witnessing

Attention: Help Wanted, Workers Needed

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Dear Brethren and Sisters in Christ: We are living in a most solemn time. Important responsibilities are resting upon us. New fields are being opened for our labor, and the Macedonian cry is coming from every direction: “Come over and help us.” Some beg for even a day of labor with them, if they can have no more. Angels of God are preparing ears to hear, and hearts to receive the message of warning. Honest souls are living in our very midst who have never yet heard the reasons of our faith. People are perishing for want of knowledge. Not one-hundreth part is being done that might be done to give the third angel’s message to the world. There are those who will be responsible for these souls who have never heard the truth. Many excuse themselves with trivial reasons, for not engaging in the work they might do if they were consecrated to God. They have wrapped their talents in a napkin and buried them in the ground, where they cannot increase.

Young men have lost years of experience wherein they might have been growing in grace and in the knowledge of the truth. But love of self and love of the world has engrossed their minds to the exclusion of eternal interests. God would have accepted them as laborers years ago, if they had been willing to give themselves unreservedly to His work. Now, when there are doors open everywhere for the entrance of the truth, there are but a few who have sufficient courage and experience to carry it forward in the name of Jesus.

The very ones who should be valuable workmen have wasted these precious years in selfishly following their own inclinations. They have turned a deaf ear when the Master called them to lift upleasant burdens, to perform disagreeable duties. Many have little care for the souls for whom Christ died. The Majesty of Heaven submitted to the most cruel humiliation that HE might lift degraded man to a state of purity and eternal joy.

“Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.” In the death of Christ we see the greatness of God’s love for His sinful children. He sacrificed His dear Son to save them from eternal ruin. All heaven is interested in the salvation of souls. We should be willing and ready to make all sacrifices in order to win souls to Jesus. This would evidence that we are co-laborers with Him, that we are faithfully bearing the cross. To shun the solemn responsibilities of our time and position is to weaken the moral powers and enfeeble the spiritual muscle.

The divine command given to Moses found him self-distrustful, slow of speech, and timid. He was overwhelmed by a sense of his incapacity to be a mouth-piece for God to Israel. But he accepted the work, putting all his trust in the Lord. The greatness of his mission called into exercise the best powers of his mind. God blessed his ready obedience, and he became eloquent, hopeful, self-possessed, and well-fitted for the greatest work ever given to man. This is an example of what God does to strengthen the characters of those who trust Him implicitly, and give themselves unreservedly to His commands.

The work of saving souls is sacred and all-important. The humble, efficient worker, who obediently responds to the call of God in this direction, may be sure of receiving divine assistance. To feel so great and holy a responsibility is of itself elevating to the human character. It calls into action the highest mental qualities, and their continued exercise strengthens and purifies mind and heart. The influence upon one’s own life, as well as upon the lives of others, is incalculable.

He who is called of God to so sacred a work should bend all his energies to its accomplishment. Every other consideration should become secondary to this great object. He should feel the solemn obligations resting upon him, one whom God has honored by choosing to unite him with the angels in the work of ministering to souls and enlightening them with the divine truth.

It is wonderful how strong a weak man may become through faith in the power of God, how decided his efforts, how prolific of great results. And the timid woman, shrinking and self-distrustful, is transformed to a courageous missionary, valiantly wielding the sword of truth. The hesitating and irresolute, through exercising his abilities in the cause of God, becomes firm and decided. Taking in the great fact that he is called by the Redeemer of the world to work with Him for the salvation of man, he dedicates his life to the work. His nature becomes exalted; the mission of Christ opens before him with new importance and glory, and with deep humility he recognizes in himself a co-laborer with the Saviour. No higher office is given to man. No joy can equal the assurance of being an instrument in the hands of God of saving souls. It is a grand thing to look back upon a course of labor all marked with glorious results; to see precious souls progressing in the light through your efforts; to feel that God has worked with and through you in the harvest-field of the world.

Careless spectators may not appreciate your work, or see its importance. They may consider it a losing business, a life of thankless labor and self-sacrifice. But the servant of Jesus Christ sees in it the light reflected from the cross. His sacrifices appear small in comparison with those of his blessed Master, and he is glad to follow in His footsteps. The success of his labor affords him the purest joy, and is the richest recompense for a life of patient toil. In reviewing the past, the trials, and difficulties that have beset him are not magnified in his mind. The consciousness of duty performed amply compensates for all his sufferings, and the glory of his coming reward clothes the future with the light of Heaven. Glancing over the well-fought field of life, he says with Paul, “For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

But he who accepts the responsibility of teaching the Word of God, must expect stern, self-denying work. Some who are only superficially acquainted with the doctrines of our faith, venture indiscreetly before the public in large towns, and, from their ignorance and indiscretion, bring discredit upon the cause. These young men who so rashly undertake to stand as ministers of God, fail because they lack thoroughness. They acquaint themselves with the reasons of our faith, and gather up the arguments ready-made from the lips or pens of others. They do not carefully study the Word of God, and establish themselves firmly on the principles of Bible truth, line upon line, precept upon precept. With such a preparation they can boldly meet the opposition of the world. Our ministers are in danger of using only the facts sought out by others, and going no further. They do not themselves dig for truth as for hidden treasures, but become careless and easily satisfied with the researches of others. They need a deep religious experience and knowledge gained for themselves in order to be successful in the important work of the ministry.

Many fail to see the necessity of earnest effort and close connection with Jesus Christ. They do not feel their utter helplessness without the aid of God, and they do not teach the truth with the Spirit and power, because they have it not in their hearts. It requires agonizing prayer to bring our souls into harmony with Christ. The history of our Saviour’s conflict in the wilderness of temptation, His life of self-sacrificing love, His soul-agony in the lonely garden of Gethsemane, the cruelty of the judgment hall, and the agony upon the cross, all combine to teach us a lesson of self-sacrifice, of patience under affliction, of solemn consecration to God, and of fitting preparation for his holy work.

Laborers for God, be not discouraged; when weary and heavy-laden, fly to Christ who has promised you rest. He is the Burden-bearer, He is your strength. Never allow yourself to imagine that you are in yourself sufficient for the exigency of the times; never consider yourself a graduated Christian. Your work is to discipline the mind, to store up knowledge, to perfect character while life lasts. Only thus can you be able to wage successfully the great warfare of life.

Keep the spirit humble as that of a little child. Pride, envy, worldly ambition, cupidity, and love of ease must be sacrificed upon the altar of duty. In the simplicity of love, be like those little ones whose angels do always behold the face of our Heavenly Father. But unite with these virtues the courage of a tried warrior. We want faithful Calebs who will raise their voices fearlessly in defense of the right, who are the first to press into the front of the battle and plant the banner of truth in the heart of the enemy’s camp.

Jesus calls for young men who will volunteer to carry the truth to the world. Men of spiritual nerve and muscle are wanted, who are able to find work close at hand, because they are looking for it. The church needs new men to give new energy to the ranks, men for the times, and able to cope with its crying error, who will inspire with fresh zeal the flagging efforts of the few, whose hearts are warm with Christian love, and whose hands are eager to go about their Father’s work.

The unsearchable riches of Christ are to be presented to the world in contrast with the poverty of sin, and the delusive pleasures of the world. Only a heart, brimming with the love of God, only a mind active by constant study of eternal interests, can properly set forth the beauties of the truth of God.

Those who unreservedly give themselves to this work, who faithfully reflect the beams of the Sun of Righteousness, fulfilling their mission with fidelity and love, will be recompensed on earth by the sweet consciousness of duty performed, and, in the bright hereafter, when the saints come into their inheritance, then the devoted minister of Christ will be welcomed into the joy of his Lord, hearing from the Master’s lips: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” Signs of the Times, September, 7, 1876.

The End

Marvelous Stories of Evangelism

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The duty of taking the Three Angels’ Messages to the whole world rests upon us as Historic Seventh-day Adventists. Evan Sadler has had many years of experience as a street evangelist and has been doing what many more of us should be doing—sharing our faith with others. “We are living in a most solemn time. Important responsibilities are resting upon us. . . Angels of God are preparing ears to hear, and hearts to receive the message of warning. And in our very midst honest souls are living who have never yet heard the reasons of our faith. People are perishing for want of knowledge. Not one-hundredth part is being done that might be done to give the third angel’s message to the world.” Review and Herald, October 22, 1914.

May these stories encourage you in your walk with the Lord and embolden you to be a mighty witness for Him.

– The Editors

The Priest that Wept

I had a priest weep once. In 1982 I was staying with a former Catholic couple who are now Seventh-day Adventists, because I had knocked on their door—at that time I only knew five Bible texts! And now the Sabbath was about to come in, and the phone rang. When I answered, my friend Jimmy said, “I’m in the mental institution, I’ve had a nervous breakdown. Would you come and see me?” I said certainly.

We prayed together before I went that I might help this man. When I arrived Jimmy said, “I’ll tell you, Evan, I’m a bit upset. You tell me that the Catholic church has changed the ten commandments and then we go to the priests and they tell us that you’re a heretic!”

