Home/Chat /Discussion /Links /Search /Resources /Order Form /SHRod  /Audio /Contact us/ Espanol

INSPIRATION AND ITS WORK

"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, 'throughly furnished unto all good works." 2 Tim. 3:16, 17.

"Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.  For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost."  2 Pet. 1:20, 21.

Affirmatively stated, all Scripture (not merely a part of It) is inspired.  Negatively stated, none of It is privately interpreted, for the reason that It did not come of men but of God.  And It can be interpreted by men only as and when God's Spirit decrees.  Accordingly, every jot and tittle of Scripture and Its interpretation are of Inspiration, and thus wholly profitable to guide the man of God doctrinally, to reprove and to correct him, and righteously to instruct him, unto perfection of faith and works.

Let us therefore covenant with the Lord that from henceforth we shall neither accept nor advance as revealed truth any private interpretation of the Scriptures.  And to keep understandingly inviolate this solemn promise to the Lord, we must first, of course, understand

The Phenomenon of Inspiration.

In Its Scriptural sense, Inspiration is defined as "a divine influence directly and immediately exerted upon the mind or soul of man" (The New Century Dictionary); in other words, It is a special function of the Spirit of God.  It is, therefore, in Its divers manifestations, set in operation, not by the working of the mind itself, but by the power of the Spirit.  To get a correct understanding of this process, however, one must necessarily see it in historical perspective, operating in the midst of the human race from its beginning.

In His own image God created Adam, and gave him sovereign "dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth."  Gen. 1:26.

Accordingly, as He made Adam the king of earth's first dominion, and all living creatures the subjects thereof, Adam's natural ability to rule them, and their natural submission to him, show that all creation, man and beast, fowl and creeping things, were divinely influenced or endowed--inspired.  So when Adam reviewed the whole animal creation as it passed before him, he spent no time in studying the nature of the creatures in order to identify them, but instantaneously gave every species its name; they, in turn, immediately recognized him as their king.  This Super-intelligency (such as is vouch-safed in Matthew 10:19) clearly shows that all creation was influenced by a power

2     Vol. 8   Symbolic Code   Nos. 1-12   (Texas--1942) 2L

@

above and beyond its own.  In short, both Adam's and the animals' understanding, came by Inspiration.  Inspiration, accordingly, is not limited in Its manifestations, to man alone.

Moreover, sacred history reveals that neither is it limited to visions (Dan. 7:2), or dreams (Gen. 28:12), or indirect communication (Ex. 40: 35; 28:30), or direct face to face conversation (Gen. 18:2) with divine beings, or to any other form of expression.  Rather It comes "in divers manners."  Thuswise, God "at sundry times... spake in times past unto the fathers."  Heb. 1:1.

This fundamental truth was, perhaps, best exemplified in Noah's work, particularly in its climax, when special intelligence was imparted to selected members of the animal creation, so that from near and far they could find their way into the ark and keep peace one with another.  (See Genesis 7:1-4.)

But having survived the flood, the descendants of Noah's family straightway forgot the lesson of the ark as the instrument of their salvation.  So it came to pass that the post-diluvians were as determined to believe that there could be a second universal flood as the antediluvians were that there could not be a first one.  Thus unbelief in Noah's inspiration became as pronounced after the flood as it had been before, with the result that in the effort to gain security of life, men built the tower of Babel, the world's first skyscraper and the earliest monument to the folly of man's prodigious labors to secure his salvation without the assistance of Divine Inspiration.  This insulting attitude of the builders toward the Lord's promise through Noah, so aroused His displeasure that He blotted from their memory the language which He had given them through Adam and, in its stead, inspired in them all the diverse languages of earth, with the result that the builders became confused among themselves and could no longer continue building (Gen. 11:7-9).

In this preternatural event which so radically changed the course of human society, we see another form of Inspiration revealing that while one individual or a group of individuals may deliberately work at cross-purposes with God, He can bestow His gift even on them, to frustrate their own evil designs (Gen. 11:1-9) while promoting His eternal purpose and getting praise to His name (Ps. 76:10).

Another example of this function is seen in Balaam's evil intent.  The Lord so controlled Balaam's tongue that while his mind was bent on cursing Israel, he could pronounce only blessings (Num. 22, 23, 24).

Let these "ensamples" be our constant reminder that anyone who undertakes to work against the Lord's revealed will is doomed to failure and shame.

2     Vol. 8   Symbolic Code   Nos. 1-12   (Texas--1942) 2R

@

 In later postdiluvian days, the Lord appeared and said unto Abram: "Unto thy seed will I give this land."  Gen. 12:7.  Later "three men stood by him, and one of them said to him, Sarah thy wife shall have a son."  Gen. 18:2, 10.  Thus through divine agency, in some respects different from that which controlled Adam and Noah, was Abraham enabled (inspired) to understand what the future held for him and for his posterity.

Then there was the time when Balaam (who, at the instance of King Balak, was on his way to Moab) whipped his faithful ass, which there-upon received the gift of speech, and said to his abusive master: "What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?" Num. 22: 38.  The dumb creature, we see, was enabled (inspired) to speak by the Power which created him.

