sin

The Seed of the Woman

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Perhaps the most powerful gospel sermon that was ever preached on the subject of the “Women’s Seed” was preached by the Lord Himself and is recorded in Genesis 3. This sermon is of great importance for us in the times in which we are living because it addressed the issues that we are facing today.

“Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, yea, hath God said, he shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, he shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:1-5

Though we will see more dimensions as we progress, in these few verses, the parameters are set for the rest of the Bible.

“Yea, hath God said, ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”

Did you notice what happened? The devil used what is known as a covert negative. A covert negative is the insinuation of a doubt while seeking to appear otherwise.

“And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden.”

Eve did something that we have been warned never to do—she parleyed with the enemy. Ellen White tells us that the devil, through the serpent, hypnotized her. He used conversational hypnosis, otherwise known as NLP.

God has given to us a commission to proclaim the everlasting gospel, not to parley with the enemy. The enemy, however, seeks to engage us in negotiation, and, like the woman, we parley with him, allowing him to gain control over our minds.

“But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, ye shall not surely die.” Now the devil directly challenges the word of God.

He continues, “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” In other words, you, rather than God, will determine what is good and evil. This is the philosophy presented by Nietsche in his book, Beyond Good and Evil. He presents the concept that it is possible for a person to develop a personal lifestyle established upon his own norms of good and evil and without regard to the definition of good and evil laid down by the Lord. This is the original lie that the serpent told Eve. Even though today this idea is no longer questioned by the majority of people in the world, it is spiritualism, which, like a dark fog, is settling over all society. There is scarcely an aspect of human life, whether it be government, religion, law or culture, that is not affected.

“And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.” Genesis 3:6,7

Having accepted Satan’s assertions as truth, they were now allied to him—one in nature.

“And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.” Verse 8

They had never responded this way before. This was their first experience in hiding from God.

“The Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?” Verse 9

This same question has come ringing down through time. Where art thou modern man? Where are you in your thinking? Where are you in relationship to My word? Where are you in relationship to My presence? Where art thou?

“And he said, I heard Thy voice in the garden and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” Verse 10

Man hides himself from God because of the sense of his nakedness and his fear of appearing in the presence of His Creator unclothed by the garment of Christ’s righteousness. It is to meet this great need that the three angels’ messages focus on the proclamation of the righteousness of Christ, which is to be received by faith.

“And He said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, wherof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?” verse 11. Have you partaken of spiritualism? Have you fallen into the trap of the devil?

“And the man said, The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.” Verse 12

The spirit of accusation, which leads to the fracturing of human relationships, something never before known, now brought division between Adam and his wife. Today, under the impact of spiritualism, human relationships are being broken apart, unraveling the very fabric of society. Ellen White tells us that this process will continue to grow worse until we will see a situation in this world which will exceed that which brought about the reign of terror in France. See Education, 228

“The Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. And the Lord said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; and upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.” Verses 13,14

Now comes the fist gospel sermon ever preached. Notice that, in addressing Adam and Eve, God directs his words to the serpent. “And I will put enmity [hatred, or hostility] between thee and the woman, and between they seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” Verse 15

In these few words, the Lord laid down the great parameters for the struggle that would take place in the working out of the great controversy—the unending warfare that would exist between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent until the close of time.

Ellen White, commenting on this, says, “his [the devil’s seed will war against the righteous, and the wicked will endeavor to exterminate the good from the face of the earth….Whenever a soul takes a decided stand for truth, the head of the serpent is bruised by the seed of the woman, and the serpent can bruise but the heel of the seed.” Youth’s Instructor, October 11, 1894

“The enmity referred to in the prophecy in Eden was not to be confined merely to Satan and the prince of life, it was to be universal….The seed of Satan is wicked men, who resist the Spirit of God, and who call the law, as did their father the devil, a yoke of bondage.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 16, 117

“He that committeth sin is of the devil.” 1John 3:8

Here the distinction is clearly made. The seed of the woman are those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony and faith of Jesus. The seed of the wicked one, the devil, are those who call the law a yoke of bondage and who commit sin. This is the cleavage point. Incidentally, that is also the cleavage point between Israel and Babylon, as we will shortly see.

“The enmity that exists in the heart against evil has no natural existence [Now, this is a very important point.] but is an enmity that has been created through the agency of the Holy Spirit….He [Satan] originates traditions, and through his maxims he succeeds in assimilating to his own nature the nature of those who do not yield allegiance to the law of God.” Signs of the Times, June 11, 1894

We do not have a natural hatred against evil, but this hatred against evil has been put in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.

Notice how Satan works by introducing traditions and maxims to conform all who do not yield allegiance to the law of God, to his own nature.

“It is God alone that can continually put enmity between the seed of the woman and the serpent’s seed. After the transgression of man, his nature became evil. There was peace between Satan and fallen man. Had there been no interference on the part of God, men would have formed an alliance against heaven….There is no native enmity between fallen angels and fallen men….Fallen angels and fallen men join in companionship.” Gospel Herald, July 1, 1898

In the outworking of these principles, we see a separation, but also unity. On the one hand, we see the seed of the woman in harmony with God, with His law and the unfallen beings throughout the universe. In contrast, there develops a harmony between fallen man and fallen angels. Jesus wants us to recognize these distinctions, which is why, when the Jewish leaders confronted Him seeking to engage Him in a debate, he said, “Ye are of your father the devil.” See John 8. They were the seed of the serpent, and Jesus clearly identified them as such.

How different from this clear demarcation between right and wrong is the present concept of Christian love. This idea has captured the thinking of American society, completely divesting love of the control placed upon it by an awareness of the holiness of God.

The modern approach to love is really the result of merging Buddhism with Christianity. The Buddhist view of love is primarily oriented to human beings and the elimination of hatred. It seeks to teach beautiful concepts of love while denying the fall and need of a Saviour from sin. While it sounds like a beautiful concept, and is one with which most people would heartily agree, it is spiritualistic in nature and does not reckon with the reality of Scripture. Today these concepts have infiltrated all our psychology, entirely altering the culture of the western world. But what did God say to Adam and Eve? I will put hatred between thy seed and her seed.

The true Christian view of love recognizes that God’s love does not naturally exist in the human heart. Jesus, the Saviour, is needed. In the pure, holy love that He gives in the gift of His holiness, righteousness is supreme, and results in supreme love to God and impartial love to man. Christian love, centered in Christ and regulated by the law of God, is in complete harmony with the Scriptures.

Genuine love is ever antagonistic to the spirit of Satan, for there is an unreconcilable conflict between Satan and Christ. Jesus said, “ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake.” “I came not to bring peace but a sword.” Matthew 10:22,34

If all of humanity were to accept Christ and come into harmony with the principles of heaven, the most wonderful love would exist. It would be a heaven on earth, but true everlasting peace can only be achieved through surrender to Christ and His principles.

The Buddhistic concept of love is a tolerance of everything but the truth as it is in Jesus. It is, therefore, especially opposed to the proclamation of any message which warns against false religion, such as the exposure of the man of sin. It is one of the foremost antagonists of the love of Christ as manifested in the gift of His righteousness. It gives evidence of its hostility to the Lord and His truth by striving to turn the soul’s loyalty from Christ while seeking to destroy the operation of the Holy Spirit in the soul, which works in the heart of man, inspiring hostility against Satan and his seed.

God is a being of holiness, and God’s holiness involves hostility against sin. He commits Himself to act in the defense of the presence of holiness in humanity, which is why again and again, as at the Red Sea when with a strong arm He delivered Israel, God has acted in behalf of His people. In doing so, He is praised as a holy God because he has acted in complete harmony with the purity of His righteous character. It is this holiness of which we are to be partakers.

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

This helps us to understand some of the passages in the Psalms that are so perplexing to our society. “The foolish shall not stand in Thy sight; Thou hatest all workers of iniquity.” Psalm 5:5
Is God not a God of love? How, then, can the Scriptures say, “Thou hatest all workers of iniquity”?

God is a God of love, but His holiness involves a righteous hostility against sin and against the seed of the serpent.

True peace and true love is found only in the new birth and in surrender to Christ. “I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers. I have hated the congregation of evildoers; and will not sit with the wicked.” Psalm 26:4,5

Who are dissemblers? They are the people who profess what they really do not have in their heart. These people are going into the congregation of the Lord professing one thing, while their hearts are quite out of harmony with their profession. By their actions, they are seeking to deceive.

Notice, also, the concept of separation from the wicked, which is foundational to the holiness of God. We are to worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness, and holiness involves complete separation from all evil.

There is a very interesting development brought to view in the parable of the wheat and the tares, as given in Matthew 13.

“Another parable put he forth unto them saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.” Verses 24,25

The Spirit of Prophecy tells us that the tares represent a class who are the fruit of embodiment of error, as reflected in false principles. The enemy that sowed them is the devil. Neither God nor His angels ever sowed a seed that would produce a tare. The tares are always sown by Satan, the enemy of God and man. The sowing of tares in the professed church of Christ is an act of revenge Satan commits against Christ. Jesus pointed it out in this parable so that the true church members could be warned that Satan would sow his tares—infiltrators and destroyers—among the pure wheat seed of Christ.

Surely, this is true of our time, for while we were asleep, a crop of tares has sprung up in the structure. I was at the seminary when there was a great flowering of tares that seemed to suddenly appear. All of them were in harmony in their belief that the law of God could not be kept.

“The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.” Verse 27

The Lord has such a regard for the protection of even one soul that He does not want even one soul to be lost. Because the fabric of life might be involved and some of the wheat might be destroyed in the process of removing the tares, he says, “Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.” Verse 30

Here is demonstrated the separation and unity that comes at the time of the harvest just before the close of probation.

Later, the disciples came to Jesus seeking for a clearer understanding of the tares. This concept of the tares troubled them. In explaining the parable to them Jesus, clearly delineated along the same parameters that He had in Genesis 3:15.

“Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and His disciples came unto them, he that soweth the good seed is the Son of Man; the field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one.” Verses 36-38

“The enemy that sowed them is the devil. [The devil, at work in the professed church, sowed the tares.] The harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth His angels and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.” Verse 39-43

“And the dragon was wroth with the woman [Here is anger, hostility and warfare.] and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Revelation 12:17

Once again, at the end of time, we see manifest the hatred that as to exist between the seed of the woman and that of the serpent. The remnant of the seed of the woman are the last in the long line of those who kept the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus. The seed of the serpent, which are the tares, have hostility against the truth of obedience to God’s law. The devil working through them, attacks the wheat, seeking to destroy the seed of the woman who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

This raises a question, What happens when you have a situation where there gets to be so many tares that they are choking out the good seed?

Jesus was faced with this same problem in His day. In The Desire of Ages. Chapter 33, we are told that when Jesus came preaching, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel,” he first labored in Judea. “If the leaders in Israel had received him, he would have honored them as His messengers to carry the gospel to the world, but Israel knew not the time of her visitation.” As the jealousy and distrust of the Jewish leaders ripened into open hatred, the Sanhedrin rejected Christ’s message and the leaders sought to turn the hearts of the people away from Him as well. Jesus was dealing with tares who were bent on his death. Therefore, Jesus departed from Jerusalem, leaving behind the temple, the religious leaders and the people who had been instructed in the law. Instead, he turned to another class, in another field, to proclaim His message and to gather out those who should carry the gospel to all nations.

