions in the world, but if we never discipline ourselves to actually sit down and start searching, we will never arrive at a knowledge of the truth.

“Desires for goodness and holiness are right as far as they go; but if you stop here, they will avail nothing. Many will be lost while hoping and desiring to be Christians” Steps to Christ, 47, 48. Many people are planning and hoping to be saved, but they never come to the point of actually spending that time in the Word.

Seventh Rule of Study

7. We must live up to all the light we already have before God will teach us more. John 8: 31, 32 says, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

One time the disciples came to Jesus and asked Him why He taught in parables (Matthew 13: 10). “After all,” they might have reasoned, “these parables can be understood in different ways. Some can interpret them one way and others another way. Pretty soon there will be many different churches, ‘all teaching different things, and many different preachers, all preaching different things. So why do You not just teach the Word plainly, instead of giving parables?”

Jesus said, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given” Matthew 13:11. “I do not intend everyone to understand what I am saying,” was Jesus’ response. The only ones who could understand what Jesus was saying were those living up to all the light they already had. They could understand. “For whoever has [is living up to the light he has], to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have [is not living up to the light he has], even what he has will be taken away from him” Matthew 13:12.

Jesus is not trying to simply satisfy curiosity. If we are not living up to the truth we already know, there is no reason for God to reveal more truth to us, because however much more truth God could reveal to us, we would still be lost for not practicing what we already know.

I remember studying with a lady who was learning truth, step by step, from the Bible. One day she read something in the Bible she could not understand (or did not want to understand). Because she would not accept that point of truth, she soon became confused on every other point of Bible teaching that she had been learning.

I told her, if she truly did not understand one point of truth, to follow every point of truth she did understand. If she would follow what she did understand, God would also make plain what she did not understand. But she did not want to do that. If she could not understand every point, she would not follow anything the Bible said! Of course, God could not lead her anymore until she once again lived up to the light she did know and understand.

God has never promised to take away every cause of doubt concerning truth. He will give us evidence upon which to believe, and if we will step out on the best evidence we have from the Bible, always searching for more and clearer light, God will lead us each step of the way.

The way to heaven is likened to a path, and the truth of the Bible is like a flashlight on a dark night. “We also have the prophetic word. . . .which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place” 2 Peter 1: 19. David says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” Psalm 119: 105. A flashlight only shines farther ahead as we walk in the light it already shines upon our pathway. If we stand on a path on a dark night with a flashlight in our hand, refusing to go forward until we can see farther than what the flashlight is illuminating, we will never go forward. The batteries, in fact, will get weaker, until the light goes out entirely. But if we will walk forward on the part of the path that is revealed, the light will also shine farther ahead on our pathway, until we safely arrive at our destination. Thus it is with the Bible.

I have determined to study no further than what I can practice or faster than what I can change. When I find something in God’s Word that tells me about things I am not doing or condemns what I am doing, I want to first compare scripture with scripture to make sure that I understand what it is really saying. Then I must put it into practice. At that point, after deciding to change my life to conform to God’s Word, I am ready for the next passage or verse. There is no reason to read one more verse other than the one that is pointing out my sin, until I put that first verse into practice.

Yet God does not intend for us to remain on a particular verse or passage forever. He intends us to simply put into practice what we learn, and then to keep on learning and practicing. If we simply read and read, as though we were reading a newspaper, without making any changes in our life, we are worse off after reading than we were before! Jesus talked about two groups of hearers of the Word— those who hear the Bible and do what it says, whom He likened to those who build their house upon a rock; and those who hear but do not obey, whom He likened to those who build their house upon the sand (Matthew 7: 24— 27).

It is a great privilege to know the truth. It took the death of God’s dear Son in order for us to have it. But, with the privilege comes responsibility. If we learn the truth and do not practice it, we are worse off than if we had never heard the truth; but that is no reason not to learn the truth, for we are lost then, too. When we learn the truth and do not practice it, our hearts become hardened and we become hopelessly deceived, as were the religious people in the days of Jesus. James said to be “doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” James 1: 22.

Memorization

There is one more principle of studying the Bible, and that is to commit to memory as much of it as possible. David said, “Your word have I hidden in my heart that I might not sin against You” Psalm 119: 11. When we are tempted, we may not have time to use the concordance in order to find a verse to help us overcome the temptation. We need the Word in our minds.

I have found that as I have spent time in meditating on and memorizing the Word, God reveals more and more of its meaning to me. By just memorizing a few verses a day I have been able to commit many books of both the Old and New Testaments to memory.

“Keep your Bible with you. As you have the opportunity, read it; fix the texts in your memory. Even while you are walking the streets you may read a passage and meditate upon it, thus fixing it in the mind” Steps to Christ, 90.

I try to get some exercise several times a week. During this time I do two things— I exercise the muscles and I memorize Scripture. I photocopy portions of the Bible so that as I am running or taking a brisk walk I can carry this in my hand and look down now and then to memorize a new verse. When I am working in the garden I can look at a text now and then and then repeat it to myself until it is etched into my memory. If the weather is inclement and I am riding our exercise bicycle, I put the paper on the reading stand in front of me. If a person memorized just one verse a day and then repeated those he had memorized over the last several days, he could memorize the whole New Testament in just a little over ten years! Certainly, therefore, many who have been Christians for over ten years, should have thus memorized the equivalent of the New Testament!

I find memorizing a very slow process. Some people can memorize quickly, but I have to repeat things many times before I remember them, and then I have to go over the same text day after day before it stays in my memory. Yet, though I do not memorize quickly, I find that if I do it consistently, over the years much can be learned.

At Steps to Life we try to encourage people in their memorization of the Bible by sending out monthly “Memory Gem” cards with Bible texts on them. Housewives put them on the window above their kitchen sink or on the wall beside the ironing board. The working person puts it on the dashboard of his car so he can memorize it while he is driving to work— when he comes to a stoplight he can look over the verse again and then repeat it as he is driving down the road. Mechanics put them on their tool boxes; school children paste them to their desks. Farmers paste them on the dash of their tractors. If you would like to start receiving the free monthly Memory Gem, just write to Steps to Life and let us know where to send it.

If we will but use the fragments of time that are passing into eternity, unused and wasted, we will be able to memorize large portions of the Bible. As I have ridden in subways and planes, waited in offices and seen factory workers after completing their lunch waiting for the work whistle to sound, I have seen people just sitting, staring into space, wasting time that they will never have again. Thus the moments tick away into eternity, unused and unaccounted for. If, when a person is sitting and waiting for someone to make an appointment, he can pull out a Memory Gem card and repeat the verses written on it, thus using his time profitably, the Lord will bless. There is nothing more fertile for Satan’s temptations than an empty mind and wasted hours.

It is best to begin memorizing as a child. We started teaching our children memory texts as soon as they could talk. Parents have told me how even their two year old, who could hardly talk, had learned certain passages of the Bible. Every child should learn the Ten Commandments, Psalm 23, the Beatitudes, and 1 Corinthians 13.

Which version of the Bible?

Now the question comes, what version should I read? This is a subject that can cause a lot of discussion, and sometimes more heat than light. There are, however, some versions which seem to be better, even much better, than others.

To start with, there are two basic versions of the New Testament that have been handed down to us in the original Greek language. One is called the Received Text, and there are thousands of remnants of these Greek manuscripts. The other version is the Egyptian Text. This latter version is also called the Alexandrian Text, as that was the city in Egypt from which these manuscripts came. There are not very many of the Egyptian texts, compared to the Received texts, but they are much older. The two most prominent Egyptian manuscripts are the Vaticanus and the Sinaiticus. These texts are quite different from the Received texts. The Received texts are nearly 100% consistent, but in the few texts that originated in Egypt we found many differences and omissions, not only as compared to the Received texts, but even between themselves.

The King James Version is based upon the Received Text. Many conservative Bible scholars believe that this is the text that came from the original writings of the apostles, and that portions of the Egyptian Text were changed by the Christian leaders there, such as Clement and Origen. Egypt was one of the first places to start mixing Christianity with pagan philosophies. These leading Christian scholars of Egypt, though calling themselves Christian, did not agree with the teachings of the New Testament in every detail. They began the process that came to be called the “Hellenization” of Christianity. That means they tried to bring the pagan ideas of Greece into Christianity. They, for example, along with the Christians in Rome, began to keep a different day of worship than the one Jesus kept. They began to keep the day the Greeks had kept in. honor of their sun god.

Most of the Received texts are from Syria. Since Egypt is much drier than Syria, the Egyptian texts have survived much longer than the older Received texts. Some have also surmised that the Egyptian texts were so inferior that they were not used much, whereas the Received texts became worn out with use. When one manuscript wore out, it was faithfully copied to a new manuscript and the old one was destroyed by fire.

Though the Received texts that have survived are not as old as the Egyptian texts, it is of interest to note that the Bible quotations found in the early church fathers (leaders of the Christian church in the first few centuries after the Bible was written) generally agreed with the wording of the Received Text, showing that this version of the Greek New Testament is as old as the one from Egypt. The Latin Vulgate, as well as Catholic Bibles, are based upon texts similar to the Egyptian texts. That has been one of the differences between the Catholic Bibles and the Protestant Bibles. The King James Bible was based upon the Received Text.

The Received texts were the accepted New Testament manuscripts for all Protestants until the later half of the 19th century when two Oxford scholars by the names of Westcott and Hort began attacking the Received Text. They claimed that the Egyptian texts, being older, were more accurate than the Received texts. They said that though the Egyptian texts had many mistakes, it was because the disciples were not very well educated and the omissions and various things found in these Egyptian texts were probably as the disciples wrote them. They hypothesized that someone must have come along and smoothed the texts up, and that “smoothed- up” text then became the Received Text. Their biggest proof was that the Egyptian texts were older than the Received texts. They never produced the proof of their hypothesis, but it was believed by many scholars. Westcott and Hort made such an impression upon the academic community that most new English versions of the Bible since that time have used the Egyptian Text as the basis for the New Testament rather than the Received Text. There is no such thing as an “original” New Testament, but I agree with the early church fathers in their use of the Received Text. This was the text that most early Christians used, as is evident by its prevalence. One new version that uses the Received Text is the New King James Version.