It will hence be well, indeed, for every man to give heed to what the Lord says and does regardless how, when, where, or through whom He says or does it.

Later on, God in His providence (Gen. 45:5) permitted Joseph to be sold by his brothers into slavery, and afterwards caused Israel to go into Egypt.  This makes inescapable the conclusion that the Lord influenced (inspired) Jacob to make a coat of many colors (Gen. 37:3) and to give it to Joseph.  This inspired his brothers to jealousy, and they were doubly fired in their minds by the telling of his dream and their father's interpretation of it (Gen. 37:10).  So to prevent his supplanting them in influence or position, they sold him as a slave, to be carried away into Egypt.  There the Lord in His own time raised him to the second throne of the realm, then brought the years of plenty, also the years of famine, as the means to remove the whole household of Jacob into Egypt.

In their desperate endeavor to be rid of Joseph so as to avoid being ruled by him, his brethren succeeded only (by stirring up the ever-attentive potential of Providence) in exalting him to the administrative throne of Egypt, and in bringing themselves down in humiliation at his feet.  Here is marked evidence that he who attempts to defeat God's purposes succeeds only in defeating his own and in promoting God's.

When, as a fugitive from Egypt, Moses was attending his father-in-law's flocks in Midian, "the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed."  Ex. 3:2.  By this manifestation, Moses was inspired to liberate Israel from their hard Egyptian bondage.  And then as the leader of the Hebrews during their forty years of wandering in the wilderness he communed with the Lord face to face (Ex. 34:30-35), and departed with his countenance divinely irradiant.  Thus his experience was anomalous to that of others before him.

Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar had dreams.  Joseph and Daniel interpreted them (Gen. 40:8-12;

3     Vol. 8   Symbolic Code   Nos. 1-12   (Texas--1942) 3L

@

41:25-38; Dan. 11:7; 2:28; 4:20, 24).  Daniel, the prophet, John the Revelator, and other holy men of God had visions.  Each was the special recipient of Inspiration in a distinctive form, and to a greater or less degree.

From these and many other examples, we see that Inspiration works in several ways Its wonders to perform.  Through man and through beast, in fact through all creation, Its work is seen in many forms.  Some have heard It in audible voice, both through agents seen (Ex. 34:30-35) and agents unseen (Ex. 3:2).  Others have witnessed It through definite impressions, dreams, visions, providences, preternatural and instantaneous speech endowments.

In all diligence, therefore, give heed to any supernatural manifestation in the church of God, irrespective of source, whether it be human or brute, small or great, black or white, rich or poor. Unbiasedly compare its work with the Scriptures, and if it is in harmony with them, if it finds its foundation and prediction there, makes men loyal to the law and to the prophets, and adds light to the present truth, accept it whatever the cost in money, property, position, friends, and relatives, for it is your very life.  He who will prove faithful in this responsibility will receive a hundred-fold for the sacrifice it has cost him to be true to the Lord's voice (Matt. 19:29).

We must constantly be on guard if we are to save ourselves from the one unpardonable sin.  And this we can do only by prayerfully investigating the spirit that purports to come in the name of the Lord.  Failing to do this, we stand in greatest peril of rejecting the pleading of the Holy Ghost (Inspiration), and thus of indifferently tossing away our very life.

"When a message comes in the name of the Lord to His people," says the Spirit of Truth, "no one may excuse himself from an investigation of its claims.  No one can afford to stand back in an attitude of indifference and self-confidence, and say: 'I know what is truth, I am satisfied with my position.  I have set my stakes, and I will not be moved away from my position, whatever may come.  I will not listen to the message of this messenger; for I know that it can not be truth.'  It was from pursuing this very course that the popular churches were left in partial darkness, and that is why the messages of heaven have not reached them."--Testimonies on Sabbath-School Work, p. 65.

Inspiration makes very clear that the Lord's messenger dare not in any way improvise upon revelation (Rev. 22:18-20) although often privileged to articulate it in his own words.  Judged by the same standard, no one else dare meddle with the inspired writer's work.  This rational sequence consistently concludes that when a point in one's writings is not clear, then only the writer himself should be consulted concerning it, if he is living.  Otherwise, only the same Spirit of Inspiration, the

3     Vol. 8   Symbolic Code   Nos. 1-12   (Texas--1942) 3R

@

original author of the writings, can clarify whatever is involved.  Indeed "if a message comes," as Inspiration says, "that you do not understand take pains that you may hear the reasons the messenger may give, comparing scripture with scripture, that you may know whether or not it is sustained by the Word of God."--Testimonies on Sabbath-School Work, pp. 65, 66.

In no case is it a moral and safe procedure to appeal to an opposer of one's writings to illuminate any part of them.  A Democrat would not think of appealing to a Republican to illuminate the Democratic platform, or vice versa, if each wished to know the truth.  Remember that Eve's placing credence in the Enemy's interpretation of the Lord's Word (an act which lead both her and Adam to their transgression and fall, and to their consequent banishment from Paradise) is what brought the curse of sin and death upon all earthly creation.  Rather, it is for us now to avoid this old stumbling block to the pit and thereby make it a stepping stone to the Kingdom.