“As the light and life of men was rejected by the ecclesiastical authorities in the days of Christ, so it has been rejected in every succeeding generation. Again and again the history of Christ’s withdrawal from Judea has been repeated.” Desire of Ages, 232

But I ask you, Where was the good seed? The tares were not the good seed; they were never the true church. The Spirit of Prophecy tells us that Caiaphas had not one ray of light from God, they had no thought of separating themselves from the established church, but the religious leaders would not tolerate the light, and those who bore it were forced to seek another class who were longing for the truth. There were so many tares they could no longer function in the Roman Catholic Church.

Today, few are listening for the voice of God and are ready to accept truth in whatever guise it may be presented. Too often, those who follow in the steps of the Reformers are forced to turn away from the churches they love in order to declare the plain teaching of God’s Word. They are, however, the wheat, the seed of the woman. They are the church. The tares are not the church of God; they are the servants of the devil. They are the seed of the wicked one who war against the seed of the woman.

And so, this great message that the Lord preached in the Garden of Eden comes ringing down to our day, clearly defining who the true church really is. It is the remnant of the seed of the woman, those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

We must never ever forget this principle because it is essential to our salvation to understand who the seed of the woman really is. We must know the great cause to which we are committed if we are to be prepared to sacrifice our life for it.

The End

The Defeat at Ai

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Is it not amazing that every story in the Bible has lessons for the people of God —lessons of present truth with warnings and admonitions? So it is with the story of Achan and Israel’s defeat at Ai. “All are doubtless familiar with Achan’s case. It is recorded in sacred history for all generations, but more especially for those upon whom the ends of the world are come.” Testimonies, vol. 3, 520. Let us see if we can learn some of the lessons for which the story of Achan and Israel’s defeat at Ai was recorded.

A short time before the defeat, Israel had just experienced the miraculous passage of the Jordan and the overthrow of Jericho. One can just imagine the excitement, eager expectation and confidence that was in the camp of Israel! Jericho, large, wealthy and one of the strongest fortresses in the land—defeated. Yes, God was with them and soon the whole land of Canaan would be theirs!

Something happened in the camp of Israel, however, after the victory at Jericho, which led to defeat. They became self-confident. “Because he [God] had promised them the land of Canaan they felt secure, and failed to realize that divine help alone could give them success. Even Joshua laid his plans for the conquest of Ai without seeking counsel from God.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 493. Spies were sent out and the report was brought back to Ai, being so small, required only a few soldiers to overtake it.

Off to battle went three thousand men, without seeking counsel from God and trusting in their own strength, fully expecting an easy victory. Confidently they approached the gates of the city, but were met with determined resistance. “Panic stricken at the numbers and thorough preparation of their enemies, they fled in confusion down the steep descent. The Canaanites were in hot pursuit.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 494

Thirty-six men lay dead—casualties of self-confidence. Self-confidence blinds us to danger, leads us to presumption, prepares the way for failure and finally, leaves us without any confidence at all—timid and fearful. “The moment we begin to feel self-sufficient and confident, then we are in danger of a disgraceful failure.” This Day with God, 277. This was exactly the experience of Israel. They had gone to battle in their own strength, were humiliated in cruel defeat and returned with no confidence, now fearful of the smallest of enemies. “The hearts of the people melted, and became as water.” Joshua 7:5

The lesson for us is the danger of trusting in ourselves. “Nothing is more offensive to God than a self-sufficient spirit.” The Faith I Live By, 138. “Self-confidence will lead you into the snare of the enemy. The youth do not ask counsel of God, and make Him their refuge and strength. They enter society with all assurance, confident that they are fully able to choose the right and to comprehend divine mysteries, because of their powers of reason, as though they could discover truth for themselves. We fear more for those who are self-confident than for any others, for they will surely be entangled in the net that has been set by the great adversary of God and man….Those who are exalted in their own opinions will despise the blood of the Atoning sacrifice, and will do despite to the Spirit of grace.” Signs of the Times, April 21, 1890

What is one to do if, through the working of the Holy Spirit upon their heart, they see that they are self-confident and want to change? “Some are self-confident, self-sufficient, exalted in their opinion of themselves, because they do not have clear views of Jesus. If they lived near to Him, they would see His purity, His matchless benevolence, his self-sacrifice and infinite love, which would lead them to see their deficiencies; and when viewing the cross of Calvary, and the sufferings that Christ endured that they might be rescued from ruin, they could not have one exalted feeling in regard to self.” Review and Herald, December 18, 1883

Though Israel was humbled through defeat, God was nonetheless watching over them and when, in their ignorance and weakness, they cried out to Him, He was there. “Then Joshua tore his clothes, and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord until evening, both he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads. And Joshua said, ‘Alas, Lord God, why have You brought this people over the Jordan at all—to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? Oh, that we had been content, and dwelt on the other side of the Jordan! O Lord, what shall I say when Israel turns its back before its enemies? For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it, and surround us, and cut off our name from the earth. Then what will You do for Your great name?’” Joshua 7:6-9 (NKJV)

“Joshua manifested a true zeal for the honor of God, yet his petitions were mingled with doubt and unbelief. The thought that God had brought His people over the Jordan to deliver them up to the power of the heathen was a sinful one, unworthy of a leader of Israel. Joshua’s feelings of despondency and distrust were inexcusable in view of the mighty miracles which God had wrought for the deliverance of His people, and the repeated promise that He would be with them in driving out the wicked inhabitants of the land.

“But our merciful God did not visit his servant with wrath because of this error. He graciously accepted the humiliation and prayers of Joshua, and at the same time gently rebuked his unbelief, and then revealed to him the cause of their defeat.” Signs of the Times, April, 21, 1881

“Get up! Why do you lie thus on your face?” Joshua 7:10 (NKJV). The people were not to go on lamenting and mourning, but find the cause of the displeasure of the Lord. There was secret sin in the camp and it was to be dealt with. “The sin of one man caused Israel to be beaten before the enemy. Something more than prayer was required. They were to get up and cleanse the camp if Israel.” Conflict and Courage, 120

“Joshua had a work to do to search out the guilty one, and put away the sin from the congregation. Instead of concluding that the Lord had brought upon His people defeat and ruin, Joshua should rather have made diligent inquiry if all Israel had been faithful to their covenant with God.” Signs of the Times, April 21, 1881

Before the conquest of Jericho, God gave a very direct command in regard to the spoil. “And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it. But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated unto the Lord: they shall come into the treasury of the Lord.” Joshua 7:12 (NKJV)

Achan had taken one of the forbidden Babylonish garments, which he thought too valuable to be destroyed in the flames, two hundred shekels of silver and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels. In taking the silver and gold, Achan had not only disobeyed, but he had stolen from the treasury of the Lord.

The sin of one man cost the death of thirty-six people. What a lesson for us today. “That our influence should be a savor of death unto death is a fearful thought, yet it is possible. One soul misled, forfeiting eternal bliss—who can estimate the loss! And yet one rash act, one thoughtless word, on our part may exert so deep an influence on the life of another that it will prove the ruin of his soul. One blemish on the character may turn many away from Christ.” Prophets and Kings, 86. No soul will be lost that will not draw other souls down with him. Are you, by your sin, to be responsible for the eternal loss of some around you?

Joshua was instructed as to how he was to deal with the situation. In His great mercy, God did not immediately deal with Achan. “The sinner was not directly pointed out, the matter being left in doubt for a time, that the people might feel their responsibility for the sins existing among them, and thus be led to searching of heart and humiliation before God.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 494, 495. Notice that “the children of Israel committed a trespass” and “they have even taken some of the accursed things.” Joshua 7:1,11 (NKJV). “The nation was held accountable for the guilt of the transgressor.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 494. And so today, “The church as a whole is in a degree responsible for the wrongs of its individual members because they countenance the evil in not lifting up their voice against it.” Testimonies, vol. 4, 491. “We repeat, God holds the church responsible for its individual members.” Signs of the Times, April 21, 1881

The solemn investigation before the whole congregation commenced early the next morning. Step by step the process continues. Closer and closer came the fearful test. Opportunity after opportunity was given him to confess his sin, but none of them were taken. Finally, Achan was named as the guilty party.

In the hope of averting the terrible consequences of his crime, he confessed his sin. “When I saw among the spoils a beautiful Babylonian garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. And there they are, hidden in the earth in the midst of my tent, with the silver under it.” Joshua 7:21 (NKJV)

“The confession of Achan, although too late to be available in bringing to him any saving virtue, vindicated the character of God in His manner of dealing with him.” The Youth’s Instructor, February 1, 1894. Doesn’t the confession of Achan remind you of the confession of the devil and all those who are lost at the end of the millennium? They will all bow down and confess to the whole universe that God is right, that He is just, that He is holy; but it will be too late. What a lesson in the need of thorough confession today.

After Achan’s confession, Joshua sent messengers to Achan’s tent who brought back the accursed things and laid them before the children of Israel. These things, along with all of Achan’s belongings, his wife, and children, were taken to the Valley of Achor, stoned and then burned with fire.

Just as cherishing known sin was Achan’s downfall, so it will be the downfall of all who delay to repent and confess. See Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol.2, 997. “God is the same yesterday, today and forever.” He requires no less of his people today than He did in Achan’s day. “Satan’s power is increasing, he is terribly in earnest, knowing that his time is short, he is working with all ‘deceivableness of unrighteousness.’ Those who would escape his wiles must be vigilant and determined. If we would meet the demands for this time, we must put on the whole armor, and go forth with energy, perseverance, and unswerving faith. In God alone is our strength. Indolence and slothfulness, presumption and self-confidence, will alike bring defeat and destruction. God takes cognizance of the works of all. Those who have sought their ease, and shunned care, anxiety and labor for God’s cause, may be sure their sin will find them out. Those who, like Achan, cherish selfishness, avarice and deception, may be sure that God’s eye is upon them. As He searched out Achan, He will search them out, as He pronounced a curse upon them.” Signs of the Times, May 5, 1881

Today God has also given us direct and specific commands about some accursed things. Why do you think He has given us these commands? Could it be that He is trying to teach us the same things that He taught the Israelites? Could it be that in the spoil of this world, there is much that is objectionable and sinful, which would lead to our moral corruption?

In writing about these accursed things, Ellen White records under that category the following:

Adultery and Fornication

Adultery is wicked in the eyes of God. No matter how bad our marriage or how lonely we may be, there is absolutely no excuse given in the Word of God for sin, and we have express direction from the prophet of the Lord to cleanse the camp of this sin, no matter what the sinner’s position. “When men and women of large experience, who have been considered patterns of piety, are revealed in their true character—unsanctified, unholy, impure in thought, debased in conduct,–then it is time for such to be dealt with in a decided manner. The greater forbearance that is exercised toward them has only had, as far as my knowledge extends, the influence to cause them to regard their fornication and adultery as a very light matter, and all their pretense has proved to be like morning dew when the sun shines upon it….

“Cleanse the camp of this moral corruption, if it takes the highest men in the highest positions. God will not be trifled with.” Testimonies to Ministers, 426, 427

2. Immodest Apparel and Extravagance

What was it that Achan took? A goodly Babylonish garment—clothes. Especially to the ladies does dress apply. “As I have seen many Sabbath keeping Adventists become worldly in thought, conversation, and dress, my heart has been saddened. The people who claim to believe that they have the last message of mercy to give to the world, are attracted by worldly fashions, and make great exertions to follow them as far as they think their profession of faith allows them to go.” Selected Messages, book 3, 243

Fashionable dress is a tool of the devil to get the youth and those that are older to use up their time thinking about what they look like on the outside so that the character is neglected and they are not ready for Jesus when He comes. If fashion is your besetting sin, God will give you the victory if you repent and make a determined effort to change. Before you make purchases, send up a prayer asking that holy angels will accompany you, guiding in the decisions you make.