But I said, “They didn’t tell you that they didn’t change it did they?”

His answer was, “I wish that there was a priest here and you and he could sort this thing out.” I prayed, “Lord, I pray that you would open Jimmy’s eyes.”

I was there about half an hour talking to this friend in the big lounge, and who do you think walked in the door? It was a priest! Jimmy and I had been talking things over and I had my Bible out, and after this priest walked around and talked to everybody, he came and sat down next to us. He was an old Irishman, 73 years old. He said, “And what would you be doing boys?”

Jimmy said, “Oh, father. We’re just looking at the Bible.”

“Yes, sir,” I said, “We’re just reading the Bible.”

The priest said, “Oh, that’s wonderful! It’s the rock and the pillar of the faith.”

I replied, “It’s the rock and pillar of my faith, sir.”

He said, “Well, what else would you be talking about?”

I said, “Well, sir, we’re talking about deception.”

He said, “Oh, yes? Why would you be talking about that?”

I said, “Well, it says in Matthew 24:37 that as it was in the days of Noah so it would be in the days of the coming of the Son of man. Doesn’t it say that?”

He answered, “It’s true, it’s there!”

I said, “Do you think, sir, that the world will be deceived by things that look good or by things that look bad?”

He said, “Well, the way you put it, it seems they’ll be deceived by the things that look good.”

I said, “That’s right! How many were saved out of the flood?”

He said, “Well, the way you put it, it was four men and four women.”

I said, “That’s right! And what about all the rest of the people that perished, did they think they were right or did they think they were wrong?”

He said, “Well, the way you put it, they must have thought they were right.”

I said, “That’s right! Come down awhile till Jesus was killed—who was right at that time?”

He said, “Well, the way you put it, it must of been only Him.”

I said, “That’s right! What about the major church at the time?”

He said, “Well, they must have been wrong—the way you put it.”

I said, “Does this mean that Jesus was right and the whole of Israel was wrong?”

He said, “That’s right.” And I said, “Now let’s come down to about the sixteenth century.”

He said, “Wait a minute! What are you getting at?” Because he had been set up all the way, hadn’t he? I’d laid the ground, and I wasn’t trying to be funny. God wanted that man in heaven. But you can rest assured, friends, that anyone that will be there is going to have to go on God’s terms.

So he said, “Well, what are you getting at?”

“What I’m getting at, sir, is that the Catholic church has changed the ten commandments.”

He said, “Now, we-we-we-we’ve never done that! We’ve not done that. We’ve only adjusted them!”

I said, “You have changed them. I’ve got the proof.”

He said, “Well, we only adjusted them in the fourth century, but we’ve never changed them.”

I said, “Jimmy, you rang me up and asked me to pray for you that you might see; because the priests told you one thing and I told you something else and you were confused and didn’t know what to believe. And here, by the grace of God, a priest has come along and sat down here and he’s told us that they’ve never changed the ten commandments, they’ve only adjusted them. Isn’t that double-Dutch?”

Jimmy blinked and said, “Yeah.”

I told the priest, which was only my duty, “I can tell you when they changed them, why they changed them, from what they changed them, to what they changed them.”

He wept. He said, “I’ve given me whole life to the church.”

I said, “Brother, it’s time you gave the rest of your life to Jesus; because bricks and mortar can never save you.”

The Evolutionist

A friend and I were on the street one night giving out tracts outside a university in New Zealand. My friend gave a tract to a student outside a McDonalds restaurant and who came along but the professor. A student had met him on the street and had said, “Look at this sacrilege! These people don’t believe in evolution.”

Terrible isn’t it? “These people don’t believe in evolution.” How sad!

He found my friend, and he said, “Did you give this tract out?”

My friend said, “Yes, I did sir, but my friend Evan up the road, he’s responsible for giving the tract out.”

The professor said, “My name is Professor ‘Whatever-His-Name-Is.’ I’m qualified to tell you you’re wrong.”

My friend said, “How come?”

He said, “Because I have a Ph.D.”

My friend said, “Oh my! Is that right? You have a Ph.D.? Whoa!”

The professor said, “Yes.” He didn’t realize my friend was taking the Mickey out of him.

My friend said, “Wow! I can’t argue with that.” The professor grinned a bit. And then my friend said, “But I have a video at home, and it’s pro-Christianity, and it destroys evolution, and it was made by a man with two Ph.Ds. So your own argument is destroyed!”

So the professor’s head dropped and his tongue came out in exhaustion, because God will make fools out of the wise.

One Theologian

One day I was at the airport in Los Angeles and I had said a prayer that the Lord would protect me. I never take airplane flights for granted, I pray for protection. I also prayed that I might be able to talk to somebody on the plane who might be interested in salvation. We were in the air about 15 minutes. I had my old Bible open reading from Peter. I was sitting by the isle and a man was sitting by the window. He said to me, “I see you’ve been reading your Bible.”

I said, “Yeah! That’s the only real thing you can count on in this world.”

He said, “My name is Dr. ‘Such-and-Such’ from Spokane Presbyterian College and I’ve just been holding an evangelical campaign down in Brazil and I’m heading home. . .” He said, during the course of the conversation, that the ten commandments had been nailed to the cross.

I said to him, “The only thing you can count on is the Bible, and there’s only one other thing you can count on sir.”

He said, “What’s that?”

I said, “Throughout history, theologians have always been on the wrong side.”

And he said, “That’s a bit tuff isn’t it?”

I said, “That’s history friend. You tell me when the theologians have been right. At the time of the crucifixion of Christ? At the time of the Babylonian captivity? At the time of the flood? You show to me in history when the theologians have been right. They’ve never been right, the dead sure thing is that they’ve been wrong. Do you believe there’s going to be a judgment or not?”

He said, “Well, I think so.”

I said, “The Bible says there is going to be a judgment. Who do you think God will hold responsible for all the wickedness in the world in the day of judgment?”

He said, “I don’t know, you tell me.”

I said, “People like you. People like you who have said that the ten commandments were nailed to the cross. My Bible says that babes and fools will understand this truth, so I’m qualified to talk to you about this issue. You correct me if I’m wrong because I don’t want to be deluded and I don’t want to lose eternal life and I don’t want to deceive other people. I thought from what I’m seeing in the world that if ever the world needed the ten commandments it’s today, not tomorrow. I thought that Christians kept the ten commandments and heathens didn’t. And I thought Christians kept them not to be saved, that’s legalism. They keep them because they are saved. They don’t keep them in their own power, that’s not acceptable to God; they keep them through the power of the risen Christ in them.”

He couldn’t fault that reasoning. But then I showed him the time of Moses. He grinned and said to me, “One thing, sir, if the ten commandments still stand, I want you to show me where every single one of them is in the New Testament.” He looked at me with a dead serious look on his face because he knew that he had just trapped me—I could see that little grin behind his serious face. He wasn’t a professor for nothing, because he had been dealing with “legalists” for a long time.

“But you know,” I said to him, “that’s an unfair question, sir. And it’s a difficult question, because you know that not one in 10,000 could answer that.”

He said, “Probably not one in 100,000.”

I said, “But you only asked me that question to make your case right and my case wrong. If I could prove to you where every single one of them were in the New Testament, what would that do to your case?” He had not thought about that. He had only asked the question to destroy our case as Adventists and he didn’t know that I was an Adventist yet.

I said, “I’ll show you where every single one of the ten commandments are in the New Testament.” And I showed him Matthew 4:10: “Then saith Jesus unto him . . . it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.” He blinked. I showed him 1 John 5:21: “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” “Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honour, that the name of God and His doctrine be not blasphemed.” 1 Timothy 6:1. “For He spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all His works. And in this place again, If thy shall enter into My rest. Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief: again, He limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as is said, To day if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts. For if Jesus had given them rest, then would He not afterward have spoken of another day. There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into His rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from His.” Hebrews 4:4–10. “But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day.” Matthew 24:20. “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day.” Revelation 1:10. “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath: therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27, 28. “Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” Romans 13:9. “Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” Matthew 19:18, 19. There’s all your ten commandments.

He was visibly shocked. I didn’t tell him why I knew those ten commandments. Two weeks before I left New Zealand, George Burnside posted me a letter. In it was a copy of all the ten commandments in the New Testament. I had said to myself, “I’m going to memorize everyone of those texts, because some day someone’s going to ask me to show them where they are.” Within two weeks it happened.

Then I said, “Well, friend, you asked me that to destroy my case; but your case is now destroyed.”

He said, “I’m going to have to start keeping them and teaching them.”

I said, “Don’t worry if you lose your $100,000 a year salary and your three cars and your big flashy house and your status in your community. Jesus said in Luke that the foxes have holes, the birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

I believe God answered my prayer and sat me there next to that man. Then he looked at me and said, “You’re a Seventh-day Adventist aren’t you?”

I said, “Well, I never used to be; I used to be a Presbyterian, the same as you. But I found that we were sitting closer to Rome than I’d thought when I was a boy.”

And he said to me, “You know, I want to come fishing in New Zealand sometime.”

I said, “Certainly. Friend, this battle is for real. Alot of people are going to be lost.”