Remember, too, that the practice of comparing statements stripped of their context is fundamentally disingenuous, and leads today to as many perversions and misapplications of truth as does the deliberate wresting practiced in Satan's challenge to Christ: "If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone."  Matt. 9:6.

From the points thus far adduced, we see clearly enough that the end-products of Inspiration fall into one of two categories--either Inspiration of words or Inspiration of ideas.  To illustrate specifically: an angel appears and says to one, "The Lord is at such and such a time to do thus and thus with His people.  Speak unto them this message, and show it unto them from the Scriptures of truth, for the prophets have therein spoken it of old."  The angel's message must be delivered with fidelity to the idea; though obviously the choice of words, aside from the quotations, is necessarily left to the messenger.  Consequently, anytime he sees the possibility of making the inspired idea stand forth more clearly and powerfully, the messenger is under deepest moral obligation to revise his language.  Only thus can the stream of inspired ideation become progressively more lucid and beautiful.

Still further, there are circumstances in connection with certain aspects of every message which necessitate clarification.  Such clarification, however, can be no greater than the light which shines at the time.  And the light may come solely from within the message itself, or, again, it may derive from a limited understanding common to the time "then present"--an understanding which the messenger himself shares.

Such a case was John the Baptist's.  Inspired to declare only the coming of the King, Christ, John was squarely confronted with the question con-

4     Vol. 8   Symbolic Code   Nos. 1-12   (Texas--1942) 4L

@

cerning the setting up of the kingdom.  He answered in keeping with the common understanding which he as well as the people had of the kingdom--that when the King arrived He would doubtless set up His kingdom and thus free His people from the Roman yoke.  But when Christ finally appeared, He explained that the time for the kingdom to be set up, and for the Roman yoke to be removed from His people's shoulders, was not yet come.  And the truly "wise" gave no concern to these discrepant teachings, but gladly accepted the truth in its progressive form, and went on to higher and higher spiritual attainments, whereas those who stumbled on this disparity either rejected John as a false prophet and accepted Jesus as the Christ, or accepted John as a true prophet and rejected Jesus as a false Christ, and consequently slipped farther and farther backwards and downwards until they were no longer followers of either Christ or John.

The ways of Inspiration are constant, the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Questions concerning revealed truth must therefore be answered in the same way today as they were in John's time.  And thus now as then, the critical, the skeptical, and the doubting will find many hooks upon which to hang their doubts.  But likewise now as then, the doubters will be taken in their own craftiness.

Inspiration, moreover, always brings the messengers of God into perfect harmony, never into division.  This prime truth is seen beautifully illustrated in the experience of the Apostle Peter, a Jew, with Cornelius, the Roman Centurion, a Gentile.  The Lord knew that Peter would never receive a Gentile, and that Cornelius would never present himself to a Jew.  So both were given a vision instructing them what to do.  (See Acts 10.)  And obeying the heavenly vision to which they had mutual respect, they without trouble drew into mutual accord.

Then there is the marvelous experience of Paul.  While be was engaged in the unholy work of persecuting the Christians, the Lord met him on the road to Damascus, converted him, and gave him instructions to interview Simon.  But knowing that Simon, who knew Paul only as a persecutor of the faithful, would never receive the latter on his own profession of conversion and friendship, the Lord gave Simon a vision likewise, revealing to him Paul's conversion.  And thus they, too, like Peter and Cornelius before, were not disobedient to their heavenly vision (Acts 26:19).

In the days of Moses, some rose up claiming that the Lord was speaking through them as well as through Moses (Num. 16:2, 3).  Their agitation, however, instead of bringing order and harmony between Moses and them, brought confusion and dissension, with the tragic result that thousands lost their lives (Num. 16:32, 35, 49).  Had the Lord spoken to those men, He would certainly have made known the fact to Moses.  But the very absence of any such revelation, made clear to Moses that the Lord was not exalting Korah,

4     Vol. 8   Symbolic Code   Nos. 1-12   (Texas--1942) 4R

@

Dathan, and Abiram, as they claimed He was, but that they, as jealous upstarts and impostors, were exalting themselves.  Had Moses, as a servant of God, acceded to their demands, he most assuredly would have met with some such retribution as did the "man of God" who, persuaded by the "old prophet" to turn out of the way and eat bread with him, when the Lord had charged him not to do so, was slain by a lion.  Solemn lesson!  Give no heed to human voice contrary to God's.  (See I Kings 13.)

Those, furthermore, whom the Lord promotes, ever shrink from putting themselves forward.  Though David, for example, had been anointed by Samuel to be king over Israel, he never attempted to take the throne.  As a matter of fact, he did not even so much as make known his elevation.  And then at the risk of death at Saul's own hand, he even protected him.  In all this beautiful chivalry, David showed forth the love, humility, meekness, and righteousness born (inspired) of the Spirit of God.  His was the calm, kind, forbearing patience which comes with the sure knowledge that God is in control.  Knowing that the Lord had anointed him to be king, be happily waited until the Lord saw fit to put him on the throne.

