On Friday as I walked into my wife’s office to say hi, smiling and eager to interrupt her work with a flirtatious moment or two, she swiveled around toward me in her chair and said, “Have you heard about what happened in Connecticut?”

There was shock and hurt in her voice. I knew it was bad, whatever it was. She pointed to her computer screen. I drew in and began to read the words:

“School Shooting: 20 Children and Six Adults Killed”

Sue couldn’t even look at the screen. The very thought of such a horrific act is more than human nature can bear. My stomach was immediately sick. Then I instinctively looked across the room to a framed photo of Mason and Austin, our own little guys, ages five and seven. The feelings of horror compounded within me as my eyes riveted upon their innocent, happy faces. I could almost hear the screaming and wailing of the parents in Connecticut.There we were, two human beings, happy, upbeat and loving life just moments before, and then, suddenly, by the heinous power of a single evil act, we were drained of joy and thrust into an inescapable combination of sadness and rage.

“Why would anybody do something like this?”

“Why!, Why!, WHY! did it have to happen to children?”

“And why, God, didn’t You do something to stop it from happening?”

We can’t help but cry out—scream out—for answers when evil strikes. It’s reflexive. We don’t formulate these questions; rather they are natural, spontaneous, and immediate, composed of raw emotions and of innately known moral imperatives. We are possessed of a deeply imbedded primal sense of enmity against evil (Genesis 3:15). We know it when we see it, and the fact that we do, barring all other factors of reality, is evidence enough that we hail from a place of high and holy love rather than from a brutal and bloody evolutionary process. The image of God lingers within our fragile, fractured, fomenting souls. Our deep inner psyches, originally synchronized to the image of God, tell us that we were meant to be something so much more than this.

But it is hard sometimes, really hard, to believe in God, hardest of all when the innocent are pounced upon by evil and God seems not to lift a finger to intervene.

And yet, it is even harder not to believe. . .

because if we respond to evil by casting God out of existence, we necessarily invalidate our moral rage at it. The best the atheist can say in the face of evil is, “There is no such thing as evil. All is natural process, survival of the fittest. Your feelings of moral indignation are delusional. Get over it.”

If God is love, then, of necessity, God suffers with us in every stab and twist of pain we ever feel.

On the other hand, our innate ability to identify evil and our deeply held hatred of it is a strong clue that, indeed, God must exist, else why would we have any moral sense of right against which to know and measure wrong? If we are merely evolving animals on a brutal quest for survival, and if self-preservation is the highest law of life, then any and all moral outrage is at very least irrelevant and at worst a delusional aberration of the evolutionary process.

So then, though it is hard in the face of evil to hold onto faith in a supremely benevolent God, it is the only rational thing to do.

And more than rational, it is the only direction in which illumination and healing can be found. . . because faith in the existence of a God whose essential character is love grants us the intellectual framework within which we can form emotional responses that defy the evil rather than succumb to it. If we begin with a resting premise of faith that God exists and God is love, then we can legitimately:

• long for and expect the triumph of good over evil,
• hate the evil that confronts us,
• throw our own volitional weight into that ultimate triumph,
• validate the pain and rage of those that suffer,
• and rest in the assurance that all will be made right in the end.

And most importantly, right now, in the throes of all this horror and pain, we can reach out to the heart of the One who, beholding our suffering plight, stood on the edge of eternal bliss and unhesitatingly plunged Himself deep down into our suffering at its most abject and agonizing level.

The cross of Christ stands as a persistent and persuasive witness that God is not aloof from our pain. In fact, by virtue of the combined realities of His omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence, and omnibenevolence, God bears in His own heart every moment of pain that afflicts every man, woman, and child.

With penetrating insight, Ellen White lays out the implication of the cross:

“Few give thought to the suffering that sin has caused our Creator. All heaven suffered in Christ’s agony; but that suffering did not begin or end with His manifestation in humanity. The cross is a revelation to our dull senses of the pain that, from its very inception, sin has brought to the heart of God. Every departure from the right, every deed of cruelty, every failure of humanity to reach His ideal, brings grief to Him. . . . As the ‘whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together’ (Romans 8:26, 22), the heart of the infinite Father is pained in sympathy. Our world is a vast lazar house, a scene of misery that we dare not allow even our thoughts to dwell upon. Did we realize it as it is, the burden would be too terrible. Yet God feels it all. In order to destroy sin and its results He gave His best Beloved, and He has put it in our power, through co-operation with Him, to bring this scene of misery to an end” (Education, pp. 263-264).

If God is love, then, of necessity, God suffers with us in every stab and twist of pain we ever feel. And there is immense potential for comfort and healing in knowing that the One in whose image we were originally made, feels all that we feel.

With the suffering of humanity in view, the prophet Isaiah said of God, “In all their affliction He was afflicted” (Isaiah 63:9).

Discerning that it is in the very nature of God’s love to suffer with those who suffer, Paul said, He is “touched with the feeling of our infirmities” (Hebrews 4:15, KJV).

Grasping God’s acute consciousness of and resonance with our pain, David sang,

“You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in Your bottle. You have recorded each one in Your book” (Psalm 56:8, NLT).

As you hang your head in your hands, and as the tears trickle down your cheeks, know this with certainty:

“Not a sigh is breathed, not a pain felt, not a grief pierces the soul, but the throb vibrates to the Father’s heart” (The Desire of Ages, p. 356).

Whatever else may be deduced from the biblical declaration that “God is love,” we can be sure of this: He is hurting with us.

What Jesus meant was that common people can win souls if they can simply tell “why He came to die.” But of course they can’t do that unless they themselves understand “why He came to die.” Which means that we should let the Holy Spirit do what He wants–that is, teach us what happened on the cross. Which of course we won’t agree to if we feel “rich and increased with goods, in need of nothing” (Rev. 3:17; He says He understands our root problem!).

This raises the question: is the final movement of evangelism prophesied in Revelation 18 to be what experts say on electronic communication via satellite TV? That’s the easy way, we just sit and listen and push the right buttons. Or is it to be humble flesh-and-blood human beings like you and me opening their hearts to tell the message personally?

Of course, electronics and TV will have their part. Well, give science its rightful due, yes; but ordinary people like us must wake up and learn to understand what happened at Calvary so we personally can tell it. If we don’t, He’ll have to raise up children who will.

We can’t really “tell His wondrous love” unless we understand “why He came to die.” May the dear Lord grant us to see something: why Paul could only “glory in the cross,” why he could tell others only of “Christ and Him crucified” (Gal. 6:14; 1 Cor. 2:1-3).

“Come unto me all you that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and you will find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light”. Matthew 11: 28-30

Last night we witnessed a man take Jesus at His word. The theme of the presentation was the Lamb’s Blood. It’s a powerful presentation that walks through the fall of man and God’s amazing rescue plan to redeem His human family. At the completion of the meeting we invited people to come forward to accept Christ’s free gift of salvation and receive victory over any issues that they were facing. After praying with those who came forward, a local pastor excitably came to us to share the story of one of the men who responded to the message.

The man had been raised with Islamic influences but had failed to find any real hope or meaning in that system. He had resorted to drug abuse and given up on life. Last night he was walking past the tent that we have been holding our meetings in. Filled with a heavy heart and an overwhelming sense of worthlessness he was on his way to commit suicide. In his pocket he had the poison that would end his world of suffering and pain. But God had other plans.

The man stood at the back of the tent and heard verses such as “the Son of Man came…to give His life a ransom for many” (Matt 20:28). He heard that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). He heard that all those who “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ will be saved” (Acts 16:31). He heard that “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). He heard Jesus speak to his soul with the words “My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor 12:9).

Friends God is alive and well today. He is in the business of saving people from death and that which causes death; sin. The pastors had the privilege of praying for that man whose new life began last night. He decided to believe in the One who took His place so that He might live. He realized that it was nothing other that the precious blood of God that paid for his freedom from sin. For that man the words of Paul have become a reality; “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Cor 5:17).

And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross . Phil. 2:8.

Christ came to this world for no other purpose than to manifest the glory of God, that man might be uplifted by its restoring power. All power and grace were given to Him. His heart was a wellspring of living water, a never-failing fountain, ever ready to flow forth in a rich, clear stream to those around Him. His whole life was spent in pure disinterested benevolence. His purposes were full of love and sympathy. He rejoiced that He could do more for His followers than they could ask or think. His constant prayer for them was that they might be sanctified through the truth, and He prayed with assurance, knowing that an almighty decree had been given before the world was made. He knew that the gospel of the kingdom would be preached in all the world; that truth, armed with the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit, would conquer in the contest with evil; and that the bloodstained banner would one day wave triumphantly over His followers.

Yet Christ came in great humility. When He was here He pleased not Himself, but “humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” To His followers He says, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls” (Matt. 11:29). . . .

From the root of true humility springs the most precious greatness of mind–greatness which leads men to conform to the image of Christ. Those who possess this greatness gain patience and trust in God. Their faith is invincible. Their true consecration and devotion keep self hidden. The words that fall from their lips are molded into expressions of Christlike tenderness and love. Having a sense of their own weakness, they appreciate the help which the Lord gives them, and they crave His grace that they may do that which is right and true. By their manner, their attitude, and their spirit, they carry with them the credentials of learners in the school of Christ.

Imagine, if you will, downtown New York City during rush hour. Subways roaring; elevators whizzing up and down skyscrapers; cabs … well … idling in traffic; people humming in and out of buildings, over bridges, across streets. From 10 stories below street level to 180 stories above, it’s a dynamo of activity and a complex network of electrical and telecommunications systems.

But according to even most evolutionary scientists, one single human cell of life is staggeringly more complex than New York City rush hour. “Each of those 100 trillion cells functions like a walled city. Power plants generate the cell’s energy. Factories produce proteins, vital units of chemical commerce. Complex transportation systems guide specific chemicals from point to point within the cell. … Sentries … monitor the outside world for signs of danger. Disciplined biological armies stand ready to grapple with invaders. A centralized genetic government maintains order” (Peter Gwynne, “The Secrets of the Human Cell,” Newsweek, August 20, 1979, p. 48).

Despite this confession, much of the modern world teaches that if you believe in creation, that God simply spoke things into existence … well, your intelligence is pitiful.

However, you’re also in good company. Jesus said, “If you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me” (John 5:46 NKJV). Christ took Moses’ writings as plain truth; He authoritatively and liberally quoted from the Old Testament regarding Creation, the Exodus, and the Flood. He never suggested that any part of Genesis was a parable or fable. In fact, Jesus referred to Adam and Eve as real people. (See Mark 10:6–9.) No matter what the world thinks of us, we should believe like Jesus.

This subject is very close to my heart. I grew up believing in evolution. Most of the 14 different schools I attended taught that we are here because of evolutionary processes that took millions and billions of years. Surprisingly, some of these were even religious schools!

William James, the father of modern psychology, said, “There’s nothing so absurd that if you repeat it often enough, people will believe it.” Thus, the ridiculous view that, given enough time, chaos will produce order has taken a firm hold on our culture. And now, more and more Christians are being swept up by it, suggesting that God created all the sophisticated design around us using evolutionary processes. But this compromise creates an enormous problem: It makes it logically impossible to believe the rest of God’s Word as it is written.

