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Lord, What Do You Want Me To Do?

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“To His servants Christ commits ‘His goods’—something to be put to use for Him. He gives ‘to every man his work.’ Each has his place in the eternal plan of heaven. Each is to work in co-operation with Christ for the salvation of souls. Not more surely is the place prepared for us in the heavenly mansions than is the special place designated on earth where we are to work for God.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 326.

“Lord, what do you want me to do?” Today, more than ever, choosing, preparing for, and practicing our occupations have become fraught with a bewildering array of difficult decisions and obstacles. Yet an attempt to address some of these without recognizing the recourse we have to practical solutions when serving Christ would be to express a lack of faith. “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Proverbs 3:5, 6. These words are not just a trite familiar phrase, but are part of our living faith. This powerful promise is prefaced with an all-encompassing condition: the complete surrender of our lives, our affections, and ambitions to the Lord.

Preparation is not an event, but a continuous exercise of our time. Our personal diligence and time management to exercise our minds through study, prayer and cultural development and our bodies through temperance, manual labor, and exercise are the foundation of preparation. Do not simply wait for a teacher, friend, pastor, or parent to direct you in specific lines of preparation. The guidance they offer may be extremely important, but the preparation constitutes, with or without the counsel of others, what we make of our time. Ellen White often uses the phrases “usefulness in this world” or “usefulness in this life” to describe the product of this general preparation. “The strength or the weakness of the mind has very much to do with our usefulness in this world and with our final salvation.” The Review and Herald, September 8, 1874.

Inspiration further guides us with specific branches of education that should be taught to all persons as part of preparation for life’s work. Foremost is the study of the Bible, which in addition to the overarching education of salvation it gives, integrates the teaching of important lessons of history, prophecy, health, poetry, composition, public speaking, etc. General preparatory studies should include: human nutrition and physiology, agriculture, home-making skills, voice culture in speech and song, and financial stewardship. (See the book Education by Ellen G. White.)

Choosing a specific life work and the requisite education is certainly one of the most difficult topics to address. If the extraordinary cost of most kinds of education were the biggest concern, our situation would be greatly improved. Ellen White told us that our delay to prepare the way for Christ’s second coming would make our work harder. It certainly has in this aspect.

There are many questions one would do well to consider when prayerfully planning a career:

Have I really surrendered all of my plans to God, and am I regularly praying for His leading?

This, by all useful measures, is the foundation of a successful career in this world, and of readiness for the life to come.

Is financial wealth the goal of my career plans?

If so, the answer to the first question is no, and there is an idol in your heart that can be cast out only by conversion. The apostle Paul tells us that “the love of money is the root of all evil: …” I Timothy 6:10. Additionally, it should be noted that the drive to get wealth does not well correlate with personal and career satisfaction.

What kinds of activities do I enjoy, and what are my aptitudes?

When dedicated to God, our aptitudes and interests can be key indicators of God’s plan for our life’s work. The evaluation of aptitudes is just one reason why the general preparatory education is so important. The exposure to a variety of tasks gives one a chance to evaluate aptitudes.

On a more specific note, Ellen White advises that all should have the capability to make their living at some trade. For some, this may be a backup vocation; nonetheless, an aptitude and enjoyment toward at least one trade should be developed.

Additionally, there are varieties of aptitude tests that can be taken independently, or through a career counselor. These tests can prove beneficial in that they may reveal aptitudes that one may not have realized before.

How can I use my aptitudes, with my training and career, to glorify God and to witness to others?

Remember that every person is called to a ministry, no matter what the occupation. Then this question should be one of the most important to answer when preparing for and practicing our vocations. Any vocation can and should be used directly and indirectly to help further the gospel.

How would my calling be a blessing to society?

The work of Jesus, while here on this earth, was continually a blessing to society. From carpentry to preaching and healing he lived constantly to be a blessing. As we follow Christ’s example we will also find that this is one of the keys to personal and career satisfaction.

What advice or comments do the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy have to say about my intended vocation, and the requisite education?

The list of occupations that are dealt with in some way by the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy is long. Have you studied the subject matter out? The Bible and Spirit of Prophecy also have much to say regarding education. Anyone preparing for a career, or planning to switch careers, should include a prayerful study of inspired writings. In particular, the books Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, I and II Timothy and Education should be carefully investigated.

How will my job choice and location affect my Sabbath keeping?

Certainly there are a number of job types that are not suitable to consider when factoring in Sabbath keeping. And one’s latitudinal location affects the clock time during which the Sabbath is kept, and needs to be considered.

Among jobs that are profitable to consider, jobs in the medical field have a special relation to the Sabbath. Anyone considering a career in one of the medical professions should carefully examine what the Spirit of Prophecy says about Sabbath keeping and the medical professions. A balanced summary of that counsel is beyond the scope of this article. But I will leave the reader with an additional question to ponder if considering a job in a hospital setting: Is the Sabbath respected in the institutions at which I seek employment?

