Introduction
This booklet will rivet you to your seat until you are done reading. It presents acutely relevant and significant follow through themes for today. Why? Because we have come to the End. The End of the World.
Why am I so positive? Because of what I see happening in the Church. The signs in the world also point clearly to this fact, but the greatest sign as far as I am concerned is this,
Satan is . . . constantly pressing in the spurious--to lead away from the truth. The very last deception of Satan will be to make of none effect the testimony of the Spirit of God. "Where there is no vision, the people perish." (Proverbs 29:18). Satan will work ingeniously, in different ways and through different agencies, to unsettle the confidence of God's remnant people in the true testimony.
"There will be a hatred kindled against the testimonies which is satanic. The workings of Satan will be to unsettle the faith of the churches in them, for this reason: Satan cannot have so clear a track to bring in his deceptions and bind up souls in his delusions if the warnings and reproofs and counsels of the Spirit of God are heeded.
The obvious fulfillment of this prophecy now taking place in the church testifies that we are standing at the very doorstep of eternity.
Another current church controversy gives evidence of prophecy being fulfilled.
"For more than half a century the different points of present truth have been questioned and opposed. New theories have been advanced as truth, which were not truth, and the Spirit of God revealed their error. As the great pillars of our faith have been presented, the Holy Spirit has borne witness to them, and especially is this so regarding the truths of the sanctuary question. Over and over again the Holy Spirit has in a marked manner endorsed the preaching of this doctrine. But today, as in the past, some will be led to form new theories and to deny the truths upon which the Spirit of God has placed His approval." {Manuscript 125, 1907; Ev 224.2}
"In the future, deception of every kind is to arise, and we want solid ground for our feet. We want solid pillars for the building. Not one pin is to be removed from that which the Lord has established. The enemy will bring in false theories, such as the doctrine that there is no sanctuary. This is one of the points on which there will be a departing from the faith. Where shall we find safety unless it be in the truths that the Lord has been giving for the last fifty years?" {RH, May 25, 1905 par. 28}
Contest Over Distinguishing Truth
The time is near when the deceptive powers of satanic agencies will be fully developed. On one side is Christ, who has been given all power in heaven and earth. On the other side is Satan, continually exercising his power to allure, to deceive with strong, spiritualistic sophistries, to remove God out of the places that He should occupy in the minds of men.
Satan is striving continually to bring in fanciful suppositions in regard to 
the sanctuary, degrading the wonderful representations of God and the ministry of Christ for our salvation into something that suits the carnal mind. He removes its presiding power from the hearts of believers, and supplies its place with fantastic theories invented to make void the truths of the atonement, and destroy our confidence in the doctrines which we have held sacred since the third angel's message was first given. Thus he would rob us of our faith in the very message that has made us a separate people, and has given character and power to our work.
In order to remove the Sanctuary pillar the devil must convince our people that the prophet of the Lord is a false prophet.
"We have far more to fear from within than from without. The hindrances to strength and success are far greater from the church itself than from the world. Unbelievers have a right to expect that those who profess to be keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, will do more than any other class to promote and honor, by their consistent lives, by their godly example and their active influence, the cause which they represent. But how often have the professed advocates of the truth proved the greatest obstacle to its advancement! The unbelief indulged, the doubts expressed, the darkness cherished, encourage the presence of evil angels, and open the way for the accomplishment of Satan's devices." {1SM 122.3}
Our greatest danger, then is not Catholicism or Apostate Protestantism but Apostate Adventism.
Two events in Biblical history teach us an important lesson for today. God's messengers have never been popular with the majority of God's people. The careless majority hated the message they brought and many times destroyed the messengers in an attempt to get rid of the message.
Examples are:
Jeremiah Chapters 37, 38, 39 tell how God sent a message by His prophet Jeremiah to Zedekiah, the King. Zedekiah believed the prophet but did not have the courage to obey what God said. Because of his lack of courage, he lost everything, including eternal life.
In 2.Chronicles 20, we find a different story. Judah was surrounded by three armies: The Ammonites, Moabites and those of Mount-Seir. There was no way out - no human solution. Jehoshaphat placed himself and his people in the hands of the Lord. Jahaziel, a non-canonical prophet, brought a plan from the Lord to defeat the enemy, "The battle is not yours, but the Lord's" (2.Chr. 20:15) he told the King. The Judeans were instructed to march to the battle with singers in front of the army. Such tactics had never been used before. Many thus must have felt that it was sheer folly. But the King obeyed the prophet and saved himself and the people. God worked for them one of the greatest miracles in the Old Testament.
The bottom line is this - will we today obey the prophet of the Lord or will we make of none effect the messages God has sent?
"And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper." 2.Chronicles 20:20.
"One thing is certain: Those Seventh-day Adventists who take their stand under Satan's banner will first give up their faith in the warnings and reproofs contained in the Testimonies of God's Spirit." {3SM 84 (1903); LDE 177.4}
Without the prophetic gift we could not be God's Remnant Church, for we read,
"And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." Rev. 12:17."And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See [thou do it] not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." Rev. 19:10.
The Sanctuary message is the plan of salvation in miniature. If the devil were successful in destroying this message, we would soon adopt the false evangelical theory that we cannot overcome sin. If Satan could just get us to believe this evangelical heresy he would have us where he wants us. If he could get us to believe just as the evangelicals do, God would not have a Remnant Church, or anyone to give the Three Angel's Messages, or the Final Loud Cry to warn the world.
We are living in the greatest moments of the world's 6000 year history. The last movements are to be rapid ones. At the time of the final crisis in which we now find ourselves, an attempt will be made to remove the old landmarks.
"After the truth has been proclaimed as a witness to all nations, every conceivable power of evil will be set in operation, and minds will be confused by many voices crying, "Lo, here is Christ; lo, He is there. This is the truth, I have the message from God, He has sent me with great light." Then there will be a removing of the landmarks, and an attempt to tear down the pillars of our faith. A more decided effort will be made to exalt the false sabbath, and to cast contempt upon God Himself by supplanting the day He has blessed and sanctified. This false sabbath is to be enforced by an oppressive law." {7BC 985.1}
What are the old landmarks? We don't need to guess.
But the waymarks which have made us what we are, are to be preserved, and they will be preserved, as God has signified through His Word and the testimony of His Spirit. He calls upon us to hold firmly, with the grip of faith, to the fundamental principles that are based upon unquestionable authority.
"The enemy of souls has sought to bring in the supposition that a great reformation was to take place among Seventh-day Adventists, and that this reformation would consist in giving up the doctrines which stand as the pillars of our faith, and engaging in a process of reorganization. Were this reformation to take place, what would result? The principles of truth that God in His wisdom has given to the remnant church, would be discarded. Our religion would be changed. The fundamental principles that have sustained the work for the last fifty years would be accounted as error. A new organization would be established. Books of a new order would be written. A system of intellectual philosophy would be introduced. The founders of this system would go into the cities, and do a wonderful work. The Sabbath of course, would be lightly regarded, as also the God who created it. Nothing would be allowed to stand in the way of the new movement." {1SM 204.2}
The waymarks or landmarks are what has made us what we are. The waymarks are
- the Sabbath
- the non-immortality (mortality) of the soul
- the true understanding of the sanctuary
- the work of our High Priest
- the Atonement, and
- the Three Angels Messages
In Minneapolis God gave precious gems of truth to His people in new settings. This light from heaven by some was rejected with all the stubbornness the Jews manifested in rejecting Christ, and there was much talk about standing by the old landmarks. But there was evidence they knew not what the old landmarks were. There was evidence and there was reasoning from the word that commended itself to the conscience; but the minds of men were fixed, sealed against the entrance of light, because they had decided it was a dangerous error removing the "old landmarks" when it was not moving a peg of the old landmarks, but they had perverted ideas of what constituted the old landmarks.
"The passing of the time in 1844 was a period of great events, opening to our astonished eyes the cleansing of the sanctuary transpiring in heaven, and having decided relation to God's people upon the earth, [also] the first and second angels' messages and the third, unfurling the banner on which was inscribed, "The commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." One of the landmarks under this message was the temple of God, seen by His truth-loving people in heaven, and the ark containing the law of God. The light of the Sabbath of the fourth commandment flashed its strong rays in the pathway of the transgressors of God's law. The nonimmortality of the wicked is an old landmark. I can call to mind nothing more that can come under the head of the old landmarks. All this cry about changing the old landmarks is all imaginary." {CW 30.1,2}
The attempt to remove the landmarks will not be made from without but from within.
"In the future, Satan's superstitions will assume new forms. Errors will be presented in a pleasing and flattering manner. False theories, clothed with garments of light, will be presented to God's people. Thus Satan will try to deceive, if possible, the very elect. Most seducing influences will be exerted; minds will be hypnotized." {8T 293.4}
Satan would attempt to persuade us to accept evangelical thinking on salvation, knowing that in time we would begin to talk, teach, and preach like evangelicals. Also by providing financial affluency for the world, the Adventist home would also become materialistic. From these homes our youth would become professional, success-oriented students who would then pressure the educational leaders into a state of worldly compromise in diet, dress, amusements and sports, study programs, curriculum, physical plans and others.
Ancient Israel wanted to be like the world, so God let them have their king. They paid a great price that included eternal loss.
The sin of ancient Israel was in disregarding the expressed will of God and following their own way according to the leadings of unsanctified hearts. Modern Israel are fast following in their footsteps, and the displeasure of the Lord is as surely resting upon them. {5T 93.3}
Our schools were intended to be like those of the Prophets. But if Satan could get us to develop schools after the worldly pattern, it would open the way for an intellectual sophistication that will not submit to truth. Then the door is opened for false theories to come in among us. The end result would be of righteousness, so called, while claiming to substantiate what they teach by the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy, would seek to change the essential features of Adventism. They could claim it would strengthen the cause, but in reality it would destroy it. Let it not happen to us any further.
"There is to be no change in the general features of our work. It is to stand as clear and distinct as prophecy has made it. We are to enter into no confederacy with the world, supposing that by so doing we could accomplish more. If any stand in the way, to hinder the advancement of the work in the lines that God has appointed, they will displease God.
No line of truth that has made the Seventh-day Adventist people what they are is to be weakened. We have the old landmarks of truth, experience, and duty, and we are to stand firmly in defense of our principles, in full view of the world.
The Spirit of Prophecy has been the balance wheel of this denomination from its beginning. It has made us a world organization in medical, educational, publishing, and foreign mission lines of work. It has given us a distinct message for this hour through this gift and has given us the correct understanding of our doctrines. To remove the landmarks and pillars, Satan must unsettle our faith in this gift and will do it and has done it.
Truths Barricaded by a "Thus Saith the Lord."
"How many have read carefully Patriarchs and Prophets, The Great Controversy, and The Desire of Ages? I wish all to understand that my confidence in the light that God has given stands firm, because I know that the Holy Spirit's power magnified the truth, and made it honorable, saying: "This is the way, walk ye in it." (Isa. 30:21) In my books, the truth is stated, barricaded by a "Thus saith the Lord." (Ex. 4:22) The Holy Spirit traced these truths upon my heart and mind as indelibly as the law was traced by the finger of God, upon the tables of stone, which are now in the ark, to be brought forth in that great day when sentence will be pronounced against every evil, seducing science produced by the father of lies." {Letter 90, 1906. CM 126.2}
"Satan will work ingeniously, in different ways and through different agencies, to unsettle the confidence of God's remnant people in the true testimony." {Letter 12, 1890; 1SM 48.3}
The devil has nothing but the utmost contempt for the Spirit of Prophecy.
I was told that men will employ every policy to make less prominent the difference between the faith of Seventh-day Adventists and those who observe the first day of the week. In this controversy the whole world will be engaged, and the time is short. This is no time to haul down our colors.
"A company was presented before me under the name of Seventh-day Adventists, who were advising that the banner or sign which makes us a distinctive people should not be held out so strikingly; for they claimed it was not the best policy in securing success to our institutions. This distinctive banner is to be borne through the world to the close of probation.
The last deception is to make the Spirit of Prophecy say what it does not teach. The alpha of apostasy was guilty of doing this. The omega will do the very same thing. There will be an attempt by SdA's to bring our old landmarks down to agree with Evangelical teachings on salvation. This deception is now evident in the church.
What is heresy? It is defined as follows.
"Heresy means selected truth; it does not mean error; heresy and error are very different things. Heresy is truth pushed into undue importance, to the disparagement of the truth upon the other side. Heresy is an act of choice, the picking and choosing of a part, instead of comprehensively embracing the whole truth." {Strong's Concordance, p. 800}
Thus we are reminded of the words,
"So closely will the counterfeit resemble the true that it will be impossible to distinguish between them except by the Holy Scriptures. By their testimony every statement and every miracle must be tested." {GC 593.1}
Some are teaching another gospel masquerading as truth. But we know that the great day of test, the shaking, is before the church for quite some time now.
"I saw that as the Jews crucified Jesus, so the nominal churches had crucified these messages, and therefore they have no knowledge of the way into the most holy, and they cannot be benefited by the intercession of Jesus there. Like the Jews, who offered their useless sacrifices, they offer up their useless prayers to the apartment which Jesus has left; and Satan, pleased with the deception, assumes a religious character, and leads the minds of these professed Christians to himself, working with his power, his signs and lying wonders, to fasten them in his snare. Some he deceives in one way, and some in another. He has different delusions prepared to affect different minds. Some look with horror upon one deception, while they readily receive another." {EW, 261}
Of all the doctrines taught by the SdA Church, which one is the most distinctive? Some other groups keep the Sabbath. There are some outside of Adventism who believe that man is mortal, and that the soul sleeps at death, until the Resurrection. Others believe in the Second Coming. But our teaching on the sanctuary is unique and distinctive.
