How Can This Impasse Be Solved?

This book deals with the basic problem of heart-motivated, searching the recesses of the Adventist conscience. After 6000 years of waiting, the Saviour makes His last plea. But it has gone unheeded for well over a century.

How long can we continue with "business as usual"?

There are those in the church who say that persecution must solve our spiritual problem. But is persecution the cause or the effect of revival and reformation among God's people? How does persecution fit into the Day of Atonement that we have long believed is vital to the final ministry of the True Witness?

We are not the first people to have misunderstood a message God sent. The ancient Jews brought grief to the Messiah because they were certain they understood - but they didn't get it. His unheeded call to repent could hardly have brought more heartbreak to the Saviour than the lukewarm, unknowing response He has received from the last of the "seven churches" of history.

The Jews were expecting the Son of David to take the throne and rule in splendor. Their national rejection of Him parallels our letting Him remain outside our door, knocking for admission. So says Ellen White.[6]

How could the Lord of the universe do more than He has done to plead with His "angel of the church of the Laodiceans"?

May the Lord use the message of this book to clarify that call of the True Witness for the repentance of the ages. The great High Priest wants to proclaim, "It is done." The power of the gospel and the final atonement will be demonstrated to be complete.

Introduction

In the ancient kingdom of Israel and Judah, the Lord's almost constant problem was what to do with human leadership. King after king led the people into apostasy until the two nations were devastated and had to go into captivity under pagan rule.

But never has the Lord had a more difficult problem to solve than the lukewarmness of "the angel of the church of Laodiceas," the human leadership of His last-day remnant church. The solution Christ proposes is to "repent." Our "historic" understanding has been that such repentance is personal, or individual. This sounds simple enough, but after more than a century and a half that experience seems to have eluded us. We still need myriads of personal repentances, but could it be that He is addressing us as a corporate body, and therefore He is calling for corporate repentance?

The One who gave Himself on His cross to redeem us has every right to call us to repentance, for it was He who died our corporate second death in our stead. [10] But the vast proportion of the world still understands little or nothing of the love that prompted that divine sacrifice. We haven't yet told them clearly enough.

How can the Lord solve His problem? Will it help to let punitive judgments, disasters, and more terrorism come upon us? More terrible world wars? More lethal epidemics? More storms and earthquakes? Or could it be that understanding a still small voice calling us to denominational repentance will be effective?

Hopefully this modest contribution may help to demonstrate that such repentance makes very good sense, and is indeed a gift of God not to be refused.[16]

1. A FAX direct from Heaven

Does Jesus Christ call the Seventh-day Adventist Church to repentance? Or does He merely call for it from some individuals within the church?

A Fax direct from Heaven could not be more arresting than Christ's one command to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans: "Be zealous, therefore, and repent." To whom does He say this? What does He mean - "repent"?

"The angels of the seven churches" and "the churches" are not the same. They are distinct. "The seven candlesticks . . . are the seven churches." But "the seven stars" `you saw in my right hand,' He says, are "the angels" who symbolize the leadership (Rev. 1:20). Since He addresses the message to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans, it must be more than individual or personal repentance He calls for.

"God's ministers are symbolized by the seven stars, which He who is the first and the last has under His special care and protection. The sweet influences that are to be abundant in the church are bound up with these ministers of God, who are to represent the love of Christ. The stars of heaven are under God's control. He fills them with light. He guides and directs their movements. If He did not, they would become fallen stars. So with His ministers. They are but instruments in His hands, and all the good they accomplish is done through His power." {GW 13.3}

That "angel" of the Laodicean church must include Sabbath School leaders, academy, college, and university teachers; local elders; deacons; Pathfinder leaders; pastors; local and Union Conference leaders; and of course General Conference leadership - all who guide the church.

Therefore this total body of leadership is the focus of Christ's special attention in the Laodicean message.[30] It is not in any way disrespectful to the human leadership of the church to give attention to what the True Witness says.

Laodicea is the seventh church of history, the last one just before the second coming of Christ. It is parallel with the proclamation of the three angel's messages of Revelation 14. No eighth church can follow. The message cannot be bad news, for Laodicea is not a bad word. It simply means "vindicating the people".[50] Heeding the call to repent redeems Laodicea from failure and provides her with her only hope.

How Long Have We Known the Message?

In our denominational history the message was taken quite seriously. As far back as 1856, our pioneers expected that it would lead into the latter rain and the final loud cry within their generation. But with the lapse of well over a century of seeming indifference on the part of Heaven, we have thought the message is either not very urgent or perhaps has already done its work. For whatever reason, it has been relegated to the back burner. Our modern culture is deeply obsessed with the need for cultivating self-esteem, both personal and denominational, and this message appears to be not very good at doing that. Hence it has also become rather unpopular to talk about it.

Since we have assumed that the message is addressed only to individuals, its application has been so widely scattered that it has had no real focus. We have not known what to do about it. Everybody else's business is nobody's business. But the possibility that Christ's appeal is for corporate repentance casts the message in an entirely different focus. If He is calling for corporate repentance, it follows that He is also calling for denominational repentance.

Is He Serious?

Why is He so concerned? He cannot forget that He gave His blood for the world. "The angel of the church of Laodicea" is represented in Revelation as standing between heaven's light and a dark world, intercepting it. The outcome of the issue in Revelation chapter 3 determines the outcome of the entire Book of Revelation. Defeat in chapter 3 will hold up or even prevent the victory of chapter 19. We, the "angel", or leadership, have delayed for a century the final purpose of God to lighten the world with the glory of the "everlasting gospel" in its end-time setting. The ultimate success of the great plan of redemption thus requires that the "angel" heed Christ's message and overcome. If Laodicea should fail, that entire plan would suffer a disastrous final defeat.

The entire reason is obvious. Seventh-day Adventists do not hold the doctrine of the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches that saved people go to heaven immediately at death. We believe that all the righteous dead must remain in their graves until a corporate resurrection. But this "first resurrection" depends on the personal return of Jesus, which in turn depends on a group of living saints getting ready for His coming. The reason for this is that "our God is a consuming fire" to sin, Hebr. 12:29. Christ dares not return until He has a people in whose hearts all sin has been blotted out. Otherwise, His coming would consume them, and He loves them too much to do that to them. Thus it is His love that requires Him to wait until He has such a people ready. It follows that, until then, all the righteous dead are doomed to remain prisoners in their graves.

Can we begin to see how an enemy has been infiltrating this church with the "new theology" lie that it is impossible for a people to overcome sin perse? Since the success of the entire plan of salvation depends on its final hour, Satan is fighting his last-ditch stand at this point.

For sure, Heaven is not concerned about our perpetuating an organizational machine for the sake of denominational pride, like General Motors struggling to maintain its image in the face of foreign competition. Heaven is concerned about the tragic need of the world for that pure gospel message which alone can bring deliverance from sin to all who call upon the same of the Lord. Suffering humanity weighs on the heart of God more than our concern for our denominational image. If "the angel of the church of the Laodiceans" is standing in Heaven's way, the Lord's message to that "angel" must get through. Heaven's seeming indifference is deceptive; the Lord is moving the very stones themselves to cry out:

"All heaven is in activity, and the angels of God are waiting to co-operate with all who will devise plans whereby souls for whom Christ died may hear the glad tidings of salvation. Angels who minister to those that shall be heirs of salvation, are saying to every true saint: "There is work for you to do." "Go, stand and speak . . . to the people all the words of this life." Acts 5:20. If those addressed would obey this injunction, the Lord would prepare the way before them, putting them in possession of means wherewith to go. {6T 433.5}
Arouse the Idlers: Souls are perishing out of Christ, and those who profess to be Christ's disciples are letting them die. Our brethren have talents entrusted to them for the very work of saving souls, but some have bound these up in a napkin and buried them in the earth. How much do such idlers resemble the angel who is represented as flying in the midst of heaven, proclaiming the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus? What manner of entreaty can be brought to bear upon the idlers that will arouse them to go to work for the Master? What can we say to the slothful church member to make him realize the necessity of unearthing his talent and putting it out to the exchangers? There will be no idler, no slothful one, found inside the kingdom of heaven. Oh, that God would set this matter in all its importance before the sleeping churches! Oh, that Zion would arise and put on her beautiful garments! Oh, that she would shine! {6T 434.1}

The True Head Of the Seventh-day Adventist Church

Jesus introduces Himself as "the Amen, the faithful and true witness." Why is He the true Head of the Seventh-day Adventist Church? - He gave His blood for His church. He alone can convey truth to her. No committee or institution can control Him or forever suppress His message. The word "Amen" indicates that He is still in business as the living witness to the church. Above the conflicting din of present-day voices, we are told that He will see to it that His message gets through loud and clear:

"Message Prepares for Translation.-- Amid the confusing cries, "Lo, here is Christ! Lo, there is Christ!" will be borne a special testimony, a special message of truth appropriate for this time, which message is to be received, believed, and acted upon. It is the truth, not fanciful ideas, that is efficacious. The eternal truth of the Word will stand forth free from all seductive errors and spiritualistic interpretations, free from all fancifully drawn, alluring pictures. Falsehoods will be urged upon the attention of God's people, but the truth is to stand clothed in its beautiful, pure garments. The Word, precious in its holy, uplifting influence, is not to be degraded to a level with common, ordinary matters. It is always to remain uncontaminated by the fallacies by which Satan seeks to deceive, if possible, the very elect. {7BC 984.2}
The proclamation of the gospel is the only means in which God can employ human beings as His instrumentalities for the salvation of souls. As men, women, and children proclaim the gospel, the Lord will open the eyes of the blind to see His statutes, and will write upon the hearts of the truly penitent His law. The animating Spirit of God, working through human agencies, leads the believers to be of one mind, one soul, unitedly loving God and keeping His commandments--preparing here below for translation. {RH Oct. 13, 1904}{7BC 984.3}

Ellen White has bemoaned our constant tendency to put fallible human beings between Christ and ourselves. Note how in one short paragraph she mentions this idolatry no less than five times:

"Unless he makes it his life business to behold the uplifted Saviour, and by faith to accept the merits which it is his privilege to claim, the sinner can no more be saved than Peter could walk upon the water unless he kept his eyes fixed steadily upon Jesus. Now, it has been Satan's determined purpose to eclipse the view of Jesus and lead men to look to man, and trust to man, and be educated to expect help from man. For years the church has been looking to man and expecting much from man, but not looking to Jesus, in whom our hopes of eternal life are centered. Therefore God gave to His servants a testimony that presented the truth as it is in Jesus, which is the third angel's message, in clear, distinct lines. John's words are to be sounded by God's people, that all may discern the light and walk in the light: "He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: He that cometh from heaven is above all. And what He hath seen and heard, that He testifieth; and no man receiveth His testimony. He that hath received His testimony hath set to his seal that God is true. For He whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto Him. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into His hand. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." {TM 93.1}

Imagine Jesus Christ as Guest Speaker!

Christ has "eyes like a flame of fire" (Rev. 2:18). His message is no band-aid solution to our problems, not strategy that a committee can devise. It is a solemn and holy message; we will bring upon ourselves the judgment of the ages if we disregard it. If Christ were invited to be guest speaker to the human leadership of the SdA Church, His message would be that of Revelation 3:14-21. He would stir our souls to their depths. And He has the utmost right to speak thus to us!

This topic of corporate repentance has been sharply contested for a century. [100] General Conference opposition has been intense and pervasive. But two prominent General Conference authors rescued the topic from disrepute and made it eligible for serious discussion [110], and the Senior Sabbath School Quarterly for early 1992 openly discussed the need for it. Could it be that the Lord's providence has opened the way for us to inquire further into what He means? His call to "repent" must somehow make sense to us today, and to our youth as well. We can only seek humbly to understand it. In this modest volume we search for its meaning.

When Will We Respond to the Lord?

Repentance is not something that we do. It is never accomplished by voting on a committee. It is a gift from the Lord that has to be humbly and thankfully received (Acts 5:31).[120] But how can we ever find the time to receive such a gift? There is always the eternal pressure to "do" hanging over us all. And when will we find the will to receive? The book co-authored by two General Conference leaders plaintively asks,

"Will we do the work of spiritual preparation that God calls for, and allow Him to use us to finish His work on earth? Or are we going to let another opportunity slip through our fingers and find ourselves and our children in this sinful world for another 50 or 60 years? {Neal C. Wilson and George E. Rice, The Power of the Spirit, p. 53.}

Can you imagine the disappointment ancient Israel would have felt if Joshua had told them at the River Jordan after already wandering for 40 years, "Sorry, folks, we must go back to the wilderness to wander for another generation"? But such a delay has already happened repeatedly in our denominational history, and the greatest disappointment has been felt by the Lord Himself.

As we near the end we are seeing centrifugal forces at work within the church trying to force dissension and disunion. Some may conclude that these unprecedented buffetings mean that Jesus Christ has abandoned the church. But His appeal to "the angel of the church" proves that He has not done so. His greatest concern, Heaven's highest priority, is to effect revival, reformation, and repentance within this church. He does care.

What does He say to us?

2. Not a Word of Praise from Jesus!

It appears that we are better pleased with ourselves than Christ is with us. But if His truth hurts, it also heals.

"Unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write . . ." (Rev. 3:14, KJV). For many decades we have assumed that the message is addressed to the church at large. But surprisingly, the message is addressed to its leadership. We leaders have often erred in passing the message on to the laity, berating them, and blaming them for holding up the finishing of God's work.

If the message is addressed primarily to individuals in the church, we have some serious problems. SdAs have been dying for nearly 150 years (now 170 yrs). In practically all these funerals, we have expressed the confident hope that the deceased will arise in the first resurrection, something impossible without their personal, individual repentance.

Therefore, if Christ's call to repent has been addressed primarily to individuals, it has already been largely heeded, for we must assume that many of these faithful saints did repent in preparation for death. In that case, the Laodicean message becomes virtually a dead letter. We can expect little if any further result except continued personal repentance as has prevailed for well over a century. This is how the great bulk of our people, especially youth, now view the message.

Although each of us must apply individually and personally any counsel in the messages to the seven churches, this call to "repent" is specifically addressed to more than individuals. And when we begin to understand to whom it is addressed, the content of the message itself also takes on a more arresting significance.

The appeal in Revelation 3:20, "if any man hear my voice", contains a significant Greek word, tis, which primarily means "a certain one," not just "any one." For example, it was not just "any man" who "fled away . . . naked" at the betrayal of Jesus as told in Mark 14:51,52. The word tis is used and is translated as "a certain young man." In the Laodicean message, it would obviously refer to the "angel" as the certain one to whom the message is addressed. Unquestionably, Jesus quotes the Song of Solomon in His appeal,

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock." {Song of Songs, 5:2; Septuagint}[250]

"I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot . . . So then, because you are lukewarm . . . I will spew you out of My mouth" (Rev. 3:15,16). We could superficially conclude that because the "angel" is undeniably "lukewarm," automatically Christ has kept His promise and has rejected us. This assumption is based on the KJV and some other translations. It has posed a serious problem to some sincere church members and caused them to despair of the organized church ever becoming truly reconciled to Christ.

But the original language includes a key word, mello, that means, "I am about to spit you out" (NIV). It becomes clear in Revelation 10:4, where John says he was "about to write" what "the seven thunders had uttered", but he did not write, for "a voice from heaven" forbade him. Jesus stands poised, on the brink of vomiting us out. What He actually says in vivid modern language is, "You make Me so sick to My stomach that I feel like throwing up!"

This is a normal human phenomenon in extreme emotional disgust. A wife in East Germany read her newly released STASI file (the communist Secret Police). She found to her horror that during years of pretended fidelity her husband had been secretly informing on her to the dreaded police. Her involuntary reaction: She went to the bathroom and vomitted. Unpleasant as it may appear to us, Jesus tells us that this is how He feels, not about us, but about our cherished lukewarmness. This does not mean that He does not love us, or that He is not faithful to us. (The German lady also loved her husband.)

Why Does Jesus Feel This Way?

Why doesn't He say something good about us? Is He too severe? Any president of a company, board chairman, or military officer, knows that he must praise his subordinates in order for them to do their best. The human leadership of the remnant church is surely the finest group of people in the world! Would it not be wise of Christ to say at least something nice about us, how diligent we are, how clever we are, what we have achieved after our 150 years of trying so hard? But He does not say that.

For sure, He is not trying to discourage us. He simply wants us to face reality, so that we can correct the problem and prepare to hear Him at last say "Well done!" when the commendation will mean something.

His answer, explaining why He feels like throwing up, helps us understand the reality of our situation. We have not realized it, but it is devastating. The next vision of Revelation introduces Him as a Lamb as though it had been slain" before whom the hosts of Heaven and the "twenty-four elders" bow in heartfelt worship singing an anthem of total devotion:

"You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, And have made us kings and priests to our God" Rev. 5:6,9.

All Heaven understands and appreciates what it cost Him to redeem us, how He went even to hell, how He tasted the equivalent of our second death, to save us. They sense the "width and length and depth and height" of that "love of Christ which passes knowledge." In contrast, "the angel" of the church of the Laodiceans, living in the concentrated light of six thousand years of Good News revelation is not deeply moved. When we should feel the same degree of appreciation, our little shriveled-up hearts are half-frozen. "You are lukewarm", Jesus says.

No wonder our superficial professions of love and devotion are nauseating to Him. He gave everything for us! When He compares the extent of His sacrificial devotion with the meagerness of our heart-response, He is acutely embarrassed before the watching universe. Is it hard for us to imagine how painful this is for Him?

Let Us See Reality as Heaven Sees It

Here we stand on the verge of the final crisis when our spiritual maturity should be so far greater than it is. Yet our childish indifference hurts Him. Peter's cowardly denial of Him at His trial was easier for Him to bear than our mild and calculating devotion in such a time as this. Arnold Wallenkampf comments incisively on the nauseating aspects of the "group-think" mentality that was so common among SdA leaders and ministers a century ago and still is so today:

1 "The main fault for the rejection of the 1888 message lay not with the people at large but with the ministers.