However, even with my simple faith in God’s Word set aside, both reason and science soundly refute evolution. Indeed, mounting scientific evidence indicates that intelligent creation is truth.
The Whole World Can Be Wrong
As a child, I wanted to be a paleontologist. I could name all the dinosaurs and many different layers of the geologic column. Evolution fascinated me, and I thought people who believed in creation were fools. The evidence was as plain as day, right? It was in National Geographic and all those beautifully filmed nature programs on television. All these scientists couldn’t be wrong … could they?
Then I gradually discovered they were, in fact, very wrong.
But it wasn’t the Bible that convinced me. When I became a Christian, I didn’t check my brain at the church’s door. I’m still inquisitive about our world and our universe; I still love science. So at first I tried to marry the Bible and evolution. But science and reason kept getting in the way.
How can so many people be wrong? It’s human nature to follow the crowd, even when the crowd is clearly in error. The Bible says, “You shall not follow a crowd to do evil” (Exodus 23:2 NKJV). That covers our actions, yes, but it also covers our philosophies. It doesn’t matter if the whole world believes in the theory of evolution; the Bible is our standard of truth. Besides, evolution is totally incompatible with biblical Christianity.
Darwinism: The Evolution of Atheism
If you think creation is a fairy tale, you won’t find much else in the book of Genesis relevant either. You must eventually accept creation as a fact for any of the other great biblical truths — including God’s standards of morality — to be significant in your life.
Indeed, Darwin’s theory of evolution was a daring attempt to make God’s existence unnecessary; evolution really is the origins myth of atheism. It was developed for the purpose of giving humans the freedom to act without accountability to a higher power.
At its very core, atheism balks at the existence of an objective right and wrong. Obviously, not all atheists are ready to commit the evil their beliefs would allow for. However, to the atheistic evolutionist, humans have simply evolved into a society that currently frowns on theft and murder. But we could just as easily evolve into something else, and the result could not objectively be called good or bad. Blood could run in the streets and evolutionists could simply label it as “eliminating the weaker members of the species.”
Is it so surprising then that the horrors of the Holocaust find their underpinnings in the theory of evolution? An examination of the writings of Hitler and other Nazis reveals that Darwinism heavily influenced the policies of WWII Germany. In fact, many people are surprised to learn that the entire title of Darwin’s Origin of Species is: “On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection or the Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life” (emphasis added). Hitler labeled Jews as an inferior race and less than human, thereby justifying murder, torture, and ghastly human experiments in the name of survival of the fittest. And racism continues today because many people believe that some humans are more highly evolved than others. But racism directly contradicts the Bible, which says God “has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth” (Acts 17:26 NKJV).
A Bad Foundation
Teaching our children the lesson that there is no absolute right and wrong is very dangerous. It has caused a disaster in our public schools, our court system, and for the very fabric of our society.
A false understanding of human origins ultimately degrades society. Consider the nations that have made atheism the core of their culture — the former Soviet Union, Cuba, China, and Vietnam. I’ve been to Russia and China and have seen the devastating effects of atheism: Suicide, alcoholism, and spousal abuse are epidemics. Atheism offers no hope or purpose for life.
But exhibit “A” would be the drastic differences between North and South Korea. If you stand on the 38th parallel, you’ll see a very bleak and backward existence of the imprisoned people of the North. Look south toward Seoul and you will see a bright and free civilized existence. The core difference? South Korea is a Christian stronghold; North Korea teaches evolution and atheism.
Satan told Adam and Eve that if they rejected God’s Word, they would be freed and experience unlimited human advancement. Instead, they were enslaved by sin. Today, Cuba, North Korea, and China aggressively persecute Christianity, all the while suppressing freedom, advancement, and hope — enslaving their people in unspeakable evil.
Evolutionists can also rationalize all kinds of immoral behaviors as merely part of the evolution of man; nothing is inherently bad. As a teenager, I learned that my science teacher had an affair with a woman in the loft of his home while his pregnant wife was downstairs. Though it deeply hurt his wife, he appeared indifferent to her feelings. He excused himself by saying, “Not all of the primates we’ve evolved from are monogamous, so adultery is perfectly natural. We can’t help it.” Evolution clearly undermines Christian living.
False Assumptions, Faulty Conclusions
But what about all the supposed scientific evidence that proves evolution? The truth is that the theory of evolution is based on huge assumptions about things that happened in the unobservable past. (Remember that the scientific method requires observation and repeatable research. So calling evolution “science” doesn’t make any sense.
For instance, the theory stands on dubious dating methods. One is carbon dating, a method used to date dead plants and animals. All living plants and animals contain the same ratio of two types of carbon, 14C and 12C, which they get from the atmosphere and from space. When an organism dies, 14C begins disintegrating while 12C levels remain constant. Thus, measuring the 14C/12C ratio in a dead plant makes it possible to estimate how long ago the plant died.
But to precisely determine the plant’s age, at least two questions must be answered: How fast does 14C decay? And how much 14C did the organism contain when it died? In answer to the first question, 14C has a half-life of 5,700 years. (A “half-life” is the amount of time required for half of the atoms — in this case, carbon atoms — in a given sample to decay.)
To answer the second question, scientists made an assumption that the atmosphere’s 14C/12C ratio has remained constant throughout earth’s history. If so, they argue accurate dating is possible up to about 80,000 years — after that the amount of 14C left in a specimen is so small it is undetectable. But if this assumption is wrong, any dates calculated by this method are untrustworthy.
In science experiments, assumptions are critical. But if the starting assumption is false, the ensuing experiment will lead a scientist to draw a flawed conclusion, even if his calculations appear correct. Willard Libby, the developer of carbon dating, drew his conclusions based on the assumption that the earth was millions of years old. He calculated that it would take about 30,000 years for an atmosphere’s 14C/12C ratio to reach equilibrium. When he discovered that earth’s ratio was not in equilibrium, meaning it must be younger than 30,000 years, he dismissed it as an experimental error!
Suppose you enter a room with one door and no windows. In the middle of the room, a burning candle sits on a table. With nothing else to do, you try to figure out how long the candle has been burning. You start by observing how fast the candle is currently burning; how many inches per hour, for example. Does that tell you how long it’s been burning? No, because you don’t know how tall it was when it started burning. Suppose a note on the table stipulates that the candle was three feet tall when it was first lit; now you can calculate how long it’s been burning based on how tall it was to begin with and how fast it’s burning now.
But wait. When you entered the room, the open door let in more oxygen, so now the candle would be burning at a faster rate than before. Even if you know the present oxygen level of the room, you wouldn’t know what it was before you opened the door. Without an observer taking careful notes during the entire process, you can only guess as there are simply too many unknowns to make an accurate calculation.
It’s the same with carbon dating: There are simply too many variables. Scientists don’t know how old the earth is because they don’t know and can’t observe what has happened in the past. Or how the environmental factors have changed. Amazingly, an entire religion has been established on these dubious assumptions. It seems strange then that evolutionists ridicule the faith of Christians. Believing in evolution requires far more faith than believing in creationism.
Evidence for Creation
Increasingly, genuine science suggests a young earth, which supports the biblical creation story. Bear in mind that even the most advanced techniques cannot detect 14C in specimens older than 80,000 years. In 1997, the Radioisotopes and the Age of the Earth group (RATE) began an eight-year project researching data typically ignored or censored by evolutionists. One of their discoveries was significant levels of 14C found in various samples of both coal and diamonds collected worldwide. The finding indicates that the coal and diamonds could not be billions of years old, as evolutionists claim.
Scientists also now know that the 14C/12C ratio has not been the same throughout earth’s history. (For one thing, the amount of 14C in the atmosphere increased sharply around the time of the Industrial Revolution.) Physicists Suess and Lingenfelter have now shown that 14C is entering the atmosphere about 30 percent faster than it is leaving. When it comes to carbon dating, this means that a thousand-year-old specimen appears much older than it really is when dated by a method that assumes atmospheric equilibrium. In fact, the older a specimen, the greater the error!
Even when correcting for the known increase of 14C during the Industrial Revolution, specimens still appear older than they really are. Moreover, the layer of water described in Genesis as surrounding the pre-Flood earth could have shielded the atmosphere from much of the 14C entering from space. Thus, pre-Flood specimens would contain so little 14C that they would appear to have been decaying for tens of thousands of years.
Where Are the People?
Consider the world’s population, now approaching seven billion. Around 1960, there were only three billion people; in 1804, one billion. In Christ’s day, only about 200 million people lived on the earth. Calculate this same growth rate back about another 2,500 years — to the time of the Flood — and you get just eight people: Noah, his wife, and his sons and their wives.
But now use this same growth rate, an observable scientific fact, to project the world’s population if man had begun multiplying, say, just 10,000 years ago. (Never mind the millions of years that evolutionists postulate!) We should be standing shoulder to shoulder, 100 deep, over every square foot of the planet! Where have all the people gone? Moreover, there aren’t enough human remains, graves, or even artifacts to account for that many people having lived and died on the earth.
Ida: Follow the Money
Found in two pieces in Germany in 1983 by amateur fossil hunters, Ida, supposedly 47 million years old, was passed around the fossil-collecting community until she ended up in the hands of a research team. Earlier this year, the media eagerly dubbed Ida “the newest missing link” in response to a press release bent on promoting the find rather than the science.
Indeed, Ida has come under immense scrutiny by evolutionists as just another sham meant to drive DVD and book sales. Examine her photograph and you’ll see a skeleton that looks identical to a modern lemur, not an ape. Moreover, her remarkably intact skin, fur, and stomach contents suggest rapid burial (consistent with a flood) and an age of thousands of years (consistent with a young earth) rather than millions. Remember also that not a single so-called missing link ever submitted as proof of human ancestry has ever been uncontested in the science community. Some have been utter frauds. That’s important to consider the next time our evolution-fawning media prints another fossil fable as truth.
The Un-Fossil Record
In 1990, Dr. Mary Schweitzer and her colleagues discovered some T. rex bones to be partially un-fossilized. Adding to the excitement, when examining the bone specimens under the microscope, Schweitzer’s team identified little reddish-brown, translucent, round objects: red blood cells!
Further investigation revealed the presence of hemoglobin in the bone specimens. These findings can only mean that dinosaurs are much younger than previously claimed. Since then, Schweitzer continues to find soft, fibrous tissue and blood vessels in other dinosaur bones. Why have these never been found before? Probably because, blinded by their assumptions of an old earth, scientists have never looked for them before. And, true to form, Schweitzer automatically questioned the clear evidence rather than re-examining her assumptions! But when a creationist scientist does that, it’s labeled unscientific.
Censored!
I used to believe in the Big Bang theory. I still do in a sense — I believe that God spoke, and bang!, it happened. Controversy over the Big Bang rages even among scientists who believe it; there are many problems with the theory that simply can’t be explained. For one thing, no scientific experiment has ever demonstrated that an explosion can produce order and interworking systems.
Yet blatant persecution of scientists who merely question it (or other “established scientific facts”) is widely practiced. Once highly esteemed scientists, such as astronomers Geoffrey and Margaret Burbridge, who dared to suggest different explanations, find themselves censored, ostracized, even without a career. Physics professor Dr. Stefan Marinov actually committed suicide because of the intolerance he experienced in response to his “non-mainstream” work.
When a scientist’s conclusions contradict the Bible, it doesn’t mean we should reinterpret the Bible. Thousands of true scientists believe in creation, but they are consistently silenced by the atheists who have a vice grip on science journals, academic privileges, and a fawning media who put the beliefs of faulty men above the Word of God.
Evolution: At Odds With God’s Word
The Bible teaches that creation was instigated by the supernatural word of God. There was no death, no suffering, no pain. Everything was “very good.” Evolution teaches that creation was instigated by a “supernatural” big bang. There was death and decay from the very beginning.

The Bible teaches that a global cataclysmic flood formed the geologic layers and that mankind has been devolving since his creation. Evolution teaches that slow wind and water erosion formed the geologic layers over millions of years. Man has been evolving since the beginning.

The Bible teaches only Jesus Christ can save the human race and restore us to paradise — and only through grace by faith. Evolution teaches, as the devil said 6,000 years ago, that the human race can save itself, and we will one day become like gods if we try hard enough.
In the Beginning
Honest science and logic show that our incredibly marvelous and complex world could never have evolved by accident. It happened as Jesus says it did, and it’s crucial that we believe it.
Sadly, many churches and Christian universities are compromising on this issue. “Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth” (Isaiah 65:17). If your pastor or professor suggests God used evolutionary processes to produce the earth, ask them if this means the saved will have to wait a few billion years while God creates the new heavens and the new earth. Then ask if our new resurrected bodies will have to evolve from a single cell again.
“Create in me a clean heart, O God” (Psalm 51:10). Which is harder: to speak a galaxy into existence or to change a human heart? Salvation relies upon God’s miraculous, instant creative power. When you toss aside the six-day Creation account, you do more than clear a pathway to immorality — you remove the hope of salvation!
Ultimately, something very simple but very important lies at the heart of someone who rejects biblical creation. If “in the beginning, God created” is true, then God is the supreme authority and, as His creation, we are subject to Him. Fallen human nature doesn’t like that arrangement.
Do you believe that God created the heavens and the earth in six literal days? If so, praise the Lord! Then you can also believe that He will give you a new heart through a similar miracle of creation. (See Ezekiel 36:26; 2 Corinthians 5:17.) Could we have a better hope than that?

The Western world presents a formidable challenge for evangelism today. Traditional approaches have generally produced meager results. It’s becoming increasingly more difficult to draw sizable crowds. Methods that once worked are no longer as productive. Advertising that once drew respectable audiences is less effective. This leads to some serious questions: Where is the power of the gospel in this secular age? Is it possible to see entire cities shaken up for God today as they were in New Testament times? How can the gospel penetrate secular culture? What does it take to influence secular minds for Christ and the kingdom?

The problem of secularism, materialism, and lack of interest in spirituality is not new. The first-century world reveals striking parallels with today’s god less humanistic pleasure-seeking society. Society was dominated largely by Greek philosophy, Roman materialism, Jewish traditionalism, and pagan superstitions. Nevertheless, imbued with the Spirit’s power, consecrated to the task of world evangelism, the disciples moved an entire society with the power of the gospel.

The first-century society

Let’s briefly review secularism in the first century and note how the power of the Spirit penetrated it. In his monumental work Caesar and Christ, Will Durant describes New Testament society as one of moral decay in which prostitution flourished, abortion was commonplace, and homosexuality was rampant. It was a society stimulated by physical pleasures. Seneca, the Roman philosopher, commented, “They vomit to eat and eat to vomit.” Packed Roman theaters deified the crowd’s favorite actors and actresses. The stars of the stage became the idols of society. Singers and dancers by the thousands entertained the multitudes. Horse races and sporting events mesmerized minds. The hypnotic enchantment of competitive athletics captivated Roman citizens. The Roman population of approximately 1 million regarded human life with an astonishing indifference. When Titus dedicated a temple in Rome he reenacted a major battle with thousands killed in the sporting entertainment. Roman prize fighters, with their 3¹<=>₂” thick metal knuckles, not only knocked one another out but barbarically murdered each other.

Possessions became the gods of still others. Acquiring things became life’s chief ambition. Philosophical thought patterns dismissed the idea of the reality of God. If secularism pursues materialistic values in life and dismisses God in the process, Rome was certainly secular.

In spite of this hedonistic, humanistic viewpoint, the gospel of Christ penetrated secular society. Honest hearts were won for the kingdom because secularism didn’t meet inner heart needs. Secularism was totally powerless to meet people’s inner love hunger. Secularism could not provide meaning and purpose and could not satisfy the inner longing for eternity and assurance for life after death.

The triumph of the early church

Christ promised His disciples unusual spiritual power to meet the unusual challenge of Roman secularism: “Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). And today wherever there are unusual challenges, there is unusual power promised. Where there are obstacles to the gospel, the power of God as promised is greater than those obstacles.

Our focus, it appears, is more on the problem of secularism than on the power of the Spirit. I’ve sat in committees where some expressed the idea that since society is becoming increasingly more secular, evangelism just won’t work. It’s passe, outmoded. It needs to be retired like the eight-track tape player. What a travesty! The gospel is just as powerful today as it was 2,000 years ago. God’s method of reaching the masses is still powerful evangelistic preaching.

Acts 2 describes how Spirit-filled preaching met the needs of secular hearts and resulted in the baptism of 3,000 people.

Acts 4:4 records that “many of them which heard the word believed; and the number . . . was about five thousand.” Acts 6 dis cusses the rapid growth of the church and a reorganization to facilitate growth: “The word of God increased; and the number of disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith” (verse 7). In Acts 8, there is cross-cultural growth. Philip, imbued by the Spirit, touches the heart of an Ethiopian traveler. And God opens the door to the continent of Africa. In Acts 10 and 11, cross-cultural growth continues when Peter reaches out to Cornelius—and another door opens for the gospel.