The sanctuary and the atonement are our most distinctive doctrines. A real tragedy among us today is that so many of our laymen and some ministers know so little about the Sanctuary and the final Atonement as historically taught by fundamental Adventism. A misunderstanding of this vital subject causes a misunderstanding of the righteousness of Christ, the nature of Christ, and the perfection of character.
The final atonement truth is the master key which opens the door and brings into focus all other truths in the everlasting Gospel.
"The correct understanding of the ministration in the heavenly sanctuary is the foundation of our faith." {Letter 208, 1906; Ev 221.2}
"The subject of the sanctuary was the key which unlocked the mystery of the disappointment of 1844. It opened to view a complete system of truth, connected and harmonious, showing that God's hand had directed the great advent movement and revealing present duty as it brought to light the position and work of His people. As the disciples of Jesus after the terrible night of their anguish and disappointment were "glad when they saw the Lord," so did those now rejoice who had looked in faith for His second coming." {GC 423.1}
It is true that the sacrifice of Christ on the cross was perfect and complete, but the work of atonement was not completed then. God has revealed to us that the second phase of the atonement administered by Christ after 1844 was as essential as the first. This is clearly taught in the ancient sanctuary service.
Notice the following statement,
When Aaron has finished performing the ritual to purify the Most Holy Place, the rest of the Tent of the Lord's presence, and the altar, he shall present to the Lord the live goat chosen for Azazel. He shall put both hands on the goat's head and confess over it all the evils, sins, and rebellions of the people of Israel, and so transfer them to the goat's head. Then the goat is to be driven off into the desert by a man appointed to do it. The goat will carry all their sins away with him into some uninhabited land. Then Aaron shall go into the Tent, take off the priestly garments that he had put on before entering there. He must take a bath in a holy place and put on his own clothes. After that, he shall go out and offer the burnt offering to remove his own sins and those of the people." Leviticus 16:20-24, GNB.
The practical aspect of the judgment is that the atonement involves a real test and demonstration of character. When Jesus returns in glory to gather the saints the Atonement is complete.
"The blood of Christ, while it was to release the repentant sinner from the condemnation of the law, was not to cancel the sin; it would stand on record in the sanctuary until the final atonement; so in the type the blood of the sin offering removed the sin from the penitent, but it rested in the sanctuary until the Day of Atonement." {PP 357.5}
"As in the final atonement the sins of the truly penitent are to be blotted from the records of heaven, no more to be remembered or come into mind, so in the type they were borne away into the wilderness, forever separated from the congregation." {PP 358.1}
"The intercession of Christ in man's behalf in the sanctuary above is as essential to the plan of salvation as was His death upon the cross." {GC 489.1} [For further study see GC 422, 423, 430, 480, 623; EW 252, 253.]
God's way is in the sanctuary. "Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God?" Psalm 73:13. Let us never forget this scripture. If we are to reach the Promised Land, the Heavenly Canaan, we must find and follow God's way. His way is to be found in the sanctuary. We know, then, the devil - the enemy of all souls for which Jesus died - will do everything possible to keep God's people from understanding the sanctuary and from finding God's way in the plan of salvation through the sanctuary.
The sanctuary is the plan of salvation in miniature. It is one of the waymarks of Adventism, if not the greatest. Others keep the seventh-day Sabbath and understand and teach that man has a mortal soul. But none have received from God the doctrine of the sanctuary - only SdAs have. It is the only unique doctrine we possess.
John the Revelator has told us that, "And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." Rev. 12:17. The devil is angry with the Church, because we keep the commandments of God and have the Spirit of Prophecy to direct us in organization and doctrine.
God speaking through His messenger Ellen White - spotlighted the sanctuary doctrine, illuminating it, to focus our thinking on this beautiful doctrine.
This most distinct waymark the devil would try to remove to make it of no effect. Let us listen to the prophet.
"After the truth has been proclaimed as a witness to all nations, every conceivable power of evil will be set in operation, and minds will be confused by many voices crying, "Lo, here is Christ; lo, He is there. This is the truth, I have the message from God, He has sent me with great light." (Mark 13:21,22 paraphrased) Then there will be a removing of the landmarks, and an attempt to tear down the pillars of our faith. A more decided effort will be made to exalt the false sabbath, and to cast contempt upon God Himself by supplanting the day He has blessed and sanctified. This false sabbath is to be enforced by an oppressive law." {SDA Bible Commentary, `Revelation'; 7BC 985.1; Mar 198.4}
But because the prophet has written so much on this subject with great clarity the devil must first destroy the influence of the prophet.
"Satan is . . . constantly pressing in the spurious--to lead away from the truth. The very last deception of Satan will be to make of none effect the testimony of the Spirit of God. "Where there is no vision, the people perish." (Prov. 29:18). Satan will work ingeniously, in different ways and through different agencies, to unsettle the confidence of God's remnant people in the true testimony.
There will be a hatred kindled against the testimonies which is satanic. The workings of Satan will be to unsettle the faith of the churches in them, for this reason: Satan cannot have so clear a track to bring in his deceptions and bind up souls in his delusions if the warnings and reproofs and counsels of the Spirit of God are heeded.
We were instructed by Inspiration that as the end of time draws near, the devil, through his agents, would attempt to remove that which the Lord has established. Let us again turn to inspiration.
New theories have been advanced as truth, which were not truth, and the Spirit of God revealed their error. As the great pillars of our faith have been presented, the Holy Spirit has borne witness to them, and especially is this so regarding the truths of the sanctuary question. Over and over again the Holy Spirit has in a marked manner endorsed the preaching of this doctrine. But today, as in the past, some will be led to form new theories and to deny the truths upon which the Spirit of God has placed His approval.
In the future, deception of every kind is to arise, and we want solid ground for our feet. We want solid pillars for the building. Not one pin is to be removed from that which the Lord has established. The enemy will bring in false theories, such as the doctrine that there is no sanctuary. This is one of the points on which there will be a departing from the faith. Where shall we find safety unless it be in the truths that the Lord has been giving for the last fifty years?
"The time is near when the deceptive powers of satanic agencies will be fully developed. On one side is Christ, who has been given all power in heaven and earth. On the other side is Satan, continually exercising his power to allure, to deceive with strong, spiritualistic sophistries, to remove God out of the places that He should occupy in the minds of men.
Satan is striving continually to bring in fanciful suppositions in regard to the sanctuary, degrading the wonderful representations of God and the ministry of Christ for our salvation into something that suits the carnal mind. He removes its presiding power from the hearts of believers, and supplies its place with fantastic theories invented to make void the truths of the atonement, and destroy our confidence in the doctrines which we have held sacred since the third angel's message was first given. Thus he would rob us of our faith in the very message that has made us a separate people, and has given character and power to our work.
One of the greatest signs that the end is very near and we will soon see Jesus is that the Spirit of Prophecy and the sanctuary, championed in Revelation, are now under direct attack by the enemy of souls. Attacks have been brought in times past against these two pillars of our faith. Let us for a moment review our history.
Elder A.F. Ballenger, an SdA minister at the turn of the 19/20th century began to teach that Christ went into the most holy place in 31 A.D.
Let us listen to the voice of God speaking to us through inspiration on that subject.
"For eighteen centuries this work of ministration continued in the first apartment of the sanctuary. The blood of Christ, pleaded in behalf of penitent believers, secured their pardon and acceptance with the Father, yet their sins still remained upon the books of record. As in the typical service there was a work of atonement at the close of the year, so before Christ's work for the redemption of men is completed there is a work of atonement for the removal of sin from the sanctuary. This is the service which began when the 2300 days ended. At that time, as foretold by Daniel the prophet, our High Priest entered the most holy, to perform the last division of His solemn work--to cleanse the sanctuary." {GC 421.2}
. . .
"Thus those who followed in the light of the prophetic word saw that, instead of coming to the earth at the termination of the 2300 days in 1844, Christ then entered the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary to perform the closing work of atonement preparatory to His coming." {GC 422.1}
"The subject of the sanctuary was the key which unlocked the mystery of the disappointment of 1844." {GC 423.1}
"But such subjects as the sanctuary, in connection with the 2300 days, the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, are perfectly calculated to explain the past Advent movement and show what our present position is, establish the faith of the doubting, and give certainty to the glorious future. These, I have frequently seen, were the principal subjects on which the messengers should dwell." {EW 63.2}
Ellen White kindly rebuked Elder Ballenger for his teaching that Christ entered the most holy place in AD 31 as well as other false concepts on the sanctuary.
Let us listen again as the messenger speaks.
"In clear, plain language I am to say to those in attendance at this conference that Brother Ballenger has been allowing his mind to receive and believe specious error. He has been misinterpreting and misapplying the Scriptures upon which he has fastened his mind. He is building up theories that are not founded in truth. A warning is now to come to him and to the people, for God has not indicted (??) the message that he is bearing. This message, if accepted, would undermine the pillars of our faith." {MR760 8.2}
"A stronger determination to know nothing among men but Christ and Him crucified, would have given a different character to the work of Brother Ballenger on this ground. By this he would have been saved from spending his time in presenting as truth that which, if received, would undermine the mighty truths that have been established for ages. He who claims that his teachings are sound, while at the same time he is working away from the Lord's truth, has come to the place where he needs to be converted." {MR760 9.1}
"If the theories that Brother Ballenger presents were received, they would lead many to depart from the faith. They would counterwork the truths upon which the people of God have stood for the past fifty years. I am bidden to say in the name of the Lord that Elder Ballenger is following a false light. The Lord has not given him the message that he is bearing regarding the sanctuary service."{MR760 10.2}
"I have a warning for those who suppose that they have been given the work of revealing Scripture in a new light. This work means substituting human interpretation for the interpretation that God has given. Thus did the heavenly messengers pronounce upon the effort into which Brother Ballenger has entered.
Those who believe the Spirit of Prophecy is God's voice to His people must accept 1844 as the time when Christ entered upon His work in the most holy place.
But let us now read some more from inspiration.
Satan invents unnumbered schemes to occupy our minds, that they may not dwell upon the very work with which we ought to be best acquainted. The archdeceiver hates the great truths that bring to view an atoning sacrifice and an all-powerful mediator. He knows that with him everything depends on his diverting minds from Jesus and His truth. {GC 488.1}
The intercession of Christ in man's behalf in the sanctuary above is as essential to the plan of salvation as was His death upon the cross. By His death He began that work which after His resurrection He ascended to complete in heaven. {GC 489.1}
Therefore the announcement that the temple of God was opened in heaven and the ark of His testament was seen points to the opening of the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary in 1844 as Christ entered there to perform the closing work of the atonement.
"The Lord showed me in vision, more than one year ago, that Brother Crossier had the true light, on the cleansing of the Sanctuary, and that it was his will, that Brother Crossier should write out the view which he gave us in the `Day Star', Extra, February 7, 1846. I feel fully authorized by the Lord to recommend that Extra to every saint."
[A letter from E.G. White to Brother Eli Curtis, New York City, dated Topsham, April 21, 1847. Published only in "A Word to the `Little Flock." On the New EGW CD the quote may be found in `A Word to the Little Flock,' WLF 12.8' in the 1985 Paulson Collection of her letters.]
The following is Brother Crossier's view as presented in the `Day-Star Extra' for February 7, 1846, page 41.
"But again, they say the atonement was made and finished on Calvary, when the Lamb of God expired. So men have taught us, and so the churches and the world believe; but it is none of the more true or sacred on that account, if unsupported by Divine authority. Perhaps few or none who hold that opinion have ever tested the foundation on which it rests.
Much is said today about the atonement being complete at the cross. But as we can see from the above statements which Ellen White endorsed, Christ could not have acted in the capacity as a high priest until after His resurrection.
So we read from inspiration again.
"The blood of Christ, while it was to release the repentant sinner from the condemnation of the law, was not to cancel the sin; it would stand on record in the sanctuary until the final atonement; so in the type the blood of the sin offering removed the sin from the penitent, but it rested in the sanctuary until the Day of Atonement.
As in the final atonement the sins of the truly penitent are to be blotted from the records of heaven, no more to be remembered or come into mind, so in the type they were borne away into the wilderness, forever separated from the congregation.
We must remember the perfect sacrifice was complete at the cross, but the atonement was not complete until the High Priest came out of the Most Holy Place through the Holy to the Outer Court. When the accumulated sins of God's people for the year were laid upon the scape-goat the atonement was complete as we read in Leviticus 16:20-24 earlier in this linked Bible quotation to save some space.
The practical aspect of the judgment is that the atonement involves a real test and demonstration of character. When Jesus returns in glory to gather the saints the atonement is complete.
Again God speaks to us.
The atonement of Christ is not a mere skillful way to have our sins pardoned; it is a divine remedy for the cure of transgression and the restoration of spiritual health. It is the Heaven-ordained means by which the righteousness of Christ may be not only upon us but in our hearts and characters, {Letter 406, 1906.; 6BC 1074.2; `Questions on Doctrine', p. 668.}
What does the cleansing of the Sanctuary really mean to God's people in this great crisis hour? Do we really understand Daniel 8:14?
The Sanctuary and The Saints of Christ
Another thought on the sanctuary that is many times overlooked is that, when the saints were defiled (??), the sanctuary was defiled at the same time.
"Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed." Daniel 8:14, KJV; "evenings and mornings (days, Genesis 1:5,8)", Santa Biblia, Nueva Reina Valera, 2000; Luther Bible, Zuercher Bible.
All agree that it is the heavenly sanctuary referred to in this prophecy of Daniel. But does the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary involve and affect the people of God? Some believe this cleansing is only a judicial act of God in heaven which does nothing for the human soul. Is it any wonder that Daniel 8:14 has no great impact on the heart of the Church?
The identity between the sanctuary and the worshippers needs to be clearly established. This relationship is close and decided.
"And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein." Rev. 11:1.
According to this scripture the saints "worship" in the heavenly sanctuary; they "dwell in heaven."
And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven." Rev. 13:6.