The translation process A second item that makes for a good version, versus one that is not as good, is the method of translation. Some versions try to stick very closely to the original while others take great liberties in changing the structure and order of the thought content when translating to another language. The King James was a fairly literal translation. Some of the newer versions, such as the New International Version, have beautiful flowing English, but one of the reasons for that is that they have made English more important than a strict rendition of the text.

There are roughly three categories of translations:

First, the fairly literal translations, such as the King James Version, the New King James Version, the New American Standard Bible, and the Revised Standard Version. Second, the translations that took quite a few liberties with the wording of the original, such as the New International Version, Today’s English Version, and the New English Bible. And third, those Bibles that are acknowledged paraphrases that simply rewrote the Bible in modern English, such as the Living Bible. The New International Version takes many liberties in translating the original into English, both in sentence structure and the translation of words. Of the above versions, only the King James and the New King James are based upon the Received Text.

Over the years I have read several modern versions through, usually comparing them with the original Greek and Hebrew, and have always gone back to the King James Version as being my favorite because of the accuracy. I have recently learned to enjoy the New King James Version also. There are still some areas where the King James is superior to the New King James, but surprisingly enough, there are also some important texts which the New King James translates much more literally and accurately than the King James. For those who are interested in comparing these two versions, see the appendix. I have found these two versions the most accurate of all the versions I have compared.

The truth can always be found

Even with the most literal and best versions, there are still a few mistakes. There is no certainty that there are not mistakes even in the Greek manuscripts used to translate from. One author says that “God.., especially guarded the Bible; yet when copies of it were few, learned men had in some instances changed the words, thinking that they were making it more plain, when in reality they were mystifying that which was plain, by causing it to lean to their established views, which were governed by tradition” Early Writings, 220, 221.

Although some may point out flaws, in the best versions and manuscripts these flaws are really very few— God has kept His hand over His word and has not allowed any discrepancies to come in that would cause the honest in heart to be lost. God has promised that if we will compare scripture with scripture, humbly asking for divine guidance, He will guide us into truth. We may have to search for it as for a hidden treasure, but the search is worth the effort. His promise is, “You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart” Jeremiah 29: 13.

Choose the best version. But more important than the version you choose, is the fact that you do read.

What are your priorities?

We must each know the truth for ourselves. We must take advantage of the blessings the Lord has given to us. During the Middle Ages, millions of faithful Christians, such as the Waldenses, gave their lives in order to preserve the Word for our salvation. During those dark days, the Bible was outlawed and people were burned at the stake if found with a copy of it.

Today the Bible sits on nearly every Christian’s bookshelf— dusty and unopened. Satan is succeeding more today by simply keeping us busy, than he did during the Dark Ages when the Bible was outlawed!

If a person spends three or four hours a day with television, he is considered normal. If he spends an hour a day with the newspaper, he is considered informed. If he spends several hours a day studying for a law or medical degree, he is considered educated. If, however, he spends even an hour a day studying the Word of God in preparation for eternity, he is considered odd or peculiar. How strange! Jesus said: “For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” Matthew 16: 26.

It is by beholding that we become changed. Some have estimated that the average teenager in America has seen 15,000 murders on television, in addition to rapes, lying, cheating, violence and every other kind of evil, by the time he enters high school. If some school teacher should assign a student to watch 15,000 people being murdered, every parent in the land would be appalled, but that is how much the parents themselves have allowed their children to see, hour by hour, day by day. People have devoted their time to the things of this earth and then they wonder why their minds are so polluted with evil and why the things of eternity hold so little interest. The true Christian must become as devoted to the Word of God as the worldling is to television, for it is by beholding that we become changed. What we let our minds feed upon is what our characters will become like. I am convinced that anyone who is spending more time with television or the printed word from the world than they are with God’s Word, is going to gradually become more like the world than like God. In fact, if we are reading and watching fiction, short stories and novels, which is the basis of the movie industry, we will not be able to appreciate the Bible.

Wise counsel from an old journal

The following was written before the age of television and videos, but its counsel equally applies to these mediums of communication also (hence the brackets). I am sharing this article with you because of the profound impression it made on my mind when I was young. It was partially because of this article I chose not to watch movies and serials on television— I didn’t’t want my mind affected by them:

“The powers of endurance, and the strength and activity of the brain, are lessened or increased by the way in which they are employed. The mind should be so disciplined that all its powers will be symmetrically developed.

“Many youth are eager for books. They desire to read everything that they can obtain. Let them take heed what they read as well as what they hear. . . .They are in the greatest danger of being corrupted by improper reading [and television viewing]. Satan has a thousand ways of unsettling the minds of youth. They can not safely be off guard for a moment. They must set a watch upon their minds, that they may not be allured by the enemy’s temptations.

“Satan knows that to a great degree the mind is affected by that upon which it feeds. He is seeking to lead both the youth and those of mature age to read story- books, tales, and other literature [or to view such drama]. The readers of such literature become unfitted for the duties lying before them. They live an unreal life, and have no desire to search the Scriptures, to feed upon the heavenly manna. The mind that needs strengthening is enfeebled, and loses its power to study the great truths that relate to the mission and work of Christ,— truths that would fortify the mind, awaken the imagination, and kindle a strong, earnest desire to overcome as Christ overcame.

“Could a large share of the books published [and movies produced] be consumed, a plague would be stayed that is doing a fearful work upon mind and heart. Love stories, frivolous and exciting tales, and even that class of books [and movies] called religious novels,— books in which the author attaches to his story a moral lesson,— are a curse to the readers. Religious sentiments may be woven all through a storybook, but, in most cases, Satan is but clothed in angel- robes, the more effectively to deceive and allure. None are so confirmed in right principles, none so secure from temptation, that they are safe in reading these stories.

“The readers [and viewers] of fiction are indulging an evil that destroys spirituality, eclipsing the beauty of the sacred page. It creates an unhealthy excitement, fevers the imagination, unfits the mind for usefulness, weans the soul from prayer, and disqualifies it for any spiritual exercise.

“God has endowed many of our youth with superior capabilities; but too often they have enervated their powers, confused and enfeebled their minds, so that for years they have made no growth in grace or in a knowledge of the reasons of our faith, because of their unwise choice of reading. Those who are looking for the Lord soon to come, looking for that wondrous change, when ‘this corruptible shall put on incorruption, ‘ should in this probationary time be standing upon a higher plane of action.

“My dear young friends, question your own experience as to the influence of exciting stories. Can you, after such reading [or television viewing], open the Bible and read with interest the words of life? Do you not find the Book of God uninteresting? The charm of that love story is upon the mind, destroying its healthy tone, and making it impossible for you to fix the attention upon the important, solemn truths that concern your eternal welfare.

“The nature of one’s religious experience is revealed by the character of the books he chooses to read [and movies or pictures he chooses to view] in his leisure moments. In order to have a healthy tone of mind and sound religious principles, the youth must live in communion with God through his word. Pointing out the way of salvation through Christ, the Bible is our guide to a higher, better life. It contains the most interesting and the most instructive history and biography that were ever written. Those whose imagination has not become perverted by the reading of fiction will find the Bible the most interesting of books.

“Resolutely discard all trashy reading [and television viewing]. It will not strengthen your spirituality, but will introduce into the mind sentiments that pervert the imagination, causing you to think less of Jesus and to dwell less upon his precious lessons. Keep the mind free from everything that would lead it in a wrong direction.

Do not encumber it with trashy stories, which impart no strength to the mental powers. The thoughts are of the same character as the food provided for the mind.

“The Bible is the book of books. If you love the word of God, searching it as you have opportunity, that you may come into possession of its rich treasures, and be thoroughly furnished unto all good works, then you may be assured that Jesus is drawing you to himself. But to read the Scripture in a casual way, without seeking to comprehend Christ’s lesson that you may comply with his requirements, is not enough. There are treasures in the word of God that can be discovered only by sinking the shaft deep into the mine of truth.

“The carnal mind rejects the truth; but the soul that is converted undergoes a marvelous change. The book that before was unattractive because it revealed truths which testified against the sinner, now becomes the food of the soul, the joy and consolation of the life. The Sun of righteousness illuminates the sacred pages, and the Holy Spirit speaks through them to the soul. To those who love Christ the Bible is as the garden of God. Its promises are as grateful to the heart as the fragrance of flowers is to the senses.

“Let all who have cultivated a love for light reading, now turn their attention to the sure word of prophecy. Take your Bibles, and begin to study with fresh interest the sacred records of the Old and New Testaments. The oftener and more diligently you study the Bible, the more beautiful will it appear, and the less relish you will have for light reading. Bind this precious volume to your hearts. It will be to you a friend and guide” The Youth‘ s Instructor, 10/ 9/ 02.

No short cuts

Thus fiction, short stories, novels and movies will destroy one’s interest for the Bible. Cannot most people vouch for the truth of this principle? That is why the Bible says: “Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy— meditate on these things” Philippians 4: 8.

Though the movie industry does not meet this divine standard, we can learn something from those watching the movies— if a person buys a movie video that is an hour long, he sits for the full hour to watch the movie. He does not put the player on fast forward and say, “I finished that movie in ten minutes— I have done my duty for the day!”

So it is with the Bible. What we need to do is to set aside time for the Bible, like the person does who watches a movie. People will spend two, three or four hours a day watching television. Some surveys say the average person watches five hours of television a day! But if someone reads even an hour a day from the Bible, they think they have made some great accomplishment. I have found that an hour a day is the minimum amount of time that needs to be spent with the Bible.