This startling disclosure must be seriously considered by each person in our church today who is an SdA minister or teacher or a leader in any capacity." {A. Wallenkampf, What Every Adventist Should Know About 1888, p. 90.}

"Many of the delegates to the Minneapolis conference became accomplices in the sin of rejecting the message of righteousness by faith, through action according to the laws of group dynamics. Since many of their respected and beloved leaders rejected the message at Minneapolis they followed these leaders in rejecting it . . . what we today call group-thinking. . . .
It is not a pleasant thought, but nevertheless it is true that at the Minneapolis Conference leaders of the SdA Church reenacted the role of the Jewish leaders in the day of Jesus. During Christ's ministry on earth the Jewish people were preponderantly favorable to Him. It was the Jewish leaders who later urged them to demand His crucifixion. At the Minneapolis conference in 1888 it was the leading brethren who spearheaded the opposition against the message." {Ibid., p. 45-47}

There Is Hope For Us

The Lord would not spend the remainder of the chapter (Rev. 3) telling us how to respond if He had already finally rejected us. We make Him sick at His stomach, but He pleads with us to relieve His pain. This message to Laodicea is the most critically sensitive and urgent in Scripture. The success of the entire plan of salvation depends upon its final hour; and Laodicean's problem is bound up with that crisis.

Jesus says, "I counsel you to buy of me gold tried in the fire" (Rev. 3:18) In addressing the SdA denomination and in particular its leadership, He tells us that the first thing we need is . . . not more works, more activity, more strategies and programs. He told us in verse 15, "I know your works." Our works are already feverishly intense. Peter identifies the "gold tried in the fire" as the essential ingredient in believing the gospel - the faith itself, which always precedes any works of genuine righteousness (1.Peter 1:7).

In other words, Jesus tells us that what we first need is what we have long confidently claimed that we already possess - the knowledge and experience of righteousness by faith. But what we have moves us only to lukewarmness. It is the true understanding that causes the hosts of heaven to serve so ardently "the Lamb who was slain." They are totally moved by the very heart of the message - "Christ and Him crucified," a motivation that shames us for our petty obsession with our own eternal security. Christ's diagnosis strikes at the root of our leadership pride.

The Subtlety of Our Spiritual Pride

Until the publication of Wallenkampf's book in 1988, our denominational press generally maintained that we were "enriched" at the time our leadership supposedly accepted the beginning loud cry message a century ago.[300] In recent years we have begun to take an abrupt about-face, and now the truth is openly recognized that "we" did not accept it.[310] This new candor is phenomenal and refreshing.

But surely Christ doesn't tell us now that we still need the "gold" of genuine faith? Yes, He says that in order for us to heal Him of his painful nausea we need the "gold" of genuine faith, and furthermore we need to buy it - that is, pay something in exchange for it.

But why does He not give it to us? He insists that we exchange it for the genuine, our helpless views of righteousness by faith, which have nurtured our lukewarmness. We are caught in an obvious contradiction, claiming that we adequately understand and preach righteousness by faith, when its proper fruits have been too sadly lacking. This is attested by the pervasive lukewarmness of the church. As lukewarmness is a mixture of cold and hot water, so our spiritual problem is a mixture of legalism and a poorly understood gospel.[340]

A good dinner of wholesome food is ruined by even a slight mixture of arsenic. We have reached the point in world history where even a little legalism mixed with our "gospel" has become lethal. The confusion of past ages is no longer good enough for today. Believing the pure unadulterated gospel (in the Biblical sense) is wholly incompatible with any lukewarmness. The presence of lukewarmness betrays an underlying or subliminal legalism, a recognition that we as leaders are embarrassed to acknowledge.

We have thought that we possess the essentials of that "most precious message." What we have done is to import Evangelical ideas from popular churches who have no understanding of the unique truth of the cleansing of the sanctuary:

"As the Jews crucified Jesus, so the nominal churches had crucified these messages, and therefore they have no knowledge of the way into the most holy [place], and they can not be benefited by the intercession of Jesus there. Like the Jews, who offered their useless sacrifices, they offer up their useless prayers to the apartment which Jesus has left; and Satan, pleased with the deception, assumes a religious character, and leads the minds of these professed Christians to himself, working with his power, his signs and lying wonders, to fasten them in his snare." {Early Writings, p. 261}

This gradual process of absorption has accelerated for decades. We can never obtain the genuine, says Jesus, until we are humble and honest enough to give up, to exchange, the counterfeit to "buy" the genuine.

It is at this point that Christ meets resistance from us. Almost invariably we pastors, evangelists, administrators, theologians, leaders, teachers and independent ministries, will protest that we have no lack of understanding. Conservative "historic Adventists" and arch-liberals alike make the same boast from their antithetical (?) positions. `Group-think loyalty' forces us to resist that we do understand, thus we "have need of nothing." Feeling competent, we cannot "hunger and thirst after righteousness [by faith]" because we are already full.[400] We need only a louder voice, more clever ways to "market" what we already understand.

The Heart of the Problem

The issue is not whether we understand and preach the popular version of righteousness by faith as do the Sunday-keeping Evangelical churches.[495] We can do that for a thousand years and still fail to give the unique message the Lord has "commanded" us to give.[500] God has not called us to ecumenism. Rather, what have we done with the advanced light that Ellen White said was "the beginning" of the loud cry and the latter rain? [510]

If it is true that we have powerfully proclaimed righteousness by faith for decades, why have we not turned the world upside down as the apostles did? If genuine righteousness by faith is the light that will lighten the earth with glory (Rev. 18:1-4), why have we not lightened the earth with it? And why are we losing so large a percentage of our own youth in North America?

Could it be that we are actually making the proud claim that Christ charges on us in His Laodicean message? His diagnosis is on target. The Lord's servant has often said that when we do "buy" the "gold-tried-in-the-fire" kind of righteousness by faith, the gospel commission will be speedily finished like fire going in the stubble.[530] That has not really happened yet - not with 900 million Muslims and nearly a billion Hindus still unreached, plus many millions more professed Christians and others.

Here we come to the great continental divide in Adventism. At this point we turn to one side or the other. Either Jesus is wrong when He says we are "poor" and "wretched" and we are "rich" as we claim; or we are indeed "poor" and He has put His finger on our most sensitive plague spot of leadership pride. His words were a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to the leaders of the ancient Jews; are they that to us as well?

Something Else That's Not "Free"

Christ makes even clearer that we must give up something, pay something, when He specifies the second purchase that we must "buy" from Him - "white garments that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed" (Rev. 3:18). Addressing the angel of the church, He makes clear that it is as a denomination that we appear in this shameful condition. The remedy He urges upon us involves the basic principle of corporate guilt and repentance.

(a) We cannot "buy" this robe of Christ's righteousness to put on 99% or less; we need it 100%. Righteousness is never in any way innate; never our own. All that we have of ourselves is unrighteousness. In other words, except for the grace of Christ, we are no better than any other people. If we had no Saviour, we would be stark "naked." The sins of others would be our sins, but for His grace.

(b) The realization of this truth humbles our pride in the dust. There is no way for us to obtain that special robe of His righteousness unless we first become conscious of our spiritual nakedness and are willing to exchange our false ideas for the truth, which alone can cover our shame.

The impact of His call does seem extreme. Are we not a prosperous, well-respected denomination of some six million members with great institutions? Do we not claim to be one of the fastest-growing churches in the world? Why does Christ not appropriately praise us according to our achievements?

(c) He is not talking about achievements. The problem of "nakedness" is our lack of understanding the gospel itself. This is where the charge hits the raw nerve of denominational self-esteem and arouses our indignation. If we can deflect the point of Christ's words by insisting that He is speaking only to us as individuals, we can always duck out. We can assume that it is some other individual who is spiritually "naked" while corporately we are well-dressed, It is only when we understand "the angel" to be the corporate leadership of the church that we begin to squirm most uncomfortably. Our pleasant sense of being denominationally well-clothed is rudely dissipated.

(d) Consider for example the plight of another body of professed Christians - the Mormons. their theological "garments" have been their trust in the divine inspiration of Joseph Smith and his writing of the Book of Mormon. But plain evidence for all the world to see indicates that the foundation of their "faith" is a monstrous fraud. In proportion to their knowledge of those facts and their intellectual honesty, imagine their corporate shame!

In our case, our problem is not our "27 doctrines" or our history. Their general validity is unquestioned. Our corporate nakedness is our want of the one truth that alone can make those "27" meaningful - "the message of Christ's righteousness" which the Lord tried to give us a century ago. That message would lighten the earth with glory if we "had" it:

"Justification by faith in Christ will be made manifest in transformation of character. This is the sign to the world of the truth of the doctrines we profess." {EGW, 1888 Materials, p. 1532.}

"One interest will prevail, one subject will swallow up every other, - Christ Our Righteousness." {R&H Extra, dec. 23, 1890.}

How long can we go on proudly insisting that we have the genuine article?

In the case of the Mormons, as a corporate body, they probably do not care about their theological and historical predicament because (and we speak kindly) they are not a people who were raised up by the truth of the third angel's message. They do not profess to stand before the world as those who "keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus." Nor do they have a keen sense of spiritual conscience as Ellen White's writings have imbued in us. If the Mormons can sustain their community socially and economically, they will probably be content corporately to go on without that "white garment" of Christ's righteousness to cover their historical and theological shame.

(e) But we cannot do so, for we possess a corporate conscience devoted above else to truth. This church was raised up by sheer force of the word of truth. Praise the Lord; our conscience will inevitably be aroused by Christ's "straight testimony."[540] Especially in North America, the cradle of Adventism, where our "nakedness" is becoming increasingly apparent, we will sooner or later be forced by reality to face what Christ says.

(f) The realization of a shared corporate guilt saves us from the pitfall of a holier-than-thou fantasy. No one of us can criticize another; we partake together of the fault for which Jesus rebukes us.

When We Can "See" Our Nakedness We Will Naturally Have Discernment

The third item Jesus specifies is the "eyesalve, that you may see" (Rev. 3:18). The Lord tells us to anoint our eyes with the eyesalve He offers. Once we "buy" the "gold" and the "white garments," our vision will automatically be clarified. We will begin to see ourselves as the watching universe sees us and as thoughtful people see us (who we say are still in `Babylon'). The picture is clearly more than the need merely of individuals.

What is at stake is the image of the SdA Church at view in current world history. Our divine destiny requires us to make a far greater impact on world thinking. That impact of the future will not be our charitable "works," in which others will always far out-do us. It will be the Good News content of our message. It will be a distinct, unique presentation of righteousness by faith - in a message that goes far beyond the message by the same name of the popular churches! Once we learn to "see," we shall immediately discern the contrasts between what we have assumed is righteousness by faith and what is the genuine "third angel's message in verity" that Ellen White recognized is implicit in the actual concepts of the loud cry message.

Christ now gives us the only direct command in His message: "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent" (Rev. 3:19). Our sinful nature instinctively recoils against this kind of love - the chastening kind. We must therefore not be surprised that Christ's serious call to repentance meets with resentment from those whom He loves and resistance from those who love not the truth.

But He assures us that He loves us with close, intimate family love (philo, He says) which justifies rebuke and chastening and makes it possible for us to endure. Ellen White's life-ministry is an example. The Spirit of Prophecy has never flattered us! Neither does "the testimony of Jesus," its Author.

There is ample reason to search further for the meaning of that all-important command of the True Witness, "Repent."

3. The Fundamental Truth: Christ's Church as His Corporate Body

Our laborious exhortations to become a `caring church' have wearied us. Endless commands to `do' something are transcended by a simple divine invitation to `see' something.

To understand what is involved in Christ's call to repentance we must consider Paul's brilliant metaphor of the church as a "body." We sustain a corporate relationship to one another and to Christ Himself as our Head. Although this idea is foreign to much of our Western thinking, it is essential to the Bible concepts.

In fact, the word "corporate" is a good Bible word, for Paul addresses his letters "to believers incorporate in Christ" (Eph. 1:1; Phil. 1:1; Col. 1:1, etc.; Rom. 6:5, NEB).

"As the body is one and has many members, . . . so also is Christ" (1.Cor. 12:12).

Paul goes on to illustrate his idea.

There is a corporate unity of the "one body" (1.Cor. 12:13), a corporate diversity of its various "members" (v. 15-18), a corporate need felt by all ("the eye cannot say to the hand, `I have no need of you,'" v. 21,22), a corporate "care" they feel for each other and for the head (v. 25), and corporate suffering and rejoicing which all the members share together (v. 26). If I stub my toe on a sharp rock, my whole body feels pain. If the leg could speak it would say, "I'm sorry; I projected the toe against the rock." The eye would say, "No, it's my fault; I should have seen the sharp rock."

The Meaning of the Word "Corporate"

The word "body" is a noun, and the word "bodily" is an adverb; but there is no meaningful English adjective that can describe the nature of this relationship within the "body" except the word "corporate" from the Latin word for body, corpus. The dictionary defines it as "relating to a whole composed of individuals." (The New English Bible makes good use of the word.)

Your own experience can make this plain. What happens when you stub your toe badly? At once you realize the corporate relationship of the limbs and organs of your body. You stop while your whole body cooperates by rubbing the hurting toe to lessen the pain. You may even hurt all over. Your organs and limbs feel a corporate concern for that wounded toe, as if each feels the pain. "If one organ suffers, they all suffer together." (1. Cor. 12:26 NEB)

Any amputation in the body becomes a "schism" to be avoided at almost any cost. Likewise, any measure of disunity or misunderstanding or lack of compassion in the church is foreign to Christ and His body. It is as alien as disease or accident is to our human body. Sin is such an accident to the "body of Christ," and guilt is its disease.

Often we suffer disease without knowing which organ is ill, or even what causes it. We can also suffer from sin without knowing what it is. How can sin have both a personal and corporate nature?

In malarial areas, people are bitten by the anopheles mosquito, and infected with the disease. Some ten days after the bite, the parasites in the blood stream produce malarial fever. Not only is the one "member" such as the finger affected which received the mosquito bite, but the whole body partakes of the common fever. The blood stream has carried the parasites everywhere. This is a corporate disease.

When we receive an injection of an anti-malarial drug in one "member," the arm receiving it is not the only member to benefit. The medicine begins to course throughout the blood stream. Soon the entire body is healed of the disease, and the fever disappears over all the body, not just in the one "member." This is a corporate healing.

The 17th century poet John Donne grasped the idea:

"No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own were; any man's death, diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee." {Donne, J., Devotions, XVII}

It would have been a short step more for Donne to have said, "Any man's sin diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind. And therefore never send to know who crucified the Christ; it was you."

This solidarity of humanity can be illustrated by lions. A few lions in Africa become man-eaters, but most never get to taste of human beings. Does this mean that some lions are good and others are bad? There is no difference so far as lion character is concerned. Given the right circumstances, any hungry lion will be a man-eater.

Does Jesus say in His message to Laodicea that our pride, our blindness, our spiritual poverty, our wretchedness, are corporate? Do we partake of common spiritual disease that is like a fever to a body or a lion's nature - something pervading the whole? The Hebrew mind says yes.

The Bible Idea of "Adam"

The Bible writers perceived the whole of humanity as being one corporate man - the fallen "Adam." "In Adam all die" (1.Cor. 15:22). An outstanding example is found in Hebrews. Paul said that Levi paid "tithes in Abraham. For he was yet in the loins of his [great-grand] father, when Melchizedek met him." Abraham did not yet have even one son (Hebr. 7:9,10 KJV). Daniel asks forgiveness for the sins of "our fathers," saying, "We have not obeyed the voice of the fathers," although he himself had been obedient (Hebr. 9:8-11).[560]

Human sin is personal, but it is also corporate, for "all alike have sinned," and "all the world [has] become guilty before God" (Rom. 3:23, NEB; 3:19, KJV). Adam's real guilt was that of crucifying Christ, although his original sin was 4000 years removed; no one of us "in Adam" is even now excused. What is our basic human nature? The answer is unpalatable - we are by nature at enmity with God, and await only the proper circumstances to demonstrate it. A few people did demonstrate this for us by crucifying the Son of God. In them we see ourselves.

The original sin of the first pair was the acorn that grew into the oak of Calvary. Any sin that we today commit is another acorn that needs only time and circumstance to become the same oak, for "the carnal mind is at enmity against God", and murder is always involved in enmity for "whoseoever hateth his brother is a murderer" (Rom. 8:7; 1.John 3:15, KJV).

The sin that another human has committed I could commit if Christ had not saved me from it. The righteousness of Christ cannot be a mere adjunct to my own good works, a slight push to get me over the top. My righteousness is all of Him or it is nothing. "In me . . . nothing good dwells" (Rom. 7:18). If "nothing good" is there, as I am part of the corporate body of Adam, all evil could dwell there. Nobody else is intrinsically any worse than I am - apart from my Saviour. Oh, how it hurts us to begin to realize this!

Not until we can see the sin of someone else as our sin too can we learn to love him as Christ has loved us. The reason is that in loving us He took our sin upon Himself. When He died on His cross, we died with Him - in principle. For us, love is also to realize corporate identity. "Be tenderhearted, . . . just as God in Christ also forgave you" (Eph. 4:32). Paul prays for us, not that we might "do" more works, but that we might see or "comprehend" something - the dimensions of that love (Eph. 3:14-21).

The reality that Scripture would bring to our conscience is that we need the robe of Christ's righteousness imputed 100%. Those who crucified Christ 2000 years ago acted as our surrogates. Luther wisely says that we are all made of the same dough.

The Other Side of the Coin

If this seems to be bad news, there is also good news: Christ forgave His murderers (Lk. 23:34), and that means He also forgave us. Even the fallen Adam and Eve in the Garden were forgiven. But you and I can never know that forgiveness unless we "see" the sin that makes it necessary. Since God had promised them that "in the day that you eat" of the forbidden tree "you shall surely die" (Gen. 2:17), they would have died on that very day had there not been a Lamb slain for them "from the foundation of the world" (Rev. 13:8).

The guilt that Romans says rests upon "all the world" is "in Adam," and legal. The "trespasses" of all the world were imputed unto Christ as He died on His cross as the second or "last Adam" (2.Cor. 5:19). That means that all the "condemnation" that the first Adam brought on the world was reversed by the second Adam, by virtue of His sacrifice (Rom. 5:16-18).

