“Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” (Rev. 14:12) “The image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.” (Rev. 13:15) All hell is moved against the development of the people who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. So far all hell has been very successful in holding back the development of such a people.
“Had the purpose of God been carried out by His people in giving to the world the message of mercy, Christ would, ere this, have come to the earth, and the saints would have received their welcome into the city of God.” [1900] (6T 450)
“I know that if the people of God had preserved a living connection with Him, if they had obeyed His Word, they would today be in the heavenly Canaan.” (General Conference Bulletin, March 30, 1903) “Had Adventists, after the great disappointment in 1844, held fast their faith and followed on unitedly in the opening providence of God,…the work would have been completed, and Christ would have come ere this to receive His people to their reward….It was not the will of God that the coming of Christ should be thus delayed.” (mss. 4, 1883)
“We may have to remain here in this world because of insubordination many more years.” (letter 184, 1901) This means that you and I have a great deal to say about how long we will remain on Planet Earth. At a pastors’ meeting the pastors were discussing how the signs in the world clearly reveal that the coming of Jesus is even at the door. One of the pastors confidently affirmed, “I’m not too concerned about what’s coming or how He’s coming, I am only interested in who is coming.” It was a nice sound bite and many of the pastors responded with a hearty “amen.” Many of our pastors have no idea of our real mission and why we are still here.
Paul Landa, who taught history at La Sierra University specializing in Reformation studies, wrote, “The world has changed….And even the Roman Catholic Church has changed....It is no longer the…liberty-opposing, Protestant-hating…organization of former years, intent on ruling the world from Rome….Seventh-day Adventists ought to involve themselves in building bridges of understanding to reach out to Roman Catholics and developing bonds of love to enable them with us to arrive at a fuller appreciation and application of the gospel of Jesus Christ.” (Adventist Today, July/August, 1993)
1 Frank Knittel,, who at the time was an English teacher at La Sierra University said regarding Ellen White’s view of the papacy in the book The Great Controversy, “White gave Adventism her interpretation of the Scriptures, and her view is not infallible….Whatever we believe should be based totally upon what we derive from our own study of the Bible and not upon anything written by anyone since the canon of the Scriptures was established….We wear out the pages of the Ellen White Index when we should instead be studying the Bible.” (Adventist Today, July/August, 1993) It is obvious that we need to know who we are and what is ahead of us.
THE LATTER RAIN
There must be something special about this closing experience. This is a special war in this age-long controversy. “The dignitaries of church and state will unite to bribe, persuade, or compel all classes to honor the Sunday….And even in free America, rulers and legislators, in order to secure public favor, will yield to the popular demand for a law enforcing Sunday observance.” (GC 592) The national Sunday law is a great landmark. It stands out as something that can be seen.
“As the approach of the Roman armies was a sign to the disciples of the impending destruction of Jerusalem, so may this apostasy be a sign to us that the limit of God’s forbearance is reached, that the measure of our nation’s iniquity is full, and that the angel of mercy is about to take her flight, never to return.” (5T 451) Our nation will align herself fully with the dragon and the beast. The only purpose of the time between the national Sunday law and the close of probation is to get God’s people out of Babylon.
This is the time of Revelation 18:1, but the loud cry cannot happen without the latter rain. The early rain might fall for years, but without the latter rain Christ could never come. “Unless we are daily advancing in the exemplification of the active Christian virtues, we shall not recognize the manifestations of the Holy Spirit in the latter rain. It may be falling on hearts all around us, but we shall not discern or receive it.” (TM 507) But don’t think that when the latter rain is poured out upon God’s people it is going to be so quiet that many won’t know anything is happening. “There is to be in the churches a wonderful manifestation of the power of God.” (LDE 209) When the latter rain falls upon this people, it is going to come with mighty power. It will come like Pentecost, but more so.
It is not enough merely to say, “We are looking for the latter rain. We know the latter rain is coming. It will be glorious. We expect to receive it.” The Jewish people expected the Messiah to come just as much as any Seventh-day Adventist expects the latter rain to come. If people will not accept the earnest plea to repent and change their lives, if they will not accept what the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy say, do not think that the power of the latter rain is going to cause them to embrace reform—the very thing they have hated, despised, and ridiculed.