Extravagance was also mentioned in the quotation above. Jesus said, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.” Luke 12:15 (NKJV). One’s life does not consist in what we wear, what we own, or what we have in our bank accounts. “For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” 1Timothy 6:10 (NKJV). I would like to invite you, if you are not already doing so, to look over the things that you own and to spend some time during your devotions asking God what you can give up for Him and what he wants you to do with the funds He has given you. I don not know what God wants you to do with your funds, but I know that He wants them in his work and not in the hands of the enemy. I have spent time praying about this and afterwards I felt that the Lord was telling me, “No,” to a personal desire. “you wait on those things,” Do you do with your money what you profess? As Seventh-day Adventists we need to fulfill our profession not just in our diet and dress, but in the way we spend our money as well. Extravagance is not fitting for a Seventh-day Adventist. See also Proverbs 21:25,26; Psalm 10:3.

Intemperance.

“I would point the intemperate to a power out of and beyond themselves,–the power of Jesus. Flee to your Saviour. He has overcome in behalf of just such helpless, sinful ones as you. In His strength you may be honest, faithful men, true to your Maker. But no half-way work will suffice. You must be thorough. And do not think that you can do the work of abstaining gradually. Leave the accursed thing once and forever. ‘Touch not, taste not, handle not.’ Drink not a drop of the liquor which wets depraved appetite on fire.” Signs of the Times, January 30, 1901

False Reports.

“False reports had been circulated, and the band had been sinking and had lost the power of the third angel’s message. They were sickly, but knew not the cause. The reason was that there was an accursed thing in the camp, and by the assistance of God we were trying to get it out of the camp.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 3, 242

Jealousy, Evil Surmising and Evil Speaking.

“There was a time when Israel could not prevail against their enemies. This was because of Achan’s sin. God declared, ‘Neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed thing from among you.’ God is the same today. If defiling sins are cherished by those who claim to believe the truth, the displeasure of God rests upon the church, and he will not remove it until the members do all in their power to show their hatred for sin, and their determination to cast it out of the church. God is displeased with those who call evil good and good evil. If jealousy, evil surmising, and evil-speaking are allowed to have a place in the church, that church is under the frown of God. It will be spiritually unhealthy until it is cleansed from these sins, for till then God cannot reveal His power to strengthen and elevate His people and give them victory.” The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, 144

Carrying out the decisions of those we know are not in harmony with the truth.

No matter what the position, even in the professed church of God, we have no assurance that God will be with us if we fulfill the commands of those who are not in harmony with the truth. On the contrary, it is one of the accursed things and God has said He will not be with us as long as this is our practice. “I call upon God’s people to open their eyes. When you sanction or carry out the decisions of men who, as you know, are not in harmony with truth and righteousness, you weaken your own faith and lose your relish for communion with God. You seem to hear the voice which was addressed to Joshua: ‘Wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face? Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them….There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel.’ ‘Neither will I be with you anymore, except ye destroy the accursed from among you.’ Christ declares, ‘he that gathereth not with Me scattereth abroad.’” Testimonies to Ministers, 91

Are you willing to cleanse your heart of every accursed thing? Are you willing to lift your voice in protest of sin that the camp (church) may be cleansed of every accursed thing?

Today the church of Christ is entering into the most severe conflict with the powers of darkness it has ever faced. Are we ready? Have we made God our consultant? Have we humbled ourselves before Him and rid ourselves of every ounce of self-confidence which will lead us and the church to defeat? Have we made sure that there are none among us who are disregarding the explicit command of God? Oh, friend, Ellen White said in her day that there was an Achan in almost every congregation and every family. What would she say today?

There is sin in the camp today, preventing a full manifestation of the power of God. When sin is out of our lives, God will evidence His presence with the outpouring of His Spirit. This is as much a law as is the law of gravity. Oh, friend, God is waiting for you; he is waiting for me, to put sin out of our hearts. Will you set yourself about today to commence this solemn work? It is time, not only to cry out to the Lord for help in prayer, but it is time to cleanse the camp of every accursed thing. God is going to work; He will manifest His power, but He cannot do it while we hold sin in our hearts and grant wisdom to his people in doing the work of cleansing the entire camp from all sin.

The End

Judgment Day–Are You Ready?

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Judgment Day–Are You Ready?
By Brenda Douay

“I watched till thrones were put in place, and the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, its wheels a burning fire; a fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him. A thousand thousands ministered to Him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated, and the books were opened.” “I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him” (Daniel 7:9, 10, 13).

“Every individual has a soul to save or to lose. Each has a case pending at the bar of God. Each must meet the great Judge face to face. How important, then, that every mind contemplate often the solemn scene when the judgment shall sit and the books shall be opened, when, with Daniel, every individual must stand in his lot, at the end of the days.” The Great Controversy, 488.

There are many compelling reasons why we should study the judgment hour message, but I will simply mention one. We know we have a subtle and powerful enemy seeking our souls. One of his greatest weapons is deception. Inspiration tells us we must understand the subject of the sanctuary and the investigative judgment or we will not make it through the coming times of trouble. Why is this message of such vital importance? Because it is the only means of salvation, and therefore is the central focus of Satan’s deceptions. Satan’s greatest deception is to twist the sanctuary message in our understanding so we will lose eternal life. It was so in the time of the Jews. He blinded them to the transition from the earthly sanctuary and its services to the opening of the holy place of the sanctuary in heaven and the beginning of Jesus’ ministry there. Today he is seeking to blind God’s people to the understanding of the transition of Jesus from the holy to the most holy place.

It is essential that we understand that shift or our worship and prayers will be to Satan, who has taken Christ’s place in the holy place of the heavenly sanctuary after Christ left it to move into the most holy place. (See Early Writings, 54–56.) We must understand the difference between the ministration that Christ performed while He was in the holy place, and how it changed when He left the holy place and moved into the most holy place. This is our “anchor.” (See Early Writings, 256.) The same page in Early Writings says, “Those who understand and receive them (that is, the three angels’ messages, which are synonymous with the sanctuary message) will be kept from being swept away by the many delusions of Satan.”

“Light from the sanctuary illumined the past, the present, and the future.” The Great Controversy, 423. “The third angel has lighted up the past, the present, and the future.” Early Writings, 255.

The following vision is chronicled in the book in which God shows His servant in detail about this coming judgment, and what we are to face. It is found in Testimonies, vol. 4, 384–387. God’s servant writes, “On the morning of October 23, 1879, about two o’clock, the Spirit of the Lord rested upon me, and I beheld scenes in the coming judgment. Language fails me in which to give an adequate description of the things which passed before me and of the effect they had upon my mind.

“The great day of the execution of God’s judgment seemed to have come. Ten thousand times ten thousand were assembled before a large throne, upon which was seated a person of majestic appearance. Several books were before Him, and upon the covers of each was written in letters of gold, which seemed like a burning flame of fire: ‘Ledger of Heaven.’ One of these books, containing the names of those who claim to believe the truth, was then opened. Immediately I lost sight of the countless millions about the throne, and only those who were professedly children of the light and of the truth engaged my attention. As these persons were named, one by one, and their good deeds mentioned, their countenances would light up with a holy joy that was reflected in every direction. But this did not seem to rest upon my mind with the greatest force.

“Another book was opened, wherein were recorded the sins of those who profess the truth. Under the general heading of selfishness came every other sin. There were also headings over every column, and underneath these, opposite each name, were recorded, in their respective columns, the lesser sins. [Emphasis author’s.]

“Under covetousness came falsehood, theft, robbery, fraud, and avarice; under ambition came pride and extravagance; jealousy stood at the head of malice, envy, and hatred; and intemperance headed a long list of fearful crimes, such as lasciviousness, adultery, indulgence of animal passions, etc. As I beheld I was filled with inexpressible anguish and exclaimed: ‘Who can be saved? who will stand justified before God? whose robes are spotless? who are faultless in the sight of a pure and holy God?’

“As the Holy One upon the throne slowly turned the leaves of the ledger, and His eyes rested for a moment upon individuals, His glance seemed to burn into their very souls, and at the same moment every word and action of their lives passed before their minds as clearly as though traced before their vision in letters of fire. Trembling seized them, and their faces turned pale. Their first appearance when around the throne was that of careless indifference. But how changed their appearance now! The feeling of security is gone, and in its place is a nameless terror. A dread is upon every soul, lest he shall be found among those who are wanting. Every eye is riveted upon the face of the One upon the throne; and as His solemn, searching eye sweeps over that company, there is a quaking of heart; for they are self-condemned without one word being uttered. In anguish of soul each declares his own guilt and with terrible vividness sees that by sinning he has thrown away the precious boon of eternal life.

“One class were registered as cumberers (meaning to hinder; to overload; burden; inconvenience; trouble) of the ground. As the piercing eye of the Judge rested upon these, their sins of neglect were distinctly revealed. With pale, quivering lips they acknowledged that they had been traitors to their holy trust. They had had warnings and privileges, but they had not heeded nor improved them. They could now see that they had presumed too much upon the mercy of God. True, they had not such confessions to make as had the vile and basely corrupt; but, like the fig tree, they were cursed because they bore no fruit, because they had not put to use the talents entrusted to them.

“This class had made self supreme, laboring only for selfish interests. They were not rich toward God, not having responded to His claims upon them. Although professing to be servants of Christ, they brought no souls to Him. Had the cause of God been dependent on their efforts, it would have languished; for they not only withheld the means lent them of God, but they withheld themselves. But these could now see and feel that in occupying an irresponsible position in reference to the work and cause of God they had placed themselves on the left hand (Matthew 25:31–46). They had had opportunity, but would not do the work that they could and should have done. [Emphasis author’s.]

“The names of all who profess the truth were mentioned. Some were reproved for their unbelief, others for having been slothful servants. They had allowed others to do the work in the Master’s vineyard, and to bear the heaviest responsibilities, while they were selfishly serving their own temporal interests. Had they cultivated the abilities God had given them, they could have been reliable burden bearers, working for the interest of the Master. Said the Judge: ‘All will be justified by their faith and judged by their works.’ How vividly then appeared their neglect, and how wise the arrangement of God in giving to every man a work to do to promote the cause and save his fellow men. Each was to demonstrate a living faith in his family and in his neighborhood, by showing kindness to the poor, sympathizing with the afflicted, engaging in missionary labor, and by aiding the cause of God with his means. But, like Meroz, the curse of God rested upon them for what they had not done. They had loved that work which would bring the greatest profit in this life; and opposite their names in the ledger devoted to good works there was a mournful blank.

“The words spoken to these were most solemn: ‘You are weighed in the balances, and found wanting (Daniel 5:27). You have neglected spiritual responsibilities because of busy activity in temporal matters, while your very position of trust made it necessary that you should have more than human wisdom and greater than finite judgment. This you needed in order to perform even the mechanical part of your labor; and when you disconnected God and His glory from your business, you turned from His blessing.’