From these and many other examples, we see that God not only never delegates one agent to alter, to reset, or to countermand the message with which He has charged another agent, without His first making the matter known to both, but also that He never honors with promotion those who seek to uplift and aggrandize self, but that He exalts in due season those who humble themselves under His mighty hand (1 Pet. 5:6).

As a logical corollary to the foregoing phases of the subject of Inspiration, it is to be recognized that all who become converted and submissive to the Lord are recipients of Divine Illumination.  For none but the Holy Spirit can convince one of the Truth, convict him of his sins, give him repentance, and empower him to obey God's laws, His statutes, and His ordinances.  Man, himself, can no more effect these transformations than the leopard can change his spots.

"If you see your sinfulness, do not wait to make yourself better.  How many there are who think they are not good enough to come to Christ.  Do you expect to become better through your own efforts, 'Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?  then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.'  There is help for us only in God.  We must not wait for stronger persuasions, for better opportunities, or holier tempers.  We can do nothing of ourselves.  We must come to Christ just as we are."--Steps to Christ, p. 31.

"You cannot atone for your past sins, you cannot change your heart, and make yourself holy.  But God promises to do all this for you through Christ.  You believe that promise.  You confess your sins, and give yourself to God.  You will to

5     Vol. 8   Symbolic Code   Nos. 1-12   (Texas--1942) 5L

@

serve him.  Just as surely as you do this, God will fulfil his word to you.  If you believe the promise,--believe that you are forgiven and cleansed,--God supplies the fact; you are made whole just as Christ gave the paralytic power to walk when the man believed that he was healed.  It is so if you believe it."--Id., p. 51.

Thus every true follower of Christ is inspired in his own lot--one to interpret, another to study, still another to teach, and yet still another to discern, and all to act and to sacrifice for His sake.

So also is every true Christian divinely enabled to suffer or to rejoice.  Hence, whatever betide him, whether it be suffering and sorrow, or well-being and joy, the trusting child of God dare credit only the Lord and none other for his portion.  And remember that "there hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."  I Cor. 10:13.

"Behold, He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.  The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.  The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.  The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: He shall preserve thy soul.  The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore."  Ps. 121:4-8.

Be therefore not murmurers as those who "despised the pleasant land, they believed not His Word; but murmured in their tents, and hearkened not unto the voice of the Lord.  Therefore He lifted up His hand against them, to overthrow them in the wilderness."  Ps. 106:24-26.

But be like the faithful apostle: "Not that I speak in respect of want; for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.  I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."  Philip. 4:11-13.

But while there flows from the golden bowl (Zech. 4:2) that Inspiration which enables one to be a true Christian, there flows from the cauldron of hell that opposite inspiration that works to make one a false Christian.  The one saves, the other destroys.  Needing as much as we do to become fully conscious and respectful of the one, the Divine, we at the same time have equal need to become fully alive to its counterfeit--

Satanic Inspiration.

Tragically, this Satanic power has invariably throughout the ages been notoriously successful among the church leaderships.  Unwittingly, they have all along the way been inveigled into follow-

5     Vol. 8   Symbolic Code   Nos. 1-12   (Texas--1942) 5R

@

ing Satan's designs and efforts to tear down (new-model) the very work they thought to be building up.

At Christ's first advent, the leaders of the church were so inspired with the spirit of Satan that, as church history reveals, they at times acted like demons, like men who had lost their reason.  Impervious themselves to the rain of Truth as it fell in that day, the priests, scribes, and pharisees were naturally imbued with the zeal to have the people remain in ignorance of the Truth.  So it was that they employed every possible means to pitch an umbrella, as it were, over the heads of the people, so as to prevent even a drop of the life-saving showers of the early rain from falling upon them.  Consequently, though drops of Truth were falling all around them as never before, they were content to remain in drought under the priests' umbrella.

It was in these dark hours of human history, that Truth and error, light and darkness, freedom and bondage were joined in what perhaps was the greatest battle of all time.  Up to the Pentecost, only 120 persons out of the millions then living were rescued from the spiritual dearth that covered the land.  And not until they were baptized with the Holy Ghost and filled with power on the Pentecost were they enabled to help other thirsty ones to break out of the Satanic circle.

Defeated in this effort to quench the Truth forever, Satan quickly renewed his efforts.  Come the Dark Ages, and he is again seen inspiring hostilities against Truth and its adherents.  Turning loose all his demons in all their fury upon the church, he brought in the "great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be."  And had those days not been shortened, there would have been no flesh saved, "but for the elect's sake those days" were shortened (Matt. 24:21, 22) by the Reformation.  Accordingly, only Divine intervention prevented Satan from silencing the Reformation's voice and dissipating its power.  Thus it has always been, is today, and will be to the bitter end.

As a result, despite all the light now shining, multitudes foolishly go on huddling under Satan's Truth-proof umbrella, at the same time helping to pull and hold multitudes of others under with them.