2 “Those who come up to every point, and stand every test, and overcome, be the price what it may, have heeded the counsel of the True Witness, and they will receive the latter rain, and thus be fitted for translation.” (1T 187) “I saw that none could share the ‘refreshing’ unless they obtain the victory over every besetment, over pride, selfishness, love of the world, and over every wrong word and action.” (EW 71) Those who receive the refreshing have already obtained the victory. The getting of the victory comes before the latter rain.
“Oh, how many I saw in the time of trouble without a shelter. They had neglected the needful preparation; therefore they could not receive the refreshing that all must have to fit them to live in the sight of a holy God.” (EW 71) The only ones who get the refreshing are those who have regarded the needful preparation, which results in their getting the victory over everything. “I saw some, with strong faith and agonizing cries, pleading with God. Their countenances were pale and marked with deep anxiety, expressive of their internal struggle.” (EW 269) Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane had a struggle. And you and I, if we are ever to obtain the victory, are going to go through a struggle.
Jesus’ heart is set on getting sins erased, eradicated, and gone forever. That is what the remnant is praying for. They are not praying that what they did last year will be forgiven. They are praying that the sins they might do today and tomorrow will never be done, that the very roots of sin will be taken out, that they may stand before the Lamb without spot and blameless.
THE SHAKING
“Some, I saw, did not participate in this work of agonizing and pleading. They seemed indifferent and careless.” (EW 270) Within the entire church, there is represented a little company who are standing in the light. They are agonizing and praying. (The danger is that you and I will begin to make mental lists of who is in the light and who isn’t. But God never gave us that command.) It is dangerous to have the idea that because the movement is going through, that almost everybody in the church is going to go through. “To stand in defense of truth and righteousness when the majority forsake us, to fight the battles of the Lord when champions are few—this will be our test.” (5T 136)
“I saw angels of God hasten to the assistance of all who were struggling with all their power to resist the evil angels and trying to help themselves by calling upon God with perseverance. But His angels left those who made no effort to help themselves, and I lost sight of them.” (EW 270) Right in the church, angels leave the indifferent and careless and help the ones who resist the darkness. That does not mean that these people actually leave the church. They go right on in the church in good and regular standing, but the angels of God have left them. Why? Because they made no effort to resist the darkness. They didn’t plead with God for victory over their sins. They didn’t unite in earnest, agonizing prayer for victory. Before the loud cry can 3 come, there must come this time of preparation of agonizing prayer for victory over sin—sin in our hearts and sin in the church.
“The numbers of this company had lessened. Some had been shaken out and left by the way. The careless and indifferent, who did not join with those who prized victory and salvation enough to perseveringly plead and agonize for it, did not obtain it, and they were left behind in darkness, and their places were immediately filled by others taking hold of the truth and coming into the ranks.” (EW 271) They go out by the thousands and come in by the thousands. Many of our people are looking forward to when people will come in by the thousands. But very few are prepared for the awful disappointment that will come about as the majority leaves.
“I heard those clothed with the armor speak forth the truth with great power….I asked what had made this great change. An angel answered, ‘It is the latter rain, the refreshing from the presence of the Lord, the loud cry of the third angel.’” (EW 271) But before they got the latter rain they obtained the victory over sin. How many sins? Every sin. Is it a fanatical thing to believe that anybody in this world is ever going to come to the place where they quit sinning? Nothing is fanatical that the Word of God teaches. God teaches that some people are going to obtain the victory. Let us make up our minds that we are going to keep going in that direction, and never stop until we get there.
The same people who give the loud cry with mighty power and sing the song of victory are the ones who before were agonizing and praying, sighing and crying. What were they weeping about? Their own sins, weaknesses, and failures. “They lament and afflict their souls because pride, avarice, selfishness, and deception of almost every kind are in the church.” (5T 210-211) They are burdened about conditions in the church, and they are not lulled to sleep with a serene song that says everything will come out all right, that we don’t need to be concerned. “Just keep the Sabbath and pay your tithe, and everything will be just fine.” The reason God is going to do something in His church is in answer to the prayers of the faithful few. If we are not among the faithful few, we had better get there as fast as we can. Let us never come to the place where we say, “I guess what I had better do is forget all that seeking, and just go along with the crowd. I will still get there.” The church is going through, but it is not going through without a terrible struggle. There is going to come a great shaking. Those who go through the shaking and sifting will come out victorious with the seal of God. They will go through the time of Jacob’s trouble, and will be translated when Jesus comes.