“The question was then asked: ‘Why have you not washed your robes of character and made them white in the blood of the Lamb (Revelation 7:14)? God sent His Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that through Him it might be saved. My love for you has been more self-denying than a mother’s love. It was that I might blot out your dark record of iniquity, and put the cup of salvation to your lips, that I suffered the death of the cross, bearing the weight and curse of your guilt. The pangs of death, and the horrors of the darkness of the tomb, I endured, that I might conquer him who had the power of death, unbar the prison house, and open for you the gates of life. I submitted to shame and agony because I loved you with an infinite love, and would bring back my wayward, wandering sheep to the paradise of God, to the tree of life. That life of bliss which I purchased for you at such a cost, you have disregarded. Shame, reproach, and ignominy, such as your Master bore for you, you have shunned. The privileges He died to bring within your reach have not been appreciated. You would not be partaker of His sufferings, and you cannot now be partaker with Him of His glory.’ Then were uttered these solemn words: ‘He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still’ (Revelation 22:11). The book then closed, and the mantle fell from the Person on the throne, revealing the terrible glory of the Son of God.

“The scene then passed away, and I found myself still upon the earth, inexpressibly grateful that the day of God had not yet come, and that precious probationary time is still granted us in which to prepare for eternity.”

What are you doing with the “precious probationary time” we are granted? Are you using the time as God intends that we use it—“to prepare for eternity?” My friends, God does not tell us these things for any other reason than a yearning for your soul that He may be reunited with the children of His heart. God so loved you that He allowed His Son to be born, a helpless babe, into the world where Satan claimed dominion—Satan who hated Christ three times over—subject to the weakness of humanity, “to fight the battle as every child of humanity must fight it, at the risk of failure and eternal loss.” The Desire of Ages, 49.

Can we possibly doubt the love of such a God? He gives us this information that we may know what is coming that we may prepare. He gives explicit directions as to how to prepare. Let us heed these words from His great heart of love. As Inspiration states it, “Make it your first business to gain the kingdom of heaven and the righteousness of Christ. Live for God and heaven, and the eternal reward will be yours at the end of the race.” Testimonies, vol. 2, 225.

My friends, what is the status of your soul today? Have you heeded the pleadings of God on your behalf? Are you daily fulfilling His will in permitting nothing “to interfere with your duty to perfect holiness in the fear of God?”

Judgment Day – Are you Ready?

Brenda Douay is a staff member at Steps to Life. She may be contacted by email at: brendadouay@stepstolife.org.

Selfishness
Covetousness Ambition Jealousy Intemperance
Falsehood Pride Malice Lasciviousness

(Unbridled lust)
Theft Extravagance Envy
Robbery Hatred Adultery
Fraud Indulgence of animal passions, etc.
Avarice

 

 

The Initial Steps Toward Unity

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The first angel’s message says to fear God.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The End

The Valley of Deceitfulness

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I believe that God has a message for his people today, which is found in Isaiah 28. I have deepening conviction that what is here portrayed, is that which we are soon to face.

“Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower which is at the head of the verdant valleys, to those who are overcome with wine! Behold, the Lord has a mighty and strong one, like a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, like a flood of mighty waters overflowing, who will bring them down to the earth with His hand. The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, will be trampled underfoot; and the glorious beauty is a fading flower which is at the head of the verdant valley, like the first fruit before the summer, which an observer sees; he eats it up while it is still in his hand.” Isaiah 28:1-4.

The valley of deceitfulness can look so fair; there can be so many beautiful flowers in it; those in charge of the valley can be so fat with the gifts of God’s professed people; but, friend, the judgment of God hangs over the professed people of God today because we have disregarded the voice of his messenger. We have cast it aside if it called us to reform, and we have obeyed only that which has gone along with our natural inclination. Then, to prove that we are obeying it, we have held up that part of the counsel which goes along with our inclination. It is for this reason the judgement of God hangs over His people today. However beautiful the flowers in the valley of deceitfulness may be, destruction and judgment are coming from the Lord. If God’s people today are to know where they are in the stream of time, they must have the heavenly eye salve.

Many men who once might have given godly counsel to God’s people, today, are no longer fit to give that counsel because they have failed to stand against the prevailing apostasy. They have stood, watching it take place, but they have continued to make strange alliances with the falsehood. Perhaps these men, themselves, are trying to live righteous lives, but this is not enough. If we do not stand up against apostasy, wherever it is manifest, we are no longer fit to be messengers to God’s people.

To illustrate this point, let us draw from the rich, but terrible history, of the conflict between the Waldenses and the papacy. If we do not learn from the mistakes of history, we are destined to repeat them.

Before we look at this history let me share a story with you.

A few years ago, our family visited a Pennsylvania colony called the Ephrata Cloister. Here many years ago there lived a group who kept the seventh day Sabbath. They introduced the seventh day Sabbath to the Baptists. The Baptists who accepted this truth became the Seventh-day Baptists, who in turn, later shared this truth with the Seventh-day Adventist.

I remember the guide showing us into the print room where the old-fashioned press was located. The press had a long handle, which, when pulled down, lowered the plate, leaving an impression on the paper. This process was repeated again and again, all day long. Because the labor was very wearying to the people, the handle became known as the devil’s tail.

The guide explained to us that there were more copies of the Bible printed here than of any other book. But, do you know what book ranked second in the number of copies to be printed? Fox’s Book of Martyrs. It was the second most widely read book in the United States of America. Our forefathers used to read these stories to their children. This reading helped to make us a Protestant nation. Our people knew the history then.

History of Protestantism by Wylie records the history of God’s people during the seventeenth century. It is recorded that in 1655, a decree was made calling for the complete extermination of the Waldenses. Army after army attempted to destroy them, only to meet with failure. After a short time of peace, General Pianeza determined he was going to do that which others had failed to do. As he began his march, the Waldenses became aware of his plans and they sent ambassadors down to the town of Turin to plead with the army to leave them alone.

The governor on Turin stalled the Waldensian representatives, while the papal armies were secretly gathering, hoping to deceive them as to their real intentions. A meeting was arranged with the Waldensian representatives for April 17, 1655. At about two o’clock in the morning, on the day of the meeting, General Pianeza’a army surrounded the city. Three hundred of his army of 15,000 slipped under the city wall and made an attack on Sabbath morning, April 17.

The Waldenses, totally unprepared for the attack, hastily threw up a barricade, which the invading soldiers stormed. So stoutly did the Waldenses resist that after three hours of intense fighting, the papal soldiers, who had been unable to make any advance at all, were driven back.

At one o’clock the next morning, one of General Pianeza’s colonels who knew the territory, sent a flanking recruitment to storm the town from behind. The Waldenses turned about-face, pierced the enemy rank, held the soldiers back and escaped to the mountains. In the whole encounter, which involved much bloody fighting, there were only three Waldensian soldiers killed.

The Vaudois (Waldenses) were once more in the mountains, their families having previously been transported up because of the threat of war. They watched the valley below as their orchards were cut down and their homes burned. On Monday, the nineteenth, and the day that followed, a series of skirmishes took place. The Vaudois, although poorly armed and vastly out numbered, were victorious on every point, causing the popish soldiers to fall back, carrying wondrous tales of the Vaudois’ valor and heroism and infusing panic into the rest of their troops.

Pianeza now began to have misgivings. As he recalled history, he was haunted by the memory of other mighty armies that had perished on these mountains. He determined to resort to deceit. Before daybreak on Wednesday, the twenty-first of April, he announced by the sound of trumpet, his willingness to receive the Vaudois deputies and treat for peace. Delegates set out for his camp headquarters and, on arrival, were treated with utmost courtesy and sumptuously entertained. Pianeza expressed the utmost regret for the excesses committed by his soldiers, which he assured them had been done contrary to orders. He protested that he had only come into their valleys to track a few fugitives who had disobeyed Gastaldo’s order. He said that the higher communes had nothing to fear, but that if each would admit a single regiment for a few days, in token of their loyalty, all war would be amicably ended. Despite the warnings of the more discerning pastors, especially pastor Leger, Pianeza was able to convince the Vaudois of his sincerity and accomplished by craft that which he had been unable to do by open warfare. The Waldenses opened the passes to their valleys and the doors of their dwellings to the soldiers of Pianeza.

The first two days were passed in comparative peace—the soldiers eating at the same table, sleeping under the same roof and conversing freely with their destined victims. This interval was needed to allow for every preparation to be made for what was to follow. The enemy now occupied the towns, the villages, the cottages, and the roads throughout the valleys.

At last the blow fell with the sudden crash of a thunderbolt. At four o’clock on the morning of Sabbath, April 24, 1655, the signal was given and in an instant a thousand assassins began the work of death. In a moment dismay, horror, agony, and woe overspread the Valleys of Lucerna and Angrogna. The cries and groans of the dying were echoed and reechoed from the rocks around. It seemed as if the mountains had taken up a wailing for the slaughter of their children. “Our Valley of Lucerna,” exclaimed pastor Leger, “which was like a Goshen, was now converted into a Mount Etna, darting forth cinders and fire and flames. The earth resembled a furnace, and the air was filled with a darkness like that of Egypt, which might be felt, from the smoke of towns, villages, temples, mansions, granges, and buildings, all burning in the flames of the Vatican.” History of Protestantism, 484.

The soldiers were not content with the quick dispatch of the sword; they invented new and hitherto unheard-of modes of torture and death. No man to this day dare write in plain words all the disgusting and horrible deeds of these men; their wickedness can never be all known because it never can be all told.

Uncontrollable grief seized the hearts of the survivors at the sight of their brethren slain, their country devastated and their church overthrown. “Oh that my head were waters,” exclaimed Leger, “and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people! Behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow.” Ibid., 485

“Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own consciences seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.” 1 Timothy 4:1-3

Let us look carefully at verse two: “Speaking lies and hypocrisy.” If you allow the first part of this verse, “speaking lies and hypocrisy,” to lodge in your heart, the second half of the verse is the result, “speaking lies and hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron.” Your conscience is seared by your speaking lies and by hypocrisy. If the lies start living in our heart and we start acting out these lies, we are preparing our conscience to be “seared by a hot iron” so that we have no conscience left.

Let us consider the fact that, in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, ministers are being trained in imaging, a form of mind control that is basic in the spiritual exercises of Ignatius Loyola. In this story we have seen the end result of training a priesthood to have a dead conscience. These men are now teaching these exercises to their congregations. We can already see the first fruits of the persecution through the disbanding and disfellowshipping taking place, but these persecutions will not be the last fruits.

What the Vaudois had power and valor to do in open confrontation, they were unable to do when they gave in to deceit. The deceit cloaked the murder in the wicked ones’ hearts. In Proverbs 12:5 we read: “The counsels of the wicked are deceitful.”

Friends, what do you think all these committee meetings concerning the independent ministries are really about? Do not be fooled; the devil knows that what he cannot do through open confrontation, he can often accomplish through the deceitfulness of pretended friendship. If you accept the proposals of such, it will be as fatal to your salvation and that of your family as was the Waldenses’ accepting of their murderers into their homes.

The devil has studied history; he knows what tricks will work. We would be extremely naive to believe that he will not use them on us. He is seeking to do through peace and unity what he has been unable to do by force.