Nevertheless the promise stands fast:

TAKE HEED LEST YE, TOO, FALL

Since that tragic day in Eden when he introduced sin into the world and caused the fall of man, Satan has cast in the way of each redemptive movement, a different stumbling block upon which multitudes have tripped and fallen.  Most assuredly, therefore, he must be expected to have some such distinctive danger planted in our way today.  We, though, having in this age the tremendous advantage of knowing the respective pitfalls which have proved fatal to the multitudes in past movements, shall suffer a proportionately greater con-

6     Vol. 8   Symbolic Code   Nos. 1-12   (Texas--1942) 6L

@

"Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.  My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass."  Deut. 32:1, 2.

"Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month.  And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the fats shall overflow with wine and oil....And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:  And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit."  Joel 2:23, 24, 28, 29.

"Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.  And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes."  Isa. 35:6, 7.

In spite of Satan's striving to canopy all earth with his Truth-resistant umbrella, "in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.  And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

"And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.  But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it.  For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever."  Mic. 4: 1-5.

TAKE HEED LEST YE, TOO, FALL     RIGHT SIDE

demnation and punishment if we fail to recognize ours.  And what is more, if we fail, we shall witness thereby to the universe that we are the weakest of the weak. We must stand--stand against the most ingenious special trap ever set by the Evil One!  But how shall we do this if we know not what it is or where it is?

To find the danger where it really lurks, let us briefly view in retrospect previous snares, by periods in which they occurred, beginning with the first recorded church movement:

6     Vol. 8   Symbolic Code   Nos. 1-12   (Texas--1942) 6R

@

THE NOATIC MOVEMENT was ordained to build the ark both as a warning of the impending deluge and as a refuge from it.  The special block of stumbling which Satan cast in the way of the multitudes at that time, he devised from the fact that never in all nature had man seen anything that lent the remotest evidence to the possibility of there ever materializing such a phenomenon as rain.  Accordingly, leaning upon their finite knowledge of nature and its potentialities, they scoffed and scorned Noah's science and his warning of doom, and continued their "eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away."  Matt. 24: 38, 39.

Their exalting human science and disregarding divine science, therefore, was the special snare which took the antediluvians.  Their fate solemnly warns us carefully to avoid their mistake.

IN THE ABRAHAMIC MOVEMENT, the father of the faithful was called to depart from the cities of the ancient world, in the hope that someday the movement would triumphantly possess the promised land.  Fully aware of this fact, Satan worked mightily to sidetrack the movement into the cities of the nations along the way.  On this block of stumbling Lot fell, with the result that when the Lord finally snatched him from the destruction of Sodom, as a brand plucked from the burning, he came out the poorest of the poor.

Thus the worldly cities were the quicksands to the first postdiluvians.  May we not lose all therein, as did Lot.

THE MOSAIC MOVEMENT was led out of Egypt to possess the land of promise, and there to become a kingdom.  Cunningly suiting his temptations to their predispositions, Satan inspired those who were of age when they left the land of Pharoah, to continuous murmuring, complaining, office-seeking and rebelling, and finally to fearing the giant inhabitants of the promised land.  Failing to see that their strength was the strong hand of the Lord, they were consequently forced to wander forty long years in the desert, and there to leave parching the bones of all but two of their members who were of age when they left Egypt.

Unbelief, stiffneckedness, distrust of divine leadership, and office seeking, therefore, were the four-headed monster that devoured the people of the Exodus.  And these will devour every Present Truth believer who strays into their lair.

THE CANAAN MOVEMENT UNDER JOSHUA was ridded of all sinners and commissioned to possess the land, drive out the heathen, and set up an everlasting kingdom.  Knowing that its continuance was contingent on their obedience to the Lord's instructions through His prophets, Satan moved upon the people to mock the messengers of God, despise His words, and misuse His prophets, "until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people,

7     Vol. 8   Symbolic Code   Nos. 1-12   (Texas--1942) 7L

@

till there was no remedy" (2 Chron. 36:16), and He gave them back to captivity.

Hence to the subjects of the kingdom, the prophets were the great rock of offense--a rock upon which no age before or since has been free from stumbling.  The wise today, therefore, will "despise not prophesyings." 1 Thess. 5:20.

THE APOSTOLIC MOVEMENT was brought forth to proclaim the transferring of the earthly sanctuary service to the heavenly "tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man" (Heb. 8:2), and to baptize "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" (Matt. 28:19) all who should repent of their sins.  But to frustrate its purpose, Satan set to work to fashion another deception, and with the departure of the Apostles he quickly succeeded in causing the church completely to lose sight both of the truth of the priesthood of Christ and the truth of baptism, and to establish in their stead an earthly priestcraft and infant baptism.

Thus being led to disbelieve and disregard the sanctuary services and baptism, their very salvation, the Christian church fell through Satan's trapdoor into error.  And that door is still set to take the feet of the unwary--all who disregard or lightly esteem the ever advancing truth unfolded in the special sealing message for today.