As with eating, there needs to be a set time and place for daily Bible study. It should be when the mind is fresh and it should be a part of the daily routine of life. In the evening, a person needs to plan to get to sleep early enough so that he can get up with a fresh mind to start the day with Bible study and prayer. But do not simply roll over in bed and start reading. Our first thought of the day should be thanksgiving for a loving and benevolent God, and we should begin the day by kneeling and thanking the Lord for His goodness and committing our day to Him.

Then we need to get up! Make sure you are wide awake. You might drink some water and step outside for some deep breaths of fresh air so that your mind will be clear and fresh. Then sit down at a desk or in a chair with your Bible and concordance, for some serious study.

I have found that a season of prayer must precede the hour of Bible study in order to get the most out of the Bible. “Never should the Bible be studied without prayer. Before opening its pages we should ask for the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, and it will be given” Steps to Christ, 91. A half- hour of prayer, followed by an hour of Bible study, is a profitable system.

How can anyone not read?

The other day I was visiting the Cowboy Hall of Fame Museum with my son. There were cowboys and cowgirls of every description, education and background. When we were done I asked my son what they all had in common. He could not think of a thing, so I finally told him: “They are all dead!”

All the great people of history who have ever lived on planet earth have died. It is only us who are still alive, but the end is coming for us also. Furthermore, from reading the Bible many people believe that Jesus is coming again very soon. So whether Jesus comes, or whether we die, life as we have known it is soon to end. Then what?

Have you really investigated the future from a reliable source? The only reliable source in the world on this score is the Bible. It not only tells you about the future, but how to prepare for the it. Just leaving your future to chance means that you have chosen to be lost.

Jesus said: “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” John 3: 3. Again He says: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” John 3: 16.

That is the invitation God holds for you today. It is more important than anything else in this life. “For all that is in the world— the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—. . . is passing away . . . but he who does the will of God abides forever” 1 John 2: 16, 17.

God is inviting you to become better acquainted with Him— today-— through the consistent study of His Word. He invites you because He loves you. Why not accept His invitation? It could mean the difference forever!

Appendix

The KJV and the NKJV

I have tried many versions over the years, but found none as reliable as the King James Version. Furthermore, all the newer versions used the Egyptian Text, which I was not comfortable with. There was only one drawback to the KJV and that was the outdated English, but that was a minor inconvenience compared to the reliability of the text.

But with daily memorization, I found my mind adapting to the KJV in certain areas of grammar that are no longer correct, such as ‘‘ an” rather than ‘‘ a” before words beginning with “h.” Therefore, when memorizing, I began to correct its archaic usages, changing comes

for cometh, and a house for an house, etc. When the New King James Version came out, I looked forward to an update of the KJV— the same Bible with modern English.

It was not quite what I expected. It was a whole new version, rather than simply a grammatical correction, but it was called the “New King James” because they used the same manuscripts and principles of translation as the KJV and tried to change the text as little as possible from the KJV. It was a major work that took many years. Each translator signed a document that he believed in verbal inspiration. They, therefore, tried to stick to the literal rendition of the text.

I found some areas in the NKJV that I felt were not as clear or accurate as the KJV, but I found some I felt were better. Some people have used the KJV as the standard of comparison for the NKJV. No version will ever be as good as another if the other is used as the standard, but if the Greek is used as the standard, they compare favorably. I have found both to be reliable, honest translations from what I consider the best manuscripts. I have found memorization faster from the modern English of the NKJV, and evangelism more effective. Therefore, I now use both.

The NKJV and the KJV are the only versions that italicize supplied words that are not in the original. Every translation must supply some implied words, but only these two versions tell you which words they are. The NKJV is the only version translated from the Received Text that puts the alternate readings for the Egyptian Text in the margin. Thus, if someone else is using another modem version, you will know what their Bible says. Like other new versions, the NKJV uses quotation marks and gives the references for Old Testament quotes found in the New Testament. I also like the way it puts Hebrew prose into poetic form.

Here are some of the differences between the KJV and the NKJV that have concerned people:

Hebrews 9: 12: “Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us” (KJV).

After Jesus’ death, He entered the heavenly sanctuary, which, like its earthly pattern (Hebrews 8: 1- 5), has two parts— the first apartment and the second (Hebrews 9: 1- 5). Many Bible students, including myself, understand prophecy to teach that Jesus began His work in the first apartment (sometimes called the Holy Place) until He began His work of investigative judgment preparatory to His second coming (Daniel 7: 9, 10; Rev. 14: 6, 7).

The NKJV, however, says that Jesus entered the “Most Holy Place,” which would seem to indicate the second apartment of the sanctuary.

However, Hebrews 9: 11, 12, in context, is not talking about the two apartments of the sanctuary at all, but about two sanctuaries— the old covenant sanctuary on earth versus the new covenant sanctuary in heaven where God’s throne is. The sanctuary on earth was holy, but Jesus entered the one in heaven which was even more holy.

Neither translation need cause a great concern if studied in context, but the KJV is thought by many to be less confusing because the NKJV inserts the word “Most.” Actually, the original here is ta Hagia, which means holy places (plural), so neither version in this case is 100% literal.

2 Peter 2: 9: “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished” (KJV).

The New King James translates this as “reserve the unjust under punishment.” The word in question here is from the Greek word eis, which means “to” or in.” The KJV is correct.

Jesus said: “The Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works” Matthew 16: 27 (NKJV). Here Jesus says that it is when He comes in glory, with His holy angels, that He will reward each according to his works. Jesus said: “For the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth— those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation” John 5: 28, 29 (NKJV).

The NKJV implies that the wicked are already being punished, whereas the more exact translation of the KJV implies that the wicked are awaiting punishment.

Psalm 16: 10: “For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption” (KJV).

The Hebrew word here translated as “hell” is sheol, which literally means the “unseen state.” It was the common word for grave. The same is true for the New Testament word, hades. In nearly 30 places, the KJV incorrectly translates these words as “hell,” thus stating that people, including Jesus Himself, go directly to hell when they die. The NKJV leaves the original word: sheol, and hades, respectively. 2 Thessalonians 2: 7– 9: “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming” (NKJV).

Here Paul describes the Beast power that is to come upon the world. His main description, or mark, is that he is the “lawless one. “ “Lawless” is the exact translation of a very common Greek word, anomian. The KJV translated this word correctly in 1 John 3: 4, but for some reason uses a very generic, and incorrect translation both in 2 Thessalonians 2 and in Matthew 7: 21– 23, where it translates the word as “iniquity.” Iniquity is unspecific. The Beast power is not simply a “bad” power, but one which will seek to change God’s law (Daniel 7: 25). God’s followers are those who keep His law (Revelation 12: 17; 14: 12). The Beast’s followers are “lawless,” like the Beast himself (Matthew 7: 23).

I Corinthians 1: 18: “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (NKJV).

The KJV translates this as “us which are saved.” The NKJV correctly translates the verb tense here as an on- going process, whereas the KJV translates it as something that has already happened. When you stop and think about it, there is a lot of difference between these two thoughts.

Maybe I have been influenced by the way my favorite book, The Desire of Ages, selectively uses various versions, but I have come to appreciate conservative modern versions, too. There is no perfect version. If a person looks only for flaws, he will find them in any version. Some versions, however, are better than others. If you will choose the best you can find, and then compare scripture with scripture, with the aid of the Holy Spirit, God has promised to lead you to truth. Remember, “no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation” 2 Peter 1: 20. We cannot put our own interpretation on any text— each text must be compared to all others.

So again, read the best version you can find. But do read! for it is God’s Word. That Word, hidden in our hearts, will give us power over sin.

For more Bible Study Resources by Topic see https://www.stepstolife.org/bible-study-resources-topic/

Somebody Cares

by Marshall J. Grosboll

Somebody Cares BookletEveryone needs someone who cares for him or her. Everyone needs a personal friend. Little children need friends and grownups need friends. But often when we need a friend the most there is no one to fill the void.

Sometimes those who we thought were friends reject us. Often our truest friends disappoint us, and our closest loved ones do not understand us.

In the heart of every person there are forebodings which the tongue cannot utter. There are feelings which cannot be put into words or expressed to even our closest acquaintances. Most people have experiences locked within their hearts which no one truly knows. There are experiences of guilt that no one shares. There are uncertainties and perplexities that no one comprehends. There are critical times of loss — divorce, death, or rejection, when we need arms around us that are not there.

And so there is a longing within the heart of every one for some true friend who can lighten the burden — someone who will not make light of us, but who has shared the same trials. We long for someone to listen to us with interest, someone to walk by our side. When we do not find such a one, the human heart grows discouraged and despondent.

One of the main reasons for marriages is to satisfy this heart longing. And yet, too often, two people who have been lonely and empty inside marry each other hoping to find the fulfillment they crave, only to find out that two lonely people may simply make twice as much loneliness. Generally, in this day and age of selfishness, marriage simply increases the loneliness. People go to parties, crowds and places of entertainment, and there enter into conversation with other people — they laugh and joke and act as if they are having a good time, but that doesn’t solve the loneliness either. The loneliest place in the world is often in the midst of a crowd. The loneliest people in the world are those who are trying to cover up their loneliness with laughter. Even church, where the heart is supposed to be comforted and satisfied, too often proves a disappointment.

A STRANGE SOLUTION

There is a solution for the lonely heart, and it is Jesus. “Oh!” cries a chorus of voices, “The same trite answer! He is supposed to be the solution for everything, but it doesn’t work!” If Christ is the answer, why do Christians experience loneliness and heartache just like the world? Why does church seem so empty? Why do Christian homes break up? Why do Christian young people get so desperate for friendship that they marry those who are not converted or suited?