“When God’s people voluntarily unite with the worldly and the unconsecrated, and give them the preeminence, they will be led away from Him by the unsanctified influence under which they have placed themselves. For a short time there may be nothing seriously objectionable; but minds that have not been brought under the control of the Spirit of God will not take readily to those things which savor of truth and righteousness. If they had heretofore any relish for spiritual things they would have placed themselves in the ranks of Jesus Christ. The two classes are controlled by different masters and are opposites in their purposes, hopes, tastes, and desires.” Counsels to Teachers, 542

This is the reason that the issue of who and what is the church is a salvational issue; one you must understand. If you are confused on this issue and you believe that there is a set of men which you need to go counsel with (regardless of their betrayal of sacred trust in upholding wickedness in others), you will lose your soul. In His instruction to His disciples, Jesus warned them to beware of men. “They were not to put implicit confidence in those who knew not God, and open to them their counsels; for this would give Satan’s agents an advantage. Man’s inventions often counterwork God’s plans. Those who build the temple of the Lord, are to build according to the pattern shown in the mount–the divine similitude. God is dishonored and the gospel is betrayed when His servants depend on the counsel of men who are not under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Worldly wisdom is foolishness with God. Those who rely upon it, will surely err.” Desire of Ages, 354

Do not go to the Pharisees and the Sadducees and try to unite with them in an evangelistic endeavor or some other seemingly worthy project. Do not get up in front of church and try to speak words that will please both the children of darkness and the children of light.

“‘The kingdom of God cometh not with outward show.’ The gospel of the grace of God, with its spirit of self-abnegation, can never be in harmony with the spirit of the world. The two principles are antagonistic.” Review and Herald, January 18, 1906. (All emphasis supplied.) What does it mean when it says never? Never! When those who were professing truth, but were not bringing forth its fruits in their life, came to John the Baptist, he refused to baptize them. In fact, he called them vipers, or deadly snakes.

Before the cobra strikes, it hypnotizes its victim. In the same manner, the Waldenses were first lulled to sleep with a treaty of peace. Then, when they least expected it, the deathblow was struck.

It says of John the Baptist’s harsh denunciation of religious leaders of his day: “This sect [the Sadducees] was largely composed of unworthy characters, many of whom were licentious in their habits. By the word ‘vipers’ John meant those who were malignant and antagonistic, bitterly opposed to the expressed will of God.” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 5, 1077

Is malignant a safe situation to be in? It is deadly! Though they were the leaders of God’s professed church, it was not safe to follow them. Can we see the importance of the issue who and what is the church?

The devil is striving to lull the whole world into a fatal sleep from which they will not awaken until it is too late. I am so thankful that there are some people who are standing up and warning the people before they are struck by the poisonous snake.

“Those who have the mind of Christ will let the light shine forth to the world in good works, but that light will bring about a division. Shall the light therefore be hid under a bed or under a bushel, because it will mark a distinction between the followers of Christ and the world? It must be apparent that the believers in the truth are antagonistic to the serpent and to his seed.” Signs of the Times, April 9, 1894

The fear of being branded as “uncooperative” or ” uncharitable” leads many to join work with those they have no confidence in, and become involved in activities about which they have grave reservation. We must, brothers and sisters, stand up against the apostasy and not be content to remain in the shadows, mingling on the fringes. There are vipers in the camp today. With sublety and deceit they will seek to deceive you. Do not listen to their talk of peace.

“The words of Jesus addressed to this generation may well be regarded with sorrow and awe. He asks, ‘When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?’ Christ looked down the ages, and with prophetic eye marked the conflict between the antagonistic principles of truth and error. He saw how real Christianity would become almost extinct in the world, so that at His second advent He would find a state of society similar to that which existed before the flood. The world will be engaged in festivity and amusement, in theatrical show, in the indulgence of base passion. Intemperance of every grade would exist, and even the churches would be demoralized, and the Bible would be neglected and desecrated. He saw that the desperate revelries of the last days would only be interrupted by the judgments of God.” Signs of the Times, April, 21, 1890

Judgments are coming. Do not try to secure peace by your silence. Regardless of the motive, beware of entering into any kind of agreement for peace with the children of darkness. You will be taking a step toward Babylon. “Peace is too dearly obtained if purchased by the smallest concession to Satan’s agencies.” Signs of the Times, November 8, 1899

“The opposition of the children of disobedience is excited by a Christianity that is spiritual….That peace and harmony which are secured by mutual concessions to avoid all differences of opinion are not worthy of the name.” Mind, Character, and Personality, vol. 1, 244

“We are to make no concessions to the enemy. [What is a concession? Giving in.] We are not to change one principle of the truth that we have received from God. We cannot hold converse with those who are in league with evil angels. Christ never purchased peace by compromise.” Notebook Leaflets, 124

Friend, no one should feel that he is so strong that he is safe to enter into discussions with people who are in league with evil angels in order to keep peace. None of us are safe from deception. Our only safety is in being kept by holy angels. If, however, we go where the Lord has not bidden us go, we forfeit their protection.

Do not think you are doing a soul winning endeavor when you join in peace talks with ministers who are not speaking up against the apostasy. You are preparing to be destroyed. God did not protect the Waldenses when they entered into an unauthorized treaty with the powers of darkness. Do you believe He will deal differently with us today?

If we do not learn the lessons of history, we are insuring that we will share the bitter results of the same mistakes.

Those who are teaching NLP and practicing it on our people are wicked men; and those who hold these men’s hands in quietness are partakers of their sins. The Word of God says, “Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower which is at the head of the verdant valleys, to those who are overcome with wine! Behold, the Lord has a mighty and strong one, like a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, like a flood of mighty waters overflowing, who will bring them down to the earth with His hand.” Isaiah 28:1-4

The judgments of God are far bigger than any of us. Our only safety when the storm breaks is to be found under the sheltering hand of God. There is no other safety.

“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.” 2 Thessalonians 2:9-11

Everyone in this world is either going to have a new heart, a heart of truth and righteousness, or they will enter into a league with Satan’s angels and be deceived by a strong delusion. Which is it going to be for you?

The End

Dare to be a Daniel

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In 2 Peter 2:11, Peter gives us the warning: “Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.” Friend, I believe that as we are obedient to God, abstaining from the fleshly lusts and yielding to the Holy Spirit, we increase in knowledge and grow in grace. Peter elaborates this growth in grace and presents to us in 2 Peter 1:3-7: “According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue: whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperence; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.” You see the high calling we are to press on towards.

Ellen White refers to these character traits and these scriptures as the ladder of sanctification. “‘And to knowledge, temperance.’ This is the third step in the path toward perfection of character. On every side there is indulgence and dissipation, and the result is degeneration and corruption. The inhabitants of our earth are depreciating in mental, moral, and physical power, because of the intemperate habits of society. Appetite, passion, and love of display are carrying the multitudes into the greatest excesses and extravagance….The people of God must take an opposite course from the world. They must take up the warfare against these sinful practices, deny appetite, and keep the lower nature in subjection….It is for us to ‘search the Scriptures,’ and bring our habits into harmony with the instruction of the Bible….‘And to temperance, patience.’ The need of becoming temperate is made manifest as we try to take this step. It is next to an impossibility for an intemperate person to be patient.” My Life Today, 97. This ladder of sanctification is referring to the true Christian experience. As we crucify self, we no longer live after the passions and indulgences to which our carnal heart pulls us to. Instead, we practice self-denial and abstinence from fleshly lusts that war against the soul, because as it says in Galatians 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” If we are to experience this in our humanity, we must also adhere and listen to the admonition of Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:16: Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?”

I love what Ellen White says in My Life Today on page 134. “The sacred temple of the body must be kept pure and uncontaminated, that God’s Holy Spirit may dwell therein.” A little further along, she says: “The Christian life is constantly an onward march. Jesus sits as a refiner and purifier of His people; and when His image is perfectly reflected in them they are perfect and holy, and prepared for translation. Every living Christian will advance daily in the divine life. As he advances toward perfection, he experiences a conversion to God every day; and this conversion is not completed until he attains to perfection of Christian character, a full preparation for the finishing touch of immortality.” Ibid. 249

Today God is waiting for His church to represent Him fully. “That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” Ephesians 5:26,27. Not spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but living sacrifices, living stones, spiritual houses. “If we close our eyes to the light for fear we shall see our wrongs, which we are unwilling to forsake, our sins are not lessened, but increased. If light is turned from in one case, it will be disregarded in another. It is just as much sin to violate the laws of our being as to break one of the ten commandments, for we cannot do either without breaking God’s law.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, 44,45.

One of the greatest illustrations of true sanctification is the story of Daniel. In Daniel, I see an example of one who was a spiritual house. As I studied and prayed to God for greater light, I saw that Daniel, when he refused the meat and drink of the king’s personal table, refused all of it. I believe that even included the dainties. Proverbs tells us to beware of the king’s dainties for they are deceitful meat (Proverbs 23:3). God led me to the Adventist message through the health message. As I went to the potlucks at a typical Seventh-day Adventist church, I said, “It looks like these people have substituted meat for junk.” Though it may not be at the risk of our lives, as it was with Daniel when he refused everything at the king’s table, when we choose our diet according to principle, we run the risk of being labeled: narrowed, bigoted, even borderline fanatic.

“What if Daniel and his companions had made a compromise with those heathen officers, and had yielded to the pressure of the occasion by eating and drinking as was customary with the Babylonians? That single instance of departure from principle would have weakened their sense of right and their abhorrence of wrong. Indulgence of appetite would have involve the sacrifice of physical vigor, clearness of intellect, and spiritual power. One wrong step would probably have led to others, until, their connection with heaven being severed, they would have been swept away by temptation.
“The life of Daniel is an inspired illustration of what constitutes a sanctified character. Bible sanctification has to do with the whole man….It is impossible for any to enjoy the blessings of sanctification while they are selfish and gluttonous.” Counsels on Health, 66

“Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things.” Luke 21:34-36.

You see, the devil throws all these things right in front of us as snares. He knows what food products will do today. Why do you think he has the Big Macs twenty-four inches high on your TV screen with the cheese running out and the big Coca-Cola and is now using advertisements for movies?
Jesus said, “But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be….they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage.’ Matthew 24:37,38. As I studied the Spirit of Prophecy, I saw that we were give the greatest light in health and temperance. You see, it was not just cigarettes and alcohol that Ellen White wrote about. She states; “True temperance teaches us to abstain entirely from that which is injurious, and to use judiciously only healthful and nutritious articles of food.” The Health Reformer, April 1, 1877.

As I continued to study, I became a vegetarian. I realized that eating meat was not a test of fellowship, but I read where Ellen White tells us, “Greater reforms should be seen among the people who claim to be looking for the soon appearing of Christ. Health reform is to do among our people a work which it has not yet done. There are those who ought to be awake to the danger of meat eating, who are still eating the flesh of animals, thus endangering the physical, mental, and spiritual health. Many who are now only half converted on the question of meat eating will go from God’s people, to walk no more with them.” Review and Herald, May 27, 1902. I also read: “The diet reform should be progressive. As disease in animals increases, the use of milk and eggs will become more and more unsafe. An effort should be made to supply their place with other things that are healthful and inexpensive. The people everywhere should be taught how to cook without milk and eggs, so far as possible, and yet have their food wholesome and palatable.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, 365.

As I began to study, I saw articles coming out estimating that there are ten million pure vegetarians within the United Stated today. I found articles like: “A High Fat Diet Related to Lung Cancer.” I saw a report of the Surgeon General’s findings in the Herald, July 28, 1988. The headlines read, “Fatty Foods are Killing Us.” The Stockton Record, reporting on the Surgeon General’s report, stated that the United States is eating its way to the grave by eating too many animal products, dairy products and high triglyceride, high cholesterol foods today. I found one article that told of steel fingered eviscerating machines in poultry slaughterhouses. These machines rip out the entrails of the chicken at a rate of ninety birds a minute. When they do this, the fecal waste material of the bird gets on this machine and spreads the bacteria contamination to every bird that comes down the pike. “If the American public knew what garbage they were eating, they would revolt,” said USDA inspector, Hobert Bartley, in an article in the San Francisco Examiner, Sunday, June 29, 1986.