But this is actually a broader question than it may at first appear. There are potential jobs that require an investment of time that would lead many people to make the job and/or requisite education the number one focus of their life. This, then, effectively enshrines the career as an idol, diminishing Sabbath keeping. Great care must then be exercised when considering especially time-intensive career choices.

In my chosen career, will I be directly supporting the advancement of sin?

Certainly the answer should be, No. At first thought, this may seem to be either an obvious or strange question. But it is worth a second thought. Of course, as a Christian you would easily eliminate jobs directly tied to the production of alcohol or tobacco, for example. But it is worth considering the many ways that our economy is integrated, and estimating how closely an industry or particular job may be tied to the overt degradation of society.

An example question could be: As a financial advisor, would I ever be directed to recommend investments in companies in the entertainment, alcohol, or tobacco industries because my recommendations must be based solely on their financial prospects? If so, how could I retain my independence as an advisor?

Are potential social benefits the prime goal of my educational endeavors?

The desire to be with friends of like age and educational goals, and to find a husband or wife, are the prime focus of many who are preparing for careers in college. While the desire for the wholesome social benefits of an education has a place, that place must be subservient to the preparation of life’s work; otherwise that proper preparation is in jeopardy.

Traditionally, for Seventh-day Adventists, this desire has been assumed to be met at a Seventh-day Adventist college or university. The disastrous position of these institutions with respect to God’s plan of education laid out in the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy has been well chronicled. As such, they are generally bereft of this benefit.

How may my chosen vocation interact with labor or trade unions?

Ellen White specifically says that God’s people are not to be members of unions. Many trades are tightly connected with unions. The relationship between a chosen trade and unions should be examined carefully. Also, the apprentice should be aware of whether or not he has a legal right to work without belonging to a union. This is the case in some states (“right-to-work” states). Finally, it should be noted that unions have been making in-roads into professions. Notably, this is true of the teaching and nursing professions. Additionally, this author is aware of cases involving the unionization of physicians and engineers.

Can I obtain the education I need with a prudent investment of money and time?

Like a number of these questions, the details of the answers are large, and vary from case to case. But, in general, let the student consider that today, many professionals leave school with more than $100,000 of debt, and no prospects of paying this off quickly. While we do not flatly take the position that to incur debt for any amount, time or reason is wrong or unwise, we should remember the truth that “the borrower is servant to the lender.” Proverbs 22:7. Inspired counsel on investment in time and debt should be studied.

What kind of education do I need, and can I obtain it without being warped?

In today’s world, it is not possible to obtain a college or graduate education in many areas of study and in many circumstances from any institution, and not be warped—if we are acting presumptuously. Presumption would include choosing a career and educational path that would require direct, regular, active study of (or participation in, as the case may be) things such as: evolution, spiritualism, materialism, paganism, skepticism, competitive sports, fiction, and drama. This is because we already have specific counsel from inspired writings not to engage in these activities.

If the student is not truly converted—has not committed all of his aspirations to Christ—the unconverted desires may be interpreted directly as God’s will, and the student will find himself acting presumptuously as he chooses an education and career. It is then that he is most vulnerable, and most unaware of his vulnerability!

If you are paying attention to what has been happening in education, you surely realize that there is no field of study that is not at minimum tainted in some way (directly or indirectly) with one or more of these listed problems. If there were no other reasons (but there are), this is sufficient to bar any and all from making sweeping specific recommendations regarding any area of study. We should keep in mind that God would have us all be intellectual Christians (Testimonies, vol. 3, 160), but that in seeking intellectual excellence through education, many have unwittingly allowed worldly philosophy to make them skeptical of the power of the gospel. Remember, in Christ’s time, it was the common people who heard Him gladly. And this is still often true.

Regarding educational preparation, much prayer, and individual counsel from godly advisors, is needed for each individual case.

“A knowledge of science of all kinds is power, and it is in the purpose of God that advanced science shall be taught in our schools as a preparation for the work that is to precede the closing scenes of earth’s history.” Christian Education, 83.

How transportable and flexible is the career of my choice?

This has to do directly with the potential demand for your services in domestic and foreign labor markets, your employability (including self-employability), and what living location options are reasonable for you to expect. Even within a category (such as physician, attorney, or engineer, for example), the answers to these questions can vary greatly depending on the specialty.

How will my career choice fit with a family and church?

Since career choices, at least for the young, often come at a time when they are also thinking of marriage and family aspirations, each should prayerfully consider these subjects together and the mutual impact they have on each other. Counsel from godly parents and friends is of special value here.

Have I done some research to find out what options are really out there?

Actuary, stevedore, apiarist, pattern maker, industrial hygienist: it is advisable that one become familiar with a wide variety of occupations. If you are not familiar with a wide variety of occupations, you may be missing details, or even broad categories of labor, that would well suit you.

If it is a career that you are already familiar with in name, such as a nurse, teacher, mechanic, or accountant—how well do you really know what the job entails? In-depth research would include finding people who are in the field, and interviewing or shadowing them.