He was visibly shaken. He said, “You know I went to college with Billy Graham, he’s a friend of mine.”

I said, “Wow, is that right? I went to college with Jesus Christ, he’s a friend of mine.”

I read to him 1 Corinthians 11, which says all these things happened for an example to us. I asked him this question, “When Moses brought Israel out of Egypt by the miracle of the Red Sea opening, God had thrown back to the Egyptians their false worship. Have you read of the Seven Last Plagues?”

He said, “Well I know a bit about them.”

“Ah, is that right? Do you know where they are found?”

He said, “Well, they’re in the book of Revelation.”

I said, “That’s right, do you know which chapter.”

He said, “No, not off hand.”

I said, “I’m going to read them to you in Revelation 16.”

I read him the first three plagues and he said, “What are you getting at?”

I said, “Well, God threw back in the faces of the Egyptians their false worship with the plagues. In the same way, when Jesus brings spiritual Israel out of spiritual Egypt, He throws back in their faces their false worship by the seven last plagues.” I read the 4th plague to him and he blinked a bit.

I said, “I’ve given you enough facts that you can work out why God threw back the sun in their faces in the fourth plague.” This man happened to be a member of the Lord’s Day Alliance.

I said, “As Seventh-day Adventists, we have reservations about that organization. Why is the fourth plague to be the heating of the sun? And why, under the fifth plague, will darkness fall upon the seat of the beast?”

And so we talked . . .

Conclusion:

We have the responsibility of taking the Three Angels’ Messages to the entire world so that those who are still in Babylon can come out from the midst of her. The seven last plagues are judgments that are poured out against those who make up Babylon (see Revelation 18:4).

We need to earnestly pray that we will be among those who will give the Loud Cry Message that will prepare a people to stand before a holy God without a Mediator.

The End

Children’s Story – Winifred’s Party

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“O Winnie!” sighed Cousin Esther, “if you wold only be serious a few minutes, and think. It is Jesus who invites you! I have accepted—I am happy; but I want you, and—”

“Don’t bother please, Essie; that’s a good girl!” coaxed Winifred, kissing her cousin. “I will be good, sometime, truly. Just now I want some fun. There’s my party—it’s just too bad you won’t wait for it.”

“I can’t, my dear. I agreed to spend the month with grandmother; you know she is an invalid, and must not be disappointed.”

“But it is really going to be something nice, for this place,” urged Winifred. “It is to be a lawn party, and in the evening the grounds will be illuminated with Chinese lanterns…I shall invite the Thorntons and Ellises, and all the best people.”

Esther listened gravely. “I hope it will be very pleasant, Winnie. Now I must go and pack; will you help me?”

The next day Esther Gordon left her cousin’s elegant home for a quiet visit with her invalid grandparent. Winifred missed her at first, but she soon became so interested in her preparations for her party that she forgot everything else.

A few weeks afterward, Esther received a letter from her cousin. Here is part of it:

“And the party! O Essie, it was a perfect ‘fizzle’ from beginning to end! That is, it was not a success, as I meant it to be. Everything was made ready all right, and the house and grounds were beautiful. But when I gave out the invitations,—do you know, not a one accepted? The Thorntons were going to start to Europe at once. The Ellises were going to Bar Harbor sooner than they expected. Edith Longly had a nervous attack. Well, there was ever so many excuses. Of course I could have given up the party, but I had engaged the caterer, the Chinese lanterns, and the orchestra, and I was bound to go on, anyway. I felt insulted. Most of them could have accepted if they had cared to. Seeing I couldn’t have the people I wanted, I meant to have some, anyway; and so I invited our seamstress and her sister, a couple of teachers I know, a lame boy living near, and a dozen or more whom I knew would accept, and be glad to enjoy such a treat. They all came, and in spite of my feeling so disgusted, I enjoyed it greatly. You see, they all enjoyed it so much I was so sorry I hadn’t planned it for them in the first place. I wish you had been here. Write soon to

Your loving cousin, Winifre.”

Esther answered the letter at once. Part of it was as follows:

“I am sorry if you were disappointed about the party; but I do not believe you were, really, for you enjoyed the guests who came more than those for whom you prepared. Just read a few verses in Luke 14:16-24. Isn’t your experience a perfect parallel to the man in Christ’s parable? Commentators all agree that Christ here represented his own gracious invitation to people to come to him, and receive what he has prepared for those who love him. Don’t you believe he is insulted when his invitations are refused on one flimsy excuse or another? There are those who will accept and enjoy the feast, and those who excuse themselves will be left out. Do, Winnie, accept. You don’t know what you miss!

Lovingly, Esther.”

Winifred read the letter carefully, and with growing astonishment and interest. “I never thought of it in that way before! I wonder if he does feel—insulted! His invitations are beautifully worded, too, and promise so much! Strange I never thought of it—an invitation to be refused or accepted! Which shall it be?”

The End

Fellow Workers With God

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For we are god’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building.” 1 Corinthians 3:9. This was a favorite text of Ellen White, and it is an incomprehensible privilege. To be considered a fellow worker with the president of the United States would be considered a high privilege. Here we are told that we are called to be fellow workers with God. Some people think the minister is paid to do this, but we are all called to be fellow workers with God.

We all have to make a living, but our primary work is to be a fellow workers with God in His work. “Christ has given to the church a sacred charge. Every member should be a channel through which God can communicate to the world the treasures of His grace.” Acts of the Apostles, 600. We must realize that every day we are meeting people who we may never meet again and we have a saving gospel which must be presented.

No one is converted without a burden for souls. Part of the gospel is that we are called to be missionaries for the Lord. Jesus told the demoniac, when he was healed, “Go home to your friends, and tell them the great things the Lord has done for you.” Mark 5:19. And that is what we must do.

To Grow Spiritually, We Must Be Witnessing

It is absolutely necessary for spiritual growth to spend time witnessing. If we are only feeding ourselves, we are going to grow fat, sluggish and critical. “The great outpouring of the Spirit of God, which lightens the whole earth with His glory, will not come until we have an enlightened people, that know by experience what it means to be laborers together with God.” Christian Service, 253

“To a great degree this must be accomplished by personal labor. This was Christ’s method. His work was largely made up of personal interviews. He had a faithful regard for the one-soul audience.” Christ Object Lessons, 229. We might think that most of Jesus’ work was public teaching and healing, but most of His work was one-to-one. Much of what Jesus did is not recorded, but we know by inspiration that He was in people’s homes and spent time teaching the disciples how to reach individuals.

Teaching Others How to Witness

We are told that the greatest help which can be given to church members is to teach them to work for God, not for the church or pastor. “Just as soon as a church is organized, let the minister set the members at work. They will need to be taught how to labor successfully. Let the minister devote more of his time to educating than to preaching. Let him teach the people how to give to others the knowledge they have received.” Testimonies, vol. 7, 20. When I read this statement, our church sat down and began to plan teaching weekends. We began to try to make the church a learning center instead of just a preaching center. In the process of studying, we found that the Holy Spirit will never be poured out unless we are out winning souls. So we said, “We better start doing this.” Then we began to study how to win souls. And the Lord blessed. “Every Christian should be a missionary, working for the salvation of souls.” Review and Herald, November 29, 1906

Our young people in school need to learn the science of soul winning also. To do this, they must learn about true psychology, how the mind works, how to meet people and how to reach them. They ought to know the Bible and the prophecies. If in first grade they had simply begun learning one verse a day, then by the time they got through academy they would have the whole New Testament memorized.

To be effective in our witnessing, we need to be storing our minds with the truths of God’s word. We may say, “I wish I’d started when I was five years old, but now I’m 45.” We are never going to be younger than we are today. If we are ever going to do it, we must start right now. And if we cannot memorize the whole Bible, we can memorize a whole chapter such as Romans 8 or 1 John 3.

“Our work has been marked out for us by our heavenly Father. We are to take our Bibles and go forth to warn the world. We are to be God’s helping hands in saving souls.” Testimonies, vol. 9, 150. “A great work can be done by presenting to the people the Bible just as it reads. Carry the Word of God to every man’s door.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 388

God established this church on a firm basis. And that firm basis was made because of a great shaking within the early movement. In the early Advent movement we went from approximately 100,000 down to just a few hundred people. But at least these few hundred people were solid. They had given their souls and their lives and all that they had to the Lord. They went out and spread the message and preached. The Lord blessed and the church began to grow.

S. N. Haskell’s Camp Meeting

In the far off state of California there was a man holding a camp meeting at which Ellen White and her son Willie were helping. His name was S. N. Haskell. His concerns were centered on the winning of souls. So for their camp meeting, they invited non-Adventists to the evening meetings. During the daytime they would teach people how to win souls, and other things that were more specifically for Adventists, but the evening meeting was always geared for non-Adventists as well as Adventists and was evangelistic in nature. During the day, many of the Adventists would hand out fliers in the community inviting people to come to the evening meeting. The result was that several hundred non-Adventists were in attendance at the evening meeting.