We will either have to be cleaned up or cleaned out.
As we see worldly tendencies in the church, we sometimes become a bit discouraged. But the future is bright with the promise of God. As the church is shaken and sifted, the pure remnant will remain, and all the others will be sifted out. “The great issue so near at hand will weed out those whom God has not appointed and He will have a pure, true, sanctified ministry prepared for the latter rain.” (LDE 179) “To stand in defense 4 of truth and righteousness when the majority forsake us, to fight the battles of the Lord when champions are few—this will be our test.” (5T 136) Those who go through the shaking and get the victory over sin, through earnest prayer and crying to God, are those who receive the latter rain.
THE SEALING
What is the reason for this traumatic shaking? “Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of God in their foreheads.” (Rev. 7:3) “And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.” (Ezek. 9:4)
What exactly is the sealing? It is a “settling into the truth, both intellectually and spiritually, so they cannot be moved.” (4BC 1161) Whatever God believes about any vital subject is what the sealed person will believe.
But for you and me to be settled into the truth spiritually means that we not only know the truth, but we love it and practice it. It is a part of our character. We must not think that the sealing is some abrupt act.
Rather, we are in the process of becoming sealed over a period of time, and the close of probation must find that work completed. God’s people are to be settled both intellectually and spiritually so that they cannot be moved in the time of trouble. The sealing is the culmination of a long experience.
Those who are sealed will be those who feel truly sorry about sin. If there is in our hearts the desire and inclination to go after the things of this world, and the only reason we don’t is because we think we can’t get away with it, we are not ready for the seal. Any weakness in our own character should cause us to sigh and to cry. Any sins in the lives of others should cause us to sigh and to cry. If we are heart to heart with Jesus, we will weep over sin as He weeps over sin. Without this, we can never get ready for the seal of God.
The time from the national Sunday law to the close of probation is the special time of sealing and marking.
The sealing work has been going on all through this time, but when a person is sealed, he will be sealed completely when the work is over. No one is sealed until the work is completed. The sealed person has so received the character of God that there is no way that he will change.
CLEANSING
The latter rain does not come to cleanse the people of God. That must be done previous to the latter rain.
But the Holy Spirit does come to do something for them. He comes to settle them into the truth, the truth that they have already learned and practiced. “Those who are distrustful of self, who are humbling themselves before God and purifying their souls by obeying the truth—these are receiving the heavenly mold and preparing for the seal of God in their foreheads….When the decree goes forth and the stamp is impressed, their character will remain pure and spotless for eternity.” (5T 216) We will come out of that 5 experience with characters that will be the wonder and admiration of the universe. And even the devil will be amazed. He will stand viewing us as an incomprehensible mystery.
God must have a people prepared, perfected, and ready to meet Him. The preparation of those people is the work of this message. OUR REASON FOR EXISTENCE AS A CHURCH, AS A DENOMINATION, IS THE PREPARATION OF THAT PEOPLE. There is coming a time, though, when the church will be clean. God will have a people, pure and true before the visitation of His judgments on the earth. Remember, we will never get a clean world until we get a clean church. But something must come before that church is cleansed; the individual members must be cleaned up—have clean hearts. When individuals get clean hearts, God will soon begin the cleansing of the church. And when He gets a clean church, it won’t be long until this world will be cleansed and be a fit place to live in.
The casting out of Satan makes it possible for the place he was cast out of to be clean. When Satan was cast out of heaven 6,000 years ago, heaven was cleansed. When Satan is cast out of the church, the church will be clean. And when Satan is cast out of the world, the universe will be clean. You can never have a clean heart while the devil has a foothold inside, because Satan defiles everything he touches. And the church can never be fully clean, fully purified, as long as Satan or His agents have any place within it. The world must be delivered from every vestige of Satan’s influence before we have a clean universe. Satan is going to be cast out of hearts; he’s going to be cast out of the church; he’s going to be cast out of this world.
“There is a work to be done that has not yet been done. The temple courts are not yet cleansed as they must be.” (mss. 105, 1898) “The purging and cleansing will surely pass through every church in our land that has had great opportunities and privileges, and has passed them by unheeded.” (TM 414) But the only ones who can be in that experience, and continue through it, will be those whose hearts have been cleansed by Jesus.
