How Good is Perfect
Presented by Frank Phillips
When you came in this evening
you received a handout. And I’d just like to ask you to take that in your hand
now because it’s going to be necessary for us to do just a little
explaining. This handout really isn’t
directly connected with the service tonight, but indirectly it is. But it is a handout that will require a lot
of study—one that you’ll receive a great blessing from. It took a long time to work this up and I’m
sure that as you study it you’ll see that it truly has some meat in it. It is built on the basis of the text that you
find on the top arrow, Proverbs 23:26, My son give me
thine heart and let thine eyes observe my ways.
It’s built on the basis of actually God begins from the inside and works
outward and Satan always works from the outside in. Exactly opposite.
And on this basis we find that the top arrow here is depicting God’s method of
working, he bypasses these circles and goes right directly to the heart. Each
of those circles represents a resistance barrier, a resistance barrier that
Satan sets up. For you see, where I’m actually an individual here at the call
of God, contrary to what we normally think, the devil whispers in the ear of
the individual who becomes serious about giving his heart to the Lord and says
yes that’s exactly what you ought to do.
You ought to give your heart to the Lord. And then he says, let me show you how. You didn’t know that? Well, Ellen White says that in every
evangelistic campaign, while God is bringing true converts into the church,
Satan is bringing unconverted souls into the church. And believe me, we’ll show you in the next
five meetings how that Satan has been very successful. Now what actually happens, you see, when
actually an individual decides that they want to give their heart to the Lord,
the devil says, Now the way to do this is to get busy
for God. And the outside circle here
you’ll notice is an activity ring. At
the top of the page you’ll notice that under the heading God’s method of imparting
the divine nature to man is righteousness by faith. God is only one way of imparting his divine
nature to man, and that’s with righteousness by faith. However, the devil has a substitute. And so
he says, Now get busy for God. And if he can keep a person who is interested
in or who has given their heart to the Lord and thinks they have, if he can
keep them busy in activities, he’s happy. And there are many, many Christian
people today who are very busy doing things for God—so busy that they have not
yet learned how to live for God. For you
see, it’s much easier to do for God than it is to be for
God. And there’s a vast difference. To actually do for God in truth keeps
self very much alive. But to be
for God crucifies self. And the devil doesn’t want us to know this and he
doesn’t want us to enter into that kind of experience, so he keeps you busy
doing things that we consider to be actually good things. Now you’ll notice within the circle, each of
these circles there are two verses or scripture and one activity—consecration,
work, bible study, kindness. All of
these things, and Satan promotes these just as much as
God does. Now you’ll remember of course,
that as he worked with Christ, he was constantly quoting scripture. And he has done this all down through the
ages of time working with human beings. And so you’ll find that at the bottom
of the page, at the P, Satan’s plan is not underlined. God’s plan to the right of each is
underlined. Now there comes a time in
every person’s life when activity does not suffice, so they say there must be
something more to religion than this. And
so the devil takes them then to the next circle, and that’s the circle of
emotions. Emotionalism. And it may surprise you, but it is an actual
fact that probably without doubt 90 to 95% of the Christian world
live their religious lives in their emotions. And the most recent charismatic movement is a
demonstration of the effectiveness of this program. For it has swept through every solitary
organization including the 7th Day Adventist Church. And we have many charismatics within the 7th
Day Adventist Church, whether we believe it or not. I come from an area where there is a strong
charismatic movement that has grown in five years from about 300 members to
3,000 members. And last Sabbath, one
week ago, this church had grown to the point where they held four services on
every Sunday. They were having so many 7th
Day Adventists attend these services that they started their first Sabbath
service last Sabbath to accommodate 7th Day Adventists. Now don’t even foul yourself. This is making
an impact in the 7th Day Adventist Church. Emotional religion. Based on satisfying self, pleasing self, feeling good. This is Satan’s plan. But if there comes a time in an individual’s
life when they say, Well that’s not enough, I mean there must be something more
than this to religion, the devil still has one circle to hold a man. And that’s
the inner circle. And you’ll notice that that circle is feelings, senses. One of the five senses. It’s in this area where Satan takes the
individual and it’s there that they become
fanatics. Every fanaticism is built on
one of the five senses. Out of proportion, yes.
