09 - WHAT` IN A NAME?

An Episcopalians rector was travelling on foot through the mountains in a Southern State. Thirsty, he stopped at a cabin along the trail to ask for a drink of water. In the course of his conversation with the good woman of the house, he inquired whether there were any Episcopalians living in the neighbourhood. The woman took him to the back of the cabin, which was covered with the skins of many kinds of animals. Pointing to them, she said, Thar`s all the different kinds of critters the old man’s rifle has ever killed. Look them over and see if you can find an Episcopalian among them.”

Of course, the rector saw the humour of the situation. None who read this treatise are as ignorant as that woman was concerning Episcopalians. However, if you were to ask many church members why they belong to their particular denomination, we venture that no more than one in ten would have a thorough knowledge of the faith he professes. Only a very few could take their Bibles and point to certain Scripture texts to show why they are Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, or Episcopalians.

We need to remember that because one happens to be taught certain doctrines from the time he was little does not mean they are necessarily right. Instead of uncritically following the practices and opinions of men who lived two or three hundred years ago, we should make it our personal duty to examine them by the Bible to learn what is truth. Religion is a matter between each soul and his God.

We are not to read the Bible through someone else’s spectacle. When we study Scripture, we are prayerfully to judge for ourselves and to walk in the light as it shines upon our pathway. If we find our forefather’s beliefs to be in harmony with the Bible, them it is right for us to adopt them. On the other hand, is we find additional light and truth of which our forefathers knew nothings, we should obey those truths, also.

Every person should be able to give a scriptural reason for the faith he professes. “Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear” (1 Peter 3:15).

An examination of various denominational names reveals that many of them are indicative of distinctive doctrines or of distinguishing features of the church’s policy. Take, for example, the Baptist denomination. It bears that name because from the beginning of its history as a church, the Baptists have rejected infant baptism and have held to adult baptism by immersion.

There is the Presbyterian Church. The word presbyter means “an elder.” The presbytery is “a body of elders.” One of the distinctive features of Presbyterianism is that their church government invests the body of elders with supervisory authority. On the other hand, the Congregational Church is so called because their system of church government vests all power in the assembled brotherhood of each local church.

Then there is the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The word Adventist comes form the word advent, which means “a coming.” When we speak of the advent of spring, we mean the coming of spring.

The word Adventist may be used in two ways. When written with a capital A it refers to the church that bears the name Adventist. But if it is written with a small a it refers to a person who lays special stress on the second advent of Christ. Dictionaries define adventist in this general sense as “one who makes the second personal coming of Christ a special feature in his doctrine.”

When we examine the writings of the holy men of old, we find that God’s prophets laid stress on the second coming of Christ (see Acts 3:19-21). Therefore, all the Bible prophets were Adventists. Enoch, who was born a little more than six hundred years after Creation, was the fires Adventist preacher of whom we have record. “And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying. Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him” (Jude 14, 15).

All the apostles were Adventists, for they laid such emphasis on the return of Christ that they mentioned it more than 310 times in the 260 chapters of the New Testament. An average of one in every 25 verses in the New Testament points to the return of our Saviour. There are 20 times as many texts for the Second Advent as for the first. There is more said about the return of Jesus in the Bible than about any other singe themes. In al Paul’s epistles baptism is referred to only 13 times, while the coming of the Lord is referred to more than 50 times. So the Bible lays such emphasis on this subject that it is clearly an Adventist book.

All the early Christians, then, were adventists, because all the New Testaments churches are described as living in expectancy of Christ’s return. The Corinthians were said to “come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 1:7). The Thessalonians were waiting for the Son of God from heaven (1 Thess. 1:9, 10), as were also the Philippians (Phil. 3:20). Peter describes the early church as “waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God” (2 Peter 3:12, R.S.V.).

The Lord’s Prayer is an Adventist prayer because it lays stress on the second coming of Christ. Every time we pray, “Thy kingdom come” (Matt. 6:10), we are praying for the return of Jesus, for the time to come when He will appear as King (see 16:28). The Lord’s supper is an Adventist ordinance, for when we participate in the communion service we show forth “the Lord’s death till he come” (1 Cor. 11.26).

Jesus Himself was Adventist. Over and over again He stressed His return to earth at the end of the Christian Age. To the high priest He said, “Hereafter shall we see the Son of man sitting on the right hand on power, and coming in the clouds of heaven” (Matt. 26:64). To His disciples He said, “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I an, there ye may be also” (John 14:3).

How appropriate it is that a people preparing the way for the Second Coming should call themselves Adventists! They have chosen that name because it reminds all the world of the good news of the second advent of the blessed Saviour.

There is another part to the name of that people of prophecy. While other Christians generally keep the first day of the week, Adventists keep the seventh day as the Sabbath, as the Bible requires. Being distinguished from most other Christians by their observance of the seventh-day Sabbath, they call themselves Seventh-day Adventists.

There are several notable facts about the seventh day that forever prove that it is the only right day to observe as the Sabbath. It is the only day of the week God commanded man to rest on any other day; hence, no day except the seventh can ever be the divine rest day for man. It is the only day God ever blessed, or sanctified. It is the only day of the week ever given a sacred title.

The seventh day was sacredly observed by the prophets, the apostles, the early Christians, and by the Lord Jesus Himself. When, after he has accepted Jesus as his Saviour, a person takes his stand for the two great truths of the Advent and the Sabbath, he can encourage his heart with the thought that he is taking his stand on the side of the Lord Jesus and all these servants of the Lord, with all these on his side, why should he care how the world may ridicule him?

Some people think that Seventh-day Adventism is a relatively new idea in religion. But the two distinctive doctrines we have been discussing date back to the very beginning. The seventh-day Sabbath is as old as the creation of the world. The second coming of Christ is implied in Genesis 3:15 when God declared that in due time the woman’s Seed, Jesus, would “crush” (T.E.V.) the serpent’s head, referring to the destruction of Satan.

The Sabbath is like a rainbow extending from a perfect world in the beginning before sin entered (chap. 2:1-3) to the coming perfect new earth when sin is banished forever (Is. 66:22, 23). The second coming of Christ is a second rainbow, a rainbow of hope extending from Eden lost to Eden restored.

Seventh-day Adventists exist as a distinctive group of Christians because God wants the three angel’s messages proclaimed to Christians and non-Christians alike. Bible readers know why there was a Noah, who preached a distinctive message before the Flood. They also know why there was a John the Baptist, who preached a distinctive message before the advent of our Lord. So they can know, from Revelation 14:6-12, why the Adventists are here at this time with their distinctive message for all the world.

The Bible not only establishes clearly God’s day of worship, it also tells us specifically that the Sabbath is to be kept from sunset to sunset (Lev. 23:32; Mark 1:32), or from sunset Friday evening to sunset Saturday evening. In love for our Lord Jesus we gladly honor Him, our Creator – Saviour, by keeping the seventh day.

10 - THE WHEEL OF TRUTH

A certain automobile manufacturer uses the slogan “When America needs a better idea, - puts it on wheels.” When the time came for the last-day threefold-message movement to arise and begin its advance into all the world, God gave the people of that movement a wheel of divine truth. This enabled them to go into all the world and proclaim the everlasting gospel for this end-time.

Picture and old-time wagon wheel. It had three main parts-the hub, the spokes, and the rim. Let us use this to represent God’s wheel of truth.

Christ is the Truth of truths. He is the embodiment of all saving, sanctifying, transforming truth. Therefore. He is the hub of the wheel of truth.

Grist is the canter of everything. He is “all, and in all” (Col. 2:3). His fullness “filleth all in all” (Eph. 1:23). All the treasures of knowledge and wisdom are hid in him (Col. 2:3). Thus, true religious teaching has Christ in the center, because He is the center of all true doctrine.

An off-center automobile wheel is sure to make trouble until it is corrected. And religious teaching not centered in Christ as the Creator and only Saviour deviates from God’s appointed way.

Christ’s sacrifice as an atonement for sin is the great truth around which all other truths revolve. To be rightly appreciated and understood, every truth in the Word of God, from Genesis to Revelation, must be studied in the light that streams from the cross.

If truth is not rightly appreciated and understood, how much will it accomplish? O how much religious teaching – flooding the world by way of books, does not have Jesus Christ and the cross as its center. We should focus entirely on what is Christ-centered and cross-centered. Unless we do, our teachings are as unacceptable to God as was the offering of Cain.

Next to Christ, Paul was the greatest teacher of truth. His teachings, whether in oral or written form, were cross-centered. He told the Corinthians, “I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2). His watchword was “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world” (Gal. 6:14).