The answer is that most Christians are Christians in name only and do not believe the solution for heartache and loneliness that Jesus offers. It is, in fact, an unbelievable solution even the Christian finds it hard to believe. This solution is like the one God gave to the Children of Israel when they were bitten by poisonous snakes. “The Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, ‘We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord that He take away the serpents from us. ‘ So Moses prayed” (Numbers 21: 6- 7. Bible texts are from the NKJV). God heard Moses’ prayer and gave them a solution to their problem — but what a strange solution it was! It was so strange that many were not willing to even try it. “So the Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live’ ” (Numbers 21: 8).

How ridiculous! The people were dying and in need of immediate help, and Moses told them to look at a replica of the vipers that had bitten them. The people were lying in pain on their comfortable beds in their tents, and Moses wanted them to get up and look at his contraption of a serpent — what a solution!

It must be remembered that Israel numbered well over a million people. If one were to put a serpent on a pole in the middle of Denver, Colorado, which does not have nearly that many people, it would not be possible to simply go out one’s door to see a bronze serpent set up in the middle of town — one would have to travel to where it was. And so some of the Children of Israel may have had to travel two or three miles, from the edge of the encampment to the sanctuary, to get a glimpse of the serpent. That was a great deal of painful, exhausting work for a dying man or woman. Many had to be carried on litters — and that was work for the family and neighbors — and all for something so ridiculous! “Some would not believe that merely gazing upon that metallic image would heal them; these perished in their unbelief ” (Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 430).

A STRANGER SOLUTION

But even stranger than the solution for poisonous snakes, and therefore even less believed and tried, is God’s solution for friendship.

The Bible gives a graphic example of someone who needed a true friend. It picks the loneliest situation in the world — the person who is lonely in marriage. Suppose one is very lonely in marriage and then meets someone who she believes understands and cares for her much better than her husband — in fact, for the first time in her life she has found a real, true friend — one she can share everything with and who understands her perfectly. This scenario, of course, is not uncommon and happens every day. What then is the solution to this loneliness of a bad marriage which is only deepened by the acquaintance of a “true” friend who really cares? The Bible gives both the wrong solution and the right one.

“Do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives? For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. . . . So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man” (Romans 7: 1- 3).

Divorce and remarriage are the wrong solution, for that is breaking the express commandment of God. We can never hope to find happiness, peace or true friendship by rebelling from God. This solution does not work. But there is an implied solution even within the prohibition: “If, while her husband lives, she marries another man. . . .” So if her husband should die, then she could marry her “true” friend with God’s blessing and finally find that bliss she has always dreamed about. So the true solution is death of one of the partners.

“No,” you say, “That cannot be! murder is even worse than divorce.” Certainly it is. And yet that is the solution Paul presents. But the solution gets even stranger yet — we are to kill not our partner, but ourselves. Many people have, in fact, been so lonely that they have committed suicide, but suicide is condemned in the Bible also. The solution is to die without committing suicide. “Therefore, my brethren, YOU have become dead . . . that you may be married to another, even to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God” (Romans 7: 4).

The one caught in a bad and lonely marriage must die. What a solution! In fact, this solution is so strange that very few people are willing to try it —it doesn’t make sense. If the other partner died, that might provide a solution, but must I die in order to find a solution from my loneliness? Surely there must be a better way than that. And yet it is the only way presented in the Bible. There is no other solution to one’s personal and emotional needs.

THE ONLY SOLUTION IN THE BIBLE

Jesus said: “He who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.” A cross is a way of death — a painful death at that. The next verse says: “He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 10: 38- 39).

The Bible’s ways seem backward: If you save your life you will lose it. Only if you die can you live. Strange as it may seem, that is Bible science. “Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it’ ” (Matthew 16: 24- 25).

How can one find life by dying? Only through the resurrecting power of God. The nonChristian cannot understand this miracle. But the Christian finds a fulfilling life through death by faith in God’s power to raise him from the dead. Thus, as Paul would say, if a married woman dies, she is freed from her lawful husband, and then if Christ raises her from the dead to a new life, she can marry her new husband, who is Christ. But it is the ultimate in faith to submit to death, as Isaac did on Mount Moriah when his father was divinely instructed to kill him as a sacrifice, believing that Christ would raise him up again (Genesis 22). When Christ raises us up from the dead, He forms a lasting and intimate friendship with us that will never bring disappointment.

“Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him” (Romans 6: 3- 8).

Those who have died have been freed from sin. A dead person cannot steal. A dead person cannot lie. A dead person cannot covet. A dead person cannot feel sorry for himself. And so we are to die to self. We are to crucify self, so that it is not alive to covet and pity oneself anymore. We must give up that precious “self” that we have always tried to protect, defend, pity, and exalt. In giving up self we are really fulfilled.

How foolish that seems! It is as foolish as looking at a serpent in order to be healed from a serpent’s bite. How can you find fulfillment by giving up that which is supposed to bring you fulfillment? God’s way seems backwards. The Bible says, “Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom” (Luke 6: 38). In the world we get by keeping, but Christ said we get by giving! The Bible says that in honoring others you will bring honor to yourself, in giving away what you have you will receive an increase, in dying you will live. It is all backward according to the world. Only the Christian can understand these strange solutions.

“For the message of the cross [dying in order to live] is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. ‘ Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? . . . Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1 Corinthians 1: 18- 25).

Christ’s way is utter foolishness with the world. How does one find happiness by giving up happiness? How does one find fulfillment by giving up his own needs?

Peter once asked Jesus: “We have left everything and followed you, therefore what will we have?” Jesus answered: “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time — houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions — and in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first” (Mark 10: 29- 31). Jesus said that we would receive a hundredfold return, even in this life, plus everlasting life hereafter. Thus, those who have made self last will become first. Those who have given up self the most will receive the most. Those who have retained the most of self will receive the least.

It is only through death that one can find happiness, fulfillment, or friendship. Jesus said: “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life” (John 12: 24- 25).

When Jesus foretold His death to His disciples, they wondered how He was going to establish His kingdom if He was going to die. Jesus told them that it was only through death that His kingdom could be established, for it is only through death that life is produced. Jesus illustrated it by a grain of wheat. As long as the grain of wheat remains dry and intact, it remains alone and lonely. It may be preserved for a hundred years in that secure state, but it will always be alone. But if it is put into the ground, it will get wet and split apart and be apparently destroyed, but out of that death will spring forth a new life that will produce a hundred grains of wheat that are a part of the parent stalk. No longer is the wheat alone or lonely, but now it has a hundred companions that are a part of itself.

THE DISCIPLES LEARN THE LESSON

Like all of us, the disciples had to learn this hard lesson that in giving up self we gain life, and in dying we find happiness and fulfillment. After a day of teaching they took Jesus across Galilee in a boat. Jesus was fast asleep when a storm arose threatening to capsize their boat. “But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, ‘Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing? ’” (Mark 4: 37- 38).

Jesus had been up the night before praying, and then had taught and healed throughout the day, and being very tired, He slept while the disciples guided the boat. Suddenly a great windstorm arose, and the disciples instinctively began to try to save themselves. Their first and natural thought was not to save Jesus — they forgot all about Him. They were trying to save “self.” They did not say: “We must save Jesus; let us row hard.” They tried with all their might to save self, but they found themselves powerless against the terrible storm. Finally, when all else failed, they remembered Jesus. And what did they say? “Teacher, do You not care that WE are perishing?” They weren’t concerned about Jesus perishing. They were only concerned about themselves. They said: “We are perishing and You don’t care.” They didn’t’t consider that Jesus was perishing and they didn’t’t care. Jesus was the one who was asleep — He could have been washed overboard.

“Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace, be still! ‘ And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, ‘Why are you so fearful? ’” (Mark 4: 40). That was an important question: “WHY were you so fearful?” Was it because you were concerned about Me dying? No. It was because you were concerned about yourselves. Self was not yet dead. And in trying to preserve self they almost lost it. “How is it,” He said, “that you have no faith?” Faith is the opposite of selfishness, but they were thinking only of self. Thus they had no faith. If they had been thinking about Jesus’ safety as soon as the storm arose, they never would have gotten into the predicament of almost drowning, for Jesus would have calmed the waters immediately.

Aren’t we all as primarily interested in the preservation of self as the disciples were? We are interested in the preservation of our happiness, in people being friendly to us and understanding us. “No one understands me!” we say. We are not nearly so concerned that we may not understand someone else. We are not nearly so concerned about the preservation of others and their happiness. But as long as “WE” are searching for happiness for ourselves, we will never find it. As long as “WE” are seeking to be understood, we will never find understanding. As long as

“WE” are looking for friends, we will never find them. As long as the disciples were trying to save themselves, they were perishing. But when they turned to Jesus, they found salvation.

It is in seeking the happiness of others that we ourselves are blessed. “A man that hath friends must show himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18: 24, KJV). We don’t find true friends by trying to get friends, but by trying to be friends.

This is the basic principle of all Christianity, whether it be friends, happiness, money, fulfillment, life, or even righteousness itself. It is by giving up what we have that we get what we are looking for.

GIVING UP OUR OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS

The religious leaders in the New Testament tried hard to be righteous. They would do anything to be righteous. They made rules and regulations and offered long prayers in order to find righteousness for themselves. They had tedious religious ceremonies, all for the purpose of making themselves righteous. But the more they tried to find righteousness for themselves, the more unrighteous they became until they were filled with so much hate that they crucified Jesus. “We are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags” (Isaiah 64: 6). The Pharisees tried hard to find righteousness for themselves, but all their righteousness seeking proved futile — the more they tried to get the less they had. It is when we quit trying to seek righteousness for ourselves, and start trying to bring glory and righteousness to the Lord, that we too find righteousness ourselves.