By the time we come to Acts 17, the gospel has penetrated everywhere. It’s touched the hearts and lives of thou sands. And the disciples “have turned the world upside down” (verse 6).

Acts 20:20-23 points out that the disciples were so compelled by the Spirit that “they taught publicly, and from house so house.” The barriers inhibiting the gospel came tumbling down. The gospel was taken from city to city, from country to country, from continent to continent. According to Acts 21:20, in a few short years thousands of Jews believed. Acts 22:21 testifies that the gospel was taken to the entire Gentile world. Acts ends on this triumphant note: “Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that THEY WILL hear it.”

In 30 short years the gospel triumphed. An entire secular society was reached in a relatively short period of time.

Reasons for rapid growth

How should one account for the rapid growth of the early church? First, consider the persons behind the proclamation. The disciples themselves were led to genuine repentance, a spiritual revival, and a corresponding reformation. They had a unified purpose and a single-minded objective to win the lost for Christ. They were constantly aware of the necessity of intercessory prayer. Second, consider how the Holy Spirit enlarged the thinking of the disciples, enabling them to be open to cross-cultural possibilities for evangelism. As a result, they preached the Word in both private and public settings, and their ministry was accompanied by super natural signs, wonders, and miracles. They believed that God had called them to proclaim His message everywhere, and no power on earth could stop it. They focused on God’s power to meet human obstacles.

Without the return of the Pentecost power, there is no way to reach today’s men and women. And yet we need to understand the secular society and its mind in order to approach that society intelligently. To understand the secular mind will help us to develop better methods to reach it and apply those methods in actual real-life evangelistic settings.

Understanding the secular mind

To understand the secular mind, let’s consider briefly the philosophies that have shaped thinking in the past 200 years. The basic questions of life are threefold: Where did I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going? These are questions of origin, purpose, and destiny.

The molders of the modern mind believe that we sprang from an impersonal beginning. Darwin’s theory of evolution has permeated all aspects of life today. Jacques Monod, the French Nobel Prize winner, summarized evolution’s view of origins in these words: “Chance alone is at the source of every innovation, of all creation in the biosphere. Pure chance, absolutely free but blind, [is] at the very root of the stupendous edifice of evolution.”1 Jean-Paul Sartre, the French philosopher, novelist, and playwright, adds: “Every existence is born without reason, prolongs itself out of weakness, and dies by chance.” ²

Now think-this through carefully. If indeed it’s true that life is simply the product of fortuitous chance, then human beings are simply enlarged protein molecules. This view dismisses the thought that we are created by an infinite, personal, caring God. A fuzzy view of origins leads to a fuzzy meaning of life. In a society based on evolutionary culture, self-esteem will naturally be low. Is it any wonder that suicide is the number one cause of death among college students? How can existence have any meaning if I am here simply by a random accident? The breeding ground for secularism is a failure to understand human origins and life’s true purpose. For the secularist there is no meaning to life except the here and now. An eternal destiny is nonsense.

A message to meet the secular culture

Does Adventism have a message for the millions who have embraced this secular worldview? Do we have any thing relevant to say in an age of pessimism steeped in a culture of despair? Can we speak with meaning to those drowning in affluence? Seventh-day Adventists believe that God created the world. We understand that order and design indicates a Maker, that randomness is incapable of explaining the complexity of the universe. Beyond this, we affirm that the intelligent personal life on Planet Earth could not have been produced by the unintelligent and impersonal. Therefore, we believe that this world was made by a God who is Himself the ideal of intelligence, the essence of love, and the grand designer—a God who is infinite yet personal. What does this say to men and women filled with despair and hopelessness? It says, “You are worth something because you were made by this God.”

Paintings by Leonardo da Vinci and sculptures by Michelangelo are price less because each of them is one of a kind. Human life is valuable because each man and woman is unique. Just as every snowflake has a unique configuration, so each human life is different from every other. Every human being is precious, valuable, worthwhile. Adventists say to the secular person today, “You are created uniquely in the image of God. You are a person of value—value be cause you are you, and no one else is like you! You are irreplaceable.” Adventists say, “God thought you were so valuable that when human beings fell away from Him, He gave His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for them.” The Christian faith is simply not a system of ethical values and moral philosophy. It is the belief that God Himself plunged into the arena of human affairs, dying for men and women, redeeming them.

And further, with our awe-inspiring hopeful doctrine of the Advent, we confidently shout to a hopeless world, “Hope is on the way!” Christ is coming again soon to put an end to sin. Suffering, sickness, and death will surrender to a glorious new tomorrow. So Adventism is distinctly relevant to contemporary society. It speaks to the needs of our time. It answers those three basic questions of life.

Also, consider how the Sabbath meets the basic human need for rest, security, roots, and a home in the arms of God. Or think of how the biblical concept of healthful living meets the secular need for physical, mental, and spiritual wholeness.

From message to action

Yet how can we translate this needs fulfilling Adventist message into action? What are some possible approaches to the secular mind? I don’t pretend to have all the answers to reach secular people, yet there are some principles that we’ve used in western Europe—in bastions of secularism such as Copenhagen, Stockholm, and London; in Eastern Europe—where Communism and atheism reigned for decades; and in the great metropolitan cities of America.

The principles are not “surefire” methods to reach secular audiences. They are rather approaches that we have wrought out in the crucible of city evangelism over the past 25 years.

Let me begin with the obvious. Personal evangelism is still the best way to win secular people. It takes people to win people. Programs don’t win people; loving people who graciously develop relationships win people. Usually people respond to kindness. Genuine friendship breaks down prejudice. One thing is for certain: you won’t win secularists to Christ by trying to out-argue them.

Every human being has felt needs in his life. These felt needs are areas where the individual senses a need for help. They might include better health, help to quit smoking, a low-fat diet, stress reduction, happier marriage, a more satisfying job, friendship, forgiveness, freedom from guilt, or inner peace.

I know this for sure. If church members are sensitive, loving, caring individuals looking for opportunities to help meet the felt needs of their friends, the walls of prejudice will break down.

Closed minds will open. Opportunities will present themselves for us to share the gospel.

According to A Summary of Qualitative Research of the Unchurched? secular people have four basic negative attitudes toward the church. First, they feel the church is too materialistic. It’s become big business. Money is more important than love. Churches are too much like corporations. Second, they believe the church has become too powerful—it tries to control thought. There’s no freedom of expression; there’s mind manipulation. People are told how to live.

Third, the church is hypocritical. The gap between what the church teaches and how it lives is too large to span. There’s a discrepancy between words and actions. To many the church is so much like a social club that they don’t want to be a part of it.

And fourth, the secularist believes the church is not relevant—it’s not kept up with the changing world; it has failed to become a part of real life. Secular people have a feeling of boredom and detachment during religious services.

Surprisingly, this same research indicates that many would consider at tending church if they could discuss their religious doubts openly with some body. If they found that the church was an institution seriously concerned about working for the betterment of society, if they discovered a church where spiritual preaching met their inner needs, they would attend. A good solid religious education program implanting moral values for their youth and children is extremely important. Secular baby boomers are coming back to church by the thousands because they’ re concerned about their kids.

When you look at Christ’s strategy for reaching secular people in His day, you will notice that Jesus began where they were and He didn’t begin where He was! Jesus always began by lovingly ministering to the needs of those He met.

In fact, the book of John is really a case study in how Jesus met these inner spiritual needs. Early in His ministry Jesus noticed two men following Him, and He asked them this question, “What seek ye?” (John 1:38). It seems to me that Jesus is always asking us that question—What are you seeking? What’s deep down within your heart? What are you looking for?

Throughout the Gospel of John, Jesus answers this “What seek ye?” question. He attempts to discover what people need and then acts to meet the need. At the wedding feast in Cana, the host of the wedding was about to be embarrassed socially. Jesus met those social needs by turning water to wine. Nicodemus’ needs, however, were spiritual. Formal religion was not satisfying the needs of his heart, and Jesus met the need by sharing the necessity of inner spiritual rebirth (John 3).

The woman at the well had emotional needs, and Jesus shared that her love hunger could be met in the Father’s love. The man by the pool of Bethesda had a need for physical healing and the hungry multitude had a need for food. And Jesus met those needs.

By meeting their needs, Jesus broke down every prejudice. As barriers of opposition tumble down, hearts and minds open to the gospel. The oft-quoted statement of Ellen White is still true today: “Christ’s method alone will bring true success in reaching the people. The Saviour mingled with men as one who desired their good. He showed His sympathy for them, ministered to their needs, and won their confidence. Then He bade them, ‘Follow Me.’” ⁴

The church is God’s people equipped to serve, lovingly meeting needs every where in Jesus’ name. The church is the body of Christ, with each member having Spirit-imparted gifts for service. Each member of the body is valuable. And God has given each member gifts to be used in service. When church members sense that, they can reach out in love to minister to the needs of their friends and neighbors. Then there will be an explosion of interest in the gospel. Sensitivity to the heartaches, longings, and concerns of others will produce positive results. Demonstrating genuine interest in the needs of another is a God-given method of winning hearts. And as church members with the unique gifts that God has given them reach out to their friends and neighbors, there will be guaranteed results.

I have found it particularly helpful simply to share the plan of salvation in the context of my own experience. Sharing His gospel of healing love is disarming. It wins hearts. It changes lives. The cross is the strongest argument in favor of Christianity. Even secular hearts long for the love that the cross reveals.

I have seen the Holy Spirit break hardened humanistic hearts through a simple presentation of the plan of salvation. A debating spirit evokes the spirit of debate. Arguments from the mind meet resistance from skeptical minds. But a message of God’s grace from a loving heart will touch hearts.

However, no one approach is singularly designed to reach every individual. There are some secular people who initially respond better to an alternative strategy. There are many who feel that the Bible lacks intellectual substance. They lack confidence in its integrity. Sharing some of the great Bible prophecies demonstrating evidence of the truthfulness of the Bible will in time touch hearts. The prophecies of Daniel are especially designed by God to build confidence in the reliability of Scripture. Old Testament prophecies regarding Jesus as the Messiah are especially appealing. His birthplace in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), the virgin birth (Isa. 7:14), the origin of Christ’s birth and His family lineage (Gen. 49:10), as well as events surrounding the Crucifixion outlined in Zechariah 13, Psalm 22, and others, bring great confidence to secular people that Jesus is more than a good man, more than an ethical philosopher, but indeed the divine Son of God.

Understanding some of the prophecies regarding the rise and fall of nations throughout the Old Testament is convincing evidence for many a secular mind. Prophecies like those of the Persian king Cyrus, named 150 years before his birth (Isa. 44:28; 45:1, 2), the destruction of Tyre and Sidon (Eze. 26:1- 4, 19-21), and the desolation of Egypt (Eze. 19:1-9) all establish reliability in Scripture as a divinely inspired document.

I have seen secular people come to our evangelistic meetings and after hearing the prophecies move from skepticism to belief. A young couple in Chicago, graduates of Illinois State University, were led from secularism to salvation as they attended one of my Daniel seminars. A radiologist in Niles, Michigan, hearing the prophecies of Daniel and archaeological evidence of Scripture’s reliability, was touched with the gospel.

Countering evolutionary myth

Many secular people believe that evolution is a proven scientific fact. They conclude that a belief in the Scriptures negates the so-called facts of science. It’s almost impossible to accept a Christianity that their minds convince them is not true. They reason, “If the Genesis account is wrong, how can I have confidence in any other portions of Scripture? If the human race is evolving to higher states of advancement, why do we need a Saviour? Doesn’t religion only produce the neurosis of guilt?” I have found it helpful to approach these select individuals from a scientific perspective. Evolution is not a proven fact, but a speculative hypothesis. There are three scientific laws that call the entire theory of evolution into question.

Evolution states that given enough time and the right conditions, nonliving things will produce living things. But there is no evidence at all in the natural world that nonliving things can ever produce living things. It is a fundamental law of science that only life produces life. Science also declares that like produces like. Evolution says there are links in the gaps between kinds and the species of animals. Yet there is no concrete scientific evidence for such assertions of those links. The evolutionist states that when left alone under certain conditions mutations tend to improve. In the natural world, mutations are genetic deformities, not improvements.

Secular materialists, when presented with the thought that atheistic evolution is a theory and not a fact—that it takes more faith to be an evolutionist than it does to be a creationist—will begin thinking seriously about evolution’s underlying assumptions.

The sure answer

Only the Bible can present meaning to the great question of life. The Bible reveals a loving Christ who made us, who personally guides our lives. In Him we can be secure. Our eternal future is in His hands. When you’re dealing with secular people, show your secular friend the hopelessness without God and the great joy of being secure in His hands.

God desires to win lost people to Jesus Christ. The power of the Holy Spirit is far greater than all the hellish forces opposed to the gospel. Filled with the Holy Spirit, armed with spiritual weapons of prayer, the Word, and a genuine love for souls, the last-generation remnant will behold Pentecost again, yet this time in more abundant measure. Thousands will be converted. The light of the gospel will illuminate the dark corners of this earth. Some of the world’s hardest hearts will open to the gospel. Thousands of voices will proclaim the everlasting gospel. On the printed page, over radio and television, through mass media and electronic genius, the Word of God will go forth. The work on earth will triumph in a blaze of glory.

May that day be soon.

Produced and Directed by THE FINAL MOVEMENT (thefinalmovement.com)

Contact The Final Movement – info@thefinalmovement.com

Presenter: Kyle Vincent
DOP: Kent Marcus
Camera: Jared Vincent, Kyle Vincent
Dialogue Editor: Adam. J. Wood (Audio Adam Production)
Editor: Kent Marcus, Jared Vincent, Kyle Vincent
Music: “Hold On” by Tony Anderson (tony@unearthedpictures.com)

Do you know how the Seventh-Day Adventist church started? Listen to discover how the church was started – fulfilling Biblical prophecies foretold thousands of years in advance.

Do you know how the Seventh-Day Adventist church started? Listen to discover how the church was started – fulfilling Biblical prophecies foretold thousands of years in advance.

Do you know how the Seventh-Day Adventist church started? Listen to discover how the church was started – fulfilling Biblical prophecies foretold thousands of years in advance.