In the days of the Caesars there was in the city of Rome a golden milestone from which highways went out to the provinces of the empire. Regardless of which road a man followed toward Tome, the ultimate marker would be that golden milestone. Thus it was said, “All roads lead to Rome.” So, regardless of what doctrine we expound, it must be presented in a way that will bring men to the golden goal – “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27).

What are the spokes in this wheel of divine truth that proceed from Christ, the hub? They are the truths He taught, either in person when He was here or through the Holy Scriptures, which were inspired by His Spirit.

The truths of Christ as revealed in the Holy Scriptures are inexhaustible. Since this revelation is progressive, it is impossible to identify all the spokes in God’s wheel of truth. But some of these truths that can be identified are:
Jesus, the divine Son of God, Creator, and only Saviour. His incarnation, sinless life, atoning death, bodily resurrection, ascension, and priestly mediation. His literal, personal, visible second advent.

Conversion, or the new birth coming by way of conviction, repentance, restitution, faith, forgiveness of sin, receiving a new heart, acceptance with God, sonship, and baptism. The work of the Holy Spirit. The Ten commandments as God’s eternal standard of righteousness. The Sabbath. Conditional immortality, Christian living in all its phases, such as prayer, the daily crucifixion of self, healthful living, consecration, imputed and imparted righteousness, growing up in Christ, sanctification, perfection of character, and conformity to the image of Jesus. Glorification and eternal life in God’s eternal kingdom.

Make no mistake about this: Unless a doctrine is according to the Scriptures, it cannot be a spoke in God’s wheel of truth, regardless of how many preach it or believe it or how long it has been taught.

What is the rim of our wheel of truth? We find an answer in Revelation 14:6. The first of the three angel messengers described in this chapter had “the everlasting gospel to preach… to every nation … and people.” In preceding chapters we have shown from the Bible that this good news is the final phase of the one true gospel of the ages. This threefold message includes all the timeless truths of the gospel that have come from preceding generations plus the special truths announced by the three angels. Thus, the threefold message is the rim of the wheel of truth in which every truth (spoke) from Christ (the hub) is securely fastened.

The rim of a wagon wheel binds all of the spokes into a unit for the movements of the wagon. So the threefold message, the rim, binds all the truths into a harmonious unit of belief and conductor for making ready a worldwide people for the second coming of Christ.

Since that threefold message is the final phase of the gospel of the ages, it is a full-truth message. Il includes all the truths needed at the present time – all lost or neglected truths are restored in this message.

One may preach a Christ-centered message today without necessarily proclaiming a full message-the threefold message. There are thousands of ministers in the various denominations who are preaching excellent Christ-centered, cross-centered sermons.

This is good. But they need to go further and accept the special truths of God’s threefold message. Then their Christ-centered, cross-centered sermons will be in the proper setting for these last days, even as John the Baptist and the apostles preached in the setting of God’s present truth for their times.

The situation of these ministers is somewhat like that of Apollos, as described in Acts 18:24-28. a man mighty in the Scriptures, he preached the truth only as John the Baptist proclaimed it, not knowing the present truth for the time as it was in Jesus. So two Christian believers, Aquila and Priscilla, “expounded unto him the way of the Lord more perfectly” (Acts 18:26). Then he was used of God to bring many into the present truth in Jesus.

When you used to buy a ticket for a long railroad journey, perhaps from coast to coast, you travelled on line operated by a number of railway companies. There was a coupon in your ticket for each of these respective lines. Upon each coupon would be the notation “Not good if detached.” So in religious reaching for today, there is a double notation: “Not good if detached from Christ”; “Not good if detached from His threefold message.”

The figures of the wheel of truth illustrates Christ’s threefold message as it is in Him for our day. And those who, today, would preach the gospel must teach “the truth that is in Jesus” (Eph. 4:21. T.E.V.) for today. There is a life-and-death difference between teachings in which people simply hear of Christ and rightly directed teachings by which he reader, and the hearer, is taught the full truth as it is in Him.

Look at Ephesians 4:20-32. Take note what the truth in Jesus does for the believer. It leads to a transformation of min- a radical change of attitude, of ambitions, impulses and interests. It causes a corrupt according to the putting on of “the new man, which after God in created in righteousness and true holiness” (Eph. 4:24).

What are the results? The thief steals no more. The liar puts away his lying and specks the truth. The idles become diligent; they now have something to gives to one in need. Laying aside off-color stories and jokes, the impure speak that which is good and edifying. There is a putting away of bitterness, anger, clamor, evil speaking, and malice. All who experience the transformation become king, tender-hearted, and forgiving, even as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven them.

All this is the fruit of the preaching and receiving of the truth as it is in Jesus. It is this energizing by Christ that is needed to accomplish His purpose in the believer and in the world.

When truth is presented as it is in Jesus, every doctrine and practice comes in a Christ-attractive and Christ-compelling manner. The requirements for baptism come, not as a series of musts from a church, not merely as so many musts from the Bible, but leads to His heavenly home. As surely as we love Jesus, we gladly accept these respective truths and cling to them in preference to any other teaching.

What an incentive Christ’s wheel of truth is for becoming a Seventh-day Adventist, and remaining one to the end!

The truth as it is in Jesus, in a heart inhabited by the Holy Spirit, is the only safeguard against the masterful deceptions of Satan. He will work “with al power and sings and lying wonders” (2 Thess. 2:9). All except God’s remnant, who obey the truth, that they will think they are following the true Christ. So it is written: “all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him (the beast), whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev. 13:8).

God sent fire down from heaven in Elijah’s time to prove that He is the only God. In his final overmastering delusion, Satan will bring fire down from heaven to deceive nearly all into worshiping him (see Rev. 13:13, 14).

Thus it will be that only those who have fortified their minds with the truths of God’s Word will stand through the last great time of trouble.

“Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth” (Rev. 3:10).

The Word of God tells us that Satan will work “with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thess. 2:10-12).

Every soul will be confronted with the inescapable choice of either obeying God’s truth and being saved or believing the devil’s lie and being lost. O how this underlines the supreme need to follow God’s message, which is the only way to escape Satan’s masterful delusions.

What a treasure Jesus has given us in the truths we have been discussing. They are “like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath , and buyeth that field” (Matt. 13:44).

Greater than all earthly possessions are a knowledge of and an adherence to truth. Obedience to it not only brings the assurance of an endless life and everlasting happiness but is a prescription for getting the most out of this present life.

The psalmist expressed his conviction this way: “The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver” (Ps. 119:72). It is better to know and obey the truth than to be, without the truth, the possessor of the entire world (Matt. 16:26). Every soul today should heed this counsel: “Buy the truth, and sell it not” (Prov. 23:23).

11 - A WOMAN WORLD RULER

Have you heard about the woman who made everybody in the world drunk? Is it possible for one woman to make the earth drunk? Not in a literal sense, obviously. However, Revelation 17 presents a symbolic harlot who has made the inhabitants a symbolic harlot who has made the inhabitants of the earth “drunk with the wine of her fornication” Revelation 17:2.

“Fornication” is used here in a figurative sense to denote the unfaithfulness of professed followers of God who depart from His way to follow the sinful Ways of the world. In the Old Testament the relationship between the children of Israel and Jehovah is likened to the marriage union. When the Israelites worshiped the false gods of the other nations and followed the ways of the heathen, they were guilty of spiritual adultery. God used the term harlot when referring to them. (Jer. 3:1-9, 20; Ezek. 23; Hoses 1:2). This is a key that unlocks the mystery of the world drunk with the wine of her fornication.

The relationship of the believer to Christ is compared to the marriage relationship (Rom. 7:4). The act of adultery by a married man or woman signifies unfaithfulness to the marriage vow. Likewise, professed Christians unfaithful to their Master are “adulterers and adulteresses” (James 4:4).

In the case of this symbolic harlot “the wine of her fornication” represents her false doctrines by which countless millions have been led astray. This wine also signifies her unlawful alliances with civil powers to enforce her false dogmas by civil law.

We have a reference to this portrayal in the second angel’s message: “There followed another angel, saying. Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication” (Rev. 14:8). The power represented by the woman has not yet made all nations drunk, because the work of apostasy has not yet reached its culmination. But the fateful moment is near for the final great delusion.

The apostle John describes the vision of the harlot: “There came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: with whom the kings of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication” (Rev. 17:1-4).

In chapter nine it was shown from the Bible that the symbolic pure woman of Revelation 12 represents Christ’s true church throughout all generations. Since this symbolic woman of Revelation 17 is the opposite kind of woman, a harlot, it is clear that she represents a false church and a false system of worship.

The many waters upon which the harlot is represented as sitting symbolize the peoples and nations of the earth: “The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues” (Rev. 17:15). The scarlet-colored beast upon which the woman rides represents the governments of the earth. Thus the figure of the woman sitting on many waters and riding upon a beast suggests that this false system of worship is supported by the nations and peoples of the earth.