The question of our life should not be, “What can I do that I might be righteous?” but “What can I do that I might bring glory and honor to the Lord Jesus Christ?” “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10: 31). We are not to eat and drink for our righteousness, but for the glory of God.

God’s glory was Joseph’s concern as a slave in Egypt. He was tempted to commit adultery by the wife of his master.

Day after day she allured him. He was a slave in a strange country. There were no church members around to be concerned about. He would not be disfellowshiped for a wrong act there. He was in the midst of people who knew not God.

Day after day she coaxed him. She wore her best perfume and most seductive clothing. She flattered him, admired him, praised him, and flirted with him. One day they were in the house alone and she had prepared for this occasion. “Now it came to pass after these things that his master’s wife cast longing eyes on Joseph, and she said, ‘Lie with me.” But he refused. . . . So it was, as she spoke to Joseph day by day, that he did not heed her, to lie with her or to be with her. But it happened about this time, when Joseph went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the house was inside, that she caught him by his garment, saying, ‘Lie with me. ‘ (Genesis 39: 7- 12). If Joseph had been concerned only about his own righteousness, he would certainly have fallen. Not only was the overpowering temptation of lust in the very air he breathed, not only was Satan playing upon his very senses and emotions seeking to excite them to their highest pitch, but he knew that in all likelihood death would be the result of resisting — for he was only a slave.

But Joseph found strength because he was not trying to preserve His own integrity, but the Lord’s. Thus he said: “How. . . can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” (Genesis 39: 9). His concern was not for himself, but for his Lord. He was not so much concerned about his own righteousness, but the Lord’s. He was not so much concerned about his own honor, but the Lord’s. God said: ‘’Those who honor Me I will honor” (1 Samuel 2: 30).

That is the way Jesus lived. He did not live to glorify Himself, but to bring glory to His Father, and He trusted His Father to bring to Him the glory He wanted Him to have. He said: “I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was” (John 17: 4, 5). The Son glorified the Father, and the Father glorified the Son. That is the relationship God wants to have with us also. Jesus said: “If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor” (John 12: 26). In honoring God, we are honored. In honoring self, we are dishonored.

CONSIDER THE LILIES

“Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his gory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, 0 you of little faith? And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you” (Luke 12: 27- 32).

The lilies do not work for self, yet the Father takes care of them. Will He not much more take care of us, if we make Him first in our consideration? The world seeks after its own food and its own raiment and its own happiness and preservation. But God knows that we need all these things. Let us seek after His glory and His kingdom first, and God will add these things unto us. “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, and treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Luke 12: 32- 34).

There is someone who can take care of us much better than we can take care of ourselves. But as long as our primary concern is in taking care of ourselves, He will let us do it alone, to our own disappointment.

There is One who cares for us very much, but He cannot always show us His care because we are doing everything for ourselves. There is someone who can bring us happiness such as no other person can, but if we are seeking to find happiness for ourselves, He cannot do for us what He would like to do. That’s what it means to have a submissive spirit.

“He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness” (Psalm 107: 9). Millions are seeking for happiness, but each one fails. Only our Maker can fulfill our deepest longings. “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. . . . The Lord lifts up the humble; He casts the wicked down to the ground” (Psalm 147: 3- 6). The one whom God helps is the one who is humble, the one who has died to self.

HEALING THE LONELINESS OF A REJECTED BRIDE

The Bible gives such graphic illustrations to help us understand the way of happiness. In Isaiah, the Lord talks about a young woman who was involved in a most unfortunate manage.

In the East, parents often chose the spouse for a young man or woman. When I was pastoring in metropolitan Washington D. C., a young mother from India told me her sad story. Her parents had arranged her marriage to a young man she had never met. His parents had done the same. Sometimes these marriages work successfully, but in this case neither seemed matched for the other, and he did not love her. They were united, against their consent, but they did not love each other. Then he moved with her to America. Often he did not come home until one or two o’clock in the morning, because he would rather spend his evenings in a bar than to come home. She lived in a little apartment, with little furniture and no air- conditioning, and the summers were hot. She was lonely, a stranger in a strange country, and her heart was breaking.

The Bible talks about a similar, most unfortunate bride. “For the Lord has called you like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, like a youthful wife when you were refused, says your God” (Isaiah 54: 6). God says your loneliness may be like that of a young bride who has been taken away from her family and abused and refused on her wedding night, being left despised and rejected by her husband and without her natural family. Now she is destined to live out a life of loneliness, without children of her own and without any love from her husband.

But the Lord has promised to comfort one’s loneliness even if it is as great as that. “Sing, 0 barren, you who have not borne! (But Lord, how can I sing? I am so broken- hearted!) Break forth into singing, and cry aloud, you who have not travailed with child! For more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married woman, says the Lord.” It could very well be that the childless woman will be given more children after the resurrection, from among the toddlers who have no parents in heaven, than the woman who has had children on this earth. God has promised to satisfy the longings of every soul who puts Jesus first. There are those, both men and women, such as John the Baptist, Paul and others, who have foregone the pleasures of marriage and of having children in order to work more effectively for the Master. Others have dedicated themselves to mission service in foreign countries where living conditions are not conducive to maintaining a family, and have foregone the joys of a family life in order to bring the gospel to those who often didn’t’t appreciate it. Others have ended up in most unfortunate situations with spouses who did not love them, in a relationship more bitter than gall, but who chose to endure the hardship rather than break a commandment of the Lord. But God has promised to more than make up for every sacrifice we may make for Him in this life. If God can take care of the lilies of the field, will He not much more take care of His children who have dedicated their lives to Him and made sacrifices for His name’s honor and glory?

And so the Lord has promised that “the children of the desolate” will be more “than the children of the married woman. . . . Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed; nor be disgraced, for you will not be put to shame; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and will not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore. For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is His name; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth” (Isaiah 54: 1- 5).

God has promised to be the husband, the protector, the one who understands and takes care of those who put their trust and confidence in Him. Could any woman have a better husband than that?

TRUE CONVERSION

This dying to self and trusting one’s care and keeping to the Lord is called conversion in the Bible. It affects every aspect of life. It affects our diet, disposition and even the clothes we wear. When we are converted, we live in such a way as to bring glory to the Lord rather than glory to ourselves. And then the Lord brings glory to us.

Peter applies this principle to a woman’s attire. He says: “Likewise you wives. . . . Do not let your beauty be that outward adorning of arranging the hair, of wearing gold, or of putting on fine apparel; but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible ornament of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God” (1 Peter 3: 1- 4). Do not try to draw attention to yourselves by the clothes you wear and the style of your hair, but rather put on the ornaments of heaven, which are a meek and humble spirit that has died to self and is not vying for attention. Put on the spirit that is willing to be unnoticed, that is willing to be crucified, that is willing to trust itself into the hand of God. That is the ornament that God is looking for. That is the inner, lasting jewelry and very precious in the sight of God. “For in this manner, in former times, the holy women who trusted in God also adorned themselves.. . . Nor returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing” (1 Peter 3: 5- 9).

Instead of attacking when one is reviled, return a blessing, being dead to self. The true Christian is not going to be so concerned about what blessings he may get, but what blessings he may give. And that, according to the verse, is the way we become blessed. We are blessed when we return good for evil.

A HOLIDAY WHICH REPRESENTS THIS CONVERSION

God instituted a special holiday, or more accurately a holy day, to represent this true conversion. It is called the Sabbath. The Sabbath was instituted by God in order to illustrate and effect a true conversion. After the six days of creation, God rested on the seventh day and set it apart for man’s holy worship and use.

Long before there was any sin, or any Jew, the Lord saw the necessity for teaching people the importance of dying to self and living for Him. This was embodied in the Sabbath institution established at the Creation of this earth. “Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made” (Genesis 2: 1- 3).

What was the meaning of this rest? God rested as an example for man. In all that God asks us to do, He first sets us an example. Jesus came down to be an example to each of us. “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4: 15). He is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14: 6). Thus, when God asked man to keep a specific day holy, in honor of Him, He rested with him as an example for all to follow. How much significance that gives this special day — to think that God Himself rested on the Sabbath!

In the very heart of the ten commandments, the only part of the whole Bible God wrote with His own hand, right along with the simple laws that say: “Do not murder, Do not steal,” God said, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall you labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it” (Exodus 20: 8- 1 1).

The Sabbath is the only day God ever rested on. Even Jesus, after His work of redemption was completed, rested in the tomb on the Sabbath day before being resurrected on the first day of the week and continuing on with His work of redemption, now as our High Priest in heaven. Thus Paul says, at the end of the New Testament, long after Christ was crucified, “For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: ‘And God rested on the seventh day from all His works. . . . There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works” (Hebrews 4: 4- 10).

The Sabbath is a day when we do not try to take care of self. We cease from doing our own works. Rather we do God’s works. We trust our farms with Him and concentrate our time to worshipping Him and teaching our children and family about His marvelous works. On the Sabbath we trust God to take care of our bills. On the Sabbath we trust God to take care of sustaining us, so we do not work to earn a living on that day. It is a day of special trust in the Lord— we signify that we trust Him. God is going to take care of the crops. He is going to take care of the shop. He is going to take care of the home on that day. Since humanitarian activities, such as taking care of the sick, are a part of God’s work, we will work for God in these areas. But our own works we will not do.

The Sabbath symbolizes the whole conversion experience of dying to self and living unto God, trusting Him to take care us. It symbolizes that beautiful relationship God wants to have with each one of us — we think of Him, and He thinks of us. God says: “Those who honor Me I will honor.”