Do you know how the Seventh-Day Adventist church started? Listen and find out how the church was started – fulfilling Biblical prophecies foretold thousands of years in advance.

Do you know how the Seventh-Day Adventist church started? Listen to discover how the church was started – fulfilling Biblical prophecies foretold thousands of years in advance.

Do you know how the Seventh-Day Adventist church started? Listen to discover how the church was started – fulfilling Biblical prophecies foretold thousands of years in advance.

Prophets are sent by God for the profit of both individuals, the church and the world. They come with a message to return to a God that loves them. We should always be ready to accept the message given by God’s true prophets.

Ellen White was deeply involved in a cosmic conspiracy. Satan tried to take her life many times, but God protected her because she had a message to deliver to the church and the world. Find out the ways in which Satan tried, but was unsuccessful.

Are the prophets of the Bible infallible? Did they ever make mistakes? Was Ellen White any different? Was she infallible or did she make mistakes? Find out the real role of a prophet, and how they always relied on Jesus.

How are we to interpret the writings of Ellen White in our modern society? How are her writings to be used in our own lives and the church? Allan Lindsay shares a balanced way of interpreting her writings.

Ellen White was privileged to be given visions showing in great detail the battle between Jesus and Satan. She tells of a ‘God who is Love’, and from Creation through until the end, God is showing His redemptive love for this world and its people. Her ‘Conflict of the Ages’ series are books worth reading.

Revelation 12 talks about a great cosmic battle between Satan and Jesus. Ellen White had a vision that outlined what came to be termed ‘The Great Controversy.’ She saw the early church, the reformers, the dark ages, the Advent awakening and the coming of Jesus. Find out why Satan hated Ellen White so much for what she has seen.

What does Ellen White have to say to the people of today’s world? Does she have anything worth listening to? What does she say to young people as they seek to live their lives in a world filled spinning out of control?

In December 1844, God called a sick young woman named Ellen White to serve Him as a messenger. Her work carefully guided the Seventh-day Adventist church, always focusing their attention on Jesus. Allan Lindsay asks the question: are her writings still relevant to us today?

What is the role of a prophet? What does God desire for us to receive from the work of a prophet? Allan Lindsay shares the what God sees prophets as and how they are to benefit the whole church, encouraging us to become more like Jesus, and grow in love for Him.

The Bible speaks of the sanctuary many times. In the Book of Daniel, it is especially mentioned in chapter 8. Find out what Daniel 8:14 really means, and the wonderful good news of how God has led a people to discover the truth of His sanctuary.

The world has produced movies and articles saying that the world will end in 2012 due to an ancient Mayan prediction. What does the Bible say. The Prophecy of Daniel 2 is not fable like the Mayan calendar, it is reliable and true. Find out what it says about the end of the world.

Evolution is one of the biggest ideas leading people away from God. It is simply a philosophy that is anti-God. Lloyd explains the debate and shares the Good News of knowing the reality of God in our lives. We can know Jesus Christ as our best friend. This is the hope that evolution does not have.

Adrian shares the story of the woman caught in adultery. Learn how she was led into temptation. Jesus said that wherever the gospel story should go, this story will be told. Find out the importance of this woman and her offering.

There are many in the church who are hungry for spiritual guidance, for the Word of God. This church was founded on the Word of God. Are you hungry for that Word of God?

Public Evangelism. To some within the church, it is a dirty word. It is something that many people don’t want to get involved in. What is evangelism? How does it work? Does it work? What is the message to go forth to the world? As an experienced evangelist, Justin shares from personal experience the joy of being involved in public evangelism.

The Bible shows that God is real. It shows that Jesus is God. It shows that the Holy Spirit is God. The three are One, and they work together for the salvation of mankind. Find out what the Bible says on this very important topic.

Death is something that is all around us. When we die, where do we go? Is there life after death? The Bible speaks of Jesus coming back soon, and that there is life in Him after death. This subject is misunderstood by many Christians today. Find out what the Bible says.

John the Baptist was the greatest of the prophets. He preached powerfully in the wilderness and converted many people. But later in life, he was arrested and put into prison. He was beheaded and died at an early age. He had learned to rely on Jesus through the tough times. He held onto Jesus.

At some point in our lives, we are going to face a crisis? Jesus rode in a boat one day with the disciples, and there was a great storm. The disciples were worried but Jesus taught them that he had control over the storm and He was with them. He promises to be with today as well.

Forgiveness is a tough subject. How do we forgive others who have done wrong things towards us? When we look to the example of Jesus, who forgave us for all that we (as part of humanity) had done to Him, then we see true forgiveness in action. Look to Jesus.

When we are born again, it is like we cross a great canyon. We enter into a new kingdom of peace, God’s kingdom. Jesus spoke to Nicodemus about being born again. We must be born of water and the Spirit. This message explains how this happens.

We often ask ourselves ‘where is God in tough times?’ But when times are good and we are more aware of God’s ever present blessings, how do we react? Do we thank God for all the wonderful things that we have done?

In this wonderful little book, Ellen White explains the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus gives the greatest explanation of what the Law of God is really about and how to live a life of close connection with God. “The Sermon on the Mount is Heaven’s benediction to the world — a voice from the throne of God…The Beatitudes are Christ’s greeting, not only to those who believe, but to the whole human family.”

Download the Book here Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing

What is the key to having real spiritual power? Where do we find it? What does it look like? In Matthew chapter 5, Jesus gives us the secret to having real spiritual power. It does not involve great show and fanaticism, but involves humility and deep searching of soul. In the Beatitudes, we see a progression of steps that lead to real power.

Daniel taught us to become people of integrity. God will never ever let us down. It seemed to Daniel that he would perish in the den full of lions, but God was with him and saved him. Having a relationship with Jesus gives us a confidence that He will always be with us.

In Daniel chapter 3, we read the story of Daniel’s three friends who refused to compromise their faith. They would not bow down to the statue that the King had set up. They were cast into the fire, but Jesus was with them in the fire. When we refuse to compromise and live for Jesus, He will be with us.

What is baptism all about? What does it really mean? Find out what the Bible says about this topic in this great discussion by Lloyd Grolimund.

In His ministry for souls, what Jesus was counted as much as what He said. Decisions were made not only because of the facts He presented but because of the man He was. Jesus won hearts through relation ship as well as through truth. He identified with people. Persuasion involves both logos (knowledge) and ethos (confidence) regarding the truthsayer.

But feelings may be both positive and negative. And negative feelings can lead to a negative decision. Thus, not only message and messenger but method is critical in getting a positive decision. How we speak truth affects results.

So does when we speak truth. A Messianic passage brings the above elements together: “The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how [method] to speak a word [what is said] in season [when it should be said] to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned. The Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back [the kind of person Jesus was]” (Isa. 50:4, 5).

Some of us haven’t learned.

“I’m so excited with the truth,” a convert told me, “that I’ve shared your tape on the mark of the beast with my relatives.”

The wrong message. The wrong time. The wrong way. And certainly a setback in relationship.

Speak “the truth in love,” advised Paul (Eph. 4:15). That’s God’s way—to present beautiful truth through loving people. Decisions are rooted in interpersonal relationships. The more confidence one has in the messenger, the deeper the relationship established, the more likely is a positive decision.

Let’s look at three aspects of leading people to decision: The ABCs of the process, the role of the will, and the language of the appeal.

The ABCs of decision
Let’s follow Jesus and observe Him using the ABCs of decision: acceptance, belief, and confidence.

1. Acceptance. It quickly becomes evident that Jesus accepted men and women where they were. He ministered to them in the condition in which He found them. He did not work for change before establishing a relationship of confidence. We see Him meet a woman of Samaria at a well. He establishes confidence by asking a favor when His countrymen would not even speak to a Samaritan. At the Pool of Bethesda Jesus meets a physical need before seeking a decision. With Nicodemus He consents to a private night meeting to preserve the privacy of the seeking Pharisee.

Reflect on the contacts, and you’ll likely isolate the ingredients of acceptance—agreement and approval.

(a) Agreement. In seeking decisions, first seek areas of agreement, however small. A small agreement will open the way to bigger agreements. To seek decision by saying “I disagree with you” is to fracture a relationship before it has had time to “set”; and broken relationships lead to negative decisions.

(b) Approval. When onlookers condemned Mary for “wasting” expensive ointment on His feet, Jesus praised her for her kindness. Her act would be remembered through the centuries, He told her, as a symbol of loving kindness. Jesus complimented the centurion by declaring, “I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel” (Matt. 8:10). “O woman, great is thy faith,” He said admiringly to the Canaanite woman (Matt. 15:28). Repeatedly, Jesus demonstrated acceptance by agreeing when He could, by approving, by complimenting, and by appreciating.

Jesus even found ways to express approval of those who had reservations about Him. Speaking of a scribe who had been questioning Jesus, Mark 12:34 states, “When Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.” Jesus looked for a good point. He demonstrated approval. Don’t be repelled by negative attitudes or actions on the part of others. They shouldn’t have to approve of you before you can approve of them. Don’t appear shocked. Demonstrate genuine acceptance. Attempt to agree with them on every point possible. Look for something that you can reveal appreciation for, and then, as you can, by little confidences, by little compliments, attempt to build a bond of unity. Re member, acceptance is manifested by agreement and by approval.

To demonstrate acceptance of others, get them talking about themselves, their home, the town they live in, their work, their family, their business, their ideas, their accomplishments, their back ground, their hobbies, their sports.

Jesus accepted men and women where they were and began to build bonds of friendship that later would be bridges over which the truth could march into their minds.

2. Belief. This is the second key principle in our ABCs. Nobody is won by a person he or she doesn’t like. No body likes a person who will not extend full acceptance. Believe that the individual sincerely desires truth and wants to follow Jesus. Believe he/she is winnable to Christ and His cause. Believe that this person is honest and desires to make the right decision. If you believe that people are hard-hearted, unresponsive, and unreachable, your own attitude will be reflected in the decisions they make.

In a study done by Andrews University of more than 8,300 Seventh-day Adventists from 320 churches in North America, one of the major findings was the fact that those churches and individuals who believed that men and women were winnable were growing the fastest. The survey stated: “Some have called it the self-fulfilling prophecy syndrome, but simply put, there is a strong correlation between a pastor’s belief that his church can grow and the degree to which it does grow. Those pastors, and we might add as well, church members, who rated their church’s growth potential highest were experiencing rapid growth in membership.’”1

This belief principle also is illustrated by Jesus. He saw people not only as they were, but as they could become. When He looked at the woman at the well He saw, not an outcast coming from the lower level of society, but a woman who had been hurt and bruised, and He reached out in love. Jesus saw Peter not as a rough and outspoken fisherman, but as a mighty preacher. He saw Joseph of Arimathea, not as a sophisticated, wealthy businessman, but as one who needed to find the Pearl of Great Price. Jesus saw the centurion, not as a hardened military man, but as a master who loved his servant. He saw Nicodemus, not as a leader of the opposition filled with religious bigotry, but as one who desperately needed to have a new heart. Jesus saw the best in people. He believed in them, and He confidently expected them to make a decision to follow Him.

3. Confidence. In leading men and women to decisions for the Master it is imperative that we act confidently, as if it were impossible for us to fail or be disappointed. Expect the person to make the decision. People often act the way we expect them to. Have you ever noticed that when you smile at someone that person nearly always smiles back? Friendliness begets friendliness, trust begets trust, confidence begets confidence. Christ believed in people and confidently anticipated a positive response. He brought out the best in them. Thus they rose to His expectations.

The role of the will in decision-making
A mother took her children to the ice cream store, and the ice-cream vendor asked, “Chocolate or vanilla?”

“Why don’t you have more flavors?” the mother replied. “I get so tired of these two.”

“Lady,” the vendor sighed, “if you knew how much time it takes them to make up their minds between chocolate and vanilla, you’d never add another flavor.”

Some decisions in life are relatively unimportant, like a decision between chocolate and vanilla ice cream. Yet the power of choice is a God-given faculty. It is absolutely essential that the soul winners understand the place of the will in decision-making. The will is the master key of decision.

The ocean liner Queen Elizabeth weighs approximately 85,000 tons, yet is guided by a rudder weighing only 65 tons. The rudder, though small com pared to the rest of the ship, still controls its direction. Human will is the rudder of life. It is not the soul winner’s prerogative to manipulate the will or to force it. Yet we will not succeed in soul winning until we understand how the Holy Spirit relates to it.

“What you need to understand is the true force of the will. This is the governing power in the nature of man, the power of decision, or of choice. Every thing depends on the right action of the will.” 2 “Through the right exercise of the will, an entire change may be made in the life. By yielding up the will to Christ, we ally ourselves with divine power. We receive strength from above to hold us steadfast. A pure and noble life, a life of victory over appetite and lust, is possible to everyone who will unite his weak, wavering human will to the omnipotent, unwavering will of God.” 3

Every decision that is made, whether it be to buy a vacuum cleaner or to accept Bible truth and become a Seventh-day Adventist Christian, involves four basic levels.

1. Information. Right decisions won’t be made in life unless an individual has right information. In deciding to buy a new car, for example, we shop around, gathering information. We look at the advantages or disadvantages of purchasing various models, comparing facts on performance, gas mileage, comfort, and affordability. The information level enables us to gather the facts we need to move toward a more intelligent decision.

To call for decision before there’s adequate information creates barriers in the human mind, and at that point the will makes a negative rather than a positive decision. Therefore, in leading men and women to decision, it is necessary to ask the following questions: Do they have adequate information to make the decision? Are they intelligently informed regarding the decision I am asking them to make?

2. Conviction. After gathering information, an individual begins to sense what seems to be the right decision for his or her particular situation—what he or she really ought to do. In a decision for Christ, an individual’s conscience suggests, “This is what I believe God wants me to do. This is what I believe is God’s will. If I fail to take the appropriate action, I will be outside of God’s will.”

