WE MUST KNOW HIM ARIGHT

FOR THE EARTH SHALL BE FILLED WITH THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE GLORY OF THE LORD, AS THE WATERS
COVER THE SEA. HABAKUK 2:14

Christ’s favorite theme was the paternal character and abundant love of God. This knowledge of God
was Christ’s own gift to men, and this gift He has committed to His people to be communicated by them
to the world. 6T 55.2

Key to Abbreviations of Book Titles

AA…………………………. Acts of the Apostles TMK………………………….That I May Know Him

AG…………………………. God’s Amazing Grace UL……………………………..The Upward Look
BC…………………………. Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary WM…………………………..Welfare Ministry
CC………………………….Conflict and Courage
CD………………………….Counsels on Diet and Foods
COL……………………….. Christ’s Object Lesson
CT………………………….Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students
DA………………………….The Desire of Ages
Ed………………………….Education
Ev………………………….Evangelism
EW………………………….Early Writings
FE………………………….Fundamentals of Christian Education
GC…………………………The Great Controversy
GCB 1897………………General Conference Bulletin, 1897
GH………………………….The Gospel Herald
Glad Tidings……………Glad Tidings, by E.J. Waggoner
HP………………………….In Heavenly Places
Mar………………………….Maranatha
MB………………………….Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing
MH………………………….The Ministry of Healing
ML………………………….My Life today
MM…………………………Medical Ministry
MYP…………………………Messages to Young People
NIV………………………….New International Version
OHC…………………………Our High Calling
PK………………………….Prophets and Kings
PP………………………….Patriarchs and Prophets
RC………………………….Reflecting Christ
RH………………………….Review and Herald
SC………………………….Steps to Christ
SD………………………….Sons and Daughters
SM……………………….Selected Messages vol. 1-3
SpTB02………………...Special Testimonies Series B, Nos. 1-19
SR………………………..The Story of Redemption
ST…………………………Signs of the Times
T…………………………..Testimonies for the Church, vol. 1-9
Te………………………….Temperance
TDG……………………….This day with God
TM………………………….Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers

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 Table of Contents

Chapter Title Page

1 We Must Know Him Aright 3

2 God’s Character 6
3 Misrepresentation of God 8
4 God’s Law Protects 11
5 God Permits 14
6 City of Refuge 16
7 Bible Language 17
8 God Withdraws 23
9 Separation from God 26
10 The Destroyer 28
11 They Destroy Themselves 31
12 Wrath of God 34
13 Mysteries 39
14 God Consumes Sin 41
15 Our God is a Consuming Fire 44
16 Problems and Solutions 55

The KNOWLEDGE OF God and of Jesus Christ expressed in character is an exaltation above
everything else that is esteemed on earth or in heaven. It is the very highest education. It is
the key that opens the portals of the heavenly city. This knowledge it is God’s purpose that all
who put on Christ shall possess. Words alone cannot tell it. Let it be reflected in the character
and manifested in the life.
MH 457.5; DA 826.3

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 Chapter 1

We Must Know Him Aright

The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness
and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. Exodus
34:6, 7
And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ,
whom thou hast sent. John 17:3
Without a knowledge of God, humanity would be eternally lost. PK 693.2
Then shall we know, [if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as
the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.
Hosea 6:3
And how can we come into harmony with God, how shall we receive His likeness, unless
we obtain a knowledge of Him? It is this knowledge that Christ came into the world to reveal
unto us. 5T 743.1
A daily, earnest striving to know God, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent, would bring
power and efficiency to the soul. DA 355.2
Only by love is love awakened. To know God is to love Him; His character must be
manifested in contrast to the character of Satan. This work only one Being in all the universe
could do. Only He who knew the height and depth of the love of God would make it known.
Upon the world’s dark night the Sun of Righteousness must rise, “with healing in His wings.”
Malachi 4:2. DA 22.1
The more men learn of God, the greater will be their admiration of His character. GC
678.2
He [Christ] presented to men that which was exactly contrary to the representations of
the enemy in regard to the character of God…FE 177.1
Christ came to this world as the expression of the very heart and mind and nature and
character of God. MM 19.1
Jesus saith unto him, have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known
me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then Show us the
Father? John 14:9
I am “the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person.” You can know
God by knowing me. RH April 12, 1892. Par. 28
Looking unto Jesus we obtain brighter and more distinct views of God, and by beholding
we become changed. Goodness, love for our fellow men, becomes our natural instinct. We
develop a character which is the counterpart of the divine character. Growing into His likeness,
we enlarge our capacity for knowing God. COL 355.1
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 The Son of God came to this earth to reveal the character of the Father to men that they
might learn to worship Him in spirit and in truth. CT 28.2
Others, however, fail of a satisfactory understanding of the great problem of evil, from
the fact that tradition and misinterpretation have obscured the teaching of the Bible
concerning the character of God, the nature of His government, and the principles of His
dealing with sin. GC 492.1
It is the darkness of misapprehension of God that is enshrouding the world. Men are
losing their knowledge of His character. It has been misunderstood and misinterpreted. At this
time a message from God is to be proclaimed, a message illuminating in its influence and saving
its power. His character is to be made known. Into the darkness of the world is to be shed the
light of His glory, the light of His goodness, mercy, and truth. MH 425.3
The knowledge of God as revealed in Christ is the knowledge that all who are saved
must have. It is the knowledge that would transformation of character. This knowledge,
received, will recreate the soul in the image of God. MH 426.3
Those who wait for the Bridegroom’s coming are to say to the people, “Behold your
God.” The last rays of merciful light, the last message of mercy to be given to the world, is a
revelation of His character of love. COL 415.5
In order to endure the trial before them, they [the people of God who will live through
the time of trouble and conflict] must understand the will of God as revealed in His word; they
can honor Him only as they have a right conception of His character, government, and purposes,
and act in accordance with them. GC 593.2
In order to be co-workers with God, in order to become like Him and to reveal His
character, we must know Him aright. We must know Him as He reveals Himself. MH 409.1
A knowledge of God is the foundation of all true education and of all true service… It is
this alone that can make us like God in character. MH 409.2
This is the knowledge needed by all who are working for the uplifting of their fellow
men. Transformation of character, purity of life, efficiency in service, adherence to correct
principles, all depend upon a right knowledge of God. This knowledge is the essential
preparation both for this life and for the life to come. MH 409.3
As a personal being, God has revealed Himself in His Son… God saw that a clearer
revelation than nature was needed to portray both His personality and His character. He sent
His Son into the world to manifest, so far as could be endured by human sight, the nature and
the attributes of the invisible God. MH 418.4; MH 419.4
Christ is a perfect representation of God… 7BC 907.4
Christ desired them [the disciples] to have a clearer, more distinct knowledge of God…
They received all the knowledge of God that they could bear, but the complete fulfillment of
the promise that Christ would show them plainly of the Father was yet to come. Thus it is
today. Our knowledge of God is partial and imperfect. MH 420.2; MH 420.4
For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to
desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual

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understanding; That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every
good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God. Colossians 1:9, 10
To comprehend and enjoy God is the highest exercise of the powers of man. OHC 61.2
Only by knowing God here can we prepare to meet Him at His coming… But many of
those who profess to believe in Christ do not know God. They have only a surface religion. They
do not love God; They do not study His character; therefore they do not know how to trust, how
to look and live. Mar. 76.2
It is growth in knowledge of the character of Christ that sanctifies the soul…The beholding of
Jesus becomes an ennobling, refining process to the actual Christian… The perfection of Christ’s
character is the Christian’s inspiration. When we see Him as He is, desire awakes to be like Him,
and this elevates the whole man. . . RC 304.5
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of
wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. Ephesians 1:17
We have only one perfect photograph of God, and this is Jesus Christ. 7BC 906.3
In the atonement the character of God is revealed. GC 500.4
The knowledge of God that works transformation of character is our great need. 8T
329.1
For him [man] there was hope in a knowledge of God’s love. By beholding His character
he might be drawn back to God. DA 761.5
When the great controversy shall be ended. Then, the plan of redemption having been
completed, the character of God is revealed to all created intelligences. DA 764.3
The principles of kindness, mercy, and love, taught and exemplified by our Saviour, are a
transcript of the will and character of God. GC 541.4
All who in that evil day would fearlessly serve God according to the dictates of
conscience, will NEED courage, firmness, and a knowledge of God and His word… AA 431.1
Now we are to go to the world and say to them, Behold your God. But before we can do
that, it will be necessary that we ourselves know Him. 1897 GBC 100
To neglect salvation is to neglect the knowledge of the Father and of the Son whom God
hath sent. TMK 205.4
The more man views his Saviour and becomes acquainted with Him, the more he will
become assimilated to His image and work the works of Christ. 4T 488.3
I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the
Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better. Ephesians 1:17 NIV

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 CHAPTER 2

GOD’S Character

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the
world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. John 3:16
I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth:
for in these things I delight, saith the LORD. Jeremiah 9:24
If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to
drink: for thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the LORD shall reward thee. Proverbs
25:21,22
Love you enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray
for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your
Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and
sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. Matthew 5:44, 45
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever. Hebrews 13:8
With whom [the Father] in no variableness, neither shadow of turning. James 1:17. His
ways are everlasting. Habakkuk 3:6
For I am the Lord, I change not… Malachi 3:6
When we study the divine character in the light of the cross we see mercy, tenderness,
and forgiveness blended with equity and justice. AA 333.2
The Lord seeks to save, not to destroy. He delights in the rescue of sinners. PK 105.1
As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Ezekiel 33:11
God’s law is the transcript of His Character. COL 305.3
Thou shalt not kill. Exodus 20:13
God destroys no man. Everyone who is destroyed will have destroyed himself. COL 84.4
The exercise of force is contrary to the principles of God’s government…DA 22.1
Earthly kingdoms rule by the ascendancy of physical power; but from Christ’s kingdom
every carnal weapon, every instrument of coercion, is banished. AA 12.2
Christ, the outshining of the Father’s glory, came to the world as its light. He came to
represent God to men, and of Him it is written that He was anointed “with the Holy Ghost and
with power,” and “went about doing good.” Acts 10:38. COL 416.2
God destroys no one. 5T 120.1
He [Christ] does not destroy. 1SM 118.1
The Son of God came to this earth to reveal the character of the Father to men that they
might learn to worship Him in spirit and in truth. CT 28.2
We have only one perfect photograph of God, and this is Jesus Christ. 7BC 906.3

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 God desires from all His creatures the service of love—homage that springs from an
intelligent appreciation of His character. He takes no pleasure in a forced allegiance, and to all
He grants freedom of will, that they may render Him voluntary service. GC 493.2
Those who wait for the Bridegroom’s coming are to say to the people, “Behold your
God.” The last rays of merciful light, the last message of mercy to be given to the world, is a
revelation of His character of love. COL 415.5
When the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in His people, then He will
come to claim them as His own. COL 69.1
With his [Satan] hosts of fallen beings he determined to urge the warfare most
vigorously; for there stood in the world One who was a perfect representative of the Father,
One whose character and practices refuted Satan’s misrepresentation of God. Satan had
charged upon God the attribute he himself possessed, passionate, merciful Father, not willing
that any should perish, but that all should come to Him in repentance, and have eternal life.
1SM 254.3
Jesus does not cast us off, even when we grieve Him; He clings to us still. Let your heart
be animated by the love of Jesus to ardent activity for His glory. OHC 147.5
The history of the great conflict between good and evil, from the time it first began in
heaven to the final overthrow of rebellion and the total eradication of sin, is also a
demonstration of God’s unchanging love. PP 33.3
But the Eternal One Himself proclaims His character: “The Lord God, merciful and
gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands,
forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty.” Exodus
34:6,7. GC 500.3
“…God was revealed in the character of His Son. MH 32.2
The object of Christ in coming to earth was to reveal God to men, so that they might
come to Him. Christ and His righteousness E.J.W 15
If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also. He that hath seen me hath
seen the Father. John 14:7, 9

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 CHAPTER 3

MISREPRESENTATION OF GOD
He was a murderer form the beginning and abode not in the truth, because there is no
truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
John 8:44
God desires from all His creatures the service of Love—homage that springs from an
intelligent appreciation of His character. He takes no pleasure in a forced allegiance, and to all
He grants freedom of will, that they may render Hi voluntary service. GC 493.2
The earth was dark through misapprehension of God. That the gloomy shadows might
be lightened, that the world might be brought back to God, Satan’s deceptive power was to be
broken. This could not be done by force. The exercise of force is contrary to the principles of
God’s government; He desires only the service of love; and love cannot be commanded; it
cannot be won by force or authority. Only by love is love awakened. To know God is to love
Him; His character must be manifested in contrast to the character of Satan. This work only one
Being in all the universe could do. Only He who knew the height and depth of the love of God
could make it known. Upon the world’s dark night the Sun of Righteousness must rise, “with
healing in His wings.” Malachi 4:2. DA 22.1
Compelling power is found only under Satan’s government. The Lord’s principles are not
of this order. DA 759.1
Others, however, fail of a satisfactory understanding of the great problem of evil, from
the fact that tradition and misinterpretation have obscured the teaching of the Bible
concerning the character of God, the nature of His government, and the principles of His
dealing with sin. GC 492.1
Sin originated in self-seeking. Lucifer, the covering cherub, desired to be first in heaven.
He sought to gain control of heavenly beings, to draw them away from their Creator, and to win
their homage to himself. Therefore he misrepresented God, attributing to Him the desire for
self-exaltation. With his own evil characteristics he sought to invest the loving Creator. Thus he
deceived angels. Thus he deceived men. He led them to doubt the word of God, and to distrust
His goodness. Because God is a God of justice and terrible majesty, Satan caused them to look
upon Him as severe and unforgiving. Thus he drew men to join him in rebellion against God,
and the night of woe settled down upon the world. DA 21.3
Satan has continued to present to men, as he presented to the angels, his false
representations of Christ and of God, and he has won the world to his side. Even the
professedly Christian churches have taken sides with the great apostate. 7BC 973.2, 1SM 222.4

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 It is Satan’s constant effort to misrepresent the character of God…he causes them to
cherish false conceptions of God so that they regard Him with fear and hate rather than with
love. The cruelty inherent in his own character is attributed to the Creator…GC 569.1
The Roman Catholic Church, uniting the forms of paganism and Christianity, and, like
paganism, misrepresenting the character of God, has resorted to practices no less cruel and
revolting. GC 569.2
Rome had misrepresented the character of God and perverted His requirements…GC
281.3
Multitude have a wrong conception of God and His attributes, and are truly serving a
false god as were the worshipers of Baal. PK 177.1
With intense interest he watched the sacrifices offered by Adam and his sons. In these
ceremonies he discerned a symbol of communion between earth and heaven. He set himself to
intercept this communion. He misrepresented God, and misinterpreted the rites that pointed to
the Saviour. Men were led to fear God as one who delighted in their destruction. DA 115.1
The teachings of popes and priests had led men to look upon the character of God, and
even of Christ, as stern, gloomy, and forbidding. GC 73.2
When we consider in what false colors Satan has painted the character of God, can we
wonder that our merciful Creator is feared, dreaded, and even hated? GC 536.2
It is true that all suffering results from the transgression of God’s law but this truth had
become perverted. Satan, the author of sin and all its results, had led men to look upon disease
and death as proceeding from God,--as punishment arbitrarily inflicted on account of sin. DA
471.1
God had given a lesson designed to prevent this. The history of Job had shown that
suffering is inflicted by Satan, and is overruled by God for purposes of mercy. DA 471.3
With his hosts of fallen beings he determined to urge the warfare most vigorously; for
there stood in the world One who was a perfect representative of the Father, One whose
character and practices refuted Satan’s misrepresentation of God. Satan had charged upon God
the attribute he himself possessed. Now in Christ he saw God revealed in His true character—a
compassionate, merciful Father, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to
Him in repentance, and have eternal life. 1Sm 254.3
Thousands have a false conception of God and His attributes. They are as verily serving a
false god as were the servants of Baal. 1BC 1105.8
The very first thing that medical missionaries need to do is to gain a right conception of
God, not a conception based on their own human judgment, but a conception based on a
constant study of God’s word and of the character and life of Christ. MM 91.4
God does not take pleasure in punishing those who walk contrary to Him, giving a false
representation of His character. But unless they repent, the time will come when they must
reap the sure reward of their course of action. TDG 40.4
Through belief in Satan’s misrepresentation of God, man’s character and destiny were
changed, but if men will believe in the Word of God, they will be transformed in mind and
character, and fitted for eternal life. 1SM 346.1
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 Satan is constantly at work, with intense energy and under a thousand disguises, to
misrepresent the character and government of God. PP 78.3
Understanding the character of God, knowing His goodness, Satan chose to follow his
own selfish, independent will. DA 761.5
The manifestation of God’s love, His mercy and His goodness, and the work of the Holy
Spirit upon the heart to enlighten and renew it, place us through faith, in so close connection
with Christ that, having a clear conception of His character, we are able to discern the masterly
deceptions of Satan. 5T 744.2
Christ is seeking to save, and Satan to destroy. Te 288.3
Satan’s power is wholly destructive; God’s power is constructive. ST, November 24,
1898 par. 8
He [Satan] knows the character of God, and through his subtlety he has captivated the
world. 1SM 345.1