Their bodies are on earth, but their thoughts, minds, affections, sympathies, and prayers are by faith in the heavenly temple.
"Those who, with a knowledge of the truth from the Scriptures, had also the Spirit and grace of God, and who, in the night of their bitter trial, had patiently waited, searching the Bible for clearer light--these saw the truth concerning the sanctuary in heaven and the Saviour's change in ministration, and by faith they followed Him in His work in the sanctuary above. And all who through the testimony of the Scriptures accept the same truths, following Christ by faith as He enters in before God to perform the last work of mediation, and at its close to receive His kingdom--all these are represented as going in to the marriage." {GC 427.2}
Scripture says it this way,
1:4 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
15:2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
15:3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me." John 15:1-4.
In the same way and in the same sense that they dwell in Christ, they dwell in the temple. Just as Jesus and His people are one, so the sanctuary and God's people are one. This was plainly taught by the type. When the saints were defiled the sanctuary was defiled at the same time.
20:1 "And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
20:2 Again, thou shalt say to the children of Israel, Whosoever he be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that giveth any of his seed unto Molech; he shall surely be put to death: the people of the land shall stone him with stones.
20:3 And I will set my face against that man, and will cut him off from among his people; because he hath given of his seed unto Molech, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name." Lev. 20:1-3.
Along the same line of thought we read in God's Word,
"Wherefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD; Surely, because thou hast defiled my sanctuary with all thy detestable things, and with all thine abominations, therefore will I also diminish thee; neither shall mine eye spare, neither will I have any pity." Ezekiel 5:11.
"Whosoever toucheth the dead body of any man that is dead, and purifieth not himself, defileth the tabernacle of the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel: because the water of separation was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon him.
. . . . But the man that shall be unclean, and shall not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from among the congregation, because he hath defiled the sanctuary of the LORD: the water of separation hath not been sprinkled upon him; he is unclean." Numbers 19:13,20.
When the sanctuary was cleansed the people were cleansed.
"For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD. . . . And he shall make an atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make an atonement for the tabernacle of the congregation, and for the altar, and he shall make an atonement for the priests, and for all the people of the congregation." Lev. 16:30,33.
The inseparable identity of the sanctuary and the people is also clearly demonstrated in the Book of Daniel. Here the prophet beheld the sanctuary and the people of God being trodden down. They shared a common fate at the hands of the Antichrist.
8:10 And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them.
8:11 Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily [sacrifice] was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.
8:12 And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practiced, and prospered." Daniel 8:10-12.
Then the question is asked, "How long shall be the vision . . . to give both the sanctuary and the host (God's people) to be trodden under foot?" The answer given is, that at the end of the 2300 days,
"Then shall the sanctuary be cleansed (restored to is rightful state)." Dan. 8:14, RSV.
Why did the angel answer the question by saying, "Then shall the sanctuary and the people of God be restored?"
Clearly, the restoration of the people is implicit in the restoration of the sanctuary. If the question had not been answered, the inquirer would certainly have asked again, "When will the people also be restored to their rightful state?"
The conclusion follows that the restoration of the sanctuary includes the restoration of the faithful
It must be obvious that the sanctuary cannot be cleansed until those who dwell in it are cleansed. Leviticus 16 plainly states that both the sanctuary and the people were typically cleansed by the special services of the day of atonement. Numerous other Bible passages show that the cleansing performed in the heavenly sanctuary includes a cleansing of the saints.
3:1 "Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.
3:2 But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap:
3:3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness." Malachi 3:1-3.
In the Book `Great Controversy' pp. 424-427 it states that this passage in Malachi refers to the same event as Daniel 8:14. The prophet Malachi here declares, "The Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple. . . and he shall purify the sons of Levi" (God's people).
Consider these statements:
"Christ is cleansing the temple in heaven from the sins of the people, and we must work in harmony with him upon the earth, cleansing the soul temple from its moral defilement." {RH, February 11, 1890 par. 4}
We are in the day of atonement, and we are to work in harmony with Christ's work of cleansing the sanctuary from the sins of the people. {January 21, 1890 par. 4}
Daniel 8:14 refers to the cleansing of the new covenant sanctuary which is brought to view in Hebrews 8:1,2 (Italics supplied.
"Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man." Hebr. 8:1,2.
Not only does Ellen White refer to this as the sanctuary in heaven, but she also makes the following significant application:
"The Jewish tabernacle was a type of the Christian church. It was a wonderful structure, made in two parts, the outer and the inner, one open to the ministration of all the priests, the other to the high priest alone, who represented Christ. . . . The church on earth, composed of those who are faithful and loyal to God, is the "true tabernacle," whereof the Redeemer is the minister. God, and not man, pitched this tabernacle on a high, elevated platform. This tabernacle is Christ's body, and from north, south, east, and west, He gathers those who shall help to compose it. . . . A holy tabernacle is built up of those who receive Christ as their personal Saviour. . . . Christ is the Minister of the true tabernacle, the High Priest of all who believe in Him as a personal Saviour." {ST, February 14, 1900 par. 1,2,5,9}
The cleansing of the saints is the perfecting of the saints. Remember that heresy is distortion of truth, an over-emphasis of one part to the neglect of another important part:
"The track of truth lies close beside the track of error, and both tracks may seem to be one to minds which are not worked by the Holy Spirit, and which, therefore, are not quick to discern the difference between truth and error." {1SM 202.2}
Our slothfulness in the study of the sanctuary in all its varied important ramifications has been responsible for many of our people misunderstanding the difference between perfection and perfectionism.
God is waiting for His people to be willing to be made willing to develop the character of Christ so our High Priest can cleanse His sanctuary.
"When the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in His people, then He will come to claim them as His own."" {COL 69}
Here is God's standard so beautifully portrayed. Listen:
"Scarcely can the human mind comprehend the breadth and depth and height of the spiritual attainments of him who gains this knowledge. None need fail of attaining, in his sphere, to perfection of Christian character. By the sacrifice of Christ, provision has been made for the believer to receive all things that pertain to life and godliness. God calls upon us to reach the standard of perfection and places before us the example of Christ's character. In His humanity, perfected by a life of constant resistance of evil, the Saviour showed that through co-operation with Divinity, human beings may in this life attain to perfection of character. This is God's assurance to us that we, too, may obtain complete victory." {AA 531.1,2}
These are concepts echoed in the Bible.
"Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present [you] faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy." Jude 1:24.
To be saved we must have enough faith to believe that God has enough power for us to reach this great relationship with our Savior, our High Priest.
We will reach that standard by finding His way in the Sanctuary.
"Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God?" Psalm 77:13.
Perfection in Christ - A Sharp Dividing Line in Christianity
On the subject of perfection in Christ it was written,
Scarcely can the human mind comprehend the breadth and depth and height of the spiritual attainments of him who gains this knowledge.
"None need fail of attaining, in his sphere, to perfection of Christian character. By the sacrifice of Christ, provision has been made for the believer to receive all things that pertain to life and godliness. God calls upon us to reach the standard of perfection and places before us the example of Christ's character. In His humanity, perfected by a life of constant resistance of evil, the Saviour showed that through co-operation with Divinity, human beings may in this life attain to perfection of character. This is God's assurance to us that we, too, may obtain complete victory." {AA 531.2}
"By infinite love and mercy the plan of salvation had been devised, and a life of probation was granted. To restore in man the image of his Maker, to bring him back to the perfection in which he was created, to promote the development of body, mind, and soul, that the divine purpose in his creation might be realized--this was to be the work of redemption. This is the object of education, the great object of life." {Ed 15.2}
"When the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in His people, then He will come to claim them as His own." {COL 69.1}
"The Lord requires perfection from His redeemed family. He expects from us the perfection which Christ revealed in His humanity." {CG 477.1}
"Exact obedience is required, and those who say that it is not possible to live a perfect life throw upon God the imputation of injustice and untruth." {RH, February 7, 1957 par. 18; 1MR 369.1}
"Christ died to make it possible for you to cease to sin, and sin is the transgression of the law." {RH, August 28, 1894 par. 4}
"So long as we are united to Him by faith, sin has no more dominion over us. God reaches for the hand of faith in us to direct it to lay fast hold upon the divinity of Christ, that we may attain to perfection of character." {DA 123.3}
There is no excuse for sinning. A holy temper, a Christlike life, is accessible to every repenting, believing child of God. "The ideal of Christian character is Christlikeness. As the Son of man was perfect in His life, so His followers are to be perfect in their life." {DA 311.3,4}
"I also saw that many do not realize what they must be in order to live in the sight of the Lord without a high priest in the sanctuary through the time of trouble. . . . I saw that none could share the "refreshing" unless they obtain the victory over every besetment, over pride, selfishness, love of the world, and over every wrong word and action." {EW 71}
God does not ask an impossibility. He provides the power to live as He desires us to live when we are willing to merge our will with His will.
"By His perfect obedience He has made it possible for every human being to obey God's commandments. When we submit ourselves to Christ, the heart is united with His heart, the will is merged in His will, the mind becomes one with His mind, the thoughts are brought into captivity to Him; we live His life. This is what it means to be clothed with the garment of His righteousness." {COL 311.4}
We can and must overcome in Christ. But we must understand that we come to Christ just as we are; that He loves us and accepts us in the beloved; that we are complete in Him; that we are in Him and He in us; that as we are in Him we are covered with His righteousness and as He is in us He is working out His righteousness within us. We also must know that He remembers that we are dust. He will save us by any means that He can. Some will be saved through death and some through translation. Some statements apply to those whom He will save by death and others to those who will be especially fitted up for translation. {See Ephesians 1:6; Col. 2:10; John 14:17-29}
"When Christ shall come, our vile bodies are to be changed, and made like His glorious body; but the vile character will not be made holy then. The transformation of character must take place before His coming. Our natures must be pure and holy; we must have the mind of Christ, that He may behold with pleasure His image reflected upon our souls. . . ." {OHC 278.3}
The work of perfecting is the work of God in the soul that must be going on right now.
"When He comes He is not to cleanse us of our sins, to remove from us the defects in our characters, or to cure us of the infirmities of our tempers and dispositions. If wrought for us at all, this work will all be accomplished before that time. When the Lord comes, those who are holy will be holy still. Those who have preserved their bodies and spirits in holiness, in sanctification and honor, will then receive the finishing touch of immortality." {2T 355.1}
"To be redeemed means to cease from sin." {RH, September 25, 1900 par. 10}
"Not one of us will ever receive the seal of God while our characters have one spot or stain upon them." {5T 214.2}
"The sealing of God is a settling into the truth intellectually and spiritually so we cannot be moved." {4BC 1161}
It is in process right now. Characters are receiving the heavenly mold by searching for Jesus with all their hearts. We find Him by faith in the sanctuary. Anything less than searching with all our hearts means that we'll be lost.
"The very image of God is to be reproduced in humanity. The honor of God, the honor of Christ, is involved in the perfection of the character of His people." {DA 671.3}
We must remember that this is the work of God in the soul. Our part is to hold fast the word, to surrender to the higher power of Christ and His Holy Spirit. to be willing to allow Him to do this work in us - and if necessary to be willing to be made willing. When we give ourselves unreservedly to Him and allow Him full and complete access to our lives, He makes Himself totally responsible for our perfection. This is not a discouraging message - it is the glorious news of what God has promised to be and do in the lives of those who are unreservedly His and will submit to the cleansing, purifying work of the Word, the Spirit of Prophecy, and the Holy Spirit. Obedience is a gift received by faith just as justification is received by faith - one is instant, the other is worked out over the period of a lifetime.
"Several have written to me, inquiring if the message of justification by faith is the third angel's message, and I have answered, `It is the third angel's message in verity.'"-- Review and Herald, April 1, 1890. {Ev 190.3}
"The message of Christ's righteousness is to sound from one end of the earth to the other to prepare the way of the Lord. This is the glory of God, which closes the work of the third angel." {6T 19.1}
"If the church had received this message by experience when it was first given in 1888 our Lord Jesus would have given the outpouring of the Latter Rain, the work would have quickly been finished and Jesus would have come to this world soon after 1888.
Had the purpose of God been carried out by His people in giving to the world the message of mercy, Christ would, ere this, have come to the earth, and the saints would have received their welcome into the city of God." {6T 449.4}
We can quickly see that as a church we have failed. That we are still in this world is undebatable evidence that we have followed in the very footsteps of ancient Israel.
"Satan's snares are laid for us as verily as they were laid for the children of Israel just prior to their entrance into the land of Canaan. We are repeating the history of that people. Lightness, vanity, love of ease and pleasure, selfishness, and impurity are increasing among us. There is need now of men who are firm and fearless in declaring the whole counsel of God; men who will not sleep as do others, but watch and be sober. Knowing as I do the great lack of holiness and power with our ministers, I am deeply pained to see the efforts for self-exaltation. If they could but see Jesus as He is, and themselves as they are, so weak, so inefficient, so unlike their Master, they would say: If my name may be written in the obscurest part of the book of life, it is enough for me, so unworthy am I of His notice." {5T 160.2}
The 1888 message was designed by God to finish the work and take us through to the Kingdom.
What Is Righteousness By Faith?
This is a very good question because it is the most misunderstood doctrine in Adventism. Many have clothed this beautiful teaching with mysticism and complicated theology - until the average layman sitting in the pew is confused.
We cannot understand righteousness by faith until we go to where man lost his righteousness. Adam and Eve lost their righteousness because they lost their trust. They lost it because they lost their trust in God (faith). When Adam saw his beautiful wife running to him in the garden with the fruit in her hands, he knew he was married to a sinner. He failed to trust that God had a solution to the sin problem in Eve. He made a commitment that he would rather be married to this beautiful sinner than to be with God. He ate and became a sinner too.
The Bible says,
"To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." 2.Corinthians 5:19-21.
Christ came into the garden with a plan to restore the two sinners to their original state and home. But first they must receive as a gift the faith of Jesus, through which righteousness could be theirs again.