Evaluating mid-career options:

If you are in mid-career, you may have occasion to ask: “Where do I go from here?” If you are simply working to survive, your general career preparation was deficient, or your career does not suit you well.

It is true that we cannot perfectly redeem the past, but with God’s help we may make greater strides in our work, both for this life and in preparation for the next, than we can easily imagine. Remember that one of Satan’s traps is to keep people so caught-up in the business of life and earning a living that Christ loses His place at the center of affection. (Matthew 13:7, 22.)

Certainly the Lord can help you optimize a job situation that may not seem to suit your life plan best if you are willing to diligently apply yourself. It is possible that you should seriously consider your options to change employment, but not without carefully considering a potential new career from all angles. Otherwise, you may find yourself jumping from one poor-fitting job to another, and falling farther behind financially for doing so.

There are many tools for examining mid-career improvement and change potential. As always, at the top of the list are the Bible and prayer. Godly, wise friends and family may also be an important resource, (See Testimonies, vol. 1, 224, 225 on the use of counsel.) Other potential tools may include (depending on the occupation involved) community college, distance education, gospel ministries, agricultural extension agents, books, SCORE (non-profit organization of counselors to small entrepreneurial businesses), licensing organizations, etc.

The biggest challenge and obstacle to development that any mid-career person is likely to find is the need most of us have to improve our mental discipline and time management. Without this discipline, success in any line will prove elusive.

Secular vs. gospel employment:

But wait, you say, “Your specific occupational examples focused a lot on secular employment, and obtaining the requisite education for secular employment. That is not what is most important about career planning. What about preparing for employment as direct, full-time gospel workers: missionaries, pastors, evangelists, Bible-workers, Christian educators, and medical workers?”

What of gospel employment?

Some questions one should ask before choosing an education and career. But nothing was said about employment directly in God’s work. That certainly is a most important employment option for one to consider. The relation of secular lines of employment to the work of the ministry in various lines is a very important discussion.

There is an enormous dearth of Historic Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) churches and institutions—and the pastors, Bible workers, teachers, and medical professionals that should be employed by them to lead out in the spreading of the three angels’ messages. There is a lack of people willing to take the large risk of committing to these fields, but there is also a critical lack of a support base for these people. This is a large-scale problem. But, as we will find out, large-scale solutions to problems of this type must start with individuals and families. That is where you and your occupation fit into this problem, reader, and that is what I want to discuss with you.

Isaiah, through inspiration, tells us: “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save …” Isaiah 59:1. We need to first remind ourselves that God has not made His ability to complete His work on earth completely dependent on man! What hopelessness would be our case if it were so? If needed, God can turn to the rocks. But, amazingly, He has made His work partially dependent on us! Paul says, “For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent?” Romans 10: 13–15.

God has promised that there will be people who choose to cooperate with Him in finishing His work (see, for example, Isaiah 55:5–11 and Malachi 3:16–18), but this power of choice means that Seventh-day Adventists collectively and individually may or may not be part of that work. The fact that the SDA denomination has strayed significantly from God’s plan for finishing His work is well documented elsewhere. The denomination has been actively opposing those who are preaching and teaching present truth for a number of years now. And the tightly centralized organization of the denomination makes it difficult at best to associate with it regularly without being indirectly involved in their work that often ultimately impedes the gospel. We need to examine for ourselves the implications of this for our occupations.

The reality of our current situation as Historic Seventh-day Adventists is that we could not have a more scattered approach to this problem. There are a number of independent, congregational-style churches (with different names due to past lawsuits and ongoing threats of lawsuits) which have organized in a number of places around the world. A few of them are organized to evangelize and fend off fanaticism. A few of them are capable of hiring pastors and/or Bible workers.

But many Historic Seventh-day Adventists are ambivalent about supporting these churches regularly; and this ambivalence breeds weakness. They may have found a conference church nearby with a good pastor, or another one with a good Sabbath school teacher. Perhaps they worship at home, or just put up with some error, some immodest dress, some poor music, etc. Only when some special weekend revival meeting by one of a select number of ministers is held in their area do they congregate together. This sporadic, halting congregating has in part led to a loss of vision for what the business of God’s church really is. Weekend revivals are a wonderful blessing, but that is not the mission of the church. We, as Historic Seventh-day Adventists, are not in a position to evangelize in any major way—either to invite the world into General Conference-sponsored SDA churches because of apostasy, or to invite them into Historic SDA churches because we have not taken the collective action to ensure that they exist and function robustly!