But once a person becomes a fanatic in any one of these areas, it’s extremely
difficult to actually touch them. Now
you’ll notice the top arrow, God goes directly to the heart and works out from
the heart and actually begins with the five senses. And from that spreads on to the emotions and
to the activities. This is God’s plan--exactly the reverse of Satan’s. Now at the bottom of the page you’ll notice
that Satan’s arrow never reaches the heart.
His plan never does get to the heart, for Satan works through the
senses. That’s why Ellen White says that
we need to guard well the avenues to the soul. And then she defines this by telling us that
the avenues to the soul are the five senses.
This is the devil’s playground.
And Satan makes us feel. Makes us
feel religious. Makes us feel
happy. Makes us feel any way he chooses
to make us feel, and this becomes the substitute to the true thing. I’d like to have you take this chart and at
your leisure study it, and you’ll discover some of the
hidden secrets of Satan’s method of actually working.
My subject this evening now is
How Good is Perfect.
And I’d like to call your attention to a verse of scripture found in Nahum. And Nahum 1:9, there we find the prophets
saying, what do you imagine against the Lord?
He will make an utter end. Affliction
shall not rise up the second time. In my
humble opinion, this verse of scripture constitutes probably without question
the most incomprehensible promise that you find in the Bible. God promises in this verse of scripture that
human beings taken from this planet and placed in an earth-made new are never
even in thought going to rebel against him.
I don’t understand how he can deal with this. Do you?
This, you see, is in spite of
the fact that actually in John 8:36 God says, If the
Son shall make you free, you shall be what?
Free indeed. In this realm of
freedom, still God promises actual total and complete to the entire universe
the angelic heavens and inhabitants on other worlds that we rebellious, we
sinful, flabby human beings will be able to be depended upon throughout eternity,
that there will never arise sin again.
Now I’d just like to ask you one thing.
If you had to pick out individuals that would fit into that picture,
what would you do? Where would you
start? What kind of an examination would
you give that would qualify a person for that kind of faith? You can readily see that it’s God’s faith in
us and not our faith in him that allows him to do this. For man’s faith has always failed. But it is
God’s faith in us that has enables this to become a reality. You see the promise of Nahum 1:9 is actually
a promise that defies all of the history of mankind. For in reality, the natural man has proven
over and over again for 6,000 years that he is totally and completely
undependable. He simply cannot be
depended upon. Still in spite of this,
God in reality makes this promise. How
did he do this? Well in the first place
you see, as he said to Nicodemus in John the 3rd chapter, when
Nicodemus came to him that night in the darkness of the night because he was a
proud Jew, didn’t want to be seen coming to a lowly Jesus, and when he came at
night he started to compliment him as was the regular program of Nicodemus. And
Jesus simply swept all his compliments aside and said, Nicodemus, you’re not
gonna see the kingdom of God
unless you’re born again. Picture if you
can, the mind the Nicodemus, a man who was wealthy. He could actually buy anything that he
wanted. He had all the money he needed,
and much, much more. He was a member of
the Sanhedrin. He had influence with the
Jews. He was also very, very well
respected by the Romans. This is
evidenced by the fact that Pilot granted Joseph and Nicodemus the right to
actually take Jesus and bury him in that new tomb. But when Jesus said, Nicodemus, you’ve got to
be born again, I can just see the wheels in Nicodemus’s mind going around and
saying, my money isn’t gonna do me any good.
My Roman influence isn’t gonna do me any good, and the influence of the
Jews, that’s not gonna help me either.
And do you know what his conclusion was?
He said, How can these things be? It’s impossible. And Jesus said, You’re right. With
man it is impossible. And that’s
true. But you see, he followed on and he
said that which is flesh is what? Flesh. And that which
is spirit is spirit. And Nicodemus said, I don’t get it. I don’t understand this. And Jesus pointed his finger to him and said,
You a teacher in Israel and don’t understand this? You see, what Jesus was trying to get
Nicodemus to face is the same thing that he’s trying to get you and me to
face. To realize that it is impossible
for us to do one solitary thing toward perfection. Nicodemus thought he was also already there. Just like the rich young ruler. Is there anything more that I need? If there is, just point it, I’ll do it. Nicodemus felt exactly the same way. And Jesus pointed out Nicodemus’s
nothingness. He said, Nicodemus, you
haven’t even started at all. You’ve got
to become a new man entirely. You see,
that was a dilemma to him. How can these
things be? Can a man enter a second time
into his mother’s womb and be born? This
is ridiculous. You see, the things of God as far as the human mind is concerned is
ridiculous. They are ridiculous. No way
can we actually reason through the plan of salvation. You can’t do it. It must be done by faith. And so Nicodemus must reach out by faith, and
see that which God wanted him to actually see.
