I be lieve that in the end the truth will con quer. The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will show them his covenant.

Transcription

1 Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. Jeremiah 6:16 The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will show them his covenant. Psalm 25:14 Vol. 21, No.12 Straight and Nar row December 2012 I be lieve that in the end the truth will con quer. (John Wycliffe, state ment to the Duke of Lan cas ter (1381), as quoted in Cham pi ons of the Right (1885) by Edward Gilliat, p. 135)

2 The Protestant Reformation Part 3 John Wycliffe A Fourteenth Century John the Baptist On July 13, 1205, Hubert Wal ter, the Arch bishop of Can ter - bury, died. That very night, secretly and with out the knowl edge or sanc tion of King John, the junior can ons of Can ter bury met and elected Reginald as their new arch - bishop. Before mid night he was installed on the arch bishop s throne, and by dawn he was on his way to Rome for con fir - ma tion by the pope. When King John learned of what he con sid ered an auda cious, under handed dis play of power, he was enraged and forth with pro nounced the Bishop of Norwich as the new Arch bishop of Can ter bury! And another del e ga tion was on its way to Rome. Such was the tug of war often seen dur ing the Mid dle Ages between heads of state and the rep re sen ta tives of Rome, for the papacy has ever been on a mis sion to extend her power and influ ence. The result of this par tic u lar con flict was not pleas ant. Inno cent III filled the chair of Peter at the time, and he vig or - ously insisted on the sub or di na tion of princes to the Papal See. Inno cent believed in his abso lute right to gov ern all mon ar chies and king doms in Europe, and he res o lutely annulled both elec tions for the Arch bishop of Can ter bury and swiftly appointed his own man to the posi tion. King John imme di ately saw the long-range con se quences of such an act by Inno cent. After the king, the Arch bishop of Can ter bury was the high est seat of dig nity and juris dic tion in Eng land. It was an alarm ing encroach ment on the king s pre - rog a tive and on the nation s inde pend ence for the pope to appoint the man of his choice to fill the seat. The next step might be for the pope to even appoint the king of Eng land! King John intended to fight this over reach of power and pro - claimed the pope s nom i nee would never take office. He turned the can ons of Can ter bury out of their offices and ordered all prel ates and abbots to leave his king dom. The pope promptly responded by plac ing the whole nation under inter dict. You and I would not be trou bled by a proc la ma tion of inter dict, but the peo ple of Eng land were highly super sti - tious, and to them this was the great est of disas ters, full of unimag in able doom. Under inter dict, the gates of heaven were locked by the strong hand of the pope, and no man, woman, or child could enter therein. They were, instead, con signed to stay in pur ga tory until the pope looked upon them with favor. All who died under inter dict were believed to wan der in unknown suf fer ings until the pope reopened the gates of heaven. All sym bols of grace and all reli gious ordi - nances were sus pended. The church doors were closed, the church bells ceased to be rung, and the crosses and images of the churches were taken down and laid on the ground. Infants were bap tized on the church porch, mar riages were cel e - brated in the church yard, and the dead were bur ied in ditches or in open fields instead of in the church cem e tery. No one was allowed to rejoice, to eat flesh, to shave his beard, or to pay proper atten tion to per son or apparel. Because the wrath of God rested upon the land, only signs of dis tress, mourn - ing, and woe were to be seen. (J. A. Wylie, The His tory of Prot es tant ism, p. 65; para phrased) King John with stood the inter dict for two years, but then Pope Inno cent turned up the heat. He pro nounced the sen - tence of excom mu ni ca tion upon John, deposed him from his throne, and absolved his sub jects from alle giance to him. Inno cent gath ered an army from the king dom of France to carry out this blow to John, prom is ing the king of France Eng land as his reward. When King John saw what was hap - pen ing, his cour age for sook him. He knew he was los ing his king dom, and he sought an inter view with the pope s legate. After a short con fer ence, he prom ised to sub mit him self unre serv edly to the pope, to make full res ti tu tion to the clergy for the losses they had suf fered, to make an annual pay ment of a thou sand marks to the papal see, and to allow Con tin ued on page 10 Old Paths December 2012

3 Does God Have an Or der? Women s Ordination, Part 2 Writ ing from the per spec tive of a man already within the min is try, I per son ally know of the high call ing of the gos pel min is ter and not only the height of the call ing and the breadth of the priv i lege, but also of the depth of the respon si bil ity, as well. While all believ ers called to be min is ters for Christ in the sense of wit ness ing and min is ter ing to oth ers (Romans 13:6; 2 Corin thi ans 3:6), the gos pel pas to ral min is try is cer - tainly not the call ing of every one, regard less of gen der (Ephe sians 4:11). The call to pas to ral min is try is a great call - ing and respon si bil ity and must never be viewed as com mon place in any man ner. A man can have no greater honor than to be accepted by God as an able min is ter of the gos pel (The Acts of the Apos tles, p. 328). Any one who believes that he or she has been called to the min is try should have clear evi dence, based first upon the author ity of the God s Word, the Bible, then upon prov i dence and rev e la tion of such call ing. This study will begin an exam i na tion of inspi ra tion s view of min is try and ordi na tion; is it only for men or are women also to be included? For over thirty years this has been a topic of seri ous and, at times, heated dis cus sion within Sev - enth-day Adventism. Dur ing the 1984 Annual Coun cil cer tain steps were man dated for achiev ing a final deci sion at the Gen eral Con fer ence ses sion in 1985 (Min is try, March 1985). This deci sion did not occur and nei ther was action taken 1990 when it was again dis cussed. It is set to be voted upon when the Gen eral Con fer ence meets again in As we saw in the Octo ber issue of Old Paths ( Is the Grass Greener? ), many are not con tent to wait! Today s society, specifically Western society, is embattled in a strug gle over equal ity of rights for all peo ple; women want equal rights with men, homo sex ual cou ples seek the same privileges as heterosexual couples, African Americans and Latin Amer i cans seek for an end to dis crim i na tion, and the list could go on. The bat tle for women to be ordained as pas tors and, within some reli gious groups, as bish ops and elders has some churches divided and cer tainly polar ized. Equal work, we are told, demands equal priv i leges and rights. While the Bible cer tainly endorses equal pay for equal work, does it teach that the male gen der is a spe cific qual i fi ca tion of God to be called to the pas to ral min is try, and if so or not so, why? Peter expressed an impor tant prin ci ple when he noted that God is no respecter of per sons (Acts 10:34). So what does this mean in con text? Peter was speak ing of the gift of the Spirit upon those who had received sal va tion. Sal va tion is open to all, and so is the gift of the Holy Spirit. While all may enjoy the gift of sal va tion, not all receive of the same spir i - tual gifts from the Spirit. But all these worketh that one and the self same Spirit, divid ing to every man severally as he will (1 Corin thi ans 12:11). But unto every one of us is given grace accord ing to the mea sure of the gift of Christ (Ephe sians 4:7). Let us now exam ine the his tory of gen der in the priest - hood. In the patri ar chal age the only exam ple given is that of men, usu ally the father, offer ing the sac ri fices and ser vic ing as priest of the Lord. Some exam ples are as fol lows: And it was so, when the days of their feast ing were gone about, that Job sent and sanc ti fied them, and rose up early in the morn ing, and of fered burnt of fer ings ac cord ing to the num ber of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job con tin u ally. (Job 1:5) And in pro cess of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an of fer ing unto the LORD. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had re spect unto Abel and to his of fer ing: But unto Cain and to his of fer ing he had not re spect. And Cain was very wroth, and his coun te nance fell. (Gen e sis 4:3 5) And Noah builded an al tar unto the LORD; and took of ev ery clean beast, and of ev ery clean fowl, and of fered burnt of fer ings on the al tar. (Gen e sis 8:20) And it came to pass af ter these things, that God did tempt Abra ham, and said unto him, Abra ham: and he said, Be hold, here I am. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and of fer him there for a burnt of fer ing upon one of the moun tains which I will tell thee of. (Gen e - sis 22:1, 2) And God went up from him in the place where he talked with him. And Ja cob set up a pil lar in the place where he talked with him, even a pil lar of stone: and he poured a drink of fer ing thereon, and he poured oil thereon. And Ja - cob called the name of the place where God spake with him, Beth-el. (Gen e sis 35:13 15) And Jethro, Mo ses fa ther in law, took a burnt of fer ing and sac ri fices for God: and Aaron came, and all the el ders of Is rael, to eat bread with Mo ses fa ther in law be fore God. (Ex o dus 18:12) There is not a sin gle pas sage in the Bible where a woman makes an offer ing for her self, or for oth ers, dur ing the patri - ar chal age. In fact, never in the Bible does a woman func tion as a priest ess for Jeho vah. After God called the chil dren of Israel from Egypt, God insti tuted a for mal priest hood, but this priest hood was not for every one, or for any one, who wished to become a priest. This priest hood was only for the chil dren of Levi, who were to take the place of the first born who for merly would have Vol. 21, No

4 p hoto f lick r.jp g P hoto: n as a Mariann Edgar Budde, bishop of Washington, delivers the homily during the memorial service for Neil Armstrong at the Washington National Cathedral. acted as priests of their fam i lies after the death of the father. Behold, I have taken the Levites from among the peo ple of Israel instead of every first born that opens the womb among the peo ple of Israel. The Levites shall be mine, for all the first born are mine (Num bers 3:12 13). Yet, not all of the Lev i ties were to func tion as priests. Within the tribe of Levi, only Aaron and his sons were to be priests. And take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the chil dren of Israel, that he may min is ter unto me in the priest s office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron s sons (Exo dus 28:1). Does this dis tinc tion declare any kind of inequal ity between Aaron, his sons, and the other Lev i ties, or between the Lev i ties and the other men of Israel? No, it does not. Fur - ther more, does such a dis tinc tion affirm any kind of inequal ity between the men who did serve as priests and the women of Israel, none of which served as priests? No, it does not. The issue is not one of equal ity, or even nec es sar ily abil - ity, but there is clearly an order that heaven has set in the Old Tes ta ment which we need to under stand. Fur ther more, as we explore those cho sen as apos tles by Christ, we see that only men were cho sen to be lead ers in this respect (Mat thew 10:1 4; Acts 1:26; 14:14). Every time the term apos tle is used in the Bible, it is in the mas cu line form of the word. Every apos tle and elder in the New Tes ta ment was a man. Women were recorded in the New Tes ta ment who had the gift of proph ecy (Luke 2:36; Acts 21:8, 9). Some women were even called dea con esses: I com mend unto you Phebe our sis ter, which is a ser vant (Greek: diakonon, fem i nine form of diakonos) of the church which is at Cenchrea: (Romans 16:1). No women, how ever, were pas tors, apos tles, or church admin is tra tors. While all the saved will rejoice in the good ness of God for eter nity, only the 144,000 will be granted the priv i lege of enter ing the tem ple in heaven: And as we were about to en ter the holy tem ple, Je sus raised His lovely voice and said, Only the 144,000 en ter this place, and we shouted, Al le luia. (Early Writ ings, p. 18) Some will be allowed in the heav enly tem ple, and some will not. Does this make God a respecter of per sons? The Bible teaches that there is a class of beings called cher u bim (Gen e sis 3:24). Two of these cher u bim have the holy priv i lege of covering the sacred ark of God (Exo dus 25:18). Satan used to be one of these angels (Ezekiel 28:14). We know that Gabriel took the place of Satan (Luke 1:19; The Desire of Ages, p. 35; Patri archs and Proph ets, p. 35) and now has the posi tion of one of these two cher u - bim that cover the ark. While we do not know the name of the other cov er - ing cherub, we have no record or indi ca - tion that this angel and Gabriel serve on a rotat ing basis Dr. Kath ar ine Jefferts Schori, 26th pre sid ing bishop of the Epis co pal Church with all the other cher u bim, but this does not make God a respecter of the angels. We are told that order is heaven s first law (Tes ti mo nies for the Church, vol. 6, p. 200). We are also told that: In heaven there is per fect or der, per fect obe di ence, per - fect peace and har mony. Those who have had no re spect for or der or dis ci pline in this life would have no re spect for the or der which is ob served in heaven. They can never be ad mit ted into heaven, for all wor thy of an en trance there will love or der and re spect dis ci pline. (Tes ti mo nies for the Church, vol. 4, p. 429) God does have an order that he fol lows, and if we can not under stand and respect that order upon earth, we will not respect it in heaven, and we can never be admit ted into heaven. That helps us to more clearly see the impor tance of this issue. God s order and its ratio nal will be explored in the next few months, as we seek to find Inspi ra tion s view upon this impor tant sub ject. Ed i tors (To be con tin ued), Wikipedi a P hoto: J onathunde r Old Paths December 2012