Consider the Jewish nation. Those who crucified Christ asked that "His blood be on us and on our children" (Mt. 27:25). This does not mean that every individual Jew is personally more guilty than people who are Gentiles. They were invoking a blood-responsibility upon their children in a national sense. This is the Jews' corporate guilt. But we are in reality no better than they are. Apart from specific repentance, we share the same involvement in the crucifixion of Christ:

"That prayer of Christ for His enemies embraced the world. It took in every sinner that had lived or should live, from the beginning of the world to the end of time. Upon all rests the guilt of crucifying the Son of God. To all, forgiveness is freely offered. "Whosoever will" may have peace with God, and inherit eternal life." {DA 745.1}

"Let us remember that we are still in a world where Jesus, the Son of God, was rejected and crucified, where the guilt of despising Christ and preferring a robber rather than the spotless Lamb of God still rests. Unless we individually repent toward God because of transgression of His law; and exercise faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ, whom the world has rejected, we shall lie under the full condemnation that the action of choosing Barabbas instead of Christ merited. The whole world stands charged today with the deliberate rejection and murder of the Son of God. . . . All classes and sects who reveal the same spirit of envy, hatred, prejudice, and unbelief manifested by those who put to death the Son of God - would act the same part, were the opportunity granted, as did the Jews and people of the time of Christ. They would be partakers of the same spirit that demanded the death of the Son of God." {TM, p. 38}

This is the world's corporate guilt. Note that no one bears the condemnation unless he repeats the sin "were the opportunity granted." But "unless we individually repent," we share corporate guilt that is involved "in Adam."

Our Special Involvement in Corporate Guilt

But as SdAs, we share another example of corporate guilt in a special way for a very special sin. Not that we are personally guilty, but we are the spiritual "children" of our forefathers who in a notable sense repeated the sin of the ancient Jews. This corporate guilt causes the latter rain to be withheld from us as surely as the Jews' impenitence(?) keeps the blessings of the Messiah's ministry from them. "We" rejected the "most precious message" that the Lord sent to us and which in a special way represented Him. What our forefathers really said was similar to what the ancient Jews said, "The responsibility for delaying the coming of the Lord be on us and on our children!" In fact, Ellen White has said that "we" did worse than the Jews, for "we" had far greater light than they had. The reality of this indictment is alarming:

"An unwillingness to yield up preconceived opinions, and to accept this truth, lay at the foundation of a large share of the opposition manifested at Minneapolis against the Lord's message through Brethren Waggoner and Jones. By exciting that opposition, Satan succeeded in shutting away from our people, in a great measure, the special power of the Holy Spirit that God longed to impart to them. The enemy prevented them from obtaining that efficiency which might have been theirs in carrying the truth to the world, as the apostles proclaimed it after the day of Pentecost. The light that is to lighten the whole earth with its glory was resisted, and by the action of our own brethren has been in a great degree kept away from the world." {EGW, 1888 Materials, p. 1575; 1MR 130.3.}

"The managers of the Pacific Press need to humble their hearts before God. They need to walk in all humility. The Lord will overturn until there is a reformation in our institutions. The men who ought to be filled with faith in this most sacred truth ever presented to mortals, the men who handle sacred trusts, are not all true watchmen. The Holy Spirit has often been in your midst, but these men, whose hearts should have been open to receive the heavenly messengers, were closed to its entreaties. They have ridiculed, mocked, and derided God's servants who have borne to them the message of mercy from heaven. Some have trifled with the precious things of God which are light and truth and grace. Had these men no fear that the sin of blasphemy might be committed by them.(?) They would certainly fear were they not blinded by the enemy. Poor foolish, deluded souls. They know not the things that make for their peace. God has said, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings." {M.V.H. (7) Jan. 27, '97./ {1888 1641.3}

"Time is passing, and God calls for every watchman to be in his place. He has been pleased to lead us to a crisis greater than any since our Saviour's first advent. What shall we do? God's Holy Spirit has told us what to do; but, as the Jews in Christ's day rejected light and chose darkness, so will the religious world reject the message for today. Men professing godliness have despised Christ in the person of his messengers. Like the Jews, they reject God's message. The Jews asked regarding Christ, "Who is this? Is not this Joseph's son?" He was not the Christ that the Jews had looked for. So today the agencies that God sends are not what men have looked for. But the Lord will not ask any man by whom to send. He will send by whom he will. Men may not be able to understand why God sends this one or that one. His work may be a matter of curiosity. God will not satisfy this curiosity; and his word will not return unto him void." {1888 1651.4}

"Under the gracious influence of God, you have often felt the moral obligations devolving upon you. But after the influence you received at the Minneapolis meeting, where it was popular to talk doubt, to question and resist the light God was sending, the sentiments there suggested one to another, acted upon your mind and heart like a poisonous malaria. Although every evidence that was essential was given in regard to the work which the Lord had begun in behalf of his people, although those present felt the convicting power of God upon heart and mind, they did not possess humility of heart to the acknowledging of the truth. They revealed that more evidence would accomplish nothing for them. It was not evidence that they needed, for this had been abundant. They needed meekness and lowliness of heart to confess. Had you yielded your pride and self-sufficiency then, you would have softened your heart, and been converted. But you kept your feet in the path of unbelief. You hated the messages sent from heaven. You manifested against Christ a prejudice of the very same character and more offensive to God than that of the Jewish nation. Nothing but spiritual blindness could so obscure your discernment that you would not see the working of the Spirit of God. You did see it, but you would not yield to it. You refused to admit the truth of the heaven-sent message. You, and all who like yourself, had sufficient evidence, yet refused the blessing of God, were persistent in refusing because at first you would not receive it. You did not search the Scriptures to obtain clearer light, but you obtained something with which to brace your mind to reject the Spirit of God, and strengthen your unbelief. This is your stumbling block, which no one but yourself can remove. Because of your false ideas, you cannot obtain a right understanding of what is truth and what constitutes the third angel's message. Had this blind obstinacy in you been yielded, you would have humbled your heart, and received the greatest blessing you ever had in your life. O what a terrible thing it is for any one to be deceived and deluded by Satan." {1888 1656.1}

We may claim that we are not repeating that sin of our forefathers, but what is the meaning of the constant effort to suppress the actual message of 1888, and keep it from the people?

The ancient Jews continued in their course until "there was no remedy" for their impenitence. The wrath of the Lord at last arose against them (2.Chr. 36:16). Then began the tragic history of the cruel world empires, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. In a sense the guilt of ancient Israel was responsible for the rise of those empires. Untold sorrow has filled the world because of the impenitence of God's people.[600]

Unbelieving Jews still gather at the Wailing Wall in old Jerusalem to pray for God to send them their long awaited Messiah. A better plan would be for them to repent of rejecting Him when He came 2000 years ago, and recover the gospel message which they lost at that time. We pray for the Lord to send us the gift of the latter rain so that the final message can lighten the earth with glory. Says a recent Sabbath School Quarterly:

"At the 1990 General Conference session hundreds of people committed themselves to daily prayer for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in both the former and latter rains. Since then thousands all over the world have been praying daily for the special blessing of the Lord. Such prayer is sure to result in changed hearts, spiritually revitalized churches, and more earnest outreach for those who do not believe. Moreover, in response to this united prayer, the Lord promises to grant the greatest outpouring of the Spirit in human history, the latter rain predicted by Joel and Peter." {Teacher's Comments for March 9, 1992}

To pray for the latter rain is good. But is there something we are leaving out? We have been earnestly praying for it for a hundred years, as the Jews have been praying for the coming of their Messiah for thousands of years. Would it not be a better plan for us to repent of rejecting "the beginning" of that same blessing which the Lord sent us a century ago, and to demonstrate our repentance by recovering the message which we lost?[620]

Is our Lord's call to repent as serious a matter as this? Does decade after decade of spiritual drought roll by because His call has not been more seriously considered? If He calls for repentance, there must be some way that we can respond.

We must look into this more deeply.

Chapter 4. The Disappointed Christ

We sing, we pray, we say we love Him. But He says He is persona non grata among us.

Our sinful, despairing modern world desperately needs a Spirit-filled SdA Church. We cherish a deep conviction: this church is the prophetic remnant of Revelation 12:17, a unique people with whom the dragon is "enraged" and makes "war". They are called to "keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." The same group tells the world the true good news of "the everlasting gospel" (Rev. 14:6-12). They are a vital ingredient in world stability.

Although this sense of destiny has kept the SdA Church on course for over a century, it leaves us little room for pride because our Lord rebukes us severely in His Laodicean message. Countless sermons have been preached and articles published about that rebuke, but we today generally recognize that the problems it details still exist.

If we have successfully overcome these spiritual weaknesses, there should by now be some clear evidence to show how and when the overcoming took place. Reason dictates that when the church truly overcomes, Christ's coming can no longer be delayed. This is confirmed by His parable about the farmer (Jesus Himself): "When the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come" (Mk. 4:29) The "harvest" is "the end of the world" (Mt. 13:39, KJV); Rev. 14:14-16.

Why has not Christ's appeal to His people already done its work? When will He have a remnant church that has bought His "gold refined in the fire," His "white garments," and applied His "eye salve"? Must we assume that Christ's message will fail in the end? Some conclude that because ancient Israel failed repeatedly, modern Israel must fail also. Surely there must be better news than this!

We are living in the time for a victory that never before has taken place in history. We have been assured:

"The Holy Spirit is to animate and pervade the whole church, purifying and cementing hearts. . . . It is the purpose of God to glorify Himself in His people before the world." {9T, p. 20,21}

As surely as the SdA Church is that "remnant" in Revelation, so surely must this message from Jesus succeed at last.

How Can We Make Sense of the Long Delay?

Is the long delay in the coming of Christ His responsibility? It is a common understanding among us that the delay is His responsibility. But to believe this creates a terrible problem. With no hope for the future except to continue repeating the history of our past, the hope of the soon return of Christ must then fade further into uncertainty.

A special 1992 issue of the `Adventist Review' on the Second Coming reported on the well-known uncertainty of many of our youth. Cheryl R. Merritt reports the frightening reality. "We are a generation of nonconviction when it comes to Jesus second coming." "I really don't think that we can have any idea of when He'll come" (Daniel Potter, 21, Union College). "I can't imagine it happening in my lifetime." (Shawn Sugars, 22, Andres University).

This reveals a terrible problem. If we lose our faith in the nearness of the second coming, we lose the reason for our existence as a special church. Our forefathers built into our denominational name our confidence in the soon return of Christ, for the dictionary defines the word "Adventist" not as some dim hope in a "far-off divine event," but confidence in the soon coming of the Lord. There is a close relationship between understanding Christ's Laodicean call to repent and our confidence in the nearness of His coming. This will be clear as we go on.

The Spiritual Crisis Of the Seventh Day Adventist Church

Roland Hegstad, for many years editor of Liberty, said that Adventism is "not attracting our own youth because all we're doing is asking them to come play church with us." {Adventist Review, February 27, 1986}

Christ's Laodicean message presents to them no spiritual challenge, for if we have already repented, we must by now be "rich and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing", except to carry on business as usual and work harder.

Can we have a reasonable hope that we will see the Lord's return? Did He deceive our pioneers by telling them it was "near" when all along He knew it would be delayed at least 140 years and no one knows how many more? Is the Calvinist idea true, that the sovereign Lord has predetermined the time of Jesus' second coming with no special preparation on the part of His people? If so, this raises serious problems that involve the Lord Himself in an ethical difficulty. He has often told us through the Spirit of Prophecy that the end is "near." His messenger frequently said, "I saw . . . that time can last but a very little longer" {Early Writings, p. 58, 1850}. "Only a moment of time, as it were, yet remains." "The battle of Armageddon is soon to be fought." {6T, p. 14, 406; 1900}

If such warnings were merely a cry of "wolf, wolf," then the Lord has not been fair with us. For Him repeatedly to say "near" when He did not mean it or intended to define the word so we could not understand it, this would be unethical. Surely He does not treat His people this way! Further, if we say or feel that "the Lord is delaying His coming," we put ourselves in the company of the "evil servant" in the parable who says that very thing (Mt. 24:48)

Any meaningful Adventism cannot survive this doubt, because no people can be reconciled to God in a "final atonement" if they feel that He has deceived them. Even if He has only allowed their comprehension of His truth to be patently false from their very beginning, they cannot trust Him.[700] This could be the basic problem that underlies much present apostasy and backsliding. There is a deep Adventist spiritual alienation because it appears that inspired messages have been crying "wolf, wolf."

But Scripture makes clear that there is an answer to this perplexity. While God is indeed sovereign, He has chosen to make the actual timing of Christ's second coming dependent on the spiritual preparation of His living people. This is the genius of the SdA idea of the cleansing of the sanctuary. The dead remain hopeless prisoners in their grave, awaiting release at the first resurrection, whenever that may come. But the living may delay or "hasten on" that coming of Christ which in turn is dependent on their getting ready for it (2.Peter 3:12, NEB, NAS, NIV, NKJV, etc. Most translations recognize the meaning of speudontas from speudo as "hasten.")

In His parable Jesus represents Himself as already eager to return, waiting only until "the grain ripens," whereupon "immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come" (Mk. 4:29) In the Revelation preview of the second coming, an angel tells Him, "The time is come for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe" (Rev. 14:45). The long-delayed "marriage of the Lamb" comes quickly once "His wife has made herself ready" (Rev. 19:7). The repentance Christ calls for from Laodicea is related to the Bride making herself "ready". If she does not, He is disappointed.

"It is the privilege of every Christian not only to look for but to hasten the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, (2 Peter 3:12, margin). Were all who profess His name bearing fruit to His glory, how quickly the whole world would be sown with the seed of the gospel. Quickly the last great harvest would be ripened, and Christ would come to gather the precious grain." {COL 69.2}

To go on being lukewarm and dying, generation after generation, cannot be a proper response of a Bride to Christ's last-church appeal.

The Deeper Meaning in Christ's Call to Repent

Yet if the Laodicean repentance Christ calls for has never yet taken place, this very fact gives us hope, for there is something that our repentance can rectify. Zechariah tells of a repentance that will grip the hearts of "the inhabitants of Jerusalem," making possible in them a cleansing work so Christ can return (Zech. 12:10-13:1). "The angel of the church of the Laodiceans" is equivalent to Zechariah's phrase, "the house of David," obviously the corporate body of church leadership.

Christ's final promise is directed to the same personified body, not merely to individuals: "To him who overcomes [the angel of the church of the Laodiceans] I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with My Father on His throne" (Rev. 3:21). This ultimate honor will be accorded to a generation, a body of God's people who will respond to His appeal, "Repent!" [750]

A probe into the meaning of repentance is not "negative." Rather, feeling satisfied with the status quo is the really negative attitude, because such spiritual laissez faire indefinitely postpones the finishing of the gospel commission. And it is a totally false idea to assume that a church that repents will not attract youth. That is the only atmosphere in our church that can attract and hold youth.

Many thousands in the church hunger and thirst for a clearer grasp of vital truth for these last days. They sense that the coming of the Lord has been long delayed and that we, not Heaven, are responsible. They realize that pinpointing the reason for repentance and exploring it is the most "positive" course we can pursue.

Repentance by "the body" does not deny or displace personal, individual repentance. Rather, it makes it effective. The daily ministry in the first apartment of the Levitical sanctuary took care of individuals' needs, but the annual Day of Atonement was concerned for a corporate cleansing for Israel as a congregation. All repentance is personal and individual. But no individual can ever be the "bride" of Christ, for as individuals God's people are all merely "guests" at the wedding. The corporate body of the last-day overcoming church will be the bride.

Something has delayed her getting "ready." It is a deeper layer of sin which, He says, "you . . . do not know" (Rev. 3:17). It makes sense to realize that the repentance which that deeper sin requires must itself also go deeper. However disturbing, the Lord's call must be faced honestly.

Repentance is indeed both, sorrow for sin and turning away from it. But repentance can be only superficial if our understanding of the sin itself is superficial. While we readily quote the text that says, "If we confess our sins, He [Christ] is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1.Jh. 1:9), we must remember the context of this promise. It does not encourage a superficial assurance that the tape recording of our sins is scrubbed by pressing a magic button. When we thoughtlessly assume that the Lord can forgive sins while we do not realize what our sins are, John is telling us how easily "we deceive ourselves" so that, "the truth is not in us." So long as Jesus' pathetic diagnosis, "you . . . do not know," remains valid, so long do "we deceive ourselves." We cannot be truly cleansed from deep sin that we do not understandably "confess" (1.Jh. 1:8,10).

If a sin is unknown to us, does it cease to be a sin? One may smoke cigarettes for a lifetime not knowing they are harmful. Nevertheless, the damage is done. "Sin pays its wages -- death," whether we know what our sins are or not. There is a larger issue than our own personal security - the honor and vindication of Christ. The Lord may not hold against us a sin that we do not know of, but that sin brings shame upon Him nonetheless, and hinders His work of final atonement.

The message to Laodicea is not child's play. "One like the Son of man" with "eyes like a flame of fire" and "His voice as the sound of many waters" is calling His people to the most profound experience of the ages. Failure to recognize His call creates confusion and apostasy, and is an eventual time-bomb of denominational self-destruction. He has sent word to us:

"In every church in our land, there is needed confession, repentance, and reconversion. The disappointment of Christ is beyond description." (R&H, Dec. 15, 1904)

His appeal to repent is the clearest evidence we have of His love, and it is our best hope!

"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches," especially the last one (of the seven churches)!

Chapter 5. The Lord's Most Serious Problem of the Ages

The ultimate success of the plan of salvation depends upon its final hour. Never in 6000 years has the Lord had a greater problem to solve than now.

Are we involved in a genuine crisis? The greatest crisis of the ages involved the crucifixion of Christ. But that crisis overshadows us today.

Human sin, which began in Eden, finally blossomed into that murder of the Son of God. Those who crucified Him the first time were forgiven, for Jesus prayed for them, "They do not know what they do" (Lk. 23:34). Sincere as we are, could we repeat their sin, again not knowing what we do?

There are those who "crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame" (Hebr. 6:6). Is Laodicea's sin related to this? How deep is the sin for which "the angel of the church of the Laodiceans" is called upon to repent?

Laodicea shares something in common with Israel of old - an ignorance of our true state. The Lord says, "You . . . do not know," the same as He prayed of them, "They do not know." The remnant church is pathetically unaware of her actual role as she appears on the stage of the universe. "You are . . . naked," Christ whispers to us, in alarm (Rev. 3:17). Could this be more serious than we have thought, more than mere shameful but innocent naiveté? Could it stem from a deep heart alienation from the Lord Himself, something that makes us akin to the ancient Jews?