The February, 1992 issue of Consumer Reports tells us that of 113 samples of fish taken across this country, 44 of them were contaminated with human fecal bacteria. How are the fish getting human fecal bacteria? Then the articles start coming out in the newspapers and the one that made me laugh was “Pollution cited for 1,429 beach closings in 1990.” Stockton Record, August 15, 1991. Do not swim in it, but throw the pole in there, catch whatever lives in it and eat it; that is okay. Does that make sense? “San Diego Sewage Spill Fouls the Ocean.” Stockton Record, February 6, 1992. Millions of gallons of partially treated sewage poured out! Then you have the third rate countries like Peru and others who do not have the water treatment plants as the United States and they are letting all this human fecal bacteria out into the water and it is migrating our way. That is why a newspaper reported that cholera cases surge Mexico. You get cholera from human fecal bacteria. The paper says officials try to suppress the report of the disease’s outbreak. Friend, have you walked down a beach lately and seen the birds and fish lying dead on the beaches. I believe it is from poisoning.

Jeremy Rifkin, on page 144 of his book Beyond Beef, Penguin Books USA, Inc. Cites that the FDA acknowledges that they do not know today whether or not BIV (Bovine Immunodeficiency Virus), once it hits human blood, becomes HIV positive, and the FDA is not telling anybody anything.
I was shocked at what I read in an article that recently came out in the Tennessee Tallahassee Democrat, May 28, 1993. The department of agriculture recently conducted surprise visits to ninety slaughterhouses in the United States. Thirty of the facilities were shut down immediately. The article says there are 1,200 in the country. Can you believe or can you imagine what is the condition of the others that have not yet been checked?

Ellen White said the day would come when we would have to discard milk and other things. It is surprising and amazing to me that as I continued to study, I found these headlines: “Study Links Cow’s Milk in Infancy to Diabetes.” Stockton Record, July 30, 1992 from Medical Tribune News Service. The article states: “Protein in cows milk ingested during infancy may be the trigger that sets off insulin dependent diabetes in susceptible children.” This was a study that was recently done and verified. What was amazing to me was that, at the same time, the United States responds with “Doctors Cry Over Milk Drinking.” Stockton Record, September 30, 1992. Here is a doctor saying that the common dinner time refrain, ‘Drink your milk’ may be replaced by ‘Eat your tofu’ if a group of doctors, nutritionists and the venerable Dr. Spock have their way. Once regarded as a perfect food, cow’s milk is coming under increasing fire as a part of the daily diet of babies….We need to leave cow’s milk where it belongs, in cows.” This is the world crying out now.

“It hasn’t been a good year for milk. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that parents not give their children whole milk during the first year of life because it causes hidden blood loss and possibly anemia….Milk is often contaminated with traces of antibiotics; is a common cause of allergy and digestive problems.” Stockton Record, September 30, 1992. A statistic that interested me was one that suggested that twenty percent of the dairy cows in this country have leukemia. When the truck goes to the dairy farm, all the dairies are pooled into one truck. It is all mixed together. Is it any wonder that Agatha Thrash recently said in a public interview that seven out of nine cartons of milk that come off the grocery store shelves are contaminated with active cancer viruses.

People come to me and say, “You know, Danny, Ellen White said the day would come when God would reveal this.” Friend, all you have to do is open your eyes. It is being revealed all around you through the world today. People come to me and say, “Well, the diet reform needs to be progressive, Brother.” And I say, “How long have you been an Adventist? How old are you? What do you need, another sixty-five years before you are going to throw this stuff away?” Maybe I look too narrow and bigoted when I sit and eat with people because I will no take part of some food that has dairy in it, but I am convicted myself. For myself, I cannot defile my body with cancer viruses. I believe that as we look at the test Daniel’s three friends faced in refusing to bow to the image, we are looking at our future. I do not believe that there is any question that had they failed the test of food, they would never have been prepared to stand the test that followed. “If ever there was a time when the diet should be of the most simple kind, it is now! [1905]” Counsels on Diet and Foods, 389 (Emphasis supplied). We are also told that all those who are preparing for translation to heaven will eat a most simple diet; fruits and grains prepared free from grease will be placed on the tables of all those who are preparing for translation. See ibid., 64.

“Seventh-day Adventists are handling momentous truths. More than forty years ago the Lord gave us special light on health reform, but how are we walking in that light? How many have refused to live in harmony with the counsels of God! As a people, we should make advancement proportionate to the light received.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, 24. Ellen White continues that, “As a people, we should make advancement proportionate to the light received. It is our duty to understand and respect the principles of health reform. On the subject of temperance we should be in advance of all other people; and yet there are among us well-instructed members of the church, and even ministers of the gospel, who have little respect for the light that God has given upon this subject. They eat as they please, and work as they please. Let those who are teachers and leaders in our cause take their stand firmly on Bible ground in regard to health reform and give a straight testimony to those who believe we are living in the last days of this earth’s history. A line of distinction must be drawn between those who serve God, and those who serve themselves.” Ibid.

Peter admonished us to abstain from fleshly lusts that war against the soul. How is it with you, my friend? Are you willing to take your stand on the side of truth, living up to all the light God has given us for this time in which we live?

The End

Editorial – The Need For Scriptural Unity

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“Press together, press together, that you may not be destroyed as were the inhabitants of Jerusalem….Persecution is coming, and God calls upon all to stand firm in Christian love, their hearts knit together, of one mind and one judgment. His people are to cleave to Him, and they are to love one another as He has loved them. Christ’s life is to be their example. In love, in meekness, in humility, they are to follow Him.” Signs of the Times, October 31, 1900

This inspired statement shows that we must press together or be destroyed as the inhabitants of Jerusalem. The destruction of Jerusalem is a symbol of what will happen to the whole world at the end. In spite of this inspired counsel, we see more division and unsanctified independence in Adventism today than ever before. The devil is determined that this unity will never be accomplished:

“Satan well knows that the combined strength of Satanic agencies with that of evil men is but weakness when opposed to a band of faithful, united servants of the great King, though in number they may be few. In order to overcome the people of God, Satan will work upon the elements in the character which have not been transformed by the grace of Christ, and through these unsanctified characteristics, he will seek to bring about disunion among the people of God. Unless these persons who become agents of Satan are converted, their own souls will be lost, and the souls of those who have looked up to them as men led of God will be destroyed with them, because they are partakers with them of their sins. Satan endeavors to create suspicion, envy, and jealousy, and thus lead men to question those things that it would be for their soul’s interest to believe. The suspicious ones will misconstrue everything….and if this spirit is allowed to prevail, it will demoralize our churches and institutions.” Review and Herald, May 14, 1895

Is not this prophecy fulfilled all around us? To fulfill the longing of Christ as expressed in John 17 that God’s people might not be totally destroyed, we must press together and come into perfect unity. We must unify in the way God has specified or we will never have true Christian unity: “We have a testing message to give, and I am instructed to say to our people, ‘Unify, unify.’ But we are not to unify with those who are departing from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. With our hearts sweet and kind and true, we are to go forth to proclaim the message, giving no heed to those who lead away from the truth.” Selected Messages, book 3, 412. ”

Christ calls for unity. But He does not call for us to unify on wrong practices.” Selected Messages, book 1, 175

“The God of heaven draws a sharp contrast between pure, elevating, ennobling truth and false, misleading doctrines. He calls sin and impenitence by the right name. He does not gloss over wrongdoing with a coat of untempered mortar. I urge our brethren to unity upon a true, scriptural basis.” Selected Messages, book, 175.

“We are to unify, but not on a platform of error.” Battle Creek Letters, 111.

“Unify, unify is the word from heaven. The work of bringing about perfect harmony cannot be done in a moment. It will take close examination and careful study on the part of those who bear responsibilities. Not a selfish thread is to be drawn into the web.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 19, 149

Because of this inspired counsel, a number of Historic Seventh-day Adventists met together for counsel and prayer on July 12 at Steps to Life. If we are humble and pray and receive the Holy Spirit, we will be drawn into a perfect unity because Christ is not divided. The universal longing of each was to come together in unity of spirit without compromising one principle of truth. The absence of any type of political spirit was refreshing. We make no claim to have perfect unity yet, but we are all praying about it and studying and looking forward to another meeting to pursue this goal. In order to have unity, several necessary items were studied, such as: What does an Historical Seventh-day Adventist believe—What are the historic tests of fellowship? I believe that God is leading us just as He led our spiritual forefathers in the 1840s to a perfect unity of spirit, thought, doctrine and faith.

We want to invite every Historic Seventh-day Adventist person and institution to pray for unity and to press together. This is no time for independence; it is time for the prayer of Jesus in John 17 to be fulfilled. It will never be fulfilled among those professed Adventists who have essentially rejected the Spirit of Prophecy and who do not believe and who do not believe in the investigative judgment and the other truths of the three angel’s messages. It will never happen to those who are willing to compromise with error or who are unwilling to protest the apostasy. It will never happen to those who reject the New Testament concept of the nature of the church. It can only happen among Historic Seventh-day Adventists. Will you be a part of it?

Editorial – Are You Afraid to Sin?

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“But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.” Romans 6:22

“… now once in the end of the world hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation” (Hebrews 9:26–28).

“It is submission to sin that brings the great unhappiness of the soul. It is not poverty, but disobedience, that lessens man’s hope of gaining eternal life, which the Saviour came to bring him. True riches, true peace, true content, enduring happiness—these are found only in entire surrender to God, in perfect reconciliation to His will.

“Christ came to our world to live a life of stainless purity, thus to show sinners that in His strength they, too, can obey God’s holy precepts, the laws of His kingdom.” The Review and Herald, July 4, 1912.

“Every sin, every unrighteous action, every transgression of the law of God, tells with a thousandfold more force upon the actor than the sufferer. Every time one of the glorious faculties with which God has enriched man is abused or misused, that faculty loses forever a portion of its vigor and will never be as it was before the abuse it suffered. Every abuse inflicted upon our moral nature in this life is felt not only for time but for eternity. Though God may forgive the sinner, yet eternity will not make up that voluntary loss sustained in this life.

“To go forth into the next, the future life, deprived of half the power which might be carried there is a terrible thought. The days of probation lost here in acquiring a fitness for heaven, is a loss which will never be recovered. The capacities of enjoyment will be less in the future life for the misdemeanors and abuse of moral powers in this life. However high we might attain in the future life, we might soar higher and still higher, if we had made the most of our God-given privileges and golden opportunities to improve our faculties here in this probationary existence … .” This Day With God, 350.

The Sanctuary Made Simple – Chapter 7

by Lawrence M. Nelson

The Sanctuary Made Simple bookChapter Seven – Christ The Answer

As we have pointed out in our study, once a year, the earthly sanctuary was to be cleansed. The day on which this event took place was called the Day of Atonement. It was a great and solemn day for the children of Israel. It was particularly holy also, for no one was permitted to do any work on this day. It was the keystone of the sacrificial system. Any man, woman, or child who did not make the needed preparation in afflicting his soul, making sure that his every sin had been taken into the sanctuary and separated from him, was to be cut off from the people of Israel. We read of this in Leviticus 23:29, “For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people.” And so the Day of Atonement was a solemn occasion, for everyone had to examine himself to make sure that every sin in his life had been carried within the sanctuary.