5 Gifts of the Spirit I there fore, the pris oner of the Lord, be seech you that ye walk wor thy of the vo ca tion where with ye are called, With all low li ness and meek ness, with long suf fer ing, for bear - ing one an other in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your call ing; One Lord, one faith, one bap tism, One God and Fa ther of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. But unto ev ery one of us is given grace ac cord ing to the mea - sure of the gift of Christ. Where fore he saith, When he as cended up on high, he led cap tiv ity cap tive, and gave gifts unto men. (Now that he as cended, what is it but that he also de scended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that de scended is the same also that as cended up far above all heav ens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave some, apos tles; and some, proph ets; and some, evan ge - lists; and some, pas tors and teach ers; For the per fect ing of the saints, for the work of the min is try, for the ed i fy ing of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowl edge of the Son of God, unto a per fect man, unto the mea sure of the stat ure of the fulness of Christ: That we hence forth be no more chil dren, tossed to and fro, and car ried about with ev ery wind of doc trine, by the sleight of men, and cun ning craft i ness, whereby they lie in wait to de ceive; But speak ing the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined to gether and com pacted by that which ev ery joint supplieth, ac - cord ing to the ef fec tual work ing in the mea sure of ev ery part, maketh in crease of the body unto the ed i fy ing of it - self in love. (Ephe sians 4:1 16) God has given each believer a com bi na tion of oppor tu ni - ties and gifts that is per fectly suited to his or her sit u a tion in life. Every Chris tian is a ser vant with a unique con tri bu tion to make to the body of Christ. The cen tral thrust of your life and min is try depends on the spir i tual gifts you have received. Diversity and Unity in the Body of Christ There are three major lists of the gifts of the spirit in the New Tes ta ment. They are found in Romans 12, Ephe sians 4, 1 Corin thi ans 12. Each is intro duced by a descrip tion of the unity and diver sity in the body of Christ. Paul s met a phor for the church could not be more appro - pri ate, because both the uni ver sal church of all believ ers and the local church of geo graph i cally local ized groups of believ ers are uni ties which are built out of diverse ele ments. All believ ers have been bap tized by the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ. For by one Spirit are we all bap tized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gen tiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13). Through out the Scrip tures, Christ is declared to be the head, the ruler of the body. And hath put all things un der his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church. (Ephe sians 1:22) But speak ing the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ. (Ehesians 4:15) And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the begin ning, the first born from the dead; that in all things he might have the pre em i nence. Colossians 1:18) Christ is the head of the body and believ ers are the indi vid - ual mem bers or com po nents. In this anal ogy, each Chris tian has been given a spe cial func tion to per form and with it, the abil ity to ful fill it in a way that will ben e fit the other mem - bers. All His bid dings are enabling (Christ s Object Lessons, p. 333) There is quan ti ta tive and qual i ta tive growth when believ - ers actively use their spir i tual gifts. Just as in the phys i cal body, so in the spir i tual body, each part of the body depends on the rest for its well-being, and there are no use less organs. This is why edi fi ca tion through teach ing and fel low ship is so nec es sary in the local church. The bib li cal con cept of koinonia or fel low ship com mu ni cates the fact that iso la tion leads to atro phy. Just as no organ can func tion inde pend ently of the oth ers, so no Chris tian can enjoy spir i tual vital ity in a rela tional vac uum. The Spirit has dis trib uted spir i tual gifts to every mem ber of the body, and no sin gle mem ber pos sesses all the gifts. Thus, full growth does not take place apart from mutual min is try and depend ence. The body of Christ is an organ ism, not a dic ta tor ship or even a democ racy. As such, the local church is best struc tured around the dis tri bu tion and func tion of the spir i tual gifts found in its mem bers. Definition and Design of Spiritual Gifts The Greek word most fre quently used for spir i tual gifts is cha risma, a word that relates to the grace (charis) of God. A spir i tual gift is a divine endow ment of a spe cial abil ity for ser vice to the body of Christ. The Bible gives at least twelve prin ci ples that relate to God s design for spir i tual gifts. Let us look at some of them briefly: 1. Every Chris tian has one or more spir i tual gifts. But the man i fes ta tion of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal (1 Corin thi ans 12:7). But all these worketh that one and the self same Spirit, divid ing to every man severally as he will (1 Corin thi ans 12:11). But unto every one of us is given grace accord ing to the mea sure of the gift of Christ (Ephe - sians 4:7). Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stew ards of the var ied grace of God. As every man (Greek: hekastos, generic for every one) hath received the gift (cha risma), even so min is ter the same one to another, as good stew ards of the man i fold grace (charis) of God (1 Peter 4:10). Spir i tual gifts are not lim ited to a Vol. 21, No

6 sub-group of believ ers; they are dis trib uted by the Spirit to all Chris tian men, women, and even chil dren. 2. While nobody seems to have every gift, some receive more than one gift: John was apos tle and prophet. 3. Spir i tual gifts are not the same as the gift of the Spirit. The gift of the Spirit has been bestowed on all believ ers. Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be bap tized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remis sion of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost (Acts 2:38). Every mem ber of the body should appro pri ate the gift of the spirit in their lives. The gifts of the Spirit, on the other hand, are dis trib uted as God decides to each per son. (1 Corin thi ans 12:11). 4. Spir i tual gifts are not the same as the fruit of the Spirit. Spir i tual fruit is pro duced from within; spir i tual gifts are imparted from with out. Fruit relates to Christlike char ac ter; gifts relate to Chris tian ser vice. The fruit of the Spirit, espe - cially love, should be the con text for the oper a tion of the gifts of the Spirit. Paul made it clear in 1 Corin thi ans 13 that spir i - tual gifts with out spir i tual fruit are worth less. 5. Spir i tual gifts are not the same as nat u ral tal ents. Unlike the nat u ral abil i ties which every one has from birth, spir i tual gifts belong exclu sively to believ ers in Christ. In some cases, the gifts of the Spirit coin cide with nat u ral endow ments, but they tran scend these nat u ral abil i ties by add ing a super nat u - ral qual ity. Both, as all good gifts, are given by God (James 1:17), and should be devel oped and used so that all we do may be done to the glory of God. Whether there fore ye eat, or drink, or what so ever ye do, do all to the glory of God (1 Corin thi ans 10:31). If any man speak, let him speak as the ora cles of God; if any man min is ter, let him do it as of the abil ity which God giv eth: that God in all things may be glo ri - fied through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and domin ion for ever and ever (1 Peter 4:11). 6. Accord ing to 1 Peter 2:9, all Chris tians are called to a min is try. But ye are a cho sen gen er a tion, a royal priest hood, an holy nation, a pecu liar peo ple; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of dark ness into his mar vel lous light. 7. We are to covet ear nestly the best gifts (1 Corin thi ans 12:31). This indi cates that some gifts are of a higher nature than oth ers. Fol low ing the con ti nu ity of the apos tle, we have the love chap ter inserted after this state ment and right after that he says, Fol low after char ity, and desire spir i tual gifts, but rather that ye may proph esy (1 Corin thi ans 14:1) thus indi cat ing that proph ecy was one of the gifts that should be coveted. We are told, to covet ear nestly the best gifts, but this does not mean that we are to seek to be first. We are to strive ear - nestly for power to fol low Christ s exam ple, that we may be her alds of His gos pel. This is true reli gion. Temp ta tions come; sus pi cions and evil sur mis ing make it hard for us to pre serve the spirit of the higher life; nev er the less the Lord desires us to walk straight for ward in His blessed, holy light (Pacific Union Recorder, July 26, 1906) 8. Spir i tual cha risma lit er ally means grace-gifts they are given by the sov er eign grace of God to unde serv ing believ - ers. There is no basis for boast ing or envy. Every mem ber of the body has a spe cial place and pur pose. Whether more or less prom i nent in the eyes of men, the same stan dard applies to all: More over it is required in stew ards, that a man be found faith ful (1 Corin thi ans 4:2). Our goal as Chris tians is to work with what God has given to us (2 Tim o thy 1:6), and seek to please him rather than men. But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gos pel, even so we speak; not as pleas ing men, but God, which trieth our hearts (1 Thessalonians 2:4). Three Reasons to Know Your Gift(s) The first rea son you should under stand the way the Spirit of God is work ing in your life is that you will be con tented and com forted know ing you are work ing within the param e ters that God has set for you. Know ing and using your gifts will give you an under stand ing of the unique and truly indis pens - able min is try you have been called to accom plish in the body of Christ. Know ing that the work you are doing will pro duce eter nal results will result in bless ings that no tem po ral work can pro vide! You will have a sense of achieve ment and joy as you serve oth ers by becom ing an instru ment through which the Holy Spirit can work. A work ing under stand ing of your spir i tual gifts will greatly help you in under stand ing and affirm the will of God at var i ous stages in your life. God will not call you to accom - plish any thing with out giv ing you the power and enablement to do it. There fore, you will be able to make intel li gent deci - sions about pos si ble involve ment in spe cific oppor tu ni ties and train ing in light of your God-given func tion in the body (see Romans 12:4). Instead of focus ing our atten tion and apply ing our tal ents to areas of that we are not called to enter, we will use our time more effec tively by focus ing on the things for which we have been equipped. The sec ond rea son for under stand ing our spir i tual gifts is that oth ers, the body of Christ, will be edi fied. As you exer - cise your spir i tual gifts, you will play a sub stan tial role in build ing up other Chris tians and lead ing them into matu rity (see Ephe sians 4:12 16). If you fail to develop your gifts or let them decline through dis use, your broth ers and sis ters in Christ will actu ally be hurt because they will be deprived of the unique min is try that only you could per form in their lives. The third, and most impor tant, rea son for under stand ing your spir i tual gifts is God will be glo ri fied. As every man hath received the gift, even so min is ter the same one to another, as good stew ards of the man i fold grace of God. If any man speak, let him speak as the ora cles of God; if any man min is ter, let him do it as of the abil ity which God giv eth: Old Paths December 2012