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 Chapter 4
God’s Law Protects

The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth
them. Psalms 34:7
The Happiness of man is found in obedience to the laws of God. In obedience to God’s
law he is surrounded as with a hedge and kept from the evil. SD 66.2
The ten holy precepts spoken by Christ upon Sinai’s mount were the revelation of the
character of God… That law of ten precepts of the greatest love that can be presented to man is
the voice of God from heaven speaking to the soul in promise… There is not a negative in that
law, although It may appear thus. It is Do, and Live… The Lord has given His holy
commandments to be a wall of protection around His created beings. SD 53.2
So far from making arbitrary requirements, God’s law is given to men as a hedge, a
shield. Whoever accepts its principles is preserved from evil. Ed 76.4
The people of Israel were at this time loyal to God; and so long as they continued in
obedience to His law, no power in earth or hell could prevail against them. But the curse which
Balaam had not been permitted to pronounce against God’s people, he finally succeeded in
bringing upon them by seducing them into sin. When they transgressed God’s commandments,
then they separated themselves from Him, and they were left to feel the power of the
destroyer. GC 529.3
Satan… ready to destroy all who venture upon his ground. Only in humble reliance upon
God, and obedience to all His commandments, can we be secure. GC 530.1
The law reveals the attributes of God’s character. DA 762.1
His law is a transcript of His own character, and it is the standard of all character. COL
315.1
God does not annul His laws. He does not work contrary to them. Ed 148.3
He invited men to learn of Him, for He was a living representation of the law of God.
TMK 207.4
The arrows of the destroyer are about to be hurled against the faithful ones, and no
earthly power can turn aside the shaft. But could our eyes be opened we could see angels of
God encircling the righteous, that no harm may come upon them. OHC 362.3
Satan sets himself to destroy this commandment-keeping company. But God is their
tower of defense. He will raise up for them a standard against the enemy. He will be to them
“as an hiding place from the wind,” and “as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. RH,
September 17, 1901 par. 12
The wicked one cannot break through the guard which God has stationed about His
people.
Sometimes men do pass the boundary line beyond God’s protecting care, and then
Satan exercises his power upon them, and God does not interpose. 3BC 1140.5

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 There is not a commandment of the law that is not for the good and happiness of man,
both in this life and in the life to come. In obedience to God’s law, man is surrounded as with a
hedge and kept from the evil. He who breaks down this divinely erected barrier at one point
has destroyed its power to protect him; for he has opened a way by which the enemy can enter
to waste and ruin. MB 52. 1
It is God that shields His creatures and hedges them in from the power of the destroyer.
But the Christian world have shown contempt for the law of Jehovah: and the Lord will do just
what He has declared that He would—He will withdraw His blessing from the earth and remove
His protecting care from those who are rebelling against His law and teaching and forcing
others to do the same. Satan has control of all whom God does not especially guard. He will
favor and prosper some in order to further his own designs, and he will bring trouble upon
others and lead men to believe that it is God was drawing over His people to protect them in
the time of trouble; and every soul that was decided on the truth and was pure in heart was to
be covered with the covering of the Almighty. EW 43.2
Those who realize their weakness trust in a power higher than self. And while they look
to God, Satan has no power against them. 5BC 1102.7
Ensnared by his temptation they [Israel] had transgressed the law of God and thus
separated from the Source of their strength, and had been left to become the prey of their
heathen enemies. 5T 467.3
The law of God is an expression of His very nature; it is an embodiment of the great
principle of love, and hence is the foundation of His government in heaven and earth. SC 60.2
“…shall we trample upon the law of God and say it is not binding? God might just as well
have abolished Himself. In the law every specification is the character of the infinite God. 1BC
1104.7
God cannot speak a falsehood. WM 306.3
To this people [Israel] were committed the oracles of God. They were hedged about by
the precepts of His law, the everlasting principles of truth, justice, and purity. Obedience to
these principles was to be their protection, for would save them from destroying themselves by
sinful practices. COL 287.2
Satan has an accurate knowledge of the sins that he has tempted God’s people to
commit, and he urges his accusations against them, declaring, that by their sins they have
forfeited divine protection, and claiming that he has the right to destroy them. PK 588.3
…the law, as well as the gospel, is a mirror reflecting the true character of God. GC
465.2
Only by keeping the law of the Lord before them, and striving to obey it, would they
be protected. PK 615.2
In the way of righteousness is life; and in the pathway thereof there is no death.
Proverbs 12:28
For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me… Was
then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin,
working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become
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exceeding sinful. For we know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold under sin. But I see
another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity
to the law of sin which is in my members… O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me
from the body of this death? Romans 7:11, 13, 14, 23, 24
…the sword of justice… will do the work for impenitent transgressors that was done to the
divine Sufferer. 3BC 1166.3
The sting of death is sin. 1 Corinthians 15:56 (NIV)
The wages of sin is death. Romans 6:23
He [Christ] was slain by the sin of the world. DA 772.2
God destroys no man. COL 84.4 It is sin that is destroying souls. 2T 390.2
Christ was suffering the death that was pronounced upon the transgressors of God’s
law. 5BC 1103.2

Compiler’s conclusion:
If it was sin which caused the death of Christ, and if He was man’s substitute and died
man’s death (5BC1103.1), then we have to conclude that those who don’t accept His sacrifice in
their behalf will have to die that death themselves, and by the same means [by sin], or God
would not be consistent, fair, or just.

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 CHAPTER 5

GOD PERMITS

God is a vigilant observer of the actions of the children of men. Nothing occurs in earth
or heaven without the knowledge of the Creator. Nothing can happen without His permission.
ML 291.2
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. Whatever comes to him comes from the
Saviour, who surrounds him with His presence. Nothing can touch him except by the Lord’s
permission. All our sufferings and sorrows, all our temptations and trials, all our sadness and
griefs, all our persecutions and privations, in short, all things work together for our good. All
experiences and circumstances are God’s workmen whereby good is brought to us. MH 488.4
God leads His children by a way that they know not, but He does not forget or cast off
those who put their trust in Him. He permitted affliction to come upon Job, but He did not
forsake him. He allowed the beloved John to be exiled to lonely Patmos, but the Son of God met
him there, and his vision was filled with scenes of immortal glory. God permits trials to assail His
people…PP 129.2
If permitted, they [Satan and his host] can distract our minds, disorder and torment our
bodies, destroy our possessions and our lives. Their only delight is in misery and destruction. GC
517
God bears with divine patience with the perversity of the wicked; but He declares that
He will visit their transgressions with a rod. [What is this rod?] He will at last permit the
destructive agencies of Satan to bear sway to destroy. 4BC 1171.6
Satan is the destroyer. God cannot bless those who refuse to be faithful stewards. All
He can do is to permit Satan to accomplish his destroying work. We see calamities of every kind
and in every degree coming upon the earth, and why? The Lord’s restraining power is not
exercised. The world has disregarded the word of God. They live as though there were no God.
Like the inhabitants of the Noachic world, they refuse to have any thought of God. Wickedness
prevails to an alarming extent, and the earth is ripe for the harvest. 6T 388.3
He [Satan} points scornfully at the mistakes of those who claim to be doing God service.
They have been deceived by him, and he begs for permission to destroy them. TDG 226.2
This earth has almost reached the place where God will permit the destroyer to work his
will upon it. 7T 141.1
Angels are now restraining the winds of strife, that they may not blow until the world
shall be warned of its coming doom…and when God shall bid His angels loose the winds, there
will be such a scene of strife as no pen can picture. Ed 179.6

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 Satan claims the world, but there is a little company who withstand his devices, and
contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints. Satan sets himself to destroy this
commandment-keeping company. But God is their tower of defense. He will raise up for them a
standard against the enemy. He will be to them “as an hiding place form the wind,” and “as the
shadow of a great rock in a weary land. RH, September 17, 1901 par. 12
He [Christ] allowed the evil spirits to destroy the herd of swine… Had not Christ
restrained the demons, they would have plunged into the sea, not only the swine, but also their
keepers and owners was due alone to His power, mercifully exercised for their deliverance.
Furthermore, this event was permitted to take place that the disciples might witness the cruel
power of Satan upon both man and beast. GC 515.1
He [Christ] permitted Lazarus to pass under the dominion of death…DA 528.2
Had Christ been in the sickroom, Lazarus would not have died; for Satan would have had
no power over him. Death could not have aimed his dart at Lazarus in the presence of the Life-
giver. Therefore Christ remained away. He suffered the enemy to exercise his power, that He
might drive him back, a conquered foe. DA 528.2
Satan himself is the enemy who tempts man to sin, and then destroys him if he can; and
when he has made sure of his victim, then he exults in the ruin he has wrought. If permitted, he
would sweep the entire race into his net. Were it not for the interposition of divine power, not
one son or daughter of Adam would escape. GC 534.2
He [Satan] claims them [God’s people] as his prey and demands that they be given into
his hands to destroy. GC 618.2
Nothing can happen without His [God’s] permission. ML 291.2
The angels never leave the tempted one a prey to the enemy who would destroy the
souls of men if permitted to do so. As long as there is hope, until they resist the Holy Spirit to
their eternal ruin, men are guarded by heavenly intelligences. OHC 23.2
While Jesus had been standing between God and guilty man, a restraint was upon the
people; but when He stepped out from between man and the Father, the restraint was
removed and Satan had entire control of the finally impenitent. EW 280.2
They [Angel’s] have thwarted the spoiler’s purpose and turned aside the stroke of the
destroyer. Ed 304.4
Satan was permitted to cut short the earthly life of God’s messenger; but that life which
“is hid with Christ in God,” the destroyer could not reach. Colossians 3:3. DA 224.3
God suffered him [Miller] to fall under the power of Satan, the dominion of death, and
hid him in the grave from those who were constantly drawing him from the truth. EW 258.2
The Lord permits conflicts, to prepare the soul for peace. GC 644.2
Satan can exercise his usurped authority only as God permits. DA 129.4

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 CHAPTER 6

CITY OF REFUGE

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1
The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.
Proverbs 18:10
Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy
habitation; There shall no evil befall thee neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
Psalm 91:9, 10
The cities of refuge appointed for God’s ancient people were a symbol of the refuge
provided in Christ. The same merciful Saviour who appointed those temporal cities of refuge
has by the shedding of His own blood provided for the transgressors of God’s law a sure retreat,
into which they may flee for safety from the second death. No power can take out of His hands
the souls that go to Him for pardon. PP 516.3
He [Christ] has prepared for you and me an abiding dwelling place in Himself. He is our
refuge. DA 680.4
The Christian is walled in by the rich full promises of an infinite God.. All who have made
Christ their refuge will reflect His image, and they will be like Him, for they shall see Him as He
is. TMK 61.4; TMK 61.5
The man who makes God his trust is barricaded by an impregnable wall. HP 176.5
And those who were entitled to protection could receive it only on condition of
remaining within the appointed refuge. Should one wander away beyond the prescribed limits,
and be found by the avenger of blood, his life would pay the penalty of his disregard of the
Lord’s provision. PP 515.3
Satan is the destroyer. God cannot bless those who refuse to be faithful stewards. All
He can do is to permit Satan to accomplish his destroying work. 6T 388.3
The sinner is exposed to eternal death, until he finds a hiding place in Christ; and as
loitering and carelessness might rob the fugitive of his only chance for life, so delays and
indifference may prove the ruin of the soul. Satan, the great adversary, is on the track of every
transgressor of God’s holy law, and he who is not sensible of his danger, and does not earnestly
seek shelter in the eternal refuge, will fall a prey to the destroyer. PP 517.2
Satan trembles and flees before the weakest soul who finds refuge in that mighty name.
DA 130.4
He sees that his hellish plots have been powerless to destroy those who have put their
trust in Jesus. GC 669.2
…Christ is our refuge. Mar. 194.4

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 Just as surely as we have a personal Saviour, we have also a personal adversary, cruel
and cunning, whoever watches our steps, and plots to lead us astray… Did they but see their
danger, they would flee to Christ, the sinner’s refuge. SD 79.3
We must understand our danger, or we shall not flee to the refuge. COL 158.1
The prisoner who at any time went outside the city of refuge was abandoned to the
avenger of blood. Thus the people were taught to adhere to the methods which infinite wisdom
appointed for their security. Even so, it is not enough that the sinner believe in Christ for the
pardon of sin; he must, by faith and obedience, abide in Him. PP 517.3
Satan is well aware that the weakest soul who abides in Christ is more than a match for
the host of darkness, and that, should he reveal himself openly, he would be met and resisted.
Therefore he seeks to draw away the soldiers of the cross from their strong fortification, while
he lies in ambush with his forces, ready to destroy all who venture upon his ground. Only in
humble reliance upon God, and obedience to all His commandments, can we be secure. GC
530.1
They [men] venture upon the forbidden ground, and the mighty destroyer exercises his
power upon them against their will. GC 558.2
They separate themselves from God and from the watchcare of His angels; as the evil
one presents his deceptions, they are without defense and fall an easy prey. GC 558.3
He [Christ] is the refuge of His people. Under the shadow of His protection they can pass
unharmed. Believe in Him and trust in Him. He will not give you up to the spoiler. HP 176.3
He [Moses] knew God as a personal God, and, in meditating upon His character he
grasped more and more fully the sense of His presence. He found refuge in the everlasting
arms. MH 475.1
...Israel…had ever been the special objects of Satan’s enmity; he was determined to
cause their destruction. While they were obedient, he could do them no harm; therefore he
had bent all his power and cunning to entice them into sin. Ensnared by his temptations, they
had transgressed the law of God and had been left to become the prey of their enemies. PK
582.2
Those who preached the last message of mercy should bear in mind that Christ is to be
exalted as the sinner’s refuge. Ev. 185.4
We must now make Christ our refuge, or in the days before us our souls will be
overwhelmed with darkness and despair. OHC 362.3
Let us see our Saviour as our refuge, as our shield on our right hand to defend us from
the arrows of Satan. 2SM 244.3
What a privilege it is for you, now afflicted, to find a refuge in Jesus. UL 335.3