In a short review, let us quickly enumerate once more the steps by which sin was separated from the sinner, and carried into the sanctuary. You remember, first the sinner must experience true contrition and repentance, represented by bringing a specified animal for sacrifice to the door of the tabernacle. There, he placed his hands upon its head, and confessed his sin, thus transferring his sin to the lamb. Then, with his own hand, he had to take a knife and slay the victim, for the innocent victim must die for his sins. Next, the priest would bring a bowl and take of the blood from the Iamb, which now in type carried the sin, which he then brought within the sanctuary, and sprinkled it upon the veil. In this way, the man’s sin was forgiven, and transferred into the sanctuary. You can readily see that during the year, with a great number of people, that there was an enormous accumulation of sin within the tabernacle. But once a year, God purposed that these sins would be removed from the sanctuary by a cleansing process. In our last study, we learned that the priest would take the blood of the sin offering, and enter within the most holy, and there sprinkle the blood upon the mercy seat. Thus signifying that the terms of the broken law had been satisfied. Then, symbolically, he would gather the sins and take them out of the sanctuary, and place them all upon the head of the scapegoat, which would be led away from the camp of Israel into the wilderness to die. In this manner, the sanctuary was cleansed on the great Day of Atonement.

We have discovered that the Lord Jesus Christ entered the heavenly sanctuary’s most holy place within the veil in October 1844, to conduct a final atonement process in the heavenly sanctuary since that date. This has been taking place for over 150 years now, and this work, I believe, will soon be finished. Any individual who has not made sure that every sin is confessed and forgiven will be separated forever from God when the final act of atonement is made; for Jesus will stand up and declare, “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and He that is filthy, let him be filthy still, and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still” Revelation 22:11. Our only hope is in Jesus Christ’s power to enable a sinner to overcome sin. Thus Christ is the only answer to the sin problem.

But, today Satan is spreading abroad a new philosophy which is completely contrary to the sanctuary services and its teaching. He is leading men to think that their sin will be winked at by God, or will not be discovered before Jesus comes. ln Numbers 32:23, we are admonished with words that would be well to ponder, “Behold, ye have sinned against the Lord: and be sure your sin will find you out.”

Some years ago, a traveling newspaper correspondent observed a man carrying an old cane with some peculiar carvings on it. He thought very little of it, until two months later he was in the same vicinity and learned that an elderly man and his wife had been beaten to death. No one seemed to know why the murders had been committed, for the elderly couple had been loved by all. This man and his wife had been beaten to death with some kind of a stick. The correspondent went to the authorities, and gave them a description of the man he had seen with a strange looking cane. Six months later, the police found the man and brought him to justice. The judge was seated, the jury chosen, but the man had an alibi for every indictment. It seemed that the court couldn’t prove a thing against him. The judge was actually beginning to believe that maybe they had the wrong man, and the jury felt likewise. Until, the door of the courtroom opened and the newspaper correspondent walked down the aisle, in his hand he carried the blood-stained cane that he had found in the woods near the victim’s home. When the man who was accused of this brutal slaying saw the cane, his face suddenly turned white, and he began to tremble. Then everyone in the courtroom knew that he was guilty . . . be sure your sin will find you out!

There are many today who think that they can give a reasonable answer as to why they don’t surrender their sins to Jesus, and ask Him to plead their case before God. These individuals are also able to convince their pastors that they are pretty good and they are headed for the kingdom. But, God knows! And there are wives who deceive their husbands, leading them to think that they have been true to their marriage vows; but God knows! And there are some sons and daughters who convince their parents that they are just about perfect; but God knows! Some even have the ability to convince themselves that they are quite religious, and somehow will be saved when Jesus comes; but God knows! The Lord declares, “Shall not God search this out? For he knoweth the secrets of the heart.” Psalm 44:21.

Let’s bring this closer home to us as individuals. Imagine with me that there is a certain young man who has a wife and two children. This young man–we’ll call him Jim–is a good looking fellow; he has an excellent job and is a fine citizen. He pays his taxes, is well thought of in the community, he may even go to church. But, all the time he is under the conviction that he should come to Jesus and confess his sins, so he can be cleansed with His blood. However, Jim never gets around to doing what he knows he ought to do. Why? Well, maybe it is the Sabbath. He knows that the Bible teaches that the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord his God. He knows that it’s a part of the divine law and he should keep it. But, there is a problem, maybe it just isn’t convenient to honor God’s day. Maybe he is having a struggle over returning tithe to God. He knows that ten percent of his income belongs to the Lord. Jim has so many blessings, a beautiful wife and two little girls, a car, a lovely home, but he also wants many other things. He feels he just can’t afford to pay tithe; or so he thinks. Maybe he has a problem with some secret bad habit, like smoking, or having an occasional drink with the boys after work. He doesn’t think anybody knows about this, but you see, God knows! Or it could be the love of some pleasure that in his heart he knows is contrary to God, but he just can’t seem to give it up. Perhaps the real issue in his mind is that he has never been baptized. He knows what God’s word says in John 3:5, “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” But he has continued to put it off. The issue here is–a young man with sin in his life.

Now, let us suppose that one day something happens that Jim didn’t plan on. He might have been thinking deeply about his work, and without looking, he starts across the street. Suddenly he is hit by a car, and his life is instantly snuffed out! The funeral is held in the church which is filled to capacity with many of his friends. The pastor, thinking that Jim was ready for the kingdom, presents a wonderful eulogy; but what do you think? Can God accept this young man? Can Jim, now dead, do anything to correct his faulty, sinful record left on the books of heaven? What does God say about our condition when we are dead? For “the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they anymore a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun. . . . Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.” Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6, 10.

The word of God has made it very clear that since Jim is dead he cannot do anything to correct his past mistakes. He’s dead, he’s buried; but is this the end? Oh, no! We read in God’s word that this man must now be judged. In the book of Hebrews 9:27, are these words: “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.”

Now we have arrived at the crucial issue having to do with the judgment and the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary.

In the autumn of 1844, when Jesus Christ stepped in before the throne of God within the most holy place the judgment proceedings began. There are no words in the Bible that are more striking than those describing this judgment scene. “I beheld till the thrones were cast down (placed) and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.” Daniel 7:9, 10.

Consider what happened when this great court of God convened in heaven in the year 1844. The first case would be that of Abel, who had been murdered by his brother Cain, for he was the first man to die in this world. Abel was a sinner, for–“all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23. Yet, he believed in the Savior, and did as God had required. He took a Iamb and confessed his sins over it transferring them to the Iamb, and then with his own hand, he slew the sacrifice. When the books were opened, in which were recorded the sins of Abel, Jesus Christ was standing before God, pleading for Abel. “I have covered his sins with my blood. I want him to live in heaven with us.” God looks at Jesus, and then speaks those wonderful words: “Retain his name in the Book of Life.”

Next case, . . .we don’t know whose name came up next, but eventually Cain died and let us suppose that his name came up next. Was Cain a religious man? You would hardly think so, since the Bible says he murdered his brother. But, look a little closer. You will find that indeed he was quite a religious man. Cain thought himself righteous and came to God with a thank offering. Only he made no confession of sin. Instead of bringing a lamb for a sacrifice for his sins, he decided that he would go out to his garden and dig up some vegetables for his sacrifice. He built an altar, and placed the fruit of his labor upon the altar as an offering. Then he knelt down and prayed, asking God to accept his offering. But, God would not accept this substitute for sin. No one can ever earn salvation by his self righteousness. Remember the words of Hebrews 9:22, “Without the shedding of blood is no remission.” Cain presumed upon God’s mercy and grace. He did not bring a sacrificial lamb, representing Christ. And God will never accept a counterfeit. Since God would not accept his counterfeit sacrifice Cain became so angry that he killed his brother, Abel. All this is recorded in the books of heaven. As the books were opened and the record was revealed, could Jesus stand up as Cain’s advocate? As far as we know, He could not. There is nothing in the Bible to indicate that Cain ever accepted Jesus. He did not obey the requirements of Christ as outlined in the sacrificial system of the sanctuary. Can you imagine the sorrow of Jesus as God says, “Put Cain’s name in the book of death.”

And so, the judgment goes on for all people who ever lived on this earth. Everyone is judged according to the records in the books of heaven. Each individual is accepted or rejected as determined by the answer to one question: Has the blood of Christ covered his/her sins?

Now let’s go back to the funeral of this young man, Jim, who was killed by an automobile. A person may live a fairly good life, but not obey God in his daily living. What happens to him in the judgment? Did Christ do everything for Jim that he might be saved? Watch Jesus as He points to the nail prints in His hands, and to the wound in His side, and then says, ‘Father, I gave my life for that young man. Father, I died on Calvary, what more could I have done for him? But, he would not obey; he would not accept my sacrifice as provided. Therefore, I cannot cover his sins with my blood.” Slowly, but surely God says, “Put his name in the book of death.”

Am I making this too real? The sanctuary services are simple to understand. Friend, this is exactly what is going on in the heavenly sanctuary today. The cleansing of the sanctuary in heaven is real!

“Soon, none know how soon, the judgment will pass to the living.” Great Controversy, 1888 Edition, pg. 490.

lt makes us think seriously, doesn’t it? Are we ready for our names to come up before God?

There is more to the story of Jim’s experience even though his name was blotted out of the book of life. This is not the end for Jim as we shall see.

When Jesus comes the second time a resurrection will take place. “The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” I Thessalonians 4:16, 17. In this first resurrection, when Jesus returns to this earth, Jim will not come forth from his grave. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life will be raised in the first resurrection.

Now, what about Jim’s family? Let’s say that as time went on, his wife and daughters lived faithfully; keeping the commandments of God, making sure every sin was confessed and covered by the blood of Jesus until the day they, too, went into the grave. When Jesus comes in the clouds with ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands of angels, He looks upon the graves of His sleeping saints and calls for the righteous to come forth. This mother and daughters will come out of their graves clothed in immortality. No doubt, Jim’s wife will look around for her husband, and the girls will be looking for dad. When they see that his grave beside theirs has not been opened, tears fill their eyes, but God says that He shall wipe away all tears. Then with overwhelming joy they are lifted up by the angels to meet the Lord in the air and taken to heaven where they will spend the next one thousand years. “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.” Revelation 20:6.

But, what about Jim–where is he–what will happen to him? Regarding the second resurrection, Revelation 20:5 says, “But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.” At the end of the thousand years, Jesus is going to come back to this earth the third time with all His living saints, and He will also bring with him that great city, the New Jerusalem. As Jesus descends to the earth, the second resurrection of the dead takes place. It is the resurrection of the wicked. The Bible speaks of them as the sands of the seashore, or humanly speaking, they are without number! These still have the same spirit of rebellion and resistance to God’s requirements as they had while living on the earth.

Picture with me, Jim, as he comes forth in this final resurrection. He looks around, and sees the city of God, the New Jerusalem. He is troubled, and says, “That’s strange, this isn’t like what I used to read in my Bible.” and then, he sees the wicked of all ages milling around, what a sight! Something is wrong. Then he remembers that he did not obey God, and follow Christ in the way of salvation as taught in the sanctuary service. He did not repent and confess his sins. He did not transfer his sins to Jesus and accept His death for his sins. He did not allow Christ to take his sins into the sanctuary, and separate those sins from his sinful heart.