You see, the newborn
Christian is entirely a new creation.
It’s not a made-over individual.
That’s why Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:17, Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. New creation. Old things are passed away. Behold all things are become new. New from the top of the
head to the soles of the feet.
That’s why Ellen White wrote in Desire of Ages 172, the Christian’s life
is not a modification or an improvement of the old. But a transformation of nature, there is a
death to self and sin, and a new life altogether. This change can be brought about only by the
effectual working of the Holy Spirit. You
see, we still are plagued with the same kind of a theology that Nicodemus was
plagued with, that some way or other we can by effort resist, by determination
we can do, by with a little help of God along the way that we can actually
improve that which possesses us now. But
God says that’s not true. The born again
individual is an entirely new nature. Why? Why is this necessary? Well, Paul tells us in Romans the 8th
chapter, verse 7, that the carnal mind is enmity against God. It is not subject to the law of God, neither
indeed can be. You can’t bring it into
harmony with God in any sense of the word.
Now the word
enmity simply means hatred. The natural
man hates God. That hatred is manifested
in many, many different forms. Sometimes
it’s even cloaked with a religious garb.
But it nevertheless is still hatred for God and cannot be brought into
harmony with God’s law. There’s no way it can be. So obviously there is only one destination
for that natural man, that is the nature in which you
and I were born, and that’s the grave.
It must die. When that old nature dies, then the new creation that God
brings forth, God is capable and able to work with. He can’t even work with the old nature. There’s no way he can. But he can work with this new nature. You see, volume 5 Bible Commentary 11:32 says, Angelic perfection failed in heaven. Human perfection failed in Eden, the paradise abliss.
All who wish for security on earth or heaven must look to the lamb of God. Our only
hope is perfect trust in the blood of him who can save the uttermost all the
come into God by him. Our only hope, our
only hope, oh I wish I could think that truth deep into our hearts today. There
is no hope for us except by placing our trust, perfect trust in him. You may call it faith, because Ellen White
tells us that faith is actually belief coupled with trust. Faith is not faith unless it combines these
two characteristics—belief and trust.
That’s why we learn that the devils believe, but tremble. There is no faith there. There is no trust. There is belief, but there is no trust. And in order for faith to be faith, it must
combine the two. Belief
and trust. When those are
combined we have faith. You see, not
until actually the very root itself of sin it completely burned out of us in
the incinerating fires, it actually is going to be possible for the fulfillment
of Nahum 1:9 to be completed. In the
little book of Malachi in the very last chapter in the first verse 4:1 we read,
For behold the day cometh that shall burn as an oven and all the proud and all
that do wickedly shall be stubble, and that day shall cometh shall burn them
up, says the Lord, and it shall neither leave root or branch. The very root of
sin is going to be burned out. Well, you
say, then when the very root of sin is burned out and
sin is completely destroyed, the devil is destroyed, well it ought to be easy
to live in fulfillment of Christ’s promise.
Affliction shall not arise the second time. But let me remind you that it was in this
kind of a condition that angelic perfection failed. Still God promises that you and I are going
to never disappoint the angelic hosts in heaven. We’re never going to even in thought rebel
against him. It’s in this condition of a
lack of even the presence of evil, where no temptation actually existed that
Lucifer rebelled, and the human perfection failed on this earth. Now when we began to analyze this, we began
to realize that you see, this condition has already
been reached in the heavens above. And Lucifer was cast out. It’s been actually achieved in the worlds
flung afar who were tempted and Satan no longer has access to them. Satan has
zeroed in here and this world has become the theater, if you would, watched by
the entire world above. And only as
Jesus Christ pledges his own life as it were, by his own word that they can
trust us would they even accept a human family.