On one occasion, S. N. Haskell was ready to preach and all these non-Adventists were there to hear the message. It began to rain and thunder and since there were no microphones, people could not hear. It was a terrible catastrophe in any evangelist’s mind. He did not want to send people away. They might never come again. But our extremities are God’s opportunities. S. N. Haskell prayed earnestly and an idea came to him. He came out into the middle of the auditorium and had the people come around him—very unconventional. He stood up on a table, had everyone gather around him as close as they could and then he wrote texts down and distributed them to the people. He would call out a question and then have the answer read from the Bible. The people might miss a few words that were read when the thunder cracked, but they could follow it in the Bible. So it was question, answer, question, answer—all Elder Haskell was doing was reading the questions and the people were reading the Bible.

Willie White was there and was impressed. He could see the people being moved as they found the answers to questions from the Bible. He later told his mother. Shortly after this event, the Lord gave Ellen White a vision and showed her that this storm was from the Lord. He was trying to teach people how to give Bible studies and this was His method. Up to that point, no one in our church had ever, as far as we know, given a real Bible study, rather truth had been presented in sermon form.

A New Type of Bible Studies

Here was something so simple and yet so different, but very effective. S. N. Haskell began to train people how to use this method. Soon we had a paper where people would prepare Bible studies and send them in to this paper. A number of these were later gathered up and published in what became known as Bible Readings for the Home Circle.

During the 1890’s this became fully established in our church as the method of giving Bible studies and our church grew the most we have ever grown—almost 10% every single year— because our laymen were out witnessing.

Bible studies have gone through various developments over the years. About 1930, I believe, we developed the first film strip. Nine years later, a Bible study correspondence school was developed and the Voice of Prophecy became the main headquarters for Bible study through correspondence. When I was growing up in the 50’s, my father, brother and I used the 20th Century, on film strip, Bible studies.

While pastoring in the Washington D.C. area, we were training people how to give Bible studies. We were using materials we had, but we found it was not working well. I discovered the materials were written for the purpose of leaving them in the home as a correspondence course, and not for a Bible worker to use in giving a Bible study. Through a year of experimenting, writing, and testing, the Steps to Life Bible studies were developed. We had some interesting experiences. I remember a young lady who had never given studies. She said, “I can’t give a Bible study.” I replied, “Yes you can. Let me give you a few principles. Next week I can’t be here to give studies to this lady.” I reviewed the principles of asking questions and letting people answer them from the Bible. We gave her the Bible studies we had written. I never went back. She gave all the rest of them to this lady and the lady was baptized. That so excited her that she gave them to another and another and another. In a little over a year before I left, she had given Bible studies to four young ladies and all of them were baptized.

I believe that this work is going to be finished with laymen out witnessing to their neighbors. And I believe that the Lord expects us to qualify ourselves for this work. There is a human element involved. In Fundamentals of Christian Education, 217, Ellen White says, “The Lord does nothing for the salvation of the soul without the cooperation of man.” She goes on to say, in spite of this, how few have qualified themselves in the work of soul-winning.

Personal Bible Study

I would like to encourage everyone to, first of all, have Bible study everyday for your own spiritual growth. I spend at least an hour a day. I may be one of the weakest Christians in the world so I need a lot of special help, but I find that I need at least an hour a day with the Word and on my knees in order to survive. Personal Bible study is essential for personal witnessing. We must realize that everyone of us are God’s fellow laborers and we are called to be active witnesses for the Lord.

There are two things that are required in order to be successful workers for the Lord. One is personal effort, using all the intelligence God has given to us, learning how to do it, not stumbling over, and making the same mistakes time after time. If we learn that something does not work, let’s do it different. Let’s learn from one another. Let’s learn all the methods that we can learn to share our faith. Let’s give out literature. Like Jesus with the woman at the well, let us learn to approach people without offending them, learn different ways to share the Sabbath, and various other truths. Along with that, we must realize that not one of us will ever win a single soul in our own power or with our own strength.

The Holy Spirit

The other requirement is that we must have the Holy Spirit in our lives. To have the Holy Spirit in our lives requires that we be cleansed from sin.

“The latter rain will come, and the blessing of God will fill every soul that is purified from every defilement. Evangelism, 702. “Without the presence of the Spirit of God, no heart will be touched, no sinner won to Christ.” Testimonies, vol. 8, 21. Now you see, the work of gaining the victory over sin becomes important, not only that we can get to heaven, but so that we can be used by God to help others to be in heaven. We will never be effective soul-winners as long as we are retaining known sins in our lives. The greatest reason, the greatest purpose for a holy life is not just so we can be saved, but so that we can be used to be an instrument to help others to be saved; our children, our family, our neighbors, and members of the church.

When I fly on the airlines I always like to get a seat by myself so I can study. I tell the Lord, “If I can’t have that, put someone here to whom I can witness.” I have so little time to do all the work that needs to be done. In every situation we should be looking for someone, somewhere, to whom we can witness. There are many wonderful books that can be given away, such as the book Somebody Cares. This and other books can be given everywhere as a witness.

“There is no limit to the usefulness of one who, putting self aside, makes room for the working of the Holy Spirit upon his heart and lives a life wholly consecrated to God.” Ministry of Healing, 159. Starting today, would you like to dedicate yourself to become a fellow laborer with God for the work of winning souls?

The End

Children’s Story – The Christian Dog

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Born a Jewish lad in Bavaria, Germany, in 1796, Joseph Wolff, at the age of thirteen, embraced the Christian faith and was cast out by his family. Always seeking knowledge, he became one of the most learned men of his time. Not only did he have a knowledge of twenty-seven languages, in addition to many dialects, but he was a scholar in the sacred literature of Jews, Mohammedans, and Christians.

In 1831, the same year that William Miller began to preach, Joseph Wolff set out for a journey to Bokhara in the heart of Asia. It was very wild country, with a savage king. When they were about half way to Bokhara, his companions came to him and said: “Hadji Wolff [hadji means holy man], we are now coming to a very dangerous city, the city of Burchund. They will never allow a Christian within its walls. If they discover one, they will put him to death. Yet we must pass through Burchund to go to Bokhara.”

They decided that they would time their arrival to enter the city just as the gates were closing at sundown. If they were careful, they believed that they could stay at an inn, leaving in the morning as soon as the gates opened without attracting any attention.

The next morning they left the city without incident, believing that they had safely passed the city and that all danger was past; but this was not the case. Though Wolff had kept in the background, though he was dressed like all of those around him and could speak the language, there is something that Christians cannot hide; in their language and actions, they are like Jesus.

Someone suspected Wolff; and after he had left, this person went to the ameer, the ruler of the city, and told him: “Do you know that there was a Christian dog within the city of Burchund this night? He is on his way to Bokhara, and has left unpunished.”

The ameer immediately sent armed horsemen to bring Joseph back. By the end of the day, they had overtaken Wolff. Dragging him from his horse, they forced him to walk all of the way back to Burchund. When they arrived, Wolff, bruised and worn, was given no rest. The ameer called his counselors around him in his council chamber. They brought Wolff in, and standing him before them, began asking questions.

“What is your name?”

“It is Joseph Wolff.”

“Where do you come from?”

“I come from the great kingdom of England.”

“How far is that?”

“In a direct line, through Constantinople and then by land, it is seven thousand miles; but as I have come, it is fifteen thousand miles.”

“And where do you go?”

“I go to the kingdom and city of Bokhara.”

“For what purpose?”

“I go to find my people, the Jews, and to carry to them the glorious message of a soon-coming Saviour, even Jesus Christ the mighty, Who shall bring judgment to the good and the evil and restore all things in perfectness, as at the beginning.”

The ameer, astonished that anyone would confess Christ when such a confession meant death, exclaimed in amazement, “You are a Christian, then?”

Wolf replied, “I am a humble follower of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Still more amazed, the ameer asked, “Why do you mind what they believe in Bokhara? Why do you not stay at home with your family, eat, drink, and be merry?”

To this Wolff replied, quoting first a Mohammedan poet: “Sadi says, ‘The world, O brother, remains not to anyone. Fix therefore thy heart on the Creator of the world, and it shall be well with thee.’ I have found out by the reading of this Book, and he held out his Bible, that one can bind one’s heart to God only by believing in Jesus; and believing this, I am like one who walks in a beautiful garden and smells the odor of the roses and hears the warbling of the nightingales; and I do not like to be the only one so happy. Therefore I go about the world inviting others to walk with me arm in arm in that same beautiful garden.”

When they heard this, all the room rose as one man, clapping their hands and crying, “A holy man! A holy man! Drunk with the love of God! Sit down! Read to us from your Book.”

Suddenly, by the wisdom of the reply that God had given him, Wolff’s state was changed from that of a prisoner about to be condemned to death as a “Christian dog,” to that of an honored guest.

Wolff opened his Bible to Isaiah and to the Gospels and read to them the prophecies and stories of Jesus: how He was born a babe in Bethlehem while the shepherds watched and the angels sang; how as He grew up He went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; how wicked men took Him and slew Him upon the cross on Calvary, but God raised Him from the dead on the third day; how He ascended to heaven, where He now sits on the right hand of the throne of God, soon to come as a glorious King and bring his reward to the faithful and His judgment to the wicked. At last, overcome with weariness, he could go on no longer.