When a person is under conviction, on the positive side there is the deepening sense of Tightness by taking the appropriate action, and on the negative side there is the deepening sense of guilt by not taking that action. On the other hand, decisions usually are not made just because a person is convicted to do something. Some may have a conscience so sensitive that if they are prompted by a sense of right-doing and plagued by a sense of wrongdoing, the right decision will be made. Yet the next level of decision is crucial.

3. Desire. In the desire step, one sorts out one’s own feelings, identifying not merely what one ought to do, but what one wants to do. “You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink.” But salt can.

Place a block of salt next to the water, let the horse lick the salt, and he soon will become so thirsty he will want to drink. Salt awakens desire.

As soul winners we are the salt of the earth. It is necessary to present the gospel to people in such a way that not only will they have adequate information and be convicted that they ought to do some thing, but they will want to do it. Throughout the Bible God Himself presents the joy of heaven, the terrors of hell, and His own love as powerful motives to heighten our desire.

4. Action. When conviction and desire are heightened, an individual acts. Thus the key to the final action is to go beyond information to conviction and desire. J. L. Shuler puts it this way: “Since knowledge, conviction, and desire lead to decision, the sermons, the Bible studies, and the personal talks should be an artful interweaving of the factors of desire and conviction in respect to the given subject. This is needed for bringing about the requisite interplay of knowledge, conviction, and desire for acceptance, decision, and action. As we analyze certain texts we discover that some are especially designed to bring knowledge, others to bring conviction, and still others to bring desire. And often the same text has in it the elements of all three. We need to focus on these texts that will implant conviction and at the same time arouse desire for accepting and following God’s great principles as we present them in our Bible studies to the student.” 4

The language of appeal
Successful soul winners are sensitive to the use of language. Would-be soul winners rely on glib religious phrases and cliches without considering the different personalities with which they are working. Remember, each listener has a unique perceptual set. Use it to win that person. Ignore it, and you may lose him or her.

1. Three perceptual sets. Students of human behavior place people in one of three classes: visual, audio, and kinesthetic. Visuals solve problems by seeing the solution in the form of pictures in the mind. Since their analytical thought processes are visual, such people respond well to slides or charts and diagrams. They are the kind of people who, when thinking about a vacation, see them selves on the beach relaxing, picturing the strong glint of sun on sand and water.

Audios, on the other hand, structure their thought patterns around the mode of sound. The husband hears his wife talking to him, the boss shouting at him, the children’s voices as they play. Audios do not picture themselves sitting in the shade or lounging on the beach when they think of vacation, but they hear the sweet music coming over the radio, the sound of surf pounding on rocks. Their predominant sense is audio—hearing.

Kinesthetics center their thought pat terns largely around the mode of touch. They relate well to back patting, em bracing, solid handshakes. Thinking of their vacations, they feel the warm sun soaking into their bodies, the exhilaration of the cold plunge into the ocean.

Naturally, people do not fall solely and exclusively into one of these categories. Yet each of us does have a strong tendency to operate primarily within the realm of one of the three sense impressions. The implications for soul winning are obvious. When dealing with an individual who sees things, my most effective approach will not be to plug in a tape recorder, but to set up a slide projector.

2. Jesus reached all three sets. Perfectly tuned in to the personalities of those around Him, Jesus demonstrated His ability to reach different people by different means.

When conversing with those who were visually oriented, He painted pictures in rich hues to illustrate His mes sage. He talked of the shepherd going out to find his sheep, the man hunting for the treasure hidden in a field, the prodigal’s father running to his son with tear-stained cheeks. As they listened, people saw the message of the gospel in panoramic scenes before them and felt the answering chord of response.

When speaking to Nicodemus, Jesus used an audio appeal. Knowing his back ground as a Pharisee, his custom of listening to the reading of the law, Jesus said, “The wind blows where it listeth, but you cannot see it. You hear the sound thereof.” Jesus knew that as surely as Nicodemus could hear the sound of leaves rustling before a storm, hear it whistling around the corners of his house, he could hear the calling of the Holy Spirit to his heart.

The woman at the well, having gone through many husbands, still did not feel the touch of love. Jesus knew just how to reach the core of her being. Appealing to her on the basis of feeling, He said simply, “Give Me to drink.” She knew the feeling of thirst, this woman who had trodden dusty roads in a desert land and lowered earthen pots into the waiting cool of darkness. So Jesus used the kinesthetic sense impression to bring to her the strength and vitality of the gospel. “You have a thirst. If you drink the water I’ll give you, you’ll never thirst again.”

Similarly, we should use all three approaches, for all three types of people are sure to be in the audience. It’s wise to begin by appealing to all three sense impressions, then eventually focus on that which appears to be the predominant mode of that person’s perception.

When speaking with visually oriented individuals, I emphasize my mes sage in pictorial scenes: “Picture Jesus dying on the cross for you, with nails through His hands and blood trickling down His cheeks. As you look into His eyes, is there anything more important than surrendering your whole life to Him?”

For the audio, I tie the message into the sense of sound: “Don’t you hear Christ calling you today?” “Think of that glorious angel chorus and that loud, clear trumpet fanfare! What a joy those sounds will bring to your heart.” “Listen to the voice of Jesus as He says, ‘Well done, My good and faithful servant.’ ”

When speaking with a kinesthetic person, my conversation might go some thing like this: “As you surrender your life to Jesus you will receive that healing peace, that inner contentment that all humanity longs for. The feeling of peace that you desired for so long will be yours.”

Jesus has created each individual to be different. People have grown out of an environment uniquely their own. This variety of backgrounds necessitates a variety of approaches. You must step out of yourself and enter into the needs and longings of others—identify with their perceptual patterns. Allow God to tune you in to the perceptions of others. Watch results multiply.

All true revival is characterized by three things: earnest, heartfelt prayer; a deep searching of the Bible; and a passionate commitment to win lost people. These three essentials of true revival are manifest in the disciples’ experience in Acts. Jesus’ promise of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was not given without conditions. The disciples were to wait not in idleness but in united, earnest prayer and heartfelt supplication. And they did! The Acts narrative records, “These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers” (Acts 1:14).*

At the right moment, when the Redeemer was exalted at God’s throne and the acceptance of His sacrifice acknowledged by the Father before the entire universe, the Holy Spirit was poured out in its fullness. Like these early disciples, we are counseled, “It is our work, by confession, humiliation, repentance, and earnest prayer, to fulfill the conditions upon which God has promised to grant us His blessing. A revival need be expected only in answer to prayer” (Selected Messages, book 1, p. 121). Without the empowerment of the Holy Spirit through prayer, we are powerless to face Satan’s temptations and incapable of being effective witnesses for the Master.

The disciples bathed their lives in prayer and the study of God’s Word. Peter’s sermon on the Day of Pentecost was a masterful presentation based on the Old Testament evidence of Jesus as the Messiah. The 3,000 people baptized that day “continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship” (Acts 2:42). The disciples “spoke the Word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:31) and gave themselves “ ‘continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word’ ” (Acts 6:4). “Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly” (v. 7). The authoritative truths of Scripture are the foundation of all revival and reformation. All true revivals are anchored in the Word of God. There is no genuine revival without a corresponding increased interest in Bible study. “There is nothing more calculated to energize the mind and strengthen the intellect than the study of the Word of God. No other book is so potent to elevate the thoughts, to give vigor to the faculties, as the broad, ennobling truths of the Bible” (A Call to Stand Apart, p. 69). As we read and meditate upon the Bible, the same Holy Spirit who inspired the Bible inspires us as we read its pages.

The purpose of our prayer and devotional life is not to achieve a degree of holiness that makes us superior to others. Instead, it helps us realize our need to come humbly before the Lord to receive His righteousness, grace, wisdom, and strength. It empowers us to reveal the loving character of Jesus to others so we can be powerful witnesses of His grace and truth. The disciples’ lives were focused on mission. The book The Acts of the Apostles opens with these words: “The church is God’s appointed agency for the salvation of men. It was organized for service, and its mission is to carry the gospel to the world” (p. 9). “The disciples prayed with intense earnestness for a fitness to meet men and in their daily intercourse to speak words that would lead sinners to Christ” (ibid., p. 37). Prayer without a clear focus on mission leads to self-righteousness and pharisaical pride. Mission without prayer leads to a powerless and ineffective witness. Prayer and mission without the foundation of God’s Word and His truth create a climate for doctrinal aberrations and heresy. Prayer, Bible study, and mission are the hallmarks of all true revival.

The call to revival is the call of the Holy Spirit to a deeper experience with Jesus in anticipation of the latter-rain power for the final proclamation of the three angels’ messages. The current call for revival does not imply that the Holy Spirit has not been guiding, instructing, and empowering His church in the past. Without a doubt, He has and continues to do so. The remarkable growth rate of the church in recent years, the more than one million accessions a year, and the faithfulness of God’s people are clear indicators of the blessings of God. Yet, whatever the Holy Spirit has done for and through His people in the past is not sufficient for today. The Holy Spirit is calling us to a renewed experience now. We need the empowerment of the Holy Spirit to accomplish God’s final mission in this critical hour of Earth’s history just before Christ’s second coming. God has wanted to pour out the latter rain on His remnant church for many years. It’s up to us to submit in humility before the Lord, asking for forgiveness for our pride and self-centeredness. We are told that “the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the church is looked forward to as in the future; but it is the privilege of the church to have it now. . . . We must have it, and Heaven is waiting to bestow it” (Evangelism, p. 701).

The devil hates revival. He will do anything he can to keep revival from happening among God’s people. The evil one knows that as the Holy Spirit is poured out in latter-rain power, God’s work on earth will be finished. “There is nothing that Satan fears so much as that the people of God shall clear the way by removing every hindrance, so that the Lord can pour out His Spirit upon a languishing church and an impenitent congregation. If Satan had his way, there would never be another awakening, great or small, to the end of time” (Selected Messages, book 1, p. 124). The fruits of a true revival are revealed in a transformed character that manifests the fruits of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22–24). A genuine revival leads men and women to reveal the fruits of the Holy Spirit in their lives. There is no true revival without repentance, confession, and obedience to God’s revealed will in His Word. Shallow, superficial revivalism primarily focusing on miraculous signs, physical manifestations, and wonders is a deception. God can and does work miracles. There will be a mighty manifestation of the Holy Spirit’s power in the last days. But here is the point: the major object of revival is not miracles; it’s a revelation of the loving character of Jesus in our lives and the desire to share His love and truth with others. Because Satan hates Jesus, he hates those who want to be like Jesus and witness for Him.

Throughout Christian history from Acts to the Reformation to the Advent movement, the devil has tried to counteract the influence of the Heaven-anointed revival movements. “He [Satan] is working with all his insinuating, deceiving power, to lead men away from the third angel’s message, which is to be proclaimed with mighty power. If Satan sees that the Lord is blessing His people and preparing them to discern his delusions, he will work with his master power to bring in fanaticism on the one hand and cold formalism on the other, that he may gather in a harvest of souls” (Selected Messages, book 2, p. 19). When genuine revival occurs, then churches “petrified by formalism” are set ablaze with new life in Christ. The “form of godliness” that characterizes Laodicean complacency in so many churches gives way to earnest prayer, serious Bible study, and enthusiastic witness. In genuine Holy Spirit–led revivals, God’s people are not caught up in an emotional excitement and enamored with signs and wonders. They are in love with Jesus, committed to the truths of His Word, and long to share Jesus and His end-time truths. In other words, true Heaven-ordained revival is balanced and not extremist in fanatical behavior or uniquely emotional demonstration. It’s focused on Jesus and His Word and finds expression in witness and service.

The question must be asked, Revival for what? The answer is that the purpose of all revival is to know Him better so we can share Him more. Revival is not a means for the church to have some warm, fuzzy spiritual experience. Revival provides the motivation and power for mission. The more we love Jesus, the more we desire to share Jesus’ love; and the more we share Jesus’ love, the more we will love Jesus. Mission is not only the goal of revival but part of the means of revival. We are drawn nearer to Jesus by sharing His love with others. “God could have reached His object in saving sinners without our aid; but in order for us to develop a character like Christ’s, we must share in His work. In order to enter into His joy—the joy of seeing souls redeemed by His sacrifice—we must participate in His labors for their redemption” (The Desire of Ages, p. 142). When the church fails to place priority on soul winning, it dies spiritually. “The very life of the church depends upon her faithfulness in fulfilling the Lord’s commission. To neglect this work is surely to invite spiritual feebleness and decay. Where there is no active labor for others, love wanes, and faith grows dim” (ibid., p. 825).

Revival does not lead to “sanctified self-righteousness.” It leads to evangelism. Its passion is winning lost people. Its goal is men and women redeemed for the kingdom of God. Its heart cry is for fellowship with Jesus and His redeemed people throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity.

The Bible talks about every true believe being part of a priesthood. It is called the ‘Priesthood of Believers.’ Understanding what this is and how we are to Biblically function together is very important and will result in greater unity in our churches.

Just as a coin has two sides, and either side is as important to the other, so Biblical truth has two sides. For example, Jesus is both God and man, a focus upon either side will result in an imbalanced understanding. Understanding paradoxes is vitally important.

In this fantastic presentation, Leroy Moore shares how his own struggle over Jesus and His human/God nature proved to be the key to preparing him for a number of controversies that were to come upon the church. Because he was grounded in a balanced understanding of Jesus, he was well prepared to encounter problems in the church.

Leroy Moore examines the early Adventist Church history. Many people today that makes claims against the trinity or the Divinity of Jesus claim that the early church pioneers held these positions. Leroy reveals the truth on the matter. A very challenging message.

Part 1 of Leroy Moore’s Laodicean Series. In this series of talks, Leroy uncovers what the Laodicean message is really all about. We are that church: blind, lukewarm, naked, wretched, miserable and poor. What do the previous churches in the book of Revelation teach us about our condition?

Part 2 of Leroy Moore’s Laodicean Series. In this series of talks, Leroy uncovers what the Laodicean message is really all about. We are that church: blind, lukewarm, naked, wretched, miserable and poor. What do the previous churches in the book of Revelation teach us about our condition?

Part 3 of Leroy Moore’s Laodicean Series. In this series of talks, Leroy uncovers what the Laodicean message is really all about. We are that church: blind, lukewarm, naked, wretched, miserable and poor. What do the previous churches in the book of Revelation teach us about our condition?