The organization of the church mutually obligates secular employed and gospel employed workers:

At the outset of the Christian church, Christ placed the physical welfare of the gospel laborers largely in the hands of those employed in secular labor, (See, for example, Matthew 10:1–15 and I Corinthians 9: 1–14.) He placed the organization of the churches for: 1) missionary work (Titus 1:9) and 2) prevention of heresy and fanaticism (Titus 1:10, 11) largely in the hands of apostles and elders (see Titus 1:5–11, I Timothy 3:1–7, I Thessalonians 5:12–15 and The Acts of the Apostles, 262), and the ongoing welfare of the church largely in the hands of elders, deacons, and deaconesses. (See I Timothy 3:8–13, Acts 6, The Acts of the Apostles, 89, 90, and The Review and Herald, July 9, 1895.) Thus those with secular occupations and those employed in the gospel work have mutual obligations to each other through the church body. (See I Corinthians 12:18–25.) If you have a secular job, you have a duty to consider what responsibility you have in helping God’s people collectively work toward making the work of pastors, evangelists and teachers viable! This includes financial support, but, as we will see, goes well beyond it.

Collective intelligence and our collective will to action:

God has appointed both individual and collective will to humans. As Historic SDAs, we have long exercised our muscle of individual will and action, while our muscle of collective will, intelligence, and action has nigh atrophied. In Heaven, the collective will to action is critical to success in the Great Controversy! What about our collective action?

Let us illustrate the importance of collective intelligence and action for God’s remnant by comparing our needs to evangelize and educate with large-scale projects in the secular world. There are millions of very talented, intelligent and industrious people in our world, but not a single one of them knows in full how to create and manage a major infrastructure project, build a jet plane or computer, or manage a monetary system. Nor can one person simply assign a specified amount of physical and mental energy to be expended by a group of people working separately and accomplish any of these projects. All of these projects require collective intelligence. If the secular world we live in was managed like our gospel work, we would all be tool-poor, barterers, and hunter-gatherers the world over! (Luke 16:8.) It is a key responsibility of each person in the church with secular employment to be a part of the collective intelligence and will to action that is needed so that gospel workers can be trained and hired!

God, in His infinite wisdom, has given to His church collective tasks in evangelism and education that simply cannot be met exclusively by exercising our talents individually! There are parts of our individual characters that simply cannot be properly developed unless we are at least attempting to work collectively. Unfortunately, many of us have been assuming otherwise.

The need for gospel workers and teachers today cannot be satisfied exclusively with some portion of the General Conference of SDAs that is doing a good work—however good that work may be! For example, the Michigan Conference and Amazing Facts are not in a position to hire all of the gospel workers that are needed, nor are they in a position to exercise collective action with the General Conference on all fronts. However large this problem may seem, we must at minimum not ignore it, or pretend that because it takes the action of many, we are in no position to make an attempt to rectify it. You can see that this is about much more than pooling our money.

Difficult Questions and Risk:

It is time to consider more than theoretical future solutions; it’s time to consider pragmatic ones. It is past time to ask some very difficult questions, questions such as: “If someone felt called to the gospel ministry (the gospel ministry as defined in Testimonies to Ministers), what real employment options do they have? Would you want to be in their shoes? Are you in their shoes? (Remember, God will call 11th hour workers from secular employment to gospel employment.) What would it take to train and hire workers? Would the Historic SDA church nearest me need to be better organized? Could I help? Would it take more than one local church to get the job done? Would I be prepared to recognize and act collectively with 11th hour workers from other churches? Would it take things like an identity, plans, goals, boards, and bank accounts? Am I an amicable enough person so that others could get along with me well enough to prosecute a plan of action?

The preceding paragraph may sound like heresy to some. But we are halfway there, and that half-way position will not long be stable. There exist historic SDA churches. There are groups of Historic SDA churches working together in various places in the world. There are Historic SDA teachers and medical professionals. And all of these exist because people believe that the gospel message drives and defines the identity of the remnant, and not the other way around! (Revelation 14:12.) Today we are either half wrong, and need to close shop on these activities, or we are half right, and need to “strengthen the weak hands and confirm the feeble knees.” [Isaiah 35:3.]

You may be tempted to say that the thought of working on a large scale is preposterous, given our current situation and the shortness of time. You may ask, “Do you really expect to launch some large, potentially bureaucratic edifice for training and employing workers when God has said that He will complete His work through surprisingly simple means?” These are fair questions, and they are best viewed through the following statement and a question. First, a statement: A large organization does indeed have the potential to be corrupted by politics, but when we realize the difficulty we have in organizing even two small churches to work together, this problem finds its place lower down on the list of current problems. Second, a question: Even though God has said that He will finish His work in simple ways that will astound us, do you think that He will sanction our part in that work if we simply excuse ourselves from attempting to act collectively, because it is hard to do and takes time?

Finally, let us speak about risk. The good news for us is that Christ has already guaranteed the outcome of the war; there is zero risk that He will lose the great controversy. But there is very real risk in each battle of the great controversy, risk that souls will be lost. When you undertake a project by yourself, you are individually, to a large degree, in control of the risk of failure. When you engage in collective intelligence and action, you as an individual are in a much smaller way in control of the risk of failure. Act collectively with others only in prayer, and with the knowledge that you are collectively putting your efforts at the risk of each other’s good will. There is no way to make money through investment without putting money at risk of loss—at least temporary loss. And when we invest our talents for Christ, we may indeed realize temporary loss and may not in this life realize the gain of our investment. But our risk in these endeavors pales to the very real risk that God made to save you and me, the risk of the loss of His own Son! May God bless you as you prayerfully consider these words.