They then asked him if he had any more Books like the one from which he was reading. “Oh, yes,” Wolff replied, “I have many of them.” He sent his servant, who returned with armloads of books. Wolff gave a Bible to all of the men in the room, who were, perhaps, the only men in the whole city who could read.

They then said to him, “Hadji, Wolff, you cannot leave us now. You must stay with us and teach us.” For two whole weeks Wolff stayed with them and taught them. When at last he said that he must go on his journey, they brought him in honor to the gate of their city, the ameer and all of his chief men accompanying him, to bid him farewell. They loaded him with gifts; and as he departed they cried; “God go with you! Allah be with you, Hadji Wolff. You came to us. We thought that you were an enemy, but God has shown us that you are our friend; for you are a man who is drunk with the love of God!”

Children’s Story – Heavenly Food

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In the early days of mission work in China, there was an elderly man named Li who accepted the gospel. Having learned the truth, he immediately began to share his faith with others. One day, soon after his conversion, he read, “covetousness which is idolatry.” Colossians 3:5. Determined not to fall into any kind of idolatry, he gave away all of his property and lived day to day from the hospitality of the people with whom he was laboring to share the gospel. Not far from Li’s home was a large temple in which lived a cousin who was a priest. From time to time the young priest would visit his old relative, bringing him a small present of bread or millet from his very adequate supply. Each time the old man received the gift, he would say, “My heavenly Father’s grace!” After awhile, this began to annoy the younger man; and he at last said, “Where does your heavenly Father’s grace come in, I should like to know? The millet is mine. I bring it to you. And if I did not, you would very soon starve for all that He would care. He has nothing at all to do with it.”

“But,” replied the old man, “it is my heavenly Father who puts it into your heart to care for me.”

“Oh, that is very well!” interrupted the priest. “We shall see what will happen if I bring the millet no more.”

For a week or two he kept away, although his better nature kept prompting him to care for the old man whom he could not help but respect for the many works of mercy in which he was engaged in helping others.

In the passage of time, old Li’s food supply finally ran out. The day came when he no longer had enough food for one more meal. Kneeling alone in his room, he poured out his heart in prayer to God. He knew very well that his Father in heaven would not, could not, forget him; and after pleading for a blessing on his work and upon the people all around him, he reminded the Lord of what the priest had said, asking that, for the honor of His own great name, He would send that very day his daily bread.

Suddenly the answer came. While Li was still kneeling in prayer, he heard an unusual clamor and cawing and flapping of wings in the courtyard outside, and a noise as of something falling to the ground. He rose up and went to the door to see what was happening. A number of ravens, which are common in that part of China, were flying all about in great commotion above him. As he looked up, a large piece of meat fell at his very feet. One of the birds, chased by the others, had dropped it just at that moment.

Thankfully the old man picked up the unexpected food, saying, “My heavenly Father’s kindness!” Then glancing about him to see what had fallen before he came out, he discovered a large piece of Indian meal bread, cooked and ready for eating. Another bird had dropped that also. There was his dinner, bountifully provided. Evidently the ravens had been on a foraging expedition at the market place; and, overtaken by stronger birds, had let go their prize right over the poor brother’s courtyard. But whose had had guided them to give up their prize right over his small courtyard?

With a thankful heart that was overflowing with joy, the old man started a fire to prepare the welcome meal. While the pot was still boiling, the door opened; and to his delight, who should walk in but his cousin, the priest.

“Look and see,” said the old man, smiling, as he pointed to the pot on the fire.

For some tie the priest would not look, feeling certain that there was nothing inside but boiling water. At length, however, there was the unmistakable smell of cooking meat. Overcome by curiosity, he lifted the lid and looked inside. Great was his astonishment when he saw the excellent dinner being prepared.

“Why,” he cried, “where ever did you get this?”

My heavenly Father sent it,” responded old Li, gladly. “He put it into your heart, you know, to bring me a little millet from time to time; but when you would no longer do so, it was quite easy for Him to find another messenger.” And then Li told his cousin the whole story about the coming of the ravens.

The priest was very much impressed by what he saw and heard, and it eventually led him to also accept the gospel of Jesus Christ. He gave up his comfortable living in the temple and became a teacher. He eventually became a deacon in the church. During the Boxer War that took place in China in 1900, he finally lay down his life for Jesus.

Just Say “NO!” To Unarmed Combat

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In just the gospel of Matthew alone, the Lord Jesus is recorded as having said, “It is written,” seven times (4:4, 6, 7, 10; 11:10; 21:13; 26:24; 26:31.) Clearly He could not have made these statements unless He had memorized the Scriptures. And, as Jesus is our Example (see I Peter 2:21), it is biblically sound to recommend that we memorize Scripture as well.

This point was driven home for me when I was serving as a translator for a Russian pastor who addressed a group of young Adventists one Sabbath. I wondered what this veteran of 12 years in Soviet concentration camps would have to say to our young people. It was a surprise to hear him begin by asking the class of juniors and young adults which of the three angels in Revelation 14 tells us to keep the Sabbath. Shockingly, none could answer him. He then asked which of the Ten Commandments tells us not to kill, and received a wrong answer! He pointed out that when you are taken to prison, they not only do not give you a Bible, but they take away the one that you have, and you are left with only what you have memorized. He stated that in his country where they know the meaning of persecution, all of the young adults have memorized the Ten Commandments and the Three Angels’ Messages. Some have memorized entire books of the Bible, and a few have even memorized the entire New Testament.

In our little historic church in Montana, we have added a new feature to our adult Sabbath School program. We allow time for voluntary recitation of Scripture. This is definitely a popular activity. We have six Sabbath School members actively involved; and it appears that another person, not yet even a baptized member, is beginning to memorize. We have only been doing this for about the past six months, yet I was surprised at how easy it is to memorize Scripture. Though it may seem difficult at first, it steadily becomes easier with practice.

The strongest weapon that we have been given to resist temptation is specified in Psalm 119:11, “Thy Word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee.” If we do not memorize the Word of God, with what will we resist the enemy? Would not a well-meaning Christian without Scripture be like a karate black-belt attacking a machine gun nest with his bare hands?

Just say “NO!” to meeting Satan’s temptations unarmed. Arm yourself by memorizing Scripture while you still have the opportunity.

World Mission Report, Round Table Discussion

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Howard Anderson and Hector Perez: We are co-pastors of the Living Waters Church in Mount Dora, Florida. Our church is about four months old, and we are moving forward. We have established a prayer meeting and have Bible studies going with 25 to 30 people. We have plans to begin neighborhood literature distribution soon and cooking classes by early August. For a long time, Pastor Perez has had a burden to do a work for the Spanish people. There are millions and millions of Spanish speaking people who have never heard this message, and it is our responsibility to fulfill the gospel commission. We have people who are sincere and are willing to help, but we need your help. Our local church has already voted to sponsor time on one of the short wave radio stations, but we need some equipment with which to make recordings to supply the radio stations with. If you would like to help us in this endeavor, please contact us at the Living Waters Church (904)735-4897.

Ron Woolsey: I was born and raised a Seventh-day Adventist. I graduated from Southern Missionary College with a degree in theology, but that very year I left the faith and went into the world. During the years that followed, my family never stopped praying for me.

When I did accept the Lord about three years ago, I came to Steps to Life to take the Bible Worker training program and was rebaptized here.

Prior to my baptism, I had committed my life to the Lord and had said, “Wherever You ask me to go, I will go. Whatever You ask me to do, I will do.” The night I was baptized, some people from Arkansas asked me to come help them organize a church and be their pastor. I was still a student at STL, but every third week I would go to Arkansas and help them with their church. When I finished my training in May, I went full-time.

A few months later, Lena Falk, from Denmark, called to ask if I would come over and visit Romania. Since that time, I have been to Europe four times; and I will be going again in a few days. The burden of my message to those people has been victory over sin because of what the Lord has done for me.

It is the work of the synagogue of Satan to mingle evil with good. Have you ever heard somebody say, “There’s a lot of good in that,” and then they make excuses for what they are doing or listening to or eating because there is a lot of good in that? If there is a lot of good about something, there is probably a little bit of evil mixed in. In Europe we find that our beautiful Adventist message of victory over sin is being corrupted. As I gave my testimony in Romania, where everyone sits poker-faced without showing any expression, their faces lighted up when they heard about victory over sin. They started showing expression. Jesus promised in Genesis 3:15 that He would create hatred in the hearts of His people for sin. “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” People around the world are finding this hatred for sin welling up within them as they respond to the work of the Holy Spirit. “Through all ages and in every nation those that believe that Jesus can and will save them personally from sin, are the elect and chosen of God; they are His peculiar treasure. They obey His call, and come out of the world and separate themselves from every unclean thought and unholy practice.” Review and Herald, August 1, 1893

Are you the elect? The elect of God are a people who believe in victory over sin. As the elect, once we fully believe that victory is ours, we can have victory in our lives and Christ can cleanse His sanctuary and us. This is only possible, however, as by faith we accept it.