7 that God in all things may be glo ri fied through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 4:10, 11). This is your high est call ing, to bring glory to God. As you use your spir i tual gifts with the fruit (espe - cially love) of the Holy Spirit and in the name and Lord ship of Jesus Christ, your light will shine forth and glo rify your Father in heaven (Mat thew 5:16). Description of the Gifts As we noted ear lier from 1 Corin thi ans 12:7, spir i tual gifts are man i fes ta tions of the Spirit given for the ben e fit of the body of Christ. The Holy Spirit is the source of these super - nat u ral endow ments given for the build ing up of oth ers and the glory of God. Let us begin now look ing at the gifts as listed in Ephe - sians 4. Five gifts in four pack ages are men tioned in verse 11: And he gave some, apos tles; and some, proph ets; and some, evan ge lists; and some, pas tors and teach ers. Here we have apos tles, proph ets, evan ge lists and then, as a unit, we have pas tors and teach ers. Let us briefly exam ine each of these gifts. Apos tle ship: In the New Tes ta ment, the apos tles were not lim ited to the twelve, but included Paul, Bar na bas, and a few oth ers (Acts 14:14). As a spir i tual gift, this is the abil ity to begin and/or to over see new churches and Chris tian min is - tries. It includes the abil ity to gov ern or admin is trate the work in the church of God. Proph ecy: Proph ecy is the abil ity to receive and pro claim a mes sage from God or to be a mouth piece for God. Proph ets were to teach and exhort the peo ple. Some proph ets had uni - ver sal mes sages that would apply to all peo ples of all times. These proph ets were inspired to write the Bible. This would include proph ets such as Moses, David, Isa iah, Paul and oth - ers. Many times how ever, the gift of proph ecy pro vides a word from God to a spe cific group. Proph ets such as Iddo, Nathan, Gad, and oth ers wrote mes sages not recorded in the Bible (2 Chron i cles 29:29; 1 Kings 1:34) Ellen White was a prophet called to work for those liv ing in the last times of the his tory of this earth. She noted: Whether or not my life is spared, my writ ings will con stantly speak, and their work will go for ward as long as time shall last (Selected Mes - sages, bk. 1, p. 55). Evan ge list: Some one with the gift of being an evan ge list has the abil ity to be an unusu ally effec tive instru ment in lead ing unbe liev ers to a sav ing knowl edge of Jesus Christ. Some with this gift are use ful in per sonal evan ge lism (bible worker, lit er a ture evan ge list, or med i cal mis sion ary for exam ple), while oth ers may be used by God in group evan ge - lism or cross-cul tural evan ge lism. Shep herd or Pas tor: Jesus com mis sioned Peter to shep - herd his sheep (John 21:16), and Peter and Paul exhorted the elders in the churches of Asia Minor to do the same (1 Peter 5:2; Acts 20:28). A per son with this spir i tual gift has the abil - ity to per son ally lead, nour ish, pro tect, and care for the needs of a flock of believ ers. A pas tor must be able to lead the flock beside spir i tu ally still waters and green pas tures. How ever, only feed ing good food is not enough, the pas tor must also know when bad food is being given to his flock and seek to pre vent that which would lead the flock astray. Teaching: The abil ity to clearly explain and effec tively apply the truths of God s Word so that oth ers will learn is a gift that pas tors and oth ers should have. This requires the capac ity to rightly divide the word of truth (2 Tim o thy 2:15), engage in nec es sary research, and orga nize the results in a way that is eas ily com mu ni cated. The next series of gifts is listed in 1 Corin thi ans 12:4 11, 28. Now there are di ver si ties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are dif fer ences of ad min is tra tions, but the same Lord. And there are di ver si ties of op er a tions, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the man i fes ta tion of the Spirit is given to ev ery man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wis dom; to an other the word of knowl edge by the same Spirit; To an other faith by the same Spirit; to an other the gifts of heal ing by the same Spirit; To an other the work ing of mir a cles; to an - other proph ecy; to an other dis cern ing of spir its; to an other di vers kinds of tongues; to an other the in ter pre ta tion of tongues: But all these worketh that one and the self same Spirit, di vid ing to ev ery man sev er ally as he will. And God hath set some in the church, first apos tles, sec - ond arily proph ets, thirdly teach ers, af ter that mir a cles, then gifts of heal ings, helps, gov ern ments, di ver si ties of tongues. (1 Co rin thi ans 12:4 11, 28) Gov ern ments: This word only appears one time in the New Tes ta ment. The Greek word it is trans lated from, kuberneseis (kubernhvseiv), is used out side of Scrip ture of a helms man who steers a ship to its des ti na tion (Theo log i cal Word Book of the New Tes ta ment). This sug gests that the spir i tual gift of gov ern ments or admin is trat ing (ESV) is the abil ity to steer a church or Chris tian orga ni za tion toward the ful fill ment of its goals by man ag ing its affairs and imple - ment ing nec es sary plans. A per son may have the gift of lead er ship with out the gift of admin is tra tion. Wis dom: Wis dom is not knowl edge but rather the abil ity to know how to use knowl edge. Bib li cal wis dom means hav - ing the abil ity to apply the prin ci ples of the Word of God in a practical way to specific situations and to recommend the best course of action at the right time. Using wis dom, one is able to give insight and dis cern ment for prof it able advice. Knowl edge: Hav ing the gift of knowl edge means that one has the abil ity to dis cover, ana lyze, and sys tem atize truth for the ben e fit of oth ers. Knowl edge does not save peo ple, but we will not be saved with out it! My peo ple are destroyed for lack of knowl edge (Hosea 4:6). With this gift, one speaks with under stand ing and pen e tra tion. Faith: Despite the fact that the Bible says that God has dealt to every man the mea sure of faith (Romans 12:3), faith is listed as a spe cial gift. In this sense it is the abil ity to have a vision for what God wants to be done and to Vol. 21, No

8 con fi dently believe that it will be accom plished because God s word has prom ised even when the end results can not be seen. The gift of faith trans forms vision into real ity, it takes a giant like Goli ath who seems too big to hit and makes him too big to miss. Healing: The gift of heal ing is the abil ity to serve as a human instru ment through which God cures ill nesses and restores health. Some times God accom plishes this through prayer alone and some times through using the one gifted as a med i cal mis sion ary worker. Miracles: One who has the gift of mir a cles has been endowed by God to be an instru ment through which God accom plishes acts of super nat u ral power. Mir a cles bear wit - ness to the pres ence of God and the truth of his pro claimed word. Mir a cles occur most fre quently in asso ci a tion with the spread ing of the word of God. Dis tin guish ing of Spir its: The dis tin guish ing of spir its is the abil ity to clearly dis cern the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error (1 John 4:6). With this gift, one can dis tin guish truth ver sus error, real ity ver sus coun ter - feits, the divine ver sus the demonic. In some cases this gift allows one to dis cern spir i tual ver sus car nal motives (Acts 5:1 10). Tongues: Tongues is per haps the most con tro ver sial gift today due to its man i fes ta tion in the Pen te cos tal move ment. How ever, there is a gen u ine gift, and it is not some gib ber ish, but rather the abil ity to receive and impart a spir i tual mes - sage in a lan guage the recip i ent never learned. The first account of speak ing in tongues is given in the book of Acts: Now when this was noised abroad, the mul ti tude came to gether, and were con founded, be cause that ev ery man heard them speak in his own lan guage. And they were all amazed and marvelled, say ing one to an other, Be hold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we ev - ery man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwell ers in Mes o po ta mia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strang ers of Rome, Jews and pros e lytes, Cretes and Ara bi ans, we do hear them speak in our tongues the won der ful works of God. (Acts 2:6 11) Please notice that each per son heard in his own tongue, or lan guage. Con cern ing this gift, the Spirit of Proph ecy states: There were dwell ing at Je ru sa lem Jews, de vout men, out of ev ery na tion un der heaven. Dur ing the dis per sion the Jews had been scat tered to al most ev ery part of the in - hab ited world, and in their ex ile they had learned to speak var i ous lan guages. Many of these Jews were on this oc ca - sion in Je ru sa lem, at tend ing the re li gious fes ti vals then in prog ress. Ev ery known tongue was rep re sented by those as sem bled. This di ver sity of lan guages would have been a great hin drance to the proc la ma tion of the gos pel; God there fore in a mi rac u lous man ner sup plied the de fi ciency of the apos tles. The Holy Spirit did for them that which they could not have ac com plished for them selves in a life - time. They could now pro claim the truths of the gos pel abroad, speak ing with ac cu racy the lan guages of those for whom they were la bor ing. This mi rac u lous gift was a strong ev i dence to the world that their com mis sion bore the sig net of Heaven. From this time forth the lan guage of the dis ci ples was pure, sim ple, and ac cu rate, whether they spoke in their na tive tongue or in a for eign lan guage. (The Acts of the Apos tles, pp. 39, 40; em pha sis sup plied) There is no evi dence from the Bible that this gift was ever man i fested in a way that pro duced gib ber ish or some thing that was unknown to any one. While the King James Bible uses the term unknown tongue, all in 1 Corin thi ans 14, it is, in each case, a sup plied word, noted by it being ital i cized. Ellen White warned against a false view of the gift of speak ing in tongues, when she noted: Some of these per sons have ex er cises which they call gifts and say that the Lord has placed them in the church. They have an un mean ing gib ber ish which they call the un - known tongue, which is un known not only by man but by the Lord and all heaven. Such gifts are man u fac tured by men and women, aided by the great de ceiver. Fa nat i cism, false ex cite ment, false talk ing in tongues, and noisy ex er - cises have been con sid ered gifts which God has placed in the church. Some have been de ceived here. (Tes ti mo nies for the Church, vol. 1, p. 412) Inter pre ta tion of Tongues: This gift is the abil ity to trans - late into the com mon lan guage a mes sage pub licly uttered in what would oth er wise be an unknown tongue (1 Corin thi ans 14:13, 26 28). An exam ple of how this might work would be if there were a group that had peo ple of dif fer ent lan guages together (such as Greek, Ger man, and French). The speaker could only speak one lan guage at a time, per haps Greek, but now some one has the abil ity to trans late the truth from Greek, even though they do not nor mally under stand that lan guage, into French or Ger man. Helps: First Corin thi ans 12:28 is the only place where this gift is men tioned, and the Greek word it is trans lated from means to grasp. It appears to be dis tinct from the gift of ser - vice. There are no other ref er ences to this gift in inspi ra tion, but we can under stand that this gift is the abil ity to add to the effec tive ness of the min is try of other mem bers of the body. It has been sug gested that while the gift of ser vice is more group-ori ented, the gift of helps is more per son-ori ented. Now let us look at some of the gifts as given in Romans 12:4 13: For as we have many mem bers in one body, and all mem bers have not the same of fice: So we, be ing many, are one body in Christ, and ev ery one mem bers one of an other. Hav ing then gifts dif fer ing ac cord ing to the grace that is given to us, whether proph ecy, let us proph esy ac cord ing Old Paths December 2012