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 CHAPTER 7
BIBLE LANGUAGE
Lessons must be given to humanity in the language of humanity. PK 700.3
The Bible is not given to us in grand superhuman language. Jesus, in order to reach man
where he is, took humanity. The Bible must be given in the language of men. Everything that is
human is imperfect. Different meanings are expressed by the same word; there is not one word
for each distinct idea. The Bible was given for practical purposes. 7BC 945.7
The Lord speaks to human beings in imperfect speech, in order that the degenerate
senses, the dull, earthly perception, of earthly beings may comprehend His words. Thus is
shown God’s condescension. He meets fallen human beings where they are. The Bible, perfect
as it is in its simplicity, does not answer to the great ideas of God; for infinite ideas cannot be
perfectly embodied in finite vehicles of thought. 7BC 946.1
The stamps of minds are different. All do not understand expressions and statements
alike. Some understand the statements of the Scriptures to suit their own particular minds and
cases. Prepossessions, prejudices, and passions have a strong influence to darken the
understanding and confuse the mind even in reading the words of Holy Writ. 7BC 945.8
The Bible is written by inspired men, but it is not God’s mode of thought and expression.
It is that of humanity. God, as a writer is not represented. Men will often say such an expression
is not like God. But God has not put Himself in words, in logic, in rhetoric, on trial in the Bible.
The writers of the Bible were God’s penmen, not His pen. Look at the different writers. 7BC
945.9
It is not the words of the Bible that are inspired, but the men that were inspired.
Inspiration acts not on the man’s words or his expressions but on the man himself, who, under
the influence of the Holy Ghost, is imbued with thoughts. 7BC 945.10
The writers of the Bible had to express their ideas in human language. It was written by
human men. These men were inspired of the Holy Spirit. Because of the imperfections of
human understanding of language, or the perversity of the human mind, ingenious in evading
truth, many read and understand the Bible to please themselves. 7BC 945.4
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my
thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8, 9
Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. 2
Peter 1:20

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Compiler’s note: We can ask the question, “What is private interpretation as distinct from
scriptural interpretation?” Private interpretation is that which emanates from the mind of man
as his considered opinion of what the divine revelations are intended to say.
He arrives at certain conclusions according to the definitions of words already formed in
his mind. His mind is a dictionary to which he makes reference whenever he reads a word.
When he encounters a word not already stored in the computer of the mind he applies this
word to the Scripture being read and develops an understanding of what the Scripture is
supposed to say.
A good illustration to emphasize the point that Bible language is sometimes difficult for
us to understand in our day and age, let us consider how language differs even with English
speaking people. The statement “This car is hot!” could mean several different things to several
different people.
If one member of the family says it to another while on a trip, he or she means that the
heater should be turned down, the windows opened- the temperature inside it too warm for
comfort. If a mechanic says it to the car owner, it means that probably the radiator is boiling or
dry and the engine badly overheated. If a person standing next to a dark auto on a hot, sunny,
summer day, leans back against it or touches it, then quickly moves away, he means that the
surface temperature of the car is too warm for comfort- thought the engine might be cold.
If a car salesman says it to a young client as he tries to clinch the sale, it means the car is
selling like hotcakes being devoured at breakfast in a lumber camp on a cold morning.
But if a policeman says it, you know he means the car is stolen.
This shows that there are different meaning for the same word in our language and how
important it is that we understand what is meant by what is being said.

I saw that God had especially guarded the Bible; yet when copies of it were few, learned men
had in some instances changed the words, thinking that they were making it more plain, when
in reality they were mystifying that which was plain, by causing it to lean to their established
views, which were governed by tradition. But I saw that the Word of God, as a whole, is a
perfect chain, one portion linking into and explaining another. EW 220.2
The Lord has preserved this Holy Book by His own miraculous power in its present
shape…SD 190.2

EXAMPLES:
Possible misconception: And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire
and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet [are], and shall be tormented day and
night for ever and ever. Revelation 2:10
Explanation: No eternally burning hell will keep before the ransomed the fearful
consequences of sin. SR 430.1
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 Possible misconception: A bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord;
even to his tenth generation shall he not enter into the congregation of the LORD.
Deuteronomy 23:2
But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and
not sons. Hebrews 12:8
Explanation: Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a
man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. John 3:3

Possible misconception: And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt
Abraham. Genesis 22:1
Explanation: What is temptation? –It is the means by which those who claim to be the
children of God are tested and tried. We read that God tempted Abraham, that He tempted the
children of Israel. This means that He permitted circumstances to occur to test their faith, and
lead them to look to Him for help. 1BC 1094.2
Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted
with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of
his own lust, and enticed. James 1:13, 14

Possible Misconception But when the king heard thereof, and he was wroth: and
burned up their city. Matthew 22:7
Explanation: Their [the Jews] sufferings are often represented as a punishment visited
upon them by the direct decree of God. It is thus that the great deceiver seeks to conceal his
own work. By stubborn rejection of divine love and mercy, the Jews had caused the protection
of God to be withdrawn from them, and Satan was permitted to rule them according to hi swill.
The horrible cruelties enacted in the destruction of Jerusalem are a demonstration of Satan’s
vindictive power over those who yield to his control. GC 35.3

Possible Misconception: [God had declared concerning Pharaoh] I will harden his heart,
that he shall not let the people go. Exodus 4:21
Explanation: It is not God that blinds the eyes of men or hardens their hearts. DA 322.2

Possible Misconception: So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against
the LORD… therefore He slew him, and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse. 1
Chronicles 10:13, 14
Explanation: Saul took his own life by falling upon his sword. PP 681.4
Then said Saul unto his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through
therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his
armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it. 1
Samuel 31:4; 1 Chronicles 10:4

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 Possible Misconceptions: Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as
the green herb have I given you all things. Genesis 9:3
Explanation: Everything had been destroyed upon which man could subsist, and
therefore the Lord in their necessity gave Noah permission to eat of the clean animals which he
had taken with him into the ark. But animal food was not the most healthful article of food for
man. CD 373.1

Possible misconception: And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and

you…Genesis 9:15
Explanation: This does not imply that He would ever forget; but He speaks to us in our
own language, that we may better understand Him. PP 106.2
Possible Misconceptions: And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower,
which the children of men builded. Genesis 11:5
And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their
sin is very grievous; I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according
to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know. Genesis 18:20, 21
Explanation: God knew well the measure of Sodom’s guilt; but He expressed Himself
after the manner of men, that the justice of His dealings might be understood. PP 139.1
Possible Misconception: I [Jonah] went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the
earth with her bars was about me forever… Jonah 2:6
Explanation: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall
the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Matthew 12:40
Possible Misconception: He [the slave who has his ear bored though with an awl] shall
serve him forever. Exodus 21:6 He shall be thy servant forever. Deuteronomy 15:17
Explanation: And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all
the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every
man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family. Leviticus 25:10
And if he be not redeemed in these years, then he shall go out in the year of jubilee,
both he, and his children with him. Leviticus 25:54
Possible Misconception: Thus saith the Lord… behold, I will slay thy son, even thy
firstborn. Exodus 4:22, 23
Explanation: All who failed to heed the Lord’s directions would lose their first-born by
the hand of the destroyer. PP 278.2 Satan is the destroyer. 6T 388.3
Possible Misconception: I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would
thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue
thee out of my mouth. Revelation 3:15, 16
Explanation: There may be a wonderful appearance for zeal and ceremonies, but this is
the substance of their self-inflated religion. Christ represents them as nauseating to His taste.
7BC 962.6
Put away your faculty for seeing the mistakes of others. Turn your attention to your own
defects. Your self-righteousness is nauseating to the Lord Jesus Christ. 7BC 963.7
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 “Of these halfhearted ones He says, “I will spew them out of my mouth. They are
offensive to me.” 7BC 963.7
Love of self excludes the love of Christ. Those who live for self are ranged under the
head of the Laodicean church who are lukewarm, neither cold nor hot… There may be a
wonderful appearance for zeal and ceremonies, but his is the substance of their self-inflated
religion. Christ represents them as nauseating to His taste. 7BC 962.6
Professing Christians who live cold-hearted, selfish lives are nauseating to Christ. Let us
not be lukewarm Christians, heartless in our treatment of others. UL 179.2
Those who thus refuse to exercise for Christ the capabilities and powers of the soul, are
lukewarm Christians, neither cold nor hot, and they are nauseating to Christ. GH, April 1, 1905
par. 14
Christ declares that pretentious piety is nauseating to Him… Their works are opposed to
the holy principles of God’s word. SpTB02 20.1
Possible Misconception: And they saw the God of Israel… Exodus 24:10
Explanation: They did not behold the person of God, but only the inexpressible glory
which surrounded him. ST, May 13, 1880 par. 2

Note: The word SPue actually should be translated vomit. From the greek word “emeo”
meaning: to vomit. (Strongs Concordance). This represents involuntary expulsion, not disgusted
rejection.

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 CHAPTER 8

GOD WITHDRAWS
They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the LORD; but they shall not
find him; he hath withdrawn himself from them. Hosea 5:6
I asked my accompanying angel the meaning of what I heard, and what the four angels
were about to do. He said to me that it was God that restrained the powers, and that He gave
His angles charge over things on the earth; that the four angels had power from God to hold the
four winds, and that they were about to let them go; but while their hands were loosening, and
the four winds were about to blow, the merciful eye of Jesus gazed on the remnant that were
not sealed, and He raised His hands to the Father and pleaded with Him that He had spilled His
blood for them. EW 38.2
Lucifer in heaven had sinned in the light of God’s glory. TO him as to no other created
being was given a revelation of God’s love. Understanding the character of God, knowing His
goodness, Satan chose to follow his own selfish, independent will. DA 761.5
[Satan speaking to his angels] If we can keep souls deceived for a time, God’s mercy will
be withdrawn, and He will give them up to our full control. TM 475.1
God keeps a reckoning with the nations. Not a sparrow falls to the ground without His
notice. Those who work evil toward their fellow men, saying, How doth God know? Will one
day be called upon to meet long-deferred vengeance. In this age a more than common
contempt is shown to God. Men have reached a point in insolence and disobedience which
shows that their cup of iniquity is almost full. Many have well-nigh passed the boundary of
mercy. Soon God will show that He is indeed the living God. He will say to the angles, “No
longer combat Satan in his efforts to destroy. Let him work out his malignity upon the children
of disobedience; for the cup of their iniquity is full. They have advanced from one degree of
wickedness to another, adding daily to their lawlessness. I will no longer interfere to prevent
the destroyer from doing his work.” RH, September 17, 1901 par. 8
This time is right upon us. The Spirit of God is being withdrawn from the earth. When
the angel of mercy folds her wings and departs, Satan will do the evil deeds he has long wished
to do. Storm and tempest, war and bloodshed,--in these things he delights, and thus he gathers
in his harvest. RH, September 17, 1901 par. 9
We cannot know how much we owe to Christ for the peace and protection which we
enjoy. It is the restraining power of God that prevents mankind from passing fully under the
control of Satan. The disobedient and unthankful have great reason for gratitude for God’s
mercy ad long-suffering in holding in check the cruel, malignant power of the evil one. But
when men pass the limits of divine forbearance, that restraint is removed. God does not stand
towards the sinner as an executioner of the sentence against transgression of the law of God, is
a seed sown which yields its unfailing harvest. The Spirit of God, persistently resisted, is at last
withdrawn from the sinner, and then there is left no power to control the evil passions of the
soul, and no protection from the malice and enmity of Satan. GC 36.1
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 …it is not the work of good angels to control minds against the will of the individuals. If
they yield to the enemy, and make no effort to resist him, then the angels of God can do but
little more than hold in check the host of Satan, that they should not destroy, until further light
be given to those in peril, to move them to arouse and look to heaven for help. MYP 52.3
Destroying angels are taking up the work of vengeance; for the Spirit of God is gradually
withdrawing from the world. 7BC 983.1
Terrible plagues are visiting our world, in famines, in floods, in calamities by sea and
land, in earthquakes in divers places. And because of men’s wickedness the Lord does not
restrain the destroying power. RH, December 8, 1896 par. 12
How does the Lord harden the hearts of men? In the same way in which the heart of
Pharaoh was hardened… CC89.2
Every additional evidence of the power of God that the Egyptian monarch resisted,
carried him on to a stronger and more persistent defiance of God… This case is a clear
illustration of the sin against the Holy Ghost. “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also
reap.” Gradually the Lord withdrew His Sprit. Removing His restraining power. He gave the king
into the hands of the worst of all tyrants—self…CC 89.5
The wicked have passed the boundary of their probation; the Spirit of God, persistently
resisted, has been at last withdrawn. Unsheltered by divine grace, they have no protection form
the wicked one. Satan will then plunge the inhabitants of the earth into one great, final trouble.
GC 614,1
By stubborn rejection of divine love and mercy, the Jews had caused the protection of
God to be withdrawn from them, and Satan was permitted to rule them according to his will.
GC 35.3
It is God that shields His creatures and hedges them in from the power of the destroyer.
But the Christian world have shown contempt for the law of Jehovah; and the Lord will do just
what He has declared that He would—He will withdraw His blessings from the earth and
remove His protecting care from those who are rebelling against His law and teaching and
forcing others to do the same. Satan has control of all whom God does not especially guard. He
will favor and prosper some in order to further his own designs, and he will bring trouble upon
others and lead men to believe that it is God who is afflicting them. GC 589.2
When parents or rulers neglect the duty of punishing iniquity, God will Himself will take
the case in hand. His restraining power will be in a measure removed from the agencies of evil,
so that a train of circumstances will arise which will punish sin with sin. PP 728.1
As the defenders of truth refuse to honor the Sunday-sabbath, some of them will be
thrust into prison, some will be exiled, some will be treated as slaves. To human wisdom all this
now seems impossible; but as the restraining Spirit of God shall be withdrawn from men, and
they shall be under the control of Satan, who hates the divine precepts, there will be strange
developments. The heart can be very cruel when God’s fear and love are removed. GC 608.1
God bears long with the rebellion and apostasy of His subjects. Even when His mercy is
despised and His love scorned and derided, He bears with men until the last resource for
leading them to repentance is exhausted. But there are limits to His forbearance… Providence
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will no longer shield them from Satan’s power. They will have sinned away their day of grace.
RH. September 17, 1901 par. 7
The Canaanites had filled up the measure of their iniquity, and the Lord would no longer
bear with them. His protection being removed, they would be an easy prey. PP 390.1
WERE THOSE WHO SERVE God removed from the earth, and His Spirit withdrawn from
among men, this world would be left to desolation and destruction, the fruit of Satan’s
dominion. DA 306.4
The long-suffering of God toward Jerusalem only confirmed the Jews in their stubborn
impenitence. In their hatred and cruelty toward the disciples of Jesus they rejected the last
offer of mercy. Then God withdrew His protection from them and removed His restraining
power from Satan and his angels, and the nation was left to the control of the leader she had
chosen. GC 28.1
Men cannot with impunity reject the warning which God in mercy sends them. A
message was sent from heaven to the world in Noah’s day, and their salvation depended upon
the manner in which they treated that message. Because they rejected the warning, the Spirit
of God was withdrawn from the sinful race, and they perished in the waters of the Flood.