The woman’s riding upon the beast denotes how this false church system influences governments to enforce certain of her false teachings by civil law. This is how the harlot Babylon will make all the nations drink of the wine of her fornication and so become, in certain respects, world ruler.

Any church or federation of churches that seeks to enforce its doctrines by civil law shows that it is not the Lord’s true church, but is a part of Satan’s false system.

Ever since Adam and Eve sinned there has been a continuing conflict between truth and error, Christ and Satan. And the two symbolic women of Revelation represent the two sides in this conflict of the ages. Let no person think that he is not involved in this conflict. The issue of truth versus error is of eternal import for every soul. Therefore, every person should have a true understanding of what is represented by these symbolic women. And since the harlot makes the inhabitants of the earth drunk with the wine of her false teaching, you and I should be concerned as to how we might escape being deluded.

The name of this harlot is of special significance. “Upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH” (Rev. 17:5).

Some declare that this woman called Babylon represents the Church of Rome only, and has no application to Protestant churches. However, God says she is “the mother of harlots.” She has a group of impure daughters. These daughters represent the Protestant churches that do not follow the Bible, or follow some of the false teachings of Romanism. They are a part of Babylon the great. In fact, the book of Revelation indicates that this symbolic Babylon includes every religious teaching and denomination not in harmony with the truths of God’s threefold message (see Revelation 18:1-4).

12 - THE NAME BABYLON

The name Babylon has its origin in the term Babel (see Gen. 10:9, 10; 11:1-9). Babel means “confusions” (see Gen. 11:9). Hence Babylon is appropriately applied to the many apostate denominations that profess to derive their doctrines from the Bible, and to the various sects with teachings and creeds that conflict widely with one another and God’s Word. However, the great body of Christ’s true followers are still in these religious bodies.

The angel told John the revelator that this harlot, “Babylon the great” – “is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth” (Rev. 17:18). This great symbolic city has three main parts, which split at the end: “The great city was divided into three parts” (Rev. 16:19). These parts are the religious or religiopolitical powers symbolized by the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet (Rev. 17:13).

In Revelation 12:2-5 the dragon is identified as the power that attempted to destroy Christ as soon as He was born at Bethlehem. Bible readers know this power was pagan Rome in the person of King Herod; a Roman vassal. Hence the dragon of Revelation 16:13 is a figure of paganism.

The beast is the power that meets the specifications given in chapter 13:1-8. these can apply to no other than papal Rome.

A comparison of Revelation 19:20 and 13:11-17 shows that the false prophet is the same as the power that makes an image to the beast. It was pointed out in chapter seven that many Bible scholars believe this power is apostate Protestantism particularly as found in the United States of America.

Here, then, is the threefold union that constitutes Babylon: the dragon, symbolizing all forms of paganism and heathenism, including infidelity and atheism; the beast, representing all forms of Catholicism; the false prophet, symbolizing apostate Protestantism. All forms of spiritism are included under paganism or apostate Protestantism.

God is calling His true followers out of all these false religions into His remnant, under His threefold-message movement. That call comes through clearly in Revelation 18:2-4: “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen…and I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.”

“Sin is the transgression of the law” (1 John 3:4). God is calling His people out of Babylon, out of all other organizations that do not serve Him wholly, that they might separate themselves from her transgressions of His law. He is calling them to join His remnant, who keeps all the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.

God is also calling His true followers out of this false system so that they will not receive of her plague – the seven last plagues (see Rev. 16). These are a part of His punishment that will fall upon all who are in spiritual Babylon. This smiting takes place during a little space of time before Christ’s Second Advent. Thus the call out of Babylon was not fulfilled in the work of Luther and the other Reformers.

This call to separate from the worldwide false system of Babylon is God’s last call. Il is now accomplishing its task. In the near future it will reach its full consummation. All the true children of God in Babylon will heed the cal of their Saviour. They will come out and take their stand with His remnant under His last-day, threefold-message movement.

Satan has led, and is leading, countless millions to accept his false doctrines under the misconception that they are following Christ. He makes the counterfeit to resemble the genuine so closely that it is impossible to distinguish between them unless we understand and heed the truths of God’s last-day message of Revelation 14:6-12 under the leading of His Holy Spirit. There is no escape from Satan’s threefold message.

God has given us a rule by which we can distinguish His true doctrines from the false: “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (Isa. 8:20). Any religious teaching that is not in accordance with the law of the Ten Commandments and the rest of Scriptures should be avoided.

Obedience to God’s commandments and having the truth in us are inseparable. “He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:4). God’s “law is the truth” (Ps. 119:142). The church of God is “the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15). The true church is built on the truth, and upholds the truth to the world.

In addition to one or more commandments of the Decalogue, there are five other commands in the Scriptures that are disregarded by the vast majority of professed Christian: Render to God all the tithes (Mal. 3:8-10), or one tenth of net income. Be separate from the world and its sinful ways (2 Cor. 6:17). Eat and drink to the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31), which includes the abstinence from all alcoholic liquors (Prov. 20:1), tobacco, and pork and other unclean foods (Isa. 66:17). Refrain from wearing ornaments that suggest vanity and pride (1 Tim. 2:9; 1 Peter 3:1-4). Observe the ordinance of humility, or the washing of one another’s feet (John 13:12-15). Te remnant who keep the commandments will be obedient to all these requirements.

The impure woman, the figure of the false system, is “decked with gold and precious stones and pearls” (Rev. 17:4). The pure woman of Revelation 12, who is a figure of Christ’s true church, is not described as wearing of ornaments is to be avoided by the Lord’s true children.

The harlot called Babylon the great has a golden cup in her hand filled with wine, representing her false doctrines. Here is a list of some of the ingredients in this wine, by which nearly all are confused, befogged, and stupefied, and the truths they pervert: the first day, which is a man-made Lord’s day, instead of Christ’s true seventh-day Lord’s day (Luke 23:46, 54-56; 24:1-3); sprinkling or pouring for baptism instead of the true mode of immersion (Acts 8:38; Rom. 6:3,4); the natural immortality of the soul instead of the Biblical conditional immortality (1 Tim. 6:15, 16); confessing to a priest instead of confession to God (Jer. 14:20); the daily mass instead of the continual intercession of Christ, our true High Priest (Heb. 7:25, 26); the impenitent consigned to hellfire when they die instead of the Biblical doctrine that the wicked are reserved in the grave until the day of judgment to be punished (2 Peter 2.9); the heinous doctrine of eternal torment for the unsaved instead of the Bible doctrine that after the wicked are punished in the lake of fire for their sins they will be destroyed soul and body (Rev. 20:9; Mal. 4:1); the idea that the righteous go to heaven when they die, instead of the Biblical doctrine that the righteous are taken to heaven by way of resurrection or translation at the second coming of Christ (Acts 2:29; 34; 1 Thess. 4:13-18).

Consider how many people believe these errors and you will see how many of the inhabitants of the world have been made drunk from partaking of this particular wine of her fornication, as prophesied in Revelation 17:2. as for me, I do not, and will not, accept any of these errors from her golden cup. I will drink only from the pure Word of God. Will you say amen with me in this?

The night following the last day of the Battle of Gettysburg was a terrible one. Some fifty thousand dead and wounded were strewn over the battlefield. About nine o’clock a little light appeared on the field of battle. It was from a lantern carried by an old Quaker who was searching for his son, a soldier in the Union army.

Slowly the old man moved along, peering into the faces of the dead and wounded. Once in a while he would stop and call, “John Hartman, thy father calleth the.” Some poor boy nearby would say to himself. Would to God that were my father. A little farther on and the old man would hold up the lantern and call, “ John Hartman, thy father calleth thee.” He heard men groan. He heard men curse.

Suddenly he caught a response, barely audible. But the ears of love were keen. “Here, Father! Here Father” This way, Father.”

At last he found his son. Moving several dead bodies, he uncovered his wounded, blood-soaked son. Lifting him to his shoulder, he carried him home and to healing.

Whatever your name is, your heavenly Father is calling you. Have you accepted His call? He wants to carry you to His heavenly home. I invite you to accept His call and go home with Him.

13 - IS CHURCH MEMBERSHIP NECESSARY?

God has a universal, invisible church composed of all true Christians in every land. It is c called “the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven” (Heb. 12:23). Christ called it “my church” (Matt. 16:18). It is also referred to as the body of Christ (Eph. 1:23); Col. 1:18, 24).

The New Testament also uses the term “the church” to designate a local organized group of believers in a given place (Acts 11:26; 13:1; 14:26,27; 18:22; Rom. 16:5; 1 Cor. 16:19).