Do you think that just because you and I would promise that we’ll never
sin again that angels of heaven or the worlds out there will say, well yes let
him come. No. Never. Only by Jesus’ pledge. That’s the only way it could be. Then can you understand,
can we see how important it is to absolutely have no trust in self at all. To trust wholly in him. And until we actually do this, trust completely
in him, Jesus can never make that promise for us.
What does this actually
involve? How deep does this literally
go? Well, let me just read to you
another couple of quotations that will take us a little deeper. In volume 5, page 294, Testimonies this time,
we read the enemy is preparing his last campaign against the church. This startles me. He has so concealed himself from view that
many can hardly believe that he exists, much less can
they be convinced of his amazing activity and power. They have to a great extent forgotten his
past record. And when he makes another advanced move, and listen
now, they will not recognize him as the enemy, that old serpent, but they will
consider him as a friend. One who is
doing good work. That’s the church members. That’s the
church members. And
actually not recognizing Satan’s work.
Now notice what actually follows.
She says, boasting of their independence they will under his factious
bewitching influence obey the worst impulses of the human heart and yet believe
that God is leading them. Could their
eyes be opened, they would distinguish their captain and they would see that
they are not serving God, but the enemy of all righteousness. They would see that their boasted
independence is one of the heaviest fetters that Satan can rivet on unbalanced
minds. Have you ever heard anyone say in
recent times—I want to do my own thing. Could it be that this great surge of
independent thinking throughout the entire country is this very last deception
that Satan is perpetrating upon the human family? Could it be even the reason why we see in the
world independence arising from every avenue from nations rebelling, demanding
their sovereignty.
Cities, villages, homes, families, breaking up on the
one basis of independence. I
don’t have to take it. And could it be
that even within the church of God we hear the same thing echoing. Independence. Could it be that even, and I hesitate to say this
lest I be misunderstood, could it be that even the women’s lib movement is a
part of this same deception. Now you can
throw me out if you want to. But I
believe that if we actually see and read correctly, she says they would see
that their boasted independence is one of the heaviest fetters that Satan can
rivet on unbalanced minds. You see,
independence is the total opposite to God’s plan. God never in any sense of the word wanted us
to be independent, but rather to be totally dependent, come now and let us
raise them together. And God says, won’t you let me come in and actually be the
motivating power in your life and do in you.
God wants us to actually recognize his leadership. Our rightful position for God expected man to
always live by total dependence upon him. For that’s the way
he made us. God’s power, and not man’s
power. And yet man has been changed from
an utter dependence as center that actually had God as center to a self-centeredness. Where self and independent thinking is man’s greatest aim. You see, unfortunately that this is even a
large portion of our education. Self-worth
is thought to be of greatest value. And
when a person becomes in the slightest bit out of harmony of that which is
taught, we have a tendency to say, well they do not have a sense of self-worth,
therefore they cannot reach the goal. I
wish that we did have a true sense of self-worth. One selected message, 405, says selfish
thoughts not only unfit us for heaven, but when self is woven into our labors,
then the truth we bare to others does not sanctify and ennoble our hearts. It will not testify that we are fit vessels
for the master’s use. Oh, we need to
recognize that we must be free from this self.
How can this be? How can we
possibly be free from this self. Let’s go to Hebrews this evening to the 12th
chapter of Hebrews in verses 1 through 7, we read, Wherefore seen we all seem
compass about with so great a cloud of witnesses. Let us lay aside every weight in the sin
which dost so easily beset us and let us run with patience the race that is set
before us. I wish we had time to
distinguish tonight the difference between sin and sins that the Bible
teaches. Suffice it to say that on
Sunday night, tomorrow night, we’re going to cover this thoroughly. But may I suggest to you that there is a vast
difference in the writings of Ellen G. White and in the Bible on the matter of
sin and sins. Sins are transgressions of
God’s law and God is always ready and willing to forgive. But sin God cannot
forgive. Paul says here, wherefore seen
we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witness, let us lay aside
every weight and the sin was doth so easily beset us. Oh, how we have misunderstood. We think that
my particular little sin of this kind, my transgression, my weakness, is that
which Paul is talking about. No, that’s
not it. That’s not it at all. For you see, sin is the very center. Sin is the very nature. You see, sin is the disease. Sins are the symptoms of the disease. And this matter of sin can only be dealt with
one way. Jesus Christ died on the cross
of Calvary to earn the right to forgive me my sins. But that didn’t earn him the right to forgive
me my sin. That’s my very nature, and he
said it has to go to the cross. It has
to be crucified with him. It has to
die. Why? Because it’s incorrigible. Forgiving my sin nature would not change me
in the slightest bit. I would still go
on sinning. Because that sin nature has to be completely dead and I have to
become a new person. You see, Ellen
White makes this very, very, very clear.