BUT, in reality:
No soul is ever finally deserted of God, given up to his own ways, so long as there is any
hope of his salvation. “Man turns from God, not God from him. “ MB 93.1

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 Chapter 9

Separation from God

But you iniquities have separated between you and your God and your sins have hid His face
from you that He will not hear. Isaiah 59.2
The transgression of the law caused a fearful separation between God and man. SR 50.3
The Lord has not closed heaven to us, but our own course of continual backsliding has separated
us from God. 5T 217.1
We are not to regard God as waiting to punish the sinner for his sin. The sinner brings
punishment upon himself. His own actions start a train of circumstances that bring the sure result. Every
act of transgression reacts upon the sinner, works in a change of character, and makes it more easy for
him to transgress again. By choosing to sin, men separate themselves from God, cut themselves off from
the channel of blessing, and the sure result is ruin and death. 6BC 1085
We want all to understand how the soul is destroyed. It is not that God sends out a decree that
man shall not be saved. He does not throw a darkness before the eyes which cannot be penetrated. But
man at first resists a motion of the Spirit of God, and having once resisted, it is less difficult to do so the
second time, less the third and far less the fourth. Then comes the harvest to be reaped from the seed
of unbelief and resistance. Oh what a harvest of sinful indulgences is preparing for the sickle! 5T 120.2
No soul is ever finally deserted of God, given up to his own ways, so long as there is any hope of
his salvation. “Man turns from God, not God from him.” Our heavenly Father follows us with appeals
and warnings and assurances of compassion, until further opportunities and privileges would be wholly
in vain. The responsibility rests with the sinner. By resisting the Spirit of God today, he prepares the way
for a second resistance of light when it comes with mightier power. Thus he passes on from one stage of
resistance to another, until at last the light will fail to impress, and he will cease to respond in any
measure to the Spirit of God. MB 93.1

For ages the people of Israel had been separating themselves from God. 5T 709.2
A backsliding church closed their eyes to the signs of the times. God did not forsake them… but
they departed from Him, and separated themselves form His love. GC 315.4
God is not pleased with our lack of faith. Unbelief always separates the soul form Christ. HP
276.4
The sin which is indulged to the greatest extent, and which separates us from God and produces
so many contagious spiritual disorders, is selfishness. HP 233.3
Our danger, then, is in separating from God, and in mingling with the spirit and influence of the
world. RH, January 4, 1887 par. 16
With the issues of the conflict before Him, Christ’s soul was filled with dread of separation from
God. DA 686.5
He who had been one with God, felt in His soul the awful separation that sin makes between
God and man. This wrung from His lips the anguished cry, “My God. My God, why hast Thou forsaken
Me” Matthew 27:46. It was the burden of sin, the sense of its terrible enormity, of its separation of the
soul from God—it was this that broke the heart of the Son of God. SC 13.1

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 The cup which He [Christ] prayed should be removed from Him that looked so bitter to His soul,
was the cup of separation from God in consequence of the sin of the world. HP 89.4
Christ would take upon Himself the guilt and shame of sin—sin so offensive to a holy God that it
must separate the Father and His Son. PP 63.2
The sense of the withdrawal of His Father’s love pressed form His anguished soul these
mournful words: “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death” (Matthew 26:38). AG 169.4
Any sin in them [man] separates them from God… 5T 661.4
When we become absorbed in worldly things of that we have no thought for Him in whom our
hope of eternal life is centered, we separate ourselves from Jesus and from the heavenly angels. These
holy beings cannot remain where the Saviour’s presence is not desired, and His absence is not marked.
DA 83.2
God is the fountain of life; and when one chooses the service sin, he separates from God, and
thus cuts himself off from life. DA 764.1
Separated from the vine, the branch cannot live. DA 676.1
Their separation from Christ involves a ruin as complete as that represented by the dead branch.
DA 676.5
Nothing can separate a living Christian from God. Mar. 108.7
We are not to regard God as waiting to punish the sinner for his sin. The sinner brings the
punishment upon himself. His own actions start train of circumstances that bring the sure result. Every
act of transgression reacts upon the sinner, works in him a change of character, and makes it more easy
for him to transgress again. By choosing to sin, men separate themselves from God, cut themselves off
from the channel of blessing, and the sure result is ruin and death. 1SM 235.2

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 Chapter 10

The Destroyer
The wages of sin is death. Romans 6:23

Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of
the destroyer. Psalms 17:4
There are but two powers that control the minds of men—the power of God and the
power of Satan. Christ is man’s Creator and Redeemer, Satan is man’s enemy and destroyer. Te
276.3
If He [Christ] lets go His hold of us for one moment, Satan stands ready to destroy. 6BC
1078.5
Satan, knowing that the empire he had usurped would in the end be wrested from him,
determined to spare no pains to destroy as many as possible of the creatures whom God had
created in His image. 7BC 973.10
The only safeguard against his power is found in the presence of Jesus. Before men and
angels Satan has been revealed as man’s enemy and destroyer… DA 341.1
God bears long with the rebellion and apostasy of His subjects. Even when His mercy is
despised and His love scorned and derided, He bears with men until the last resource for
leading them to repentance is exhausted. But there are limits to His forbearance. From those
who to the end continue in obstinate rebellion, He removes His protecting care. Providence will
no longer shield them from Satan’s power. RH, September 17, 1901 par.7
God keeps a reckoning with the nations. Not a sparrow falls to the ground without His
notice. Those who work evil toward their fellow men, saying, How doth God know? Will one
day be called upon to meet long-deferred vengeance. In this age a more than common
contempt is shown to God. Men have reached a point in insolence and disobedience which
shows that their cup of iniquity is almost full. Many have well-nigh passed the boundary of
mercy. Soon God will show that He is indeed the living God. He will say to the angels, “No
longer combat Satan in his efforts to destroy. Let him work out his malignity upon the children
of disobedience; for the cup of their iniquity is full. They have advanced from one degree of
wickedness to another, adding daily to their lawlessness. I will no longer interfere to prevent
the destroyer from doing his work.” RH, September 17, 1901 par.8
Satan’s agents never pause in their work of destruction. 9T 220.1
Satan is the destroyer. God cannot bless those who refuse to be faithful stewards. All
He can do is to permit Satan to accomplish his destroying work. We see calamities of every kind
and in every degree coming upon the earth, and why? The Lord’s restraining power is not
exercised. 6T 388.3
Satan works through the elements also to garner his harvest of unprepared souls. He
has studied the secrets of the laboratories of nature, and he uses all his power to control the

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elements as far as God allows. When he was suffered to afflict Job, how quickly flocks and
herds, servants, houses, children were swept away, one trouble succeeding another as in a
moment. It is God that shields His creatures and hedges them in from the power of the
destroyer. GC 589.2
In accidents and calamities by sea and by land, in great conflagrations, in fierce
tornadoes and terrific hailstorms, in tempests, floods, cyclones, tidal waves, and earthquakes,
in every place and in a thousand forms, Satan is exercising his power. He sweeps away the
ripening harvest, and famine and distress follow. He imparts to the air a deadly taint, and
thousands perish by the pestilence. These visitations are to become more and more frequent
and disastrous. GC 589.3
The power and malice of Satan and his host might justly alarm us were it not that we
may find shelter and deliverance in the superior power of our Redeemer. We carefully secure
our houses with bolts and locks to protect our property and our lives from evil men; but we
seldom think of the evil angels who are constantly seeking access to us, and against whose
attacks we have, in our own strength, no method of defense. If permitted, they can distract our
minds, disorder and torment our bodies, destroy our possessions and our lives. Their only
delight is in misery and destruction. Fearful is the condition of those who resist the divine
claims and yield to Satan’s temptations, until God gives them up to the control of evil spirits.
But those who follow Christ are ever safe under His watch care. Angels that excel in strength
are sent from heaven to protect them. The wicked one cannot break through the guard which
God has stationed about His people. GC 517.2

God is constantly at work for the good of His creatures. Satan is also constantly at work,
but for evil. The prince of the power of the air is the agent of destruction, the one who causes
suffering and misery. Times without number God has interposed to avert death, to keep men,
women, and children in safety when Satan purposed a result wholly disastrous. RH. September
17, 1901 par. 2
Sickness, suffering, and death are work of an antagonistic power. Satan is the destroyer;
God is the restorer. MH 113.1
Satan was permitted to cut short the earthly life of God’s messenger; but that life which
“is hid with Christ in God.’ The destroyer could not reach. Colossians 3:3..CC 278.4
He points scornfully at the mistakes of those who claim to be doing God service. They
have been deceived by him, and he begs for permission to destroy them. TDG 226.2
He claims them [people] as his prey and demands that they be given into his hands to be
destroyed. 5T 468.1
And in her [Babylon] was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were
slain upon the earth. Revelation 18:24
Those who profess to be the children of God do not place themselves under the
guardianship of the heavenly angels, and as Satan is a destroyer, he works through those men
and they make mistakes… 2SM 51.4

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 When they transgressed God’s commandments, then they separated themselves from
Him, and they were left to feel the power of the destroyer. GC 529.3
Satan himself is the enemy who tempts man to sin, and then destroys him if he can… GC
534.2
Christ is the Restorer, Satan is the destroyer… UL 375.4
From the days of Adam to our own time, our great enemy has been exercising his power
to oppress and destroy. GC 510.2
Satan is working to the utmost to make himself as God and to destroy all who oppose
his power. 6T 14.3
The wrath of Satan increases as his time grow short, and his work of deceit and
destruction will reach its culmination in the time of trouble. GC 623.3
Thus it was that Lucifer, “the light bearer,” the sharer of God’s glory, the attendant of
His throne, by transgression became Satan “the adversary” of God and holy beings and the
destroyer of those whom Heaven had committed to his guidance and guardianship. PP 39.2
Satan urges before God his accusations against them, declaring that they have by their
sins forfeited the divine protection, and claiming the right to destroy them as transgressors. 5T
473.2
With his masterly power he [Satan] presents every objectionable feature of character as
sufficient reason for the withdrawal of Christ’s protecting power, thus allowing Satan to
discourage and destroy those whom he has caused to sin. 4BC 1178.3
The will must consent, faith must let go its hold upon Christ, before Satan can exercise
his power upon us. But every sinful desire we cherish affords him a foothold. Every point in
which we fail of meeting the divine standard is an open door by which he can enter to tempt
and destroy us. DA 125.2
The destruction of souls is the regular employment of Satan and his agents upon the
earth. TDG 171.3
If the Lord did not continue his guardian care over us by day and night, Satan would
exercise his power against us, and we should be consumed. The Lord has appointed his angels
to shield his people, that the wicked one may not destroy us. ST, January 6, 1890 par. 7
They [the angels] have thwarted the spoiler’s purpose, and turned aside the stroke of
the destroyer. ML 367.2
...It was sin that caused death…PP 68.1
It is sin that is destroying souls…2T 390.1

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 Chapter 11

They Destroy Themselves

O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in Me is thine help… O Israel, return unto the Lord thy
God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Hosea 13:9, 14:1
The people of Israel were at this time loyal to God; and so long as they continued in obedience
to His law, no power in earth or hell could prevail against them. But the curse which Balaam had not
been permitted to pronounce against God’s people, he finally succeeded in bringing upon them by
seducing them into sin. When they transgressed God’s commandments, then they separated themselves
from Him, and they were left to feel the power of the destroyer. GC 529.3
Satan…ready to destroy all who venture upon his ground. Only in humble reliance upon
God, and obedience to all His commandments, can we be secure. GC 530.1
[Speaking of the Jewish babies being killed by Herod] This calamity the Jews had brought
upon themselves. If they had been walking in faithfulness and humility before God, He would in
a signal manner have made the wrath of the king harmless to them. But they had separated
themselves from God by their sins, and had rejected the Holy Spirit, which was their only shield.
DA 65.5
Like Israel of old the wicked destroy themselves; they fall by their iniquity. GC 37.1
God gives them existence for a time that they may develo9p their character and reveal
their principles. This accomplished, they receive the results of their own choice. DA 764.1
Satan is the destroyer. God cannot bless those who refuse to be faithful stewards. All
He can do is to permit Satan to accomplish his destroying work. 6T 388.3
Speaking of the destruction of Satan and his followers at the end:
This is not an act of arbitrary power on the part of God. The rejecters of His mercy reap
that which they have sworn. God is the fountain of life; and when one chooses the service of
sin, he separates from God, and thus cuts himself off from life. DA 764.1
Had Satan and his host then been left to reap the full result of their sin, they would have
perished; but it would not have been apparent to heavenly beings that this was the inevitable
result of sin. DA 764.2
OF those who reject the truth he is saying, If you are destroyed, you are responsible.
You would not come unto me that you might have life. RH, November 13, 1900
Every man who is destroyed will destroy himself. OHC 26.4
Could those whose lives have been spent in rebellion against God be suddenly
transported to heaven and witness the high, the holy state of perfection that ever exists there,-
-…could those whose hearts are filled with hatred of God, of truth and holiness, mingle with the
heavenly throng and join their songs of praise? Could they endure the glory of God and the
Lamb? No, no; years of probation were granted them, that they might form characters from
heaven; but they have never trained the mind to love purity; they have never learned the
language of heaven, and now it is too late. A life of rebellion against God has unfitted them for

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heave. Its purity, holiness, and peace would be torture to them… They would long to flee from
that holy place. They would welcome destruction, that they might be hidden from the face of
Him who died to redeem them. The destiny of the wicked is fixed by their own choice. Their
exclusion from heaven is voluntary with themselves, and just and merciful on the part of God.
GC 542.2
…They [men] venture upon the forbidden ground and the mighty destroyer exercises his
power upon them against their will… GC 558.2
All who indulge sinful traits of character, or willfully cherish a known sin, are inviting the
temptations of Satan. They separate themselves from God and from the watchcare of His
angels; as the evil one presents his deceptions, they are without defense and fall an easy prey.
GC 558.3
The first step towards salvation is to respond to the drawing of the love of Christ. God
sends message after message to men, entreating them to repentance, that He may forgive, and
write pardon against their names... Shall His appeals to be unheeded? Shall His overtures of
mercy be ignored, and His love utterly rejected? Oh, then man will cut himself off from the
medium through which he may gain life eternal… 1SM 323.2
While God has given ample evidence for faith, He will never remove all excuse for
unbelief. All who look for hooks to hang their doubts upon will find them. And those who refuse
to accept and obey God’s word until every objection has been removed, and there is no longer
an opportunity for doubt, will never come to the light. GC 527.2
Unbelief will ever find excuse for doubt, and will reason away the most positive proof.
DA 386.4
By refusing to keep His covenant, they [Israel] would cut themselves off from the life of
God… COL 291.1
The law of self-serving is the law of self-destruction. DA 624.1
His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of
his sins. Proverbs 5:22
The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made: in the net which they hid is their
own foot taken. The LORD is known by the judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared
in the work of his own hands. Psalms 9:15, 16
Men fail of salvation through their own willful refusal of the gift of life. GC 261.3
Christ will never abandon the soul for whom He has died. The soul may leave Him and
be overwhelmed with temptation, but Christ can never turn from one for whom He has paid
the ransom of His own life. MB 118.4

…if we will not accept His grace, what more can He do? We have destroyed ourselves by
our determined rejection of His love. HP 346.5
God did not forsake them… but they departed from Him, and separated themselves
from His love. GC 315.4
The truth, which should have been to them a savor of life unto life, became a savor of
death unto death. RH, February 20, 1900 par. 5
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 Christ did not say to them {the Pharisees], “You scan not enter the kingdom of heaven;”
but he showed them that the obstacles that prevented them from entering were of their own
creating. RH February 20, 1900 par. 6

His [Christ] warnings, failing to arouse them to repentance, would seal their doom, and He
wished them to see that they had brought ruin on themselves. He designed to show them the
justice of God in the withdrawal of their national privileges, which had already begun, and
which would end, not only in the destruction of their temple and their city, but in the dispersion
of the nation. DA 597.3
The hearers recognized the warning. But notwithstanding the sentence they themselves
had pronounced, the priests and rulers were ready to fill out the picture by saying, “This is the
heir, come, let us kill him.” DA 597.4
Evil shall slay the wicked. Psalms 34:21
The Lord had never commanded them [Israel] to “go up and fight.” It was not His
purpose that they should gain the land by warfare, but by strict obedience to His commands. PP
392.3

Sinners welcome destruction

Although surrounded with the blessings of His love, there is nothing that the sinner,
bent on self-indulgence and sinful pleasure, desires so much as separation from God. COL 200.2
When the voice of God awakes the dead, he will come from the grave with the
same appetites and passions, the same likes and dislikes, that he cherished when living… During
his lifetime he took no delight in God, nor found pleasure of His service. His character is not in
harmony with God, and he could not be happy in the heavenly family. COL 270.1
The sinner could not be happy in God’s presence; he would shrink from the
companionship of holy beings. Could he be permitted to enter heaven, it would have no joy for
him… Heaven would be to him a place of torture; he would long to be hidden from Him who is
its light, and the center of its joy. It is no arbitrary decree on the part of God that excludes the
wicked form heaven; they are shut out by their own unfitness for its companionship. The glory
of God would be to them a consuming fire. They would welcome destruction, that they might
be hidden from the face of Him who died to redeem them. SC 17.2