Membership in God’s true, visible, organized church will not save any sou. Nothing we can do of ourselves will save us. Salvation is by faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ.

So the question arises, When a true Christian is enrolled in God’s universal, invisible church, does this make it unnecessary for him to belong to the visible, organized church of God on earth? Some dedicated Christians say Yes. Even though they believe in the truths for which Christ’s remnant stand, they do not want to be members of the church that is taking the message for our time (Rev. 14:6-12) to the world.

What do the Scriptures say about his? How was it with the 3.000 converts on the day of Pentecost? When they were baptized and received the gift of the Holy Spirit their names were enrolled in the book of life, and they became members of the “church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven” (Heb. 12:23).

Did this make it unnecessary for them to become members of the visible, organized church of Christ in Jerusalem? No. the record says, “The Lord added to the church daily such as should be save” (Acts 2:47), or “those whom he was saving” (N.E.B.).

“The church” to which they were added was a visible, organized church. According to this text, when the Lord bestows salvation upon a believer. He wants the Lord bestows salvation upon a believer, He wants him to become a member of the organized church. Since the Lord has not changed, His plan of adding members to the church still holds good. When we follow the Lord all the way, He will lead us to become members of the organized body that is bearing His threefold message to the world.

Paul went to Corinth and preached the Word of God. Many accepted the truths he taught and were organized into a visible church with a regular membership into a visible church with a regular membership and with officers in charge. After Paul left, he wrote letters to these believers. How did he identify the Christians there? Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit he wrote, “Unto the church of God which is at Corinth” (1 Cor. 1.2; 2 Cor. 1:1). It is clear that it was God’s will that all in Corinth who accepted Christ should be connected with God’s church in that city.

Suppose some person at Corinth who had accepted Christ had taken this position: By accepting Christ I have become a member of His general church. My name is enrolled in heaven. Hence I do not need to be a member oh this local church.

Would this attitude have met with God’s approval? Not in the light of the Word of God. That Corinthian believer would not have followed the Lord all the way until he became a member of the Lord’s organized church.

The same holds true today. It is the will of God that all who accept His message be on the roll of the visible, organized church of God. Those who have been called out in any place by God’s threefold message, and organized by His messengers into a local church, constitute the church of God in that city or town.

Some people declare that church organization is a man-made arrangement and is therefore something into which the Lord does not want us to enter. But this is not the case, because the plan of the followers of Jesus being organized into churches was established by Christ Himself. As the apostles and their associates went from city to city preaching God’s message, converts were organized into church units in harmony with definite instruction from the Lord.

They must have had definite membership rolls, as this text indicates: “When they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles” (Acts 14:27).

Here was a special meeting of believers in the city of Antioch. Paul and Barnabas, two ministers, had returned from their missionary journey. The record is that they “gathered the church together.” The fact that it was known whom to notify about this special meeting shows there was a definite membership roll.

In Matthew 18:15-17, Christ gave plain instruction that church members who persist in open sin are to be dropped from the membership list. It seems obvious that, since Christ laid down a plan for expelling unworthy members, it is certainly His will that His true followers should be registered on a membership list.

The word church in the New Testament is from the Greek word ekklésia, “called-out one.” For example, “the church in the wilderness” (Acts 7:38) was the nation of Israel, called out of Egypt and assembled in the wilderness of Sinai.

Christ’s true church today is made up of those who are called out of the world, out of Babylon. Those who are called out by His last-day, threefold message constitute His last church, or the remnant of Revelation 12:17.

The call of Christ for our day is, as we have previously seen, to “keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus” (chap. 14:12). When we come out of Babylon and keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, we will recognize the need of joining the remnant church.

When Saul of Tarsus accepted the Lord Jesus he had only one question: “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” (Acts 9:6). The Lord instructed him to go into Damascus, and there he would be told what he must do. Then the Lord used Ananias to guide him into the present truth for that time. This indicates that the Lord had respect to the order that he had established in His church. So Paul came out of the Jewish religion to which he had belonged all his life. He was baptized and became a member of the church that followed the teachings of Christ.
This certainly tells us that when a sincere soul follows through on the question “Lord, what will Thou have me do?” he will be led by the Lord to become a member of His visible, organized church.

Suppose you had lived in the days of Noah. What would the Lord have wanted you to do? Clearly it would have been to accept His special message as preached by Noah, to turn from the worldliness around and enter the ark at the appointed time.

Perhaps some who heard Noah’s message said, “We love God and are living good lives, but we will not go into the ark.” They perished along with the mort rebellious sinners. So, the eternal welfare of those who hear God’s present truth for our day depends on their acceptance of this heaven-sent message.

Adherence to God’s message through John the Baptist involved accepting the message John preached, which acceptance called one out – separated one – as it were, from others and involved being baptized. The acceptance of God’s message through the apostles involved coming out from the Jewish religion or from heathen religions and entering into the visible, organized church units of Christianity.

So the acceptance of God’s threefold message for these last days involves a coming out from the world and the religions and churches of Babylon into one of the visible, organized units of God’s threefold-message movement. The acceptance of God’s message for our day includes membership in His remnant church.

It is evident that when God sends a special message for a certain time, following it is the right way for that time. Since the threefold message of Revelation 14 is what God has appointed to be preached, believed, and obeyed in these days, He is definitely calling us to be a part of that movement. This call must take precedence over all else in religion today.

When the teachings of this last-day message have been brought clearly before an individual, the issue confronting him is far more than his identifying himself with the Advents Movement. The real issue is: “Shall I accept or reject God’s message? Shall I respond to or disregard the call of the Lord to me?

When one is face with such an issue, the only wise course, the only safe way, is to accept the message and keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. But such an acceptance does include identifying oneself with the Advent Movement.

Some may be thinking, If I decide to do that what will happen if I am called to the office on Saturday? What about the opposition I have in my home? Friend of mine, if you will make your decision for God, He will make a way for you through all the opposition, the obstacles, and the difficulties. There are no problems too big for Him.

The experience of the lame man at the pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-9) helps us to understand that no problem is too big for Jesus to solve. The man had not taken a step in thirty-eight years. But when Jesus told him to pick up his mat and walk, he decided to obey. When he did that, Jesus gave him the power to walk.

So it may be with you. Decide that you will live for God, and He will give you the power to move forward in obedience. If you will tell God that you will go ahead, He will make a way for you.

If it were possible for man to offer homes for sale in a subdivision where there were no taxes, no trouble, no sickness. Pain, or sorrow, and no death, would you be interested? Certainly. No matter how much such a home cost, you would be determined to have one if you could get the money.

God does have such homes in the New Jerusalem and in the new earth for those who choose to obey His truth. Why shouldn’t every soul gladly make his decision to come out and take his stand for God’s commandments and the fait of Jesus? If you have not done this, why not here and now tell the Lord you will respond to His call to obey Him?

14 - THE GATHERING OF ISRAEL

The term Israel is woven into the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation. It is found in certain prophecies in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and other books of the Old Testament. Paul takes up the subject of the gathering of Israel, which casts valuable light on God’s method of saving mankind. A correct understanding the real truth.

Many Christians subscribe to erroneous concepts concerning the gathering of Israel. Some observers feel that concepts have at least a degree of responsibility for the dangerous political situation now prevailing between the Arabs and the Israelis.

A great many people do not know that the Bible teaches there are two different Israels. One is the literal Israel, composed of the descendants of Abraham according to the flesh. Then there is the spiritual Israel, composed of the descendants of Abraham according to the flesh. Then there is the spiritual Israel, composed of Gentiles and Jews who have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ. Many misunderstood the distinction because they apply certain Biblical statements to literal Israel that apply only to spiritual Israel.

Here is one example in a prophecy concerning the gathering of Israel. “It shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth” (Isa. 11:11,12).

In its literal application this refers to the restoration of the nation of Israel to its homeland after the Babylonian captivity. But that was only a partial fulfilment. Many Christians have applied these verses to the modern restoration of the Jews to Palestine, and to the establishment of the state of Israel. But if we want the real truth, we must take into account the whole Biblical concept of Israel and the gathering of Israel. Unless we do this we cannot have a true concept of this subject.

The great promises that God made to the Jews, or literal Israel, were conditional on their obedience to Him. Thus, He told them, “Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people; for all the earth is mine: and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation” Ex. 19:5,6.

The Israelites forfeited their right to have these promises fulfilled for them by their persistent disobedience. This reached the limit when Jesus, the Son of God and the only true Messiah, made a final effort to bring them back to God. They cut themselves off from being God’s Israel when they rejected the Son of God.