There must not be one impurity left in the heart. A pure church will be composed of pure, clean individuals.
God is going to make a clean work, a thorough work. “Should Christ enter our institutions for the education of the youth, He would cleanse them as He cleansed the temple, banishing many things that have a defiling influence. Many of the books which the youth study would be expelled.” (FCE 174)
Perhaps you’re like many a soul who is waiting for God to cleanse him, waiting for victory over sin; perhaps it’s an evil temper now and then, perhaps a critical spirit. You may say, “I wish Jesus would come into my heart as He entered the temple at Jerusalem and drive that sin out of my soul.” You can pray about it, wish about it, and hope about it from now until probation closes; but if that’s all you do about it, you’ll be lost.
With faith in your heart, courage in your soul, and determination in your mind, you must push the devil out.
“The expulsion of sin is the act of the soul itself.” (DA 466)
But many will say, “I thought Jesus did that. I’ll just turn it over to Him.” It is true that only Christ can cleanse the soul temple. But He won’t do it without you. He does it through you. Whenever you get ready for the 6 devil to leave, God is right with you, infusing His strength into your poor, weak will. “True, we have no power to free ourselves from Satan’s control; but when we desire to be set free from sin, and in our great need cry out for a power out of and above ourselves, the powers of the soul are imbued with the divine energy of the Holy Spirit, and they obey the dictates of the will in fulfilling the will of God.” (DA 466) And when you have prayed to God for victory, then arise in the strength of God and be free. “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you.” (James 4:7-8)
From 1844 on, it is not a matter of days or weeks or months or years but, rather, a development of a people.
And when those people are developed, when their characters are perfected, then the crisis at the close breaks with all the force of a great hurricane or tornado. And all of this will culminate in the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary. The blotting out of sins in the sanctuary in heaven is the bookkeeping record of the actual blotting out of the sins of God’s people from their hearts and lives down here below. And God will never blot out the sins in the books up there unless they are blotted out down here. When the sanctuary is cleansed up there, you may be sure that it is because the sanctuary is cleansed down here. Jesus is going to purify His church today as He purified the temple of Jerusalem.
THIS IS THE PRIMARY AND DOMINANT REASON FOR THE EXISTENCE OF THE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH. WHEN THIS IS ACCOMPLISHED WE WILL FINISH THE WORK. Everything we do in our families, in our local churches, and in the worldwide church, must be focused on this mission. When our lives and the church are cleansed, the experiment of sin will be closed. Cleansed and Close. When that is a reality, Jesus will return. Until then we wait and hope.
(I am indebted to the studies of Elder W. D. Frazee for these concepts)
"And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched,and not have suffered his house to be broken through. Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not." (Luke 12:39,40)
But how can Seventh-day Adventists experience the thief in the night at Christ's second advent? Would they not expectHis return after the Sunday law, death decree, and plagues? Surely they will not be surprised. But what if the thief inthe night experience takes place before the second advent? What if it takes place at the coming of the latter rain?
There are two comings of the God in the end time: the coming of the latter rain, and the coming of Christ. Just as Christcomes a second time, the coming Pentecost is the second coming of the Holy Spirit. Preparation for the coming of theHoly Spirit is the most important need for us today. We must be ready to be sealed by the Holy Spirit in order to be ready for Christ's second advent. For us, the most importantconcern is being sealed in our minds and characters, not the coming of Christ.
Purpose of the Remnant
So how can we avoid the "thief in the night" crisis? Christ spoke of ten virgins, representing those who believed in thesecond coming. The foolish virgins were unprepared. For some time they were satisfied with their state. After all, theywere virgins waiting for the bridegroom. But they were satisfied with only a little of God's oil when they really neededmuch. They were not candidates for the sealing. Christ speaks of the end-time church as Laodicea, which thinks itneeds nothing, but really needs everything that counts for salvation. They are defeated by the crisis of self-satisfaction.
Here are two sobering quotations. "Had the church of Christ done her appointed work...the Lord Jesus would havecome to our earth in power and great glory." (DA 634) "It is the unbelief, the worldliness, unconsecration and strifeamong the Lord's professed people that have kept us in this world of sin and sorrow so many years." (Ev 696) Wehave been failing in the purpose God has set for His people.