The idea of nakedness surfaces again in the parable of the wedding garment. The deluded guest who thought that dressing up was optional was not only naive; he lacked respect for the host. An alienation deeper than his conscious understanding poisoned his feelings toward his host (Mt. 22:11-13). Laodicea improperly dressed but proudly attending the party is not only naive; there is something else involved: disrespect for the Host. Only the "final atonement" can develop proper reverence for the Host and can bring a solution to the problem.

SdAs are friends of Jesus and so would not knowingly crucify Him "again." But being His friends does not necessarily guarantee that we will treat Him right, for He says that He was once "wounded in the house of friends" (Zech. 13:6).

Many statements from the Lord's messenger declare that the same enmity against Christ that characterized the ancient Jews has been manifested by leaders in our SdA history. Further, this "just-like-the-Jews" syndrome has been the root of our basic spiritual problem for most of a century.

It is easy to suppose that Laodicea, being lukewarm, is not very bad and not very good, so that our sin must be a mild one. We have often acted and spoken as though Heaven is quite proud of us. But there is a problem. Our spiritual understanding has not kept pace with the tremendous increase of scientific knowledge in the world. No one of us in this computer age would want to live in a cave and count on an abacus by candlelight. But spiritually speaking, Christ represents His last-day church as virtually poverty-stricken, content with spiritual resources far behind our time. We are a pathetic sight to Heaven. We shall someday look back on our era as the dark ages. In a time of exploding knowledge in technology, God's people have not broken through this spiritual barrier of "you . . . do not know." The last unexplored continent is not Antarctica, but the inner depths of Laodicea's soul. The enmity buried there is what Christ says we do not know.

The Cross and the Pathology of Sin

Modern science has discovered that harmful bacteria and viruses produce disease. While pathology can often identify these tiny organisms, our understanding of what sin is and how it proliferates has not kept pace with the world's knowledge of how disease works. Yet we are near the time when Christ's intercession as High Priest must end, when the virus of sin must be forever annihilated. If any alienation from God or enmity against Him survives beneath the surface of our hearts at that time, it will proliferate unchecked into total full scale, uninhibited enmity against Christ without the restraint now imposed by the Holy Spirit. No buried virus of sin must survive the final crisis.

In essence, all sin is a re-crucifixion of Christ, and its final display will be Armageddon. No one can deny that sin has abounded in our modern age; knowledge of much more abounding grace is the solution.

The master inventor of all fiendish schemes wants to embarrass Christ. If Satan can perpetuate sin among God's people; he has his success made. This is his best way to sabotage Christ's kingdom. Let's face a reality: continued apathy now is sin. And as time goes on, it will be seen to be a re-crucifixion of Christ. The enemy cannot at present use physical force. His strategy has been to take advantage of our ignorance of what sin is and thus induce in us a spiritual paralysis. Our singular lukewarmness is an enchanted-ground lethargy on the borders of Heaven.

What is the Pathology of Lukewarmness?

How do succeeding generations of Adventists get re-infected by it? How does it spread even to Third World churches? It must be caused by a sin virus. If so, what is the nature of the sin? Why have we not found healing for it?

Peter's sermon at Pentecost unlocks our understanding. He shocked his listeners with the news that latent enmity against God had flared out in the crucifixion of their Messiah. The Holy Spirit used his sermon to press home to their hearts the conviction of how awful that previously unknown sin was. They cried out, "What shall we do?"

The apostle's answer was, "Repent" (Acts 2:22-38). And they responded. They received the Holy Spirit in a measure that has never since been equaled. This is because they came to realize that their sin was of significantly greater dimensions than they had supposed. That blessing of the former rain will be surpassed in a final reception of the Holy Spirit known as the latter rain. As at Pentecost, the gift will depend on a full realization of our true guilt.

The Lord has in reserve a means of motivation that will be fully effective. What happened at Pentecost fueled the early church with extraordinary spiritual energy that flowed naturally out of their unique repentance. No sin in all time was more horrendous than that which those people were guilty of - murdering the Son of God.

Sin has always been "enmity against God," but no one fully understood its dimensions until the Holy Spirit drove the truth home to the hearts of Peter's audience. The realization of their guilt came over them like a flood. Theirs was no petty seeking for a shelter from hell or for a reward in Heaven, nor was it a craven search to evade punishment. The cross of the ages was towering over them, and their human hearts responded honestly to its reality. No selfishness was involved.

A repentance like that of Pentecost is what Christ calls for from us today. It will come, like a lost vein of gold on the earth that must surface again in another place. Hazy, indistinct ideas of repentance can produce only hazy, indistinct devotion. Like medicine taken in quantity sufficient to produce a concentration in the blood stream, repentance must be comprehensive, full range, in order for the Holy Spirit to do His fully effective work.

Why Laodicea's Repentance Must Now Be Different in Depth and Extent

This full spectrum of repentance is included in "the everlasting gospel" of Revelation 14. But its clearest definition has been impossible until history reaches the last of the seven churches. The original word "repentance" means a looking back from the perspective of the end: metanoia from meta ("after") and nous ("mind"). Thus, repentance can never be complete until the end of history. Like the great Day of Atonement, its full dimension must be a last-day experience. To that moment in time we have now come.

Unless our veiled eyes can see the depth of our sin as identical to that of Peter's congregation at Pentecost, only a veneer (?) repentance can be possible, thus perpetuating the Lord's problem for further generations. It is not enough that sin be legally forgiven; it must also be blotted out.

Not only are we frustrated by the long delay; Christ Himself is deeply pained. We can turn off the horrifying nightly news and find relief in sleep; but the Lord cannot do that. He can "neither slumber nor sleep" (Ps. 121:4). The agony of a suffering, terrorized world weighs heavy upon Him. He cannot take a vacation to some remote corner of the universe and forget it. In our weakness, we can feel a little for the agonies of starving, homeless, despairing people when we know about them, yet Jesus is infinitely more sensitive and compassionate than the best of us. In ancient times "in all their affliction He was afflicted" (Isa. 63:9), and He is still the same today.

"Those who think of the result of hastening or hindering the gospel think of it in relation to themselves and to the world. Few think of its relation to God. Few give thought to the suffering that sin has caused our Creator. All heaven suffered in Christ's agony; but that suffering did not begin or end with His manifestation in humanity. The cross is a revelation to our dull senses of the pain that, from its very inception, sin has brought to the heart of God. Every departure from the right, every deed of cruelty, every failure of humanity to reach His ideal, brings grief to Him. When there came upon Israel the calamities that were the sure result of separation from God,--subjugation by their enemies, cruelty, and death,--it is said that "His soul was grieved for the misery of Israel." "In all their affliction He was afflicted: . . . and He bare them, and carried them all the days of old." Judges 10:16; Isaiah 63:9. {Ed 263.1}

Our Lord is not an impassive Buddha-like deity in a nirvana trance. Our prayers do not move Him to a pity that He would not otherwise feel. When we beg Him, "Please do something to help," He responds hopefully, "Why don't you do something?"

When the mind and heart of "the angel of the church" are truly at-one with Christ, the roadblock will be eliminated. Then He will employ His people effectively to do what He wants done for the world. It is especially of SdAs that Ellen White said, "The disappointment of Christ is beyond description." How can we relieve that disappointment?

The Lord's Problem Has Become The Crisis of the Ages

The Bible reveals God in a dimension unknown in the Qur'an, the Vedic Hindu, or Buddhist, scriptures. The world's pain is God's pain, only intensified. Think how a loving, sensitive father feels the pain of a wounded child; then multiply that over six billion times.

Revelation goes a step further and pictures Christ as an eager Bridegroom who longs for "the marriage of the Lamb" to come soon, but who is disappointed that His bride has not yet "made herself ready" (Rev. 19:7-9). She has kept Him at arm's length all this while. This means that as yet she cannot be truly reconciled to Him. When she is at-one with Him in heart and mind, every church will be pulsating with the life of the Holy Spirit, overflowing with Christlike love. Each member will be spiritually alert, radiant with a miraculous unselfishness that transforms him/her into a unique revelation of Christ.

Some inspired statements declare that this full-fledged revival will never take in the "whole church," because there will always be tares among the wheat. But there are other equally inspired statements that say that "the whole church" is to be animated and pervaded by the Holy Spirit, overflowing with Christlike love. How can these apparent contradictions be harmonized?

God's purpose in His people will be gloriously fulfilled in "a revival of true godliness among us," "that the way of the Lord may be prepared," "a great movement - a work of revival - going forward in many places. Our people were moving into line, responding to God's call." "the spirit of prayer will actuate every believer and will banish from the church the spirit of discord and strife. . . . All will be in harmony with the mind of the Spirit." "In visions of the night, representations passed before me of a great reformatory movement among God's people . . . even as was manifested before the day of Pentecost. . . The world seemed to be lightened with the heavenly influence. . . . There seemed to be a reformation such as we witnessed in 1844. . . . Covetous ones became separated from the company of believers" (compare 9T, 20-23, 46, 47, 126; 8T, 247-251; 1SM 116,117, 121-128.)

The apparent contradictions are resolved by that last sentence. There is a pre-shaking and a post-shaking church. The post-shaken church will fulfill these prophecies.

This grand finale of the work of God's Spirit will be a work of extraordinary beauty and simplicity:

"Those who wait for the Bridegroom's coming are to say to the people, "Behold your God." The last rays of merciful light, the last message of mercy to be given to the world, is a revelation of His character of love. The children of God are to manifest His glory. In their own life and character they are to reveal what the grace of God has done for them." {COL 415.5}

Committee actions, polished programs, high-pressure promotion, can never truly motivate. Truth must be the vehicle, reaching human hearts, for only truth, "the third angel's message in verity," can penetrate the secret recesses of the human soul.

Chapter 6. A First in Human History, A Day-of-Atonement Repentance

The cleansing of the sanctuary since 1844 is a non-negotiable truth to Seventh-day Adventists, the foundation of our existence. It also has profound ethical significance.

Why does "antitypical" heavenly Day of Atonement involve a special experience for God's last-day people on earth? Has He arbitrarily withheld that unique blessing from previous generations? Would it be fair for Him to grant the last generation something He deliberately kept away from others in past ages?

No, but previous generations were not able to avail themselves of the full grace Heaven longed to bestow. Not God's unwillingness to give, but man's unreadiness to receive, has caused the long delay of thousands of years. History had to be allowed to run its course. In no other way could the human race, "Adam," learn.

An example is ancient Israel. The Lord was ready and willing at Mt. Sinai to grant them the same justification by faith which Abraham enjoyed when "he believed in the Lord" (Gen. 15:6), and the same precious experience that Paul's Letter to the Romans described. But their unbelief made it impossible at that time, and the law had to become their "schoolmaster" or "tutor" to lead them on a long detour of history, back to the place where Abraham was, that they "might be justified by faith" (Gal. 3:24, KJV).

The prophetic word, "for two thousand three hundred days, then shall the sanctuary be cleansed" (Dan. 8:14), predicts that during the last era of human history, the faith of God's people will mature, making possible their full reception of Heaven's grace. The prophecy of Daniel comprehends their spiritual development "to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Eph. 4:13).

God withheld nothing from Adam that arbitrarily barred him from the company of the 144,000. Rather, his own spiritual immaturity made it impossible to appropriate the grace an infinite God would have granted even then. God could have cleansed the sanctuary anciently, if human spiritual development had made it possible. We must not limit God's infinite resources; the deficiency has been ours. Jesus calls every generation to repent, for "all have sinned." "The knowledge of sin" comes through "the law" (Rom. 3:23,20). The Holy Spirit imparts this wholesome knowledge of his guilt to "every man." Its "light" has passed no one by (Jh. 1:9). But the final generation will receive the gift of repentance, a metanoia, an after-perception, a contrite view of the past as history finally reveals it. Then it will be said, "The marriage of the Lamb has come, and his wife has made herself ready." (Rev. 19:7).

How Repentance Takes Place

King David's double crime of adultery and murder illustrates how the Holy Spirit convicts of sin. For the Holy Spirit to abandon him would have been the cruelest punishment possible. No, God loved him still. The Holy Spirit pricked him with a sharp conviction. "Day and night Your hand was heavy upon me," David says. The Lord "broke" his "bones," metaphorically. Then, David adds, "I acknowledge my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden, I said, `I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.' and you forgave the iniquity of my sin." (Ps. 51:3-5) This was genuine repentance.

One may never have heard the name of Christ, but he senses in his heart that he has sinned, and come short of the glory of God. There is an awareness, however dim, of a perfect standard in the divine law as it is in Christ. The Holy Spirit penetrates human hearts with the conviction of "sin, and of righteousness." (Jh. 16:8-10)

Guilt, Like Pain, Is a Signal That Something Is Wrong

A wound in the body triggers pain messages to the brain. While a painkilling drug can superficially alleviate the discomfort, it provides no healing. Serious disease or death can follow an artificial suppression of symptoms. Thus, when the sinner rejects the pain of the Holy Spirit's merciful conviction of sin, spiritual sickness and death follow. Pain in the body prompts the sufferer to seek healing. African lepers, whose sense of pain is anesthetized, lose fingers at night, bitten by rats because they cannot feel. Of how much greater value to us is the Holy Spirit's painful conviction of sin.

The grateful sinner prays, "Thank you, Lord, for loving me so much as to convict me of my sin. I confess the full truth. You have provided a Substitute who bears my penalty in my stead, and His love motivates me to separate from the sin that has crucified Him." This miracle occurred in David's heart when he prayed, "I will declare my iniquity; I will be in anguish over my sin." (Ps. 38:18)

Such repentance reflects not only sorrow for sin and its results, but a genuine abhorrence of it. It produces an actual turning away from the sin. The law can never do this for anyone. This miracle comes only by grace. "The law brings about wrath," imparting only a terror of judgment, but when grace works repentance, "old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new" (Rom. 4:15; 2.Cor. 5:17). Sin, once loved, is now hated, and righteousness, once hated, is now loved. "The goodness of God leads you to repentance" (Rom. 2:4).

Such repentance includes the actual "remission of sins", that is, sending them away (Lk. 24:47). The New Testament word for forgiveness means a separation from sin, a deliverance from its power. True repentance thus actually makes it impossible for a believer in Christ to continue living in sin. The love of Christ supplies the grand motivation, a change in the life (2.Cor. 5:15).

One finds a kind of joy in the experience:

"The sadness that is used by God brings a change of heart that leads to salvation - and there is no regret in that! But sadness that is merely human causes death. See what God did with this sadness of yours: how earnest it has made you. . . . Such indignation, such alarm, such feelings, such devotion" (2.Cor. 7:10,11, TEV)

Peter manifested genuine repentance. We can identify with him, for he failed miserably, yet he accepted the precious gift of repentance which Judas refused. After basely denying his Lord with cursing, Peter "went out and wept bitterly" (Mk. 14:71; Lk. 22:62). His repentance never ceased. Always afterward tears glistened in his eyes as he thought of his sin contrasted against the Lord's kindness to him. But these were happy tears. The tempest of contrition always brings the rainbow of divine forgiveness. Even medical scientists recognize there is wholesome healing therapy in tears of contrition, for men was well as for women. We ruin our health and shorten our lives when we resist or suppress the tenderness, the melting influence of God's Spirit that tries to soften our hard hearts.

The Lord Himself who "so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son" has prepared the way for His gospel. He has given humanity this capacity to feel the personal pain of conviction of sin. It is a clear evidence of His love!

But legalism or a perverted "gospel" short-circuits this work of the Holy Spirit in human hearts. As a consequence, millions are not able to experience the repentance that alone can heal the hurt they know deep inside. But Scripture foretells a time when the gospel will be restored to its pristine purity and the earth will be "illuminated" with its glory (Rev. 18:1-4). It will be like restoring a broken electric connection. The circuit will be complete - the Holy Spirit's conviction of sin will be complemented by the pure gospel, and the current of Heaven's forgiveness will flow through every repentant soul.

This is Solid Happiness

Far from being a negative experience, such repentance is the foundation of all true joy. As every credit must have a corresponding debit to balance the books, so the smiles and happiness of life, to be meaningful, must be founded on the tears of Another upon whom was laid "the chastisement for our peace" and with whose "stripes we are healed" (Isa. 53:5)

Our tears of repentance and sorrow for sin do not balance the books of life. Rather, our "appreciation" of what it cost to bear our griefs and carry our sorrows - this brings salvation within our reach.

"So will it be with all who behold Christ. The nearer we come to Jesus, and the more clearly we discern the purity of His character, the more clearly shall we see the exceeding sinfulness of sin, and the less shall we feel like exalting ourselves. There will be a continual reaching out of the soul after God, a continual, earnest, heartbreaking confession of sin and humbling of the heart before Him. At every advance step in our Christian experience our repentance will deepen. We shall know that our sufficiency is in Christ alone and shall make the apostle's confession our own: "I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing." "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." Romans 7:18; Galatians 6:14. {AA 561.2}

"At every advance step in Christian experience our repentance will deepen. It is to those whom the Lord has forgiven, to those whom He acknowledges as His people, that He says, "Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight." Ezekiel 36:31. Again He says, "I will establish My covenant with thee, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord; that thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord God." Ezekiel 16:62, 63. Then our lips will not be opened in self-glorification. We shall know that our sufficiency is in Christ alone. We shall make the apostle's confession our own. "I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing." Romans 7:18. "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." Galatians 6:14. {COL 160.3}

A repentance like this is beyond us to invent or to initiate; it must come as a gift from above. God has exalted Christ "to give repentance to Israel" (Acts 5:31). And to the Gentiles also He "granted . . . repentance to life" (Acts 11:18). Is He any less generous to us today? The capacity for such a change of mind and heart is a priceless treasure worth more than all the millions in Las Vegas. Even the will to repent is His gift, for without it we are "dead in trespasses and sins" (Eph. 2:13).

Such an experience seems almost wholly out of place in this last decade of the 20th century. Can a sophisticated modern church ever receive it?

What Makes Repentance Possible

The Bible links "repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 20:21). Repentance is not a cold calculation of options and their consequences. It is not a selfish choice to seek an eternal reward or to flee the pains of hell. It is a heart experience that results from appreciating the sacrifice of Christ. It cannot be imposed by fear or terror, or even by hope of immortality. Only "the goodness of God leads you to repentance." (Rom. 2:4).