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 Chapter 12
Wrath of God
For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed
is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do
them. Galatians 3:10
Disobedience to God’s law is itself the curse; for “by one man sin entered into the
world, and death by sin.” Romans 5:12. Sin has death wrapped up in it. Without sin death
would be impossible, for “the sting of death is sin.” 1 Cor. 15:56. “As many as are of the works
of the law are under the curse” Glad Tidings 53
“The law worketh wrath” because “all have sinned,” and “the wrath of God cometh on
the children of disobedience. “How shall we become doers of the law, and thus escape wrath,
or the curse? Glad Tidings 54.
Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is
written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree. Galatians 3:13
He, the Sin Bearer, endures the wrath of divine justice, and for thy sake becomes sin
itself. DA 755.1
That death is the curse is evident from the last part of verse 13… Christ was made a
curse for us, in that He hung upon a tree, that is, was crucified. But sin is the cause of death. “By
one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for
that all have sinned.” Romans 5:12 “The sting of death is sin.” 1 Cor. 15:56. So we have the
substance of verse 10 thus, that those who do not continue in the things written in the law are
dead. That is, disobedience is death. And this is what the Scripture says: “When lust hath
conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin, when it is finished bringeth forth death.” James 1:15.
Sin contains death… Sin is the transgression of the law; the wages of sin is death. The curse,
therefore, is the death that is carried about concealed even in the most attractive sin. e praise
you for who you are. We praise you for your goodness and your loving kindness. We praise you
for your sovereignty and for being trustworthy regardless of our circumstances. We are facing
times of uncertainty, and for many this brings anxiety, depression, and all-consuming fear.
These emotions can lead to violence, neglect, and suicidal thoughts. We come before you,
humbly asking that you would be with those who are in unsafe situations right now, by their
own hand or at the hand of others. Glad Tidings 56
The curse… is disobedience…Death came by sin. Death is the curse that passed upon all
men, simply because “all have sinned.” Glad Tidings 56, 57
Could mortals have viewed the amazement and the sorrow of the angelic host as they
watched in silent grief the Father separating His beams of light, love, and glory from the

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beloved Son of His bosom, they would better understand how offensive sin is in His sight. 2T
206.2
It was a sense of His Father’s frown, in consequence of sin, which rent His heart with
such piercing agony and forced from His brow great drops of blood…2T 204.1
The sense of the withdrawal of His Father’s love pressed form His anguished soul these
mournful words: ‘My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death.” 2T206.1
It was the crushing weight of the sins of the world, and a sense of His Father’s wrath.
The Father’s glory and sustaining presence had left Him… 2T209.1
Christ is dying! He is in despair! His Father’s approving smile is removed…2T 209.2
The displeasure of the Father for sin, and its penalty, which is death, were all that He
could realize through this amazing darkness. He was tempted to fear that sin was so offensive
in the sight of His Father that He could not be reconciled to His Son. The fierce temptation that
His own Father had forever left Him caused that piercing cry from the cross: “My God, My God,
why hast Thou forsaken Me?” 2T 209.3
Christ felt much as sinners will feel when the vials of God’s wrath shall be poured out
upon them. 2T 210.1
He endured the hiding of His Father’s countenance… 2T212.2
The sins of the world were upon Him, also the sense of His Father’s wrath as He suffered
the penalty of the law transgressed. It was these that crushed His divine soul. It was the hiding
of His Father’s face – a sense that His own dear Father had forsaken Him – which brought
despair. The separation that sin makes between God and man was fully realized and keenly felt
by the innocent, suffering Man of Calvary. 2T 214.2
Heavenly angles were not permitted to minister unto the anguished spirit of the Son of
God. It was in this terrible hour of darkness, the face of His Father hidden, legions of evil angels
enshrouding Him, the sins of the world upon Him, that the words were wrenched from His lips:
“My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” 2T 214.3
God suffered His wrath against transgression to fall on His beloved Son. DA 743.2
He was realizing His Father’s frown… The wrath that would have fallen upon man, was
now falling upon Christ. 5BC 1124.3
The wrath of God against sin, the terrible manifestation of His displeasure because of
iniquity, filled the soul of His Son with consternation… The withdrawal of the divine
countenance from the Saviour in this hour of supreme anguish pierced His heart with a sorrow
that can never be fully understood by man. So great was this agony that His physical pain was
hardly felt. DA 743.1

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 It was the sense of sin, bringing the Father’s wrath upon Him as man’s substitute, which
made the cup He drank so bitter, and broke the heart of the Son of God. DA 753.2
Sinner Destroyed, How?
Sin and sinners will perish, root and branch. DA 763.4
This is not an act of arbitrary power on the part of God. The rejecters of His mercy reap
that which they have sown. God is the fountain of life; and when one chooses the service of sin,
he separates from God, and thus cuts himself off from life. He is “alienated from the life of
God.” Christ says, “All they that hate Me love death.” Ephesians 4:18; Proverbs 8:36. DA 764.1
God keeps a reckoning with the nations. Not a sparrow falls to the ground without His
notice. Those who work evil toward their fellow men, saying, how doth God know? Will one
day be called upon to meet long-deferred vengeance. In this age more than common contempt
is shown to God, Men have reached a point in insolence and disobedience which shows that
their cup of iniquity is almost full. Many have well-nigh passed the boundary of mercy. Soon
God will show that he is indeed the living God, He will say to the angels, “No longer combat
Satan in his efforts to destroy. Let him work out his malignity upon the children is almost full.
They have advanced from one degree of wickedness to another, adding daily to their
lawlessness. I will no longer interfere to prevent the destroyer form doing his work” RH 17,
1901, par. 8
God gives them existence for a time that they may develop their character and reveal
their principles. This accomplished, they receive the results of their own choice. DA 764.1
He gave them their own desire. Psalms 78:29
If they [sinners] refuse the heavenly benefit, if they choose the pleasures and
deceitfulness of sin, they can have their choice, and at the end receive their wages, which is the
wrath of God and eternal death. ST August 1879, par1; 2T 210.1
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Romans 6:23
We cannot know how much we owe to Christ for the peace and protection which we
enjoy. It is the restraining power of God that prevents mankind from passing fully under the
control of Satan. The disobedient and unthankful have great reason for gratitude of God’s
mercy and long-suffering in holding in check the cruel, malignant power of the evil one. But
when men pass the limits of divine forbearance, that restraint is removed… The Spirit of God,
persistently resisted, is at last withdrawn from the sinner, and then there is left no power to
contro0l the evil passions of the soul and no protection from the malice and enmity of Satan.
GC 36.1

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 The destiny of the wicked is fixed by their own choice. Their exclusion from heaven is
voluntary with themselves, and from heaven is voluntary with themselves, and just and
merciful on the part of God. GC 542.2

What is the Father’s Wrath?

His frown. 2T 204.1
The withdrawal of His love. 2 T 206.1
The separation of His beams of light love, and glory. 2T206.2
His glory and sustaining presence leaving. 2T209.1
The removing of His approving smile. 2T 212
The hiding of His countenance. 2T 212.2
The hiding of His face. 2T 214.2

What took the life of Christ?

1. The sins of the world and
2. The sense of His Father’s wrath as He suffers the penalty of the law transgressed 2T
209.1
3. The crushing weight of the sins of the world, and
4. A sense of His Father’s wrath. 2T 209.1

What will take the life of the sinner?

1. Sin. 2T 214.2
2. The wrath of God.

Sin is the transgression of the law. 1 John 3:4 the wages of sin is death. Romans 6:23
God is the fountain of life and when one chooses the service of sin, he separates from
God and thus cuts himself off from his own life. DA 764.1 Everyone who is destroyed will
have destroyed himself. COL 84.4 They… receive their wages, which is the wrath of God
and eternal death. 2T 210.1 I [God] will no longer interfere to prevent the destroyer
form going his work. RH September 17, 1901, par. 8 Satan is the destroyer M.H 113.1

Note: The word translated “wrath” is from a root allied to the Syriac and Arabic that means “to
break off” “to snap off.” The masculine noun, is “splinter,” a piece broken off. So the wrath of
God… involves the idea of severing [separation]… The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
vol. 1, page 827, 828.

Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? Can the fig tree, my
brethren, bear olive berries? Either a vine, figs? So can no fountain both yield salt water and
fresh. James 3:11, 12

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Note: Can God be a destroyer and a Savior?

The history of Job had shown that suffering is inflicted by Satan, and is overruled by God for
purposes of mercy. DA 471.3

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 Chapter 13
??? Mysteries ???

Whom shall he teach knowledge? And whom shall he make to understand doctrine? Them that
are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept
upon precept line upon line, line upon line, here a little, and there a little. Isaiah 28:9-10

The Bible is its own interpreter, one passage explaining another. 4T 499.1

The sacrifice of Christ as an atonement for sin is the great truth around which all other truths
cluster. In order to be rightly understood and appreciated, every truth in the Word of God, from Genesis
to Revelation, must be studied in the light which streams from the cross of Calvary, and in connection
with the wondrous, central truth of the Saviour’s atonement. Those who study the Redeemer’s wonderful
sacrifice grow in grace and knowledge. 5BC 1137.7

That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full
assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of
Christ; in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Colossians 2:2,3

The mystery of the cross explains all other mysteries. In the light that streams from Calvary the
attributes of God which had filled us with fear and awe appear beautiful and attractive. Mercy,
tenderness, and parental love are seen to blend with holiness, justice, and power. GC 652.1

The revelation of God’s love to men centers in the cross… Here are infinite wisdom, infinite love,
infinite justice, infinite mercy—“the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God.”
Romans 11:33. 8T287.1; 8T 287.6

There is one great central truth to be kept ever before the mind in the searching of the
Scriptures---Christ and Him crucified. Every other truth is invested with influence and power
corresponding to its relation to this theme. It is only in the light of the cross that we can discern the
exalted character of the law of God. 6BC 1084.8

Those who study the Redeemer’s wonderful sacrifice grow in grace and knowledge. 5BC 1137.7

It is sin that is destroying souls. 2T 390.2 It was sin that caused death… PP68.1

He[Christ] was slain by the sin of the world. DA 772.2

By shedding the blood of the Son of God, he had uprooted himself from the sympathies of the
heavenly beings. DA 772.2

I saw that God had especially guarded the Bible; YET when copies of it were few, learned men
had in some instances changed the words, thinking that they were making it more plain, when in reality
they were mystifying that which was plain, by causing it to lean to their established views, which were
governed by tradition. But I saw that the Word of God, as a whole, is a perfect chain, one potion linking
into the explaining another. EW 220.2

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 Had Satan and his host then been left to reap the full result of their sin, they would have
perished; but it would not have been apparent to heavenly beings that this was the inevitable result of
sin. DA 764.2

Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree that we, being dead to sins, should
live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. 1 Peter 2:24

For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the
righteousness of God in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21

...the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:6

...sin so offensive to a holy God that it must separate the Father and His Son. PP 63.2

Christ felt much as sinners will feel when the vials of God’s wrath shall be poured out upon
them. 2T 210.1

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 Chapter 14
God Consumes Sin
But who may abide the day of his coming? And who shall stand when he appeareth? For he is
like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap: And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver. Malachi 3:2,3

To sin, wherever found, God is a consuming fire. If you choose sin, and refuse to separate from
it, the presence of God, which consumes sin, must consume you. MB 62.1

…the furnace is to purify, but not to consume. PP 738.2

The Lord is willing to help us, to strengthen and bless us; but we must pass through the refining
process until all the impurities in our character are burned away. Every member of the church will be
subjected to the furnace, not to consume, but to purify. 5T 485.2

He [Satan] may cause the furnace to be heated, but Jesus and angels will watch the trusting
Christian, that nothing may be consumed but the dross [sin]. The fire kindled by Satan can have no
power to destroy or hurt the true metal. 1T 309.1

I saw that God is purifying and proving His people. He will refine them as gold, until the dross is
consumed and His image is reflected in them. 1T 355.2

To sin, wherever found, “our God is a consuming fire.” Hebrews 12:29. In all who submit to His
power the Spirit of God will consume sin. DA 107.4

…Earthliness must be consumed…GC 621.1

The prophet Isaiah had declared that the Lord would cleanse His people form their iniquities “by
the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.” The word of the Lord to Israel was, “I will turn My
hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy sin.” Isaiah 4:4; 1:25. DA 107.4

His [Jacob] transgression had been forgiven, and his sin purged; therefore he could endure the
revelation of God’s presence. But wherever men came before God while willfully cherishing evil, they
were destroyed. At the second advent of Christ the wicked shall be consumed “with the Spirit of His
mouth,” and destroyed “with the brightness of His coming.” 22 Thessalonians 2:8. The light of the glory
of God, which imparts life to the righteous, will slay the wicked. DA 107.4

Only the pure in heart could babied in His presence. DA 108.1

God is too pure to behold iniquity. 2T 447.1

The people of Israel, because of their sinfulness, were forbidden to approach the mount when
God was about to descend upon it to proclaim His law, lest they should be consumed by the burning glory
of His presence. If such manifestations of His power marked the place chosen for the proclamation of
God’s law, how terrible must be His tribunal when He comes for the execution of these sacred statues.
How will those who have trampled upon His authority endure His glory in the great day of final
retribution? Mar. 40.2

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 At the coming of Christ the wicked are blotted from the face of the whole earth—consumed
with the spirit of His mouth and destroyed by the brightness of His glory. GC 657.1

By a life of rebellion, Satan and all who unite with him place themselves so out of harmony with
God that His very presence is to them a consuming fire. The glory of Him who is love will destroy them.
DA 764.1

Every defect in the character, unless it is overcome by the help of God’s Sprit, will become a sure
means of destruction. 5T 573.1

Kill the thorns, or they will kill you. 5T 53.4

It is no arbitrary decree on the part of God that excludes the wicked form heaven; they are shut
out by their own unfitness for its companionship. The glory of God would be to them a consuming fire.
They would welcome destruction, that they might be hidden from the face of Him who died to redeem
them. SC 17.2

Then shall they that obey not the gospel be consumed with the spirit of His mouth and be
destroyed with the brightness of His coming. 2 Thessalonians 2:8. Like Israel of old the wicked
destroy themselves; they fall by their iniquity. By a life of sin, they have placed themselves so
out of harmony with God, their natures have become so debased with evil, that the
manifestation of His glory is to them a consuming fire. GC 37.1

Before its destruction the call is to be given from heaven, “Come out of her, My people, that ye
be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.” Revelation 18:4. As in the
days of Noah and Lot, there must be a marked separation from SIN and sinners. PP 167.1

When the divine Presence was manifested upon Sinai, the glory of the Lord was like devouring
fire. . . But when Christ shall come in glory with His holy angels the whole earth shall be ablaze
with the terrible light of His presence. Mar. 40.3

But amid the tempest of divine judgment the children of God will have no cause for fear. “The
Lord will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel. “ The day that
brings terror and destruction to the transgressors of God’s law, will bring to the obedient, “joy
unspeakable, and full of glory.” Mar. 40.6

He who is to the transgressors of His law a devouring fire, is to His people a safe pavilion. GC
654.3

Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will
grind him to powder. Luke 20:18

…Gospel truth ruins if it does not save. 5T 134.1

And what was it that destroyed the Jews? It was the rock which, had they built upon it, would
have been their security. It was the goodness of God despised, the righteousness spurned, the
mercy slighted. Men set themselves in opposition to God, and all that would have been their
salvation was turned to their destruction. All that God ordained unto life they found to be unto
death. DA 600.2

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 You must have an experience for yourselves, which shall found in God. Then can you stand amid
the perils of the last days and be purified and not consumed by the fire of affliction through
which all the saints must pass in order to have the impurities removed from their character
preparatory to receiving the finishing touch of immortality. 2T 118.3

But if men cling to sin, they become identified with it. Then the glory of God, which destroys sin,
must destroy them. DA 107.4

If you cling to self, refusing to yield your will to God, you are choosing death. To sin, wherever
found, God is a consuming fire. If you choose sin, and refuse to separate from it, the presence
of God, which c0onsumes sin, must consume you. MB 62.1

The coming of the Lord in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory, is very near. UL
261.3