The Narrow Way is trying to support three Bible workers in Romania. They are not accepted by the church. It is not that they are teaching error—they are bringing people to the Lord—but because they did not get permission to do the work that they are doing. As a result, these young men are facing some persecution.

One of them was receiving an allowance of $30 to $35 a month from his parents in Germany. With that, he was living in Romania, supporting another couple and their young son, and still managing somehow to save a little money. On our last trip, I learned that his parents were returning to Romania. I asked, “How are you going to continue your work and support?” He said, “I don’t know. The Lord always provides. I saved up some money and we will just try to keep on going.” I asked him if it would be all right if we supported him. He just looked at me and said, “Well, it really doesn’t matter because the Lord is going to take care of it.” I was humbled very quickly.

We had taken over about $800. We were able to support these two Bible workers in full-time Bible work for a whole year for $720.

I received a letter last week from a believer in the Czech Republic. He wrote to tell us that his whole church had just been expelled because they were inviting people like me to speak. He also mentioned John Grosboll and others of the Historic Adventist ministries.

When we were first over in Eastern Europe, the very thought of working outside the confines of the structure just terrified these people. As more people like ourselves visit them, they are finding that even if they are disbanded, they can still work for the Lord. It was because they had no concept of what it meant to be self-supporting workers, to work directly for the Lord, that they were so easily controlled. But as they have talked with us and found out that it is possible to work for the Lord without anyone’s permission, they are becoming greatly encouraged.

On our last trip in Romania, these laypeople were holding an evangelistic series in a small town of about 2,500 people. On their opening night they had 700 people in attendance. Three weeks later they still had over 500 people coming. The Calvinist church in the community began holding some meetings. Rather than have turmoil between the two churches, the Adventists ended their meetings after three weeks; but three weeks later, when the Calvinists were done, the people wanted more of the Adventist message, so meetings were begun again. Over 400 people attended.

One night during the week, we drove an hour and a half to a small town in which there were only four Adventists. They were all members of one family and had started a church in their home. The meeting was supposed to start at 7:30, but the hostess came out and asked, “Can you start the meeting at 8:00 instead?” I asked, “Yes, but if we start too late, we will get home really late.” She said, “The Calvinists are having their Easter week and they are all going to their church to prepare for services, but they want to be here.”

At five minutes till 8:00, there was nobody there; but by 8:00 the house was packed. I counted seventy people in the living room and later found out that there were more than twenty in the next room. They were all Calvinists, but I preached about victory over sin and they loved it.
My Romanian host said to me, “Ron, within a year we think that many Seventh-day Adventists are going to be disfellowshiped here in our country. When you come back, there will probably be many home churches.” Friends, I believe the Lord is raising up home churches all around the world. I think He is preparing places to bring the people out of Babylon. He is raising up places where they can come and find a home with God’s people. We need to remember these people in our prayers.

John Grosboll: I was recently sharing with a person about some of the different mission projects that Steps to Life is engaged in, television, radio, and short wave radio, and he asked me this question, “Is not the structure doing all those things?”

The devil is trying to confuse God’s people with all kinds of deceptions, and one of them is territorialism. We are not competing with each other. Several of us are doing some of the same things, but we are not embarrassed about that. There is plenty of work for everyone.

When we first published Bible lessons and started our Bible Correspondence School, there had been others that had Bible correspondence schools and that had published Bible lessons and Bible studies before; but we did not say, “Well, somebody else has done it, so we will not do it.” Do you realize, friends, that for almost any kind of evangelism, there is someone else who has at least tried it? Do not let the devil deceive you into thinking that you can just relax because someone at one of these ministries is going to get on television or radio and finish the work. Friends, we need to realize that every single one of us has a part. While we believe it is important, the work is not going to be finished by a few people. Every one of us has to have a part. I hope that while you are reading these reports that you are thinking in your mind, what can I do?

From the beginning, one of our objectives at Steps to Life, has been to help God’s people to have a part in finishing the work. There are a lot of God’s people who want to do something but who do not know what to do. If there is anyone reading this who wants to help to finish God’s work in their area by using television or radio, we want to help you. We can supply you with tapes of radio scripts. We can get you video tapes that can be shown on television.

To be successful on TV or radio, you need a hook in your program. You need to advertise something that will attract the people who are interested in what you have to say. It was to meet this need that we started our first Bible correspondence school in conjunction with our TV program. We can help you to start a Bible correspondence school, even if you have no television or radio program. While television and radio are very helpful in putting you in contact with people, you can get a Bible correspondence school started without them.

Several years ago we started publishing small booklets. While some are for Adventists, some were written for non-Adventist people. My brother was very interested in the space program; and because he was a pastor on the East Coast, he personally knew some of the people in the space program. He was in California when the Challenger space shuttle went down and later preached two sermons on the uncertainty of life and how to have eternal life. We took those two sermons and published them in a booklet titled The Uncertainty of Life.

Somebody Cares is another booklet that Marshall wrote a few days before he died. It has had a phenomenal acceptance, not just in the U.S. but also in Europe. It has been translated into German, Hungarian, Romanian, and Latvian.

The very first booklet that Marshall wrote was How to Study the Bible. We have found that it is a very excellent missionary booklet to get Bible studies started. We have also published the booklet How to Stop Smoking. All of these booklets are excellent books for outreach.

After you have given the Bible studies and the people have accepted Jesus as their personal Saviour, then what are you going to do? They are little babes in Christ, and now they need to grow. Friends, you might need to organize a home church in your area. If you do, we are here to help you.

If I understand the Spirit of Prophecy correctly, before the Lord comes, during the time of the latter rain and the loud cry, there are going to be memorials to God raised up in every city and town. This does not necessarily mean that there will be a church building, but there will be many home churches like it was in the days of the apostles.

If the Holy Spirit is speaking to you, telling you that there needs to be a lighthouse, a memorial to God, where you live, listen to His voice. You do not have to have a great number of people to start a home church. Jesus said that you only need to have two. (See Matthew 18.) If the Holy Spirit is impressing your mind that you need to start a home church and you do not know why or how to do it, please contact us.

Bob Trefz: We would like to work with Hector on getting him started in Spanish broadcasting. We know of a radio station in Honduras that broadcasts targeting the East Coast of the United States; and in so doing, they hit the Caribbean area and Inter-America, but they are heard regularly in Europe and Japan. Biblical Studies Institute is going to finance Hector as soon as we can make the arrangements with the radio station. We will provide him with a musical soundtrack for his opening and closing. We encourage you to send your funds in to Hector and Howard’s ministry to promote this work. As the funds come in, he will be able to go on other stations. There is a big station in Miami that targets South America, WRMI, and we have been in contact with them.

There are tens of millions of Spanish-speaking people that need to get the message. We have the software, but we have been so busy taking care of the English that we have had no time yet to get into the Spanish.

My sister and her husband sent out cards advertising The Great Controversy. I cannot believe the response they are getting. Not only are people ordering The Great Controversy by the hundreds, but people are requesting Bible studies. Their home church spends hours on Sabbath afternoon grading the papers and sending them out, but they can hardly keep up with it. It is absolutely astounding. Also, they are showing Steps to Life on television every Sunday in their area.

We have a home church in Oklahoma that is sponsoring Biblical Studies Institute’s radio tapes over their local station. These are tapes that we prepared for short wave radio and can be obtained for use on a station in your area.

Though the negotiations are not yet closed, we are negotiating with a giant station in the area that used to be the Soviet Union. This station hooks together three 500 kilowatt transmitters equaling 1.5 mega-watts of transmitter power. As far as we know, this station is three times as powerful as any station in North America. We are at the stage now of giving them the time slots that we are interested in. The Lord willing, Steps to Life, Modern Manna, and Biblical Studies Institute are all planning to purchase time on this station. For this project, as well as the Spanish radio program, funds are now needed.

The End

The Indifferent Church Of Laodicea

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In this study, I would like to consider the indifferent church. I believe that God has a people who are going to be ready to meet Him when He comes and that this is going to be His church. What, however, would happen if these people were to become indifferent—indifferent to the gospel, indifferent to the signs of the times, indifferent to things that are going on in the world? What if they even became indifferent to one another? Perhaps we have adopted the attitude that we could care less whether we did anything or not to hasten the coming of the Lord. Very few people will admit that; but sometimes, by our fruits we are known. If, however, we understand by Scripture that we can hasten the coming of the Lord, then we should be looking around for something that we can do to hasten that coming. Is not that right?

Being raised in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, one of the hard things for me to do is to admit that Laodicea, the lukewarm church that really needs to be revived, is talking about us. It is hard to put ourselves in the right position and to say that this is the church that God was speaking about, to admit that we are lukewarm and need a change—a revival. There is counsel throughout the Spirit of Prophecy identifying our church as being in the Laodicean state. When we read how lukewarm we are and of our need for a revival, we say, “Well, yes, but it can not be quite that bad.” It is horrible! In fact, it is worse than that. We need a change. God wants that change to come about in our lives. To be indifferent and lukewarm is to be taken by the enemy.