Ellen White defines the sealing as "a settling into the truth, both intellectually and spiritually, so they cannot be moved." (FLB 287) Without the seal, or without the latter rain of the Holy Spirit, no one can survive the times of trouble that arecoming. The reason for the existence of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is to prepare a people to receive the seal ofGod.
Revelation 7 tells of four angels who are holding back the winds of destruction for one reason. "And I saw anotherangel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, towhom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we havesealed the servants of our God in their foreheads." (vs. 2,3) Only when God's people are sealed will it be possible forJesus to return. Yet this simple truth is currently one of the most opposed truths within Adventism.
Sample of Opposition
Following is a typical example of this kind of opposition. "We drift to believing we influence the determined time of thereturn of Christ, believing we have delayed His return or can hasten His return. We believe that we may become, by ourown efforts, the last generation. We determine within ourselves to be a people of a special quality, a distinct people likethe world has never before known, fit for the return of Christ. Ellen White does not call for a supposed higher spiritualnature of God's people, and there is no reference to the human moral condition being determinative. Believing webecome the last generation by our own spiritual performance produces a focus on ourselves. Inevitably, such a focus leads us to moralism and perfectionism as ends in themselves and as substitutes for faith and humble proclamation ofthe grace of God."
I would suggest nine points of response to these ideas:
- It refers to a determined time of the return of Christ, as if nothing can change that.
- It says that it is wrong to believe that we have delayed His return. But did not DA 634 and Ev 696 say exactlythat?
- It says that it is wrong to believe that we may become by our own efforts the last generation. Who has ever said that we can do this by our own efforts?
- It refers to a special quality, a distinct people. But isn't that exactly what it will take to live after the close of probationwithout a Mediator?
- It refers to a supposed higher spiritual nature. We could fill the rest of this paper with inspired statements whichrefer to a higher spiritual condition of the last generation.
- It refers to our own spiritual performance. This makes it sound like some kind of spiritual show instead of adeeper dependence on the power of God.
- It refers to a focus on ourselves. This makes it all sound like self-righteousness and Phariseeism.
- It refers to moralism and perfectionism. It is so easy to label character perfection as perfectionism, to make it appearas negative as possible.
- It says these are substitutes for faith, as if believing in victory over sin through God's grace is the opposite of faith.
For years there has been a determined attack on the primary mission of the remnant church, which is a) to prepare apeople who are ready to receive the seal of God and the latter rain, and b) to give the final warning message to theworld, and c) to overcome all sin by God's grace and Christ's power, and d) to live without any sin during the seven lastplagues, and e) to vindicate God's promise that there will be a people who will actually keep His commandments 100%of the time.
How Can This Be Done?
If we are willing to reject, as we definitely should, this Satan-inspired attempt to discredit the divinely- given mission andmessage of the remnant; if we will choose to believe that God did not make a mistake when He made promises to Hischosen people that are higher than the highest human thought can reach, then the only question left to ask is How. Howcan we be part of such an impossible dream? The answer is found in the midst of a storm on Galilee. "And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master,we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm. And he said unto them, Where is your faith?" (Luke 8:24,25) Today the question for us is, Where is our faith? Will wespend the rest of our lives in pious apology for failing to do what He says we can do? Will we continue to refuse tobelieve that all His biddings are enablings?
The answer to "how" always has been and always will be Faith. Faith kept Jesus from sinning. The faith of Jesusproduced the character of Jesus. "As the Son of God lived by faith in the Father, so are we to live by faith in Christ. Sofully was Jesus surrendered to the will of God that the Father alone appeared in His life." (DA 389)
God is not asking us to have the faith of Abraham or the faith of Moses, but the faith of Jesus. It will take the faith ofJesus to withstand the assaults of Satan in the last days. "Where is your faith?" is the question Jesus asks of the lastgeneration. Out of the large group who talk and sing about being ready for the return of Jesus, there will come asmaller group who will understand Jesus' question.
So what is the faith of Jesus. It is heart certainty that what God says is true and real, no matter how impossible itseems. Biblical faith knows that God's Word can be trusted. Faith is the whole person saying "Yes" to God andobeying whatever rules He sees fit to give us without complaining or quibbling. Faith in the opposite of sin. Faith ispower and vigor and living as Jesus did.
"For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even ourfaith. (1 John 5:4) Faith, not knowledge or trying harder, overcomes Satan. Christ demonstrated that when faithconnects with divine power, men and women can live without sinning. Either sin is destroyed completely, or it willtriumph completely.