The ultimate source from which this superb gift flows is the truth of Christ's sacrifice on the cross. As faith is a heart appreciation of the love of God revealed there, so repentance becomes the appropriate exercise of that faith which the believing soul experiences. We follow where faith leads the way as illuminated by the cross - down on our knees. Peter's call to "repent, and let everyone of you be baptized" followed the most convicting sermon on the cross that has ever been preached (Acts 2:16-18). The compelling response at Pentecost was the fulfillment of Jesus' promise: "I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all . . . to Myself" (Jh. 12:32).

Why do we not see more of this precious gift? Is modern man too sophisticated to welcome it? No, human nature is not beyond redemption, even in these last days. Genuine repentance with "works befitting repentance" is rare only because that genuine preaching of the cross is rare (cmpr. Acts 26:20; 2.Cor. 5:14). Its essence is powerfully set forth in Isaac Watts' memorable words:

"When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss
And pour contempt on all my pride."

All through past ages since Pentecost, believing sinners have individually received the gift. Sleeping in the dust of the earth, they all await the "first resurrection." Theirs has been one phase of repentance. Without a preparation for His coming on the part of His living people, Christ cannot come. Until then, those sleeping saints of all ages who personally repented are doomed to remain prisoners in their dusty graves. Thus the "remnant" must unlock this logjam of last-day events by a special repentance. Such an event - unique in history - is the reason for the SdA Church's existence.

What is Different About Laodicea's Repentance?

Laodicea is not innately worse than the other six churches. But since she is living in the last days which is the time of the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, a never-before phase of our great High Priest's Day-of-Atonement ministry calls for a never-before kind of response. This becomes another phase of repentance.

While Christ performs His "final atonement" in the second apartment of the heavenly sanctuary, can we continue living as though He were still in the first? The gap between Laodicea's unique opportunities and her true state has widened so much that her pathetic condition has become the most difficult problem the Lord has ever had to deal with. And unless we walk carefully, we are in the greatest peril of the ages. Ellen White was given a glimpse of the significance of the transfer of Christ's ministry from the heavenly sanctuary's first apartment to the second.

"Those who rose up with Jesus would send up their faith to Him in the holiest, and pray, "My Father, give us Thy Spirit." Then Jesus would breathe upon them the Holy Ghost. In that breath was light, power, and much love, joy, and peace.
I turned to look at the company who were still bowed before the throne; they did not know that Jesus had left it. Satan appeared to be by the throne, trying to carry on the work of God. I saw them look up to the throne, and pray, "Father, give us Thy Spirit." Satan would then breathe upon them an unholy influence; in it there was light and much power, but no sweet love, joy, and peace. Satan's object was to keep them deceived and to draw back and deceive God's children." {EW 56.1}

In a later statement, the author spoke of those who "have no knowledge of the way into the most holy [apartment,] and they can not be benefited by the intercession of Jesus there." We used to assume that those were Sunday-keepers; but now there are many within the remnant church who "have no [such] knowledge":

"Like the Jews, who offered their useless sacrifices, they offer up their useless prayers to the apartment which Jesus has left; and Satan, pleased with the deception, assumes a religious character, and leads the minds of these professed Christians to himself, working with his power, his signs and lying wonders, to fasten them in his snare. Some he deceives in one way, and some in another. He has different delusions prepared to affect different minds. Some look with horror upon one deception, while they readily receive another. Satan deceives some with Spiritualism. He also comes as an angel of light and spreads his influence over the land by means of false reformations. The churches are elated, and consider that God is working marvelously for them, when it is the work of another spirit." {EW 260.1}

The experience of Laodicea will fit the potential of the heavenly Day of Atonement, because the message to Laodicea parallels this cleansing of the sanctuary. What does this mean in practical, understandable terms?

Repentance and the Cleansing of the Sanctuary

The "daily" ministry in the sanctuary includes the forgiveness of sins, but the "yearly" goes further. The blotting out of sins takes place in the "times of refreshing," that is, the cleansing of the sanctuary (Acts 3:19). The Day-of-Atonement ministry includes the blotting out of sins, and can occur only at the end of time, after the close of the 2300 years. {GC 421, 422, 483}

In these last days there is something Laodicea "does not know," some deeper level of guilt that has never been discerned. Here is where that deeper repentance takes place.

It will not suffice for us to say, "Let the heavenly computers do the work - our sins will be blotted out when the time comes without our knowing about it." There is no such thing as automatic, computerized blotting out of sins that takes place without our knowledge and participation. It is we who are to repent individually and understandably, not the heavenly computers. "The expulsion of sin is the act of the soul itself", not of heavenly computers. {DA, 466}

A little thought will make it clear that no sin can be "blotted out" unless we come to see it and confess it understandably. Our deeper level of sin and guilt must be realized if our Saviour's complete ministry for us is to be appreciated. Nothing short of this can be adequate repentance in the Day of Atonement.

Hence Laodicea's experience of repentance is unique in world history. All things are being held up for lack of it. Our plane is freighted with the precious cargo of the loud cry "good news" message to enlighten the earth. There is no time now for more delay - even to wait for persecution; when persecution comes, it may be too late.

Many inspired statements make clear the principle of a deeper layer of guilt beneath the surface. Here are a few examples:

"This heart-searching question was necessary in the case of Peter, and it is necessary in our case. The work of restoration can never be thorough unless the roots of evil are reached. Again and again the shoots have been clipped, while the root of bitterness has been left to spring up and defile many; but the very depth of the hidden evil must be reached, the moral senses must be judged, and judged again, in the light of the divine presence. The daily life will testify whether or not the work is genuine." {5BC 1152.1}

"The Laodicean message must be proclaimed with power; for now it is especially applicable. Now, more than ever before, are seen pride, worldly ambition, self-exaltation, double-dealing, hypocrisy, and deception. Many are speaking great swelling words of vanity, saying, "I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing." Yet they are miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.

Many see much to admire in the life of Christ. But true love for him can never dwell in the heart of the self-righteous. Not to see our own deformity is not to see the beauty of Christ's character. When we are fully awake to our own sinfulness, we shall appreciate Christ. The more humble are our views of ourselves, the more clearly we shall see the spotless character of Jesus. He who says, "I am holy, I am sinless," is self-deceived. Some have said this, and some even dare to say, "I am Christ." To entertain such a thought is blasphemy. Not to see the marked contrast between Christ and ourselves is not to know ourselves. He who does not abhor himself can not understand the meaning of redemption. To be redeemed means to cease from sin. No heart that is stirred to rebellion against the law of God has any union with Christ, who died to vindicate the law and exalt it before all nations, tongues, and peoples. Pharisaic self-complacency and bold assumptions of holiness are abundant. There are many who do not see themselves in the light of the law of God. They do not loathe selfishness; therefore they are selfish. Their souls are spotted and defiled. Yet with sin-stained lips they say, "I am holy. Jesus teaches me that the law of God is a yoke of bondage. Those who say that we must keep the law have fallen from grace." {RH, September 25, 1900 par. 2, 10}

"My brethren and sisters, humble your hearts before the Lord. Seek him earnestly. I have an intense desire to see you walking in the light as Christ is in the light. I pray most earnestly for you. But I can not fail to see that the light which God has given me is not favorable to our ministers or our churches. You have left your first love. Self-righteousness is not the wedding-garment. A failure to follow the clear light of truth is our fearful danger. The message to the Laodicean church reveals our condition as a people.
Satan is seeking with all his subtlety to corrupt mind and heart. And O how successful he is in leading men and women to depart from the simplicity of the gospel of Christ! Under his influence hereditary and cultivated tendencies to wrong are roused into activity. Ministers and church-members are in danger of allowing self to take the throne.
Human wisdom, human ability, is nothingness in God's sight. He who supposes that he is superior to his fellow men in wisdom will sooner or later reveal traits of character that are a dishonor to God. In the church today there are many of this stamp,--men and women in whom the loveliness of Christ is hidden by traits of character that unfit the possessor for membership in the Lord's family in the heavenly courts.
There are many who are not Bible Christians. They follow a standard of their own devising. If they would see their defective, distorted characters as they are accurately reflected in the mirror of God's Word, they would be so alarmed that they would fall upon their faces before God in contrition of soul, and tear away the rags of their self-righteousness. {RH, December 15, 1904 par. 8-12}

"When these things are studied and heeded as the message of God to every soul, we shall see the deep movings of his Spirit among us. Conscience will be aroused. The record of past days will make its disclosure of the vanity of human inventions, by which men have excused themselves for neglecting the claims of God. The Holy Spirit will reveal faults and defects of character that ought to have been discerned and corrected. It will show how, through the grace of Christ, the character might have been transformed. The Lord's servants will see how they should have had the joy of victory where they have known the sorrow of defeat.
The Lord will not only reveal himself as a God of long-suffering mercy, but by terrible things in righteousness he will make it manifest that he is not a man that he should lie. He will have no fellowship with false dealing. He will sanction no pretense. The time is near when the inner life will be fully revealed. All will behold, as if reflected in a mirror, the working of the hidden springs of motive. The Lord would have you now examine your own life, and see how stands your record with him." {RH, November 10, 1896 par. 13, 14}

"In seasons of temptations we seem to lose sight of the fact that God tests us that our faith may be tried, and be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus. The Lord places us in different positions to develop us. If we have defects of character of which we are not aware, he gives us discipline that will bring those defects to our knowledge, that we may overcome them. It is his providence that brings us into varying circumstances. In each new position, we meet a different class of temptations. How many times, when we are placed in some trying situation, we think, "This is a wonderful mistake. How I wish I had stayed where I was before." But why is it that you are not satisfied?--It is because your circumstances have served to bring new defects in your character to your notice; but nothing is revealed but that which was in you. What should you do when you are tried by the providences of the Lord? --You should rise to the emergency of the case, and overcome your defects of character." {RH, August 6, 1889 par. 3}

There is nothing "negative" in these quoted paragraphs. If one were sick with a fatal cancer, one would welcome as precious good news the surgeon's announcement that immediate surgery can remove the cancerous tissue and save one's life.

The Greatest Sin of All Ages

What brought ancient Israel's ruin? She refused to accept her Messiah's message, which exposed a deeper level of guilt than she had previously realized. The Jews of Christ's day were not by nature more evil than any other generation; it was simply theirs to act out to the full the same enmity against God that all the fallen sons and daughters of Adam have always had by nature. As our natural "carnal mind is enmity against God" (Rom. 8:7), they simply demonstrated this fact visibly in the murder of their divine Visitor. Those who crucified the Saviour hold up a mirror wherein we can see ourselves.

Horatius Bonar learned this in a dream in which he seemed to be witnessing the crucifixion. In a frenzy of agony, as in a nightmare, he tried to remonstrate with the cruel soldiers who were driving spikes through Christ's hands and feet. He laid his hand on the shoulder of one to beg him to stop. When the murderer turned to look at him, Bonar recognized his own face.

Laodicea's repentance will go down to the deepest roots of this natural "enmity against God." This deeper phase of repentance is repenting of sins that we may not have personally committed, but which we would have committed if we had the opportunity. The root of all sin, its common denominator, is the crucifixion of Christ. A repentance for this sin is appropriate because the books of Heaven already record this sin written against our names; and the Holy Spirit will bring this presently unknown sin to our knowledge:

"That prayer of Christ for His enemies embraced the world. It took in every sinner that had lived or should live. . . . Upon all rests the guilt of crucifying the Son of God." {DA 745}

Revelation 20:12. Features of Character in Books of Heaven. "God's law reaches the feelings and motives, as well as the outward acts. It reveals the secrets of the heart, flashing light upon things before buried in darkness. God knows every thought, every purpose, every plan, every motive. The books of heaven record the sins that would have been committed had there been opportunity. God will bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing. By His law He measures the character of every man. As the artist transfers to the canvas the features of the face, so the features of each individual character are transferred to the books of heaven. God has a perfect photograph of every man's character, and this photograph He compares with His law. He reveals to man the defects that mar his life, and calls upon him to repent and turn from sin." (ST July 31, 1901). {5BC 1085.4}

"Opportunity" has often come to others in the form of alluring, overmastering temptations through circumstances we ourselves may not have experienced. None of us can endure the full consciousness of what we would do if under sufficient pressure - terrorism, for example. (The enforcement of the "mark of the beast" will provide the ultimate "opportunity.") But our potential sin is already recorded in "the books of Heaven."

A Jewish concentration camp survivor of the Holocaust discovered this truth in an unusual way. Yehiel Dinur walked into the Nuremberg (sic. Nürnberg) court in 1961, prepared to testify against Nazi butcher Adolf Eichmann. But when he saw Eichmann, in his humbled status, Dinur suddenly began to cry, then fell to the floor. It was not hatred or fear that overcame him. He suddenly realized that Eichmann was not the superman that the inmates had feared; he was an ordinary man. Says Dinur: "I was afraid about myself. I saw that I am capable to do this. I am . . . exactly like he!" Mike Wallace of "60 Minutes" told the story on TV. He summed it up: "Eichmann is in all of us." Only the full work of the Holy Spirit can bring to us the full conviction of the reality of sin; but in these last days when sins must be "blotted out" as well as pardoned, this is His blessed work. No buried bacteria or virus of sin can be translated into God's eternal kingdom.

The Laodicean call to repentance is the essence of the message of Christ's righteousness. Whatever sins other people are guilty of, they obviously had the "opportunity" of committing them. Somehow the temptations were overmastering to them. The deeper insight the Holy Spirit brings to us is that we are by nature no better than they. When Scripture says that "all alike have sinned" (Rom. 3:23, KJV). Digging down to get the roots out, - this is now "present truth."

There is no way that we can appreciate the heights of Christ's glorious righteousness until we are willing to recognize the depths of our own sinfulness. For this reason, to see our own potential for sin is inexpressibly good news!

" I take, O cross, thy shadow for my abiding place;
I ask no other sunshine than the sunshine of His face;
Content to let the world go by, to know no gain nor loss,
My sinful self my only shame, my glory all the cross.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Elizabeth Clephane

What are the practical aspects of this ultimate disclosure of our true guilt, and of God's much more abounding grace that cleanses it?

Our search must continue.

Chapter 7. Christ's Repentance for Sins He Never Committed

How could Christ be baptized with John's "baptism of repentance" if He never had an experience of repentance? And how could a sinless Person experience repentance?

Both the Bible and Ellen White's writings make it clear that Jesus Christ experienced repentance. But it seems almost preposterous to imagine how or why a sinless person could experience repentance.

This does not mean that He experienced sin, for never in thought, word, or deed did He yield to temptation. Peter says of Him, "Who committed no sin, nor was guile found in His mouth" (1.Pet. 2:22).

But John the Baptist "baptized with a baptism of repentance" (Acts 19:4), and therefore must have baptized Jesus with the only baptism he knew. His baptism implied on the sinless Candidate's part, an experience of repentance. Otherwise, the baptism would have been a farce, and both John and Jesus would be guilty of hypocrisy. That is unthinkable.

How could Christ experience repentance if He had never sinned? We have always assumed that only evil people need to repent, or can repent. It is shocking to think that good people can repent, and incomprehensible how a perfect Person could repent.

Nevertheless, if Christ was "baptized with a baptism of repentance," clearly He did experience repentance. But the only kind a sinless person could experience is corporate repentance. Thus, Jesus' repentance is a model and example of the kind He expects of Laodicea. It has special meaning for us who live today because His Day-of-Atonement ministry will prepare a people to become like Him in character.

Why Did John Baptize the Sinless Jesus

Occasionally people such as the thief on the cross cannot for physical reasons be baptized. Was Jesus' baptism a legalistic provision, a deposit of merit to be drawn on for such emergencies in a substitutionary way? We have often thought so, and the theory goes like this:

a) One must be baptized in order to enter Paradise;
b) the poor thief nailed to a cross cannot be immersed;
c) Jesus' baptism thus helps him out like a credit transfer in a bank transaction;
d) the appropriate "deposit" is placed to the account of the unbaptized thief, and
e) thus he can be saved.

If any valid element lurks in this legalistic concept, the idea leaves us cold. Most people have had opportunity to be immersed, and believers have complied. It may be a comfort to those few who cannot be baptized, but what then could Jesus' baptism mean to the vast proportion who can be?

Another theory has been that John baptized Jesus to demonstrate the proper physical method of administering the ordinance, a physical example by the Teacher. This too leaves us cold.

Jesus was sincere when He asked John to baptize Him. John was also sincere in refusing. But Jesus explained why He wanted to be baptized. He answered the prophet's objections. "Thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness" (Mt. 3:15).

Was Jesus suggesting that He and John should act out a play? The essence of "righteousness" is sincerity and genuineness. Our divine Example could never condone such a performance without the appropriate heart experience. Play-acting could never "fulfill all righteousness." For Christ to subject Himself to baptism without an experience appropriate to the deed would have been to give an example of hypocrisy, the last thing Jesus wants from anyone! Never does He want anyone to experience the act of baptism without true repentance.

John the Baptist obviously had not understood the principle of corporate guilt and repentance. Once that truth is recognized, Jesus' baptism begins to make sense.

How Close Jesus Came to Us

Jesus asked for baptism because He genuinely identified Himself with sinners. If Adam represents the entire human race, Jesus became the "last Adam" taking upon Himself the guilt of humanity's sin (1.Cor. 15:45). Not that He sinned, but He felt how the guilty sinner feels. He put Himself fully in our place. He put His arms around us as He knelt down beside us, dripping wet on the banks of the Jordan, asking His Father to let Him be the Lamb of God. His submission to baptism indicates that "the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all." His baptism therefore becomes an injection of healing repentance for sin into the body of humanity. Peter says that His identity with our sins was deep, not superficial, for He "bore our sins in His own body on a tree" (Isa. 53:6; 1.Peter 2:24).

Christ did not bear our sins as a man carries a bag on his back. In His own "body" in His soul, in His nervous system, in His conscience, He bore the crushing weight of our guilt. So close did He come to us that He felt as if our sins were His own. His agony in Gethsemane and on Calvary was real.