We’re going to deal with it tomorrow night in depth. But Paul goes on and he says, Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith,
who for the joy that was set before him doeth the cross, despising the
shame. And he sat down at the right hand
of the throne of God, for consider him that in doing such contradiction of
sinners against himself, lest you be worried and faint
in your minds. You have not resisted
unto blood and striving against sin.
No. But it takes it. And tomorrow night we’ll learn how definitely
and how hard it is to be willing to die, to be willing for this nature of ours
to actually go to the cross. That which is absolutely essential. And Paul says, you
have not striven against sin to actually unto blood. That’s our problem. We’d like to actually die without it really
being a painful experience at all. If we
could go through it without any real torture, we might be more willing to
follow in that pathway. But you see, sin will hold on
because self does not want to die. Paul
says in you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks unto you as unto
children. My son despise not thou the
chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him, for whom the
Lord loveth he chastenith it and spurgith every son
whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening,
God dealeth with you as sons. For what son is he whom the
father has not chastened. You
see, it’s absolutely necessary for us before we become sons of God, or we can
become members of the church, that’s not the problem. And we have nearly 3
million members of the church today. And
we become members of the church by a process called baptism, and that process
of baptism is in reality a symbol of a death, burial, and resurrection. And
somewhere or other we have it in our minds that the baptism is what it’s all
about. But baptism is a symbol of an
experience that is supposed to already have taken place. Is that right? Do you believe that? Look you see, Ellen White says so many, oh so
many were baptized, but self did not die, therefore
they did not arise to newness of life.
Volume 5 of Bible Commentary page 75.
You see, this is a tragic part. A tragic part, because this means that a great many people must
actually come to this death experience after they have been baptized. In other words, what we’re talking about is
conversion and baptism are not necessarily the same
thing. Do you believe that? That’s exactly right. I know.
I know, because it was 11 long years after I was a minister of the
gospel before I met Jesus Christ. I
thought I was unique in this until I met a man called Elder E. L. Mension. And praise his name, he gave me courage. Because I learned that Elder E. L. Mension
has been a 7th Day minister for 16 years before he met Jesus
Christ. Down there in Australia. Do you know
where he met him? He went to a Methodist
camp meeting and met him. And was
converted in a Methodist camp meeting and brought his conversion back and he
began preaching righteousness by faith, and he went the world over. I was talking with him not long ago in
southern California. He attended a
series of meetings that I held at Loma Linda.
And he was rejoicing, rejoicing in that new faith that he found after he
was a minister for 16 years. Oh, I wish
that every solitary minister and every solitary 7th Day Adventist would realize
the importance of meeting Jesus Christ.
And actually learning what it is to be born again. You see, in Hebrews 12 we find a whole list
of individuals who actually endured this chastening of the Lord, and recognize
that in the chastening of the Lord, God is perfecting those whom actually he
loves to be sons and daughters of his, picked to actually trust throughout
eternity. How good is perfect? Well, perfection is a matter of total and
complete trust. And nothing else. I start at lesson page 97, as the leaven one
mingled with the meal works from within outward, so it is by the renewing of
the heart that the grace of God works to transform the life. No mere external change is sufficient to
bring us into harmony with God. You see,
when we actually go out and work with people, so many times we say, well all
they have to do now is to leave off their cigarettes and they’ll be ready. Or all they have to do is drop this bad habit
and be ready. You’ve never heard
that? Oh yes. You see, we look at the externals, and if a
person doesn’t do this and they don’t do that and they don’t do the other, then
we actually are ready to baptize them.