Part 4 of Leroy Moore’s Laodicean Series. In this series of talks, Leroy uncovers what the Laodicean message is really all about. We are that church: blind, lukewarm, naked, wretched, miserable and poor. What do the previous churches in the book of Revelation teach us about our condition?

Part 5 of Leroy Moore’s Laodicean Series. In this series of talks, Leroy uncovers what the Laodicean message is really all about. We are that church: blind, lukewarm, naked, wretched, miserable and poor. What do the previous churches in the book of Revelation teach us about our condition?

Edinburgh seems to have changed hands more times than most cities. The English raiding from south of the border captured the city in the seventh century AD. Recovered by the Scots in the 10th century, it was taken, pillaged and razed again in 1296, 1385, 1547 and in 1650. Little wonder many Scots today want to be independent!

The English called it “Eiden’s Burgh” (or fort) when they first captured it. Edinburgh was a natural place for a fort or castle and the Scots built the castle in the late 11th century.

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Edinburgh

In this fantastic book, A.T. Jones covers in great detail the historical background to the rise and fall of the empires spoken of in the book of Daniel. The prophecy of Daniel 2 is a sure and solid foundation for our belief in the Bible being inspired by God. You will gain a lot of valuable information from this book.

Download the book here. The Great Empires of Prophecy

The Scots have for millennia been independent-minded, today demonstrated in a national yearning for political independence. But these courageous Celts, along with their beloved heather, pipes and tartan, have also held a strong Christian faith. Celtic Christianity was introduced to Scotland by Columba, from Ireland, in the fifth century. Iona was a staging post for the Christianisation of Scotland. When after the Synod of Whitby (663-64), as King Oswiu accepted the jurisdiction of the church of Rome, the original Celtic Christianity retreated to Scotland and Wales. Among the Scots, many remained faithful to the teachings of the apostolic church, for example, observing the seventhday of the week as the Sabbath.

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Heroes of Faith – The Scots

Hidden in the valleys of the southern slopes of the European Alps of Italy, tight against the French border, live a people with an amazing history. Known as the Waldenses, these progeny of Peter Waldo of Lyons, France, live amid a vista of steep-sided valleys, rushing streams and snow-capped peaks. The mountain passes into France and Switzerland are high and difficult, but below them forests of beech and chestnut grow and cattle graze. The cold, pristine air invigorates.

But against this same backdrop, in these same valleys some 400 years ago, innocents were slaughtered and the stream flowed with blood. language along with the concept of freedom of conscience and to worship—or not—as we please.

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Heroes of Faith – Waldenses

Calvin had published his “Institutes” in 1553, dedicating them to the king, Francis I. The Huguenots of France trace their beliefs to Calvin and his Institutes. The Reformation spread across France, becoming strongest in the south and west the country. The French Protestant church was officially organised at the Synod of Paris in 1559, along Calvinist lines and beliefs.

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Heretics or Heroes?

To download the transcript of his sermons, please click here. Go Forward

However, doctrinal understanding is not sufficient, as is too often attested in the personal practice of many Adventists. For the church to understand the teaching of righteousness by faith and yet too often be represented by members who are legalistic in practice is bound to create confusion not only in our ranks but outside them.

Equating teaching with practice, fellow Christian friends accuse us of legalism. Attempting to eradicate legalist threads woven into the fabric of our attitudes, some church members tend to call for a righteousness which has too little concern for Tightness. Concerned that true righteousness necessitates rightness, others demand changes in conduct and practice in a manner that threatens the love experience that forms the very heart of righteousness.

Our problem is not so much theological as practical. A theoretical redefinition of righteousness by faith, so persistently called for by some on both sides of the issue, threatens to rivet us more firmly on one or the other of the horns of dilemma we have long been fluctuating between, liberalism or legalism. Our great need is not understanding of this doctrine as much as it is serious and diligent practice in operating the transmission so graciously granted to each of us! Only through proper exercise of faith can we transmit the theory of righteousness by faith of Tightness and righteousness in our lives which the universe has long awaited and the world desperately needs to see.

But either naive or presumptuous exercise of faith can only intensify our problem by producing a more devastating brand of liberalism or of legalism.

The nature and function of faith must be clearly understood for, like a lethal weapon, it is capable of producing great havoc. Designed to banish demonic forces, when misused it often proves fatal. To talk of faith in Christ or of righteousness by faith without first determining whether we are in the faith, of which there are unnumbered counterfeits, is not only profitless, it is dangerous.

Because existential philosophy so penetrates the majority of religious discussion and because it appears to resolve our dilemma we should consider its potential impact upon our church in this crisis. It places great stress upon the experience of faith and opposes both ecclesiastical authoritarianism, which characterizes legalism, and the humanistic tyranny of liberalism. This earnest stress upon the need to re-establish the authority of “the Word of God,” is refreshing and tends to sound authentic to Adventist ears, which have been outraged by the liberal’s denial of divine authority for the faith experience. The existentialist’s strong emphasis upon experience and insistence that an immediate personal relationship with God is more vital than legalistic formulas appear to harmonize with our concept of righteousness by faith.

We must beware, however, for existential thinking generally distinguishes sharply between Christ the Word and the Bible, which is considered to be but a witness to Christ. To indicate this distinction, most Christian existentialists refer to the Bible as “word,” without capitalization and to Christ as the Word. This distinction when pressed unduly presents us with an urgent question. Placing authority for our faith directly in the individual experience is as dangerous as an “intellectual faith” that misuses the inscripturated Christ.

The Subject of Our Faith
There is no question but that Christ must be the subject of our faith. But whose Christ? If we are to avoid the extreme subjectivism that characterizes so much of Christendom today, our only authoritative basis for valid Christian experience must be the words and example of Christ in the Scriptures.

To be very blunt about it, the manner in which we individually resolve day-to-day questions concerning life-style and other divisive issues within the church reveals the nature of the authority upon which our faith is based. In this light, it doesn’t require much wisdom or insight to conclude that, too often, there is an almost schizophrenic contrast between the theological and the actual authority for the faith of many Adventists today.

Do we habitually and prayerfully search the written Word to determine God’s counsel on each issue, or do we exhibit a church-centered authority either by looking to church officials for our answers or to the current pattern of church conduct and approval? Or do we determine right and wrong on the basis of what we consider reasonable, thus rationalizing away the counsel of God? Or do we base our decisions upon what we feel is right? Faith is a personal matter, and this question can only be answered by us individually. But if we want to participate in a full restoration of the faith of Jesus, we must confront this issue in the light of the straight testimony and under the direction of the faithful and true Witness.

Result of Subjectivism
Subjectivism leads inevitably to the creation of false christs; what is then worshiped as Christ turns out to be anti christ. There is only one true Christ. Unless our understanding and worship conform to the specific realities He has revealed concerning His own person, nature, office, work, and purpose for our lives, we shall attempt to relate to a Christ who exists only in our imagination. This fact explains much of the con fusion in the lives of professed Christians. We can relate to reality but never to unreality. Only careful, prayerful, study of the specific nature of Christ and His current work as revealed in the Bible and the writings of Ellen G. White can guarantee the integrity of our vital subjective relationship with Him.

Christ is a real person, with real de sires and purposes for a people He really loves and for whom He has provided a real plan for preparing them to stand in a real judgment in such a manner as to be completely ready for His coming. Only in recognizing His personhood can we experience valid relationships with Him. Any attempt to manipulate Him or His will through rationalization is suicidal. He knows and has declared what He desires. It rests with us to discover the specific content of those desires and His method for their implementation.

It is the height of presumption to insist on a close personal relationship with the faithful and true Witness, while neglecting His special delivery letters, filled as they are with impassioned pleas for us to accept His conditions and receive His power to escape the death trap so soon to snap eternally shut. And it is the greatest of follies, having delayed His coming for more than a century, to remain indifferent to the straight testimony designed to cure our backsliding and prepare us for His coming. After prolonged at tempts to replace legalism with personal faith relationships, so often accompanied by personal defeat and sagging, corporate morals, should we not seriously confront the question “Who are the legalists?”

A dangerous imbalance toward objectivism prior to 1888, in which the law became the focus of attention, produced a legalism that sapped faith’s vitality, destroying its power to attain the righteousness of the law.

The pendulum now swings in the opposite direction. Fear of legalism threatens to take us full circle, entangling us in anti-legalistic legalism. Paradoxically, every attempt to avoid legalism that in any way encourages any standard other than that divinely revealed, involves us in legalism, no matter how strong the claim to righteousness by faith.

Christ offers saving power only to those willing to submit to His will and commit themselves to His standard of righteousness. Never will He honor sin and rebellion by granting power to attain any standard less than His own victorious life. Every effort toward reducing standards must fail. The dilemma facing the Christian world, which continually adjusts its standard downward, a dilemma with which we have reason to be sympathetic, furnishes dramatic evidence of this principle.

Our own tendency to legitimize our generally accepted life-style, which usually follows the world from afar, and sometimes not so far, as a means of authenticating our conduct and reducing the pain accompanying a sense of failure to attain Christ’s standard, is both presumptuous and legalistic. Presuming to modify God’s exalted purpose for our lives, we are unwittingly left with only human effort with which to attempt to reach our own objectives.

Obviously when we lower the standards we move farther away from the victorious pattern Christ set for us. What we need to do, instead, is by His saving grace, and through the acceptance of faith, partake of both Christ’s Tightness and His righteousness. It is not a question of either/or. The true faith of Jesus embraces both.

That many are driven by demons appears evident. Without doubt, satanic agencies are beginning a last great roundup in preparation for the final conflict. But are we not also witnessing the Holy Spirit’s efforts to remove a deceptive security that has permitted man carelessly to ignore God’s claims? Is not God stripping man of his self-confidence in order to grant him a peace reflecting eternal security?

At the very time when we must learn to depend fully upon Christ, who will soon be our only anchor, a serious security gap is evidenced by growing restlessness within the church. The alarming use of tranquilizers and the growing tendency to seek human counselors instead of God indicates the fact that the church is snared in the world’s quest for peace. If God calls to the world by with drawing its security, does He not shout to us who have been entrusted with the very message calculated to secure the church and give hope to the world?

Prayerful consideration must be given to this divine prescription that, when taken according to directions, will enable us to present the three angels’ messages to the world with a power that will swell to the loud cry. Our failure to internalize the Laodicean mes sage engenders within us a state of uncertainty and prevents the world from comprehending the third angel’s message.

A century ago Mrs. Ellen White stated that this message had been prevented from doing its work by the hardness of the hearts of church members, and continued, “The heart must be purified from sins which have so long shut out Jesus. This fearful message will do its work.” 2 This “solemn testimony upon which the destiny of the church hangs has been lightly esteemed, if not entirely disregarded. This testimony must work deep repentance, and all that truly receive it will obey it and be purified.” 3 Those who will not bear this straight testimony “will rise up against it, and this will cause a shaking among God’s people.” 4

The Faithful Witness speaks both negatively and positively. Ignorance concerning our condition demands a negative approach, but only to prepare us to receive the positive revelation. Rebuke is but His loving way of knocking at the heart’s door. He longs to restore the fellowship prevented by sin. How heartbreaking that trials and defeats must be multiplied because of our failure to throw wide the door to His presence. The light of His Spirit must penetrate the inner recesses of our hearts, producing in us a repentance that resolves in fellowship. Only by responding in gratitude to the negative can we appreciate the positive. Unfortunately, we often mistake the voice of our best friend for that of an enemy.

A troubled conscience is unbearable, for it deprives us of peace and threatens our home made security. We must have peace. But, in our blindness, we seal ourselves off from rebuke, and the Messenger of Peace speaks in vain. The extent of our blindness can be measured by our complex system of defense reactions. One generally effective device is to neutralize the pangs of uneasy conscience by focusing attention on others especially church leaders who do the same or worse. When God amplifies His voice through a human agent it is comforting to be able to point to some defect that disqualifies him from speaking. We may refrain from attacking the agent of rebuke, only to blame circumstances or transfer the guilt to someone else. If divine counsel threatens a cherished idol it is assuring to remind ourselves that times have changed or insist that we don’t want to become involved in legalism or fanaticism. If neither of these appear helpful we may be able to relieve the tension by focusing our attention upon the good we hope to accomplish by maintaining our own way.

These psychological mechanisms are only relatively effective in restoring a peace that the True Witness calls a terrible delusion: “Knowest not that thou art … miserable . . . and naked.” If these are ineffective many other devices are available, such as reminding ourselves that “no one is perfect,” for after all, “we all have our sins.” Or we may console our selves with the assurance that someday we’ll have strength to resist. We can simply deny the validity of the rebuke on the grounds that Cod would not use such a negative approach. After all, doesn’t modern psychology prove the necessity of a positive approach to avoid ego damage?

The terms of the Laodicean mes sage are negative and unflattering, and they contain not one commendation. Nevertheless, its tones express love that yearns for a long-denied fellowship. Our tendency to mute that voice has deprived us of the peace that Christ offers, leaving us with an ineffective, homemade peace that must be restructured at every new disturbance of the ego. Until we recognize the nature of our defensiveness and submit fully to His loving counsel we cannot grasp the positive nature of the straight testimony. Its challenge to self-will is truly an overture of peace, for it is the love of self that destroys our peace. A synthetic peace muffles the voice of the Spirit and prevents the latter rain.

Christ does not offer a state of nirvanah, free from spiritual turbulence, that could only mask the deep-seated maladies of the soul. Instead, He offers a progressive security, to result from our grateful interaction with a deepening and ever more penetrating rebuke of the Spirit, who in purifying the heart must convince the soul of sin by presenting ever clearer concepts of righteousness. The resulting peace is frequently disturbed by the voice of con science. But each disturbance furnishes new assurance that He who has committed Himself to prepare us for the latter rain in tends to fulfill His commitment. In this ever deepening sense of sinfulness, we come to identify sin, not with actions of others or of ourselves, nor even with the state of the world, but with the independence and self-centeredness of our own nature. The voice of rebuke that threatens our pseudo-security becomes a symbol of security in Him.