In the day of His coming, the last great trumpet is heard, and there is a terrible shaking of earth
and heaven. The whole earth, form the loftiest mountains to the deepest mines, will hear.
Everything will be penetrated by fire. The tainted atmosphere will be cleansed by fire. The fire
having fulfilled its mission, the dead that have been laid away in the grave will come forth—
some to the resurrection of life, to be caught up to meet their Lord in the air, and some of
behold the coming of Him whom they have despised and whom they now recognize as the
Judge of all the earth. UL 261.4

All the righteous are untouched by the flames. They can walk through the fire, as Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego walked in the midst of the furnace heated seven times hotter than it
was won’t to be heated. The Hebrew worthies could not be consumed, because the form of the
fourth, the Son of God, was with them. So in the day of the coming of the Lord, smoke and flame
will be powerless to harm the righteous. Those who are united with the Lord will escape
unscathed. Earthquakes, hurricanes, flame, and flood cannot injure those who are prepared to
meet their Saviour in peace. UL 261.5

The furnace fires are not to destroy, but to refine, ennoble, sanctify. 8T 123.3

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 Chapter 15

Our God is a Consuming Fire

Alonzo T. Jones

The Lord is coming. He is coming with power and great glory. And “our God is a consuming
fire.” Of the times and seasons, you have no need that I should speak; for yourselves know
perfectly that the day of the Lord cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace
and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, and they shall not escape. And though
it is true that of the times and seasons you need not that I should speak, there is that
connected with His coming, of which it is altogether essential to speak, and to think upon, all
the time; and that is, the effect of His coming; for He comes “in flaming fire taking vengeance on
them that know not of God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.” And all these
will be “punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory
of His power.” 2 Thessalonians 1:8, 9

Again, it is written, “And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall
consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.” 2
Thessalonians 2:8. So when he comes in His glory, it is a consuming glory, burning up all the
wicked, and all that have any wickedness about them.
Yet again it is written: “Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and
fierce anger, today the land desolate” and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it… And I
will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity.” Isaiah 13:9, 11. And “who
may abide the day of his coming? And who shall stand when he appeareth”? Malachi 3:2. That
is the question. As he is a consuming fire: and as, when he comes, we shall see him as he is, we
shall have to meet him as that consuming fire that he is, and there is no escaping it.
When he comes, he is no more of a respecter of persons than before he comes. “There
is no respect of person s with God.” Just as certainly as he is as he is: an certainly as he comes
as he will and as certainly as we shall see him as he is, so certainly will we of character, there is
no room for change in us in that day.
However, in that day, as in all other days, it is not upon men themselves that God’s
wrath is visited; but upon the sins of men, and upon men only as they are identified with their
sins. “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven, “not against all ungodly men, not against
all unrighteous men, but “against all ungodliness, and unrighteousness of men.” Romans 1:18.
And only as the man clings to his ungodliness, only as he holds down the truth in
unrighteousness, shall it be that the wrath of God will be revealed from heaven against him:
and even then not against him primarily, but against the sin to which he clings, and will not
leave. And as he has thus made his choice, clinging fast to his choice, he must take the
consequences of his choice, when his choice shall have reached its ultimate. So it is written, and

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I read it again, “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth {who hold down, who press back the truth} in
unrighteousness.”

Continuing from where we read a moment ago, “Then shall that wicked be revealed,
whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness
of his coming: even him, whose coming is a after the working of Satan with all power and signs
and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because
they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall
send them strong delusion, that they should believe a life: that they all might be damned who
believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” “Believed not the truth.” They
knew of it; it was presented to them; their hearts told them, the Spirit of God told them, that it
was the truth: their own consciences approved of it all” but they would not believe the truth;
they “had pleasure in unrighteousness,” and held down, and pressed back, the truth in
unrighteousness; and “for this case” it is that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven and
strikes them.
Yet, as already stated, the wrath of God is not primarily against them, but against the
thing which they love; against the thing which they cling to, and will not be separated from. And
at last, in that great day when the judgment is set, and on the right and on the left are all the
people who have ever lived, those on the left will depart “into everlasting fire… The Lord has
done his utmost that they might never see it. He gave his Son to save them, that they might
never know it. It was not prepared for them. He does not desire that they should be lost; but
they have to go there because there is the company which they have chosen; that is the place
with which they have chosen; that is the place with which they have connected themselves,
and from which they would not be separated. Therefore, He says,” depart from me, ye cursed,
into everlasting fire…

Not prepared for you. God in that day, as in all other days, it is not upon men
themselves that God’s wrath is visited; but upon the sins of men, and upon men only as they
are identified with their sins. “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven.” Not against all
ungodly men, not against all unrighteous men, but “against all ungodliness and unrighteousness
of men.” Romans 1:18. And only as the man clings to his ungodliness, only as he holds down the
truth in righteousness, shall it be that the wrath of God will be revealed from heaven against
him: and even then not against him primarily, but against the sin to which he clings, and will not
leave. And as he has thus made his choice, clinging fast to his choice, he must take the
consequences of his choice, when his choice shall have reached its ultimate. So it is written, and
I read it again, “The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth {who hold down, who press back the truth] in
unrighteousness.”
Continuing from where we read a moment ago, “then shall that wicked be revealed,
whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness
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of his coming: even him, whose coming is a after the working of Satan with all power and signs
and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because
they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall
send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who
believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” “Believed not the truth.” They
knew of it; it was presented to them; their hearts told them, the Spirit of God told them, that it
was the truth; their own consciences approved of it all: but they would not believe the truth;
they “had pleasure in unrighteousness,” and held down. And pressed back, the truth in
unrighteousness; and “for this cause” it is that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven, and
strikes them.
Yet, as already stated, the wrath of God is not primarily against them, but against the
thing which they love; against the thing which they cling to, and will not be separated form. And
at last, in that great day when the judgment is set, and on the right and on the left are all the
people who have ever lived, those on the left will depart “into everlasting fire… The Lord has
done his utmost that they might never see it. He gave his Son to save them, that they might
never know it. It was not prepared for them. He does not desire that they should be lost; but
they have to go there because there is the company which they have chosen’ that is the place
with which they have connected themselves, and from which they would not be separated.
Therefore, He says, “depart from me. Ye cursed, into everlasting fire…”
Not prepared for you. God in that day, ---the Lord Jesus Christ in that hour--- when that
word shall be spoken, will be just as sorrowful as he was in the hour of the cross. He will be just
as sorry that these have to go into that place, which was not prepared for them, as he as in the
hour of the cross. It is not his pleasure that any should be there. They are there because of that
sin to which they have inseparably joined themselves. And that being their irrevocable choice,
they simply have the opportunity now of receiving indeed, and to the full, that which they have
chosen. They always had their choice; they made their choice; they stuck to their choice: and
when they receive the consequences of their choice, indeed there is no room for complaint.
God has done all that he could do, but they would not have it.
So, though it is a fact the Lord does not desire any of this to come upon any man, yet, as
“God is a consuming fire.” That is the way that he must come. Being a consuming fire, and
coming as he is, he comes in flaming fire to visit upon wickedness has to go the same way.
“Taking vengeance on them that know not God.” They had a n opportunity to know
God. Multitudes professed that they did know God, but in their works they denied him. They
had the form of godliness, ---The profession,--- but they denied the power thereof. You know
the words: “In the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own
selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those
that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God, having
a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are
they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with
divers lust… reprobate concerning the faith.” And destruction comes to them, not because they
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had no chance, but because they despised all the chances they had no opportunity to know
God, but because they rejected every opportunity that God ever gave them to find him out, and
know him when he revealed himself.
God is altogether clear, for Jesus said: “If any man hear my words, and believe not. I
judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejecteth me,
and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him.” John 12:47, 48

Now let us find out that “one.” It is not Jesus Christ: he says it is not. It is not God; for
the Lord Jesus said, “if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not.” That is not
the “one” But there is “one” that judges him, and I think we can find him out. Look again: “if
any man hear my words.” That word is the word of God. It is the word of life of God, because it
is the word of God. The word of life of God is eternal life, because eternal is the life of God.
Then there is the word of eternal life. That word is spoken. All men hear it. “If any man hear my
words, and believe not;”—that word being the word of life, when it comes to you, or to me, or to
that other man, eternal life comes to you or to me, or to that other man. In the “words of
eternal life,” eternal life comes to him to whom the word comes. And when he rejects the word,
he rejects eternal life. And in choosing to reject eternal life, he chooses eternal death.
It is his own choice to reject eternal life; and in rejecting that, he chooses death. Then
when that death comes to him which he has chosen---who brought him to it?
Who counted him worthy of death? Who judged him? Who sentenced him to death? ---
Only himself. Nobody else is concerned in it at all. God did all that he could: he set eternal life
before him; he surrounded him with every possible inducement, and every persuasion, to
receive it; he made it attractive to him; it was adorned, decorated, made as beautiful as God’s
truth itself could be made, and his own heart approved of it; the Spirit of God said to him, “That
is the right thing, that is the truth:” but he “had pleasure in unrighteousness.” He rejected the
word, and in rejecting the word of eternal life, he rejected eternal life; and in that he chose
eternal death. And when he receives eternal death, it is only what he chose. He himself is the
only one who counted himself worthy of it.
When Paul and Barnabas were in Antioch, and the Jews contradicted and blasphemed
against those things which were spoken by Paul and Barnabas to the Gentiles, these men of
God waxed bold, and said, “It was necessary that the word of God should first have been
spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life,
lo, we turn to the Gentiles.” Acts 13:46. Mark; it was not said, We judge you unworthy of
eternal life. No; You “judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life.” Every man who meets
destruction passes upon himself the judgment of that destruction.
All the Scripture is founded upon this thought,---that it is not against the person, but
against the thing to which the person has fastened himself, that the wrath of God comes.
Then as the Lord executes vengeance primarily only against sin, as his wrath is only against
ungodliness and unrighteousness, and he has done everything he could to get the people to
separate form sin, then in that burning day when he comes, and reveals himself to the world,
and the world sees him as he is, it will still be only sin against which he will execute vengeance.
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 What more could God do than he did do to take away sin? He gave his only begotten
Son; Christ gave himself, that whosoever would believe on him should not perish, but have
everlasting life. He pledges himself to every soul who will believe, that he shall not perish. The
word does not read, as too often it is misread, God so love the world, that he gave his only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him might not perish, but have everlasting life. No
such thing. The next verse has the “might” ion it: “God sent not his Son into the world to
condemn the word: but that the world through him might be saved.” It may be, too. When God
gave his Son, in that gift he established the eternal possibility that every soul in this world might
be saved. But there is where the “might” is. There is where the “maybe” is. Because, whether
any one is saved, depends upon what he chooses. The Lord will not save us in spite of
ourselves. He has made it possible, in the gift of Christ, for every one of us to be saved. It
depends upon us whether we choose the salvation that he has given; whether we will take the
cross, and adopt the means, that will make it certain to us.
But when one has chosen Christ, and believes in him, there is no “maybe” about it
anymore. It shall be. Then the verse comes in where the “shall” is, and reads: “For God so loved
the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not [not,
“might not”] perish, but have everlasting life.” Believing in Jesus Christ takes away all the
“maybe” that there ever was in it, and makes it an eternal shall be. So, then, to every soul who
believes in Jesus, God says, I pledge myself that you “shall not perish.” To every soul in this
world, wicked as he may be, God’s message is that he has made the provision, he has
established the thing, and so firmly fixed it that just as certainly as a soul believes in Jesus
Christ, that soul “shall not perish.” That is a good offer. It is infinitely fair, and infinitely
generous. It’s as fair and generous as is God.
Destruction of sin is the only way of salvation. His name shall be called “Jesus; for he
shall save his people from their sins.” So when I accept his offer, as certainly as I believe in Jesus
I shall not perish. And in that, I accept the provision that I will let sin go. I agree that I am willing
to be separated from the sin, and that I will separate from sin. Listen: “Knowing this, that our
old man is crucified with him that the body of sin might be destroyed.” Then the object of the
cross of Christ is the destruction of sin. Never miss that thought. Hold fast to it forever: the
cross of Jesus Christ--- the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the object of it is the destruction of sin.
Thank the Lord, that object will be accomplished. Now let us read the whole verse: “Knowing
this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that
henceforth we should not serve sin.” Rom. 6:6. Not only is there destruction of sin, but freedom
from the service of sin. “For sin shall not have dominion over you.” Verse 14. Let us follow that
thought briefly right through the chapter. There is in it a whole world of Christian victory and
joy.
“For he that is dead is freed from sin.” He who is crucified, he who has accepted the
death of Jesus Christ, and is crucified with him, he it is that is freed from sin.
“Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him.” But where
does he live? Does he live in sin? --- He never did. Then as certainly as we live with him, we live
with him free from sin.
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 “Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more
dominion over him.” It could not hold the dominion which it had. It had the dominion, because
he gave himself up in surrender of death; but death could not hold him, because he was
separated from sin. Neither can death hold anybody else; even though it had dominion, it can’t
hold the man who is free from sin.
“Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should
obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness
unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your
members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you.”
There the apostle says that sin shall not have dominion over you. Let not sin therefor
reign in your flesh, in your members. Then coming down a little farther: “Know ye not, that to
whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of
sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” The next verse reads: “But God be
thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of
doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of
righteousness.”
The cross of Christ gives not only freedom from sin, but makes men servants of
righteousness. The next verse tells us that the service of righteousness is “unto holiness;” the
end of holiness is everlasting life; and without holiness “no man shall see the Lord.”
Then it is perfectly plain, as plain as ABC, that the only true preparation for the coming
of the Lord is separation from sin. It makes no difference how much we talk about the coming
of the Lord; nor how much we preach the signs of the times; nor how much we prepare for it
otherwise, though we sell all we have, and give to the poor,---if we are not separating from sin,
making it our constant consideration to be absolutely separated from sin, and to be servants of
righteousness unto holiness, we are not making preparation for the coming of the Lord at all:
our profession is all a fraud. We may not be working it as a fraud; but we are inflicting upon
themselves by it; but that makes no difference: if our constant consideration is not entire
separation from sin, our profession is a fraud.
The profession of being an Adventist, of being a Seventh-day Adventist, looking for the
coming of the Lord, telling people that the coming of the Lord is near, watching the signs of the
times,--all this is right, absolutely and forever right. But, though I have all this, and have not that
one thing,---the sole ambition to be completely separated from sin, and from the service of sin,-
--my profession of the Adventist faith is a fraud; for if I am not separated from sin, I cannot
meet the Lord at all in peace. Therefore if my sole ambition is not separation from sin, and from
the service of it, I am not preparing at all to meet the Lord.
Then the question for every one of us here today, and for Seventh-day Adventist of all
people, is, Are you preparing to meet the Lord, whom, without holiness, no man shall see? I am
going to ask you more than that: Are you ready to meet the Lord? Of the times and seasons,
you have no need that I speak to you. It is not necessary for me to stand here, and talk about
how near the coming of the Lord is. The signs are multiplying upon the earth. You are
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Adventists. You know all that; but it is proper for me, now and forever, to stand here and ask,
Are you separated from sin? And being separated from sin, are you ready to meet the Lord?
Because our God is a consuming fire, and there is no use trying to get away from that. He is
nothing else. You need not coddle yourself with the notion that God is anything else than a
consuming fire. Just make up your mind to that. He says that that is just what he is; and the
sooner you and I make up our minds that God is a consuming fire, the better.
Christ is coming; we are talking about it; it will be for us. He is coming in flaming fire, he
comes as a consuming fire; but I want to know what is the use of talking about his coming
unless we are ready to meet him in this consuming fire? It is all deception for any man to pass
along carelessly when that is the eternal truth.
Do you not remember that the Word not only says that we shall see Him, but see Him as
He is? That is, we shall see Him as a consuming fire,--- and I am glad of it. Thank the Lord! Here
is a description of Him when John saw Him as He is,---saw Him as we shall see Him,---And what
of it? Just a few points: “His eyes were as a flame of fire.” “His feet like unto fine brass, as if
they burned in a furnace; and “His countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.” His
raiment was “white as snow, so as no fuller on earth can white them,” “as white as the light”---
the whiteness of piercing, consuming brightness. That is He. And that is He as He is when He
comes; and without holiness no man shall see Him. Without separation from sin, no man shall
stand.
Then the question with you and with me today, and all the time is, how shall we be so
separated from sin that we may meet him in flaming fire! How, how, how!
Look at yourself and your record, and I will look at myself and my record. We will look at
the evil traits that are in us, at the struggles we have made, and the longing we have had to
overcome these besetments, and to separate ourselves from all the evil, that we might indeed
be ready. Where is there time to get ourselves ready? In the short time that intervenes
between now and that day,---is there time? And if so, when shall be that time when you and I
shall have that thing so accomplished, shall have so separated ourselves from sin that we shall
be ready to meet Him in flaming fire? The answer is, Never. That time will never, never come.
What, then, shall we do? Do not misunderstand. I did not say that the time will never
come when we could be separated from sin. I said, Look at yourself, and I will look at myself,
and we will see what we are, how full of evil traits, and what little progress we have made in
this work of overcoming, and ask the question, When will the time ever come when you and I
shall have so separated ourselves from sin that we can meet him in flaming fire? It is that time
which I say will never, never come.
But, bless the Lord! There is time to be separated from sin. No time is now, JUST NOW,
to be separated from sin. The time to be separated from sin is right now, and that now is all the
time; for “now is the accepted time: now is the day of salvation.” Only God can separate us
from sin; He will do it, and He will do it just now. Bless his name!
Yet, what everyone must understand is this: the only way that God does, or can,
separate anybody from sin is by that very consuming fire of His presence. The only way,
therefore, in which you and I can ever be so separated from sin as to meet God as He is, in the
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flaming fire that He is, in that great day, is to meet Him TODAY as He is, in the consuming fire
that He is. The only way that we can be prepared to meet Him at his coming in that great day is
to meet Him in his coming today. For there is a coming to men now, as really as to the world in
that great day. “I will not leave you comfortless: I will COME TO YOU.” John 14:18. But do not
forget that whether he comes to you or to me now, or whether He comes to other people in
that great day, He comes only as a consuming fire.
Listen: “If any man hear MY voice, and open the door,”---what does He say?---“I will
come in to him.” Good. Thank the Lord! And “He is a consuming fire” and when He comes in to
you, that coming will consume all the sin in you, so that when He comes in the clouds of heaven
in flaming fire, you can meet Him in joy in the consuming fire that He is.
Then do you hear his voice? “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My
voice, and open the door, I WILL COME IN TO HIM.” Do you hear His voice? Then swing open
wide the door, and keep it everlastingly open. Bid Him welcome, in the consuming fire that He
is: and that flaming fire of His presence will consume sin all your being, and so will thoroughly
cleanse and prepare you to meet Him in flaming fire in that great day.
When I meet Him today “in a flaming fire, “when I welcome Him today “a consuming
fire” in me, shall I be afraid to meet Him in flaming fire in that day---No; I shall be accustomed
to it; and knowing what a blessed thing it is to become familiar with meeting Him as “a
consuming fire,” knowing what a blessing that has brought to me today, I shall be delighted to
meet Him on that other day, when He shall be revealed from heaven in flaming fire. “Our God is
a consuming fire.” Bless the Lord!
“Who may abide the day of His coming? Who shall stand when He appeareth? For He is
like a refiner’s FIRE.” Good. Then when I meet Him now, in the consuming fire that He is, meet
Him in a fire that is refining, that purifies. “And He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of sliver that
they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.” That is separation from sin; that is
purification form sin. And that sets us where we offer an offering unto the Lord in
righteousness: we become the servants of righteousness unto holiness, that we may meet the
Lord. So, then, bless the Lord that He is a consuming fire,---that He is as a refiner’s fire.
Look again at that expression in Revelation: “His eyes were as a flame of fire.” In that
day His eyes will rest upon each of us, and He will look clear through us. When His eyes are as a
flame of fire, and those eyes in that great day rest upon every one of us, and look clear through
us, what will that look do for everyone who is wrapped up, body and soul, in sin? ---It will
consume the sin and the sinner with it; because he would not be separated from the sin. And
today, just now, those eyes are the same that they will be in that day. Today his eyes are as a
flame of fire; and “all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to
do.” Very good, then. As all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we
have to do, whether we will have to do with Him or not, why not accept the fact, choose to
have it so, and on our part open up everything to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do?
And having opened up the life thus to Him, to the flaming fire of the glory of His shining
eyes, what will that do?---Those eyes of living flame will look clear through us, and will consume