9 to the pro por tion of faith; Or min is try, let us wait on our min is ter ing: or he that teacheth, on teach ing; Or he that exhorteth, on ex hor ta tion: he that giv eth, let him do it with sim plic ity; he that ruleth, with dil i gence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheer ful ness. Let love be with out dis sim u la - tion. Ab hor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to an other with broth erly love; in hon our pre fer ring one an other; Not sloth ful in busi ness; fer vent in spirit; serv ing the Lord; Re joic ing in hope; pa - tient in trib u la tion; con tin u ing in stant in prayer; Dis trib ut ing to the ne ces sity of saints; given to hos pi tal ity. Min is ter ing or Ser vice: This gift is the abil ity to iden tify and care for the phys i cal needs of the body through dif fer ent means. The Greek word for this gift, diakonia (diakoniva), is the same as that for min is try or dea con, but the gift should not be con fused with the office. Com fort ing: Romans 12:8 speaks of exhor ta tion, but the Greek root word is parakalesis (paravkalesiv) which is related to the word trans lated com forter in John 14:16. This gift is the abil ity to com fort those who are hurt ing or grieving. Giv ing: Giv ing is the gift that allows one to have the abil - ity to con trib ute mate rial resources with gen er os ity and cheer ful ness for the ben e fit of oth ers and the glory of God. Inter est ingly, Chris tians with this spir i tual gift need not be wealthy. Lead er ship or Rule: This gift is dif fer ent from gov ern - ments. The Greek word it is trans lated from means to set in place. This is the abil ity to dis cern God s pur pose for a group, to set and com mu ni cate suit able goals, and to inspire oth ers to work in unity to ful fill God s work. Mercy: The gift of mercy indi cates that there would cer - tainly be a need within the body of Christ for some to espe cially show mercy and kind ness to oth ers. This is the abil ity to deeply empa thize and engage in com pas sion ate acts on behalf of peo ple who are suf fer ing, be it phys i cal, men tal, or emo tional dis tress. Hos pi tal ity: The Greek word trans lated hos pi tal ity lit er - ally means the lover of the stranger. This is the abil ity to wel come and pro vide for those in need of food, lodg ing, and love. Discovering Your Spiritual Gift(s) As you seek to dis cover your spir i tual gift or gifts, ask your - self these ques tions: Have I truly received Christ as my Sav ior? Unlike nat u ral tal ents, spir i tual gifts are bestowed, with a few excep tions, only on believ ers. Am I walk ing in fel low ship with the Lord? The Bible says that the Holy Spirit is given to those who obey God (Acts 5:32). To be effec tive, spir i tual gifts must be man i fested in the con text of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. This fruit is impeded by unconfessed sin and a fail ure to abide in Christ (John 15:4). Do I really want to develop my gift(s)? A pre req ui site to know ing your gifts is a will ing ness to go through the effort to be involved in dis cov er ing and devel op ing them. The Bible teaches that all good gifts come from the Father (James 1:17). God tells us we may ask for wis dom (James 1:5); there fore, if we wish to under stand the spir i tual gifts that God wishes to impart, we should ask him to help us to under stand our gifts. God wants you to dis cover and put into prac tice the gifts he has given you, and this is a request you can make with con fi dence and expec ta tion because it is accord ing to his good will. Just as you dis cover your nat u ral tal ents by try ing your hand at var i ous things, in the same way by attempt ing var i - ous activ i ties, you can dis cover your spir i tual gifts. If you do not try, you will never know. This requires being avail able and hav ing a will ing ness to learn your weak nesses, as well as your strengths. One of the best ways to under stand your spir i tual gifts is through coun sel ing with elder broth ers and sis ters of dis - cern ment. Their years of expe ri ence and dis cern ment can help much, as you seek for direc tion. Finally, if God has given you a spir i tual gift, then bless ings should result from its exer cise. As you use your gift(s), God will con firm and estab lish you in your min is try. Conclusion God has called each of us to a work and to fel low ship with him. He grants spir i tual gifts for your bless ing and for the bless ing of his work and his glory. These spir i tual gifts are not merely for per sonal use. Spir i tual gifts are not gained by merit or by beg ging. The very term cha risma tells us that they are given solely by the grace of God. The dis cov ery and use of spir i tual gifts is vitally impor - tant. You do not deter mine your gift or min is try; this is done by the Spirit of God and has eter nal con se quences. God has called you to be com mit ted and faith ful to him, and this is reflected, in part, by your stew ard ship of the gifts and by the oppor tu ni ties to use these gifts he has given you. A word of cau tion: Do not become dis cour aged if your spir i tual gifts do not develop as quickly as you think that they should. As a rule, they develop grad u ally, and this requires time and work. Great preach ers do not begin a ser mon in the pul pit, and they were not great preach ers from day one! But remem ber, we are wit nesses. God has called us to faith ful - ness, not results. Spir i tual gifts should not be a cause of pride be cause they are given by the di vine wis dom of God and through his grace. Gifts are not to be re garded as sta tus sym bols, achieve ments, or tro phies, but rather they are di vinely-en - trusted re spon si bil i ties. Chris tian char ac ter and ma tu rity is mea sured by the fruit of the Spirit, not by spir i tual gifts. Allen Stump Vol. 21, No

10 The Protestant Ref or ma tion con tin ued from page 2 his suc ces sors to be instantly deposed of the throne of Eng - land if they should revoke or infringe upon John s prom ises. The king then paid hom age to the pope s legate with all the sub mis sive rites that feu dal law required of vas sals before their liege lord and supe rior (Ibid.). John took off his crown, laid it on the ground; and the legate kicked it about like a worth less bau ble (Ibid.) and then picked it out of the dust and placed it on the bowed, cow ardly head of King John. King John s bar ons, how ever, refused to accept his terms of agree ment, and the Magna Charta was thence borne. The throne con tin ued to pay one thou sand marks to Rome annu - ally for a num ber of years, but then stopped, and all went well for thirty-five years until 1365, when Pope Urban V demanded that pay ment be resumed and that the thirty-five years of arrears also be paid. And now our atten tion turns to John Wycliffe, for in the self same year (1365) he was appointed head of Can ter bury Hall, a new col lege founded by the then arch bishop of Can - ter bury, Simon de Islip, but within a year, Islip died. The new arch bishop promptly tried to dis place Wycliffe and appoint some one more to his lik ing as head of the col lege, but Wycliffe appealed to the pope for jus tice. He lost his appeal five years later, but in this mini-drama, Wycliffe had ven - tured into an arena far wider than the halls of aca de mia, for it was no lon ger the monks of Can ter bury Hall or the arch - bishop of Can ter bury that Wycliffe faced, but the Prince Pon tiff of Chris ten dom him self, and this expe ri ence pro - pelled his exam i na tion of the doc trines of the Cath o lic Church and resulted in his firm-set belief of the author ity of the Bible alone in deter min ing doc trine and in set ting the bound aries between church and state. Who Was Wycliffe? Well, it depends upon whom you ask. Pope Greg ory XI, who issued a series of five bulls in 1377 against Wycliffe, con sid - ered him a mas ter of error, full of exe cra ble and abom i na ble folly: Re cently, with great bit ter ness of heart we have learned from the re port of many trust wor thy per sons that John of Wiclyffe, rec tor of the church of Lutterworth, of the di o - cese of Lin coln, a pro fes sor holy writ would that he were not a mas ter of er ror! has burst forth in such ex e - cra ble and abom i na ble folly, that he does not fear to main tain dog mat i cally in said king dom and pub licly to preach, or rather to vomit forth from the poi son ous con - fines of his own breast, some prop o si tions and con clu sions... which threaten to sub vert and weaken the con di tion of the en tire church. (Pope Greg ory XI, quoted by Ste phen E. Lahey in John Wyclif, p. 18) Years before this ven om ous attack, Wycliffe stepped into the flow of the Oxford com mu nity, with out know ing where his steps would lead. He came as a man for his time, but of this he was also unaware. His youth was cra dled in obscu rity, and for all he knew, he would die in obscu rity, with his words dying with him, but hop ing, per haps, that the word of God would spring from the dark ness of past cen tu ries and yield a rich har vest, for it was his desire to see an open Bible in the hands of every man. Oxford at this time was young, and the flow of ideas among its eager, young stu dents was a new and excit ing expe ri ence. The cam pus was almost like a bat tle field for ideas. It was not long before Wycliffe gained the rep u ta tion as the great est sec u lar philo soph i cal theo lo gian of his day, though he was known to be some what of a hot head. He often wrote with a pointed pen and with lit tle tact. He was involved in note wor thy debates, and his ideas seemed to fre quently stir up con tro versy. He was noted at col lege for his fer vent pi ety as well as for his re mark able tal ents and sound schol ar ship. In his thirst for knowl edge he sought to be come ac quainted with ev ery branch of learn ing. He was ed u cated in the scho las - tic phi los o phy, in the can ons of the church, and in the civil law... While he could wield the weap ons drawn from the word of God, he had ac quired the in tel lec tual dis ci pline of the schools, and he un der stood the tac tics of the school - men. The power of his ge nius and the ex tent and thor ough ness of his knowl edge com manded the re spect of both friends and foes. (El len White, The Great Con tro - versy, p. 80) He was not only a gifted scholar, but also a pow er ful speaker and with out flinch ing, he could turn the tables on his adver sar ies. In one attempt to silence his voice of alarm, a synod of bish ops in Eng land gained King Rich ard s approval to con sign any one to prison that ascribed to Wycliffe s beliefs. You would think that would be the end of the story the king had approved but Wycliffe boldly appealed to Par lia ment and called for the papal hier ar chy to attend the hear ing with him! His friends and sup port ers had already yielded to papal pres sure and had, thus, deserted him. He stood alone before the Par lia ment, his papal ene mies feel ing sure that he would, because he was old, alone, and friend less, yield to their demands. But! he turned Par lia ment com pletely around through the power of his appeal and through his con vinc ing por trayal of cor rup tion by the papacy. The Par lia ment repealed the king s edict and set Wycliffe at lib erty, once again to con tinue the work God had given him to do. (See The Great Con tro versy, pp. 89, 90.) Who of us could sin gle-handedly appeal to the Supreme Court on a mat ter of reli gious lib erty and walk away a win - ner? Wycliffe did. Over time Wycliffe attacked the doc trine of tran sub stan - ti a tion, the ven er a tion of saints and their rel ics, pil grim ages to their shrines, and Indul gences. He denied the supreme author ity of the pope, empha sized per sonal piety, and... stressed the impor tance of preach ing based on scrip ture, a scrip ture made avail able to all, and to this end he and his dis - ci ples trans lated the Bible into Eng lish (Wil liam Stevenson, Old Paths December 2012