Literal Israel was replaced b spiritual Israel. Then all the great promises and covenant provisions were transferred from literal Israel to spiritual Israel and have been, and are being, fulfilled to those who receive the Lord Jesus as their personal Saviour.

Notice how Paul emphasizes this concept: “If ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” Gal. 3:29.

Paul shows that being a true Israelite does not depend upon being a literal descendant of Abraham or upon being circumcised, but upon receiving Jesus as a personal Saviour, and upon being made a new man or a new woman: “For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.” “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God” Gal. 5:6; 6:15, 16.

Notice that those who are born again in Christ are “the Israel of God.” Gentiles and Jews may have salvation on the same terms, the acceptance of the Lord Jesus Christ as the only Saviour.
This true concept of Israel eliminates apparent contradictions. Romans 9:27 says, “Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant (or small number) shall be saved.” This is correct because only a comparative few of literal Israel, or Jews, will accept Christ. (This, of course, is true of all mankind.) When Paul says, “So all Israel shall be saved” Romans 11:26, he means that all of spiritual Israel, both Jews and Gentiles, accept Christ, obey Him to the end, and thus are saved.

As we have already noted briefly, the Word of God distinguishes between two kinds of Jews, between literal and spiritual Israel. “For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God” Romans 2:28,29.

Paul declares that the term Jew no longer refers to all descendants of Abraham, so far as God is concerned, but to those who are true followers of Christ. Thus the fact that there is a political nation of Israel in Palestine has no bearing on God’s plans for the Jews. The application of Isaiah 11:11, 12 and similar Old Testament prophecies to the present Jewish nation is invalid. In Romans 11:12-20 Paul makes it plain that literal Israel, or the Jewish nation, cut itself off from being God’s true Israel when they rejected Jesus as the Messiah. When they did this, the prophecies, promises, and blessings were reapplied, and now are for spiritual Israel, composed of all Jews and Gentiles who accept Christ.

In the parable of the wicked husbandmen (Matt. 21:33-45) Jesus showed the Jews that the kingdom of God was to be taken from them and given to another nation that would bear fruits of righteousness. In 1 Peter 2:9 this body of Christians is called “an holy nation” and “a royal priesthood.”

The key to a correct understanding of the prophecy of Isaiah 11:11, 12, as it now applies, is found in Jeremiah 18. Jeremiah was told by God to watch a potter at work. A vessel the potter was making didn’t turn out as he formed it into another pattern. Then the Lord said to Jeremiah: “O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? Saith the Lord… At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; if that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; if it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them” Jeremiah 18:6-10.
In the light of these words, compared with the conditional blessings and cursings God and dressed to the nation of Israel through Moses (Deut. 11:27,28) and the manner in which Israel continually rebelled against God, we can readily understand how He finally rejected them and applied His blessings to another, spiritual, “nation.”

The Israelite people were intended to be not only a political nation but also God’s spiritual people. Under the leadership of the Messiah they were destined to be great, and other peoples would be attracted to them (Gen. 49:10).

Christ helped us to understand the spiritual meaning of that Genesis prophecy when He prophesied of Himself, Shiloh: “I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me” (John 12:32). Thus He spoke of the gathering of Israel as a gathering to Himself for salvation and eternal life (see chap. 10:16).

So ever since spiritual Israel replaced literal Israel, the gathering of Israel according to God’s plan has not been to Palestine, or Jerusalem, or any other spot on the earth, but unto Christ. It is not on a national or wholesale basis, but it is a one-by-one experience as each individual makes a decision to receive Christ. In keeping with this concept, Paul said, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28; cf. Eph. 2:11-16).

Some will say, “Were not 3,000 Jews gathered to Christ in one day at Pentecost?” True. And each received the gift of the Holy Spirit as he received Christ and responded individually to the call to repent and be baptized. This one-by-one gathering will reach climactic proportions under the great revival to come (see Rev. 18:1). Thousands in all parts of the world will be gathered to Christ in one day. This, in turn, will bring the supreme gathering of Israel when Jesus comes to “gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (Matt. 24:31).

In Amos 9:11 God prophesies, “In that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, …I will build it as in the days of old.” Some have used this to prove that there will be a full restoration of the Jews to Palestine. However, at the first Christian council in Jerusalem the apostle James, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, applied this prophecy to a gathering of the converted Gentiles to Christ (Act. 15:13-16). This is in accordance with the way Israel and the gathering of Israel has been presented.

15 - WHICH WAY IS GOD MOVING?

Years ago in Jackson Park, Chicago, an infidel gathered a crowd around him. Then he began to denounce God. “If there is a God, look at what a terrible mess He has gotten the world in. if there is a God, why doesn’t He do something about it? If there is a God, I challenge Him here and now to strike me dead in the next three minutes.”

In awed silence the crowd waited. The minutes ticked off. When the three minutes.”

In awed silence the crowd waited. The minutes ticked off. When the three minutes were up, the infidel shouted, “See, this proves that there is no God.”

Then he challenged anyone in the crowd to come up and prove that he was wrong. For several seconds no one made a move. Then an old woman with a shawl around her made her way through the crowd. Standing before the infidel, she asked, “Sir, do you have any children?”
“Yes, I have two fine boys and two lovely little girls.”

“If one of them would come to you with a butcher knife and say, ´Here, Daddy, kill me,` would you do it?”

“I love them so much that I could not even think of killing them,” the infidel responded.
Then the old woman said, “This is why God didn’t strike you dead during those three minutes. He loves you. He gave His only Son that you might have your sins forgiven and be saved. You’d better accept His offer.”

Friend of mine, trust in God! “The Lord reingeth” (Ps. 96:10). He is doing something about the terrible situation in this world. His kingdom will come, and His will “will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10). God has His worldwide, last-day gospel movement that will finish His work and bring an end to crime, war, poverty, pollution, sickness, and death, the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

God is working through His threeforld message to gather His remnant from every nation. This gathering was foreshadowed in Isaiah 11:11,12, as quoted in the previous chapter. “It shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall…gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.”

It was pointed out that this second recovery was fulfilled when God restored the Jews to Palestine fulfilled when God restored the Jews to Palestine following the Babylonian captivity. You can read about this in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. It was also noted that this was only a partial fulfilment. This second-time gathering transcends the return from the Babylonian captivity, as may be understood by the by the reference to a gathering of God’s remnant “from the islands of the sea” and “the four corners of the earth.” This suggests a far greater ingathering than simply from the nation of Babylon and its satellites.

In the preceding chapter it was suggested that this gathering as related to spiritual Israel is a calling of Gentiles and Jews to Christ. This gathering began on the day of Pentecost and has continued from generation to generation. It will reach its climax in this end-time under the proclamation of God’s threefold message of Revelation 14: 6-12. we see this being fulfilled before our eyes in the Seventh-day Adventist worldwide, gospel movement.

Seventh-day Adventists meet the description of Revelation 12:17 in that they “keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” (Keeping the commandments of God must include the seventh-day Sabbath.)

“The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (chap. 19:10). Christ’s remnant in this end-time are also identified in Revelation 14:12 as those who “keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” They maintain the doctrines and standards “once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3) by Him, and they hold to their faith in Him to save them from their sins.

In their efforts to tell every nation, kindred, tribe, and people, Seventh-day Adventists are proclaiming God’s threefold message in more 600 languages and more 200 countries. In all these areas men and women are responding to the call of God. They are coming out from Babylon, and all that the term implies, into Christ’s remnant. Thus, the prophecy of God’s hand being set the second time to gather His remnant from the four corners of the earth is being fulfilled in this worldwide Advent Movement.

Do you want to follow God’s leading? Then give Him your decision to be one of His remnant. When you do this, you enter into this promise of God in a special way: “The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms” (Deut. 33:27).
What a fellowship, what a joy divine,
Leaning on the everlasting arms;
What a blessedness, what a peace is mine,
Leaning on the everlasting arms…
What have I to dread, what have I to fear,
Leaning on the everlasting arms?
I have blessed peace with my Lord so near,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.
E.A. Hoffman

In a previous chapter it was pointed out from Revelation 15:2,3 that those who are true to the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus will stand next to the throne of God, after the second coming of Christ, and sing the song of Moses and the Lamb. What an impelling incentive for you and me not only to be real Seventh-day Adventists but to remain such to the end and enter into the eternal victory in heaven!

God’s chosen people Israel rejected the only Messiah. “He came unto his own, and his own received him not” (John 1:11). There is a similar situation in Christianity today. Many of Christ’s professed followers fail to recognize the work God is doing before their eyes. In many instances they unwittingly oppose what their God is doing in calling out His remnant.

Let every soul be careful not to reject the work God is doing today. Consider carefully what Paul told the Jews in his sermon at Antioch in Pisidia: “Beware therefore, lest that come upon you, which is spoken of in the prophets; Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you.” (Acts 13:40, 41).