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away all the sin, and all the dross; and will refine us so that He shall see in us the image of
Himself.
It is written that we are to serve the Lord “as of sincerity.” Sincere is genuine; it is true;
it is as strained honey. Originally, it is honey strained, and strained again, over and over, until,
holding up the honey to the light, it is found to be sine-cera,---“without wax,” no trace of cera
to be seen floating in it. That is what He says you and I are to be as certainly as we are
Christians. God cleanses us in the blood of Christ, and holds us up in the light of the Lord, and
the world can see only the light. And so, “ye are the light of the world.”
Here, again, is the word of the Lord: “Search me, O god, and know my heart: try me, and
know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me.” Ps. 139:23, 24. That is the word
given to us for today and for all time. Another word goes right along with it: “O Lord, thou hast
searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my down sitting and mine uprising… and art
acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou
knowest it altogether. Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.”
Another translation has it: “Thou has compassed me all around; and holdest thine hand over
me.” Verses 1-5. That is a fact with every man in all this wide world. That is how it is that all
things an naked and opened unto thee yes of Him with whom we have to do.
Then when it is a fact that He has searched us, and known us, and does search out and
know us all the time, why not accept it as a fact, and have the benefit of it? Why not present to
Him the word, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts”? What
for?---“And see if there be any wicked way in me.” O, that sets me before His face; for His
glorious eyes of light to look upon me, and to shine through me, as the fire, searching out if
there be any wicked way in me! And having searched it out, and being a consuming fire, He
consumes it all away, and leads me in the way everlasting.
So, then, the sure way to escape the flaming fire of that great day is to welcome that
flaming fire this day. Therefore, I say again, Let it never escape from your thought that “our God
is a consuming fire;” and that the sure way to escape from that consuming fire in that great day
when there will be no chance to change, and no time to choose, is to choose today the blessed
change that is wrought, by welcoming freely, gladly, into the life, our God, who is a consuming
fire.
I remember the word that was spoken to Moses. As Moses had come nearer and nearer
to God, he said at last: “I beseech thee, show me thy glory.” That is exactly what appears in the
coming great day that is at hand: He comes “in the clouds of heaven with power and great
glory.” His glory covers the heavens in that day, and the earth is filled with His praise. In that
day He is “wrapped in a blaze of boundless glory,” “and every eye shall see Him.” But who shall
endure it? That is the question; and the answer is: Only those who have prayed, and now pray,
that Christian prayer, “I beseech thee, show me thy glory.”
When Moses prayed that blessed Christian prayer, the Lord said: “There is a place by
me… and I will put thee in a cleft of the rock,” “and I will make all my goodness pass before
thee.” “and it shall come to pass, while My glory passeth by,” I “will cover thee with my hand.
And I will take away my hand.” And you shall see me. Ex. 33:21-23. So, through every man
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should dread the terror of the consuming glory of the Lord in that great day, there is today a
place by Him. So we are to bid all souls; and from Him I bid you, today, Come, and stand in this
place by Him, in the very presence of the flaming glory Do not be afraid. Moses was not able to
bear the fullness of that consuming glory that day; but the Lord, in His love, covered Him with
his hand, and protected Him from the effects of that glory, which he was unable to bear.
The great trouble in that great day is that the people are not able to bear the glory. The
kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, the chief men and the captains, and
every bondman, and every freeman flee to the rocks and mountains hide themselves, and say to
the rocks and mountains, “Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the
throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall
be able to stand?” The blazing glory of God will shine upon the earth, and these people can not
bear it.
But today do not be afraid. He says: “There is a place by Me” there is a place “in a cleft
of the rock,” and I “will cover thee with My hand,” so that you can bear the blaze, and the
purifying power, of my glory. And that consuming fire of my presence shall consume away all
the sin. I “will cover thee with my hand,”--- I will protect you even from that weakness which, in
you, makes you unable to bear the fullness of my glory. And when He takes away His hand in
that great day, those who have dwelt by His side, and been purified by living in this consuming
fire until they are made white and tried, can look upon His unveiled face. In the full brightness
of His glory, we shall look upon Him and see Him as He is.
And that is where we are now, to look. With open face we can look, even now, into His
face. For, in the flesh of Jesus Christ, God has veiled the annihilating power of the glory of His
face; for, having shined into our hearts, He gives the light of the knowledge of the glory of God
in the face of Jesus Christ. In looking into the face of Jesus Christ, we see the face of God, and
“we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same
image from glory, to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
Then let every soul welcome the glorious message that God sends to the world, “receive
ye the Holy Ghost,” welcome that blessed Spirit that works this change by which we are
changed from glory to glory, and made ready to meet Him in that great day of glory; and
welcome not only the Holy Spirit, but covet earnestly the best gifts, which the Holy Spirit brings
when He comes. Desire spiritual gifts; for these are to bring us to perfection in Christ Jesus.
Only in this way shall we be made perfect in Christ Jesus; and in Christ be made ready to meet
Him as He is.
God is a consuming fire; and I am glad of it. Our God is coming; and I am glad of it. He is
coming in flaming fire; and I am glad of it. He is coming in all His glory; and I am glad of it. I am
sorry that there will be anybody upon whom He will have to take vengeance; but I am glad that
the day is coming when all sin will be swept away by our God, who is a consuming fire.
Come, brethren, Are you ready? Are ready to meet Him in that day? If not, He says to
you today, “There is a place by Me.” Come today, and stand in this place by Me. I will reveal to
you all My glory; “I will make all My goodness pass before thee.” And where there is any defect
in you that cannot just now bear the deeply consuming fire of this glory, I “will cover thee with
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My hand” until it is all over: so that I may separate you from all sin, and save you in that day of
glory.
O, then, welcome Him who is a consuming fire! Dwell in His presence. Open up the life.
Recognize the fact that He is a consuming fire--- that He is never anything else. Then rejoice in
that today. Dwell in that consuming fire today. And when that great day breaks upon the earth,
in all His glory, we shall also rejoice in that day. Then we shall stand and say, “Lo, this is our
God.” But what! With the mountains hurling though the air; every island fleeing out of its place;
the earth coming up from beneath; the heavens departing as a scroll, with a noise that is more
than deafening and flaming fire all around, His face as the sun, His eyes as a flame of fire, ---in
all this shall we rejoice?--- Yes, bless the Lord! We shall rejoice because “this is our God.” We
have seen Him before; we have welcomed the living flame of which His eyes are as a flaming
fire, that they should pierce us through, and search out any wicked way in us.
We know what blessing and joy were brought into our lives when His consuming glory
purified us from sin and from sinning, and made us the servants of righteousness unto holiness.
And knowing what blessedness that was, we exclaim, in the fullness of perfect joy, “Lo, this is
our God” indeed. We see Him now, more fully than before. That means more blessing still. “Lo,
this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for
Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.” Isaiah 25:9.

This sermon was preached at the Battle Creek Tabernacle, October 22:18988, and was found in the Review and Herald, Jan. 24-
Feb. 7, 1899

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 Chapter 16

Problems and Solutions

PROBLEM: KING SAUL’S DEATH
SAUL DIED because he was unfaithful to the Lord; he did not keep the word of the Lord and
even consulted a medium for guidance, and did not inquire of the Lord. So the Lord put him to
death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse. 1 Chronicles 10:13. 14 (NIV)
Solution:
By his own stubbornness and rebellion he had cut himself of from God. PP 675.3 So Saul took a
sword, and fell upon it. 1 Chronicles 10:4 Saul took his own life by falling upon his sword. PP
681.4
PROBLEM: HARDENING OF THE HEART
[God had declared concerning Pharaoh] I will harden his heart that he shall not let the
people go. Exodus 4:21
Solution:
How was it in the case of Pharaoh? The statement in Holy Writ is that God hardened his
heart… 5T119.2. This case is placed on record for our benefit… God destroys no one. The sinner
destroys himself by his own impenitence. 5T120.1
How does the Lord harden the hearts of men? In the same way in which the heart of
Pharaoh was hardened… CC 89.2
Every additional evidence of the power of God that the Egyptian monarch resisted,
carried him on to a stronger and more persistent defiance of God… This case is a clear
illustration of the sin against the Holy Ghost. “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also
reap.” Gradually the Lord withdrew His Spirit. Removing His restraining power, He gave the king
into the hands of the worst of all tyrants—self. CC 89.5
There was no exercise of supernatural power to harden the heart of the king. God gave
to Pharaoh the most striking evidence of divine power, but the monarch stubbornly refused to
heed the light… As he continued to venture on in his own course, going from one degree of
stubbornness to another, his heart became more and more hardened, until he was called to
look upon the cold, dead faces of the first-born. PP268.1
It is not God that puts the blinder before the eyes of men or makes their hearts hard; it
is the light which God sends to his people, to correct their errors, to lead them in safe paths,
but which they refuse to accept,-- it is this that blinds their minds and hardens their hearts. RH,
October 21, 1890 par. 3

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 God speaks to men through His servants, giving cautions and warnings, and rebuking sin.
He gives to each an opportunity to correct his errors before they become fixed in the character;
but if one refuses to be corrected, divine power does not interpose to counteract the tendency
of his own action. He finds it more easy to repeat the same course. He is hardening the heart
against the influence of the Holy Spirit. A further rejection of light places him where a far
stronger influence will be ineffectual to make an abiding impression. PP 268.2
We must come with a humble and teachable spirit to obtain knowledge from the great I
AM. Otherwise, evil angels will so blind our minds and harden our hearts that we shall not be
impressed by the truth. GC 599.1
It is not God that blinds the eyes of men or hardens their hearts. DA 322.2
Every rejection of light hardens the heart and darkens the understanding… 1BC 1099.9

PROBLEM: DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM

The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers, and burned
their city. Matthew 22:7 (NIV)
Thus the Jewish people sealed their rejection of God’s mercy. The result was foretold by
Christ in the parable. The king “sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and
burned up their city.” The judgment pronounced came upon the Jews in the destruction of
Jerusalem and the scattering of the nation. COL 308.3
Angels of God were sent to do the work of destruction, so that one stone was not left
one upon another that was not thrown down. 5BC 1098.7
And what was it that destroyed the Jews? It was the rock which, had they built upon it,
would have been their security. It was the goodness of God despised… DA 600.2

SOLUTION:
…Israel had spurned the divine protection, and now she had nondefense. GC 29.1
Their sufferings are often represented as a punishment visited upon them by the direct
decree of God. It is thus that the great deceiver seeks to conceal his own work. By stubborn
rejection of divine love and mercy, the Jews had caused the protection of God to be withdrawn
from them, and Satan was permitted to rule them according to his will. The horrible cruelties
enacted in the destruction of Jerusalem are a demonstration of Satan’s vindictive power over
those who yield to his control. GC 35.3

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 O that thou, a nation favoured above every other, hadst known the time of thy
visitation, and the things that belong unto thy peace! I have stayed the angel of justice; I have
called thee to repentance, by in vain… If thou art destroyed, thou alone are responsible. “Ye will
not come to Me, that ye might have life.” John 5:40. GC 21.2
In the siege and the slaughter that followed, more than a million of the people
perished… GC 35.2
The long-suffering of God toward Jerusalem only confirmed the Jews in their stubborn
impenitence. In their hatred and cruelty toward the disciples of Jesus they rejected the last off
errand mercy. Then God withdrew His protection from them and removed His restraining
power from Satan and his angels, and the nation was left to the control of the leader she had
chosen.
Christ saw the retribution that was to come upon the Jews as a result of their course of
action,-- their rebellion against God, and their hatred of the Roman power, which they were
compelled to obey. Had the Jews been loyal to God, the armies of heaven would have shielded
them from their adversaries. They brought their ruin upon themselves. RH, November 13, 1900
par. 6
The doom foretold came upon the Jewish nation. Their own fiercer passions,
uncontrolled, wrought their ruin. In their blind rage they destroyed one another. COL 295.3