11 The Story of the Ref or ma tion, p. 23). He also taught that it was law ful for a sub ject to rebuke or even arraign an eccle si - as tic, includ ing the pope and that the author ity of the church can be lost if it falls from grace all potent ideas that threat - ened to break the grip of the papacy. Wycliffe was one of the great est of the Re form ers. In breadth of in tel lect, in clear ness of thought, in firm ness to main tain the truth, and in bold ness to de fend it, he was equaled by few who came af ter him. Pu rity of life, un wea - ry ing dil i gence in study and in la bor, in cor rupt ible in teg rity, and Christ like love and faith ful ness in his ministry, characterized the first of the Re form ers. And this not with stand ing the in tel lec tual dark ness and moral cor rup tion of the age from which he emerged. (The Great Con - troversy, p. 94) God appointed Wycliffe his work: God had ap pointed to Wycliffe his work. He had put the word of truth in his mouth, and He set a guard about him that this word might come to the peo ple. His life was pro tected, and his la bors were pro longed, un til a foun da tion was laid for the great work of the Ref or ma tion. (Ibid., p. 92) And God has a work today that will be done by many who, like Wycliffe, rise from obscu rity: In the last sol emn work few great men will be en gaged. They are self-suf fi cient, in de pend ent of God, and He can - not use them. The Lord has faith ful ser vants, who in the shak ing, test ing time will be dis closed to view. There are pre cious ones now hid den who have not bowed the knee to Baal.... it may be un der a rough and un in vit ing ex te rior [that] the pure bright ness of a gen u ine Chris tian char ac ter will be re vealed.... In this time the gold will be sep a rated from the dross in the church. True god li ness will be clearly dis tin guished from the ap pear ance and tin sel of it. Many a star that we have ad mired for its bril liancy will then go out in dark ness. Chaff like a cloud will be borne away on the wind, even from places where we see only floors of rich wheat.... When trees with out fruit are cut down as cumberers of the ground, when mul ti tudes of false breth ren are dis tin - guished from the true, then the hid den ones will be re vealed to view... Those who have been timid and self-dis trust ful will de clare them selves openly for Christ and His truth. The most weak and hes i tat ing in the church will be as Da vid will ing to do and dare.... Then will the A copy of Wycliffe s Bible church of Christ ap pear fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and ter ri ble as an army with ban ners. (Tes ti mo nies for the Church, vol. 5, pp. 80, 81; all em pha sis sup plied un less oth er wise noted) Elisha s call from the obscu rity of a plowed field came after the learned men of his day had been approached, but rejected: Eli jah took Elisha from the plow and threw upon him his man tle of con se cra tion. The call to this great and sol - emn work was pre sented to men of learn ing and po si tion; had these been lit tle in their own eyes and trusted fully in the Lord, He would have hon ored them with bear ing His stan dard in tri umph to the vic tory. But they sep a - rated from God, yielded to the in flu ence of the world, and the Lord re jected them. (Ibid., p. 82) You may be poor by this world s stan dards, or you may have many com forts. Per haps you live along a byway, far from the con ve - nience of city and tech nol ogy, and work long and hard, with lit tle to show for it at the end of the day, or per - haps you live in ease. What ever your cir cum stances, God is call ing you, the pre cious, hid den ones who have not bowed the knee to Baal, to a great and sol emn work, just as he called Elisha from the plow so many years ago. It may not be on the moun tain s height, Or over the stormy sea; It may not be at the bat tle s front My Lord will have need of me; But if by a still, small voice he calls To paths I do not know, I ll answer, dear Lord, with my hand in thine, I ll go where you want me to go. Mary Brown God called Abram to leave Ur, a super sti tious and idol-wor shiping city. Ur was flour ish ing and had a seem - ingly edu cated and cul tured pop u lace. Life was good in many ways in Ur, but God called Abram out of it. Why? In or der that God might qual ify him for his great work as the keeper of the sa cred or a cles, Abra ham must be sep a - rated from the as so ci a tions of his early life. The in flu ence of kin dred and friends would in ter fere with the train ing which the Lord pur posed to give His ser vant. (Pa tri archs and Proph ets, p. 126) con tin ued on page 23 Vol. 21, No

12

13

14 Assassination One of the defin ing moments of my youth was Novem ber 22, 1963, when I received news that Pres i dent John Ken nedy had been assassinated in Dallas, Texas. That was a defin - ing moment for peo ple of my gen er a tion, as 9 11 has become a defin ing moment to this gen er a tion. My youth would be rocked again when, on April 3, 1968, Dr. Mar - tin Luther King, Jr. was shot in Mem phis, Ten - By Allen Stump nes see. Just a lit tle more than two months later, my youth was again shaken by the assas si na tion of Rob ert F. Ken nedy on June 6 at Los Angeles. Assas si na tion is the act of mur der ing an impor tant per son in a sur prise attack for polit i cal or reli gious rea sons (Oxford American Dic tio nary). Sadly, Amer i can history is penned in the blood of the vic - tims of assas si na tion. Pres i dent Abra ham Lin coln was shot on April 15, Pres i dent James A. Gar field was shot on July 2 and died on Sep tem ber 19, Pres i dent Wil liam McKin ley was shot on Sep tem ber 6 and died on Sep tem ber 14, Many other nota ble peo ple have suf fered at the hands of assas sins, such as Anwar Sadat, Malcolm X, Mohandas Gan - dhi, Indira Gan dhi, and per haps the most famous per son to be assas si nated, Jul ius Caesar. Caesar s assas - si na tion is per haps the more tragic, since he was killed by those who hon estly pro fessed to be his friends. This reminds me of Prov erbs 26:22 which states: The words of a tale - bearer are as wounds, and they go down into Pres i dent Wil liam Mc Kin - ley was also as sas si nated. President John Kennedy was assassinated the inner most parts of the belly. Such wounds go deep into the belly, or mind, of the per son (see Prov erbs 20:27; John 7:38). Phys i cal assas si na tion is tragic, but there is another kind of assassination character assassination. Character assas - si na tion is tar nish ing a per son s rep u ta tion. It may involve exag ger a tion, mis lead ing half-truths, or manip u la tion of facts to pres ent an untrue pic ture of the tar geted per son. This is done through the tongue, the pen, and the key board. Char - ac ter assas si na tion has been attempted against every United States pres i dent, prom i nent reli gious fig ure, or other well-known pub lic fig ure. The Bible, how ever, declares such a work to be wicked and against the char ac ter of God. God Is a God of Truth The Bible declares God to be a being of truth. Deu ter on omy 32:4 states: He is the Rock, his work is per fect: for all his ways are judg ment: a God of truth and with out iniq uity, just and right is he. As sta ble and sturdy as the Rock of Gibral tar, God is solid and unmov able and is the embodi ment of truth. Isa iah writes: He who blesseth him self in the earth shall bless him self in the God of truth; and he that sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God of truth (Isa iah 65:16). The Son of God is declared to be the faith ful and true wit ness (Rev e la tion 3:14). Truth is insep a ra bly a part of divin ity, and if man kind is to par take of the divine nature, he or she must have truth as one of the fun da men tal com po nents of his or her being. So vital is truth that one of the Ten Com mand - ments deals exclu sively with truth: Thou shalt not bear false wit ness against thy neigh bor (Exo dus 20:16). The pur pose of this com mand ment is crys tal clear. It is given to pro tect the rights, the inter ests, and the rep u ta tion of our neigh bor by guard ing our con ver sa tion and by restrict ing our words to only that which passes the test of truth. God com mands us in Exo dus 23:1: Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrigh teous wit ness. Here God plainly tells us that bear ing false wit ness is a wicked work, and the one who does it is also wicked. Surely we do not wish to be asso ci ated with wick ed ness. False wit ness ing has, since ancient times, been looked upon by all soci et ies as bad. In Ath ens a false wit ness was heavily fined. If con victed thrice of this crime, he lost his civil rights. In Rome a law of the Twelve Tables sen tenced the trans gres sor to be hurled head long from the Tarpeian Rock. In Egypt the pen alty was ampu ta tion of the nose and ears (The Sev enth-day Adven tist Bible Com men tary, vol. 1, p. 607). Not only by direct utter ance of false hood is the ninth com - mand ment vio lated. In Habakkuk 1:13 we find the prophet reg is ter ing a com plaint to God about God s appar ent lack of jus tice. Habakkuk notes: Thou art of purer eyes than to be hold evil, and canst not look on in iq uity: where fore lookest thou upon them that deal treach er ously, and holdest thy tongue when the Old Paths December 2012

15 wicked devoureth the man that is more righ teous than he? (Habakkuk 1:13) Habakkuk can not under stand God s appar ent silence when the wicked devour those more righ teous. God does not cor rect Habakkuk s the ol ogy in this mat ter, but rather instructs the prophet to be patient, for his plans and pur poses will be ful filled in their proper time (Habakkuk 2:4). To speak a lie is a sin, but to be silent in the wrong time is just as sin ful. This com mand ment may also be bro ken by those who re main si lent when they hear an in no cent man un justly ma ligned. It can be bro ken by a shrug of the shoul der or by an arch ing of the eye brows. Who ever tam pers in any way with the ex act truth, in or der to gain per sonal ad van tage or for any other pur pose, is guilty of bear ing false wit ness. The sup pres sion of truth that might re sult in in jury to one - self or oth ers this too is bear ing false wit ness. (The Sev enth-day Ad ven tist Bi ble Com men tary, vol. 1, p. 607). The Spirit of Proph ecy is very plain on this mat ter. We should never give sanc tion to sin by our words or our deeds, our silence or our pres ence (The Desire of Ages, p. 152). Even our pres ence can bear a false wit ness. When we know that error is being pre sented and we sit qui etly and do noth - ing, we are guilty before God. Nehemiah was cho sen by God be cause he was will ing to co op er ate with the Lord as a re storer. False hood and in - trigue were used to per vert his in teg rity, but he would not be bribed. He re fused to be cor rupted by the de vices of un - prin ci pled men, who had been hired to do an evil work. He would not al low them to in tim i date him into fol low ing a cow ardly course. When he saw wrong prin ci ples be ing acted upon, he did not stand by as an on looker, and by his si lence give con sent. He did not leave the peo ple to con - clude that he was stand ing on the wrong side. He took a firm, un yield ing stand for the right. He would not lend one jot of in flu ence to the per ver sion of the prin ci ples that God has established. We shall meet with op po si tion of ev ery de scrip tion, as did the build ers of the walls of Je ru sa lem; but if we watch and pray, and work as they did, God will fight our bat tles for us, and give us pre cious vic to ries.... We should move for ward with un wa ver ing con fi dence, be liev ing that God will give to His truth great and pre cious vic to ries.... Re ly - ing upon Je sus, we shall carry a con vinc ing power with us that we have the truth. (Sons and Daugh ters of God, p. 213; all em pha sis sup plied un less oth er wise noted) Our Words Are a Me ter of Our Hearts Our words are, in many respects, a reflec tion of our hearts. James notes, For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a per fect man, and able also to bri dle the whole body (James 3:2). We speak a lot about per - fec tion in Adventism. We believe that God calls his peo ple to a high stan dard. If we wish to be per fect peo ple, we must learn to con trol our tongues, which includ es con trol ling the sin of slan der. James con tin ues, Behold, we put bits in the horses mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body. Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the gov er nor listeth. Even so the tongue is a lit tle mem ber, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a mat ter a lit tle fire kindleth! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniq uity: so is the tongue among our mem bers, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell (James 3:3 6). James points out that a lit tle fire can become a very big fire, and how true this is in the nat u ral world. Most all have heard of the great Chi cago fire of 1871, when over three square miles of city was destroyed by a fire which started as a small fire in a barn. Thirty-three years later in the city of Bal ti more, Mary land, a small fire in the busi ness dis trict is wind-whipped into an uncon trol la ble con fla gra tion that engulfs a large por tion of the city by eve ning. The fire is believed to have been started by a dis carded cig a rette in the base ment of the Hurst Build ing. When the blaze finally burned down after 31 hours, an 80-block area of the down - town area, stretch ing from the water front to Mount Vernon on Charles Street, had been destroyed. More than 1,500 build ings were com pletely lev eled, and some 1,000 severely dam aged, bring ing prop erty loss from the disas ter to an esti - mated $100 mil lion (The His tory Chan nel, tory.com/this-day-in-his tory/the-great-bal ti - more-fire-begins; accessed Novem ber 10, 2012). James con tin ues speak ing about the tongue: But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poi son. There with bless we God, even the Father; and there - with curse we men, which are made after the simil i tude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth bless ing and curs - ing. My breth ren, these things ought not so to be (James 3:8 10). Since we can not tame our tongues, beloved, we need to give them over to the one who can tame the tongue. But it is really our hearts, and not only our tongues, that we need to turn over to Jesus Christ and allow him to live in us with his per fect righ teous ness, for Jesus said out of the abun dance of the heart the mouth speaketh (Mat thew 12:34). If we know we are hav ing trou ble with our words, then we need to look deeper to find the cause of the prob lem, and it will be found to be a heart that is not fully open to allow ing Jesus to live inside. Guard ing Our Speech The old prov erb think twice before you speak once cer tainly is full of wis dom, and Jesus spoke very strongly about our need to be care ful with our speech. He said: Vol. 21, No