Therefore, Christ was unable to be his advocate before God. Christ would have gladly covered his sins with His blood and blotted them out. So the scripture is finally fulfilled, “Be sure your sins will find you out,” as fire comes down from God out of heaven, and devours Jim with his unforgiven sins.

But this need never happen to you or me–not when Christ has provided such a wonderful way of escape. Remember, there is no one in this world who has gone too far in the depths of sin but Jesus can forgive and save. Isaiah tell us, “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Isaiah 1:18. There is hope for every one of us. “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” Hebrews 7:25.

Yes! Jesus is the answer. He alone can save us. In His righteousness He can present your case before the Father, and He can pronounce you as one who has never sinned. This may sound too good to be real, but it is true. Do not hesitate–come boldly to Jesus. The Savior will make an atonement for you and be your personal Advocate. Remember, Christ is the answer to all your sins and to all your needs.

End

The Sanctuary Made Simple – Chapter 6

by Lawrence M. Nelson

The Sanctuary Made Simple bookChapter Six – Christ The Advocate

In chapter four as we studied Daniel 8:14, we discovered some amazing facts concerning a prophecy that covered some 2,300 years of this world’s history: “Unto two thousand and three hundred days, then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” This great time prophecy was divided into two sections. The first section covered 490 years; the second a remaining 1,810 years of this prophecy, which brings us to the fall of 1844 A.D. Now, the prophet wrote of this exact date, read it again in Daniel 8:14: “And the angel said unto me, unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.”

Before we can understand what is meant by the words, “then shall the sanctuary be cleansed,” we must understand which sanctuary is being referred to, for you will recall that there are two sanctuaries mentioned in the Bible; one during the time of Moses which continued until Christ, and the other that was, and is, in heaven. The author of the book of Hebrews wrote in Hebrews 9:1: “Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine services, and a worldly sanctuary.” The time period covered by this first covenant extended from Moses to the cross. Paul is telling us of the sanctuary that was here on this earth. He describes it in the next four verses: “For there was a tabernacle made: the first, wherein is called the sanctuary. And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all (Holy): which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; And over it the Cherubims of glory shadowing the mercy seat,” Now, no one can mistake what Paul is talking about: He is describing the earthly sanctuary, (or tabernacle that was erected in the wilderness), and referring to such articles that were found therein, such as the golden pot containing manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded.

The earthly tabernacle services were performed until the day when Solomon’s temple was built; then continued in the temple until the building was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. Later, in the days of Zechariah the prophet, the temple was rebuilt. This was the sanctuary of the first covenant that was standing in the days when Christ was here on earth.

Now you recall that the priest went into the first apartment of the sanctuary every day of the year to perform the work of separating sin from the sinners. There was only one day of the year in which the high priest could go beyond the veil that separated the first and the second apartments and enter the holy of holies. This was on the Day of Atonement when he entered into the second apartment for the purpose of cleansing it. The sanctuary pointed to the Lord Jesus Christ as our redeemer. The entire sanctuary service was symbolic of Christ’s priestly ministry, and Christ was represented in every sacrifice.

But, remember that every article connected with the sanctuary pointed to the Lord Jesus Christ as our redeemer: The golden candlestick was symbolic of Jesus–the light of the world, as He said, “I am the light of the world.” John 8:12. The shewbread represented Jesus Christ, who said, “I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger.” He was the true bread that came down from heaven, on Whom we can feed and live forever. The altar of incense revealed Christ as our Intercessor and Redeemer, pleading our case before God. The mercy seat, symbolizing God’s throne, depicts our atonement, He who gives us pardon through the merits of His blood. The altar of burnt offering or sacrifice, served to present Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, Who offered Himself to die for us. And there was the layer, which pointed to Christ as the One Who cleanses us and makes us acceptable before the very presence of our great God.

It is a marvelous revelation that the entire sanctuary service was symbolic of Christ’s priestly ministry. He was represented in every sacrifice, and fulfilled both phases of the priesthood–the first by dying for fallen man, and the second by pleading before the Father for every repentant sinner. But all of these things–the articles and furnishings of the earthly sanctuary, as well as the system of animal sacrifices and all of the offerings and services performed by the priests–came to an end when Christ, the Lamb of God, hung on the cross, dying,–when He cried, “It is finished!”; and the inner veil of the temple was ripped from the top to the bottom. This represented Christ’s body being torn in death.

When Christ ascended to heaven, He entered not “into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself now to appear in the presence of God for us:” So, the earthly sanctuary came to an end. Remember, it was destroyed in A.D. 70 by the Roman army.

“Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: we have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.” Hebrews 8:1, 2. This sanctuary that is to be cleansed, is the sanctuary that is in heaven, where Jesus is now mediating. The worldly sanctuary was for the first covenant. The heavenly sanctuary is concerned with the new, or everlasting covenant. In other words, the new covenant took the place of the old covenant, when it was established by the blood of Christ on Calvary’s cross. This heavenly sanctuary, then, took the place of the earthly sanctuary. The earthly priest had ministered in the earthly sanctuary until Christ was crucified but, when the Lamb of God offered His life once and for all, Jesus entered into heaven to administer His blood for us in the heavenly sanctuary as our High Priest.

The priests, under the old covenant, performed their ministry in relationship to the Ten Commandments. So, Jesus Christ our high priest, now in heaven, under the new covenant performs His ministry in relation to these same Ten Commandments; the original law of God. We read in Hebrews 8:8-10: “Behold the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.” Now notice this– “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.” What is God saying? He says that under the new covenant, He is going to take away sin out of our hearts, and He says, “I will give you a new heart, and write my law in your heart.” You notice God did not say, “I will abolish my covenant, and give you a new law.” and neither did He say, “I will give grace to supersede the Ten Commandments.” What God is really trying to tell us is that because of His grace, He will write His law in our hearts, and bring our lives into conformity to His precepts. Isn’t that simple? Perhaps I should say isn’t that beautiful? To think that God would do this for us?

Now you can easily see that during a year’s time, there would be a multitude of sins that had gathered in the earthly sanctuary. This is what made it necessary to cleanse the sanctuary, or blot out the record of those sins, and take them out of the sanctuary as described in Leviticus 16. And so it was, that there was a day known as “The Day of Atonement”, in which the sanctuary was cleansed. Two goats of the same age were brought before the high priest. He would cast lots; one was chosen to be sacrificed and would be killed, and its blood would be taken within the sanctuary and sprinkled on the mercy seat to satisfy the claims of the law. In order to do this, the priest must go within the veil, into the most holy place, which could only be done once a year. In performing this act he would, figuratively, gather up all the sins that had been forgiven and take them with him out of the sanctuary and place his hands upon the scapegoat, transferring all of these sins to the scapegoat (Satan), which would then be taken out into the wilderness to die. In this manner, all sins were removed from the sanctuary, thus it could be said, the sanctuary was now cleansed.

All that transpired in the earthly sanctuary was a type, a pattern, or a shadow of the work that Christ is now performing in the heavenly sanctuary. So Christ, with his own blood, pleads for us before the Father in heaven. I John 2:1, “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”

What we need to fully understand is the work that Jesus our personal advocate is now doing in the heavenly sanctuary during the final atonement. So few Christians have any concept of the sanctuary, in which the Lord is not only our intercessor, and our mediator, but our advocate. Think of it. If we will accept Christ and fully surrender our hearts to Him, He will personally plead His blood for us. It’s almost too good to be true! Our Elder Brother in heaven pleading before God for you and for me. This is what happens when we confess our sins to the Lord. He rises up before the Father in heaven, holding up those nail-pierced hands, saying, “Father, My blood, My blood, I have shed My blood for these dear ones. By the merits of My sacrifice on Calvary, I now plead that you accept My sinless life for these sinful lives.”

I think a poet has given this picture in beautiful words: “Father, I bring this repentant child to Thee, to claim Thy pardon yet once again. Receive him at My hands, for he is Mine. Look not on him. He cannot bear Thy glance. Look thou on Me; his vileness, I will hide. I am his Advocate. By that unchanged, unchanging oath of Mine, by each pure drop of blood I lost for him, by all the sorrows graven on My soul, by every wound I bear, I claim it due. Father, Father divine, I cannot have him lost. He is a precious soul, for whom I died. Sin hath nearly destroyed him, but sin hath died in Me. Death hath pursued him, but I have conquered death. Satan hath bound him, but Satan is My slave. Father, hear not him, not him, but Me. I would not have him lost for all the world. Thou for My glory hath ordained and made.” What a beautiful picture the poet has described. How thankful we should be for such an advocate as we have in Jesus Christ, who is before the throne of God now, pleading our case. This is why it tells us in Hebrews 7:25, “Wherefore he (Christ) is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.”

From 34 A.D. until 1844 Christ ministered within the first apartment of the sanctuary, according to the terms of the new covenant. But, in 1844, Christ entered within the veil, just as the priest in the earthly sanctuary did on the Day of Atonement to cleanse the sanctuary. This is what we read in Daniel 8:14, “Unto two thousand three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” So Christ our high priest left the first apartment, of the heavenly sanctuary in 1844 and entered the second apartment to finish His mediatorial work, to become our Advocate.

Soon, very soon, Jesus is going to finish the cleansing work. And He will throw down His censer as the great High Priest, and He will say as we read in Revelation 22:11, “He That is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.” After that decree is issued, there will be no more appeal by our Advocate. For Christ has now been in the second apartment of the sanctuary since 1844. For over 150 years Christ has been officiating in the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary. First, for the righteous dead and He will end with the judgment of the living. Soon, oh so soon, He is going to return, as it says in the scripture, “without sin unto salvation.” (“Without sin” means that He is dealing, not with the sin problem but to take His people home to heaven.)

Please permit me to illustrate the importance of having an advocate. There was an accountant employed in the capital city of Russia many years ago. He knew that the auditors were coming, and that they would discover that he was bankrupt. He had embezzled the money for his own purpose. This could mean only one thing; his life would be taken. As he brooded over his fatal mistake, he drew up a list of all the debts that he owed, and he wrote at the bottom of that list the question: Who is going to pay for all of these debts? In the turmoil of his mind, he fell asleep at his desk.

Now it so happened that Alexander I, the Czar of Russia, was making a tour of that very building in which this man slept at his desk. As he entered this accountant’s office, he saw that the man was sleeping. He went over to the desk and saw the paper lying on the desk. He picked it up and read the list of this man’s debts. And when he read the question, “Who is going to pay all of this debt? He was suddenly seized with a good impulse. He took out his golden pen, and he wrote these words, “I Alexander.” Can you imagine the thrill of this man when he awoke? He knew his master’s signature and knew that his master would pay. He had been saved from death!

This is exactly what Christ is doing for us today. What a terrible list of sins are on the record books of heaven. If you and I were to look at our own sins on our records, we would feel hopeless. But, thank God, Jesus Christ will say to all who have confessed and repented, “I will blot out your sins.” Thank God, our Advocate is sufficient. Just now, He stands ready to wash away your sins, and when the times of refreshing shall come, to blot them out forever.

We dare not presume on Christ’s mercies. Sinners who have not repented of their sins, will not have the privilege of having Christ as their Advocate. Verily, Christ will say to them, “Depart from Me, ye that work iniquity;” these will bear their own guilt and punishment, and after the 1,000 years will suffer in the lake of fire.

Friend, we need to put ourselves in the hands of Jesus Christ this very moment; in the hands of our great Advocate, for He alone can save us.

Chapter 7 ⇒