The prophecies of Revelation 14:6-12 and Isaiah 11:11,12 indicate the way God is moving in calling out His remnant. So when you and I make our decision to be part of His remnant, we have the joy and satisfaction of knowing that we are moving along the line in which God is moving. We have positive assurance that we are on the right road that leads to His heavenly home.

In the next subject we shall notice some striking parallels between the way God worked for Israel in the Exodus movement and the manner in which He works in the Advent Movement. In the case of the former, His chosen people were in one country, Egypt. So He called them out in one night. However, this gathering of His spiritual people is different because they are scattered in all countries. Hence they are being called one by one as each makes his full commitment to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.

Surely you want to be one of those being gathered by God into His remnant, and finally to stand immortal on the sea of glass in heaven (Rev. 15:2). You may be. God wants you to be there. “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

Jesus wants you to be one of His called-out ones. He died on the cross to make that possible for you. The Holy Spirit is saying to you, “This is the right way, follow it.” Will you say, “Yes, Lord, I am determined to be one of Your remnant. I will be true to the end”?

Sometimes when you begin to do a job, any of a dozen things can prevent you from accomplishing it, what can hinder Him? What He determines is sure to be done. What He purposes He will accomplish. “The Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? And his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?” (Isa. 14:27).

God’s hand is set to gather His remnant from all countries through this worldwide Advent Movement. Hence this movement is as sure to succeed as there is an all-powerful God in heaven. It will go through to victory because His arm cannot fail. This assurance should make His people the strongest and most courageous in the world to do exploits for Him.

In case you have not made your decision to unite with this remnant church, think what an encouragement and incentive you have to do so. When the assurance of sure victory ahead is settled into a person’s soul, nothing can cause him to turn back from being with that movement. People who do turn back never have this assurance firmly settled into their soul (see John 6:66-69).

God is holding out to us a very high privilege: “They shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels” (Mal 3:17). Jesus wants you to be one of His jewels for eternity. Some people have very expensive gems that they value highly. But those will all perish with this world. No one can take them to heaven. But God’s jewels, redeemed men and women, will reflect the wonders of His grace for the eternal ages.

Jesus is reaching out to take your hand in full surrender to Him following your decision to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Are you ready to put your hand in the hand that was nailed to the cross, and let Jesus lea you all the way?

16 - TRUTH BY THE HAND OF GOD

The Exodus movement, during which the Israelites travelled from Egypt to Canaan, is a type of modern spiritual Israel, an is intended by God to teach us valuable lessons. In 1 Corinthians 10:1-10 Paul mentions some of the incidents of the journey. Then he draws this conclusion: “All these things that happened to them were symbolic, and were record for our benefit as a warning. For upon us the fulfilment of the ages has come” verse 11). The Advent Movement is a counterpart of the Exodus movement. It has a revelation of truth, by the hand of God, appropriate for this end-time.

Today it is easy to believe that God was in the Exodus movement. Anyone who accepts the Bible record is bound to admit this. We know that God led the Israelite by the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. We know that that movement finally carried the people of God triumphantly into the Land of Promise.

Can we be sure that the present Advent Movement is as truly led of God as was the Exodus movement? Can we be certain that the God of heaven is leading this movement today and that it will complete its journey into the heavenly Canaan, as the Exodus movement ended in the earthly Canaan?

These are important questions. To answer them let us compare the two movements, and if we find the latter has parallels with the former we shall have ground for adherence to the Advent Movement.

Let us first compare the fundamental purpose of each movement. Why did God call Israel from Egypt to be a separate people?

“He brought forth his people with joy, and his chosen with gladness: and gave them the lands of the heathen: and they inherited the labour of the people; that they might observe his statutes, and keep his laws” (Ps. 105:43-45). God’s major desire was to develop an obedient people – a people through whom He could make known the principles of the truth to the rest of the world.
Similarly, He has called spiritual Israel to be obedient to His laws. The call of God is for His people to come out of Babylon, that we “be not partakers of her sins” (Rev. 18:4). “Sin is the transgression of the law” (1 John 3:4). And, as previously noted, when, in the prophecies of Revelation, God refers to the last-day people, He points to them as keeping His commandments (Revelation 12:17; 14:12). So, on this point, we can drive down a stake to indicate that both movements began with the same divine objective.

In connection with the call from Egypt, God tested His people on the point of the keeping of the seventh-day Sabbath (Exodus 16:4, 5, 26). The test was given in connection with food, called manna that God miraculously provide for the Israelites in the wilderness. This manna was provided for the Israelites in the wilderness. This manna was provided daily but would not keep overnight. However, God instructed them to gather extra for the Sabbath each Friday. Then, on the Sabbath none came, and that which was held over did not spoil. The record tells us that they made the necessary preparations on Friday and kept the seventh day holy, proving they were obedient to God. (Exodus 16:22-25). Those who did not make the preparation on the sixth day broke God’s holy Sabbath by going out hoping to find manna on the seventh day (Exodus 16:27, 28).

So today God is calling a people out of Babylon and asking them to keep the seventh-day Sabbath. The Israelite had practically lost sight of God’s holy Sabbath during their stay in Egypt. So today nearly all the Lord’s professed people have lost sight of the true Sabbath.

Nearly all Christians acknowledge the validity of nine commandments of the Decalogue, but many find excuses to avoid keeping the seventh day required by the fourth commandment. Thus the fourth commandment becomes a test. It becomes a test because it is one of the Ten Commandments. God still requires it to be kept, and, therefore, when people understand this, they show their attitude to God by their attitude to the fourth commandment.

In the Revelation 14 prophesies God’s last invitation and warning for the world, found in a message borne by three symbolic angels, Revelation 14:9-11. carry the warning that anyone who receives the mark of the beast will “drink of the wine of the wrath of God.” Adventists understand the mark to be not a literal brand on the forehead or hand but some sign of allegiance to the power symbolized by the beast.

Because the prophesied struggle revolves around God’s law. Particularly the fourth commandment, Adventists understand that Sunday will be that sign. The Sabbath is the sign of allegiance to God (Eze. 20:12). The issue will be the keeping of the Sabbath, or seal or mark of God, versus the receiving of the mark of the beast. The people of the world will decide their eternal destiny in the setting of this issue.

Ancient Israel was tested on the point of the Sabbath, and God’s last Israel, His church, will be tested on the same point. And as Israel was distinguished from the surrounding nations by the keeping of the Sabbath, so God’s faithful ones in the last days will be distinguished in the same manner.

Ancient Israel came out of Egypt at the time appointed by God. He appointed that 430 years from the time Abraham left Haran to go into Canaan his descendants, the Israelites, would leave Egypt to go into Canaan (see Gal. 3:16,17). Did this come true? The record says, “If came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt” (Ex. 12:41). The Exodus movement began at the time appointed by the Lord.

The Advent Movement began in 1844 at the time God had previously appointed, as revealed to Daniel the prophet (see Daniel 8:13,14). In chapter six we say that this prophecy began in 457 a.c. and ended in A.D. 1844. This latter years was the very time the Advent Movement was born. And it came into being as a result of a group of Bible students examining the subject of the cleansing of the sanctuary prophesied in Daniel 8.

Seventh-day Adventists did not originate as an offshoot from some other religious body. They did not begin because some men wanted to start a new denomination. God raised up the Adventist people to proclaim His threefold message to all the people in the world in fulfilment of His last-day message of Revelation 14:6-12.

Note a number of ways in which the Advent movement is God’s counterpart to His Exodus movement:
1- God unfolded to the Israelites the message of salvation as typified by the earthly sanctuary (see Ex. 25:8; Heb. 8:4,5). He raised up the Advent people and gave them an understanding of the work of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary (Heb.8:1-3).

2- God gave Israel the Ten Commandments as His supreme law of righteousness (Ex. 20:1-17), based on love to God with all the heart (Deut. 6:5). This same law, as interpreted by the Lord Jesus (Matt. 22:36-40) and coupled with the true faith in Jesus (Rev. 14:12), is the foundation of Adventism.

3- God gave the Israelite the tithing system as a means for supporting His ministers (Num. 18:21; Lev. 27:30-33). The same divine financial plan is followed in the Advent Movement.

4- The Exodus movement had the spirit of prophecy connected with it: “By a prophet (Moses; Ps. 77:20) the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved” (Hosea 12:13). The remnant church that keeps God`s commandments has the same gift (Rev. 12:17; 19:10).

5- The Exodus movement was an organized movement. It had companies of tens, fifties, hundreds, and thousands (Deut. 1:15). Then there were the seventy elders – a sort of Supreme Court for making decisions on important questions (Num. 11:16, 17, 24, 25). The Advent Movement is similarly organized. It has local churches, local conferences, union conferences, division conferences, and the General Conference.