Ellen White describes Christ's deep heartfelt repentance for us in these perceptive comments:

After Christ had taken the necessary steps in repentance, conversion, and faith in behalf of the human race, He went to John to be baptized of him in Jordan." {GCB, 1901, p. 36}

"John had heard of the sinless character and spotless purity of Christ. His life was in harmony with what the Lord had revealed to him respecting one that was among them whose life was without the taint of sin. John had also seen that he should be the example for every repenting sinner. When Christ presented himself for baptism, John recognized him at once as the superior one revealed to him. He discerned, in the person and deportment of Christ, a character above every other man he had ever seen. The very atmosphere of his presence was holy and awe-inspiring. Although he knew him not as the Messiah, yet never had such a holy influence been realized by John from any one as when in the presence of Christ. He felt the superiority of Christ at once, and shrank from performing the rite of baptism to one whom he knew to be sinless. Many had come to him to receive the baptism of repentance, confessing their sins and crimes; but John could not understand why the only sinless one upon the earth should ask for an ordinance implying guilt, virtually confessing, by the symbol of baptism, pollution to be washed away. He remonstrated with Christ, acknowledging his superiority, and refused to administer the ordinance, saying, "I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?" With firm and gentle authority Jesus waives the refusal of John and his plea of unworthiness, saying, "Suffer it to be so now; for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness." {2SP 58.2; Matth. 3:11,14,15; Jer. 31:33}
Christ came not confessing his own sins; but guilt was imputed to him as the sinner's substitute. He came not to repent on his own account; but in behalf of the sinner. As man had transgressed the law of God, Christ was to fulfill every requirement of that law, and thus show perfect obedience. "Lo, I come to do thy will, O God!" Christ honored the ordinance of baptism by submitting to this rite. In this act he identified himself with his people as their representative and head. As their substitute, he takes upon him their sins, numbering himself with the transgressors, taking the steps the sinner is required to take, and doing the work the sinner must do. His life of suffering and patient endurance after his baptism were an example to converted sinners of what they should endure and patiently suffer in consequence of their transgressions and sins. John finally yielded to the request of Christ, notwithstanding his feelings of unworthiness to baptize him, and performed the service. He led the Saviour of the world down into the river Jordan in the presence of a large concourse of people, and buried him in the water." {2SP 58.2 - 59.1; Hebr. 10:9; Jh. 6:38; Ps. 40:7-9}

There is profound truth here:

a) Though sinless, Christ did in His own soul experience repentance. Biblical support exists for these repeated statements.

b) His baptism shows that He knows how "every repenting sinner" feels. In our self-righteousness we cannot feel such sympathy with "every repenting sinner." That is a major reason why we win so few souls! Only a Perfect Person can experience a perfect and complete repentance such as that. But we can become partakers of the divine nature.

c) His taking "the steps the sinner is required to take" underscores His identity with us. We cannot in truth "behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world" without experiencing union with Him. Thus it is vital to "behold" Jesus. Lukewarm impenitence stems from either not seeing Him clearly or from rejecting Him. A closer look at "the Lamb of God" enables us to identify our deep sin that needs to be taken away. (Jh. 1:29, 36)

Jesus in His ministry had extraordinary power to win human hearts. Why? In His pre-baptism "repentance, conversion, and faith in behalf of the human race." He learned "what was in man," for He "had no need that anyone should testify of man" (Jh. 2:25). Thus He learned to speak as "no man ever spoke" (Jh. 7:46). Only through these experiences could He break the spell of the world's enchantment and say to whom He would, "Follow Me," passing by no human as worthless, inspiring with hope the "roughest and most unpromising." "To such a one, discouraged, sick, tempted, fallen, Jesus would speak words of tenderest pity, words that were needed and could be understood" [2000] We can begin to see that we ourselves can never know such drawing power with people until we partake of the kind of repentance that Christ experienced in our behalf.

Jesus' perfect compassion for every human soul stemmed from His perfect repentance in his/her behalf. He becomes the second Adam, partaking of the body, becoming one with us, accepting us without shame, "in all things . . . made like His brethren" (Hebr. 2:17).

The Vision of a Caring Church

In our role as a caring church we recognize our need of this genuine, unfailing Christ-like love. But we can preach about it a thousand years and never get beyond the window-dressing that psychological techniques can offer, except through the mature faith that will characterize Laodicea's final repentance. Such faith appreciates His character, seen more clearly through repentant eyes. His repentance represents a vital aspect of Immanuel's sinless character.

Through union with Him by faith we become part of the corporate body of humanity in Him. Is it not gross selfishness to want to appropriate Christ, yet refuse to appropriate His love for sinners? How can we receive Him and not receive that love which is "in Him"?

Truly, we have infinitely more reason to feel close to sinners than did our sinless Lord, for we ourselves are sinners; but our human pride holds us back from the warm empathy that Christ felt. How to experience this closeness is the purpose of true repentance.

The first step must be to recognize our corporate involvement with the sin of the whole world. Although we were not physically present at the events of Calvary 2000 years ago, "in Adam" the whole human race was there. So surely are we in Adam's sin.

Suppose that we had no Saviour. If any of us were left to develop to the full the evil latent in our own soul, if we were tempted to the ultimate as others have been tempted, we would surely duplicate their sin if given enough time and opportunity - that is, if there were no Saviour to save us from ourselves.

Suppose Hitler had lived as long as Methuselah. None of us dares to say, "I could never do what others have done!"

The apostle John says it is only when we confess a sin that we can experience Christ's "faithful" forgiveness and cleansing from it (1.Jh. 1:9). But to confess a sin without sensing its reality becomes lip-service, perilously close to hypocrisy. Skin-deep confession and skin-deep repentance bring skin-deep love, skin-deep devotion. Jesus teaches the principle that we must realize we have been forgiven much before we can learn to "love much." Mary Magdalene was "forgiven . . . much" because she had been possessed by "seven devils" (Lk. 7:47; 8:2). Must we also go into devil possession, to "love much" after being forgiven? No, there is a better way: realize that we would be possessed by seven devils if it were not for the grace of the Saviour!

When Paul said, "I have been crucified with Christ" (Gal. 2:20), he meant that he identified himself with Christ. In the same way we identify ourselves with Christ's repentance in behalf of the human race. The footsteps of Christ are a path to corporate repentance.

In the light of Christ's cross the true dimensions of our sin begin to take shape out of the fog. Note how an inspired comment discloses our ultimate sin, for which we can "individually repent":

"In the day of final judgment, every lost soul will understand the nature of his own rejection of truth. The cross will be presented, and its real bearing will be seen by every mind that has been blinded by transgression. Before the vision of Calvary with its mysterious Victim, sinners will stand condemned. Every lying excuse will be swept away. Human apostasy will appear in its heinous character. Men will see what their choice has been. Every question of truth and error in the long-standing controversy will then have been made plain. In the judgment of the universe, God will stand clear of blame for the existence or continuance of evil. It will be demonstrated that the divine decrees are not accessory to sin. There was no defect in God's government, no cause for disaffection. When the thoughts of all hearts shall be revealed, both the loyal and the rebellious will unite in declaring, "Just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints. Who shall not fear Thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? . . . for Thy judgments are made manifest." Revelation 15:3, 4. {DA 58.1}

"The world was stirred by the enmity of Satan, and when asked to choose between the Son of God and the criminal Barabbas, they chose a robber rather than Jesus. The ignorant multitudes were led, by the deceptive reasonings of those in high position, to reject the Son of God, and choose a robber and murderer in His stead. Let us all remember that we are still in a world where Jesus, the Son of God, was rejected and crucified, where the guilt of despising Christ and preferring a robber rather than the spotless Lamb of God still rests. Unless we individually repent toward God because of transgression of His law, and exercise faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ, whom the world has rejected, we shall lie under the full condemnation that the action of choosing Barabbas instead of Christ merited. The whole world stands charged today with the deliberate rejection and murder of the Son of God. The word bears record that Jews and Gentiles, kings, governors, ministers, priests, and people--all classes and sects who reveal the same spirit of envy, hatred, prejudice, and unbelief manifested by those who put to death the Son of God - - would act the same part, were the opportunity granted, as did the Jews and people of the time of Christ. They would be partakers of the same spirit that demanded the death of the Son of God." {TM 38.1}

After having read the entire book up to this point so we understand what follows, let us note:

a) Even "ministers" and church members share the guilt of crucifying Christ. Apart from the grace of God manifested through personal repentance, "every sinner" shares it.
b) Without this grace, "every sinner" would repeat the sin of Christ's murderers if given enough time and opportunity.
c) The sin of Calvary is an out-cropping of human alienation from God of which we are not aware, except by enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. At Calvary, all the masks come off.
d) In a real sense we were all at Calvary, not through preexistence or pre-incarnation, but through corporate identity "in Adam." Adam shares that guilt with us today.
e) The "righteous" in their own eyes, including "ministers" and "priests" of "all . . . sects," must of course include our own denomination, except for the grace of repentance.

The lesson of history is that the little acorn of our "carnal mind" needs only enough time and opportunity to grow into the full oak of the sin of Calvary. But he who receives "the mind of Christ" will necessarily have also the repentance of Christ (See also Chapters 6 and 7), and the love of Christ. Therefore, the closer he comes to Christ, the more he will identify with every sinner on earth through corporate repentance.

The apostle Paul first articulated this brilliant idea. When we recognize it, we begin to feel that we too are "deptor both to Greeks, and to barbarians" (Rom. 1:14). Since we become originally joined to Christ in faith, His concerns become ours, just as the concerns of one organ of the body become the concerns of all the other members of the body. Each believing member of the body longs to fulfill the intent of the Head, just as a violinist's fingers "long" to perform skillfully the intent of the violinist's mind. The miracle of miracles takes place in the heart and life of the one who believes the gospel: he begins to love as Christ loves!

Why Christ's Yoke is "Easy" And His Burden "Light"

This experience resolves a thousand painful battles with temptation. Through corporate union with Christ, we genuinely feel we possess nothing by our own right. All our struggles with materialism, love of the world, obsession with money and things, sensuality, self-indulgence, are transcended at last by the new compulsion of this liberating oneness of mind with Christ. Paul's "debtor" idea initiates this new love for others.

To make this very practical, we can ask: `How did Christ love sinners?' If He were to come into our churches today, we might be scandalized. He "recognized no distinction of nationality, or rank or creed." He would "break down every wall of partition." In His example . . .

there is no caste, a religion by which Jew and Gentile, free and bond, are linked in a common brotherhood, equal before God. No question of policy influenced His movements. He made no difference between neighbors and strangers, friends and enemies. . . . He passed by no human being as worthless, but sought to apply the healing remedy to every soul. . . . Every neglect or insult shown by men to their fellow men only made Him more conscious of their need of His divine-human sympathy. He sought to inspire with hope the roughest and most unpromising. {MH 26.1}

Repentance produces this practical love in human hearts. No longer need we be helpless to reach others whose evil deeds we do not understand, and pride ourselves on not having committed. The gap is bridged that insulates us from them.

Christ can exercise no healing ministry through those who are frozen in an unfeeling impenitence. Since He did no sin yet He knew repentance, we too can feel a genuine compassion in behalf of others whose sins we have not personally committed, because now we realize that our supposed goodness was only a lack of "opportunity" or a lack of temptation of equal intensity. Forthwith our work for them comes alive, and our efforts become effective.

Of others in trouble we genuinely feel, "There but for the grace of God am I." (1.Cor. 1:3-8) They will immediately sense the reality of our identity with them in the same way that sinners sensed Christ's identity with them. They will begin to hear in our voices the echo of His voice.

Why Only a Perfect Person Can Experience a Perfect Repentance

The more Christlike a person is, the greater are his temptations, and the greater is his repentance. Thus Christ is the perfect Example of corporate repentance. Never before in world history and never since has a human offered to the Father such an offering of contrition for human sin. Because of His perfect innocence and sinlessness, only Christ could feel perfectly the weight of all human guilt.

Here is a beautiful expression of this truth:

"The humiliation and agonizing sufferings of Christ in the wilderness of temptation were for the race. In Adam all was lost through transgression. Through Christ was man's only hope of restoration to the favor of God. Man had separated himself at such a distance from God by transgression of His law, that he could not humiliate himself before God proportionate to his grievous sin. The Son of God could fully understand the aggravating sins of the transgressor, and in His sinless character He alone could make an acceptable atonement for man in suffering the agonizing sense of His Father's displeasure. The sorrow and anguish of the Son of God for the sins of the world were proportionate to His divine excellence and purity, as well as to the magnitude of the offense." {1SM 283.3}

God is happy because He knows that He will have a people who are "without fault before the throne of God" (Rev. 14:5). Therefore, though sinners by nature, they will at last approach Christ's perfect example of repentance.

"At every advance step in Christian experience our repentance will deepen. It is to those whom the Lord has forgiven, to those whom He acknowledges as His people, that He says, "Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight." Ezekiel 36:31.

Ellen White recognized the far-reaching implications of such an experience:

"As we see souls out of Christ, we are to put ourselves in their place, and in their behalf feel repentance before God, resting not until we bring them to repentance. If we do everything we can for them, and yet they do not repent, the sin lies at their door; but we are still to feel sorrow of heart because of their condition, showing them how to repent, and trying to lead them step by step to Jesus Christ." (MS 92, 1901). {7BC 960.2}

However faint a reflection, our repentance in behalf of others must be based on Christ's "repentance . . . in behalf of the human race." It would be impossible for any of us to feel such concern and sorrow in behalf of others, had He not felt it first in our behalf.

If "we love because He first loved us," (1.Jh. 4:19) we repent because He first repented in our "behalf." He is our Teacher.

Chapter 8. How Christ Called the Ancient Jews to National Repentance

Jesus was disappointed with the way the Jews responded to His call to national repentance. He says He is also disappointed with the response of Seventh-day Adventists.

Fresh from His own experience of corporate repentance and baptism "in behalf of the human race,"[2600] Jesus demanded the same from the Jewish nation: "From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand" (Mt. 4:17). And His disciples also "went out and preached that people should repent" (Mk. 6:12).

Christ's greatest disappointment was that the nation did not respond. He upbraided "the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent" (Mt. 11:20). He likened the nation to the unfruitful "fig tree planted in His vineyard . . . For three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none" (Lk. 13:6-9).

The barren fig tree which Jesus cursed became a symbol representing not merely the mass of individual unrepentant Jews, but the corporate people which as a nation rejected Christ:

"The cursing of the fig tree was an acted parable. That barren tree, flaunting its pretentious foliage in the very face of Christ, was a symbol of the Jewish nation. The Saviour desired to make plain to His disciples the cause and the certainty of Israel's doom." {DA 582.4}

"The call to the feast had been given by Christ's disciples. Our Lord had sent out the twelve and afterward the seventy, proclaiming that the kingdom of God was at hand, and calling upon men to repent and believe the gospel. But the call was not heeded. Those who are bidden to the feast did not come. The servants were sent out later to say, "Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage."(Mt. 22:4) This was the message borne to the Jewish nation after the crucifixion of Christ; but the nation that claimed to be God's peculiar people rejected the gospel brought to them in the power of the Holy Spirit. Many did this in the most scornful manner. Others were so exasperated by the offer of salvation, the offer of pardon for rejecting the Lord of glory, that they turned upon the bearers of the message. There was "a great persecution." Acts 8:1. Many both of men and women were thrust into prison, and some of the Lord's messengers, as Stephen and James, were put to death." {COL 308.2}

Note personal sin had grown to become national sin. It was accomplished by the nations leaders, and it bound the nation to corporate ruin:

"The law of God unmixed with human tradition was presented by Christ as the great standard of obedience. This aroused the enmity of the rabbis. They had set human teaching above God's word, and had turned the people away from His precepts. They would not give up their man-made commandments in order to obey the requirements of the word of God. They would not, for the truth's sake, sacrifice the pride of reason and the praise of men. When Christ came, presenting to the nation the claims of God, the priests and elders denied His right to interpose between them and the people. They would not accept His rebukes and warnings, and they set themselves to turn the people against Him and to compass His destruction." {COL 304.4}

Only national repentance could have saved the Jewish nation from the impending ruin that their national sin invoked upon them:

"For the rejection of Christ, with the results that followed, they were responsible. A nation's sin and a nation's ruin were due to the religious leaders." {COL 305.1}

"Paul showed that Christ had come to offer salvation first of all to the nation that was looking for the Messiah's coming as the consummation and glory of their national existence. But that nation had rejected Him who would have given them life, and had chosen another leader, whose reign would end in death. He endeavored to bring home to his hearers the fact that repentance alone could save the Jewish nation from impending ruin. He revealed their ignorance concerning the meaning of those Scriptures which it was their chief boast and glory that they fully understood. He rebuked their worldliness, their love of station, titles, and display, and their inordinate selfishness." {AA 247.2. Emphasis added.}

In Jesus' last public discourse He made a final appeal to these leaders at the Jerusalem headquarters to repent. Their refusal broke His heart. With tears in His eyes, the Saviour predicted the impending national ruin: "All these things will come upon this generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem . . ." (Matth. 23:13-37)

Christ certainly appealed to individuals to repent, for He said, "there will be joy in Heaven over one sinner who repents" (Lk. 15:7). But there is a distinct difference between national repentance and individual repentance. He also appealed to "this . . . evil generation," that is, the nation. "The men of Niniveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation, and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah" (Lk. 11:32). The fate of a nation, not merely that of individuals, hung in the balance.

Like a lone flash of lightning on a dark night, this reference to Niniveh illustrates Jesus' idea. National repentance is so rare that few believe it can ever take place. He used Niniveh's history as an example to prove that what He called for was indeed possible. If a heathen nation can repent, He said in effect, surely the nation that claims to be God's chosen people can do the same!

"As Jonah became a sign unto the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation. . . . The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation, and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed, a greater than Jonah is here." Luke 11:30,32.

The "How" of Heathen Nineveh's Repentance

If one picture is worth a thousand words, Nineveh's repentance vividly illustrates a national response to the call of God. A nation repented, not simply a scattered group of individuals. We find it easier to believe a "great fish" swallowed Jonah alive than to accept that a government and a nation can repent at the preaching of God's Word. "The people of Nineveh believed God proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them" (Jonah 3:5). There is no reason to doubt this sacred history.

This repentance began with "the greatest," and extended downward from the usual order in history to "least of them." "Word came to the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes.[3000] And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles" (Jonah 3:6,7).

It is true that this call to repent did not originate as the royal palace. But note that the government of Nineveh wholeheartedly supported it. The "city" repented from top to bottom. Fantastic! The repentance was both nationally "proclaimed and published," and individually received. The divine warning had proclaimed a national overthrow of Nineveh; the leadership led the people to repent - a national repentance.