The Sabbath is beautifully explained in Isaiah 58. After talking about a group of people in the last days who will repair the old paths that God has given for us to walk in, the Lord then reveals that the pathway of the Sabbath which He established to lead from earth to heaven will be repaired and restored — it is the Sabbath of the truly converted, for it represents dying to self and living for Christ. Thus the Lord says: “If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing YOUR pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable, and shall honor Him, not doing YOUR own ways, nor finding YOUR own pleasure, nor speaking YOUR own words, then you shall delight yourself in the Lord; and I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. The mouth of the Lord has spoken” (Isaiah 58: 13- 14).

Thus God says we are not to do our works on the Sabbath, but we are to find the Sabbath a delight, for we are doing God’s works. Like a couple in love who enjoy doing things for each other more than they enjoy doing things for themselves, so the Sabbath is the day in which we delight to do things for the Lord, and He delights to do things for us in return.

It is for this reason Satan has fought against the Sabbath so vehemently down through the ages, for it represents that true, joyous conversion experience with the Lord. Satan hates this experience and anything that might lead to it; therefore He has tried to destroy and cover up the Sabbath with tradition and sun worship and false theology based upon twisted Scripture. But we need not be confused, for Jesus our example kept the Sabbath, and He has commanded us to follow in His footsteps. He said: “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14: 15).

“Blessed are those who do His commandments (including the Sabbath), that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city” (Revelation 22: 14). Those who honor God, He will honor. Those who seek His glory will be glorified. He will be their friend and companion throughout eternity.

TRUE FRIENDSHIP

Jesus said: “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love. . . . These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. This is My commandment, that you love one another [not to be loved, but to love] as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends” (John 15: 10- 15). If we put Him first, He will put us first. Jesus said, “To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne” (Revelation 3: 21).

“Keep your wants, your joys, your sorrows, your cares, and your fears before God. You cannot burden Him; you cannot weary Him. . . . Take to Him everything that perplexes the mind. Nothing is too great for Him to bear, for He holds up worlds, He rules over all the affairs of the universe. Nothing that in any way concerns our peace is too small for Him to notice. There is no chapter of our experience too dark for Him to read; there is no perplexity too difficult for Him to unravel. No calamity can befall the least of His children, no anxiety harass the soul, no joy cheer, no sincere prayer escape the lips, of which our heavenly Father is unobservant, or in which He takes no immediate interest. . . . The relations between God and each soul are as distinct and full as though there were not another soul upon the earth to share His watch- care, not another soul for whom He gave His beloved Son” (Steps to Christ, p. 100).

May you experience the joy that only a true friendship can bring. May you experience the truest joy that only the truest Friend can bring. There is Someone who cares.

Special Note:

In a way this is Marshall Grosboll’s last will and testament to this world. A few days after he wrote this booklet he, along with his wife and two children were killed in a plane crash.

Although Marshall had several other urgent printing projects that he had promised Steps to Life that he would do, a few days before his last trip he felt impelled to stop everything else he was doing and write this booklet. Marshall’s life was devoted to helping others experience the joy and consolation that he found in Jesus and he would be most delighted if you came to him in heaven someday and told him that you read this booklet, and found the One who is altogether lovely and experienced this love which results in eternal life (Luke 10: 25- 28, John 17: 2,3)

To make contact with the One who cares, follow these simple steps:

  1. Study His character as revealed in the gospels. See John 5: 39.
  2. Pray. Prayer is opening your heart to God as to a friend. Prayer brings you into direct contact with the One who cares for you. See Matt. 7: 7 and John 14: 12-
  3. Yield your heart to Him as your Savior and Lord and choose to follow Him. See Jeremiah. 29: 13 – John 12: 25- 27. 9

For more Bible Study Resources by Topic see https://www.stepstolife.org/bible-study-resources-topic/

The Uncertainty of Life

By Marshall Grosboll

The Uncertainty of LifeIntroductory note:

On July 22, 1991, Pastor Marshall Grosboll with his wife Lillian, their son Matthew and daughter Christine were killed in the private plane (pictured on the front) they were flying. Although not foreseeing the death of his entire family, Marshall was acutely aware that at any time his own life could instantly be cut short. Especially was he aware of this since he was traveling so much all around the world. He had been in Europe with his family earlier that same month and was scheduled to go to New Zealand a couple of days after the accident. Because he was so aware of the possibility, at any moment, of sudden death by accident, he preached a great deal about it. The last article which he himself, as director of Steps to Life, wrote in the ministry’s News Notes was about the shortness of human life. He preached about this subject to the churches he pastored and to non- Christians in evangelistic sermons. This booklet is adapted from two sermons he preached in late winter of 1986 to the Wichita South Seventh-day Adventist Church when he was pastor there.

A month before going to Europe he left a note with a few brief directions about what to do if something should happen to him. The morning of July 22, before leaving his parent’s home with his family for the last time, he indicated that he did not think he was going to live long. But life in this world was not uppermost in his mind. He knew the really important thing was to be ready to inherit eternal life, so he had spent a large part of the last night of his life praying. Friend, any of us could suddenly die in an accident– the important thing is that we are ready to die. Would you be among the saved in the end if you were to die today? Until you are ready to die, you are not really ready to live, even in this world, because this life is only to be a preparation for eternity. May this booklet help you to be ready for your last day on this earth, whenever that might be.

Part I The Challenger

This week we mourned with the rest of America. I have to admit that I have an interest in the space shuttle program. My favorite picture in my office is one of Christ, but I also have two pictures of the shuffle hanging on the other wall.

My wife’s aunt in Washington, DC., is a veteran worker for NASA and she keeps us supplied with pictures, data, books and shuffle decals. My son has models and toys of the shuffle. Upon investigation, we found that only one of them was of the Challenger.

I first heard about this week’s tragedy K while walking down the corridor of the San Diego Airport. I overheard someone say that the shuffle had blown up. I asked, “What did you say?” He said, “The shuttle just blew up.” I immediately checked into my motel room and turned on the television to catch the news. There I saw the replay over and over again. I wanted to say it wasn’t so, but it was. I hoped against hope at first that maybe, somehow, the spaceship had remained in tact and had glided into the Atlantic somewhere, and that soon someone would find them. But the blast, they said, was equal to a small atomic bomb.

One of my ministerial friends at the meeting in San Diego is an aerospace engineer and worked for NASA for seven years before entering the ministry. He was involved in the development of the shuffle and knew every detail of the plane. It was his opiKon that it had to be the external fuel tank. The boosters, he said, cannot explode; they just burn. The fuel tank contains half a million gallons of liquid oxygen and hydrogen, which, when ignited, creates a tremendous reaction, as we all witnessed.

I was interested in the crew. Most of us, I think, have become attached to the school teacher, Christa. And there was Michael Smith, who as a boy had one dream– to fly. One time, while quarterbacking his high school football team, they were trailing in the second half by seven points. He called a time out– his coach expecting him to come over and get a new play– but he did not come. Then his coach saw him staring up at ajet passing over the field. He had called a time out just to look at an airplane. Football, even quarterbacking his high school football team in an important game, did not hold the interest that airplanes did. “Come on, Mike,” his coach called, we’re in a football game!” But he had a dream. And then there was Judy Resnik, whom my family and I had the privilege of meeting once at a special reception for NASA personnel that my wife’s aunt invited us to. Her father called her “Little Judy” when she was growing up in Akron, Ohio, and she liked it. Whenever she called home, she said, “Hi, Daddy, this is Little.” She always called him Daddy, and she was still his “Little Judy.”

Like Michael, the pilot of the craft who once called a time- out while playing high school football to look at an airplane go overhead, she also had some priorities in life. She was the only astronaut on board who did not leave behind a spouse and at least two children. In fact, Judy had never married. She had given herself to getting a doctorate degree at the University of Maryland and to becoming an astronaut. She had succeeded, but she was still Daddy’s girl and Mother’s darling. As they watched their beloved daughter lift off on her second shuttle flight, they were full of joy and pride for her.

They knew about the dangers. They knew that the lift-off was the most dangerous part of the flight, and the higher the shuffle went the safer it was. As they watched the craft lift and roll, and reach a speed of 2,000 mph and an altitude of over 10 miles within 75 seconds, they knew that the most dangerous phase was just about over. Then they saw the fireball. The sound would take another full minute to reach the earth, but they could see it. Judy’s parents were standing next to Michael Smith’s children, who began to cry. One of them said, “Daddy! I want you, Daddy! You always promised nothing would happen.” Then the lights went out as the wife of Onizuka, who was leaning against the wall where the light switches were located, fainted and pulled down the switches as she sank to the floor.

Fifty-five times we have sent men and women into space. We have sent them clear to the moon and back– not once but many times– and never an accident from lift- off until return. Not a single mishap. Our record was near perfect. Surely, we had perfected our arts. But as of this week, times have changed.

Life is not Certain on this Earth but God is

There is nothing in this life that is foolproof, at least nothing mechanical. Nothing in the weather. Nothing in your body. There are no supermen and no super agents. It takes but one projectile through the heart, or the bursting of one vessel in the brain, or one drunk driver swerving into our lane at the wrong time, and all is wiped out. Nothing in this life is foolproof.

Our pioneers recognized that fact. That is why George Washington prayed before going into baffle or leading out in Congress. He did not pray because it was expected of him— he prayed because he knew he needed God’s help. Yes, he must have Him. He was totally dependent upon Him, thus, he declared a national day of fasting and prayer.

Our forefather’s recognized that there are too many things that can and will go wrong, and that without God’s special intervention, all our plans and accomplishments will one day perish. That is why in the constitution they stated that we are one nation under God. Not under the President or Congress, but under God. They knew that we would only remain a nation as long as God was in control, and that when He ceased to bless, the nation would begin to suffer reverses until it would cease to exist.

We were a nation with religious freedom— our citizens were allowed to worship unmolested according to their conscience. We were not a non-religious country. We were not atheistic. We were established through faith in God. Our courts were based upon the justice as found in the Bible, and upon that Book every witness had to swear. They realized that there is nothing sure without the surety of God.