6- The Israelites had the seventh-day Sabbath as the sign of the only true God, the Creator of heaven an earth (Ex. 20:8-11; 31:16, 17; Eze. 20:20), and also as a sign of sanctification (Ex. 31:13; Eze. 20:12). Similarly, Adventist uphold the same Saturday Sabbath as the sign of Jesus as the Creator and Sanctifier (Col. 1:16; 1 Cor. 1:2).

In this time of uncertainty many people are foundering in perplexity and confusion. But God has given us in His Word evidences by which we may know where to find a star and an anchor. He has His people who are following the Star, and who have the Anchor. That Star, that Anchor, is Jesus Christ and His truths revealed in the Word.

The Advent Movement is looking to that Star an is stabilized by that Anchor. Is you, reader, have not set your sights on the Star. If you, reader, have not set your sights on the Star, if you have not found that Anchor for your lives, we invite you to carefully study the Guiding Principles at the end of this book, comparing them with your Bible, prayerfully, with open heart and mind. And let the Holy Spirit lead you.

17 - WHEN GOD INTERVENES

Two brothers, fishermen, were casting their nets from their boat into the Sea of Galilee. This was the way they made their living, and they probably expected to continue that trade until they got too old to fish.

But God had a different plan for them. One day a noble-looking Man walked down to the edge of the lake and say them in their boat a little way form shore, fishing. Extending His hand to them, He called: “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” Matt. 4:19. Thus Peter and Andrew were confronted with the greatest decision of their lives.

The two brothers had been reared in the Jewish religion. Jesus was beginning a new and, in many ways, different movements, a church that would be unpopular and despised. Peter and Andrew didn’t realize this fully at the time, but if they accepted the call it would mean they would eventually have to separate from the religion to which they had belonged since childhood, and unite with this new church of Jesus. It meant giving up their fishing business, the only way they knew of making a living. It meant giving up their life plans.

Did they say: “This is such a tremendous step that we can’t take it now”? No. the record declares that “they straightway left their nets, and followed his” Matt. 4:20.

That was the best thing they ever did, because their decision brought their lives into alignment with the plan God had drawn up for them before He brought them into existence. That decision led to the high honour of becoming two of Christ’s twelve apostles, and to that highest honour of all, having their names inscribed for eternity on the foundations of the eternal city of God, the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:14).

What if they had No to the call of Jesus? That would have been the worst thing they could have done. So it is with you and me. The best thing is to say Yes when Jesus calls. The worst is to refuse or neglect to respond to His call.

A Jewish tax collector for the Roman government was sitting at his desk, taking in the money. It was a lucrative job. He planned to go on collecting taxes and getting rich. But this was not God’s plan for him.

One day Jesus´route led past the tax office. There was Matthew at his desk, taking in money. Jesus looked straight into his heart, and spoke two words: Follow me” Luke 5:27. Matthew was thus called to make the greatest decision of his life on a moment’s notice.

What if Matthew had been like the vast majority of people? He would have said to himself. This overzealous carpenter from Nazareth is interrupting my businesses. I will not be torn away from a good job by responding to his call. Or he might have thought, I cannot go because I have other plans. Besides, this is such a tremendous step that I need more time to think about it.
No. he recognized that God was speaking to him through this Nazarene. This was an interposition of God in his life, to help him choose Heaven’s plan for himself. The record says: “He left all, rose up, and followed his” Luke 5:28.

Matthew left a well-paying job to serve Jesus without pay. But this was the best thing he ever did, because it brought his life into alignment with God’s plan of immortality for him.

So it is with you and me. The best thing we can ever do is respond to the call of God to surrender our lives to Jesus and keep His commandments and have the faith of Jesus – that faith that stretches out and takes hold of Jesus´ forgiveness and sin-defeating strength. Nothing exceeds letting Jesus take over completely in your life. Then you have the right plan for our life – the plan that God drew for your life before He brought you into existence.

Friend of mine, has the blessed Lord intervened to bring you His last-day message through a book, a magazine, a Bible course, sermons, Bible studies, a telecast, or a radiobroadcast? How have you responded to that call? I would invite you to accept that invitation and obey the commandments of God and live in the faith of Jesus.

On the day of Pentecost God intervened in the lives of thousands of Jews. There thousand said Yes to His call. In order to be right with God, not only did they repent, be baptized, and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit but their acceptance of Jesus as the Messiah forced them to come out of the Jewish religion, in which they had been all their lives, and enter into Christ’s church for that time.

The Jewish nation once composed the true church of Christ (see Acts 7:38). But the Jews had departed from the truth of God by substituting the traditions of men for the commandments of God (Matt. 15:1-9). This led them to reject the Son of God. Because of this rejection there was no way by which they, as a nation, could be retained as God’s chosen people. The best God could do was to call His true followers out of the Jewish church into His new church.

A similar situation applies today. In many areas the churches have departed from the truth. The time is quickly approaching when God will call the rest of His people out of these religious bodies into His remnant church, which is committed to proclaiming His present truth to every nation.

Loyalty to one’s own church is commendable, but loyalty to Christ’s truth must have precedence over every other tie – above wife or husband, son or daughter, brother or sister, father or mother, church or religious training (Luke 14:26,27; Matt. 10:37).

If the apostles and first Christians had placed loyalty to the Jewish religion above the call of Christ, they would not have become Christians. But they left a noble example for us by accepting the truth as it came to them from Christ and His Word. Let us, then, place loyalty to our Lord and obedience to His call, to come out of the world and Babylon and into His remnant, above every other consideration.
Who answers Christ’s insistent call
Must give himself, his life, his all,
Without one backward look.
Who sets his hand unto the plow
And glances back with anxious brow,
His calling hath mistook.
Christ claims him wholly for His own;
He must be Christ’s – and Christ’s alone.
Anonymous

Henry Ward Beecher said: “I would as soon go courting with my father’s love letters as to join a certain church because my father belonged to it.” What happened to a man in Noah’s time who refused to believe Noah’s message or do any differently than his father and grandfather had done? You certainly would not have wanted to be in his shoes when the Flood came.

The horse and buggy and the tallow candle were once the best that people had for transportation and illumination, respectively. But are they good enough for us? Wu prefer to use the electric light and ride in an automobile. Is we are sensible in taking advantage of every improvement along material and technical lines, why are we often so reluctant to advance with the unfolding truth of God’s Word?

What if Luther had been content to advance no farther in religion than his father or mother had? He could not have been used for God to inaugurate the Protestant Reformation. Who can measure our loss in truth and liberty had Luther taught only what the Catholic Church stood for?

You and I and every soul must make his choice between Babylon and Christ’s remnant. There can be no neutral ground in the conflict between truth and error. The great Babylonian system will sink like a millstone cast into the sea (Revelation 188:21). Christ’s remnant, with the save from all previous generations, will be caught up to heaven when He comes. Every soul can have his destiny either way. No one can have it both ways. Surely your decision is to be one of Christ’s remnant under the banner of the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.

It was twilight when a Minnesota farmer started to cross a lake in his small sailboat. As he was sailing along the wind suddenly changed and a gust overturned his boat in the middle of the lake. Being a good swimmer, he started to swim to the part of the shore where he thought his house was located.

It was springtime, and the water was covered with masses of floating ice. In the darkness he became confused and swam in the wrong direction. His strength began to give out. As he was about to give up and sink into the freezing water, he heard a voice. It was that of his little girl on the back porch of their home, calling: “Father, father.”

Her voice put fresh life into him. He thought, if she would only call once more, I could tell which way home is by the sound of her voice. I am afraid she will go into the house and close the door, because she has heard no reply to her call.

Then another call came, “Father.” The sound told him he had gotten turned around in the darkness and was going in the wrong direction. He fought his way through the ice and reached the shore and home at last.

Friend of mine, there is a voice calling you. If you are numbered with Christ’s remnant in this end-time, the call of god is “Be faithful to the end.” If you are not in His remnant, the call of God is “Come into My remnant.” Tell Jesus, “Here’s my YES to Your call.”
May it be said of you and me:
He say God’s truth, but did not stay
To ask if others say the way.
Content was he in heart to know
That Jesus walked there here below.
And evermore He walks with men,
That men may walk His paths again.
And He is more than all besides;
For others fail, but He abides.

18 - THE JESUS WAY

It was registration day at a certain college, and the students were filling out theirs enrolment forms. On one form was a place marked “Religion,” where each prospective student noted the name of the religion he professed. A Chinese lad brought his competed forms to the president. Apparently he had some trouble with English, for when he filled out his form he wrote “C-o-n-f-u-s-i-o-n” as his religion rather than Confucianism.