John T. Grosboll, PE is a mechanical engineer living near Vancouver, Washington. His secular employment includes several years of experience in primary metals and transportation-related industries. He, along with his wife, is actively involved in the work of the Historic Message Church in Portland, Oregon. He may be reached at Grosbolls@yahoo.com.

If the Devil Were Your Pastor, What Would He Say?

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Have you ever wondered what you would do if you were the devil and were trying to deceive someone like you? Have you ever thought of that before? By the way, the devil has all kinds of advantages. You see, God has a great disadvantage, because God cannot tell you what you want to hear; He can only tell the truth. (See Titus 1:2.)

Have you ever heard someone say, “Well that just doesn’t make sense to me”? Do you know what the devil does? He is listening, and, he says, “Well, I can make something make sense to him. I will come up with just the philosophy that appeals to him and that he thinks makes sense. If he thinks God is a certain way, I will come up with a religion that presents God in that way. I will come up with a religion or a philosophy or an idea that tells him just what he wants to hear.”

Satan is a deceiver and, as we read in Revelation 12:9, he has succeeded in deceiving the whole world. The Bible says that if it were possible, he would “deceive even the very elect.” (Matthew 24:24.) And after all, the elect are who he is really after. In Noah’s day, there were only eight out of millions who were not deceived. In Jesus’ day, there were only a few humble disciples and even some of them did not fair so well. And in the last days, we are told that there will be only a small minority, even of God’s people, who are going to be saved. The rest are going to be deceived. Those who are going to be sealed in the last days are those who, because of the Word of God, see the deceptions that are creeping into God’s church today.

“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. Utterly slay old [and] young men, maidens, and little children, and women: but do not come near anyone on whom [is] the mark; and begin at my sanctuary.’ So they began with the elders who [were] before the temple.” Ezekiel 9:4–6.

Now, if I were the devil, I would study your life. I would put an angel by you, just like every other Christian. In fact, if I had enough, I would put two angels by each Christian, and I would say, “Listen, you go by each one of these Christians and find how they think, what they really like, and what their weakest points are and strike at those weak points. You find what they like the best, and we will deceive them on those points. Tell them a lot of good things; just weave in a few errors here and there so subtly that they can’t decipher where they are, and lead them to hell.”

If I were the devil, I would go to a revival meeting and be converted. But I would not stop there for sure. It would not be good enough for me to be just a common church member; I would want to be active in the church. In fact, do you know what I would really like to do? I would like to teach and preach. I think I would go to the seminary and become educated.

Suppose the devil became the pastor of your church. What kind of a pastor do you think he would be? I want to tell you what kind of a pastor he would be. He would be the best speaker you have ever heard. He would be the best administrator you have ever seen. He would be the most personable pastor you have ever had. He would be a pastor who would speak more love than any pastor you have ever heard; it would be love and righteousness. But the only thing that your faith should be based on is the Bible. “To the law and to the testimony: If they do not speak according to this word,[ it is] because [there is] no light in them.” Isaiah 8:20. Paul says, “These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the scriptures daily, to find out whether these things were so.” Acts 17:11. He commended the Bereans because they did not accept what he said without going to the Bible first to see if it was according to Scripture.

I want to tell you something. Satan has lost none of his power and none of his guile and none of his ability, and he is working to deceive. “Who knows whether God will not give you up to the deceptions you love? Who knows but that the preachers who are faithful, firm, and true may be the last who shall offer the gospel of peace to our unthankful churches? It may be that the destroyers are already training under the hand of Satan and only wait the departure of a few more standard-bearers to take their places, and with the voice of the false prophet cry, ‘Peace, peace,’ when the Lord hath not spoken peace.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 77. Here we are told that when the faithful pastors are removed, pastors will take their places who have been trained by Satan himself; and they may take over all the pastorates.

The disciples were loath to believe that the Bible meant all that it said back in Jesus’ day. When Jesus told them that He was going to die, they said, “That really isn’t going to happen to You. You are speaking in parables.” I want to tell you, the prophets do not lie. Did you notice what the sign of a false prophet is and what they are going to preach? These people who have been trained under the hand of Satan are going to come with the voice of the false prophet and cry, “ ‘Peace, Peace.’ Oh, do not give us any straight sermons. Do not tell us, like John the Baptist, where we are wrong. We do not want to hear that. Do not tell us any of these things. That is being critical. Do not say any of those things. Just tell us how good we are.” I want to tell you, that is a doctrine of the devil!

“I seldom weep, but now I find my eyes blinded with tears; they are falling upon my paper as I write. It may be that erelong all prophesyings among us will be at an end, and the voice which has stirred the people may no longer disturb their carnal slumbers.