16 But I say unto you, That ev ery idle word that men shall speak, they shall give ac count thereof in the day of judg - ment. For by thy words thou shalt be jus ti fied, and by thy words thou shalt be con demned. (Mat thew 12:36, 37) Have you ever con sid ered what Jesus meant by the expres - sion idle word? What makes words idle words? The Greek word trans lated idle is argos (ajrgovs), and it means lazy, or words given with out thought. Argos has been defined as indo lent, use less, unem ployed (Theo log i cal Dic - tio nary of the New Tes ta ment, Abridged Ed., p. 339); with out thought, care less in con sid er ation (Dic tio nary of Bib li cal Lan guages with Seman tic Domains: Greek). When I was sev en teen, with out the help of alco hol, drugs, or act ing fool ish, I had an acci dent with one of my father s cars, caus ing a mod er ate amount of dam age. My father had been in the army, and I am not sure he ever left boot camp but only grad u ated to drill ser geant. In our home, when dad said jump, we just needed to know how high. His word was never dis puted. After the acci dent my father lost con trol of his emo tions and com manded me, in a firm and loud voice (some might have said he yelled), to get out. The instruc - tions were clear to me, so I packed a duf fle bag with what I could carry, went to the road, and hitched a ride to town, where one of my friends found me and took me to his home for a week. I learned later that when my dad noticed my absence, he wanted to know why I had left. My brother meekly reminded my father that he had ordered me to leave. Upon hear ing that, my dad said that he did not mean it, but of course he sure seemed to mean it when he said it. His words were idle words and almost caused a per ma nent sep a ra tion between us. Thank fully after a week, he said I could come home. Pres i dent Ron ald Rea gan was test ing a micro phone just prior to a reg u lar Sat ur day after noon broad cast and spoke in jest about bomb ing Rus sia. Some report ers took the com - ment and printed it in their col umns. Before long the entire world knew the idle words that the pres i dent had spo ken. Talebearing The Bible speaks very clearly about talebearing. Thou shalt not go up and down as a tale bearer among thy peo ple: nei ther shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neigh bour: I am the LORD (Levit i cus 19:16). We are not to go up nor down, left nor right among the peo ple talebearing. The Hebrew word trans lated tale bearer means a scan dal-mon ger or slan derer. This is a spe cific com mand, and God repeats it to get his mes - sage across to his peo ple. Thou shalt not raise a false re port: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an un righ teous wit ness... Keep thee far from a false mat ter; and the in no cent and righ teous slay thou not: for I will not jus tify the wicked. (Ex o dus 23:1, 7) Cursed be he that tak eth reward to slay an inno cent per son. And all the peo ple shall say, Amen. (Deu ter on omy 27:25) The peo ple were to say amen to the curs ing of some one who would lie to con demn an inno cent per son. Today, instead of say ing amen, we often say, no, we want to know more so do not stop tell ing things now. Instead of stop ping rumors and talebearing, peo ple open their ears, want ing to hear more. The Bible tells us to speak evil of no man, to be no brawl - ers, but gen tle, shewing all meek ness unto all men (Titus 3:2). Instead of speak ing no evil, gos sip and slan der abound, and some feel that the text should say to speak evil of all men. Even when there are dif fer ences, and per haps offenses, between peo ple, it is much better to fol low the bib li cal coun - sel to speak evil of no man. I recently read two books, one enti tled In My Time, the per - sonal and polit i cal mem oir of for mer Vice Pres i dent Dick Cheney, and the other No Higher Honor, a mem oir of for mer National Secu rity Advi sor and Sec re tary of State, Condoleezza Rice. These inter est ing books pre sented sim i - lar his to ries of the same events that shaped the United States dur ing the pres i dency of George W. Bush. While most of the events were reported closely, it was obvi ous that Cheney and Rice, at times, had dif fer ences of opin ions about cer tain sit u - a tions. What I found refresh ing was that when Rice felt that the vice pres i dent had erred, had taken a wrong posi tion, or had worked in some way that was in oppo si tion to the state depart ment, she would never write that Dick Cheney had done this or that. Instead, she spoke of the office of the vice pres i dent in such a man ner so that if blame was to be cast, it was upon the office of the vice pres i dent or, per haps, some unknown per son on the staff in the vice pres i dent s office and never directly upon the per son of the vice pres i dent him self. Beloved, if peo ple in the polit i cal world can learn to speak evil of no per son, than surely the chil dren of God can do that. There is too much to lose by talebearing. The Ef fects of Talebearing The effects of talebearing can be lethal. Prov erbs 18:8 says, The words of a tale bearer are as wounds, and they go down into the inner most parts of the belly. Sound a lot like some - thing we read ear lier? That s right, it is exactly like Prov erbs 26:22. God is using rep e ti tion to empha size his point. Talebearing cre ates wounds that are deep and are hard to heal. We can destroy oth ers and our friend ships very quickly this way. Prov erbs 17:9 says, He that covereth a trans gres - sion seeketh love; but he that repeateth a mat ter separateth very friends. When a per son need lessly repeats a mat ter, even at times when it is true, it sep a rates friends and may drive wedges that are never healed. Lives are some times dev - as tated and even destroyed. Instead of spread ing rumors and of slan der ing oth ers, we need to put a guard to our lips. Just as a fire will only burn as long as there is fuel, con ten tions will only last as long as there is strife to keep them open and going. Old Paths December 2012

17 The day that Mar tin Luther King, Jr. was assas si nated, pres i den tial can di date Rob ert Ken nedy was cam paign ing in Indi ana. When he arrived at Indi a nap o lis to address a group com posed pri mar ily of Afri can Amer i cans, most of them had not yet heard of the shoot ing. Ken nedy was warned by the police not to speak, for they feared a riot, but Ken nedy wanted to speak to these peo ple. After shar ing the news of the assas si na tion and then hear ing the crowd s many gasps and screams, Ken nedy reminded the audi ence that Mar tin Luther King, Jr. had wanted to replace that vio lence, that stain of blood shed that has spread across our land, with an effort to under stand with com pas sion and love. Ken nedy acknowl edged that many in the audi ence would be filled with anger, espe cially since the assas sin was believed to be a white man. He empa thized with the audi ence by refer ring, for the first time, to the assas si na tion of his brother, Pres i dent John F. Ken nedy, also by a white man. Quot ing the ancient Greek poet Aes chy lus, Ken nedy said, Even in our sleep, pain which can not for get falls drop by drop upon the heart until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wis dom through the awful grace of God. Ken nedy then deliv ered one of his most well-remem bered remarks: What we need in the United States is not divi sion; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not vio lence or law less ness, but love and wis dom, and com pas sion toward one another, and a feel ing of jus tice towards those who still suf fer within our coun try, whether they be white or whether they be black. The crowd was quiet dur ing his remarks and soon after Ken nedy fin ished speak ing dis persed qui etly. In most of the rest of Amer ica, how ever, there were many riots and prob lems. In Indi a nap o - lis, how ever, it was peace ful, for a wise mes sage had been given, a mes sage of hope and a chal lenge, also. The words we speak or do not speak can have a very large effect upon oth ers. Backbitings If there was a prob lem child church that the Apos tle Paul min is tered to, it might have been the church at Cor inth. In his sec ond let ter he noted, For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be found unto you such as ye would not: lest there be debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swell ings, tumults (2 Corin thi ans 12:20). The Greek word for backbitings is katalaliai (katalaliaiv) which lit er ally means to speak down or speak against. It means to slan der. Paul is con cerned that when he vis its Cor inth there will be evil speak ing and gos sip, among other evils. The results of such action are given in Galatians 5:14, 15, where Paul says: For all the law is ful filled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neigh bour as thy self. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not con sumed one of another. If we love oth ers as our selves we ful fill the law, but if we bite (back bite) one another we con sume or destroy each other. No per son who does these things shall be in heaven. David gave God s peo ple a clear prin ci ple to deter mine heaven wor thi ness. In Psalm 15:1, he wrote: LORD, who shall abide in thy taber na cle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill? Then in verses 2 and 3 we find his answer and by impli ca tion those who will not: He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righ teous ness, and speaketh the truth in his heart. He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neigh bour, nor tak eth up a reproach against his neigh bour. Here we find the answer to his ques - tion about who will dwell in God s taber na cle and holy hill. We also know, how ever, who will not those who do not walk uprightly and work unrigheousness speak ing lies and back bit ing doing evil to his neigh bor tak ing up a reproach against them. Spe cial In struc tion There are two areas of spe cial instruc tion that we should not miss and seem spe cially tar gets of Satan today. The first point of instruc tion is found in 1 Tim o thy 5:19: Against an elder receive not an accu sa tion, but before two or three wit - nesses. The Eng lish Stan dard Version trans lates it, Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evi dence of two or three wit nesses. The Bible does not say that elders are always clean of all charges against them or that charges can never be brought against them, but it cau tions that there needs to be at least two or three wit nesses. A wit ness is some - one with first-hand knowl edge. This does not mean that they are wit nesses because some one else has informed them or told them some thing. They must have first and not sec - ond-hand knowl edge of the actions or events under ques tion. Nobody in Israel was to be con victed of a seri ous crime on the tes ti mony of only one wit ness. One wit ness shall not rise up against a man for any iniq uity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two wit nesses, or at the mouth of three wit nesses, shall the mat ter be estab lished (Deu ter on omy 19:15). This was done to safe guard the inno - cent. Yet even pro fessed Chris tians, at times, aid Satan in his work as the devil. Remem ber that the term devil means accuser! Sa tan has many help ers. Many who pro fess to be Chris tians are aid ing the tempter to catch away the seeds of truth from other hearts. Many who lis ten to the preach - ing of the word of God make it the sub ject of crit i cism at home. They sit in judg ment on the ser mon as they would on the words of a lec turer or a po lit i cal speaker. The mes - sage that should be re garded as the word of the Lord to them is dwelt upon with tri fling or sar cas tic com ment. The min is ter s char ac ter, mo tives, and ac tions, and the con duct of fel low mem bers of the church, are freely dis - cussed. Se vere judg ment is pro nounced, gos sip or slan der re peated, and this in the hear ing of the un con - verted. Of ten these things are spo ken by par ents in the hear ing of their own chil dren. Thus are de stroyed re spect Vol. 21, No