Righteousness is obedience to the law. The law demands righteousness, and this the sinner owes to the law; but he is incapable of rendering it. The only way in which he can attain to righteousness is through faith. By faith he can bring to God the merits of Christ, and the Lord places the obedience of His Son to the sinner's account. Christ's righteousness is accepted in place of man's failure, and God receives, pardons, justifies, the repentant, believing soul, treats him as though he were righteous, and loves him as He loves His Son. This is how faith is accounted righteousness; and the pardoned soul goes on from grace to grace, from light to a greater light.
He can say with rejoicing,
"Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; that being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life." {Titus 3:5-7; 1SM 367.1}
Justification and Sanctification
Justification and Sanctification are pillars of our faith that some are attempting to remove by distorting the truth. Remember that heresy can be an over-amplification of one part of truth to the neglect of the other part. Some are amplifying justification and minimizing sanctification. Justification and sanctification are the two oars that God has provided for keeping the boat of salvation on course.
"Righteousness within is testified to by righteousness without. He who is righteous within is not hard-hearted and unsympathetic, but day by day he grows into the image of Christ, going on from strength to strength. He who is being sanctified by the truth will be self-controlled, and will follow in the footsteps of Christ until grace is lost in glory. The righteousness by which we are justified is imputed; the righteousness by which we are sanctified is imparted. The first is our title to heaven, the second is our fitness for heaven." {Review and Herald, June 4, 1895; MYP 35.2}
"Sanctification is not the work of a moment, an hour, a day, but of a lifetime. It is not gained by a happy flight of feeling, but is the result of constantly dying to sin, and constantly living for Christ. Wrongs cannot be righted nor reformations wrought in the character by feeble, intermittent efforts. It is only by long, persevering effort, sore discipline, and stern conflict, that we shall overcome." {AA 560.3}
"Sanctification ... is not merely a theory, an emotion, or a form of words, but a living, active principle, entering into the everyday life. It requires that our habits of eating, drinking, and dressing, be such as to secure the preservation of physical, mental, and moral health, that we may present to the Lord our bodies--not an offering corrupted by wrong habits but-- `a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God.'" {CD 164.3}
"There is no such thing as instantaneous sanctification. True sanctification is a daily work, continuing as long as life shall last." {SL 10.1}
Christ is our justifier when He sees we are so sorry for sin that we want to stop sinning (2.Cor. 7:9-11).
Justification and sanctification were promised to fallen humans by the Lamb of God who, by His commitment, was slain from the foundation of the world (See Rev. 13:8). This we did not deserve but it was the gift of God to every person in the world.
"But as for you, teach what befits sound doctrine. . . . For the grace of God has appeared for the salvation of all men . . . so that we might be justified by his grace and become heirs in hope of eternal life." Titus 2:1,11; 3:7, RSV.
But humans have their part in accepting the gift of justification. Only God can give repentance.
:Him has God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Savior, for to give repentance to Israel, and for forgiveness of sins." Acts 5:31. RSV.
But the sinner must feel his great need of it. Then Christ justifies him. When the restoration of man has begun by faith, God can again trust him with His righteousness, and he then can begin to again live and love like God. This is sanctification. Sanctification is the work of a lifetime. But justification and sanctification cannot be separated. When one is justified by Christ he is sanctified by Christ through the Holy Spirit. {See John 17:9; 1.Cor. 1:2; Hebr. 10:10; John 16:8,13,14; 1.Cor. 1:30; Rom. 6:19; 1.Thess. 4:3.}
"For God has not called us for uncleaness, but in holiness." 1.Thess. 4:7, RSV.
Sanctification is a call to holiness through the Spirit. It is the faith of Jesus and works of the Holy Spirit keeping the soul in the whole truth, moment by moment.
"Faith and works are two oars which we must use equally if we (would) press our way up the stream against the current of unbelief." {FLB 115.6}
The thief on the cross was both justified and sanctified. Jesus looked into his soul and saw he had repentance not to be repented of and He justified him. The Holy Spirit came into his life to keep him from sin until he died. He was sanctified. The thief could not be baptized, and so the baptism of Jesus covered him. because His garment of Righteousness had been placed upon him. The Holy Spirit is to keep us from sin. This is sanctification. Even though the thief never attained to the full development of Christian character, because there was no time, in a few hours he would die, Christ counted him righteous because he looked into his soul and saw that all rebellion was gone. He was safe to save, and after he would live a hundred billion years in eternity, he would still be safe to save. This is justification and sanctification. We can join the great saints of the Bible in experiencing justification and sanctification.
"In heaven their fitness as workers is measured by their ability to love as Christ loved and to work as He worked. . . . the completeness of Christian character is attained when the impulse to help and bless others springs constantly from within. . . . this love is not an impulse, but a divine principle, a permanent power. The unconsecrated heart cannot originate or produce it. Only in the heart where Jesus reigns is it found." {AA 531}
Faith reaches out to accept more than forgiveness. It accepts the fact that God has enough power to keep us from sin if we merge our wills with His will
"Through faith in Christ, every deficiency of character may be supplied, every defilement cleansed, every fault corrected, every excellence developed." {Ed 257.5}
Obedience is the test of Justification and True Discipleship.
"God requires the entire surrender of the heart, before justification can take place; and in order for man to retain justification, there must be continual obedience, through active, living faith that works by love and purifies the soul." {1SM 366.1}
"Every sin must be renounced as the hateful thing that crucified the Lord of life and glory, and the believer must have a progressive experience by continually doing the works of Christ. It is by continual surrender of the will, by continual obedience, that the blessing of justification is retained.
Those who are justified by faith must have a heart to keep the way of the Lord. It is an evidence that a man is not justified by faith when his works do not correspond to his profession. James says, `Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was his faith made perfect?'" {James 2:22; 1SM 397.2}
In summarizing this important subject we find that pardon and justification are one and the same.
". . . pardon and Justification are one and the same thing." {6BC 1070}
"But we cannot be pardoned or justified while willfully practicing known sin or neglecting known duty." {FILB 115}
Christ leads us to first feel our great need. Then He gives repentance (Acts 5:31).
"Because the sinner is so sorry for sin, he is determined by the power of the Holy Spirit to stop sinning. He has hatred for sin, and is willing to be made willing to give loving obedience to Christ and His law to the finest detail. Then Christ wonderfully pardons or justifies him, and God the father no longer sees the sinner, but a saint covered by the beautiful Robe of His Son's righteousness." {SC 62}
He is both justified and sanctified and safe to save.
In discussing this subject, we have found some who believe that by the power of the Holy Spirit man can overcome sin in the life, yet they will not accept that Christ took our fallen nature - why should this present such great difficulty for if there is enough power to keep us from sin - why is it so difficult to believe Jesus came down to our level by taking the fallen nature and yet never sinning. The Holy Spirit that will keep us from sinning after the sealing and latter rain kept Jesus from committing one sin.
First we need to examine the position of the pioneers on the nature of Christ as it is found in Bible Readings for the Home Circle, 1915 Edition.
In His humanity Christ partook of our sinful nature. If not then He was not made like unto his brethren, was not, in all points tempted like as we are, did not overcome as we have to overcome, and is not therefore the complete and perfect Savior man needs, and must have to be saved. The idea that Christ was born of an immaculate, sinless mother, inherited no tendencies to sin, removed Him from the realm of a fallen world, and from the very place where help is needed. On his Human side, Christ inherited just what every child of Adam inherited, a sinful nature. On the Divine side, from His very conception He was begotten and born of the Spirit. And all this was done to place mankind on vantage ground, and to demonstrate that in the same way every one who is born of the Spirit, may gain like victories over sin in His own sinful flesh. Without this birth, there can be no victory over temptation, and no salvation from sin. (See also John 3:3-7).
The Spirit of Prophecy teaches this concept. Brothers Waggoner and Jones preached it. (See Waggoner, `Christ Our Righteousness,' pp. 25-32.)
A little thought will be sufficient to show anybody that if Christ took upon Himself the likeness of man in order that He might redeem man, it must have been sinful man that He was made like, for it is sinful man that He came to redeem. Death could have no power over a sinless man, as Adam was in Eden, and it could not have had any power over Christ, if the Lord had not laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Moreover, the fact that Christ took upon Himself the flesh, not of a sinless being, but of a sinful man, that is, that the flesh which He assumed had all the weaknesses and sinful tendencies to which fallen human nature is subject, is shown by the statement that He "was made of the seed of David according to the flesh." David had all the passions of human nature. He says of himself, "Behold I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me." Ps. 51:5. {1890 EJW, CHR 26.2}
Throughout their writings and preaching we find Waggoner and Jones taking the position that Christ came all the way down to our level - that Christ took upon Him the fallen nature of man. God could never have inspired and endorsed their message if they were in error on this vital point. You cannot separate the nature of Christ from their messages.
Thy mystery of the crucifixion and resurrection is but the mystery of the incarnation. We cannot understand the working of the infinite. How He could create the world out of nothing? How He can design and create beautiful human beings in His image and make them a living soul by His breath? Can anyone explain how He raised Lazarus to life and how He works by His holy Spirit in our lives? But not to believe these basics would make us infidels.
Why is it so difficult for the intellectual mind to accept the fact that Christ took upon Himself our sinful nature?
It should be sufficient for us to accept what God has said through the Bible or the Spirit of Prophecy, without stumbling over things, that the mind of angels and unfallen beings of perfect worlds cannot fathom.
"There is no one who can explain the mystery of the incarnation of Christ. Yet we know that He came to this earth and lived as a man among men. The man Christ Jesus was not the Lord God Almighty, yet Christ and the Father are one. The Deity did not sink under the agonizing torture of Calvary, yet it is nonetheless true that `God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.'" {5BC 1129.7}
Let us begin our study on this important subject with this thought from the Lord's messenger.
"The Humanity of the Son of God is everything to us. It is the golden linked chain which binds our souls to Christ and through Christ to God. This is to be our study." {7BC 904.10}
But our study must be tempered with this counsel:
"Be careful, exceedingly careful as to how you dwell upon the human nature of Christ. . . . avoid every question in relation to the humanity of Christ which is liable to be misunderstood. Truth lies close to the track of presumption." {5BC 1128.4,5}
What does the Bible have to say about the incarnation?
"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." John 1:14
No words could be plainer, God became flesh. What kind of flesh? Adam's flesh before his fall, or David's flesh?
"The gospel concerning His Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh." Romans 1:3, RSV.
"For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh." Rom. 8:3, RSV.
"Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, He himself likewise partook of the same nature, that through death, He might destroy him who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong bondage. For surely, it is not with angels that He is concerned, but with the descendants in Abraham. Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in every respect, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make expiation for the sins of the people." Heb. 2:14-18, RSV.
Christ's flesh was David's. This is why the genealogies of Christ were carefully preserved to show that Christ took upon Himself, the fallen, sinful nature of Christ.
"Clad in the vestments of humanity, the Son of God came down to the level of those He wished to save. In Him was no guile or sinfulness; He was ever pure and undefiled; yet He took upon Him our sinful nature. Clothing His divinity with humanity, that He might associate with fallen humanity." {The Review and Herald, Dec. 15, 1896; 7ABC 452.6}
"If He did not have man's nature, He could not be our example." {1SM 408.1}
Christ did not make believe take human nature; He did verily take it. He did in reality possess human nature. "As the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same." (Hebrews 2:14). He was the son of Mary; He was of the seed of David according to human descent. He is declared to be a man, even the Man Christ Jesus. "This man," writes Paul, "was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house." {Hebrews 3:3; 1SM 247.1}
Adam was not subject to death until he sinned and was deprived of the Tree of Life. Could Christ have died if He had the unfallen nature of Adam before he sinned? No more than Adam could have died before the fall. Christ had to take upon Him sinful, fallen nature or He could not have died on Calvary.
Death has no power over a sinless being, and Christ was sinless, but He took upon Him the sins of the world in our sinful nature. It was our sinful nature that drove the blood through His pores in Gethsemane and killed Him on Calvary. He progressively took our fallen nature from infancy to the cross.
"He came to stand at the head of the fallen race, to share in their experience from childhood to manhood." {RH June 15, 1905; 5BC 1128.2}
To take His position at the head of the fallen Human race, He must stand at the head, with our nature, yet without sin, a perfect offering.
"Notwithstanding that the sins of a guilty world were laid upon Christ, notwithstanding the humiliation of taking upon Himself our fallen nature, the voice from heaven declared Him to be the Son of the Eternal." {DA 112.3}
But when Adam was assailed by the tempter, none of the effects of sin were upon him. He stood in the strength of perfect manhood, possessing the full vigor of mind and body. He was surrounded with the glories of Eden, and was in daily communion with heavenly beings. It was not thus with Jesus when He entered the wilderness to cope with Satan. For four thousand years the race had been decreasing in physical strength, in mental power, and in moral worth; and Christ took upon Him the infirmities of degenerate humanity. Only thus could He rescue man from the lowest depths of his degradation.
"Many claim that it was impossible for Christ to be overcome by temptation. Then He could not have been placed in Adam's position; He could not have gained the victory that Adam failed to gain. If we have in any sense a more trying conflict than had Christ, then He would not be able to succor us. But our Saviour took humanity, with all its liabilities. He took the nature of man, with the possibility of yielding to temptation. We have nothing to bear which He has not endured." {DA 117.1,2}
"It would have been an almost infinite humiliation for the Son of God to take man's nature, even when Adam stood in his innocence in Eden. But Jesus accepted humanity when the race had been weakened by four thousand years of sin. Like every child of Adam He accepted the results of the working of the great law of heredity. What these results were is shown in the history of His earthly ancestors. He came with such a heredity to share our sorrows and temptations, and to give us the example of a sinless life." {DA 48.5}[500]
We see that the body Christ took, and His nature, are both fallen.