More people’s religion is described by the unwitting mistake of that Chinese student than many realize. There are countless millions who are following religions that are really confusion. The world’s religions system is called Babylon in Revelation 17:5. The root meaning of Babylon is “babel”, confusion.” God is calling His people out of this Babylon Revelation 18:4, into the true way of Jesus.

The lord Jesus is not merely one of several different ways to heaven. He is the only way to heaven this truth is all wrapped up in four of His words: “I am the way” John 14:6.

Is Christ is the only right way in religion, there are bound to be confusion and error in every religion that does not conform to His pattern. If all followed the Jesus way in every part of their religion, they would be united in His one right way. The Lord Jesus Christ is God’s pattern of the real truth. In keeping with this, the bible declares that Jesus left us an example that we “should follow his steps” 1 Peter 2:21. The example and teachings of the Lord Jesus constitute the authoritative standard of Christian doctrine and duty.

Consider how this simplifies the problem of finding the right way because there are so many denominations teaching so many discordant theories. But it is not impossible to know which is the right way. Since Jesus is the only right way, all we need to do is to find His way and walk in it.

We shall now look at some of the things Jesus taught, which will be a kind of review of some of the things we have already said.

The way to proceed is open before us. We may start with Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, for there God has given us a record of Jesus` life. Those writers reveal what Jesus taught and lived with respect to the essentials of His way. (We may go on from there to find Him throughout the Bible.)

Jesus regarded the Scriptures, the Holy Bible, as the Worde of God to man, and the only authoritative rule of belief and practice. He said, “The scripture cannot be broken” John 10:35.

He taught that He alone can save a person. Man cannot save himself by all his good works or by trying to keep the Ten Commandments. Salvation depends on receiving Christ as a personal Saviour, John 3:16, 18, 36; 8:24. Jesus´ blood alone can atone for sin Matt. 26:28.

Christ taught that no one can be a Christian and go to heaven unless he is born again: “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” John 3:3. “Except ye be converted …ye neither shall nor enter into the kingdom of heaven” Matt. 18:3. This new birth leads to a transformation of life and character by the re-creative power of God through faith in Him. This new birth takes place when Christ is received into the heart, John 1:12, 13.

Jesus taught that the only way a person can live a victorious life is by abiding in Him, John 15:4-8. this can be experienced only by receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit as the Comforter. Christ taught that when a person has received this Gift, he will know that he is in Christ, and that Christ is in him John 14:16-20.

Jesus taught that the person who has a continuing experience with Him meets these conditions: a daily crucifixion of self (Luke 9:23); implicit obedience to His commandments (John 14:15,23); daily prayer and partaking of His Word (see Luke 18:1; John 6:56-63); and a constant and complete surrender of the will to follow His will (see Like 14:33).

Jesus taught that obedience to the Ten Commandments is one of the essential conditions for entering heaven. When a wealthy young man asked Him, “What…shall I do, that I may have eternal life?” Jesus responded, “If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.” When the man then asked Him which commandments He meant, Christ quoted a few of the Ten Commandments. (Matt. 19:16-19).

In commanding obedience to the Decalogue, Christ did not indicate that anyone could earn his way to heaven by keeping the commandments. Salvation is by grace alone. No one can be justified by the works of the law. Justification is attained only by faith in Jesus Christ (Mark 16:16; John 3:18). But after a person is saved by grace, he will obey the Ten Commandments as God’s standard of righteousness.

Jesus taught that the seventh day of the week is to be kept as the Lord’s holy day. The fact that He upheld the keeping of the Ten Commandments is clear evidence that He endorsed the keeping of the seventh day, which is the subject of one for man” (Mark 2:27).

As the Creator of this world (John 1:10), Christ made the seventh day the Sabbath by resting upon it after He had made the world in six days. Then He sanctified, or set apart, each succeeding seventh day for man to keep holy. (Gen. 2:1-3; Ex. 20:8-11).

The keeping of the seventh day of the week is a part of Christ’s original order for man. Nowhere do we have a record of His changing that requirement; therefore, the keeping of that day is one of His steps we are to follow. So long as Christ is the Creator – His position as such is established as a Biblical fact – and only Saviour, so long will the seventh-day Sabbath be the sign of Christ as the Creator-Saviour (see Isa. 66:22,23).

Jesus Christ gave us an example to follow. In Luke 4:16 we learn that it was His practice, or “custom”, to attend the worship service on the seventh day of the week, or Saturday.

Jesus taught by the parable of the tares that the impenitent are not cast into hellfire as soon as they die but will be cast into the lake of fire at the day of judgment at the end of the world (Matt. 13:24-30, 38-42). And after they are punished, according to their evil deeds, they will be totally destroyed, soul and body, Matt. 10:28.

Jesus taught that life after death depends on being resurrected at the last day (John 6:39,40,54). He taught that the righteous do not receive their reward until He comes at His second advent (Matt. 16:27), and that His followers will not be taken to heaven until He comes again (John 14:1-3).

Jesus declared that His followers will know when His second coming is near, by the fulfilment of certain signs (Matt. 24:29-33; 16:1-3).

Jesus endorsed the payment of tithe, the tenth of one’s net income, to support the preaching of the gospel. The Pharisees gave God the value of a tenth of such diminutive herbs as mint, anise, and cumin from their gardens. But they overlooked the more important matters of the Pharisees tithing, Jesus said, “theses ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone” Matt. 23:23. Tithing is a part of Jesus way.

It was Christ’s steadfast purpose to obey the will of God in all things – His eating, drinking, dressing, talking, or whatever. And He taught that His followers should obey God in everything. Their religion has a sanctifying influence on every aspect of life (John 15:14; 17:17, 19; Luke 6:46; Matt. 7:21; 12:50).

In view of Jesus´obedience to God´s instruction, it is certain that He refrained from eating he flesh of those animal, fowls, and fish that are unfit for food according to Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14. when a person adopts the way of Jesus, 1 Corinthians 10:31 will be the controlling rule of his life: “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”

Jesus declared that His followers will be separate from the world, and will not follow its sinful ways (John 15:19; 17:15, 16; Luke 14:33). Those who choose the Jesus way will shun sinful practices such as dancing, gambling, and spiritually destructive television.

Jesus Christ taught that Christians should practice certain ordinances to show their love for Him, and for one another. By His example He endorsed the ordinance of baptism by immersion as a sign that the believer has committed his life fully to God (Matt. 3:13-17). He taught that baptism is one of the steps in being saved (Mark 16:15, 16). Many Christians sincerely believe that sprinkling is baptism. But Christian baptism is a burial (Rom. 6:35; Col. 2:12). Sprinkling does not meet God’s pattern for His followers.

Jesus´instructions concerning the ordinances of humility and of the Lord’s Supper are found in John 13:12-15 and Mathew 26:26-28. he washed His disciples´feet, then commanded His followers to do so also: “If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet” (John 13:14). He gave the broken bread as an emblem of His body sacrificed for us, and the wine as an emblem of His blood shed for or sins.

Among the many religions in the world, where do you find a people who follow all these steps in the way of Jesus? All denominations follow some of them, some follow nearly all, but only one group follows all of these steps – that is the Seventh-day Adventist people. This confirms that they represent Christ’s remnant – the last part of His true church. This reveals that Adventists, as the people of the threefold-message movement, are not merely another church or some new church, but a restoration of the original religion of Christ. They are not religious innovators or inventors of strange new doctrines, but the restorers of the ancient Jesus way. They are restoring every neglected truth taught and practiced by the church in the days of the apostles.
If you knew which church Jesus Christ would unite with if He lived in your city, as He lived in Palestine 1900 years ago, would you unite with it? Jesus has not changed. Is it not clear that if He live here today He would take His stand with these people who teach and practice what He taught then?

In the West Point cadet’s prayer there is a sentence that says, “Make us choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong, and never be content with a half truth, when the whole can be won.” O how people need to apply this when confronted with these steps Christ has left for us to follow!
Love makes difficult things easy. Jesus declares that if we love Him we will keep His commandments (John 14:15). When we love Him we find real happiness in doing what He asks us to do.

Jesus expects us to follow His requirements all the way. When He washed the feet of His disciples before He inaugurated the Lord’s Supper, Peter at first refused to have Jesus wash his feet. He said: “Thou shalt never wash my feet.” Jesus told him, “If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me” John 13:8. Then Peter quickly agreed to have the Master wash his feet. But note, if Peter had persisted in his refusal, it would have cost him eternal life. We cannot afford to refuse to have Jesus do with us as He wills, or to withhold obedience to any of His biddings. When we love Jesus with all our heart, we will follow Him all the way.