“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. The ark is not dependent upon who is carrying it. It is still God’s ark. God has a church on earth today. It is defined and identified in Revelation 12:17, and throughout Revelation. It will be those who keep the Commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

“None but those who have fortified the mind with the truths of the Bible will stand through the last great conflict.” The Great Controversy, 593. None! “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.” Ibid., 625.

I want to tell you something, friends. God inspired those words. He knew that we would need them in this day. And I want to tell you something about inspired words. Inspired words mean what they say. A lot of people think that there are exceptions. They think that if they are in the right church, they will somehow sail through as long as they keep their membership. Inspiration says that that is not so, that it is only those who have fortified their minds with the truths of the Bible who will have a defense against the powerful temptations of the evil one. You need to prayerfully open the Word of God. Study it, dear friends; study it day after day after day. Spend more than five minutes with it. You have to become a diligent student of the Word of God. It must become a personal Book to you. Jesus Christ must become your personal Savior.

Do you know what is the greatest deception in all the world? It is to think that you are right when you are absolutely wrong. We are told in Matthew 7:21–23 that when Jesus comes, many will be so certain that they are saved that they will argue with God about it. They will have done many things in Jesus’ name. They went to church and even paid their tithe in His name. They were Christians through and through. They held church offices. They may have even led many souls into the church. They have all the proofs and marks of salvation. Then they will hear those sad words, “I never knew you: depart from me, you who practice lawlessness!” Oh, I tell you, do not think that you are smart enough to outwit the devil. You can never do it.

But guess what? There is another power on earth besides the power of Satan. What power is that? the power of God, the power of the Holy Spirit. God has promised to put a shield and a hedge around every true follower of His. If we will study the Bible daily and if we are following everything that it says, He will protect us from Satan’s deceptions. Jesus said, “If you abide in my word, you are my disciples indeed; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:31, 32.

Now if I were the devil, I would do one other thing. Not only would I be converted at a revival meeting, but also I would go to the seminary and become a pastor and work my way up. You see, I would be interested in achieving. Not only would I seek to be a good pastor, I would seek to get into a position where I could hire those I wanted to hire and get rid of those I wanted to get rid of. In time, I would surround myself with men like me, and I would take control of whatever organization I was a part of. Now, thank the Lord, God has said that His church is going through, but in the meantime, He says that it is going to suffer. If you do not believe this is so, consider this statement: “Many will stand in our pulpits with the torch of false prophecy in their hands, kindled from the hellish torch of Satan.” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 409, 410. Do not think it is not possible for Satan to take control of any church in the land, even of God’s church.

Listen, dear friends, Satan is no dummy. He has his agents, and they are as good as any preachers you have ever heard. They are the best. They will do anything to achieve. They will do anything to get to the top, and they are getting there, dear friends.

Do you know what I would do first? I would try to get to the top and surround myself with people like me. Then I would start to weed out anyone who gave the straight testimony. If anyone thought that they were going to follow those who were giving the straight testimony, I would send out an avalanche of bad news, gossip, rumors, and bad reports about them so that everyone would be turned away from them.

Second, I would get my public relations department going and in four-color brochures, in pictures, and in every other way, I would tell people what a good job I was doing. I would build up all of my people and destroy anyone who was giving the straight testimony.

Dear friends, I am not talking in parables. I just read that someday, when the faithful, firm, and true pastors are removed, their places are going to be taken by those “training under the hand of Satan.” Now, God does not want us to judge others, but He does tell us that we are to be wise as serpents because He sends us out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Many times the wolves are in the highest places. They are in places where they can influence our thinking and our actions.

Oh, dear friend, I have an appeal for you. You do not have to be deceived. Everyone is going to be deceived except those who study the Word of God every day. Pledge yourself to begin to faithfully study the Word of God every day.

Pastor Marshall Grosboll, with his wife Lillian, founded Steps to Life. In July 1991, Pastor Marshall and his family met with tragedy as they were returning home from a camp meeting in Washington state, when the airplane he was piloting went down, killing all on board.

Editorial – The Power of Association

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“Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.” I Corinthians 15:33. Today we would say evil associations corrupt good habits. The Bible is explicit in the precept and also illustrative of this unalterable principle that the people we associate with will have an effect on us for good or for evil. This is one reason that the Lord told lsrael they were to live separate from idolaters. (See Numbers 23:9.)

The Lord gave them explicit instruction on this point in regard to marriage. (See Deuteronomy 7:3.)

But this instruction applies not only to marriage but to any prolonged or serious association. “The followers of Christ are to separate themselves from sinners, choosing their society only when there is opportunity to do them good. We cannot be too decided in shunning the company of those who exert an influence to draw us away from God. While we pray, ‘Lead us not into temptation’ (Luke 11:4), we are to shun temptation, so far as possible.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 458.

All associations have an effect on us but there are specific types of associations that are potentially much more dangerous than any others where we place ourselves in a subordinate relationship. For example:

  1. The teacher-student relationship—A student’s mind is open to the ideas presented, even if they are error.
  2. The mentor relationship—Often is seen the identical thought pattern emerge from a young person that was urged by his/her mentor.
  3. The counselor relationship—Marriage counselor, financial or other kind of counselor. Marriage counselors have broken up many marriages. A decision to get non-Christian marriage counseling should never be taken lightly.
  4. The pastor or priest relationship—Often error is taught and accepted without critical thought because of the source of the information. (For New Testament Christianity, see Acts 17:11.)