THE PROTESTANT MOVEMENTS were raised up to declare and to exploit the primacy of the Bible, because the pre-reformation world was bound in darkness by uninspired man's religious rule, disallowing the common people the right to possess a Bible, and making them dependent upon his private interpretation of it.  Hence came the Protestant churches in their succession, to restore the down-trodden Truth, each protesting against these abuses and usurpations of human rights, each being called forth to make the Christian world realize the need of true Inspiration and of freedom of religion, the right to own a Bible and to study for themselves, and the duty to make the Bible and the Bible only, the rule of their faith.

Being determined, though, to bring the Reformation to naught, Satan has from its beginning constantly worked to cause every church member to revel in private interpretation of the Scriptures and in extra-Biblical theories.  Consequently, Protestantism today finds itself following not merely in the way of the uninspired Bible interpretations of one man but in the ways of the uninspired interpretations of thousands of men!  And the result is that Christendom teems with schism and confusion unrivaled in history--evidence that the great work of the founding fathers of the Protestant Reformation has been perverted and turned into an undermining force for the frustration of God's special design for the church today.

Thus we see that the Reformation, which, originally under the direction of inspired men, lifted the church out of one morass, later under the

7     Vol. 8   Symbolic Code   Nos. 1-12   (Texas--1942) 7R

@

direction of uninspired men, plunged her into another, wherein she has been floundering ever since.  And unless we let the truth extricate us from this fatal bog of confusion, we cannot defeat the enemy of Inspiration in his tireless and powerful efforts to pervert the implements of our salvation into weapons for our destruction.

THE S.D.A. MOVEMENT was appointed to declare the sanctuary message: "Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment [the harvest] is come" (Rev. 14:7) upon all the dead who, from Adam's time on, failed to get the extra oil (truth) in their vessels (Matt. 25:4), double their talents (verses 15-30), or put on "the wedding garment."  Matt. 22:11.  These shall have their names blotted from the Lamb's Book of Life.

This proclamation concerning the dead was to prepare the living for their impending judgment.  For this reason, Satan has employed his every device to lull Adventists into being merely hearers and preachers but not doers of the Word; into tithing mint and anise and cummin, as it were, but omitting the weightier matters of the law.  In short, he has made them to become wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked by failing on the one hand to be faithful themselves in doing what they teach others to do, and by failing on the other hand to keep themselves free from doing what they teach others not to do.  And to prevent them from awakening to this "terrible deception" (Testimonies, Vol. 3, p. 254), he keeps them lukewarm, complacently dreaming of being rich in truth and of having need of nothing, though in fact they are in misery and in need of everything.

Clearly, then, lukewarmness and the hallucination of being rich are the faults peculiar to the Laodiceans, and are the dangers which if not recognized and removed are finally to result in God's spuing them out of His mouth (Rev. 3:16).  Thus again the Lord mercifully pleads with Present Truth believers to walk in the light and shun lukewarmness, lest they fall back into thinking themselves rich and increased with goods and in need of nothing, and again become poor and in need of everything.

THE ELEVENTH-HOUR MOVEMENT affects us today most immediately and intimately.  Being the last gospel effort, it must "give power and force" to the Third Angel's Message and "lighten the earth with his glory" (Rev. 18:1); it must triumph, though every movement before it has failed.  It is destined, not to "prophesy again to many nations" (Rev. 10:11), but to "all."  And as it is to go to those who have not heard of His fame, and to bring to the house of the Lord all the saints "out of all nations" (Isa. 66:19, 20), it is consequently foreordained to endure.  To effect this predetermined purpose, God is now taking the reins in His own Hands (Testimonies to Ministers, p. 300), to purify the church by removing from it the tares, and to preserve it free from them henceforth, so that it may stand on Mount Zion with the Lamb (Rev. 14:1).

8     Vol. 8   Symbolic Code   Nos. 1-12   (Texas--1942) 8L

@

Indeed, in the very nature of the case, the Eleventh-Hour movement must triumph, for, being the last, the one to garner in the harvest, then should it fail, everyone in the world today would forever remain lost.  Double, therefore, are the reasons that the Lord purposes it to stand.  Thus the Davidians have been called to "the Kingdom for such a time as this."

"For," declares the Word, "by fire and by His sword will the Lord plead with all flesh: and the slain of the Lord shall be many....And I will send them that escape of them unto the nations....And they shall declare My glory among the Gentiles.  And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the Lord out of all nations."  Isa. 66:16-20.

"And they [the Gentiles] shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the Lord."  Isa 62:12.

"But who may abide the day...?  Who shall stand when He appeareth?  for He is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap."  Mal. 3:2.

All the more reason, then, that its adherents must be tested and proved worthy.  What, therefore, is the first and gravest danger con-fronting Present Truth believers today?

With the end of the long journey in view, the work was never so great, the time in which to do it never so short, and the laborers never so few, as now.  Self-evident, therefore, is the fact that Satan's supreme effort at this hour must be to cause the time to be wasted and the work to go undone.