Satan wants to trap God’s church. What does a person do when he is setting a trap? Does he just set the trap out in the open and say, “Hey, come on; get in this thing”? No! He camouflages it, hides it, puts things over it. And so, you are caught before you know it. You did not intend to get in that trap. You really did not want to make that mistake; but, dear friends, somewhere along the line, you took your eyes off of Jesus.

We have to realize that we are to be a witness to all the world; and when we are the kind of witness we need to be, Jesus will come. When the light of the Holy Spirit burns within us, we are going to see that it will draw people to us. Is it not sad that we, as God’s last-day church, having the last message going to all the world, find it so difficult to find people who even want to study the Bible with us? Could it be, dear friends, that we are not in the right relationship where God can use us to study with someone? Could it be that we need a change in our lives? When we are changed, when we are filled with the Holy Spirit of God, then God can use us to reach out and touch others.

People say, “I have been in the church for years, and I have never led a soul to Christ.” Dear friends, what is wrong? I am not trying to scold you; I am wanting you to think with me. The purpose for our being here is to win souls for God’s kingdom. Is that not right? Are we usable for Christ, or are we used up? If you love your fellowman like you say you do, you are going to be praying, begging, and pleading that God will give avenues, open up doors, that you may be able to reach some souls for Him before it is everlastingly too late. I cannot help it; it is always impressed on my mind how many thousands have gone to Christless graves. They are going to burn in hell, dear friends. Why? Because we did not do our job.

When we get to the kingdom, will there not be those who will be there who will come up to us and say, “It is because of what you said or what you did that I am here”? We will, of course, realize that we could do nothing of ourselves, so we will point them to Jesus; but they will recognize us as a willing vessel that Jesus used. They will recognize us as the one who put our arm around them when they needed someone, as the one who mentioned the name of Jesus, or who smiled at them. People have made my day sometimes when they just smiled. They do not have to say anything, just smile.

Oh, how we need to be pleading on our knees. We are either going to heaven or we are going to hell; it is just that simple. And you will have to decide where it is going to be. Only you can decide; salvation is very individual. It would be nice if we could go as couples and groups. Every person is going to have to give an account. Every person has to give an account to God individually; so I can never apologize, dear friends, for advocating that God must be first in our lives. Jesus said, “If you put anyone before Me, you are not worthy of Me.”

I get so tired of hearing people say that they have to sow their oats. You sow some oats and you are going to reap a crop. The crop does not come up overnight. Many times it comes up a lot later; but what you sow will eventually surface, and people will know what you have been sowing. Now is the time, dear friends, to be sowing righteousness and the love of Jesus and instilling it in the hearts of our children and in the church, when we so desperately need changes.

Satan knows what is going on. He knows what will take place when he causes us to neglect secret prayer. He knows what will take place when we are not searching the Scriptures, so he keeps us away from that.

Very few who believe that Jesus is coming are spending sufficient time in prayer each and every day. Now do not ask me what sufficient time is. The Bible does not say that we have to spend so many minutes or so many hours, but we need to recognize that we need more help than ever before since the enemy is consolidating and coming together and is going to throw everything at God’s people. Our only safety is in keeping our hand in the hand of God, staying on our knees, and spending time in the Word of God.

Every day we need to be putting on the whole armor of God. That is our protection. I think of the armor as being something like the manna. If you did not get out and get that manna, when the sun come up, it melted. If a person slept in, he did not eat. We ought to have a little bit more of that today. As with the fresh manna, we must go out and get it every day. The fact that you put that armor on last week or you prayed on Sabbath is not relevant to your condition today.

Yet, most people get up late to go to work. They just barely get to work on time. They do not know what is going on until nearly noon. They have spent no time with God or studying the Word; the enemy is working them over right and left, and they do not even know it.

How is your relationship with Jesus? As we read, the devil wants to keep us in sin. Someone will say, “Well, I am not committing those big sins over here. I’m not doing this.” We may be acting selfishly, but we do not think about selfishness as being sin. We think of selfishness, pride, and pride of our own opinion as being separate from sin.

One day I went to visit someone, and I knocked on the door. She saw me standing at the door, and it was obvious that she was not pleased to see me. (Now it is sad when you think that, as a pastor, you have to warn the people before you come to visit. You almost feel like you have to call and tell them that you are coming because you do not know what they will be up to.) I said nothing, just walked in the door. The TV was blaring and a soap opera was on. I did not think much about it until she jumped me.

“Oh, so you think I’m a sinner because I watch soap operas.” I did not say anything, and she continued, “So you think I’m a horrible, terrible person.”

I said, “No, it never entered my mind. I never thought about it. Give me a chance here.”

“Well,” she replied, “I will just tell you right up front, right now. That is the only fault that I have.”

I said, “I wish I could say that. If that were the only fault I had, I would just put my foot through that screen right quick, and then I would not have any.”

Do you see how people reason? Their conscience is bothering them, and it causes them to think that other people are condemning them.

The more you study the Word and the closer you get to Jesus, the more filthy you become. It is getting close to Jesus that helps us to see ourselves as we really are. If we stay away from Jesus, we cannot see the changes that need to be made. But when we have a real relationship with Jesus, those changes come out and we are able to see them. We can submit them to Jesus and gain the victory.

Now is the time to put the whole armor of God on. Put it on every day; put it on fresh and clean. Do it by spending some time in prayer. If your schedule is hectic, get up a few minutes early. It will not hurt you. If you find that you can not get up any earlier, then go to bed earlier.

“The agencies of evil are combining their forces and consolidating. They are strengthening for the last great crisis. Great changes are soon to take place in our world, and the final movements will be rapid ones.” Testimonies, vol. 9, 11. Now the enemy is well aware that the last movements are going to be rapid. He knows that if the agencies for evil combine together, he will be stronger. I do not know how the devils have unity, but evidently they have some. Somehow, it says, they are consolidating; they are combining. Yet here we are, the people of God, and we are having a difficult time finding unity. Dear friends, there is unity in consolidating—working together—and this is what God wants us to do.

“Satanic agencies are in every city, busily organizing into parties those opposed to the law of God.” Testimonies, vol. 8, 42

If you say that you love Jesus and that by God’s grace we can keep the law, the devil hates you. Is not that interesting? Now some people get concerned and they say, “Oh, we do not want to get the devil mad at us.” He is already angry with you. “I do not want to get the neighbors upset.” They are already upset. “I do not want to get all Protestants angry at me.” They are already angry at you. “I do not want to get the papacy or Romanism upset with me.” They are already upset. It is just going to get worse. The Protestants are not going to love you before it is all over; the Roman church is not going to love you when it is all over; and your next door neighbor is not going to love you when all is said and done—not if you are faithful to Jesus Christ. Jesus tells us that they hated Him before they hated you.

Somehow, too many of God’s people are trying to get out in the world where everybody loves them. If you can get out in the world and everybody loves you, dear friends, you will be going to the wrong place. Now think about it. If you stand for what is truth, people do not like you. If you tell them about God’s Sabbath, they do not like you. They look at you like you have some type of disease. They avoid you. They were fine until you began to talk about Jesus or you changed your lifestyle.

The evil angels are combining their forces, organizing, to get rid of those “who keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus.” So let us admit it; you are on the bad list, not the good list, as far as the evil angels are concerned.

“To hold the people in darkness and impenitence till the Saviour’s mediation is ended, and there is no longer a sacrifice for sin, is the object which he seeks to accomplish.” The Great Controversy, 518. What does the devil want to do with us? He wants to hold us in darkness, or in sin, until probation closes. And when probation closes, it is all over; he has us.

Dear friends, let me challenge you today. We must be born again if we are going to see Jesus. We have to be willing to say, “Lord, I want to change. I want to be more and more like You.” Be willing to submit your life to Jesus each and every day. Let Him come in and reveal the things that need to be changed in your life. He will do it, dear friends. He wants to do it because He wants to spend eternity with you.

Let us not become weary in well-doing. Let us continue to fight the good fight of faith, and let us spend eternity together. That is my prayer today.

The End

What Goes Around Comes Around

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For over one hundred years, Seventh-day Adventists have known that the time is coming when all who refuse the mark of the beast will be faced with a death decree. But friends, there are going to be many Seventh-day Adventists who will never reach the point where their life is threatened. Without realizing it, their minds will have already come under the control of Satan long before the crisis arrives.

The first method of mind control that we looked at was the attempt to change the terminology. Change the terminology and you will change the way a person things about the subject. As an example, we showed how rebuke has been called criticism, thereby changing the way people relate to it.

The second method is actually more deceptive than the first. In this method, the same words are used; but they are given a different meaning. Has anyone ever asked you, “Do you believe that the church is going through?” Well, of course you believe that; but the real question is, Who and what is this church that is going through?

There have been some Historic Adventist preachers who have made statements like, I don’t believe in sarcasm.” Now that sounds like a very pious thing to say. In Webster’s dictionary, 1828, it says that sarcasm is an expression that is uttered with some degree of scorn or contempt. Accordingly, a Christian will never, ever utter a sarcastic word.