"It was in the order of God that Christ should take upon himself the form and nature of fallen man, that he might be made perfect through suffering, and endure himself the strength of Satan's temptations, that he might the better know how to succor those who should be tempted." {4aSG 115.3}
Jesus had the weakness of fallen humanity to sin, but not a propensity to sin. What is a propensity to sin according to the Spirit of Prophecy?
"But the life and character of Christ and the lessons he has given to his followers present no encouragement to selfishness. How much of self-indulgence did Christ have in his life? He for our sakes became poor, that we through his poverty might be rich. And he said, "Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." Self-indulgence, self-pleasing, pride, and extravagance must be renounced. We cannot be Christians and gratify these propensities. We cannot love God supremely and our neighbor as ourselves, and devote to our own use the means intrusted to us to honor and glorify God. We need to make a practical application of the lessons of our Saviour's life and teachings." {RH, May 16, 1893 par. 3}
Christ never indulged or gratified the sinful fallen nature He took. We need not do so either.
We must realize that through belief in Him it is our privilege to be partakers of the divine nature, and so escape the corruption that is in the world through lust. Then we are cleansed from all sin, all defects of character. We need not retain one sinful propensity. {7BC 943.1}
Christ did not indulge even once in sin. We have indulged in sin and have a propensity to sin. But we can develop a perfect character by allowing the Holy Spirit to do its work of regeneration. When my character is like His character, I will have no more propensity to sin. If this can happen in my life, why is it so difficult to believe that it was true of Christ's life?
"The apostle would call our attention from ourselves to the Author of our salvation. He presents before us His two natures, divine and human. . . . He voluntarily assumed human nature. It was His own act, and by His own consent. He clothed His divinity with humanity. He was all the while as God, but He did not appear as God." {7ABC 446.1; RH July 5, 1887}
Christ took the place of fallen Adam. With the sins of the world laid upon him. He would go over the ground where Adam stumbled. {RH, February 24, 1874 par. 24 slightly paraphrased for flow of speech}
"He took upon His sinless nature our sinful nature, that He might know how to succor those that are tempted." {MM 181.3; 7ABC 450.5}
The keyword is took. That is how He assumed human nature.
"For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." Hebrews 4:15.
If He had Adam's nature before the fall, He could not be tempted from within. By accepting the degeneracy of the human race after 4,000 years of falling. He was tempted from within as well as without but He never once yielded. The following quotes will show that He had the very same pull from within Him because of taking our sinful nature.
"For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as [we are, yet] without sin." Hebr. 4:15.
In human nature Christ developed a perfect character. . . . He was beset with the fiercest temptations, tempted on all points like as men, yet he developed a perfectly upright character. No taint of sin was found upon him. {ST, January 16, 1896 par. 5, 6}
Though He had all the strength of passion of humanity, never did He yield to temptation to do one single act which was not pure and elevating and ennobling. {HP 155.7; ST, November 21, 1892 par. 8}
"The life of Christ was a perpetual warfare against satanic agencies. Satan rallied the whole energies of apostasy against the Son of God. The conflict increased in fierceness and malignity, as again and again the prey was taken out of his hands. Satan assailed Christ through every conceivable form of temptation." {RH Oct. 29, 1895; 5BC 1080.7}
"In our own strength it is impossible for us to deny the clamors of our fallen nature. Through this channel Satan will bring temptation upon us. Christ knew that the enemy would come to every human being, to take advantage of hereditary weakness, and by his false insinuations to ensnare all whose trust is not in God. And by passing over the ground which man must travel, our Lord has prepared the way for us to overcome." {DA 122.3}
"Satan showed his knowledge of the weak points of the human heart, and put forth his utmost power to take advantage of the weakness of the humanity which Christ had assumed in order to overcome his temptations on man's account." {RH April 1, 1875; 7BC 930.2}
"Temptation is resisted when man is powerfully influenced to do a wrong action and, knowing that he can do it, resists, by faith, with a firm hold upon divine power. This was the ordeal through which Christ passed." {YI July 20, 1899; 5BC 1082.4}
"The Son of God in His humanity wrestled with the very same fierce, apparently overwhelming temptations that assail men-- temptations to indulgence of appetite, to presumptuous venturing where God has not led them, and to the worship of the god of this world, to sacrifice an eternity of bliss for the fascinating pleasures of this life. Everyone will be tempted, but the Word declares that we shall not be tempted above our ability to bear. We may resist and defeat the wily foe." {1SM 95.3}
"He (Jesus) knows how strong are the inclinations of the natural heart, and He will help in every time of temptation." {MYP 67.1; 5T 177.2}
"He (the Savior) knows by experience what are the weaknesses of humanity, what are our wants, and where lies the strength of our temptations; for He was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." {DA 329.2; MH 71.5}
"Our Saviour came to this world to endure in human nature all the temptations wherewith man is beset." {SD 230.2, Letter 264, 1903}
"Christ was put to the closest test, requiring the strength of all His faculties to resist the inclination when in danger, to use His power to deliver Himself from peril, and triumph over the power of the prince of darkness." {RH April 1, 1875; 7BC 930.2}
"I present before you the great Exemplar. . . . As really did He meet and resist the temptations of Satan as any of the children of humanity. In this sense alone could He be a perfect example for man. He subjected Himself to humanity to become acquainted with all the temptations wherewith man is beset. He took upon Him the infirmities and bore the sorrows of the sons of Adam." {OHC 57.2; Letter 17, 1878}
"Christ alone had experience in all the sorrows and temptations that befall human beings. Never another of woman born was so fiercely beset by temptation." {Ed 78.6; 7ABC 450.6}
"... In the wilderness of temptation. . . . He (our Lord) was exposed to the assaults of satanic agencies. These assaults were more severe than man has ever passed through. . . . In this conflict the humanity of Christ was taxed as none of us will ever know.
These were real temptations, no pretense. Christ `suffered being tempted.'" {1SM 94.2}
"He (Christ) not only became an exile from the heavenly courts, but for us took the risk of failure and eternal loss." {DA 131.2}
"Had the head of Christ been touched, the hope of the human race would have perished. Divine wrath would have come upon Christ as it came upon Adam. Christ and the church would have been without hope." {FLB 49.5; 1SM 256.1; 5BC 1131.3; 7ABC 447.3}
"In His closing hours, while hanging upon the cross, He experienced to the fullest extent what man must experience when striving against sin. He realized how bad a man may become by yielding to sin. He realized the terrible consequences of the transgression of God's law; for the iniquity of the whole world was upon Him." {YI July 20, 1899; 5BC 1082.4}
"Jesus revealed no qualities, and exercised no powers, that men may not have through faith in Him. His perfect humanity is that which all His followers may possess, if they will be in subjection to God as He was." {DA 664.4}
"As a man He supplicated the throne of God, till His humanity was charged with a heavenly current that connected humanity with divinity. Receiving life from God, He imparted life to men." {Ed 80.4}
When we supplicate the throne as He did, we will have the power that He did. Did Christ really have an advantage over me? The answer is "yes" and "no."
- No. He was tempted far beyond what we will ever be tempted. He had divinity, I do not. The devil provoked Him for 33 years, trying to get Him to use His divinity to keep from temptation or sin. The wilderness experience was one place where he was tempted to use divinity. So was His daily confrontation with church leaders and finally the cross. He used only the Holy Spirit to keep from sin and to work miracles. His divinity was then a disadvantage.
"Had there been one deviation from the divine mind in the work of Christ, the plan of redemption would have proved a failure." {RH, February 15, 1898 par. 12; YI, July 18, 1901 par. 16}
- Yes. Christ had an advantage in one sense: He had a sanctified will, from birth to the cross. He was born with the nature that becomes ours when we are born again - - humanity combined with divinity.
"Jesus Christ is our example in all things. He began life, passed through its experiences, and ended its record, with a sanctified human will. He was tempted in all points like as we are, and yet because he kept his will surrendered and sanctified, he never bent in the slightest degree toward the doing of evil, or toward manifesting rebellion against God." {ST, October 29, 1894 par. 7}
- As God. He chose Mary to be His Mother. She was chosen because of her piety and her devotion and love to God. She was everything that God could find in a human mother,
a sinner,
In the prenatal experience, while in her womb, Christ was inheriting Mary's love for God. In the post natal experience, He saw God through his mother. Mary was continually yielding her will to God's will. Christ learned these lessons from His mother's knee.
but filled with love for God and her fellow men.
Some have used a quotation from the book `Questions on Doctrines' to try to prove that Christ took the unfallen nature of Adam.
Look at the statement in QOD 650:
"Christ is called `the Second Adam.' In purity and holiness, connected with God and beloved by God. He began where the first Adam began. Willingly He passed over the ground where Adam fell, and redeemed Adam's failure."
Let us remember that this quotation is taken from a letter to Elder Baker in Tasmania, who had accepted the doctrine of adoptianism (Crist was adopted by God at His birth as His son). In this letter Ellen White is discussing the eternal divinity of Christ, not His human nature. I believe this can be put in proper perspective by reading these quotations:
"What love! What amazing condescension! The King of glory proposed to humble Himself to fallen humanity! He would place His feet in Adam's steps. He would take man's fallen nature, and engage to cope with the strong foe who triumphed over Adam. He would overcome Satan, and in thus doing He would open the way for the redemption from the disgrace of Adam's failure and fall, of all those who would believe on Him." {Redemption; or the Temptation of Christ, p. 15); 1BC 1085.3}"The great work of redemption could be carried out only by the Redeemer taking the place of fallen Adam." {RH, February 24, 1874 par. 24}
The incarnation is a great mystery. But we can be absolutely sure that Christ came all the way down to our level. He took sinful, fallen nature, our nature. If He did not, He could not be tempted as we are tempted, and therefore, could not be our Savior. The following quotes from the Lord's messenger establishes without question that Jesus too fallen, sinful nature.
"Christ was not in as favorable a position in the desolate wilderness to endure the temptations of Satan as was Adam when he was tempted in Eden. The Son of God humbled Himself and took man's nature after the race had wandered four thousand years from Eden, and from their original state of purity and uprightness. Sin had been making its terrible marks upon the race for ages; and physical, mental, and moral degeneracy prevailed throughout the human family."
"When Adam was assailed by the tempter in Eden he was without the taint of sin. He stood in the strength of his perfection before God. All the organs and faculties of his being were equally developed, and harmoniously balanced."
"Christ, in the wilderness of temptation, stood in Adam's place to bear the test he failed to endure. Here Christ overcame in the sinner's behalf, four thousand years after Adam turned his back upon the light of his home. Separated from the presence of God, the human family had been departing, every successive generation, farther from the original purity, wisdom, and knowledge which Adam possessed in Eden. Christ bore the sins and infirmities of the race as they existed when He came to the earth to help man. In behalf of the race, with the weaknesses of fallen man upon Him, He was to stand the temptations of Satan upon all points wherewith man would be assailed."
"Adam was surrounded with everything his heart could wish. Every want was supplied. There was no sin, and no signs of decay in glorious Eden. Angels of God conversed freely and lovingly with the holy pair. The happy songsters caroled forth their free, joyous songs of praise to their Creator. The peaceful beasts in happy innocence played about Adam and Eve, obedient to their word. Adam was in the perfection of manhood, the noblest of the Creator's work. He was in the image of God, but a little lower than the angels."
"In what contrast is the second Adam as He entered the gloomy wilderness to cope with Satan singlehanded! Since the Fall the race had been decreasing in size and physical strength, and sinking lower in the scale of moral worth, up to the period of Christ's advent to the earth. And in order to elevate fallen man, Christ must reach him where he was. He took human nature, and bore the infirmities and degeneracy of the race. He, who knew no sin, became sin for us." {1SM 267.1 - 268.2}
Again from the pen of inspiration:
"In Christ were united the divine and the human--the Creator and the creature. The nature of God, whose law had been transgressed, and the nature of Adam, the transgressor, meet in Jesus--the Son of God, and the Son of man." {7BC, pp. 925, 926; LHU 345.6}
"Christ came to the world to counteract Satan's falsehood that God had made a law which men could not keep. Taking humanity upon Himself, He came to this earth, and by a life of obedience showed that God has not made a law that man cannot keep. He showed that it is possible for man perfectly to obey the law. Those who accept Christ as their Saviour, becoming partakers of His divine nature, are enabled to follow His example, living in obedience to every precept of the law. Through the merits of Christ, man is to show by his obedience that he could be trusted in heaven, that he would not rebel." {FLB 114.2}
Jesus took the nature of Adam the transgressor, to show that man could keep the unchangeable law of God, and by the power of the Holy Spirit could overcome on every point, every evil temper, every sin, every temptation and have the complete victory of Jesus, and sit down at last with Him (see 1T144). He could not have done this with Adam's unfallen nature. Christ's taking the fallen human nature is the mystery of Godliness.
To complete this paper on removing the landmarks, we must discuss another most important subject. Our pioneers believed that there had to be a blending of faith and works, that work was a spontaneous reaction to true faith. The evangelical thinkers would have us believe that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is all we need, that faith is just accepting salvation. This is what the churches of Babylon have been preaching. They disregard obedience to Christ, to His Law; just believe that he will save you, no matter what you do, that Christ does the driving and you sit complacently in the back seat. But believing is trusting, relying on obedience in particular, on every point of truth.
Let the voice and pen of inspiration explain it:
"Faith is the medium through which truth or error finds a lodging place in the mind. It is by the same act of mind that truth or error is received, but it makes a decided difference whether we believe the Word of God or the sayings of men." {1SM 346.3}"Many at the present day say, "Believe, only believe, and live." Faith and works go together, believing and doing are blended. The Lord requires no less of the soul now, than He required of Adam in Paradise before he fell-- perfect obedience, unblemished righteousness." {1SM 373.1}
"There are many who cry, "Believe, only believe." Ask them what you are to believe. Are you to believe the lies forged by Satan against God's holy, just, and good law? God does not use His great and precious grace to make of none effect His law, but to establish His law." {1SM 347.1}
The devils believe and tremble. Believing is not enough unless there is a change in the life and the life is on the stretch for God.