Rouse, then, O Present Truth believer!  Rise speedily to the task set, and "whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might."  Eccles. 9:10.  No longer let a moment be wasted, for every precious one is vital to the salvation of your own soul and to the souls of others.

Thus with the day already at hand, finding "the last movements rapid ones" (Testimonies, Vol. 9, p. 11), to no avail now will be one's zeal, efficiency, and speed unless they match that held up to view in the following warning to

Redeem The Time.

"The day is at hand.  For the lessons to be learned, the work to be done, the transformation of character to be effected, the time remaining is but too brief a span."--Education, p. 184.

"Every year millions upon millions of human souls are passing into eternity unwarned and unsaved.  From hour to hour in our varied life, opportunities to reach and save souls are opened to us.  These opportunities are continually coming and going.  God desires us to make the most of them.  Days, weeks, and months are passing; we have one day, one week, one month, less in which to do our work.  A few more years at the longest, and the Voice which we cannot refuse to answer will be heard, saying, 'Give an account of thy stewardship.'"--Christ's Object Lessons, pp. 373, 374.

8     Vol. 8   Symbolic Code   Nos. 1-12   (Texas--1942) 8R

@

"The life of Christ from His earliest years was a life of earnest activity."--Id., p. 345.

"Our time belongs to God.  Every moment is His, and we are under the most solemn obligation to improve it to His glory.  Of no talent He has given will He require a more strict account than of our time.

"The value of time is beyond computation.  Christ regarded every moment as precious, and it is thus that we should regard it.  Life is too short to be trifled away.  We have but a few days of probation in which to prepare for eternity.  We have no time to waste, no time to devote to selfish pleasure, no time for the indulgence of sin.  It is now that we are to form characters for the future, immortal life.  It is now that we are to prepare for the searching Judgment.

"The human family have scarcely begun to live when they begin to die, and the world's incessant labor ends in nothingness unless a true knowledge in regard to eternal life is gained.  The man who appreciates time as his working day will fit himself for a mansion and for a life that is immortal.  It is well that he was born.

"We are admonished to redeem the time.  But time squandered can never be recovered.  We can not call back even one moment.  The only way in which we can redeem our time is by making the most of that which remains, by being co-workers with God in His great plan of redemption.

"In him who does this, a transformation of character takes place.  He becomes a son of God, a member of the royal family, a child of the heavenly King.  He is fitted to be the companion of the angels.

"Now is our time to labor for the salvation of our fellowmen.  There are some who think that if they give money to the cause of Christ, this is all they are required to do; the precious time in which they might do personal service for Him passes unimproved.  But it is the privilege and duty of all who have health and strength to render to God active service.  All are to labor in winning souls to Christ.  Donations of money can not take the place of this.

"Every moment is freighted with eternal consequences.  We are to stand as minute men, ready for service at a moment's notice.  The opportunity that is now ours to speak to some needy soul the word of life may never offer again.  God may say to that one, 'This night thy soul shall be required of thee,' and through our neglect he may not be ready.  In the great Judgment-day, how shall we render our account to God?

"Life is too solemn to be absorbed in temporal and earthly matters, in a treadmill of care and anxiety for the things that are but an atom in comparison with the things of eternal interest.  Yet God has called us to serve Him in the temporal affairs of life.  Diligence in this work is as much a part of true religion as is devotion.  The Bible gives no endorsement to idleness.  It is the great-

9     Vol. 8   Symbolic Code   Nos. 1-12   (Texas--1942) 9L

@

est curse that afflicts our world.  Every man and woman who is truly converted will be a diligent worker.

"Upon the right improvement of our time depends our success in acquiring knowledge and mental culture.  The cultivation of the intellect need not be prevented by poverty, humble origin, or unfavorable surroundings.  Only let the moments be treasured.  A few moments here and a few there, that might be frittered away in aimless talk; the morning hours so often wasted in bed; the time spent in traveling on trains or railway cars, or waiting at the station; the moments of waiting for meals, waiting for those who are tardy in keeping an appointment,--if a book were kept at hand, and these fragments of time were improved in study, reading, or careful thought, what might not be accomplished.  A resolute purpose, persistent industry, and careful economy of time, will enable men to acquire knowledge and mental discipline which will qualify them for almost any position of influence and usefulness.

"It is the duty of every Christian to acquire habits of order, thoroughness, and dispatch.  There is no excuse for slow bungling at work of any character.  When one is always at work, and the work is never done, it is because mind and heart are not put into the labor.  The one who is slow, and who works at a disadvantage, should realize that these are faults to be corrected.  He needs to exercise his mind in planning how to use the time so as to secure the best results.  By tact and method, some will accomplish as much work in five hours as another does in ten.  Some who are engaged in domestic labor are always at work, not because they have so much to do, but because they do not plan so as to save time.  By their slow, dilatory ways, they make much work out of very little.  But all who will, may overcome these fussy, lingering habits.  In their work let them have a definite aim.  Decide how long a time is required for a given task, and then bend every effort toward accomplishing the work in the given time.  The exercise of the will power will make the hands move deftly.