I am bringing this up because when you get to studying cybernetic warfare, you find that eventually a person goes contrary to the direct command of Jesus in Matthew 7:1, “Judge not, that you be not judged.” In this same chapter, Jesus also said, “You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.” Verses 16–20. Therefore, on the basis of the Word of God, we can check the fruit, which is a person’s words and actions; but we do not have authority to say what motives they may have had in speaking those words.

Let me give you an example. “And so it was, at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, ‘Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is mediating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened.’ So they cried aloud, and cut themselves, as was their custom, with knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them. And when midday was past, they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. But there was no voice; no one answered, no one paid attention.” I Kings 18:27–29. In twentieth century English, that is sarcastic speech; but I do not have the authority to say whether Elijah had the feeling of contempt in his heart toward these people. That is God’s prerogative, and that is one of the problems that you run into when you start changing definitions of words. Eventually you get to assigning motives to other people.

To the person lacking spiritual vision, it appears that the agents of God and those of Satan are doing the same work. Because of God’s agents rebuke and reprove, sometimes with severity, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, this reproof and rebuke is interpreted by unconverted hearts to have been given from the same motives that they themselves feel when making such remarks. You see, we judge things on the basis of our own motives and heart and experience. That is why the Bible says, “Judge not, that you be not judged.” And so it is that the person who, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, speaks the words of God in reproof and rebuke finds his words interpreted as sarcasm, faultfinding, criticism, and condemning.

Many years ago there was a life insurance salesman in the United States by the name of Vash Young. He wrote a book entitled The Go-Giver. In this gook he wrote about a number of his experiences. One of the conclusions that he came to was that the average human being makes about 85% of his decisions on any subject based upon his feelings or emotions; but he needs about 15% of logic and reason to justify that feeling or emotion. Now cybernetic warfare, when we say changing the terminology of the word involves communicating an emotional picture to a person’s imagination which influences that person’s decisions and get his sympathy in a desired direction. Often this desired direction can be completely contrary to the facts.

Suppose that you invited my daughter and me to come along with you for a ride and a picnic in the mountains. However, when the time comes, I notice that there are not enough seat belts to go around and, in addition, that your car does not have very good tires. Rather than hurt your feelings by referring to the poor condition of your car, I just tell you that I have decided that I would rather not go. Suppose, then, that a couple of days later a friend of yours calls me on the telephone after talking to you and tells me that you informed him that I boycotted your picnic and he was wondering why I would do anything so traitorous as this.

Ellen White says that, “It is a fact widely ignored, though never without danger, that error rarely appears for what it really is. It is by mingling with or attaching itself to truth that it gains acceptance.” Education, 230, 231. Very often these mind control techniques are a perversion of something that actually is true. Is it true that I did not go on the picnic? Yes. But how has my decision been described? It has been described by words that have a very powerful, negative, emotional connotation. I receive letters all of the time in which this technique is used.

Deuteronomy 6:6–9 says, “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” What is the principle here? If you really want to learn something, you expose your mind to it over and over again.

Experts in mind control techniques understand this principle. Did you now that this principle of repeating something over and over again is one of the main principles upon which all propaganda is based? When you hear something you immediately have to do one of two things. You have to decide whether to accept it or to resist it. It does not matter whether the information is true or false; if it is repeated often enough and you are not resisting it, you will believe it. That is the way the human mind is made, and the devil knows it.

When you hear a minister speaking, do you believe what he has to say on the basis of the Word of God, or because he has said it? Not too long ago I received some videos. The person doing the speaking would consider himself an Historic Adventist preacher. I did not have the time to watch them, so I asked a relative of mine to watch them for me and tell me what he heard. It was reported to me that on these videos, the minister made a particular statement. I asked my relative if the person speaking had shown that statement to be true from the Bible or the Spirit of Prophecy? “No,” he replied, “he didn’t prove it, but he repeated it 12 times throughout that video.”

If you are not asking the questions, “Is this substantiated in the Word of God?” and resisting everything that is not, after something is repeated 12 times you are going to believe what you are told. You will probably write me a letter or call me on the telephone and tell me about it. It happens all of the time.

This same principle also applies to the speaker. Something repeated over and over again, even if it is not true, eventually becomes truth to the one speaking it, until he will believe it so thoroughly that no one can convince him otherwise. In the effort to get other people to think a certain way, you will influence yourself.

Ellen White tells us that in the last great crisis, “Those who honor the Bible Sabbath will be denounced as enemies of law and order, as breaking down the moral restraints of society, causing anarchy and corruption, and calling down the judgments of God upon the earth. Their conscientious scruples will be pronounced obstinacy, stubbornness, and contempt of authority.” The Great Controversy, 592.

Of what law are you an enemy? Well, you are an enemy of the Sunday law, obviously, so you are an enemy of order. In our society, does that send a strong, emotional message that will turn people against you? It certainly does! When this type of information is broadcast on radio and television, you will find that people will accept it; and immediately their emotions will be stirred to a white-hot heat. If you have already experienced, in a degree, this sort of thing, the Lord has just allowed it to take place in your life to harden you up and get your ready for the real attack that is coming.

Let me tell you, friends, we are living in the time when the vast majority of the people in this world are going to be subject to mind control without realizing it is taking place. They will believe that they are about to enter the most wonderful period of human existence that there has ever been. (See The Great Controversy, 588, 589.)

How are you going to escape this? Only by being grounded on the foundation of God’s government—love to God and love for your fellow man. These are the two fundamental principles. If these principles are not in your heart and in mine, if you are not manifesting them in your family or where you work or with the people you associate with, you are not going to make it. I used to naively think that studying the Bible so that I would know the truth would be sufficient; but I want to tell you that unless the truth about Jesus and the love of Jesus has taken possession of your heart, all of the theoretical knowledge is not going to hold you in the battle we are entering.

“That which distinguishes the character and conduct of Christians from all others is the principle of holy, Christlike love, which works in the heart with its purifying influence. The true Christian will work the works of Christ in giving expression in deeds of love one to another. With this living, abiding, working principle in life and in character, no one can resemble the world. If you know the character and works of Christ, you will know the disposition and conduct of Christians. Christ hated evil so much that sin and evil met a strong rebuke from His lips and from His example. While He hated sin, He loved the sinner. . . .

“How much greater strength you might have had as sons and daughters of God had you loved God supremely and your neighbor as you love yourself. How much higher ground you might stand upon if you had been following on to know more and more of the truth and gathering more and more divine light to shine forth in good works to all around you.

“Your works are not pleasing to God but pleasing to the enemy.

“You have lessons to learn in the school of Christ before you will be fitted for heaven. Your self, your ways, your sharp traits of character make you unskillful in dealing with minds and hearts. . . . If you allow yourselves to be dictatorial, accusing, and judging your brethren, and with unsanctified hearts and unholy tempers seeking to mend their wrongs, you do unskillful work and drive souls away from the service of Christ. . . .

“You must take hold of God with one hand while with the other hand, in love, you lay hold upon the erring and the sinner and draw them to Jesus. Pray with them, weep with them, feel for their souls, love them, and never let go of them. This is the love Jesus has expressed for you. You must ever strive for unity and forbearance and love. Never draw apart, but press together, binding heart to heart and making supplications in the Spirit. Then the power of God will work in your midst and many souls will be brought to the truth through your influence.” Manuscript 32, 1887.

Now, friends, I believe in missionary work with all of my heart, and I believe in proclaiming the gospel and the Three Angels’ Messages; but if we are going to get the kind of results that God wants us to have, we must love God with all of our heart, soul, and mind and our neighbor as ourself. It may take a great deal of prayer to know what Jesus would do in the situation in which you find yourself right now, but ask the Lord to teach you how and what to do.

There was a Bulgarian pastor who was taken captive by the Communists. They tried again and again to break him down, but they could not. He said that during the 13 or 14 years that he was in a prison camp, his captors considered him the number one enemy because what he represented would destroy their system. In telling his experience of being beaten and tortured, he said that he noticed that many of the soldiers who were administering this torture became just like animals. At the very time that these people were losing all human feelings and emotions, among some of the prisoners an amazing thing took place. There would be men who, because their jaws had been broken as a result of their beatings, could not take a piece of bread and eat it. Some of their fellow prisoners would take the bread and break it up into small pieces and put in into these injured prisoner’s mouths so that they could get some nourishment. As the torturers were becoming satanic in their nature, there were prisoners who were becoming godlike.

I want to tell you, friends, in the midst of the great crisis that we are entering right now, there is going to be a world full of people who will be like the devil in human flesh. But in the midst of all of this horror, there are going to be some people who will become and exact reflection of the character of Jesus Christ. And, friends, if you live until the end, it is going to be one way or the other with each of you. The only way that you are going to survive is if you have the love of Jesus in your hearts—you love God with all your heart, soul, and mind—and you have love for your fellow man so that nobody can induce you for anything to do something to hurt or harm one of your fellow men because you love others with all of your heart. If you have that love in your heart, they will not be able to break you down. This is the only thing, friends, that will hold you.