"God requires the entire surrender of the heart, before justification can take place; and in order for man to retain justification, there must be continual obedience, through active, living faith that works by love and purifies the soul." {1SM 366.1}"Grace is an attribute of God exercised toward undeserving human beings. We did not seek for it, but it was sent in search of us. God rejoices to bestow His grace upon us, not because we are worthy, but because we are so utterly unworthy. Our only claim to His mercy is our great need." {MH 161.2}
"He who is trying to reach heaven by his own works in keeping the law, is attempting an impossibility. Man cannot be saved without obedience, but his works should not be of himself; Christ should work in him to will and to do of His good pleasure. If a man could save himself by his own works, he might have something in himself in which to rejoice. The effort that man makes in his own strength to obtain salvation, is represented by the offering of Cain. All that man can do without Christ is polluted with selfishness and sin; but that which is wrought through faith is acceptable to God. When we seek to gain heaven through the merits of Christ, the soul makes progress. Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, we may go on from strength to strength, from victory to victory; for through Christ the grace of God has worked out our complete salvation." {1SM 364.1}
"While you must do your part, yet it is God that must give you aid, and sanctify you. Christ makes us penitent that he may forgive us. We have an idea that we must do some part of the work alone. We have thought that there are two or three steps that we must take without any help or support. But this is not so. The Spirit of God is continually wooing and drawing the soul to right purposes, and into harmony with the law of God. The invitation is given to the helpless, "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk, without money and without price." As soon as we separate ourselves from evil, and choose to serve God, we shall respond to this invitation." {RH, March 19, 1889 par. 6}
There is nothing that we can generate within or without that is worthy of salvation. But if we do not do something we will be lost. (That is why our Biblically taught cooperation with God trying to save us so important.)
"The part man has to act in the salvation of the soul is to believe on Jesus Christ as a perfect Redeemer, not for some other man, but for his own self.Christ imputes His perfection and righteousness to the believing sinner when he does not continue in sin, but turns from transgression to obedience of the commandments.
While God can be just, and yet justify the sinner through the merits of Christ, no man can cover his soul with the garments of Christ's righteousness while practicing known sins, or neglecting known duties." {FLB 115.2-4}
"Will man take hold of divine power, and with determination and perseverance resist Satan, as Christ has given him example in His conflict with the foe in the wilderness of temptation? God cannot save man against his will from the power of Satan's artifices. Man must work with his human power, aided by the divine power of Christ, to resist and to conquer at any cost to himself. In short, man must overcome as Christ overcame. And then, through the victory that it is his privilege to gain by the all-powerful name of Jesus, he may become an heir of God and joint heir with Jesus Christ. This could not be the case if Christ alone did all the overcoming. Man must do his part; he must be victor on his own account, through the strength and grace that Christ gives him. Man must be a co-worker with Christ in the labor of overcoming, and then he will be partaker with Christ of His glory." {4T 32.3}
Then, what is our part, to seek the Kingdom of God with spiritual violence? The same determination, perseverance that Jacob demonstrated at the brook of Jabbok, we must have if we are to gain the victor's crown.
"And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29:13.
Anything less than seeking for Him with all your heart is futile. We must be continually willing to be made willing to merge our will with His will.
"The Lord does not propose to perform for us either the willing or the doing. This is our proper work. As soon as we earnestly enter upon the work, God's grace is given to work in us to will and to do, but never as a substitute for our effort. Our souls are to be aroused to cooperate. The Holy Spirit works the human agent, to work out our own salvation. This is the practical lesson the Holy Spirit is striving to teach us." {TM 240.2}
"For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." Phil. 2:13."And those who would be workers together with God must strive for perfection of every organ of the body and quality of the mind. True education is the preparation of the physical, mental, and moral powers for the performance of every duty; it is the training of body, mind, and soul for divine service. This is the education that will endure unto eternal life." {COL 330.3}
"Let no one say, I cannot remedy my defects of character. If you come to this decision, you will certainly fail of obtaining everlasting life. The impossibility lies in your own will. If you will not, then you can not overcome. The real difficulty arises from the corruption of an unsanctified heart, and an unwillingness to submit to the control of God.
. . . Remember that you will never reach a higher standard than you yourself set. Then set your mark high, and step by step, even though it be by painful effort, by self-denial and sacrifice, ascend the whole length of the ladder of progress. Let nothing hinder you. Fate has not woven its meshes about any human being so firmly that he need remain helpless and in uncertainty. Opposing circumstances should create a firm determination to overcome them. The breaking down of one barrier will give greater ability and courage to go forward. Press with determination in the right direction, and circumstances will be your helpers, not your hindrances." {COL 331.2-4}"We are not safe if we neglect to search the Scriptures daily for light and knowledge. Earthly blessings cannot be obtained without toil, and can we expect that spiritual and heavenly blessings will come without earnest effort on our part?" {1SM 359.2}
So faith by itself, if it has no works is dead. But someone will say, "You have faith and I have works. Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith. . . . You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone."
Remember the works that are acceptable to God are works that come spontaneously from a love relationship with Jesus. This is completely different than our works of the flesh in trying to gain a relationship. We begin with a relationship and a victory already comes for us. We end with a deeper relationship and a victory comes in us or through us by the power of the Holy Spirit.
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2:8-10.
"The proud heart strives to earn salvation; but both our title to heaven and our fitness for it are found in the righteousness of Christ. The Lord can do nothing toward the recovery of man until, convinced of his own weakness, and stripped of all self-sufficiency, he yields himself to the control of God. Then he can receive the gift that God is waiting to bestow. From the soul that feels his need, nothing is withheld. He has unrestricted access to Him in whom all fullness dwells." {DA 300.1}
Remember man is to be restored to his perfect relationship to his Creator and Redeemer by faith. He then can be trusted with His righteousness, and come to love like God loves. This is what happened at Pentecost. Those gathered in the upper room had
- the faith of Jesus,
- the humility of Jesus,
- the righteousness of Jesus,
- the love of Jesus, and
- they were living the life of Jesus by faith and doing His works.
The love of Jesus is righteousness, and righteousness is power, and so the power came down in the early rain. They were in unity of the faith, nothing could separate them from the love of Christ. (See Romans 8:35-39).
The Real Shaking & The First Phase
The shaking of Adventism is a reality.
The first phase. It is now being shaken by the "new theology."
"God will arouse His people; if other means fail, heresies will come in among them, which will sift them, separating the chaff from the wheat. The Lord calls upon all who believe His word to awake out of sleep. Precious light has come, appropriate for this time. It is Bible truth, showing the perils that are right upon us." {5T 707.3}"When the shaking comes, by the introduction of false theories, these surface readers, anchored nowhere, are like shifting sand." {TM 112.1}
The second phase of the shaking is over the straight testimony:
"I asked the meaning of the shaking I had seen and was shown that it would be caused by the straight testimony called forth by the counsel of the True Witness to the Laodiceans. This will have its effect upon the heart of the receiver, and will lead him to exalt the standard and pour forth the straight truth. Some will not bear this straight testimony. They will rise up against it, and this is what will cause a shaking among God's people." {EW 270.2}
We are forced to turn to the straight testimony because of the subtle false theories that are being brought in when this happens. Everything will be shaken that can be shaken.
"The time has come when everything is to be shaken that can be shaken, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Every case is coming in review before God; He is measuring the temple and the worshipers therein." {7T 219.2}"Not all in this world have taken sides with the enemy against God. Not all have become disloyal. There are a faithful few who are true to God; for John writes: "Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." Revelation 14:12. Soon the battle will be waged fiercely between those who serve God and those who serve Him not. Soon everything that can be shaken will be shaken, that those things that cannot be shaken may remain." {9T 15.5}
"The mighty shaking has commenced and will go on, and all will be shaken out who are not willing to take a bold and unyielding stand for the truth and to sacrifice for God and His cause." {EW 50.3}
I believe we are now (1985) in this first phase. How soon before the second phase will begin no one knows.
CIAS Comment: I believe we are already in this second phase in full swing. Continuing . . .
But we know the last movements will be rapid ones. I have been impressed by the following statements:
"God cannot forbear much longer. Already His judgments are beginning to fall on some places, and soon His signal displeasure will be felt in other places. There will be a series of events revealing that God is master of the situation. The truth will be proclaimed in clear, unmistakable language. As a people we must prepare the way of the Lord under the overruling guidance of the Holy Spirit. The gospel is to be given in its purity." {9T 96.1,2}
CIAS Comment: This book was written about 1985. Since then much has happened. We can see the very order of things occurring around us. The following sentences describe our very days we live in now.
"When the religion of Christ is most held in contempt, when His law is most despised, then should our zeal be the warmest and our courage and firmness the most unflinching. To stand in defense of truth and righteousness when the majority forsake us, to fight the battles of the Lord when champions are few--this will be our test. At this time we must gather warmth from the coldness of others, courage from their cowardice, and loyalty from their treason. The nation will be on the side of the great rebel leader." {5T 136.2}
We must realize that we are living in a time when there is a great attempt by the enemy to remove the pillars of our faith. We need to understand that this will come from within.[800]
Right now there are men who are trying to unsettle believers in the Spirit of Prophecy. Today, some men who are standing in our pulpits (who are) teaching evangelical heresy on the Sanctuary and the final Atonement, Righteousness by Faith, Justification and Sanctification, and Faith and Works. Look at these startling statements:
" Many will stand in our pulpits with the torch of false prophecy in their hands, kindled from the hellish torch of Satan. If doubts and unbelief are cherished, the faithful ministers will be removed from the people who think they know so much. `If thou hadst known,' said Christ, `even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.'" {TM 409.3}"Some have turned from the message of the righteousness of Christ to criticise the men . . . The third angel's message will not be comprehended, the light which will lighten the earth with its glory will be called a false light, by those who refuse to walk in its advancing glory." {RH May 27, 1890; LDE 210.1; RH, May 27, 1890 par. 5}
"There will be messages of accusation against the people of God, similar to the work done by Satan in accusing God's people, and these messages will be sounding at the very time when God is saying to His people, `Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee.'"
"It will be found that those who bear false messages will not have a high sense of honor and integrity. They will deceive the people, and mix up with their error the Testimonies of Sister White, and use her name to give influence to their work. They make such selections from the Testimonies as they think they can twist to support their positions, and place them in a setting of falsehood, so that their error may have weight and be accepted by the people. They misinterpret and misapply that which God has given to the church to warn, counsel, reprove, comfort, and encourage those who shall make up the remnant people of God. Those who receive the Testimonies as the message of God will be helped and blessed thereby; but those who take them in parts, simply to support some theory or idea of their own, to vindicate themselves in a course of error, will not be blessed and benefited by what they teach." {TM 41.1 - 42.1}
The Advent movement is experiencing a similar satanic effort as was made in the time of the false prophet Balaam to keep Israel from the Promised Land. Evangelical Balaams are attempting to curse us with the curse of false evangelical thinking to keep the remnant from going through to the Promised land. Balaam cried out,
"Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my end be like his!" Numbers 23:10.
All who are attempting to tear down the pillars of our faith, are subject to doom if they do not repent!
"So today the servant of Christ, the reprover of sin, meets with scorn and rebuffs. Bible truth, the religion of Christ, struggles against a strong current of moral impurity. Prejudice is even stronger in the hearts of men now than in Christ's day. Christ did not fulfill men's expectations; His life was a rebuke to their sins, and they rejected Him. So now the truth of God's word does not harmonize with men's practices and their natural inclination, and thousands reject its light. Men prompted by Satan cast doubt upon God's word, and choose to exercise their independent judgment. They choose darkness rather than light, but they do it at the peril of their souls. Those who caviled at the words of Christ, found ever-increased cause for cavil, until they turned from the Truth and the Life. So it is now. God does not propose to remove every objection which the carnal heart may bring against His truth. To those who refuse the precious rays of light which would illuminate the darkness, the mysteries of God's word remain such forever. From them the truth is hidden. They walk blindly, and know not the ruin before them." {DA 587.5}
We can hardly imagine how God must weep over His people, those who try to serve Him in all the world, and especially over those who are the leaders of apostasy!
"Standard after standard was left to trail in the dust as company after company from the Lord's army joined the foe and tribe after tribe from the ranks of the enemy united with the commandment-keeping people of God. An angel flying in the midst of heaven put the standard of Immanuel into many hands, while a mighty general cried out with a loud voice: `Come into line. Let those who are loyal to the commandments of God and the testimony of Christ now take their position. Come out from among them, and be ye separate, and touch not the unclean, and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters. Let all who will come up to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty.'" {8T 41.1}"The majority will reject us and join the ranks of the enemy." [See 8T 41]
"In concluding this narrative, I would say that we are living in a most solemn time. In the last vision given me, I was shown the startling fact that but a small portion of those who now profess the truth will be sanctified by it and be saved. Many will get above the simplicity of the work. They will conform to the world, cherish idols, and become spiritually dead. The humble, self-sacrificing followers of Jesus will pass on to perfection, leaving behind the indifferent and lovers of the world." {1T 608.3}"The days are fast approaching when there will be great perplexity and confusion. Satan, clothed in angel robes, will deceive, if possible, the very elect. There will be gods many and lords many. Every wind of doctrine will be blowing. Those who have rendered supreme homage to "science falsely so called" will not be the leaders then. Those who have trusted to intellect, genius, or talent will not then stand at the head of rank and file. They did not keep pace with the light. Those who have proved themselves unfaithful will not then be entrusted with the flock. In the last solemn work few great men will be engaged. They are self-sufficient, independent of God, and He cannot use them. The Lord has faithful servants, who in the shaking, testing time will be disclosed to view. There are precious ones now hidden who have not bowed the knee to Baal. They have not had the light which has been shining in a concentrated blaze upon you. But it may be under a rough and uninviting exterior the pure brightness of a genuine Christian character will be revealed. In the day time we look toward heaven but do not see the stars. They are there, fixed in the firmament, but the eye cannot distinguish them. In the night we behold their genuine luster." {5T 80.1}[910]
In introducing a topic as important as this, we must consider the year-day principle and prophetic time. This principle is bound to the waymarks of Adventism. The year-day principle is not and Adventist invention. Jesus Himself has laid down this principle. We read,
"Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel." Mark 1:14,15.