Only when His people reveal faith in His power will they be able to take the gospel to the world. They will show that faithis the difference-maker between nominal church members and genuine Christians. "He who has not sufficient faith inChrist to believe that He can keep Him from sinning, has not the faith that will give him an entrance into the kingdom ofGod." (RH March 10, 1904)
God is waiting for men and women of faith. Enoch and Elijah were men of faith, and their lives teach us that heaven willtranslate no one unless he or she has become an overcomer. "The godly character of [Enoch] represents the state ofholiness which must be attained by those who shall be 'redeemed from the earth' at the time of Christ's second advent." (PP 88,89) "For his faithful obedience to God he was translated. So, also, the faithful, who are alive and remain, willbe translated." (2T 122)
Some generation of church members will become God's faithful last generation. They will not only say "Yes" to everything He says, but they will demonstrate the quality of what happens to people who say "Yes" to God. Not a rebelexists among them--they are men and women of faith.
The Surrender of Self
Following are some excerpts from a Joe Crews Classic:
Every day with Jesus should be sweeter than the day before. Each moment should find us moving up in ourexperience with a deeper faith. This very moment He wants to lead us deeper into the waters of surrender andconsecration. There are still victories to be won, sins to be put away, and a drawing together that needs to beaccomplished by the Holy Spirit. Many are afraid of that word "perfect." They are fearful that God will ask them to do something they are not willing to do.
But now we come face to face with the basic weakness that has led millions into discouragement and defeat. They simply have not been reconciled to giving up the enjoyment of their sins. Until that choice is made andacted upon, there can be no real victory over sin. I am convinced that there are only two possible reasons for aperson holding back. Either he or she is not willing to give up the enjoyment of the sin or else does not believethat God can give deliverance from it.
Self is our greatest enemy. Once we have settled the score with that old man of the flesh who seeks to ruleover us, all the other victories will come in their course. God has given every one a powerful and personalweapon to use in combating the self. The will is our only natural reserve weapon; everything depends on theright action of this resource.
Many are not willing to admit the true cause behind the raging conflict. The truth is that God wants somethingthat self is not willing to give up. They love something more than they love God.
We also need to admit that we fight a spiritual enemy who is stronger than we are. In the weakness of our fleshthe harder we try the deeper we sink into the mire. We have no natural ability to keep our thoughts andimagination under control. Without the transforming grace of the new birth, "the carnal mind...is not subject tothe law of God, neither indeed can be." (Romans 8:7) The mind renewed by Jesus Christ holds the onlyanswer to true victory. (Inside Report, July-Sept., 2015)
Ellen White adds this remarkable statement: "Every faculty that we possess has been provided for us in Christ....A sparkof God's own life has been breathed into the human body, making man a living soul, the possessor of moralendowments, and a will to direct his own course of action." (ST Aug. 26,, 1897) This spark of God's own life is a conscience and a will to choose against self, and every man and woman has been given this spark.
When we choose God's way instead of our own selfish way, we will truly care about others. This means that carmechanics hasten the coming of Jesus by offering the best possible service at reasonable pricing to those whosevehicles are not performing well, thus blessing the owners. It means plumbers fix the leaky pipes of elderly widowscheerfully, and maybe at a reduced cost. It means that schoolteachers recognize that the troublesome student in theirclass is a child coping with severe family dysfunction and in urgent need of love and support. It means that the cityemployee, paid to collect rubbish, willingly picks up the scattered mess of a trashcan overturned by a carelessly backedcar.
Character Perfection
So many are scared to death of the teaching that we will develop perfect characters in Christ's power. John Wesleybrought to the forefront the gospel's power to provide victory over temptation. John Wesley met much opposition. Oneof his greatest opponents was Count von Zinzendorf. In commenting upon von Zinzendorf's views Wesley wrote: "Thereis scarcely an expression in Holy Writ which has given more offense than this. The word perfect is what many cannotbear. The very sound of it is an abomination to them, and whosoever preaches perfection...that it is obtainable in thislife, runs great hazard of being counted by them, worse than a heathen man or a publican." Still speaking of Count von Zinzendorf,Wesley continued, "'No,' says the great man. 'This is an error of errors. I hate it from my heart. I pursue it through allthe world with fire and sword this idea that you can overcome sin.'" In response, Wesley said, "I say, why so vehement? Why are those who oppose salvation from sin...so eager? In God's name, why are you so fond of sin? What has it everdone for you? What good is it ever likely to do for you in this world, or in the world to come? And why are you so violentagainst those who hope for a deliverance from it?" (The Works of Wesley, vol. 6, p. 1)
The final generation of saints will reflect the character of Christ, not for human glorification, but for the glorification oftheir Lord. Any claims which deny that Christ has the power to give victory in the life of the wholly surrendered soul isan attack upon His character, His sacrifice, and His high priestly ministry.