No mere external change is sufficient to bring us into harmony with
God. There are many who try to reform by
correcting this or that bad habit, and they have hope in this way to become
Christians. But they’re beginning in the
wrong place. Our first work is with the
heart. God says, My
son give me thine heart and let thine eyes observe my ways. God works the change when we allow him to
work from the inside out. And we see the
change. And the habits drop off. Now I’m not suggesting in any sense of the
word that we baptize people with all these bad habits. That’s not the point. But we must work from the inside out and not
from the outside in. You see, Ellen
White says, the man who attempts to keep the commandments of God from a sense
of obligation merely because he is required to do so will never enter the joy
of obedience. He does not obey when the
requirements of God are discounted a burden because they cut across the human
inclination. We may know that that life
is not a Christian life. Do the
requirements of God ever actually cut across your human inclination? Let me ask you. But don’t answer me. Brothers and sisters, you see it’s absolutely
essential that we have a new heart, a new mind, be new creatures, because you
can never bring yourself to the point where actually every command of God is
your joy and rejoicing until you are a new creature. Because the carnal nature
hates God. It’s enmity against
God, and it’s not subject to the law of God.
And it will be constantly cutting across the human inclination. You see, the new life springs from a love of
righteousness, the love of the law of God.
Yes, righteousness perfection is God’s law. The law requires
righteousness. A righteous life of
perfect character is God’s only goal for you.
And for me.
How is this life of perfection actually possible? Christ came to earth as man. Lived a holy life. Developed a perfect character. These he offers as a free gift to all who
will receive him. His life stands for
the life of man. Thus they have
remission for sins that are passed through the forbearance of God.
I was holding a series of
meetings in a city, in Portland, Oregon, and I met the girl, the lady who actually this
experience had happened to again after three years of time. I discovered her to be a refreshing, loving,
loveable Christian. You see, for a
number of years I served in the prayer and counseling committee at camp
meeting. And there we had various
individuals come and seek counsel and advice, and there was a young lady, about
26 years of age, who came about three years ago. And I went with her into the
counsel room and we began to talk. She
told me her family was breaking up.
There was no way it could be welded together. On her lap was a 3-month old child. She had a 3-year-old girl by her side. And she said, this little baby on my lap was
our last effort to weld our family together, but this has failed. We’ve sought
marriage counselors, we’ve been everywhere, but there’s nothing to do but to
break up our home. I prayed with her and
she went back to her tent. This was
repeated for three days. Each time she
told a little more detail of what the problem was. And when she came back on
Thursday she said, I wish there would be something that could be done. I said, are you ready to break your
home? She said, No I really am not. I said, are you
willing to pay any price to hold it together?
She said, I think so. I had on
some card this paragraph which I take to be the most potent paragraph in the
entire writings of Ellen G. White. I’ve
seen it works miracles in homes. I’ve
seen it save lives. I’ve seen it weld
families back together even after there has been a divorce. It’s found in Mount of Blessing, page
71. You may find it on page 84 or 110,
depending upon the edition you have. But it reads this way. The Father’s presence encircled Christ and
nothing befell him but that which infinite love permitted for the blessing of
the world. Here was his source of
comfort, and it is for us. He who is imbued
with the spirit of Christ abides in Christ.
The blow that is aimed at him falls upon Christ the Savior who surrounds
him with his presence. Whatever comes to him—that is to the man—comes from
Christ. He has no need to resist evil.
For Christ is his defense. Nothing can
touch him except by our Lord’s permission.
I’m sure that you didn’t get all that this paragraph contains. But let me just refresh you mind to a couple
of points. We are told that Christ
accepted everything as coming from whose hands?
The Father’s.
You mean when they spat in his face, he accepted this as coming from his
Father? Are you ready to go that far? You mean when they plated a crown of thorns
and put it upon his brow and crushed it down and the blood flowed down his
face, he accepted that as coming from his Father? You mean when they took him to the hill in Nazareth and tried to push him off,
he accepted this as coming from his Father?