18 for God s mes sen gers, and rev er ence for their mes sage. And many are taught to re gard lightly God s word it self. (Christ s Ob ject Les sons, pp. 45, 46) We think with hor ror of the can ni bal who feasts on the still warm and trem bling flesh of his vic tim; but are the results of even this prac tice more ter ri ble than are the agony and ruin caused by mis rep re sent ing motive, black en ing rep u ta tion, dis sect ing char ac ter? Let the chil dren, and the youth as well, learn what God says about these things. (Edu ca tion, p. 235) A verse that has been used out of place in con nec tion to back bit ing has been Mat thew 18:15. But let us notice what the verse says, More over if thy brother shall tres pass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. This verse is not talk ing about rebuk ing some one for open sin (1 Tim o thy 5:20 cov ers that) or for sin against oth ers, but it is for a sit u a tion when some one else sins against you. Then you alone go to that per son first. The sec ond spe cial sit u a tion that we want to look at is found in 1 Peter 2:17, Hon our all men. Love the broth er - hood. Fear God. Hon our the king. Can we honor the king if we slan der him? Of course not! I am not a per sonal sup porter of nor one opposed to Pres i - dent Obama as being pres i dent. Per haps like you, though, I have received doz ens if not hun dreds of s the last four years slan der ing the pres i dent on sev eral issues. I was recently send a link to a video clip that was obvi ously altered to make it appear that Pres i dent Obama was stat ing that he was not born in the United States, but rather in Kenya. This is a direct manip u la tion of facts and unac cept able for a Christian not only to pro duce, but to dis trib ute. (And while we men tion , how many times do we receive juicy gos - sip via an , per haps even an unsigned , and then spread that to oth ers with out know ing if the mate rial is fac - tual? And even if it is fac tual, is it need ful to share?). A Let ter from a Pres i dent s Daugh ter The posi tion of being the pres i dent of the United States, or the head of any world gov ern ment is a dif fi cult posi tion and the Bible says to show honor to the king and also to pray for him and his asso ci ates (1 Tim o thy 2:1, 2) I have to con fess that when George W. Bush became the 43 rd pres i dent I was not kind to him in the way I spoke of what appeared to be his lack of intel li gence in some areas. But the Bible says, He that answereth a mat ter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him (Prov erbs 18:13). In other words, hear a per son out and get all the facts. If some one comes to you and wants to share all the bad things about some one else, it is usu - ally best not to lis ten. How ever, if there are what appear to be legit i mate con cerns, you have an obli ga tion to search out the other side of the story. I recently read Pres i dent Bush s book, Deci sion Points and after read ing this book and get ting another per spec tive, I had to admit that I had been wrong about many things con cern ing him. Pres i dent Bush hon or ably and legit i mately grad u ated from Yale Uni ver sity. You can not do that if you are dumb. My high school grades would not have even got me near the entrance exam ines. He flew jet planes dur ing his time in the ser vice. I assure you that the Air Force does not entrust jets that cost mil lions of dol lars to fools. And fur ther, I gained a lot of respect con cern ing Mr. Bush in other areas from read ing the book and com par ing it with other sources for accu racy. Now this does not make me a Bush sup porter or am I advo cat ing that he was a per fect pres i dent or that I approved of all or even any of his pol i cies. I am stat ing though that get ting all the facts made a difference. One part of the book how ever, per haps has a les son for us today. Bush men tions that when he first ran for pres i dent, his twin daugh ters, Barbara and Jenna, were not too fond of the idea. They knew that their pri vate life would, in effect, be over. But after four years of grow ing and watch ing how some treated their father, Jenna wrote the fol low ing let ter to her dad, which he pub lished in his book: March 10, 2004 Dear Dad, I had a vivid dream last night, a dream so vivid I woke in tears. Al though I am not yet as spir i tual as you, I have taken this dream as a sign. You have worked your en tire life to give Barbara and me ev ery thing we have ever wanted or needed. You have given us love, sup port; and I know you have in cluded us in ev ery de ci sion you have ever made. You and Mom have taught us the mean ing of un con di - tional love. I watched as Mom self lessly, gently gave her self to Pa as he suf fered. And I watched you give a year of your life to Gampy; I watched your shared pain on elec - tion night At age twenty-two, I fi nally have learned what that self less pain must have felt like. I hate hear ing lies about you. I hate when peo ple crit i - cize you. I hate that ev ery body can t see the per son I love and re spect, the per son that I hope I some day will be like. It is be cause of all of these rea sons that I have de cided that if you want me to I would love to work full-time for you in the fall. Please think about it, talk to Mom about it, and get back to me. For now I have stopped ap ply ing for jobs in New York. I know I may be a lit tle rough around the edges, but I with the proper train ing I could get peo ple to see the Dad I love. This may seem like a rushed, im pul sive de ci sion but, I have been think ing about it con stantly. I want to try to give you some thing for the twenty-two years you have given me. In my dream, I did n t help you. And I watched some - body win who is n t sup posed to. And I cried. I cried for you, for our county, and for my guilt I don t want my dream to be come re al ity, so if I can help in any way please let me. We can talk more about it dur ing Easter. Old Paths December 2012

19 I love you and am so proud of you, Love, Jenna (Ex cerpt From: George W. Bush. De ci sion Points (En hanced Edi tion). Crown Pub lish ers, 2010.) This is a beau ti ful let ter and of a daugh ter wish ing to defend and sup port her dad. Oh as Chris tians if we had such a desire to build up instead of con demn each other. This truly is the kind of let ter a father lives his life to get and Mr. Bush is no doubt very proud of both of his daugh ters but I am sure that this let ter has a spe cial place in his heart. Our Re ac tion to At tack There are times, despite what the Bible says about gos sip, back bit ing, and talebearing, that we will receive the brunt of cruel words and let ters that are never retracted. How should we react? Firstly we need to under stand that Jesus under stands. He was accused of being the friend of pub li cans and asso ci at ing with har lots. While a good rep u ta tion is nice, Jesus made him self of no rep u ta tion (Philippians 2:7). He did this so that we might come to him who knows what it is like to be slan dered and he can help us. Not only can he help us, but he gives a bless ing to those who are slan dered. Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall sep a rate you from their com pany, and shall re proach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man s sake. Re joice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, be hold, your re ward is great in heaven: for in the like man ner did their fa thers unto the proph ets. (Luke 6:22, 23) Instead of being dis cour aged when oth ers bring false accu sa tions, we are to be joy ful and thank ful that we are counted wor thy to suf fer shame for his name (Acts 5:41). Instead of attack ing oth ers or retal i at ing if we are attacked on a per sonal level, let us love one another and do all we can to bring the other party to for give ness and the cov er ing of their sin. Prov erbs 10:12 says, Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins. How many times have we seen hatred and wrath returned for hatred and wrath. But the Bible says that a soft answer turneth away wrath (Prov erbs 15:1) and that love covereth all sins. James 5:19, 20 coun sels us: Breth ren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one con vert him; Let him know, that he which converteth the sin ner from the er ror of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a mul ti tude of sins. Con clu sion: If we could only love peo ple beloved like our selves! Jesus said that the sec ond great com mand ment is Thou shalt love thy neigh bour as thy self (Mat thew 22:39). This should be cou pled with the golden rule of Mat thew 7:12, There fore all things what so ever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the proph ets. On Octo ber 15, 1962, Pres i dent Ken nedy was informed that offen sive nuclear mis siles were being assem bled in Cuba pos ing a grave threat to the safety of the United States. Dur ing the next thir teen days the world tit tered on destruc - tion. But in his deci sion mak ing pro cess, Pres i dent Ken nedy relied upon the prin ci ple of the golden rule as he deter mined how to respond to the actions of Pre mier Khrush chev. In his mem oir of those days, Rob ert Ken nedy wrote: THE FI NAL LES SON of the Cu ban mis sile cri sis is the im por tance of plac ing our selves in the other coun try s shoes. Dur ing the cri sis, Pres i dent Ken nedy spent more time try ing to de ter mine the ef fect of a par tic u lar course of ac tion on Khrush chev or the Rus sians than on any other phase of what he was do ing. What guided all his de lib er a - tions was an ef fort not to dis grace Khrush chev, not to hu mil i ate the So viet Un ion, not to have them feel they would have to es ca late their re sponse be cause their na - tional se cu rity or na tional in ter ests so com mit ted them. (Rob ert Ken nedy, Thir teen Days, A Mem oir of the Cu ban Mis sile Crisis, p. 95) The stan dard that Ken nedy was apply ing was to think the pro cess through and if he was in Khrush chev s shoes, what would he want to have to deal with next. This prin ci ple cer - tainly had con sid er able influ ence in the pres er va tion of the world and if it was applied in the church, it could have a great influ ence there too! If we would fol low the coun sel of 1 Corin thi ans 11:31, what a bless ing would attend God s church. There it says, For if we would judge our selves, we should not be judged. The Bible in Basic Eng lish states it this way, But if we were true judges of our selves, pun ish ment would not come on us. Instead of judg ing oth ers, if we would exam ine our selves and see our own needs clearer we would be slower to speak about oth ers. And expe ri ence teaches that those who con - demn oth ers are accord ing to Romans 2:1, usu ally guilty of the very sins they con demn: There fore thou art inex cus able, O man, who so ever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thy self; for thou that judgest doest the same things. To bor row some lan guage from Rob ert Ken nedy: What we need in the church of God is not strife for suprem acy; what we need in the rem nant church is not cov et ous ness; what we need among the fol lows of the three angels mes - sages is not gos sip or back bit ing, but love and wis dom, and com pas sion toward one another, and a feel ing of mercy towards those who still suf fer within our church, no mat ter who they are. Psalm 141:3 says, Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips. May not only our mouths, but our pens, and key boards have a watch and door upon them. Vol. 21, No

20 From the File Cab i net of His tory Elder Willie White s reply to the let ter of H. W. Carr, pub lished last month. Old Paths December 2012