PROBLEM: WORLD’S END

The Lord cometh out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their
iniquity… Isaiah 26:21
Fire comes down from God out of heaven. The earth is broken up. The weapons
concealed in its depths are drawn forth. Devouring flames burst from every yawning chasm.
The very rocks are on fire. The day has come that shall burn as an oven. The elements melt with
fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein are burned up. Malachi 4:1; 2 Peter
3:10. GC 672.2
The Saviour’s prophecy concerning the visitation of judgments upon Jerusalem is to
have another fulfilment, of which that terrible desolation was but a faint shadow. In the fate of
the chosen city we may behold the doom of a world that has rejected God’s mercy and
trampled upon His law. GC 36.2
Christ saw in Jerusalem as symbol of the world hardened in unbelief and rebellion, and
hastening on to meet the retributive judgments of God. GC 22.1

Solution:

Their [the Jews] sufferings are often represented as a punishment visited upon them by
the direct decree of God. It is thus that the great deceiver seeks to conceal his own work. By
stubborn rejection of divine love and mercy the Jews had caused the protection of God to be

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withdrawn from them, and Satan was permitted to rule them according to his will. The horrible
cruelties enacted in the destruction of Jerusalem are a demonstration of Satan’s vindictive
power over those who yield to his control. GC 35.3
The world has rejected His mercy, despised His love, and trampled upon His law. The
wicked have passed the boundary of their probation; the Spirit of God, persistently resisted, has
been at last withdrawn. Unsheltered by divine grace, they have no protection from the wicked
one. Satan will then plunge the inhabitants of the earth into one great, final trouble. As the
angels of God cease to hold in check the fierce winds of human passion, all the elements of strife
will be let loose. The whole world will be involved in ruin more terrible than that which came
upon Jerusalem of old. GC 614.1
[Speaking of the end] Like Israel of old the wicked destroy themselves; they fall by their
iniquity. GC 37.1

PROBLEM: SATAN’S FATE

I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire… Thou shalt
be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more. Ezekiel 28:16, 19
Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of
thy traffic; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I
will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. Ezekiel 28:18
And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the
dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in
heaven. The great dragon was hurled down--- that ancient serpent called the devil or Satan,
who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
Revelation 12:7-9 (NIV)

SOLUTION:
Had Satan and his host then been left to reap the full result of their sin, they would have
perished; but it would not have been apparent to heavenly beings that this was the inevitable
result of sin. DA 764.2
…Through death He [Christ] might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the
devil. Hebrews 2:14
The casting down of Satan as an accuser of the brethren in heaven was accomplished by
the great work of Christ giving His life. 7BC 973.10
God will vindicate His law and deliver His people. Satan and all who have joined him in
rebellion will be cut off. Sin and sinners will perish, root and branch, (Malachi 4:1),--Satan the
root, and his followers the branches. The word will be fulfilled to the prince of evil, “because
thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God;… I will destroy thee, O covering cherub…” DA
763.4
This is not an act of arbitrary power on the part of God. The rejecters of His mercy reap
that which they have sown. God is the fountain of life; and when one chooses the service of sin,
he separates from God, and thus cuts himself off from life… By a life of rebellion, Satan and all
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who unite with him place themselves so out of harmony with God that His very presence is to
them a consuming fire. DA 764.1

PROBLEM: STRONG DELUSIONS FROM GOD

And for this cause God shall send them strong delusions, that they should believe a lie.
2Thessalonians 2:11
SOLUTION:
What stronger delusion can beguile the mind than the pretence that you are building on
the right foundation and that God accepts your works, when in reality you are working out
many things according to worldly policy and are sinning against Jehovah? Oh, it is a great
deception, a fascinating delusion, that takes possession of minds when men who have once
known the truth, mistake the form of godliness for the spirit and power thereof… 8T 249.3
Evil men will give themselves over to believe strong delusions, that they may be
damned. These men will put on the garments of sincerity and deceive, if possible, the very
elect. 4T 595.3
Looking down to the last days, the same Infinite Power declares, concerning those who
“received not the love of the truth that they might be saved”. “For this cause God shall send
them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who
believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12. As they
reject the teachings of His word, God withdraws His Spirit and leaves them to the deceptions
which they love. GC 431.1
They rejected the truth, and the enemy has had power to bring strong delusions upon
them that they should believe a lie. 1T73.1
We must follow the directions given through the spirit of prophecy. We must love and
obey the truth for this time. This will save us from accepting strong delusions. 8T 298.1
Satan works with his crooked, deceiving power, and through strong delusions he catches
all who do not abide in the truth, who have turned away their ears from the truth and have
turned unto fables. TM 365.2

PROBLEM: GOD’S JUDGMENTS

Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty
man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in
this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise loving
kindness, judgment, and righteousness, in earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.
Jeremiah 9:23, 24

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 God cannot forbear much longer. Already His judgments are beginning to fall on some
places, and soon His signal displeasure will be felt in other places. 9T 96.1

SOLUTION:
Terrible plagues are visiting our world, in famines, in floods, in calamities by sea and
land, in earthquakes in divers places. And because of men’s wickedness the Lord does not
restrain the destroying power. RH, December 8, 1896 par. 12
Satan works through the elements also to garner his harvest of unprepared souls. He
has studied the secrets of the laboratories of nature, and he uses all his power to control the
elements as far as God allows… It is God that shields His creatures and hedges them in from the
power of the destroyer. GC 589.2
While appearing to the children of men as a great physician who can heal all their
maladies, he [Satan] will bring disease and disaster, until populous cities are reduced to ruin
and desolation. Even now he is at work. In accidents and calamities by sea and by land, in great
conflagrations, in fierce tornadoes and terrific hailstorms, in tempests, floods, cyclones, tidal
waves, and earthquakes, in every place and in a thousand forms, Satan is exercising his power.
GC 589.3
I was shown that the judgments of God would not come directly out from the Lord upon
them. LDE 242.1

PROBLEM: GOD TEMPTS

And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham. Genesis 22:1

SOLUTION:
What is temptation? – it is the means by which those who claim to be the children of
God are tested and tried. We read that God tempted Abraham, that He tempted the children of
Israel. This means that He permitted circumstances to occur to test their faith, and lead them to
look to Him for help. God permits temptation to come to His people today, that they may
realize that He is their helper. If they draw nigh to Him when they are tempted, He strengthens
them to meet the temptation. But if they yield to the enemy, neglecting to place themselves
close to their Almighty Helper, they are overcome. They separate themselves from God. They
do not give evidence that they walk in God’s way. 1BC 1094.2

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 Temptation is enticement to sin, and this does not proceed from God, but from Satan
and from the evil of our own hearts. “God cannot be tempted with evil, and He himself
tempteth no man.” James 1:13, R.V. MB 116.2
The tempter can never compel us to do evil. He cannot control minds unless they are
yielded to his control. The will must consent, faith must let go its hold upon Christ, before Satan
can exercise his power upon us. But every sinful desire we cherish affords him a foothold. Every
point in which we fail of meeting the divine standard is an open door by which he can enter to
tempt and destroy us. DA 125.2
…Israel… they had never been the special objects of Satan’s enmity; he was determined
to cause their destruction. While they were obedient, he could do them no harm; therefore he
had bent all his power and cunning to entice them into sin. Ensnared by his temptations, they
had transgressed the law of God and had been left to become the prey of their enemies. PK
582.2
PROBLEM: BRIGHTNESS OF HIS COMING
And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of
his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. 2 Thessalonians 2:8
Then shall they that obey not the gospel be consumed with the spirit of His mouth and
be destroyed with the brightness of His coming. GC 37.1
A fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him:… and ten thousand times ten
thousand stood before Him. Daniel 7:10

SOLUTION:
Only the covering which Christ Himself has provided can make us meet [fit] to appear in
God’s presence. This covering, the robe of His own righteousness, Christ will put upon every
repenting, believing soul. COL 311.3
God does not stand toward the sinner as an executioner of the sentence against
transgression; but He leaves the rejecter’s of His mercy to themselves, to reap that which they
have sown. GC 36.1
To sin, wherever found, “our God is a consuming fire.” Hebrews 12:29. In all who submit
to His power the Spirit of God will consume sin. But if men cling to sin, they become identified
with it. Then the glory of God, which destroys sin, must destroy them… Jacob had been guilty of
a great sin in his conduct toward Esau; but he had repented. His transgression had been
forgiven, and his sin purged; therefore he could endure the revelation of God’s presence. But
wherever men came before God while wilfully cherishing evil, they were destroyed. At the
second advent of Christ the wicked shall be consumed “with the Spirit of His mouth,” and

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destroyed “with the brightness of His coming.”2 Thessalonians 2:8. The light of the glory
[character} of God, which imparts life to the righteous, will slay the wicked. DA 107.4
Like Israel of old the wicked destroy themselves; they fall by their iniquity. By a life of
sin, they have placed themselves so out of harmony with God, their natures have become so
debased with evil, that the manifestation of His glory is to them a consuming fire. GC 37.1
God and His holy angels were beside the cross. The Father was with His Son. Yet His
presence was not revealed. Had His glory flashed forth from the cloud, every human beholder
would have been destroyed. DA 753.4
By a life of rebellion, Satan and all who unite with him place themselves so out of
harmony with God that His very presence is to them a consuming fire. The glory of Him who is
love will destroy them. DA 414.2
What is this glory?—the character of God. TM 499.2
The glory of Christ is his character, and his character is an expression of the law of God.
ST, December 12, 1895 par. 2
God’s glory, His character, His merciful kindness and tender love—all that Moses had
pleaded in behalf of Israel was to be revealed to all mankind… As surely as God lives and reigns,
His glory shall be declared “among the heathen, His wonders among all people. ML 288.6
Christ in the flesh, condemning sin in the flesh, was a perfect revelation of God to the
world. ST, December 12, 1895 par.3
The Lord Jesus is the embodiment of the glory of the Godhead. The light of the
knowledge of the glory of God is seen in the face of Jesus Christ ST, July 3, 1907 par. 4
The glory of God is His character. RC 214.3 The glory of God His character—was then
revealed. RC 214.4
Oh, if we would by faith draw nigh to God, He would reveal to us His glory, which is His
character… 6BC 1097.4
He who is to the transgressors of His law a devouring fire, is to His people a safe
pavilion. GC 654.3
While God is to the wicked a consuming fire, He is to His people both a sun and a shield.
Psalm 84.11. GC 673.3

PROBLEM: FOR EVER AND EVER

And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the
beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
Revelation 20:10
And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever. Revelation 14:11
And her smoke rose up for ever and ever. Revelation 19:3

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SOLUTION:
The theory of eternal torment is one of the false doctrines that constitute the wine of
the abomination of Babylon, of which she makes all nations drink. Revelation 14:8; 17:2. GC
536.3
An eternally burning hell preached from the pulpit, and kept before the people, does
injustice to the benevolent character of God. 1T 344.2
Remorse for sin sometimes undermines the constitution and unbalances the mind.
There are erroneous doctrines also, as that of an eternally burning hell and the endless torment
of the wicked, that, by giving exaggerated and distorted views of the character of God, have
produced the same result upon sensitive minds. 5T 443.4
No eternally burning hell will keep before the ransomed the fearful consequences of sin.
SR 430.1
It was Satan who originated the doctrine of eternal torment as a punishment for sin,
because in this way he could lead men into infidelity and rebellion, distract souls, and dethrone
the human reason. FE 176.2

PROBLEM: GOD DOES NOT ALWAYS FORGIVE

Whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him. Matthew
12:32

SOLUTION:
God works by the manifestation of His Spirit to reprove and convict the sinner; and if
the Spirit’s work is finally rejected, there is no more that God can do for the soul. The last
resource of divine mercy has been employed. The transgressor has cut himself off from God,
and sin has no remedy to cure itself. PP 405.1

PROBLEM: GOD BRINGS EVIL

Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and
I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbor, and he shall lie with
thy wives in the sight of this sun. For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all
Israel, and before the sun. 2 Samuel 12:11, 12

SOLUTION:
Not that God prompted these acts of wickedness, but because of David’s sin He did not
exercise His power to prevent them. PP 738.4

PROBLEM: GOD CAST SATAN OUT OF HEAVEN

And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against thedragon; and the
dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in
heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, the great dragon
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was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he
was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Revelation 12:7-9

SOLUTION:
And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath
reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. Jude 1:6
And the angel which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath
reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. Revelation
12:4
How hath the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger, and cast
down from heaven unto the earth the beauty of Israel, and remembered not his footstool in the
day of his anger! Lamentations 2:1 (We see here God taking the blame for Israel’s fall by
Nebuchadnezzar. God claims to have “cast down from heaven unto the earth the beauty of
Israel.” We know Israel was destroyed by Satan.”) The horrible cruelties enacted in the
destruction of Jerusalem are a demonstration of Satan’s vindictive power over those who yield
to his control. GC 35.3

God takes the responsibility for what He does not prevent.

PROBLEM: THE LORD SENT FIERY SERPENTS

And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much
people of Israel died. Numbers 21:6

SOLUTION:
To punish them for their ingratitude, and complaining against God, the Lord permitted
fiery serpents to bite them… The Israelites, up to this time, had been preserved from these
serpents in the wilderness, by a continual miracle; for the wilderness through which they
traveled was infested with poisonous serpents. 1BC 1116.2

PROBLEM: THE MAGICIANS RODS BECAME SERPENTS

Now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments. For they cast
down every man his rod, and they became serpents. Exodus 7:11, 12

SOLUTION:
The magicians seemed to perform several things with their enchantments similar to those
things which God wrought by the hand of Moses and Aaron. They did not really cause their rods
to become serpents, but by magic, aided by the great deceiver, made them appear like
serpents, to counterfeit the work of God. 5T 696.2
The statement that they did become serpents, simply means that they were such in
appearance; such they were believed to be by Pharaoh and his court. There was nothing in their
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appearance to distinguish them from the serpent produced by Moses and Aaron; but while one
was real, the others were spurious. And the Lord caused the living serpent to swallow up the
pretended ones. 5T 697.2

PROBLEM: THE PLAGUE OF QUAILS

And while the flesh [quail] was yet between their teeth, here it was chewed, the wrath
of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD smote the people with a very great
plague. Numbers 11:33

SOLUTION:
God granted their desire, giving them flesh, and leaving them to eat till their gluttony
produced a plague, from which many of them died. CD 148.3

PROBLEM: GOD’S STRANGE WORK

As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the
wicked turn from his way and live… for why will ye die, O house of Israel? Ezekiel 33:11
Every century of profligacy has treasured up wrath against the day of wrath; and when
the time comes, and the iniquity is full then God will do His strange work. 2SM 372.3
The work of destruction is a “strange work” to Him who is infinite in love. PP 138.4

SOLUTION:
Nothing occurs in earth or heaven without the knowledge of the Creator. Nothing can
happen without His permission. RH, September 17, 1901 par. 1
He leaves the rejectors of His mercy to themselves, to reap that which they have sown.
GC 36.1
God gives them up. GC 517.2
Permit Satan to accomplish his destroying work. 6T 388.3
Restraint is removed. GC 36.1
God does not interpose. 3BC 1140.5
The Spirit of God, persistently resisted, has been at last withdrawn. GC 614.1
God withdraws His Spirit and leaves them to the deceptions which they love. GC 431.1
Providence will no longer shield them from Satan’s power. RH, September 17, 1901 par.7
He… No longer combat Satan in his efforts to destroy. RH, September 17, 1901 par. 8
I will no longer interfere to prevent the destroyer from doing his work. RH, September 17, 1901
par.8
He removes His protecting care. RH, June 21, 1898 par. 25

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______________________________________________________________________________
______________________

Compiler’s comment: God takes full responsibility for what He does not prevent—But…
God destroys no one. 5T120.1

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