Jesus' point was this: if this happened once in history, why could it not happen with the Jews also? The Jews could have achieved national repentance easily and practically. (And why can it not happen with us? . . even in sackcloth and ashes? . . with suit and tie?) The high priest, Caiaphas, could have led out as well as did the king of Nineveh. Caiaphas needed only to accept the principle of the cross as Jesus taught it.

How Caiaphas Could Have Led Israel to Repentance

Let us give Caiaphas the generous benefit of a doubt. At first he could have been sincerely uncertain how to relate to Jesus in the early days of His ministry. But by the time of Jesus' trial he could have taken a firm stand for right. He needed only to make a simple speech such as this to the Sanhedrin: "For a time I didn't understand the work of Jesus. You brethren have shared my misunderstanding. Something has happened among us that has been beyond us. But I have studied the Scriptures lately. I have seen that beneath His lowly outward guise, Jesus of Nazareth is indeed the true Messiah. He fulfills the prophetic details. And now, brethren, I humbly acknowledge Him as such, and I forthwith step down from my high position and shall be the first to install Him as Israel's true High Priest."

A gasp of surprise would have rippled through the Sanhedrin chambers if Caiaphas had said these words. Today he would be honored all over the world as the noblest leader of God's people in all history. He could have done what Moses would have loved to do. (In fact, Moses refused Pharaoh's throne.) The Jews, many of them, would doubtless have followed Caiaphas' lead. We have already seen how the religious leaders fastened national guilt upon the people. It follows that the same leaders could as easily have led them into national repentance. Christ could have died in some other way than murder by His own people, and Jerusalem could today be the "joy of the whole earth" rather than its sorest plague spot.

If the remnant church ultimately chooses to follow ancient Israel in impenitence, Christ will suffer at her hands the most appalling humiliation He has ever endured. He will be crucified afresh, wounded anew "in the house of [His] friends" (Zech. 13:6). Humanity's final indignity would be heaped upon His sacrifice.

But God's Word must proclaim good news. Christ did not sacrifice Himself to be defeated. The antitypical Day of Atonement resolves all doubt. In the light of the cross we see the assurance that the church will at last overcome this tragic ancient pattern of unbelief. The church is His prized possession, "which He has purchased with His own blood" (Acts 20:28). In the end His people will not deprive Him of His reward.

For once in history, history will not repeat itself. His church will fully vindicate Christ. He will see that the infinite price He paid for their redemption was worthwhile. An infinite sacrifice will fully redeem and heal an infinite measure of human sin.

Though He was "a greater" than Jonah and "a greater than Solomon," Christ did not appear in the glorious garb and pomp of Solomon. Nor did He "cause His voice to be heard in the street" as did Jonah (cmpr Mt. 12:42; Isa. 42:2). Yet the Jewish leaders had evidence enough of His authority. The quality of His solemn call to repentance convinced them of what their pride refused to confess. No other "sign" would be given that "evil and adulterous generation." Once she refused to acknowledge Heaven's last call to repentance, nothing could stay Israel's frightful doom.

And the sure evidence of the Holy Spirit's work today resides in the True Witness' solemn call to us to repent.

The Ingathering of Repentant Jews

There remains a luminous hope for ancient Israel's literal descendants in our day:

"Hardening in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved. . . . For the gifts and the calling of God are irrecoverable. . . . Through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy." (Rom. 11:25-31).

Note that the fulfillment of the prophecy hinges on a repentant Christian church. In the days before us we shall see some surprising developments among repentant Jews:

"When this gospel shall be presented in its fullness to the Jews, many will accept Christ as the Messiah. Among Christian ministers there are only a few who feel called upon to labor for the Jewish people; but to those who have been often passed by, as well as to all others, the message of mercy and hope in Christ is to come.
In the closing proclamation of the gospel, when special work is to be done for classes of people hitherto neglected, God expects His messengers to take particular interest in the Jewish people whom they find in all parts of the earth. As the Old Testament Scriptures are blended with the New in an explanation of Jehovah's eternal purpose, this will be to many of the Jews as the dawn of a new creation, the resurrection of the soul. As they see the Christ of the gospel dispensation portrayed in the pages of the Old Testament Scriptures, and perceive how clearly the New Testament explains the Old, their slumbering faculties will be aroused, and they will recognize Christ as the Saviour of the world. Many will by faith receive Christ as their Redeemer. To them will be fulfilled the words, "As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name." John 1:12.
Among the Jews are some who, like Saul of Tarsus, are mighty in the Scriptures, and these will proclaim with wonderful power the immutability of the law of God. The God of Israel will bring this to pass in our day. His arm is not shortened that it cannot save. As His servants labor in faith for those who have long been neglected and despised, His salvation will be revealed." {AA 380.2-381.2}

How can we call the Jews to such repentance, unless we experience it ourselves? God's great heart of pity is moved on behalf of these suffering people, and a great blessing awaits them when we are prepared to be the agents to bring it:

"Notwithstanding the awful doom pronounced upon the Jews as a nation at the time of their rejection of Jesus of Nazareth, there have lived from age to age many noble, God-fearing Jewish men and women who have suffered in silence. God has comforted their hearts in affliction and has beheld with pity their terrible situation. He has heard the agonizing prayers of those who have sought Him with all the heart for a right understanding of His word. Some have learned to see in the lowly Nazarene whom their forefathers rejected and crucified, the true Messiah of Israel. As their minds have grasped the significance of the familiar prophecies so long obscured by tradition and misinterpretation, their hearts have been filled with gratitude to God for the unspeakable gift He bestows upon every human being who chooses to accept Christ as a personal Saviour." {AA 379.3}

Could it happen in our time?

Yes, if we really want it. The Jews will be our pupils, to learn from us what they did not learn 2000 years ago - how to repent.

Chapter 9. How the Ancient Jewish Nation Sealed Their Doom

The A - to - Z story of their rebellion is frightening. Scripture warns us that we stand poised on the brink of a similar disaster.

Could Jesus accuse people of a crime when they were innocent? If someone accused me for example of starting World War I, I would respond that this was unreasonable. I was not even born when it started. Yet Jesus accused the Jewish leaders of His day of guilt for a crime committed before any of them were born. His charge against them sounds unreasonable.

The story is in Matthew 23. Jesus has just upbraided the scribes and Pharisees with a series of "woes" accompanied by vivid flashes of irony and indignation. He concludes by springing on them this charge of murdering a certain Zechariah: "That on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar." (Mt. 23:35) For years I thought this Zechariah was a victim whom Christ's hearers had personally murdered in the temple during their lifetime, not more than 30 or 40 years previous.

Human Guilt from A to Z

I was shocked to discover that this man was murdered some 800 years earlier, 2.Chronicles 24:20,21 records the story. [4000] Why did Jesus charge this crime on the Jews of His day?

He was not unfair. When we see the principle of corporate guilt, the picture becomes clear. In rejecting Him, the Jewish leaders acted out all human guilt from A to Z (Abel to Zechariah), even though they may not yet have personally committed a single act of murder. They were one in spirit with their fathers who had actually shed the blood of the innocent Zechariah in the temple. In other words, they would do it again, and they did do it - to Jesus.

By refusing the call to repentance which John the Baptist and Jesus proclaimed, they agreed to assume the guilt of all murders of innocent victims ever since the days of Abel. One who could not err fastened the entire load on them.

Suppose the Jewish leaders had repented? If so, they would have repented of "the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world" (Lk. 11:50). And thus they would not have gone on to crucify Christ.

To understand Jesus' thinking, we need to review the Hebrew idea of corporate personality. The church is the "Isaac" of faith, Abraham's true descendant, "one body" with him and with all true believers of all ages. To Jewish and Gentile believers alike, Paul says Abraham is "our Father" (Rom. 4:1-13). Even to the Gentile believers he says, "Our fathers were . . . baptized into Moses." "We [are] all baptized into one body - whether Jews or Greeks." (1.Cor. 10:1,2;12,13). We "all" means past generations and the present generation.

Thus Christ's body comprises all who have ever believed in Him from Adam down to the last remnant who welcome Him at His return. All are one individual in the pattern of Paul's thinking. Even a child can see this principle. Although it is his hand that steals from the cookie jar, when mother learns what happened, it is his bottom that gets spanked. To the child this is perfectly fair.

The Old Testament Makes it Clear

a) Hosea depicts Israel's many generations as one individual progressing through youth to adulthood. He personifies Israel as a girl betrothed to the Lord. Israel "shall sing . . . as in the days of her youth, as in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt" (Hosea 11:1; 2:15).
b) Ezekiel defines Jerusalem's history as the biography of one individual:

"And say, Thus saith the Lord God unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite. . . . When I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love . . . Thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom." (Ezekiel 16:3-13).
Generations of Israelites came and went, but her corporate personal identity remained. The nation carried the guilt of "youth" into adulthood, as an adult remains guilty of a wrong committed when he was a youth - even though physiologists say that time has replaced every physical cell in his body. One's moral personal identity remains regardless of the molecular composition of the body.
c) Moses taught this same principle. He addressed his generation as the "you" who should witness the captivity to Babylon nearly a thousand years later (see Lev. 26:3-40). He also called on succeeding generations to recognize their corporate guilt with "their fathers": "If they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, which they trespassed against me, and that they also have walked contrary to me; and that I also have walked contrary to them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept the punishment of their iniquity. . . . I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt." (Lev. 26:40-45).
d) Succeeding generations sometimes recognized this principle. King Josiah confessed that "great is the wrath of the Lord that is aroused against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us" (2.Kings 22:13). He said nothing about the guilt of his contemporaries, so clearly did he see his own generation's as [well as] the guilt of previous generations.
e) Ezra lumps together the guilt of his generation with that of their fathers: "Since the days of our fathers to this day we have been very guilty, and for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests, have been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands" (Ezra 9:7). "Our kings" were those of previous generations, for there was no living king in Ezra's day."
f) The David-Christ relationship is striking. David's Psalms express so perfectly what Christ later experienced that the Saviour used David's words to express the feelings of His own broken heart. "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" (Ps. 22:1; Mt. 27:46). Christ is the Word "made flesh." Nowhere does the perfect corporate identity of a "member" with the "Head" appears more clearly than in this David-Christ relationship. Christ knows Himself to be the "son of David." He has feasted on David's words and lived David's experiences. The perfect picture He sees Himself in the Old Testament in the experience and words of the prophets, He lives out in His own flesh through faith.
g) This idea of identity reaches a zenith in the Song of Solomon, the love story of the ages. Christ loves a "woman," even His church. Israel, the foolish "child" called out of Egypt, the fickle girl in her youthful "time of love," the faithless woman in the kingdom days, "grieved and forsaken" in the Captivity, at last becomes the chastened and mature bride of Christ. At last, through corporate repentance she is prepared to become a mate to Him.

Would You Have Done Better

Let us picture ourselves in the crowd that gathered before Pilate that fateful Friday morning. The strange Prisoner stands bound. It is popular to join in condemning Him. Not a voice is raised in His defense.

Suppose you are connected with Pilat's government, or are in the employ of Caiaphas, the High Priest. You support your family with your wages. Would you have the courage to stand up alone and say, "We are making a terrible mistake here! This man is not guilty of these charges. He is what He claims - He is the divine Son of God! I appeal to you, Pilate and Caiaphas, accept this Man as the Messiah!"

Realizing how easily a defense of Jesus might put you on the cross too, would you (or I) dare to speak out? Surely the answer is obvious. We dare not say that the church as a world body cannot know this repentance, lest when we survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of glory died, we pour contempt on His loving sacrifice by implying that it was in vain.

Pentecost: Israel's History Not Totally in Vain

Jesus' appeal to the Jews failed to move them. Yet a glorious demonstration of corporate repentance occurred at Pentecost. His calls at last bore fruit.

The three thousand converted that day probably did not all personally shout "Crucify Him!" at Christ's trial, or personally mock Him as He hung on the cross. Yet they recognized that they shared the guilt of those who did.

But the Jewish leaders stubbornly refused to do so: "Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? . . . You . . . intend to bring this Man's blood on us!" (Acts 5:28). In no way would they accept corporate guilt! (We SdAs have also denied ours, for decades.) Thus the Jews denied their only hope of salvation.

Pentecost has inspired God's people for nearly 2000 years. What made those grand results possible? The people believed the portrayal of their corporate guilt [See Appendix C] and frankly confessed their part in the greatest sin of all ages, which their leaders had refused to repent of Pentecost was an example of laity rising above the spiritual standards of their leaders. The final outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the latter rain will be an extension of the Pentecost experience.

A leadership reaction against Pentecost occurred a few months later. The Sanhedrin refused to accept Stephen's portrayal of corporate guilt through their national history: "You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers." (Acts 7:51,52). They "stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; and they cast him out of the city and stoned him." (Acts 7:57,58).

Do we see the pattern in this? It began with Cain. Generation after generation refused to see their corporate guilt. Finally, impenitent Israel demonstrated to the world for all time to come the tragic end that follows national impenitence. "All these things happened unto them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the ages have come." (1.Cor. 10:11)

But in that tragic hour when Israel sealed her doom by murdering Stephen, a truth began to work itself out in one honest human heart. It would lead at last to correction of the sin of Israel. The "witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul." This young man's disturbed conscience thought through the great idea of a worldwide "body of Christ" that would eventually exhibit in full and final display the blessings of repentance which the Jews refused.

Chapter 10. The Urgency of Christ's Call to Repent

After watching nearly 150 years of His patient waiting, we may be tempted to think that Christ is a divine Wimp. But He is not playing games with us. He means business.

The denomination known as SdAs is recognized in the writings of Ellen White as the prophetic "remnant" church. Further, since our beginnings our pioneers have believed it to be the fulfillment of the Revelation prophecy. If this is true, we have an authentic denominational identity. If it is not true, we have no true reason to exist.

"In a special sense Seventh-day Adventists have been set in the world as watchmen and light bearers. To them has been entrusted the last warning for a perishing world. On them is shining wonderful light from the word of God. They have been given a work of the most solemn import--the proclamation of the first, second, and third angels' messages. There is no other work of so great importance. They are to allow nothing else to absorb their attention. {9T 19.1}
"The most solemn truths ever entrusted to mortals have been given us to proclaim to the world. The proclamation of these truths is to be our work. The world is to be warned, and God's people are to be true to the trust committed to them. They are not to engage in speculation, neither are they to enter into business enterprises with unbelievers; for this would hinder them in their God-given work." {9T 19.2; 1T, 186,187; 1SM p. 91-93; 7BC p. 959-961.}

Doubters on many sides are now seriously challenging our prophetic destiny, contending that the organized church has failed so badly that it has ceased to be the true prophetic remnant church. The source of this separationist mentality is a famine for the Good News truths of the 1888 message. The 1888 Good News ideas are like essential vitamins to a human body; their absence invites disease.

There has been a failure to comprehend the grand dimensions of God's grace, one dimension of which is the 1888 idea of justification by faith. It has not only been misunderstood, but denied. A legalistic vacuum has been created, into which rush a multitude of confusing and discouraging heresies. Through many decades of suppressing the "most precious message" we have developed a rigid, often harsh and uncharitable spirit of egocentric concern. The supreme concern is our own security, the salvation of our own little souls. Such religious fear brings out the worst in human nature. A better motivation is concern for Christ Himself. The presence in the church of "angry saints" must be a keen embarrassment to Him. While righteous indignation is valid, rude and ugly anger is out of place in the remnant church. The lack of Christian charity and common courtesy in some of the shrill voices in the church is phenomenal. It is a mistake to assume that Elijah was not a decent, Christian gentleman. Rebukes are never sanctified unless there are tears in the voice and in the pen. For decades "we" have systematically deprived our people of the church more abounding grace of that heartwarming 1888 message. The old adage says, it is hungry animals that fight.

The Secret Source of Separationist Poison

It is serious not to understand the true nature of agape. Critics who have given up hope cannot see how God's love could possibly be loyal to a faulty, erring church. They assume that divine love is like human love - conditioned by the value or goodness of its object and dependent on it. (We fall in love with someone beautiful. We cannot comprehend falling in love with someone ugly.) So they look at the enfeebled and defective condition of the church and wonder how God's love for it can be permanent. "The church has failed," they say, "therefore, God's patient love must cease."

Divine love (agape) being free and independent, it creates goodness and value in its object. It is this creative quality which guarantees the success of the message to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans.

Off-shoot enthusiasts see such continued patient love as evidence that makes Christ to be a heavenly Wimp. They misconstrue agape, thinking it is too soft, not realizing that it is also hard as steel. They do not understand its power, how it is a love that is sovereign and independent, thus free to love the unlovely. It will transform a lukewarm church into a repentant one. It can succeed at last in converting honest souls in both liberal and arch-conservative camps, and bring disparate brethren into heart unity.

A separationist mind-set does not see that the honor and vindication of Christ Himself are intimately involved in the repentance of the denominated church. They see the sins of the church as unforgivable or at least irreversible, and therefore they do not believe that denominational repentance is possible. Leadership on the other hand often exacerbate the problem, maintaining that "all is well" and denominational repentance is unnecessary. Some sincere people who are ignorant of the message of Christ's righteousness are moved by what valid criticism is patently implicit in harsh messages of supposed "straight testimony," and they separate from the fellowship of the organized church.