These words of Christ are significant. Remember, He had by then assumed the role of Messiah. What "time" was involved, when He said, "The time is fulfilled"? There is only one possibility - the time of Daniel 9:24,25 where we read,
"Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times." Daniel 9:24,25.
This prophecy takes us from the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem to "the Messiah, the Prince". This period of 69 literal weeks (7 + 60 + 2) that symbolized 483 years (69 x 7) was confirmed by one who has never been wrong, the Creator, the Author of all scripture and prophecy. He became anointed when John led Him down into the waters of the Jordan in the year 27 A.D. (accurately based on the history of Herod, on John's time, born about one year before Jesus, and on Prophetic Time) and when the Holy Spirit rested upon Him in the shape of a dove. John 1:41 indicates that He was recognized as such, "He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, we have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.".
Jesus' statement "the time is fulfilled" authenticates the year-day principle, as does John's application of the 1260-day prophecy in Revelation (Rev. 13:5; Dan. 7:25). The three angels' messages announce that the hour of God's judgment began in 1844. Just as Jesus' baptism and Messiaship came on time, so did the three angels' messages begin at the exact time God scheduled them.
But, there is some lack of understanding concerning the three angels of Revelation 14:6-12 among the Remnant people of God in this time of the end. These messages are introduced in Rev. 14 with the portrayal of Christ the Lamb of God standing on Mt. Sion with a special group of people (Rev. ch. 5, 6). They have their Father's name written in their foreheads - the character of God. The three angels represent the people who have been commissioned to give God's special message to the world at the end of time.
"Christ is coming the second time, with power unto salvation. To prepare human beings for this event, He has sent the first, second, and third angels' messages. These angels represent those who receive the truth, and with power open the gospel to the world." {Letter 79, 1900; 7BC 978.11}
Their presentations of these is given with great power in personal testimonies that cannot be shaken. When the messages are presented as they should be they will be presented by those in whom the character of Christ has been perfectly formed (See COL 69). The seal of the Living God will have been impressed upon their souls. They will have settled into the truth intellectually upon souls. They will have settled into the truth intellectually and spiritually and they cannot be moved (See 4bc 1161).
They will be those who weep between the porch (their homes?) and the altar (their church? - always) for the sins of the world and in the church. They will cry unto the Lord as did the prophets of old. "Spare Thy people Oh God" [1000]. The 144,000 must stand for this wonderful truth before the whole world, against great opposition and will be vindicated by their words, actions, and living testimony. They are the real Remnant. They will not be able to be bought or sold at any price.
"The fourteenth chapter of Revelation is a chapter of the deepest interest. This scripture will soon be understood in all its bearings, and the messages given to John the revelator will be repeated with distinct utterance." {RH Oct. 13, 1904; 7BC 978.10}The First Angel's message came right on time and its glorious testimony will soon be completed.
What is the everlasting gospel? It is the same Gospel that was given to Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden after sin had entered this perfect world. The everlasting Gospel teaches that every man, woman, and child must die daily. The will must be surrendered moment by moment to God, the heart united with His heart, the mind become one with His mind - only then we can think the thoughts and live the life of Jesus. Only then will we be clothed with the beautiful garment of Christ's Righteousness (See here). Jesus can reign supreme in the life only when we commit ourselves to allowing the "old man of sin" to be taken from us. When that happens by God's grace, ours will be a total, loving obedience to all known truth. We will not do the works of obedience in order to be saved, but we will do everything that Jesus wishes us to do spontaneously because we love Him so much that we cannot help but obey Him. Only when we live that way will the everlasting gospel have accomplished its transforming work in us and make us safe to save.
This everlasting Gospel became so distorted through the teachings of Romanism and apostate Protestantism that the world had come to the false Gospel of Satan - the concept that we can be saved in sin not from sin.
God needed a people to cry out with a loud voice against this abominable heresy, to give His true Gospel to the entire world through a people who have become a living testimony of the transforming power of this Gospel. It is our lives more than our words or printing presses that declare this everlasting truth with a loud voice; leading people to fear God and give glory to Him who created the world in six days and rested on the seventh day.
This message first began to sound when the world was beginning to slip into the bottomless pit of evolution. In our day we have seen this diabolical theory captivate the minds of nearly the whole sophisticated, educated world. In this decade of the '80s the world is wondering after the devil's great lie. And so few are refuting that lie by their living testimony. We must now arise and tell the world the truth - that those who will may fully "worship Him who made heaven and earth and the sea and the fountain of waters."
The judgment hour message brings the last prophetic time prophecy into focus in 1844. In Rev. 10 we see another mighty angel, which the Lord's messenger tells us is Christ Himself [1200] with a little book in his hand. The little book is the last section of Daniel that was sealed up until the time of the end. When John asked Christ for the understanding of the little book the Lord told Him to eat it up. John followed the instructions and found that it was sweet as honey in his mouth, but exceedingly bitter in the belly. This symbolic prophecy foretold the great disappointment of 1844. The message that Jesus was soon to come to this world was the sweetest music imaginable to the ears of the Millerites. But only a few survived the disappointment. As one of them, Hiram Edson, walked through the cornfield the next day, he was shown clearly that the sanctuary that was cleansed was not the entire earthly, but the heavenly. The message of Rev. 10 did not end with the disappointment. After the disappointment the message of Christ's soon return was to be "prophesied" to the whole world. On October 22, 1844, Christ, the 24 elders, and the heavenly beings portrayed in Daniel chapter 7 began to examine the records of all those who died professing a belief in God's plan of salvation for fallen man. The Hour of God's judgment has come.
This message proclaims the Fall of Babylon. What is Babylon? Of course we know that Babylon was an ancient city which was in ruins in John's day. In the Babylonian language, Babylon meant "gate of the gods." But, the word in Hebrew meant "to confuse." The city of Babylon was founded by Nimrod (Gen. 10:10; 11:3-9). From its beginning Babylon was the center of rebellion against God. The words, `Babylon is fallen' is a comprehensive term that John employs to describe all religious bodies and movements that have fallen away from the truth. This fact requires us to view this "fall" as progressive and cumulative.
This prophecy of the fall of Babylon finds its fulfillment in the departure of Protestantism at large from the purity and simplicity of the gospel (Rev. 14:4). Historically, the message was first preached by the advent movement, known as Millerism, in the summer of 1844, and was applied to the churches that rejected the first angel's message concerning the judgment (Reb. 14:7). The message will have increasing relevance as the end draws near, and will meet its complete fulfillment with the union of the various religious elements under the leadership of Satan (See Rev. 13:12-14; 17:12-14). The message of ch. 18:2-4 announces the complete downfall of Babylon and calls upon God's people who are scattered throughout the various religious bodies comprising Babylon, to separate from them.
We must remember that the three angels' messages had their initial fulfillment in the midnight cry and advent movement of the 1840 and 50's, but the greater fulfillment comes in our day, the end of time, the last generation.
"The first and second messages were given in 1843 and 1844, and we are now under the proclamation of the third; but all three of the messages are still to be proclaimed. It is just as essential now as ever before that they shall be repeated to those who are seeking for the truth. By pen and voice we are to sound the proclamation, showing their order, and the application of the prophecies that bring us to the third angel's message. There cannot be a third without the first and second. These messages we are to give to the world in publications, in discourses, showing in the line of prophetic history the things that have been and the things that will be." {2SM 104.3}
This message is sent forth to warn the world against receiving the mark of the beast. The unveiling of the prophecies of Daniel has brought to our attention the fact that the little horn power of Daniel 7:25 "Will think to change times and laws."
We understand this to be an attempt by Satan through the papacy to change the Sabbath from the 7th day to the first day of the week.
The devil has attempted to counterfeit everything that God has done. His counterfeit Sabbath has been his masterpiece, only to be exceeded by his last great deception - the impersonation of Christ at the end of time.
Inspiration tells us,
"If the light of truth has been presented to you, revealing the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, and showing that there is no foundation in the Word of God for Sunday observance, and yet you still cling to the false sabbath, refusing to keep holy the Sabbath which God calls "My holy day," you receive the mark of the beast. When does this take place? When you obey the decree that commands you to cease from labor on Sunday and worship God, while you know that there is not a word in the Bible showing Sunday to be other than a common working day, you consent to receive the mark of the beast, and refuse the seal of God." {7BC 980.1}
But going to church on Saturday instead of Sunday does not free us from this mark. Going to church is good, but true sincere worship of God in every word, thought, and action is the only measure of Sabbath keeping that God will accept. Even Seventh-day Adventists, if they do not enter into dedicated Sabbath worship from love for the Creator will receive the mark of the Beast, even though they attend Sabbath services faithfully.
The Lord again helps us understand the third angel's message:
"This message embraces the two preceding messages. It is represented as being given with a loud voice; that is, with the power of the Holy Spirit. Everything is now at stake. The third angel's message is to be regarded as of the highest importance. It is a life and death question. The impression made by this message will be proportionate to the earnestness and solemnity with which it is proclaimed." {MS 16, 1900; 7BC 980.3}"The third angel's message increases in importance as we near the close of this earth's history." {7BC 980.5}
If we keep the Sabbath as it should be kept, by the grace and power of God, we will keep the other nine commandments too. May God help each of us to begin keeping the Sabbath faithfully with all our heart, mind, body and soul, so that we can receive the seal of the living God, be numbered among the 144,000, and soon to stand with Jesus on the sea of glass.
The Fourth Angel of Revelation 18
We have studied about the three angels messages. But there is a fourth angel of Revelation chapter 18. Who is and what is the work of this mighty angel? To answer these questions let us read again from the inspired testimony.
"This is the same message that was given by the second angel. Babylon is fallen, "because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication." What is that wine?--her false doctrines. She has given to the world a false sabbath instead of the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, and has repeated the falsehood that Satan first told to Eve in Eden--the natural immortality of the soul. Many kindred errors she has spread far and wide, "teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." {7BC 985.4}"When Jesus began His public ministry, He cleansed the Temple from its sacrilegious profanation. Among the last acts of His ministry was the second cleansing of the Temple. So in the last work for the warning of the world, two distinct calls are made to the churches. The second angel's message is, `Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.'" (Revelation 14:8). {RH, Dec. 6, 1892; 2SM 118.2}
And in the loud cry of the fourth angel's message a voice was heard from heaven saying:
"Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. . . . Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her." Rev. 18:4, 5 - 20.
Three Messages are to be combined:
"The three angels' messages are to be combined, giving their threefold light to the world. In the Revelation, John says, `I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.' [Rev. 18:1] This represents the giving of the last and threefold message of warning to the world." {MS 52, 1900; 7BC 985.6}
When the ministry of Jesus was about to close he cleansed the Jerusalem Temple the second time. The first cleansing came at the beginning of His earthly ministry, John 2:13-17, the second toward the close, Matth. 21:12-22.
And so as Christ began His ministry in the Most Holy Place in 1844. He sent the call "Babylon is fallen." But toward the end of His priestly He again calls for the people the second time to come out of Babylon - this time He cries, "... mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen . . . Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues." Rev. 18:2-4.
Looking at Revelation 18:21, we see a mighty angel with a great millstone casting it into the sea.
Who is that mighty angel?
We find the Lord's messenger refers to the mighty angel of Rev. 10 as Christ. The Lord's messenger again makes this comment "and the mighty angel that shall lighten the earth with His glory will proclaim the fall of Babylon and call upon God's people to forsake her!"
Is the mighty angel of Rev. 10 the same as the angel of Rev. 18:21? Well, from the above quotation it is Christ Himself who gives the call to come out of her my people.
Both cleansings of the temple by Christ were to be symbolic of the cleansing of the church.
Both calls by Christ to come out of Babylon is similar to the cleansing of the Jerusalem Temple.
It is a call to the world to be
- a chosen generation,
- a royal priesthood,
- a peculiar people,
whom He calls out of darkness to His marvelous light.
"But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." 1. Peter 2:9.
It is an invitation to be Holy as He is Holy, to be perfect as His Father in Heaven is perfect. (See 1.Peter 1:16; Matth. 5:48).
As Christ Himself joins the Third Angel it swells to a Loud Cry. The sealing angel which is the Third angel (EW 89) has finished His work in the Adventist Church. He now moves into the churches in Babylon to seal the honest in heart who responds to Christ's call to `come out of her my people.'
Let us again listen to God through His inspired messenger:
"The Lord has His representatives in all the churches. These persons have not had the special testing truths for these last days presented to them under circumstances that brought conviction to heart and mind; therefore they have not, by rejecting light, severed their connection with God. Many there are who have faithfully walked in the light that has shone upon their pathway. They hunger to know more of the ways and works of God. All over the world men and women are looking wistfully to heaven. Prayers and tears and inquiries go up from souls longing for light, for grace, for the Holy Spirit. Many are on the very verge of the kingdom, waiting only to be gathered in." {6T 70.4}
We are almost at the end and the testing time is upon us. We read,
"The time is not far distant when the test will come to every soul. The mark of the beast will be urged upon us. Those who have step by step yielded to worldly demands and conformed to worldly customs will not find it a hard matter to yield to the powers that be, rather than subject themselves to derision, insult, threatened imprisonment, and death. The contest is between the commandments of God and the commandments of men. In this time the gold will be separated from the dross in the church. True godliness will be clearly distinguished from the appearance and tinsel of it. Many a star that we have admired for its brilliancy will then go out in darkness. Chaff like a cloud will be borne away on the wind, even from places where we see only floors of rich wheat. All who assume the ornaments of the sanctuary, but are not clothed with Christ's righteousness, will appear in the shame of their own nakedness." {5T 81.1}
As the events begin to take a more recognizable shape, God will . . .