The nearer we come to Jesus and the more clearly we discern the purity of His character, the more clearly we shall discern the exceeding sinfulness of sin and the less we shall feel like exalting ourselves. … At every advance step in Christian experience our repentance will deepen. . . . “Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight.” 5

Does the principle that proximity to Christ determines the degree to which one senses his sinfulness apply even after the commencement of the latter rain? The passage from Ezekiel in the above quotation refers to the experience of God’s people following acceptance of the New Covenant promise and their reception of the Spirit. Mrs. Ellen White continues:

Again He says, “I will establish my covenant with thee, and thou shall know that I am the Lord; that thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord God.” 6

Thus, even after fulfillment of the covenant promise to cleanse the heart by writing within it the law and filling it with the Spirit, God’s people will see in self nothing but shame. Indeed, this attitude is prerequisite to the outpouring of the latter rain. When self-distrust is total, and shame of our independent spirit inspires only hatred of every form of self-will, then God can grant us a full measure of His Spirit, for we will neither attempt to use Him for our own purposes nor take personal credit for His work. Those who are fully and forever dead to self can and will be entrusted with measureless and unlimited power with which to exhibit the character of God before a waiting universe.

REFERENCES
1. 1 Thess. 5:3.

2. Testimonies, vol. 1, p. 186.

3. Ibid., p. 181.

4. Ibid.

5. Christ’s Object Lessons, pp. 160, 161.

6. Ibid., p. 161.

He intends to penetrate the veil of darkness by a climactic revelation of the splendor of His character of self-sacrificing love. Miracles will only be a means of focusing the attention of the entire world upon that demonstration. When everyone has responded either positively or negatively to this living revelation, the external power and glory will be withdrawn and the universe will witness the ultimate test of the depth of that character. During the time of Jacob’s trouble, the actors will pass victoriously through the fearful crucible of unmitigated persecution and trial, because they have repudiated the principle of power and self-glory and have learned to depend fully upon One whose power can, at this time, be neither seen nor felt.

World conditions give special urgency to the command and promise, “Arise, shine; . . . 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.” 2 It is obvious that such an experience requires the development of a relationship with God that far transcends theory. This, however, poses a problem that perplexes the minis try and confuses the laity. In developing this relationship, what part must human effort play? How can we avoid assuming responsibilities that God reserves for Himself without neglecting that for which God holds us responsible? We are repeatedly admonished to put forth greater effort and instructed that heaven’s agencies are held in check by our failure to act in harmony with God’s plan. Here in lies our difficulty, because the inner core of our spiritual problem is works and represents not hypo-activity, but hyper-activity.

Righteousness obtained through works forms the basis of all false religions. 3 It is also the root of all false religious experience, and constitutes the peculiar problem of Laodicea. “I know thy works,” says the True Witness, and then indicts the church with being so satisfied with its activities as to be carelessly unaware of His absence. Christ’s own experience, illustrated by His claim, “I can of mine own self do nothing,” 4 contains the key to the problem. God demands a righteous character manifesting itself in good works, but the value He assigns to man’s effort is not determined by its intensity but by its derivation. “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus,” 5 Paul admonished, as he introduced an important discussion of Christ’s incarnation. “Wherefore,” he concludes, “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,” and then hastens to explain, “for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” 6 Man’s effort is imperative. However, that effort must reflect divinely implanted motives as well as divinely in stilled power. It is evident that works righteousness does not pertain to man’s efforts or activities per se, but to the function of the agent of action the will.

Sin represents the aberration of a diseased will. Its perversion precipitated the fall, while its permanent self-centeredness prevents correction of this fallen condition. Sin is rooted in the will rather than the reason. The wicked are destroyed, not because they are deceived, but because, rather than accept unwelcome truth, they choose to believe a lie. 7 Reason is inclined to listen to the Spirit, for it strains to understand and to know truth, but will resists its efforts and perverts its judgment. Jesus, in referring to this problem, said, “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine.” 8

Thus, the problem of works is the problem of a renegade will bent on serving and glorifying self rather than God. A threefold malfunction involving motive, action, and evaluation explains why the will’s natural effort toward obedience inevitably tends to legalism and represents works righteousness. Man wills to do good deeds to satisfy selfish motives. In subsequent evaluation, he wills to maximize their value, ascribing pure motives and identifying self with the imagined virtue. Thus, permeated with self, even man’s righteousness is like filthy rags. 9

Selfish motives may demand good deeds, but only in response to Spirit-implanted motives can man desire righteousness. So bound is he by appetites and emotions that are played upon by evil agencies that he is not free to follow such promptings of the Spirit. 10 By force of will he may succeed to some degree in doing what he knows he ought, but such deeds, representing the flesh, only condemn him. Even the works of the Spirit are polluted when will demands that self be honored by sharing the credit.

Man, who wills to exalt and enthrone self, is so blinded by “I” trouble that even when saying ”Thy will be done,” he unconsciously means, “thy will be done.” Little wonder that one, eager to use “It is written” as a club to bring others into line, often ingeniously avoids testimony that might cut across his own will. In usurping the throne of judgment, club wielders, those who focus their blows upon fellow members as well as those who specialize on the leadership, unwittingly establish their will-influenced reason as authority. Hence, as authoritative interpreters of the Word of God, they are free to bind that Word upon others while rationalizing its claims upon themselves.

Self-centered will poses a two fold problem to God: How to bless us without encouraging us to withdraw in self-sufficiency and pride from the source of those blessings, and how to humble us without destroying us. This problem must be resolved before the fall of the latter rain, but its solution depends upon our response to His discipline. Our failure to respond effectively perpetuates the dilemma. God could easily humiliate us, but this would not make us humble. Humiliation only stimulates defense of self in the attempt to avoid further embarrassment, while will demands the discovery of means for re-exalting ego. He could remove our self-confidence by immediate and complete revelation of the magnitude of our sinful nature, but this would destroy our hope, and hope is essential to salvation. His discipline demands time for a progressive understanding of the hopelessness of self, calculated to transfer confidence from the myself to Himself. This, however, requires both the choice to acknowledge the darkness of self-centered experience and the will to fix one’s eyes upon Christ, the true hope. Man must experience a disillusionment with self that is matched by a consequent commitment to the One who is able to perfect the function of his will by penetrating it with the power of His own presence.

For this purpose the Laodicean message was given. Through loving and patient discipline it is to draw us into His presence so that His work can be accomplished in us. 11 Long persistence in the Laodicean condition, despite His pleas and promises, indicates a serious problem and the urgency of its solution. Continued will fulness and pride symbolize a bondage to works. Wrong habits of thought, when once accepted, become a despotic power to fasten the mind in a grasp of steel. Inherent tendencies to pride and self-will, reinforced by lifelong habits of independence, hopelessly bind us. Only when serious efforts are put forth to exchange pride and independence can we begin to comprehend our problem. The greater the efforts to challenge the authority of self-will, the greater the sense of utter helplessness. But herein is our ground of hope, for justification by faith “is the work of God in laying the glory of man in the dust.” 12

Vain is the attempt of will to vanquish evil. It is futile to exhaust our energies in a fight against temptation, for sin’s infection remains even when we appear to be victorious. Furthermore, sin’s fascination often only hypnotizes those who attempt to confront temptation directly. The focus of our efforts should be submission of the will to Christ, who promises to motivate as well as to empower. Faith’s first effort must be to acquire a willingness to do His will, for independent human nature cannot naturally desire such dependent obedience as Christ demonstrated. Its final effort must be to claim the humility of Jesus in response to His victory. Self must continue to die in order that man might continually cherish an experience of total dependence and submission. Unless will surrenders up self, victory is impossible. “Let me in,” pleads the “author and finisher of our faith,” who promises release from the power of self-will. We must make the next move. Failure to choose His plan of victory is a choice to remain under bondage to a perverted, demon-controlled will.

Time is rapidly running out. What will be our response to this gracious message upon which the destiny of the Church hangs? “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.” 13 Let us respond by claiming His power to focus our attention upon His glorious, self-transcending purpose.

REFERENCES
1. Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 415.

2. Isa. 60:1, 2.

3. The Desire of Ages, p. 35.

4. John 5:30.

5. Phil. 2:5.

6. Phil. 2:12, 13.

7. 2 Thess. 2:10, 11.

8. John 7:17.

9. Isa. 64:6.

10. Rom. 7:18-24.

11. Rev. 3:19, 21.

12. Review and Herald, Sept. 16, 1902.

13. The Desire of Ages, p. 671.

The True Witness pictures a people who, with false allusions, await the latter rain while spiritually unprepared for the fulfillment of even the fulness of the early rain promise.2 Two conditions are specified demand and reception. The latter demands special consideration, for it is “according to our capacity to receive” 3 that He responds to our demand. “The heart must be emptied of every defilement, and cleansed for the indwelling of the Spirit.” 4

We have been trying to accomplish this objective, but more is involved than the decision or effort to rid ourselves of thoughts and motives that pollute the heart and deform the life. Christ’s parable of the empty house and the seven devils reveals the necessity of overcoming evil with good. Satanic influences must be removed by continual confrontation with God’s own Spirit, who only awaits our under standing decision, to enter and cleanse the heart by instilling His own pure motives.

Christ now offers Laodicea a threefold early rain gift.5 Brokenhearted, He remains at the heart’s door pleading for entrance, for this gift, designed to prepare the heart to receive the latter rain, must be delivered personally. The independent heart is bound by chains of selfishness that can only be dissolved by the power of Christ’s own presence. This alone can free man to experience “the faith that works by love and purifies the soul.” Receiving Him, we receive the self-sacrificing love that must penetrate the depths of our motives, so transforming our psyche as to reproduce His thoughts in our minds and thus His Righteousness in our experience. The Spirit, by which He enters, will so bathe our spiritual eyes with healing ointment that we will clearly perceive God’s will and recognize every perversion, however subtle.

Why haven’t we received this long-offered and eagerly sought gift? Surely not because we have been ignorant of it, nor because efforts have not been put forth to secure it. There seems to be a twofold cause-and-effect reason. Man’s perspective is largely determined by his unconscious motivation. This means that he usually sees what his mind is prepared to see. As yet, we have been unwilling to pay the price demanded by the reception of such a precious gift, and thus we have not understood its inner demands. Conversely, our failure to understand its tremendous significance, including the freedom-releasing power, keeps us unwilling to pay the price.

The latter rain’s delay stems from self-satisfaction, which both causes and results from an inadequate conception of the nature of sin and of righteousness. But God foresaw this emergency and revealed its solution two thousand years ago. The Laodicean message was “designed to arouse the people of God, to discover to them their backslidings, and lead to zealous repentance, that they might be favored with the presence of Jesus, and be fitted for the loud cry of the third angel.”6 He then chose to lay bare the cutting edge of this “straight testimony” through the counsels of His messenger, Ellen G. White. The urgency of comprehending the nature of sin, as well as of righteousness, can be seen in the emphasis she places upon the origin of sin and the fall of man in portraying God’s purpose for the human race. A summary of the principles involved may help clarify why we do not yet have the capacity for receiving the latter rain.

Independence and Self-exaltation Block the Channel
“Ye shall be as gods,” 7 promised the one who designed to establish his own throne and “be like the most High.” 8 The basic sin principle involves the desire of a creature to exercise the prerogatives of his Creator. Sin originated when Lucifer, created to occupy the highest position any creature was capable of filling, became dissatisfied with directing heavenly beings in fulfillment of God’s will and aspired to an independent rule governed by his own will. If Lucifer’s ambition could have benefitted him and the heavenly beings, God would Himself have initiated the change of status. Knowing the chaos and destruction that must result, however, and being unable to persuade him to repent, Love demanded his removal from his position of influence. His spirit of independence and the grasping for a position that he was constitutionally incapable of filling, so changed the character of the one who stood next to God that he was no longer fit for the companionship of heavenly beings and thus had to be expelled from heaven.

That Lucifer gained control of this planet was the result of man’s own decision. Being in the image of God and holding dominion over all the earth, man was, nevertheless, a dependent creature. It was to symbolize that dependence and permit man to exercise the power of choice that God reserved one tree for Himself. Had Adam obeyed God, Satan could never have made this earth his home, for only at the tree was he permitted access to man.9 Invasion of other planets was only prevented by total boycott of the respective trees, the eating of whose fruit symbolized the experiential knowledge of evil. Far from making sovereign his own will, man’s declaration of independence placed him under a new master, who promptly seized his dominion by enslaving his will. Too late did man come to understand the blessed freedom that had accompanied loyal dependence upon God.

The exercise of reason and will, faculties distinguishing him from the animal kingdom, must be guaranteed by the One upon whom he chose to depend. God’s satisfaction derives from love relation ships with rational beings whose service is prompted by love. But Lucifer, whose rebellion against God is a rebellion against love, finds his fiendish delight only from absolute domination of his subjects. Love relationships and freedom of will, representing as they do the character of God and His government, are special objects of his hate and destructive power.

Violation of two fundamental principles characterizing all intelligent creatures, dependence on God and self-sacrificing love, so perverted man’s once-perfect nature that he lost his capacity to govern even his own life. To restore that lost dominion by removing man’s spirit of independence and self-exaltation, God has committed Himself and every resource of heaven. Through the latter rain and the subsequent time of Jacob’s trouble, He intends to demonstrate before the entire universe the complete and willing submission of redeemed man to His sovereignty. Satan’s charge of tyranny will be forever dispelled, and God will be fully justified in restoring man to his Edenic dominion.

When the remnant wholly repudiates the principle of sin and in faith claims Christ’s power over it, the latter rain will fall. The essence of sin is not evil behavior, but a state of mind characterized by the desire for independence and self-exaltation. Sin’s abhorrent character stems more from its root than from its fruit. Overt or gross sins are not mentioned in the indictment of Laodicea. Failure to submit fully to the authority of God’s word, failure to trust entirely to the power of His presence, marks the church as being “wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.” Our inability to receive the latter rain is traced to our independence, failure to open fully the heart’s door to receive our Lord in its innermost recesses as Master. The full and final display of God’s character in His people demands total surrender to His will and entire dependence upon His power. “The soul must be delivered from all that is opposed to loyalty to God” 10 before the fall of the latter rain.