But when our personal salvation is made central to the gospel, self-centeredness seems to dominate the thinking, andChrist and His glory tend to become secondary. When the most important question is, Am I assured of my salvation?, there is too much of I and me involved. Our focus needs to move away from me to Christ. Is my life glorifying Christ? Am I telling and living the truth about His character? Are His requests andHis commands a joy and a delight to follow?
Romans 7
Romans 7 is the chapter most often used to deny character perfection. The man of Romans 7 is not a hypocrite. He issincere and earnest, but he is not a genuinely converted man. Romans 7 describes the classic legalist. This mansincerely desires victory. He strives with all his human effort for victory, but meets with frequent failure. "For that whichI do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I....For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh)dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good thatI would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do." (Romans 7:15,18,19)
Let us compare Romans 7 with Galatians 2. "Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me." (Romans7:17) "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in theflesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20) These are twoentirely different experiences.
Only total dependence upon Jesus can bring perfection of character. The legalist suffers with conflict and frustration. Some give up altogether and choose the pleasures of this world. Others continue with the false hope that someday inthe far future they will reach perfection. But the man of Romans 7 asked the correct question when he cried out for help,"Who shall deliver me?" The answer comes quickly in verse 25, "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord."
The man of Romans 7 declares himself to be "carnal, sold under sin." (Romans 7:14) Paul notes that "to be carnallyminded is death." (Romans 8:6) But in Romans 8 there is transformation because Christ has become the center of thisman's life. "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." (Romans8:2)
Either we are under the law of sin and death, or we are under the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. The former arecarnally minded, the latter are spiritually minded. Nowhere in Scripture is the contrast between human effort alone onthe one hand, and human submission to the power of Christ on the other, more strongly contrasted. That is whyRomans 8 ends in such a triumphant proclamation. "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril,or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay,in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, norlife, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any othercreature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus or Lord." (Romans 8:35-39)
Conclusion
One of the greatest fears about the doctrine of perfection is that it concentrates on behavior and does not provideassurance for God's people. It is true that those who have not surrendered their lives to Jesus have no basis forassurance; whereas those whose lives are hid in Him have no reason to doubt His saving grace. "Let us draw near witha true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed withpure water." (Hebrews 10:22)
God's loyal people, who have known sin and abomination in their lives, but have received of the power of the gospel andhave washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, all in His strength and His courage, face everycrisis, every difficulty, every test, every trial, and every barrier, with full assurance of the strength of Christ.
In recent times, with the doctrinal and lifestyle dissonance within our church, there have been strong cries for unity. Jesus showed the way to real unity. "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth....And for their sakes I sanctifymyself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth." (John 17:17,19) Until God's people are sanctified, there will not be unity. Every other call is a call for a counterfeit unity. Frequently, these are calls to compromise, consensus, or the silencing of truth.
Ellen White wrote: "Unity is the sure result of Christian perfection." (SL 85) Unity is not a goal, as it is often presentedto be. It is the natural result of Christian perfection. "There is no sanctification aside from truth." (FCE 432) If we are toachieve that perfect unity necessary for the pouring out of the latter rain, God's people must hold the truth inviolate. Butmore than this, they must allow the truth to be translated into the very fabric of their lives, bringing the sanctifyingprinciple of God's love.
"Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measureof the stature of the fulness of Christ: that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about withevery wind of doctrine, be the sleight of man, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speakingthe truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ." (Ephesians 4:13-15) There is noother way to hasten the coming of Jesus Christ. The sanctuary message is designed to lead to the justification andsanctification of God's people, the blotting out of their sins, and the uniting of the lives of men and women in God's truth, providing their title and fitness for heaven. There is no other way. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.