"God will work a work in our day that but few anticipate. He will raise up and exalt among us those who are taught rather by the unction of His Spirit than by the outward training of scientific institutions. These facilities are not to be despised or condemned; they are ordained of God, but they can furnish only the exterior qualifications. God will manifest that He is not dependent on learned, self-important mortals." {5T 82.4}"There are few really consecrated men among us, few who have fought and conquered in the battle with self. Real conversion is a decided change of feelings and motives; it is a virtual taking leave of worldly connections, a hastening from their spiritual atmosphere, a withdrawing from the controlling power of their thoughts, opinions, and influences. The separation causes pain and bitterness to both parties. It is the variance which Christ declares that He came to bring. But the converted will feel a continual longing desire that their friends shall forsake all for Christ, knowing that, unless they do, there will be a final and eternal separation. The true Christian cannot, while with unbelieving friends, be light and trifling. The value of the souls for whom Christ died is too great." {5T 82.5}
Everything that can be shaken will soon be shaken. (Additional reading: 1T 179-190; 7T 219; 9T 15,16.)
"Many, I saw, were flattering themselves that they were good Christians, who have not a single ray of light from Jesus. They know not what it is to be renewed by the grace of God. They have no living experience for themselves in the things of God. And I saw that the Lord was whetting His sword in heaven to cut them down. Oh, that every lukewarm professor could realize the clean work that God is about to make among His professed people! Dear friends, do not deceive yourselves concerning your condition. You cannot deceive God. Says the True Witness: "I know thy works." The third angel is leading up a people, step by step, higher and higher. At every step they will be tested." {1T 189.2; 2SG 229.1; 4bSG 36.2}
"I saw that many were neglecting the preparation so needful and were looking to the time of "refreshing" and the "latter rain" to fit them to stand in the day of the Lord and to live in His sight. Oh, how many I saw in the time of trouble without a shelter! They had neglected the needful preparation; therefore they could not receive the refreshing that all must have to fit them to live in the sight of a holy God. Those who refuse to be hewed by the prophets and fail to purify their souls in obeying the whole truth, and who are willing to believe that their condition is far better than it really is, will come up to the time of the falling of the plagues, and then see that they needed to be hewed and squared for the building. But there will be no time then to do it and no Mediator to plead their cause before the Father. Before this time the awfully solemn declaration has gone forth, "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still." I saw that none could share the "refreshing" unless they obtain the victory over every besetment, over pride, selfishness, love of the world, and over every wrong word and action. We should, therefore, be drawing nearer and nearer to the Lord and be earnestly seeking that preparation necessary to enable us to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord. Let all remember that God is holy and that none but holy beings can ever dwell in His presence." {EW 71.2}
Dear Reader, let us consider these things and move forward to strive for perfection of character in Christ even though the devil presses the claim that this is impossible.
"Satan . . . is constantly seeking to deceive the followers of Christ with his fatal sophistry that it is impossible for them to overcome." {GC 489.2}
But remember:
"Christ imputes His perfection and righteousness to the believing sinner when he does not continue in sin, but turns from transgression to obedience of the commandments." {FLB 115.3}"Jesus does not change the character at His coming. The work of transformation must be done now. Our daily lives are determining our destiny." {AH 16.2}
"All who consecrate soul, body, and spirit to God will be constantly receiving a new endowment of physical and mental power. The inexhaustible supplies of heaven are at their command. Christ gives them the breath of His own spirit, the life of His own life. The Holy Spirit puts forth its highest energies to work in heart and mind. The grace of God enlarges and multiplies their faculties, and every perfection of the divine nature comes to their assistance in the work of saving souls. Through co-operation with Christ they are complete in Him, and in their human weakness they are enabled to do the deeds of Omnipotence." {DA 827.3}
"Open the windows of the soul heavenward, and let the light of the Sun of Righteousness in. Do not complain. Do not mourn and weep. Do not look on the dark side. Let the peace of God reign in your soul. Then you will have strength to bear all your sufferings, and you will rejoice that you have grace to endure. Praise the Lord; talk of His goodness; tell of His power. Sweeten the atmosphere which surrounds your soul." {2SM 266.6}
"In the way that leads to the City of God there are no difficulties which those who trust in Him may not overcome. There are no dangers which they may not escape. There is not a sorrow, not a grievance, not a human weakness, for which He has not provided a remedy." {MH 249.1}
"These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." John 16:33.
The Hour of God's Judgment Is Come
"Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?" 2.Corinthians 13:5.
Ninteen Questions of Vitality in Faith
The following 19 questions will help you to examine your own experience to see if you are a Laodicean.
- Do you know as much about the truth you profess to believe as you do about the technique of your employment? And can you give reason for the hope that is within you as readily as you can discuss these other things?
- Do you spend as much time with your Bible as with the newspaper, television, or the radio, and as much time on your knees as before the mirror or in idle talk? Do you spend some time, at least twice a day alone with God or are you too busy?
- What do the special messages of God to this people in the Spirit of Prophecy mean to you? Do you believe the Testimonies? Do you act as if you believe them? Do you know what is in them? Are you desirous enough of finding out the will of God to take time to study them, or are you too busy?
- Do you keep the Sabbath, or Saturday? Kept at toil the remaining six days of the week, is the seventh day to you a holy day or a holiday? Do you keep it according to Isaiah 58:13? Do you jealously safeguard the edges?
- Are you faithful in your attendance at the house of God? Do you attend Sabbath School and prayer meeting, and take part therein? And while you are in church, are you reverent? Do you go out better than when you came in? If you must choose between prayer meeting and television, which do you choose?
- Is your home life what it ought to be? Is the family altar there, protecting the home against irritations and disunity? Is home a place where children love to be, and do you make religion attractive to them? Is the television, radio, and high-fu in your home there to God's glory?
- Do the kind of clothes you wear make people remember, not your clothes but your inner, spiritual beauty? Are you as concerned about the garment of Christ's righteousness as about the latest style?
- Do you converse as in the hearing of God's angels? Do you talk more about yourself, or about the Lord? Would your vocabulary, if people did not know your profession, mark you as a Christian are a worldling?
- Do you refuse to listen to, as well as to pass on gossip?
- Are you always truthful, or do you sometimes dissemble? Are you absolutely straight forward and careful in all financial dealings? And are you pure in thought, in word, and in deed?
- Does your first tenth go to God? Do you give not only regularly and proportionately, but sacrificially? Do you spend more per year for your personal pleasure than you do for the extension of God's kingdom?
- Are you advancing, or standing still, mentally and spiritually? Are you trying to live on the stale and musty experience of years or months ago?
- Are you living up to all the light on health reform? Are you a real Seventh-day Adventist? If you are not, why not?
- Do you test all your reading, music, associations, amusements by Colossians 3:17? "And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him." Can you go to movies in the name of Jesus? or watch them on T.V.? Can you eat hot-dogs or hamburgers; drink cokes, tea or coffee in the name of Jesus? Whatever you cannot do in the name of Jesus, you cannot do at all.
- Are you looking to men to pattern by or to excuse yourself by, to copy or to stumble over? Or have you determined that whatever anyone else my do or doesn't do, you will follow Jesus all the way to the end?
- Do you refuse to harbor grudges? Do you love everybody? Have you forgiven everyone and everything as Christ forgave you? Do you return good for evil? or do you retaliate? Have you victory over self?
- Do you hate sin? How much? Do you look upon the smallest sin with abhorrance? Are you countenancing any known sin in your life today?
- Are you a soul-winner? Is soul-winning your chief interest in life? How many souls have you won to Jesus?
- Finally, do you know that you belong to Jesus Christ instead of yourself? Is your all upon God's altar?
Notes & References
[1] Dictionary of little seen words or spellings today. (1) defiled means unclean because of sins we have committed; - (2) indicted = a) to compose and/or write, to describe a phrase b) to dictate; prompt.
[500] Just as a reminder (an incomplete reminder) how the `Mendel's laws' were developed: Mendel's research, the dusting of hundreds of pea plants, (a) those with smooth round peas (dominant state), and (b) those with wrinkled peas (recessive state), led him to discover axioms or laws of inheritance - recessive vs dominant states. (1) The 1st axiom states `one trait was always dominant.' He discovered that he must distinguish between the appearance of an organism (phenotype) and what causes this appearance (genotype) - the hereditary basis for it. He discovered, if he knew the `genotype' of each paren, he could predict the kinds and proportions of gametes each parent could produce. Then he could, in turn, predict the kinds and proportions of offspring.
[800] See 1SM 48; 2SM 385; 1SM 122. Here we quote these sources for those readers who have no access to these books.
1. "There will be a hatred kindled against the testimonies which is satanic. The workings of Satan will be to unsettle the faith of the churches in them, for this reason: Satan cannot have so clear a track to bring in his deceptions and bind up souls in his delusions if the warnings and reproofs and counsels of the Spirit of God are heeded." {Letter 40, 1890; 1SM 48.4} - Just think of those who teach against the Spirit of Prophecy and those who teach evolution in our schools. How sad they will be in the end.
2. "There is to be no compromise with those who are worshiping an idol sabbath. We are not to spend our time in controversy with those who know the truth, and upon whom the light of truth has been shining, when they turn away their ear from the truth to turn to fables. I was told that men will employ every policy to make less prominent the difference between the faith of Seventh-day Adventists and those who observe the first day of the week. In this controversy the whole world will be engaged, and the time is short. This is no time to haul down our colors." {2SM 385.1}
3. "There are persons in the church who are not converted, and who will not unite in earnest, prevailing prayer. We must enter upon the work individually. We must pray more, and talk less. Iniquity abounds, and the people must be taught not to be satisfied with a form of godliness without the spirit and power. If we are intent upon searching our own hearts, putting away our sins, and correcting our evil tendencies, our souls will not be lifted up unto vanity; we shall be distrustful of ourselves, having an abiding sense that our sufficiency is of God. {1SM 122.2}
We have far more to fear from within than from without. The hindrances to strength and success are far greater from the church itself than from the world. Unbelievers have a right to expect that those who profess to be keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, will do more than any other class to promote and honor, by their consistent lives, by their godly example and their active influence, the cause which they represent. But how often have the professed advocates of the truth proved the greatest obstacle to its advancement! The unbelief indulged, the doubts expressed, the darkness cherished, encourage the presence of evil angels, and open the way for the accomplishment of Satan's devices. {1SM 122.3}
The adversary of souls is not permitted to read the thoughts of men; but he is a keen observer, and he marks the words; he takes account of actions, and skillfully adapts his temptations to meet the cases of those who place themselves in his power. If we would labor to repress sinful thoughts and feelings, giving them no expression in words or actions, Satan would be defeated; for he could not prepare his specious temptations to meet the case. {1SM 122.4}
[910] On the day of the coming of the Lord in might and power we are told to trust in the high tower, the fortress of God (2.Sam. 22:3; Ps. 18:2; 144:2).
[1000] Three Sources on :
(1a) "The true people of God, who have the spirit of the work of the Lord and the salvation of souls at heart, will ever view sin in its real, sinful character. They will always be on the side of faithful and plain dealing with sins which easily beset the people of God. Especially in the closing work for the church, in the sealing time of the one hundred and forty-four thousand who are to stand without fault before the throne of God, will they feel most deeply the wrongs of God's professed people. This is forcibly set forth by the prophet's illustration of the last work under the figure of the men each having a slaughter weapon in his hand. One man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer's inkhorn by his side. "And the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof." {3T 266.2}
(1b) "Who are standing in the counsel of God at this time? Is it those who virtually excuse wrongs among the professed people of God and who murmur in their hearts, if not openly, against those who would reprove sin? Is it those who take their stand against them and sympathize with those who commit wrong? No, indeed! Unless they repent, and leave the work of Satan in oppressing those who have the burden of the work and in holding up the hands of sinners in Zion, they will never receive the mark of God's sealing approval. They will fall in the general destruction of the wicked, represented by the work of the five men bearing slaughter weapons. Mark this point with care: Those who receive the pure mark of truth, wrought in them by the power of the Holy Ghost, represented by a mark by the man in linen, are those "that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done" in the church. Their love for purity and the honor and glory of God is such, and they have so clear a view of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, that they are represented as being in agony, even sighing and crying. Read the ninth chapter of Ezekiel." {3T 267.1}
(2a) "The leaven of godliness has not entirely lost its power. At the time when the danger and depression of the church are greatest, the little company who are standing in the light will be sighing and crying for the abominations that are done in the land. But more especially will their prayers arise in behalf of the church because its members are doing after the manner of the world." {5T 209.3}
(2b) "The earnest prayers of this faithful few will not be in vain. When the Lord comes forth as an avenger, He will also come as a protector of all those who have preserved the faith in its purity and kept themselves unspotted from the world. It is at this time that God has promised to avenge His own elect which cry day and night unto Him, though He bear long with them." {5T 210.1}
[1200] Quote: "The mighty angel who instructed John was no less a personage than Jesus Christ. Setting His right foot on the sea, and His left upon the dry land, shows the part which He is acting in the closing scenes of the great controversy with Satan. This position denotes His supreme power and authority over the whole earth. The controversy had waxed stronger and more determined from age to age, and will continue to do so, to the concluding scenes when the masterly working of the powers of darkness shall reach their height. Satan, united with evil men, will deceive the whole world and the churches who receive not the love of the truth. But the mighty angel demands attention. He cries with a loud voice. He is to show the power and authority of His voice to those who have united with Satan to oppose the truth." {7BC 971.3}
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