In 1897 Ellen G. White wrote, “It is the time of the latter rain.” 11 Four years later she sadly stated, “We may have to remain here in this world because of insubordination many more years, . . . but . . . His people should not add sin to sin by charging God with the consequence of their own wrong course of action.” 12

Acknowledgement of our responsibility for the more than seventy-year delay is necessary, but it will not in itself produce the latter rain. We must over come self-centered tendencies to evil, which are continually stimulated by a pervasive society whose chief gods science, intellectualism, and materialism encourage independence and pride. That church members are so often more concerned with position and influence than with service and responsibility reflects a very serious problem. When gospel workers speak openly and unblushingly about promotion and prestige; when ministers, teachers, and doctors are disturbed over their relative influence within the church, how can any of us experience the humble dependence that is essential to the falling of the latter rain?

Our hope is found in the Laodicean message. The requisite repentance-based humility is a divine gift now being urgently and longingly offered. “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous there fore, and repent.” 13 We must prayerfully examine all that His messenger has revealed concerning our condition and His great purpose. We must submit to the authority of His Word, claiming His power to demonstrate the principles of His character within our lives. In doing so, the “straight testimony” that reveals independence and selfishness in even our best efforts, need not depress us. The disquieting voice of conscience can and should elicit grateful praise, for it evidences His purpose to restore in us His image and represents His offer of the necessary gift of repentance. To reveal adequately the root of sin, He must permit the growing apostasy within the church to exhibit more clearly its fruits, while longingly entreating us to accept His solution to the sin problem by submitting to Him in total dependence. Through the continuance of this choice, the capacity to receive the Spirit becomes unlimited. As we then demand the showers of the latter rain He is free to reveal in us the full power of His presence that will “finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness.” 14

FOOTNOTES
1. See Testimonies for the Church, vol. 3, p. 260.

2. See Testimonies to Ministers, p. 506.

3. The Desire of Ages, p. 672.

4. Testimonies to Ministers, p. 507.

5. Rev. 3:18.

6. Spiritual Gifts, vol. 2, p. 224.

7. Gen. 3:5.

8. Isa. 14:14.

9. Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 53.

10. The Desire of Ages, p. 330.

11. Testimonies to Ministers, p. 512.

12. Evangelism, p. 696.

13. Rev. 3:19.

14. Rom. 9:28.

This special and short book will certainly bring you into a closer connection with Jesus. You will discover many new truths. But most importantly, you will gain a fresh understanding of what Jesus really means, and how you can intimately know Him today.

Download the book ‘Steps to Christ’ here. Steps to Christ

Download an helpful study guide here. Steps to Christ Study Guide

The Apostle Paul challenges the church at Rome to “be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is” (Romans 12:2). Filling your heart and mind with the teachings of Scripture has transformational power. In fact Jesus said that His words “are spirit and they are life” (John 6:63). Getting to know the Bible is the great privilege of every believer in Christ. But more than that, when a non-believer studies the Bible, faith is established in their life. Romans 10:17 tells us “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.”

It is hoped that the following set of Bible studies will have a profound impact on your personal walk with God. I pray that this is only the beginning of a life-long journey where you meet with Jesus through His word every day. And above all I pray that you will not keep these great truths to yourself, but will share them with everyone who seeks to learn more.

Download the Bible Marking Guide by Justin Lawman here. Bible Marking Guide

The League of Nations, as it was called, was located in a neutral land, in the French-speaking portion of western Switzerland . The “peace” overseen by the League of Nations, which was centred in Geneva, lasted only 20 years, and that only if the Abyssinian War is forgotten, along with the annexation of areas and countries by Hitler. The great possibility of a utopian peace faded, as the whole world was plunged again into another, even greater conflagration.

Peace From Geneva

Right beside the border with Switzerland, it was never bombed in World War II because of this location. In fact, it seems to have survived all wars unscathed. Many older buildings
remain, painted with scenes from medieval times.

A quiet town, Constance was centre stage for the world a few centuries ago. John Hus was a notable forerunner of the Protestant Reformation before Martin Luther. Hus lived in Prague and was shaking the foundations of the church there, preaching the gospel and even preaching in the local language!

Constance- John Hus’s Lakeside City

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Cappadocia

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Bothwell Bridge

At university, Huss earned his keep by singing. He developed into an able debater and graduated with a Master of Arts in 1395. He was strongly influenced by the writings of John of Canterbury and John Wycliffe (the English Reformer and Bible translator). The Queen of Bohemia (a sister to King Wenceslas) had married Richard II of England. This exchange brought the teachings of Wycliffe to Bohemia.

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Bohemian Man of God

Life for Thomas Bilney began somewhere near Norwich, around 1495. Because of his diminutive stature, early on he became known as “Little Bilney.” He was a shy and gentle young man. Bilney attended Cambridge University as a resident of Trinity Hall, where he was a student of civil and canon law.

He was ordained to the priesthood in 1519 at the age of 24, just two years after Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg, Germany. Like Luther, Bilney tried hard to find peace of mind. He fasted often, maintained long vigils,
went to many masses and purchased indulgences. He also consulted with priests for help but peace eluded him.

Forgotten Father of the Reformation

Their plan would eventually take them to Boston in New England. Waiting for them in the shadows was a small ship. Its captain had agreed to take the group from England to the
Netherlands, where they hoped to start a new life with freedom to believe and worship as they chose. During the previous few days, small boats had inconspicuously ferried the fleeing families to the ship, in which all their precious hopes were invested.

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Betrayed by Night

It has been called “Limen Apostolorem” or “The Threshold of the Apostles”—no doubt with reference to the martyrdom of St Paul and St Peter. Another title is “La Citta Eterna” or “The Eternal City.” However, the extravagant claim in the title “Caput Mundi” or “Capi-
tal of the World” takes the cake for titles.

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Rome: The City of Seven Hills

The group is the Anabaptists, whose beliefs have been incorporated into major denominations
worldwide, such as Baptists, Assemblies of God and Seventh-day Adventist, arose in the early part of the 16th century, first in Switzerland, then southern Germany and
finally in the Netherlands.

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Liberty is Their Monument

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The Book That Saved A Nation

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The Test of Truth

Every manifestation of creative power is an expression of infinite love. The sovereignty of God involves fullness of blessing to all created beings…. The history of the great conflict between good and evil, from the time it first began in heaven to the final overthrow of rebellion and the total eradication of sin, is also a demonstration of God’s unchanging love.

The Sovereign of the universe was not alone in His work of beneficence. He had an associate—a coworker who could appreciate His purposes, and could share His joy in giving happiness to created beings. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” … Christ, the Word, the only begotten of God, was one with the eternal Father—one in nature, in character, in purpose—the only being that could enter into all the counsels and purposes of God….

The Father wrought by His Son in the creation of all heavenly beings. “By him were all things created … whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him.” … The Son, the anointed of God, the “express image of his person,” “the brightness of his glory,” “upholding all things by the word of his power,” holds supremacy over them all….

The law of love being the foundation of the government of God, the happiness of all intelligent beings depends upon their perfect accord with its great principles of righteousness. God desires from all His creatures the service of love—service that springs from an appreciation of His character. He takes no pleasure in a forced obedience, and to all He grants freedom of will, that they may render Him voluntary service.

Christ Triumphant, page 7

God requires and waits to honor self-surrender based upon deep and genuine repentance. “The class who do not feel grieved over their own spiritual declension, nor mourn over the sins of others, will be left without the seal of God.” 5 But this experience demands a true knowledge of self. “We must have a knowledge of ourselves . . . that will result in contrition. . . . We must know our real condition. . . . We must feel the pain of our wounds, or we should not desire healing.” 6 But how can we achieve this degree of self-understanding? “In one way only can a true knowledge of self be obtained. We must behold Christ. It is ignorance of Him that makes men so uplifted in their own righteousness.” 7

Fallen man was held captive by the deceptive power of Satan, who in declaring his independence from God sought to usurp His throne by instigating a rebellion against His benevolent rule, charging God with selfish authoritarianism and injustice. To secure the allegiance of the universe and to save man, the deceiver must be unmasked and God’s self-sacrificing character be revealed. For this purpose Christ, fully conscious of His divinity, stepped down from the coveted throne and exchanged His royal robes for the garb of humanity. Entering His earthly existence as a helpless infant, He grew up in the very domain claimed by His archenemy, refusing even that form and comliness which commends itself to the honor of men, to be despised and rejected by the degraded race He came to save.

Three Steps in Humility
Two distinct steps in the path way of humility are here noted.8 God first became man and accepted the liabilities of a nature characterized for four thousand years by independence and self-centeredness. Then, as man, refusing to exercise the prerogatives and powers of innate divinity, Christ proceeded to condemn sin in that nature by dying utterly to its every self-assertive demand.9 “And being recognized as truly human. He humbled Himself and even stooped to die.” 10 The wilderness temptation and Gethsemane bear silent testimony to the reality of the cross in every experience of His life and are symbols of an entire life of total dependence upon His Father to supply every need and to direct every decision.

Important insights are contained in Christ’s statement, “No man taketh it [life] from me, but I lay it down of myself.” 11 First, since divinity cannot die, Christ must be speaking of the death of His human nature. Second, Calvary was but the final step in a lifelong death to the natural demands of an acquired nature. Finally, this experience represents absolute and willing dependence upon His Father, and subjection to His authority, for He concludes, “This commandment have I received of my Father.” The anguished cry, “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt,” 12 is but the climax of this cradle-to-calvary experience.

The Incarnation is calculated to produce a repentance that be comes deeper with every renewed contemplation of the sin that caused it and the love that motivated it. It also exemplifies the experience of death to self and dependence upon divine wisdom and power that Christ intends to demonstrate before the universe through the lives of reclaimed rebels. The second Adam, who Him self wrested the victory lost by the first Adam, designs, before concluding His priestly ministry, to re-enact that experience through His remnant people. This gives deep and inner significance to the latter rain. In speaking of the “full and final display” of His righteousness through His people, Ellen G. White comments, “Christ looks upon His people in their purity and perfection as … the supplement of His glory.” 13

The Saviour was deeply anxious for His disciples to understand for what purpose His divinity was united to humanity.. . .God was manifested in Him that He might be manifested in them. 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. 14

Christ’s seeming advantage in facing temptation without a single character defect was offset by the additional complexity of His temptations. Our problem in facing temptation is to realize and remember our inherent inability to overcome except as we depend fully upon Him. But He retained the very power that brought the worlds into existence, being capable of destroying the tempter himself with but a word. His great temptation was to exercise that power in stead of relying totally and only upon the decision of His Father to release Him, in His own time and manner, from the torture of temptation. The significance and reality of His temptations are alluded to by the writer to the Hebrews, when he says, “For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.” 15 He later reiterates, “Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered.” 16

So completely did Christ divest Himself of the exercise of His divine prerogatives that even upon His triumphant return to heaven He maintains His self-imposed submission and waits while the Father confers upon Him “a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, . . . and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” 17 Final evidence of incarnate humility is the fact that He receives this universal adoration “to the glory of God the Father.” 18

By reascending the throne in human form, Christ, in a final eternal act of humility, completes His revelation of Him whose universal demand of obedience springs from the depths of self-sacrificing love and demonstrates the only way in which a creature could be either independent or equal to God—He must also be the Creator. Only the self-existent One can experience independence without self-destruction. Dependent by nature, the creature is incapable of experiencing equality with the One upon whom he must depend for his very existence.

In the Laodicean message, however, we find an amazing sequel to this fantastic demonstration. Enthroned with His Father, the God-man now offers to share that throne with His adopted brothers, on the sole condition of willing renunciation of the spirit of independence and the desire for self-exaltation. Through Christ reclaimed man may become even closer to God than was Lucifer.

Before returning to grant man this blood-bought inheritance God intends to augment His glory by a final and full display of His character in the lives of those who once responded to the will of His arch enemy. As soon as God’s people are prepared for that demonstration the latter rain will fall, putting them in the spotlight of the world. Recognizing the Spirit’s work, Christ’s “other sheep” will join in this glorious exhibit. During the time of Jacob’s trouble that fol lows, their loyalty and total dependence will be unmistakenly proved. The remnant, who no longer have the external evidence of the Spirit, face the whole demonic world with only the evidence of faith to assure them of the presence and protection of God. This experience will stand as irrefutable evidence of God’s unlimited power to save, and will form an argument justifying God’s decision to receive the millions whose life span did not include the full end to which their faith was leading.

Only continual, heart-searching examination of the straight testimony of the True Witness in the light of His incarnation can prepare us forth at wonderful exhibition that God has long waited to present. “Pride and self-worship cannot flourish in the soul that keeps fresh in memory the scenes of Calvary. He who beholds the Saviour’s matchless love will be elevated in thought, purified in heart, trans formed in character.” 19 The Spirit now stands ready to guide us in a study of the Laodicean message, which is “designed to arouse the people of God, . . . lead to zealous repentance, that they might be favored with the presence of Jesus, and be fitted for the loud cry of the third angel.” 20

FOOTNOTES
1. The Desire of Ages, p. 672.

2. Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, p. 219.

3. Ibid., p. 216.

4. Ibid., p. 214.

5. Ibid., p. 211.

6. Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 158.

7. Ibid., p. 159.

8. Phil. 2:6-8.

9. John 5:30.

10. Phil. 2:8 (Weymouth).

11. John 10:18.

12. Matt. 26:39.

13. Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing (1956), p. 89.

14. The Desire of Ages, p. 664.

15. Heb. 2:18.

16. Heb. 5:8.

17. Phil. 2:9-11.

18. ls Phil. 2:11 (last part).

19. The Desire of Ages, p. 661.

20. Spiritual Gifts, vol. 2, p. 224.

Many thanks to Nick Lindsay for his awesome graphics and long hours with the animation.

Many thanks to the General Conference for their use of the footage, which can also be seen in the documentary The Final Movement produced, ‘Go Forward.’