Yes. Every solitary experience
that he experienced, he accepted as coming directly from his Father. And here was his source of comfort, and it is
for us. When Christ’s robe with his
righteousness surrounds us, he only parts it and allows to
come through that which is for our best good. I said to this girl, I want you to take this,
take it to your camp, read it and come back tomorrow. She came back on Friday. I said, Have you
read it? She said yes. Are you willing to follow the principles in
that single paragraph? She said, I don’t
know. I’m not sure. I wish you could talk to my husband. He said he’s coming tomorrow. That would have
been Saturday. But he wasn’t an
Adventist. I said, If
you can get him to stay I’ll be glad to talk with him. He did stay. She brought him. I talked with both of them. I gave him a card. And I said, I want
you to read it right now. He read
it. I said, If either one of you will
follow this instruction, simply accept this as the principle of your life, your
marriage can be saved. If both of you
will follow it, it will be absolutely the most joyous experience you can
possibly ever have. Well I prayed with
them and they left. I didn’t know what
had happened. The next year at camp
meeting I was walking down one of the trails and I ran right into this lady.
And she said, I’ve been looking all over for you. I said, Well now that you found me, what can
I do for you? She said, Do you remember when you gave me this counsel and gave me
that card, I said I do remember. For I had forgotten all about it by this time. She said, I want to
tell you what happened. I said
wonderful, tell me. Did you actually
apply this? She said,
I left this camp bound with the determination that I was going to accept
everything that touched my life, everything as coming directly from Jesus’
hand. I said, wonderful, how did it
go? She said, for the first three months
it was hell. And those were the exact
words she used. She said, I thought I
was living with the devil. I have never seen my husband act so mean and ornery
and devilish in his whole life. But then
she said after three months something began to change. And she said, I’m not
sure yet whether it was in me or whether it was in him. But something began to
change. And she said, after another
three months had passed we were enjoying the sweetest relationship we had ever
had in our married life. We had never
ever experienced anything like that. Why she said, everything was just as
though heaven had opened up. But she
said, I knew that the devil was not going to let this last very long. But she
said it lasted for quite a while. And
then she said that baby that I held in my lap died. I wasn’t ready for this. I had accepted everything as coming from
Jesus, but I wasn’t ready for this. You
see, it wasn’t that the baby died, but the way the baby died that really made
it so hard. I said, tell me about it. Well, she said, my husband and I decided that
we would go for a ride in the hills. We had
done this many times. And we left the baby with his mother. She’s quite old. And nothing had happened. Everything was fine. So we took the baby over to her, left the
baby with her, now a child of about 11 months of age. And we took the baby over to her, left it
with her, and she said grandma had forgotten that she had left her pills on the
end of the davenport where she laid the baby.
And she went across the room, began to read, and the baby was lying
there. Had fallen
asleep. And when the baby awakened she didn’t pay any attention that the
baby crawled over and she just saw the baby grab a handful of those pills and
swallow them. And it so frightened her that she panicked, and froze in her
chair. She simply couldn’t move. She couldn’t say, she couldn’t
do anything. And she said when my
husband and I came back we saw the baby lying on the davenport in a coma. We picked the baby up, saw the box of pills,
picked the box up, and grandma was still sitting in the chair. And we rushed that baby to the hospital and
within an hour the baby died. You see,
she said it was difficult because within just a few hours the members of the
church began to come and sympathize with me.
And they sympathized and their sympathy I accepted. And this happened one day, two days, three days. And after three days of accepting their
sympathy, I began to feel the same old feelings that I had when I came to visit
you at camp meeting. The same old resentment, the same old
feelings coming back to my heart. And she said,
I began to realize that I had failed the Lord.
I had pledged that I would accept everything that touched my life as
coming from Jesus. But I had not
accepted this. She said, I rushed from
the front room into the bedroom, I fell on my knees, and I said, Lord I failed
you. I’ve disappointed me. Please forgive me. I will accept the death of my baby as coming
from your hands. You know what you’re
doing. I don’t. I don’t enjoy it. I don’t like it. But I know that you know what you’re doing
and in good time you’ll let me know. She
said, I got up from my knees, walked out to the front room, and the doorbell
rang within a few minutes time. And another lady came in to sympathize. She
said, I put my hand up and said I don’t want to appear to be rude, please, please
don’t sympathize with me. You see, I
gave my life to Jesus a year ago and I gave my baby’s life to Jesus a year
ago. We are in his hands. He knows what he’s doing. I don’t.