A spiritual war is being fought and is becoming more bitter and fierce. Guard the avenues to your soul. “God is displeased with us when we go to listen to error, without being obliged to go … . 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… .” Early Writings, 125.

“Again I was shown the necessity of those who believe we are having the last message of mercy, being separate from those who are daily receiving or imbibing new error. I saw that neither young nor old should attend the assemblies of those who are in error and darkness. Said the angel, ‘Let the mind cease to dwell on things of no profit.’ ” Manuscript Releases, vol. 5, 425.

The Church Without a Pastor

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Do you know any churches that have no pastors? Are you aware of the fact that many of God’s faithful people attend churches that do not have a regular pastor? This situation is not going to get better in the sense that there are going to be more pastors; it is going to get worse. This is actually good news, however, because there are going to be more churches developing so fast around the world that there are not going to be enough pastors to care for them all.

Today many are meeting in homes or in unheated buildings because they have no other place to meet. There are some churches where the members are meeting in secret because of religious persecution, and most of these churches do not have a pastor.

By the way, how many people do you have to have to form a church? Have you ever thought that through? According to Matthew 18, you have to have two. In the book Upward Look, 315, Ellen White wrote an interesting statement about the church. It says, “God has a church. It is not the great cathedral, neither is it the national establishment, neither is it the various denominations, it is the people who love God and keep His commandments. ‘Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.’ Matthew 18:20. Where Christ is, even among the humble few, this is Christ’s church. For the presence of the High and Holy one who inhabits eternity can alone constitute a church. Where two or three are present who love and obey the commandments, of God, Jesus there presides. Let it be in the desolate place of the earth, in the wilderness, in the city, enclosed in prison walls.”

Many people think it is a great calamity to be without a pastor, especially people who have attended large churches where they have had somone to preach to them regularly. They are used to going and sitting in a pew, listening to the choir, organ and piano, and listening the the speakers and sermons; and they think, “My, if we had no pastor, what would we do?” However, even if you consider it a calamity, it is certainly not nearly the worst thing that could happen to you. Do you know what is an infinitely worse calamity than having no pastor? It is having an apostate pastor. It is much better having no pastor than to have one who is an apostate. So, do not get to feeling too sorry for churches that have no pastor. They are not in nearly as bad as shape as they might be.

Every Christian today needs to understand what the Bible says about apostate pastors. Are you aware of how dangerous it really is? If you sit and listen to an apostate pastor, you are in danger of losing your soul.

According to the Bible, one of the primary characteristics of an apostate pastor is that they preach a peace and safety message. “Because from the least of them even to the greatest of them, everyone, is given to covetousness; and from the prophets even to the priests, everyone deals falsely. They have also healed the hurt of My people slightly saying ‘Peace, peace! When there is no peace.” Jeremiah 6:13, 14

It is the natural human tendency, when there is the belief that there is going to be peace and security, to relax and feel secure. A false sense of security, however, is not going to keep you from being destroyed.

Part of the peace and safety message is the concept that you cannot keep the law of God perfectly. When a person who has been taught this peace and safety message meets someone who knows what the New Testament truth of obedience is, it is a very shaking experience for him. His initial reaction is to go back to his pastor and to his fellow church members, who have been taught this same lie, and talk to them about it.

Now one of two things has to happen. When a person is confronted with the truth, they will either yield to the truth or decide to keep believing the lie that the Christian’s experience is one of sinning and confessing. If they choose to believe the lie, they will then feel the need to rid themselves of those people who keep troubling their conscience.

In Testimonies to Ministers, 409, 410, there is a prophecy. It was prophetic then, but it is taking place now. She said, “Many will stand in our pulpits with the torch of false prophecy in their hands, kindled from the hellish torch of Satan. If doubts and unbelief are cherished, the faithful ministers will be removed from the people who think they know so much. ‘If thou hadst known,’ said Christ, ‘even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto they peace! But now they are hid from thine eyes.’”

If you go to a church and listen to apostasy being preached, convicting yourself that you are strong and that you are going to do missionary work, you are committing the sin of presumption; and God will not work a miracle to save you. I cannot overstate how serious this is. It has to do with understanding how the human mind works. If you have studied psychology, you already know that if you tell someone something long enough, they will believe it. That is the way the human mind works.

There are going to be millions of people who sat in churches and listened to this type of smooth preaching, who will come to the Lord in the day of judgment, and who will be lost. We are talking about a serious matter. We are dealing not with life and death; we are dealing with eternal life and death.