That is why the minters of our first coins inscribed the words: “In God we trust.” They knew that the value of those coins would only remain stable as long as God maintained the health of the economy— as long as He gave us the will to sacrifice, the integrity to work hard, and the honesty to preserve what was not ours– and then to bless the output and to multiply. Thus we became the “bread basket” of the world. But today we no longer pray when about to embark on a mission, even a dangerous mission. No longer do we give God the credit when things succeed. No longer do we fast and pray when things do not.

I was amazed when a hurricane of 160 mph winds was headed for the costs of North Carolina and Virginia, and it mysteriously tumed up shore. I praised God for sparing our land another day, but how disappointed I was a few hours later to hear a news commentator say: “We were lucky that time.” Lucky! How can God continue to protect us over and over again when we totally deny Him.

As I was riding in a 727 from Kansas City to Washington National Airport last November, a young female executive came and sat next to me in the seat she had been assigned to. She was raised a Jew but had become an atheist. Her question to me was, “If there really is a God, why does He allow such calamities as AIDS, for example.” My response to her was, “Why should God protect you from disaster. You do not even believe in Him, nor are you following what He says.”

“But when you hear of wars and commotions, do not be terrified; for these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come immediately.” Then He said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven” Luke 21: 9- 11.

Before Jesus comes there will yet be more wars, earthquakes, famines (and don’t think it can’t happen in America), pestilences, disasters by land, sea, air, and space.

“The restraining power of God is even now being withdrawn from the world. Hurricanes, storms, tempests, fire and flood, disasters by sea and land (and could we say by air and space), follow each other in quick succession. Science seeks to explain all these. The signs thickening around us, telling of the near approach of the Son of God, are attributed to any other than the true cause. Men cannot discern the sentinel angels restraining the four winds that they shall not blow until the servants of God are sealed; but when God shall bid His angels loose the winds, there will be such a scene of strife as no pen can picture” Testimonies, vol. 6 408.

I ask you candidly and plainly, as you review the news over the past couple of years, has there been a continuing increase in disasters? From the Korean air crash, the Indian air crash and the carnage of the 101st Airborne, to the shuffle explosion; from starvation in Ethiopia and volcanoes in South America, to leaking toxic gases in India; from skyjacking, to cruise jacking, to the assassination of Indira Gandhi; from bankrupt banks to foreclosed farms.. .when will we learn that we need God to survive?

“At the end of the twelve months he was walking about the royal palace of Babylon. The king spoke, saying, ‘Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty? ‘While the word was still in the king’s mouth, a voice fell from heaven: ‘King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: the kingdom has departed from you!” ‘ Daniel 4: 29- 31.

There is nothing sure or stable in this life without God’s direct protection and care– not your marriage, your money, your children, your health, your church, your nation, and certainly not yourself. Nothing! We need to humble ourselves before God and invite Him into our lives. We need to realize our total dependence upon Him. Everything may be going right in your life.

Everything may have gone right for a long time, but it only takes a moment to turn everything around, and if God is not in control of your life, that moment is coming. It will come at a most unexpected time! It will come suddenly!

On television we saw seven people perish unexpectedly last Thursday in a heart- rending space disaster. We cried for them and their families, but did you know that since you awoke this morning 90,000 people on planet earth have died? Oh, they have not been publicized and we do not know them, but every one of them was special. Most of them had families– mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, spouses, who are even now mourning them. Ninety thousand people so far this morning, and every 60 seconds 250 more tragically die? This earth is a disaster. It is time to get right with God. It is time to do the work He has given us to do. It is time for Jesus to come.

“There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices” Luke 13: 1

They had their disasters in Jesus’ day. The Bible records them. Once the Galileans were peaceably worshipping in Jerusalem, offering their sacrifices, and Pilot sent his soldiers in to cut them up and throw them on top of their sacrifices so that all their blood mixed together. What a catastrophe, and right within the church! Would public worship ever seem the same again? Why were they slaughtered? Had they committed some aggravated sin so that God was punishing them? No! Jesus said. They had not sinned any more than the rest of the people. “And Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish” ‘ Luke 13: 2- 3. These Galileans had not sinned any more than any of the other people– maybe less– but God was beginning to withdraw His protection from Jerusalem and disasters were beginning to happen. “Why did you hear,” Jesus said, “about what happened to some people from Jerusalem? It is not just Galileans who are suffering disasters, but Jerusalemites also.”

“Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish” Luke 13: 4- 5.

What did Jesus mean when He said unless you repent you will all likewise perish? Jesus could see down the stream of time when God’s protection would be completely withdrawn from Jerusalem and when all within, except those who had accepted Christ and had fled from the city when Jesus told them to, would be barbarously murdered, as those Galileans were, by the Romans soldiers. God’s protecting hand was being withdrawn from the city. They had rejected the only true God and followed a God of their own choosing.

Repent

“Repent,” Jesus said. “Repent.” That is a word that isn’t too often heard anymore. Oh, a few people make cartoons about people holding up signs that say to repent, but today we are living in a day and age when it is more popular to praise people. Calls to repentance are seldom heard, but that is what is needed today. At least that is what the Bible says is needed today– not just in the world but in the church. Why? Because as a people we have apostatized. We have carried on a form of religion without the power thereof. We may have, some of us anyway, kept the Sabbath and paid our tithe, but we have not all found Jesus. These outward things, Jesus said, we should have done, but not to have left the other undone.

“And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, ‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth” ‘ Revelation 3: 14- 15. Dear friend, it is time to be on fire for the Lord. That is not something that is nice to be, that is what God requires. We must, we must, we must, dear friend, spend that time with Jesus every day. And we must, we must, we must overcome the sins that Jesus points out in our lives. To remain lukewarm is fatal; it is absolutely fatal! The Bible says that God is going to destroy every professing Christian that remains lukewarm. The lukewarm Christian is not going to barely get into heaven; he or she is not going to get in at all.

It is time that Jesus becomes our all in all. It is time that He is our absorbing theme– not football, not television programs, not secular music, not making money.

Those seven who were on the ill- fated shuttle flight this Thursday all had one thing in common. They were a few who were chosen out of thousands– they were a remnant. And what made them that remnant? They made being on that shuttle their first and only interest. Even in a high school football game, Michael Smith wasn’t interested in the game any more when an airplane flew overhead. Dear friend, when we love the Lord that much, we will be saved! When we would rather read the Bible than watch the Super Bowl, that is conversion. When we would rather starve to death than work on the Sabbath or use the Lord’s tithe for our own use, that is conversion.

I have some simple questions to ask you: Do you spend more time reading the Bible, or watching television? Do you spend more time tuned in to the radio, or in prayer? What is molding your life? Where do your thoughts run in your leisure moments?

“There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish” ‘ Luke 13: 1- 5.

Someday, while people are eating and drinking, marrying and giving~ in marriage, and while life is progressing, another explosion is going to take place. The sky is suddenly going to rip apart and whole islands are going be moved out of their place. The streams are going to cease to flow and the homes we have lived in are going to be ripped asunder. like lightening from the East our Lord will come with 10,000 of His holy angels. life on planet earth is going to suddenly come to a halt. Our academies are all going to be closed and our churches are going to be destroyed.

“These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men, being firsifruits to God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of God” Revelation 14: 4- 5.

Jesus says to repent, or we are all going to be destroyed. I am so glad that the destruction that overtook the seven astronauts this week was not a final destruction. Everyone of them will be raised again. I hope that some or all of them are saved. It is a shame that of all the personal belongings taken on board, from pennants to pet frogs, there is not a mention of any of them taking a Bible on board— though maybe the Gideons had one on board already. I hope they were living up to the light they knew. I hope that Mr. Resnik gets to hear his daughter say to him again, “Hello, Daddy, this is Little.” I hope someone witnessed to them about Jesus in time– not just the One who lived 2,000 years ago, but about the One living in their heart. I hope so.

But I know this, that soon there is going to be another blast that is going to rip the whole earth apart. In that day, who is going to be able to stand? As Psalms 24: 4 says, it will be “he who has clean hands and a pure heart.”

Today the football game of life is in progress, but overhead are flying the three angels of Revelation 14 with the everlasting gospel to give to the world. Isn’t it time to call a time out, to look and to listen and to follow. Another shuffle is about to leave this stricken world, and this one will succeed. Upon that shuffle only a remnant will be found– a small number from so many who would like to go, but who did not put their whole heart and mind and soul into being there. I want to be on board when Jesus comes, don’t you? I do not want my children crying because I am not there, do you? Rather, I want to hear them saying: “Hello, Daddy, it’s me.” It’s time for the Lord to come, I hear the people say; the stars of heaven are growing dim, it must be the breaking of the day. The signs foretold in the sun and moon, in earth and sea and space, aloud proclaim to all mankind, the coming of the Master draweth on.

Let us repent and be ready. “And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, ‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth” ‘ Revelation 3: 14- 16.

Part II From Death to Life

The tragedy of life is that it ends. When you go on a vacation, the vacation soon comes to an end, but you feel refreshed, and you have the pictures; at least you have the pictures in your mind. You have the memories. Memories are one of the most important things in life.

But suppose you went on a vacation, and after it was through you had total amnesia. Even the subconscious memory of the vacation was wiped out. You had no pictures. No memory of it. You had no recollection of having been on a vacation at all. How many would like to go on a vacation like that?

Suppose with me that someone should offer you a two week vacation anywhere in the world via private jet, or private cruise— you choose— with the best accommodations, the finest food, the nicest friends, a private servant, chef and butler. The price tag on this two week vacation was $2,000. How many would go? Maybe a little out of our reach, but a bargain at twice the cost. However, just for today, this vacation offer is on sale for just $195. $195! Anywhere in the world— Austria, the Congo, Brazil, Spain, Shanghai, Paris, Alaska, Rome, the South Seas or any combination. $195! How many would go?