"Through lack of determination to take themselves in hand and reform, persons can become stereotyped in a wrong course of action; or by cultivating their powers they may acquire ability to do the very best of service.  Then they will find themselves in demand anywhere and everywhere.  They will be appreciated for all that they are worth.

"By many children and youth, time is wasted that might be spent in carrying home-burdens, and thus showing a loving interest in father and mother.  The youth might take upon their strong young shoulders many responsibilities which some one must bear."--Id., pp. 342-345.

"It is the very essence of all right faith to do the right thing at the right time."--Testimonies, Vol. 6, p. 24.

9     Vol. 8   Symbolic Code   Nos. 1-12   (Texas--1942) 9R

@

WHICH WAY WILL IT BE?

Setting before His followers the "two ways" for life's "travelers," the Saviour early in His ministry warned: "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it."  Matt. 7:13, 14.

While viewing their own steps with complacency and perhaps even thinking themselves securely on the royal road to the Kingdom, the masses in the broad way view with scorn the handful in the narrow way, regarding them as apostates, fanatically on the way to perdition.  But being thus sadly mistaken, the majority fail to see that the broad way which begins at the wide gate, leads not to "life" but "to destruction," and that the narrow way which begins at the strait gate, and which they scorn, leads instead "unto life."  By this great error, they give full evidence that they are yet carnal--wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked, and know it not.

"The enemy," says the Spirit of Truth, "is preparing for his last campaign against the church.  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 advance move, they will not recognize him as their enemy, that old serpent, but they will consider him a friend, one who is doing a good work.  Boasting of their independence, they will, under his specious, bewitching influence, obey the worst impulses of the human heart, and yet believe that God is leading them.  Could their eyes be opened to distinguish their captain, 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 Satan can rivet on unbalanced minds."--Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 294.

Knowing Satan's diabolic plans, and his aim to spare no effort to beguile the church into the broad way, the Lord therefore early in her Laodicean period (May 27, 1856) emphasized these "two ways": "These roads are distinct," He declared, "separate, in opposite directions.  One leads to eternal life, the other to eternal death.  I saw the distinction between these roads, also the distinction between the companies traveling them.  The roads are opposite; one is broad and smooth, the other narrow and rugged.  So the parties that travel them are opposite in character, in life, in dress, and in conversation.

"Those who travel in the narrow way are talking of the joy and happiness they will have at the end of the journey.  Their countenances are often sad, yet often beam with holy, sacred joy.  They do not dress like the company in the broad road, nor talk like them, nor act like them.  A pattern has

10    Vol. 8   Symbolic Code   Nos. 1-12   (Texas--1942) 10L

@

been given them.  A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief opened that road for them, and traveled it himself.  His followers see his footsteps, and are comforted and cheered.  He went through safely; so can they, if they follow in his footsteps.

"In the broad road all are occupied with their persons, their dress, and the pleasures in the way.  They indulge freely in hilarity and glee, and think not of their journey's end, of the certain destruction at the end of the path.  Every day they approach nearer their destruction; yet they madly rush on faster and faster.  Oh, how dreadful this looked to me!

"I saw many traveling in this broad road who had the words written upon them, 'Dead to the world.  The end of all things is at hand.  Be ye also ready.'  They looked just like all the vain ones around them, except a shade of sadness which I noticed upon their countenances.  Their conversation was just like that of the gay, thoughtless ones around them; but they would occasionally point with great satisfaction to the letters on their garments, calling for the others to have the same upon theirs.  They were in the broad way, yet they professed to be of the number who were traveling the narrow way.  Those around them would say, 'There is no distinction between us.  We are alike; we dress, and talk, and act alike.'"--Testimonies, Vol. 2, pp. 127, 128.

In spite of this comprehensive statement focusing directly on the church today the light of the Saviour's warning, multitudes of Laodiceans have, like those before them, gone in the broad way.  So gross has been this heedlessness that the Lord warns the church that she is "steadily retreating toward Egypt"; that "customs, practices, and fashions which lead the soul away from God, have been for years gaining ground in defiance of the warnings and entreaties of the Holy Spirit; until at last their ways have become right in their own eyes, and the Spirit's voice is scarcely heard."--Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 103.

"'And because iniquity abounds, the love of many shall wax cold.'  The very atmosphere is polluted with sin.  Soon God's people will be tested by fiery trials, and the great proportion of those who now appear to be genuine and true will prove to be base metal.  Instead of being strengthened and confirmed by opposition, threats, and abuse, they will cowardly take the side of the opposers."--Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 136.

With this condition in the church, and with the time arrived when "all things [except the church] are ready" for the Kingdom to be set up, the Lord in mercy is speaking anew to His people: "Hear ye the Rod and Who hath appointed it" (Mic. 6:9)--hear the message of the purification of the church and of the subsequent setting up of the Kingdom.

10    Vol. 8   Symbolic Code   Nos. 1-12   (Texas--1942) 10R

@

Thus, the Lord's voice is crying unto the city, the church, that He shall shortly purify it by removing all but the few narrow-way travelers who have sighed and cried for the abominations therein, and have consequently received the seal of God.  H