So, if you are listening to false doctrines being preached that are not according to the New Testament, if you stay listening to that, you will eventually believe it, even if you do not believe it now. You might say, “My pastor is wrong.” Listen, if you know your pastor is wrong and you keep returning to listen to that error, the time will come when you will believe it. If you do not accept and follow all of the truth, eventually you will believe a lie and be deceived and be lost. This is very clearly spelled out in 2 Thessalonians, chapter 2.

“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 new 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 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, 124, 125

The question remaining in people’s minds is how to start a church without a pastor. This is keeping any people from starting home churches which they should have started long ago but were afraid to. Yet in the New Testament, there were many churches that had no pastor; and before the end there are going to be many more. So, we are going to look at the divine counsel for a church that has no pastor. We are going to look at how to have a Sabbath school and how to have a church service when you have no pastor.

“On the Sabbath, the few friends here assembled in Edson’s parlor for Sabbath school. There are four families—twelve persons in all—who usually meet for worship. Edson conducts a Sabbath school when he is at home. After Sabbath school they either have a Bible reading or a prayer and social meeting.”

The first service you want to have on Sabbath morning, if you have a church without a pastor, is Sabbath school. Notice that for church they did one of two things. They either had a Bible reading or they had prayer and a social meeting.

Ellen White goes on to say, “The family altar should be established in every home; and if in any locality there are more than two or three of like precious faith, they should meet together.” Ibid.

You do not say, “Well, I do not have a pastor, or my pastor is preaching heresy, so I am just going to stay home and not go to church.” What does it say in Hebrews 10:25? “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.” Is the Day approaching?

We have more need to get together for worship now than we have ever before. I have been a pastor now for some years, and over and over again, I have observed that when people do not meet together and worship, their faith and love grow cold. If you go directly contrary to Bible counsel, you are guilty of the sin of presumption; and, as we said before, God is not going to work a miracle to keep the result from taking place. It is just like jumping off of a building and saying, “Lord, please keep the law of gravity from working now so I will not get hurt.” It is not going to happen.

Did you know that God writes down in His book which people meet together and worship Him today and which people do not? “Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord listened and heard them; so a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who meditate on His name.” Malachi 3:16. You must never think that because you have an apostate pastor and you cannot go to this particular church that you are to just stay home and have church. You have a worship service. Did you notice that she said they either had a Bible reading or prayer and a social meeting? Do you know what a Bible reading is? A Bible reading is when nobody preaches. Instead, you study the Bible together. It is something that anyone who is able to read can do. In fact, people who cannot read can do it if they can ask questions of people who can read.

“Well,” someone asks, “What should we study?” There is more than one subject that Ellen White lists that should always be included, but I am only going to mention one. This is never to be left out when you come together and worship. She calls it by two names; she refers to it in one place as practical religion and in another place she calls it practical godliness. What is practical godliness? It is “to see the necessity of religious principle and righteousness in everyday life.” Testimonies, vol. 3, 237. Practical godliness has to do with the way we live every day. You cannot read much from the Bible without getting into that subject.

Suppose that you are responsible for the church service and you cannot preach. Can you talk? Can you read? If you can talk and read, you can have a Bible study; and that is all that is necessary. In fact, Ellen White told our ministers that they were doing too much preaching. She said they would be better off, if when they went to church, they just had a Bible class.

Suppose that we had a Bible class for about ten minutes on the subject of practical godliness. Are there any passages of Scripture that come to your mind? What was the greatest sermon ever preached? The “Sermon on the Mount.” That whole sermon is about practical godliness.

In a sermon, if you ask questions and have the Bible texts to answer the questions you have time to go through about twelve to fifteen texts at the most. If you are in a home church, you do not have a preacher, and you have to prepare a Bible study, you do not need a hundred texts. Ten to fifteen is all you need on the subject.

By the way, you could have a Bible study on practical godliness every Sabbath for a year and you would never run out of material. You would have more and more and more; the more you started studying it, the more it would start opening up to your mind and you would have more and more material. Practical godliness is not something that happens in an instant; it is something that takes time.

Here is a passage you could read in a Bible study on practical godliness in 2 Peter 1:5-7. “But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue, knowledge, to knowledge, self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.”

Peter goes on to say that if you do this, you are going to be saved. This passage is called Peter’s ladder. It is very practical. The top rung of the ladder is love. Do you know what love is? To understand what practical godliness means is to understand what God’s love is like and to partake of that love in our life. The Bible is just full of illustrations, stories, and examples on this subject.

If you understand this subject of practical godliness, then God can use you to start churches anywhere in the world that He might send you.

Every one of us here can look back into the past and remember a time when, if someone had not brought us the precious truth about Jesus and His soon coming, we would have been left in the dark. There are still some people out there friends. They are not going to drive one hundred or maybe not even fifty miles to go to a church. If we are going to save them, somebody is going to have to start some churches closer to where they are.

You do not have to have buildings and money and ministers. All you must have is an understanding of practical godliness. You have to be experiencing sanctification yourself and understand what the Bible teaches. Then share your faith with somebody else. You can start a home church if there are only two of you. Let us pray that the Lord will use each one of us to do this.

The End