21 Vol. 21, No

22 Youth s Cor ner Whose Ser vice Have You Cho sen? In order to save man, Jesus laid aside his honor as com - mander in heaven, left the world of glory, and came to earth to live as a man among men. He might have appeared with all the dis play of roy alty, attended by ten thou sand times ten thou sand of his min is ter ing angels. But he hum bled him self, not only to take our nature, but to become a man of sor rows, to take upon him the form of a ser vant. He came to do good, to help the needy and the dis tressed; to heal the sick; to speak peace to the suf fer ing; to deliver those whom Satan was afflict ing; to bring redemp tion to all who would receive this heaven-sent bless ing. The great enemy of men was con stantly work ing to turn their minds from Christ; and he suc ceeded to a great degree, because the nat u ral heart chooses to do evil rather than good. There was an unceas ing bat tle between Satan and his angels, and Christ and his angels. Our Sav iour encoun tered this wily foe in the wil der ness of temp ta tion. Dur ing the forty days and nights of Christ s long fast, Satan, con ceal ing his real char ac ter, sought by every means which he could devise, to over come the Sav iour of the world. He finally dis guised him self as an angel of light, a heaven-sent friend, and offered to show him an eas ier way than the path of trial and suf fer ing upon which he had entered. But Jesus repulsed the enemy, and forced him to depart, a con quered foe. Satan still comes with his temp ta tions to the chil dren of men. He employs every means at his com mand to con ceal him self from view, and this is why so many are igno rant of his devices. A few days since, the ques tion was asked me, Do you believe in a per sonal devil? I do, was the answer. Well, rejoined the ques tioner, I do not believe that there is any such being; our evil thoughts and impulses are all the devil we know any thing about! But, I asked, who sug - gests these thoughts? whence do they orig i nate, if not from Satan? My young friends, be not deceived by this fast-spread ing delu sion. Just as surely as we have a per sonal Saviour, we have also a per sonal adver sary, cruel and cun ning, who ever watches our steps, and plots to lead us astray. He can work most effec tu ally in dis guise. Wher ever the opin ion is enter - tained that he does not exist, there he is most busy. When we least sus pect his pres ence, he is gain ing advan tage over us. I feel alarmed as I see so many of the youth yield ing to his power while they know it not. Did they but see their dan ger, they would flee to Christ, the sin ner s ref uge. They would resist the devil. They would pray much for wis dom, grace, and strength, and would seek most ear nestly to over come every evil trait of char ac ter. They would walk in the path which Jesus trod, and shun that which Satan urges them to choose. The tempter often whis pers that the Chris tian life is one of exac tion, of rig or ous duties; that it is hard to be on the watch con tin u ally, and there is no need of being so par tic u lar. It was thus that he deceived and over threw Eve in Eden, tell ing her that God s com mands were arbi trary and unjust, given to pre vent men from becom ing free and exalted, like him self. Satan s object is the same now as then. He desires to deceive and ruin us. We should study the life of Christ, and seek to cher ish his spirit and copy his exam ple; and the more we become like him, the more clearly shall we dis cern the temp - ta tions of Satan, and the more suc cess fully resist his power. Self ish ness can not exist in a heart where Christ dwells; if cher ished, it will crowd out every thing besides. It will lead you to fol low incli na tion rather than duty, to make self the sub ject of thought, and to grat ify and indulge your self, instead of seek ing to be a bless ing to oth ers. Your wants, your plea sures, will come before every thing else. In all this you exem plify the spirit of Satan. Your words and deeds rep re - sent his char ac ter, instead of the char ac ter of Christ. Jesus bids you, Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. True hap pi ness is to be found, not in self-indul - gence and self-pleas ing, but in learn ing of Christ, tak ing his yoke, and bear ing his bur den. Those who trust to their own wis dom, and fol low their own ways, go com plain ing at every step, because the bur den which self ish ness binds upon them is so heavy, and its yoke so gall ing. They might change all this if they would but come to Jesus, and by his grace put off the yoke that links them to Satan, lay off the self-imposed bur den, and take the bur den which Christ gives them, and let his yoke bind them to him in will ing, happy ser vice. Jesus loves the young, and he longs to have them pos sess that peace which he alone can impart. He bids them learn of him meek ness and low li ness of heart. This pre cious grace is rarely seen in the youth of the pres ent day, even in those who pro fess to be Chris tians. Their own ways seem right in their eyes. In accept ing the name of Christ, they do not accept his char ac ter, or sub mit to wear his yoke; there fore they know noth ing of the joy and peace to be found in his ser vice. If we have become the dis ci ples of Christ, we shall be learn ing of him, every day learn ing how to over come some unlovely trait of char ac ter, every day copy ing his exam ple, and com ing a lit tle nearer the pat tern. If we are ever to inherit those man sions that he has gone to pre pare for us, we must here be form ing such char ac ters as the dwell ers there are to possess. It is ours to choose whether we will be num bered with the ser vants of Christ or the ser vants of Satan. Every day we show by our con duct whose ser vice we have cho sen. Jesus says, He that keepeth my com mand ments, he it is that loveth me. Dear young reader, what choice have you made? What is the record of your daily life? (Mrs. E. G. White, Youth s Instruc tor, Novem ber 21, 1883). Old Paths December 2012

23 The Protestant Ref or ma tion con tin ued from page 11 The ties were strong that bound him to his coun try, kin - dred, and home. His friends did not under stand his actions, and his idol-lov ing rel a tives could not com pre hend the rea - son for his deci sion to leave Ur for an unknown des ti na tion (Ibid); nev er the less, by faith he went out, not know ing whither he went (Hebrews 11:8), for he looked for a city which hath foun da tions, whose builder and maker is God (Hebrews 11:10). Abram wanted a city with foun da tions Ur did n t have godly foun da tions, and he knew it. We can have the faith of Abra ham which God counts as righ teous ness (Gen e sis 15:6). This faith results in an obe di ence that may require us to walk away from a prom is ing career, to leave friendly and prof it able asso - ciates, to separate from relatives, to give up a life of ease, and/or to renounce cher ished plans, but if we obey, we will share the glo ries of heaven with him: Many are still tested as was Abra ham. They do not hear the voice of God speak ing di rectly from the heav ens, but He calls them by the teach ings of His word and the events of His prov i dence. They may be re quired to aban don a ca reer that prom ises wealth and honor, to leave con ge nial and profitable associations and separate from kin dred, to en ter upon what ap pears to be only a path of self-de nial, hard ship, and sac ri fice. God has a work for them to do; but a life of ease and the in flu ence of friends and kin dred would hin der the de vel op ment of the very traits es sen tial for its ac com plish - ment. He calls them away from hu man in flu ences and aid, and leads them to feel the need of His help, and to de pend upon Him alone, that He may re veal Him self to them. Who is ready at the call of Prov i dence to re nounce cher ished plans and fa mil iar as so ci a tions? Who will ac cept new du - ties and en ter un tried fields, do ing God s work with firm and will ing heart, for Christ s sake count ing his losses gain? He who will do this has the faith of Abra ham, and will share with him that far more ex ceed ing and eter nal weight of glory, with which the suf fer ings of this pres ent time are not wor thy to be com pared. 2 Co rin thi ans 4:17; Romans 8:18. (Ibid., pp. 126, 127) Wycliffe laid a broad and deep foun da tion of truth which no reformer after him exceeded: John Wycliffe Wycliffe came from the ob scu rity of the Dark Ages. There were none who went be fore him from whose work he could shape his sys tem of re form. Raised up like John the Bap tist to ac com plish a spe cial mis sion, he was the her ald of a new era. Yet in the sys tem of truth which he pre - sented there was a unity and com plete ness which Re form ers who fol lowed him did not ex ceed, and which some did not reach, even a hun dred years later. So broad and deep was laid the foun da tion, so firm and true was the frame - work, that it needed not to be re con structed by those who came af ter him. (The Great Con tro versy, p. 93) Even though Wycliffe died at home, with out being touched by the burn ing hand of the papacy, his bones were later exhumed and burned because he was con sid ered to be the founder of an heret i cal sect. As he did for Wycliffe, God has appointed us our work, and our work is to far exceed that of Wycliffe! God calls his pre cious, hid den ones to join forces with the present bold, open ones, of whom all have refused to bow the knee to Baal, to plead his case before the par lia ment of the uni verse. What a priv i lege! May we be, as Wycliffe was, stu - dents not to be ashamed. Wycliffe s adher ents saw with sat is fac tion that their cham pion stood fore most among the lead ing minds of the nation; and his ene mies were pre vented from cast ing con - tempt upon the cause of reform by expos ing the igno rance or weak ness of its sup porter (Ibid., p. 80). May we have the faith of Abra ham that led him to leave and give all in obe di ence to God s com mand. May we faith fully break up our fal low ground and sow righ teous ness, as Elisha spir i tu ally did dur ing the days he plowed the fields of his home, for it is time to seek the Lord. It may be the Lord will seek us, as he sought a man in Ezekiel s day, and this time may he find godly men and women stand ing in the gap, show ing the intelligences of the uni verse that God is wor thy of all honor and praise and that though we be slain, yet will we trust in him. And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap be fore me for the land, that I should not de stroy it: but I found none. (Ezekiel 22:30) Onycha Holt Vol. 21, No

24 Some thoughts from Charles Spurgeon The fol low is a devo tional from Charles Spurgeon ( ), the famous Eng lish preacher who became known as the Prince of Preach ers. Spurgeon was not afraid to speak of his Protestant her i tage and of the dan gers of the papacy. Edi tor repeated deliverances. Grant us more and more a hatred of Antichrist, and has ten on the day of her entire extinc tion. Till then and ever, we believe the prom ise, No weapon that is formed against thee shall pros per. Should it not be laid upon the heart of every lover of the gos pel of Jesus on this day to plead for the over turn ing of false doc trines and the exten sion of divine truth? Would it not be well to search our own hearts, and turn out any of the Pop ish lum ber of self-righ teous ness which may lie con cealed therein? (Spurgeon, C. H., Morn - ing and eve ning: Daily read ings, com plete and unabridged; new mod ern edi tion) Morn ing, Novem ber 5 No weapon that is formed against thee shall pros per. Isa iah 54:17 This day is nota ble in Eng lish his tory for two great deliverances wrought by God for us. On this day the plot of the Papists to destroy our Houses of Par lia ment was dis cov - ered, While for our princes they pre pare In cav erns deep a burn ing snare, He shot from heaven a pierc ing ray, And the dark treach ery brought to day. And sec ondly today is the anni ver sary of the land ing of King Wil liam III at Torbay, by which the hope of Pop ish ascen dancy was quashed and reli gious lib erty was secured, This day ought to be cel e brated, not by the sat ur na lia of strip lings, but by the songs of saints. Our Puri tan fore fa thers most devoutly made it a spe cial time of thanksgiving. There is extant a record of the annual ser mons preached by Mat - thew Henry on this day. Our Protestant feel ing, and our love of lib erty, should make us regard its anni ver sary with holy grat i tude. Let our hearts and lips exclaim, We have heard with our ears, and our fathers have told us the won drous things which thou didst in their day, and in the old time before them. Thou hast made this nation the home of the gos - pel; and when the foe has risen against her, thou hast shielded her. Help us to offer repeated songs for Charles H. Spurgeon YouTube Chan nel: We have recently been granted per mis sion to upload vid eos to our YouTube account that are lon ger than fif teen min utes. This allows us to post whole ser mons, as well as shorter pre sen ta tions. We have just started post ing lon ger vid eos, and we are post ing more each week. This will include ser mons, chil dren s sto ries, and youth Sab bath school events, includ ing the pop u lar sci ence dem on stra tions. Sign up to sub scribe to our chan nel, and you will receive auto matic notices when new pre sen ta tions are uploaded. The study Assas si na - tion in this issue of Old Paths has recently been posted. Our URL is: - ture=results_main. Old Paths is a free monthly news let ter/study-pa per pub lished by Smyrna Gospel Ministries, HC 64 Box 128 B, Welch, WV U. S. A. The pa per is ded i cated to the prop a ga tion and res to ra tion of the prin ci ples of truth that God gave to the early Sev enth-day Ad ven tist pi o neers. Du pli ca tion is not only per mit - ted, but strongly en cour aged. This is sue, with other gos pel lit er a ture we pub lish, can be found at our web site. The url is: Phone: (304) Fax: (304) Editor... Allen Stump ed i tor@smyrna.org Associate Editor...Onycha Holt onycha@smyrna.org Old Paths December 2012