So please will you just get down with me and thank him for actually working
in our lives rather than sympathize with me?
She said, we got down and we prayed. And the lady left immediately after
the prayer. And there were only just a
few more that came because it soon got noised about that I didn’t want
sympathy. Well, this went on for three
weeks. Then she said, the doorbell rang and I went to
the door and there was mother, my husband’s mother. And father.
And they said, may we come in. And she said, Yes of course. And
when they came in they said, Dear, we’ve been watching
you. Watching you for a whole year. Something has happened. You’re not the same girl you were a year
ago. And we’ve watched you especially
since the little baby died and we’ve seen no resentment in you. We don’t understand it at all. But we want to tell you something. You see, when we were teenagers we were
members of the 7th Day Adventist Church. But since we
were married, neither one of us had ever been inside of the 7th Day Adventist Church. Never. Our son was
reared out of the church entirely. But
if God can do in you what he’s done in you in one year’s time, he can do it in
us too. We’re going to come back to the
church. She said, two months ago mother
and dad were baptized.
Born again.
They have a new life. And she that’s not all.
She said, after they were baptized my husband came home one day and he
said, Honey you’re not the girl that I married.
If God can do in mother and dad what he’s done in them and if he can do
what he’s done in you, then he can do it in me also. And she said, One week ago my husband was
baptized, a born again Christian. Now
she said I understand. For she said, in
the earth made new I’m going to have my baby.
My little girl.
My husband, my wife. My husband and my mother. And my father. His parents. She said, I
understand now that God works in marvelous ways. His wonders to perform. And she said, I
would just want you to pray with me. That I will never forget this lesson. To accept absolutely
everything. And accept that this
is coming from Jesus and give God thanks.
You see, that’s what Paul says.
In everything, give thanks.
Rejoice. And again I say unto
you, rejoice. Not for just the things
that please me, but rejoice whatever happens, knowing that God is at the helm
and realizing that Ellen White says, When troubles and trials come, recognize
one thing, that upon no worthless material will God waste any effort. So you can always rejoice and say, Lord thank
you for thinking that I am worth working on.
You don’t even have to enjoy the way he’s working. I’m sure that Jesus didn’t enjoy when the
crown was put upon his head. I’m sure he
didn’t enjoy when actually the nails were driven through his hands. But he still said, Father forgive them, they
don’t know what they’re doing. Can you
see for just a moment this evening as we draw this to a close what this did in
the life of Christ? It took his eyes off
of the human instrument, realizing that actually though the human being was the
instrument through which actually his life was touched, it was not they who
actually were responsible, but who?
Satan. Satan was working through the human instrument and so Christ
never retaliated toward the human being.
Would that help you? So that
actually we never retaliate toward human instruments, but realize that they are
being used of Satan. But God takes that
which Satan begins, and turns it into a blessing if I look at it
correctly. If I see it as coming from
Jesus, then God can take that which Satan used or intended to destroy me with
and actually turn it into a blessing.
And this dear lady said to me, I shutter every time I think of it. If I had gone on with resentment in my heart,
my husband or his parents would never have seen Jesus in me. Will you let Jesus be seen in you? That’s the real question. Let us bow our heads in a moment of prayer.
Our
precious heavenly Father, Oh how we need to learn this lesson. Just to live as Jesus lived. To accept absolutely everything, though it originate with Satan before it touched his life, it was your
will. Your permissive will. And before anything can touch our lives, it
is the permission will of Jesus. So Lord, open our minds to comprehend and then
to actually rejoice even though the experience itself might be distasteful to
us. Thank you, dear Lord, for making
this so clear and so plain to thy servants.
May we cherish this thought expressed in this simple paragraph and
realize that it is this simple way in which the power of Satan is completely
broken in our lives. That
actually while he tries to destroy us, you turned it about to be a saving
factor and a source of comfort and joy to each one of us. Make this possible. Make it a reality in every person here
tonight, and in thy people everywhere.
We pray it in Jesus’ wonderful and precious name. Amen.
God bless you and direct in your lives until he comes.