But, as is often the case, there is one little catch with the bargain price. First, no one could know that you had gone. And second, after you got back you would be put through some kind of machine that would totally wipe out that memory so that not even you would have any idea you had ever been on a vacation at all. Who knows, maybe you have already been on a vacation like that; you just can’t remember. Anyway, now that you know the fine print at the bottom of the vacation offer, how many would still be interested in going at the bargain price?

Think of all the fun you would have during those two weeks? Maybe if I had enough time and just concentrated on the positive, I could sell quite a few tickets. But the thinking person would say— for what? However good the vacation might be, it would soon be over, and then for what? It would be as though it had never happened.

Lease on Life

Yet, an awful lot of supposedly thinking people are taking vacations just like that. They are going through the vacation of life, existing for the pleasures that they can receive while here. But for what? When it is over, and the memory is wiped out, and as time goes on and no one even remembers that they ever existed, what is the purpose of life? What is the purpose of riches that perish? What is the purpose of knowledge that vanishes? What is the purpose of hard work for things that suddenly cease to exist? What is the purpose of improving yourself just to vanish into thin air as though you never existed? That is the question Jesus asked.

Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry. ‘ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided? ‘ So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God” Luke 12: 16- 21.

Then whose shall they be after you cease to exist? You can have all the insurance policies in the world, you can write up your will any way you want to, you can have all the alarm systems and security devices on your home that money can buy or genius invent. Nevertheless, when you die, you lose it all. None of us own a thing in this life– we only lease. You might think you have a deed to your house, but it is only a lease, and that lease runs out when you die!

Jesus said, “Fool! . . . Then whose will those things be which you have provided?” That is the question of the age. Think about it. Daydream about it. There is no such thing as being permanently rich in this life. It is only loaned, and the loan runs out when you die. “Then whose will those things be which you have provided?”

That is why Jesus said, “Lay not up for yourself treasures on earth, where tornadoes and lawsuits destroy and where death breaks in and steals; but lay up for yourself treasures in heaven, where you can enjoy them forever.” Good advice isn’t it? Dear friend, if you are lost, your life has been a total waste. It does not matter what accomplishments you may have made or how rich or well thought of you were. You may have been the President of the United States, the dictator of Russia or even the much sought after president of the Philippines. You may have owned the oil wells of the world, but if you are eventually lost; for what? When your life ceases to exist, whatever the excuse for being lost, you might as well have never lived.

You know, it is amazing the excuses that people can give for being lost. “My parents were too strict.” “The school was not fair.” “The preacher was boring.” “I would have lost my job for keeping the Sabbath.” “The Bible was boring.” I have wondered if when standing before the bar of justice, if those who have “good” excuses, whatever that means, are going to feel better about being lost than those who have poor excuses. Have you ever wondered that?

The Real Purpose of Life

There is but one real purpose in life, dear friend, and that is to be saved through the blood of Jesus Christ. Let all other considerations vanish in comparison to that.

But how is this accomplished? Jesus plainly said in Matthew 7 that there were going to be but very few people saved, even though a whole lot of people where going to think they were saved. How can we make sure?

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life” John 5: 24.

Most assuredly, Jesus said. This is what it takes. If anyone gives you any other way to eternal life than this, believe it not. According to Jesus, this is most assuredly the way. Unless we are hearing the voice of Jesus leading us day by day, we are lost. We need to realize the seriousness of television. Too many voices are trying to grab our attention. We may even be watching “good” programs— and we wouldn’t watch any other, wouldwe?– but if it is drowning out the voice of Jesus, it is accomplishing its purpose. Our time is sacred. We must take time to hear the voice of Jesus if we want to be saved. We must spend time with Jesus every day, morning by mom ing, and retain Him in our thoughts throughout the day.

Jesus said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me” Matthew 16: 24. For, as Peter said, “There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be save,” Acts 4: 12, than the name Christ Jesus.

We must hear the voice of Jesus. If we are not taking the time to hear the voice of Jesus through Bible study and prayer, we are going to be lost. We are lost. But I would like you to notice that there are two things Jesus said we must do in order to have eternal life. Now Jesus paid the price. He died to atone for our sins. But Jesus said that we also have something to do in order to receive that gift. Jesus said it, not me. And these are the two things we must do.

  1. We must hear the words of Jesus.
  2. We must believe in God.

We must not only hear. We must believe. That is the secret, Jesus said, to eternal life and the reason most people will not be saved.

Ninety- five percent are too busy to hear the voice of Jesus. But even of the small percent who do hear, ninety- five percent of those do not believe what they read or hear. They do not believe God. Oh, they may believe that He exists– even the devils believe that, James said. But they do not believe Him– they do not believe His truthfulness or His authority. They do not believe what He says. They do not accept His words, His authority, His wisdom or His messengers.

Thus it was with the Jews. They did read the Bible, but they did not believe. “And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form. But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life” John 5: 37- 40.

Oh, they read the Bible, but they were too wise to believe it, or to believe in Him whom the Bible said should come. He was too humble. He did not fulfill their pride or their ambitions.

What two things are necessary for salvation?

There are two things necessary for salvation. You must:

  1. hear, and
  2. believe.

But the Jews could not. It did not agree with their pride nor their human logic. The leaders taught men to reverence them, but Jesus claimed no human titles. They thought they were pretty good, but Jesus called for repentance. God had sent His Son into the world, but God’s Son did not meet with their approval. Oh, they had read and memorized the Scriptures. They could quote whole sections of it, but they twisted it to their own destruction, and they would not believe in Him to Whom Scripture pointed.

“How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?” John 5: 44.

Dear friend, what we are needing today is to spend more time with the Scriptures and with the testimony of Jesus Christ, which the Bible says is the spirit of prophecy. We are needing to spend more time with the Scriptures, but more than that, we are needing to spend more time with it on our knees– in sincere repentance, clinging to the foot of the cross.

“Oh Lord, as we read Your Word, may we be converted, put away our pride and put away our preconceived opinions. May we accept Your simple, humble truths.”

If Jesus should come to earth today, would He be accepted? He had no degrees, you know. Where would He go? Could He be a minister in our churches, or a teacher in our schools or a physician in our institutions? Would we accept His words of truth? Would He find a place in our church or in our hearts, or would He be left outside knocking to get in as is pictured in the Laodicean message? I tell you this, as soon as we decree that an individual must have a certain degree or come from a particular institution to be a minister or worker in any line, we have barred Christ from the ministry of our church, because His qualifications were other than what mankind can give. He was anointed from above. Oh that we had that same prerequisite, and that prerequisite alone, today. We need training, but more important, we need the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

If Jesus should come to earth today, would you receive Him? Would you? Of course you would. But so thought the Jews! How do we know? You can know, because He is still here today.

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen” Matthew 28: 19- 20.

He is still here. You may not see Him, but then, the Jews in Jerusalem 1,900 years ago never thought they had met the Messiah either. But He was there. And He is here, but He is still unrecognized and unaccepted.

“A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him” John 14: 19- 21.

Who is it who will see Jesus? He who hears the words of Jesus and believes. “He who has My commandments.” How do you have the commandments of Jesus? By reading them. By putting them in your mind. “He who has My commandments.” But He who has and does what? “And keeps them.” He who believes what Jesus said. In him, Jesus said, I will come and abide.

Again, what does it require to be saved? Two things.

  1. We must hear the words of Jesus.
  2. We must believe.

If you were living in Jerusalem and God should choose to send His Son in the form of a humble Galilean peasant, and you were expecting Judean royalty, would you believe? If you were living in the last days and God should choose a humble New England woman to be His messenger, and you were expecting a German theologian, would you believe?

If God should say that the seventh-day of the week is holy, whereas you had been taught by parents and theologians that the first day of the week was sacred, would you believe God or the theologians? Who would you believe? Would you believe God?

If God should choose to close Platte Valley Academy but your job was at stake or your alma matter in jeopardy, would you believe?

If God should choose you to be a messenger of His as He did Isaiah to preach the word or to witness to your neighbor, would you believe, or would you find excuses.

Dear friend, it is time we have more confidence in the power of prayer and more willing acceptance of God’s answers. It is time we are willing to be lead by His Spirit. It is time we have more simple, apostolic faith in His Word. It is time we quit reasoning away what we are told about how to treat the sick, how to eucate the young, how to raise our children and how to choose our spouses. It is time we study, rightly dividing the word of truth so that we are not putting our own interpretation on it, but having honestly ascertained what God has said, it is time we simply believed and obeyed. Is that right or wrong? And why shouldn’t we believe? Why shouldn’t we follow more fully? “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full” John 15: 11.

It is He who brings happiness in life. God loves you, dear friend. He only wants the best for you, but His way may not be your way, so you are going to have to have faith in Him. Sickness may devour a loved one. Are you still going to believe? God may call you out of some comfortable circumstance into the path of hardship. Are you still going to believe? God may strike your pride to the ground. Are you still going to believe? God may even say something that you don’t agree with at all. Are you still going to believe?

“If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father” John 5: 24.

Jesus is calling you today, dear friend, to cease your business in life– to put down the telephone and turn off the television, to close the newspaper and come home from the party, and to go into your closet and hear His voice speaking to you. Have you heard His voice? But having heard, you must believe. Oh, dear friend, if you will but take the time to hear, and then if you will believe, you have eternal life. Praise the Lord! You will find rest unto your soul. You will find a peace within that not all the troubles of the world can disturb.

“For God so loved the world. That He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him, might not perish, but have everlasting life” John 3: 16. You can have that gift, today. You can have a peace and a joy that will never end, but will last throughout eternity.

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