This is unwise; it is unnecessary, and it is wrong. Christ never calls us to leave the church; He calls us to repent within the church, and to "sigh and cry" positively and effectively instead of negatively.[4700] An inspired voice emphatically assures us of ultimate denominational repentance. This is implicit in statements like these:

"I am instructed to say to Seventh-day Adventists the world over, God has called us as a people to be a peculiar treasure unto Himself. He has appointed that His church on earth shall stand perfectly united in the Spirit and counsel of the Lord of hosts to the end of time." {Letter 54, 1908. (Jan. 21, 1908.), 2SM 397.3}

"Trust to God's guardianship. His church is to be taught. Enfeebled and defective though it is, it is the object of His supreme regard." --Letter 279, 1904. (Aug. 1, 1904.) {2SM 396.3}

"While there have been fierce contentions in the effort to maintain our distinctive character, yet we have as Bible Christians ever been on gaining ground." --Letter 170, 1907. (May 6, 1907.) {2SM 396.4}

"The evidence we have had for the past fifty years of the presence of the Spirit of God with us as a people, will stand the test of those who are now arraying themselves on the side of the enemy and bracing themselves against the message of God." --Letter 356, 1907. (Oct. 24, 1907.) {2SM 397.1}

"Satan will work his miracles to deceive; he will set up his power as supreme. The church may appear as about to fall, but it does not fall. It remains, while the sinners in Zion will be sifted out--the chaff separated from the precious wheat. This is a terrible ordeal, but nevertheless it must take place. None but those who have been overcoming by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony will be found with the loyal and true, without spot or stain of sin, without guile in their mouths. We must be divested of our self-righteousness and arrayed in the righteousness of Christ.". {2SM 380.2}

"I pray earnestly that the work we do at this time shall impress itself deeply on heart and mind and soul. Perplexities will increase; but let us, as believers in God, encourage one another. Let us not lower the standard, but keep it lifted high, looking to Him who is the Author and Finisher of our faith. When in the night season I am unable to sleep, I lift my heart in prayer to God, and He strengthens me and gives me the assurance that He is with His ministering servants in the home field and in distant lands. I am encouraged and blessed as I realize that the God of Israel is still guiding His people, and that He will continue to be with them, even to the end." {2SM 406.3}

"I am instructed to say to our ministering brethren, Let the messages that come from your lips be charged with the power of the Spirit of God. If ever there was a time when we needed the special guidance of the Holy Spirit, it is now. We need a thorough consecration. It is fully time that we gave to the world a demonstration of the power of God in our own lives and in our ministry." {2SM 406.4}

Christ's message to Laodicea, in fact His very character of agape, is on trial before the heavenly universe. Will it be effective? Or will century after century go by with it never accomplishing the great work it calls for?

Certain Truths Stand Out

a) It is clear that the Lord's greatest concern is for the human leadership of His church. "God's ministers are symbolized by the seven stars. . . . Christ's ministers are the spiritual guardians of the people entrusted to their care." {GW p. 13,14} "`These things, says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand.' These words are spoken to the teachers in the church - those entrusted by God with weighty responsibilities" {AA 586} They are "those whom God has appointed to bear the responsibilities of leadership" in the church, "those in the offices that God has appointed for the leadership of His people." {AA 164} If they refuse Christ's special call to repent, church organization must eventually disintegrate. But leadership can respond to Christ's call, and Revelation indicates that before the end they will."

b) Christ respects church organization. He intends that the "angel of the church" shall repent first, and then minister the experience to the worldwide church.[5000] When the leadership of the church "in great measure" rejected the 1888 message {1SM 234,235}, He did not disregard them; He permitted their unbelief to arrest the finishing of His work for at least a century. Indeed, one might assume that if this unbelief persists for century after century, the Lord will indeed be a Wimp and be powerless in that He permits an unrepentant "angel of the church" to continue to frustrate His purposes. The idea is that if we will not keep step with the Lord, he will forever be frustrated and be forced to keep step with us.

c) However, we have an encouraging promise to lay hold of. The time will come when the Lord will override impenitent leadership. In 1885, three years before "the beginning" of the 1888 loud-cry message, Ellen White wrote to the president of the General Conference, a man who later chose to reject that "most precious message" when it came:
"Unless those who can help in ___ are aroused to a sense of their duty, they will not recognize the work of God when the loud cry of the third angel shall be heard. When light goes forth to lighten the earth, instead of coming up to the help of the Lord, they will want to bind about His work to meet their narrow ideas. Let me tell you that the Lord will work in this last work in a manner very much out of the common order of things, and in a way that will be contrary to any human planning. There will be those among us who will always want to control the work of God, to dictate even what movements shall be made when the work goes forward under the direction of the angel who joins the third angel in the message to be given to the world. God will use ways and means by which it will be seen that He is taking the reins in His own hands. The workers will be surprised by the simple means that He will use to bring about and perfect His work of righteousness. Those who are accounted good workers will need to draw nigh to God, they will need the divine touch. They will need to drink more deeply and continuously at the fountain of living water, in order that they may discern God's work at every point. Workers may make mistakes, but you should give them a chance to correct their errors, give them an opportunity to learn caution, by leaving the work in their hands."{TM 299.2}[5300]

No one knows precisely how the Lord will take "the reins in His own hands," Although His love is infinite, His patience is not. His love for a lost world will prove greater than His patient indulgence of continued SdA lukewarmness. Christ died for the world. There will come a time when He can no longer tolerate persistent, willful impenitence. He is quite capable of a righteous indignation. When the time comes for it to blaze forth, "Who is able to stand?"

When Christ's appeal for repentance is appreciated by "the angel of the church," contrition and reconciliation with Him will be communicated to the worldwide body far more quickly than we think possible. Hearts will be humbled, and at last a people will be prepared for proclaiming the loud-cry message to the world for whom Christ died. There is no reason why this vast task cannot be accomplished within our lifetime.

Will Christ Reject Laodicea

"The Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son" (Jh. 5:22). In turn, Christ says of the one who will not believe in Him, "I do not judge him" (Jh. 12:47). The only people therefore whom He will "judge" will be those whom He vindicates. The name "Laodicea" actually means "vindicated the people," God's people.

The message recognizes the church as Christ's one object of supreme regard. His final appeal implies that He has hope of success, that He fully expects His church to respond, else He would not waste His divine effort. His call expresses confidence in agape as a constraining power.

Further; the time lapse of over a century indicates how His patience and long-suffering demonstrate a purpose to succeed. He could not bestow such care upon an object which He intends ultimately to abandon. Thus the message to Laodicea is full of hope. The word "Laodicea" is not a synonym for failure. What is wrong with Laodicea is not her name but her lukewarmness, her blindness, her wretchedness, not her identity as the last of the seven churches.

True, some individuals will never repent. Of them we read,

"The figure of spewing out of His mouth means that He cannot offer up your prayers or your expressions of love to God. He cannot endorse your teaching of His word or your spiritual work in anywise. He cannot present your religious exercises with the request that grace be given you." {6T 408.2}

For some, perhaps for many, this personal rejection may have already taken place in our time. Leaders who have rejected Christ's appeal may continue to hold high office and deliver milque-toast messages:

"The command is: "Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof." These sighing, crying ones had been holding forth the words of life; they had reproved, counseled, and entreated. Some who had been dishonoring God repented and humbled their hearts before Him. But the glory of the Lord had departed from Israel; although many still continued the forms of religion, His power and presence were lacking. {5T 210.3}
"Here we see that the church--the Lord's sanctuary--was the first to feel the stroke of the wrath of God. The ancient men, those to whom God had given great light and who had stood as guardians of the spiritual interests of the people, had betrayed their trust. They had taken the position that we need not look for miracles and the marked manifestation of God's power as in former days. Times have changed. These words strengthen their unbelief, and they say: The Lord will not do good, neither will He do evil. He is too merciful to visit His people in judgment. Thus `Peace and safety' is the cry from men who will never again lift up their voice like a trumpet to show God's people their transgressions and the house of Jacob their sins. These dumb dogs that would not bark are the ones who feel the just vengeance of an offended God. Men, maidens, and little children all perish together." {5T 211.2}

"If all that appears to be divine life were such in reality; if all who profess to present the truth to the world were preaching for the truth and not against it, and if they were men of God guided by His Spirit,--then might we see something cheering amid the prevailing moral darkness. But the spirit of antichrist is prevailing to such an extent as never before. Well may we exclaim: "Help, Lord; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men." I know that many think far too favorably of the present time. These ease-loving souls will be engulfed in the general ruin. Yet we do not despair. We have been inclined to think that where there are no faithful ministers there can be no true Christians, but this is not the case. God has promised that where the shepherds are not true He will take charge of the flock Himself. God has never made the flock wholly dependent upon human instrumentalities. But the days of purification of the church are hastening on apace. God will have a people pure and true. In the mighty sifting soon to take place we shall be better able to measure the strength of Israel. The signs reveal that the time is near when the Lord will manifest that His fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor."
"The days are fast approaching when there will be great perplexity and confusion. Satan, clothed in angel robes, will deceive, if possible, the very elect. There will be gods many and lords many. Every wind of doctrine will be blowing. Those who have rendered supreme homage to "science falsely so called" will not be the leaders then. Those who have trusted to intellect, genius, or talent will not then stand at the head of rank and file. They did not keep pace with the light. Those who have proved themselves unfaithful will not then be entrusted with the flock. In the last solemn work few great men will be engaged. They are self-sufficient, independent of God, and He cannot use them. The Lord has faithful servants, who in the shaking, testing time will be disclosed to view. There are precious ones now hidden who have not bowed the knee to Baal. They have not had the light which has been shining in a concentrated blaze upon you. But it may be under a rough and uninviting exterior the pure brightness of a genuine Christian character will be revealed. In the day time we look toward heaven but do not see the stars. They are there, fixed in the firmament, but the eye cannot distinguish them. In the night we behold their genuine luster." {5T 79.4-80.1}

There is alarming evidence that in one sense the Lord did later "spew out" those who initially rejected the beginning of the loud-cry message in the 1888 era:

"God would have His people love one another and help one another, thus strengthening every good work. We should counsel with one another, the old, experienced laborers with those whom God shall raise up to advance His work as we approach the great consummation. But if such men as Elder Smith, Elder Van Horn, and Elder Butler shall stand aloof, not blending with the elements God sees essential to carry forward the work in these perilous times, they will be left behind. God will complete His work in righteousness. These brethren have had every opportunity to stand in the ranks that are pressing on to victory; but if they refuse, the work will advance without them. God will send by whom He will; His message will not return unto Him void, but will accomplish that whereunto it is sent. And if they refuse the message, the men whom God designed should hold the same relation to the younger workers as did Moses to Joshua, will fail of doing the work the Lord designed they should do. They will be a hindrance in the place of a blessing. The work will go forward; but these brethren, who might have received the richest blessings, will meet with eternal loss; for though they should repent and be saved at last, they can never regain that which they have lost through their wrong course of action. They might have been God's instruments to carry the work forward with power; but their influence was exerted to counteract the Lord's message, to make the work appear questionable. Every jot and tittle of this will have to be repented of." {PC 155.1; Letter, Jan 9, 1893; 1888 Materials 1128.} "The conference at Minneapolis was the golden opportunity for all present to humble the heart before God and to welcome Jesus as the great Instructor, but the stand taken by some at that meeting proved their ruin. They have never seen clearly since, and they never will, for they persistently cherish the spirit that prevailed there, a wicked, criticizing, denunciatory spirit. Yet since that meeting, abundant light and evidence has been graciously given, that all might understand what is truth." {15MR 301.4}

Please note: in these solemn statements, Ellen White does not say that these dear brethren will be lost at last. She says they would never recover the message or the experience which they rejected.

History demonstrates that this is true. Even though the leading brethren whom she names did eventually confess their error, they never recovered the message itself and they never knew the joy of proclaiming it. Their books, sermons, and articles reside in the archives for inspection - the essential elements that made the 1888 message the "beginning" of the loud cry are absent therein. In By Faith Alone, Norval F. Pease recognizes that when the 19th century became the 20th, none of those who initially rejected the message were proclaiming it. {Pease, By Faith Alone, p. 164}

In this sense, the brethren met with "eternal loss." In that special sense that Ellen White described in the Testimonies, vol. 6, page 408 statement, they were "spewed" out of the mouth of the Lord as leaders in the church, even though they continued to occupy high offices until their deaths.

What a lesson for us! Christ's call to "the angel of the church" is not to be taken lightly. He is not playing games or trifling with us. He means business. What a pity for one to go on arrogantly as a leader, a pastor, a church officer, en elder, when Christ has nothing to do with him! But Christ's words do not predict a complete corporate failure of Laodicea.

The Last Great Controversy Between Christ and Satan

Offshoots have occasionally arisen on the assumption that Christ has already rejected the entire leadership of His church.[6500] These grow out of a misunderstanding of His call to repent. It is assumed that

a) the call to repent is for individual repentance;
b) it has been understood; and
c) it has been rejected.

On the other hand, Scripture indicates that

a) the call is to corporate and denominational repentance;
b) history demonstrates that it has not been fully understood, and
c) it has, therefore, not been rejected, at least not finally and intelligently.

If it should eventually be true that Christ's call is rejected by His body, then the church would indeed be doomed. But that great "if" is not true. It would require the failure of the Laodicean message and the final defeat of the Lord Jesus as faithful Divine Lover. Everyone who is willing to concede such a defeat for Christ stands on the side of the enemy, for Satan is determined that such a defeat must take place. Even the nagging doubt that expresses the "if" is born of a sinful unbelief which is disloyal to Christ.

Satan constantly assailed the Son of God with barbed "ifs." "If He be the king of Israel," "if God will have Him," (Mt. 27:42,43) were torture to His soul. We are on Satan's side in the final great struggle if we talk about "if the Bride does not repent and does not make herself ready," (Rev. 19:7) or "if the church does not respond" (Mt. 23:37). That doubt of Christ's complete vindication paralyzes one's devotion like nerve gas paralyzes a person's will. No one can work whole-heartedly for denominational repentance if he or she harbors a secret doubt that it is possible or that it is necessary. This doubt underlies much of our present confusion, inertia, and disunity. But it is treason to Christ, as surely as were Judas' betrayal and Peter's denial of Him.

The medicine must fit the disease. Christ's intent is that repentance be ministered throughout the church at large.

It is true that we may individually battle for personal victory over evil temper, perverted appetite, love of amusement, pride of dress, sensuality, or a thousand other failings. But the point of the Lord's appeal in Revelation 3 is that as a church and, more particularly as church leadership, we are guilty of denominational sin.

There is specifically

a) denominational pride ("You say, I am rich and I have been enriched")
b) denominational self-satisfaction ("You say, . . . I have need of nothing");
c) denominational self-deception ("You do not know that you are wretched"; and
d) denominational assumptions of success which are not divinely validated ("You are miserable, poor, blind, and naked").

The remedies proposed are specific:

"gold refined in the fire,"
"white garments," and
"eye salve."

Upon the minds of church leadership there will be deeply impressed as never before in history a sense of our true role on the stage of the universe. "The house of David" will be deeply humbled by a new view of the crucifixion of Christ and their part in it, and then there will be "opened" that "fountain . . . for sin and for uncleanness" (Zech. 12:10; 13:1).

We Must Succeed Where the Jews Failed

With the repentance of Nineveh standing in sacred history as the model, we see the pattern that will develop in the church today. "From the greatest of them to the least of them," (Jonah 3:5) the repentance in the Laodicean message will spread from the top to the bottom throughout the world church. Unless Christ's sacrifice is in vain, it will eventually come, and both the writer and the reader of this book can find a way to hasten that day.

When this is understood and embraced by the "angel" of the church, the methods of its promotion will be uniquely effective. The Holy Spirit, not Madison Avenue promotional techniques, will have "caused it to be proclaimed and published." As in Nineveh's day, "the king and his nobles" will range themselves solidly in support of what Christ calls for (Jonah 3:5-9). This principle invests every individual member with vital importance. This is because corporate repentance does not merely "sigh and cry" but works effectively by the faith of Christ to cooperate with Him in His final work of atonement. "One who is feeble . . . in that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the Angel of the Lord" (Zech. 12:8). The Lord can still use humble instruments to do a great work. But they must diligently do their homework, discipline their minds, and become informed.

Although in the past the Lord's calls to repent have usually been refused, we must not expect that His final call also must fail. The prophetic picture is clear: something must happen in the end of time that has never happened before. The long sad history of millenniums of darkness must be reversed. This is required by the Bible doctrine of the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary. The remnant church will glorify the Lord and vindicate Him in a way that has never yet been done. The key element will be a true and pure message of righteousness by faith, "the third angel's message in verity."

Evidence More Important Than Our Subjective Feelings

Our fallible method of considering the church's relative goodness or badness is not a valid method of judgment. Her identity does not depend on our subjective human judgment of her virtues or her failings. It depends on the objective criteria of Bible prophecy and the creative capacity of agape. Thus the real test of our faith is centered in Scripture itself.

The prophecies of Daniel and Revelation pinpoint the rise of the last-day church commissioned to proclaim the everlasting gospel in its final setting. The history of the rise of this church demonstrates that it fulfills the criteria, but thus far she may have failed to accomplish her task.

The Larger Issue: Christ's Honor

Thus the church will "make herself ready" to be the Bride of Christ (Rev. 19:7) . He deserves this practical fruitage of His sacrifice. He has suffered enough, and at last His church will give him the complete surrender that a bride gives to her husband.

There are sincere church members who have doubted that such a vindication will ever take place. They need to understand that their doubting "ifs" are hindering the true work of God. These doubts are motivating souls to defect to the ranks of the one who is determined that Christ shall not be honored at last. The Lord's most serious problem is not the outward enemies of His work, but the blindness and unbelief among His professed followers.

Have you ever heard of a bride in a wedding ceremony refusing to accept the bridegroom in spite of his assurances of faithful love? Would not such a bridegroom be terribly humiliated?

Can you think of any greater tragedy in the end of history than for a disappointed Christ to stand before "the door" knocking in vain and ultimately turning away in the humiliation of defeat? That is what the devil wants! Why should we give in to him by default? The picture we see in Scripture indicates complete success. "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart - these, O God, You will not despise" (Ps. 51:17). By virtue of the infinite sacrifice on Calvary, we must choose to believe that the Laodicean message will fully accomplish its objective.

"That which God purposed to do for the world through Israel, the chosen nation, He will finally accomplish through His church on earth today. He has "let out His vineyard unto other husbandmen," even to His covenant-keeping people, who faithfully "render Him the fruits in their seasons." {PK 713,714}

The Laodicean church is the new covenant church. Not for her own intrinsic goodness will the Lord remain loyal to her, but because He has to be a covenant-keeping God. "Not because of our righteousness or uprightness of your heart that you go in to possess the land, but . . . [that] the Lord your God . . . may fulfill the word which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" (Dt. 9:5). That covenant aspect of Christ's character is the assurance that the message to Laodicea will not fail.

We have no right to sit in judgment on our Lord's call, and deliberate over it as though it were a human suggestion someone makes. Perish the very thought! Is it not sufficient that the Lord calls for repentance? How dare anyone say, "Well, I like the idea, but I doubt it will work," or, "In my personal opinion, we're not all that bad that we need denominational repentance." No committee or conference can dare to contradict Christ's call.

We read that

"With unerring accuracy the Infinite One still keeps account with the nations. While His mercy is tendered, with calls to repentance, this account remains open; but when the figures reach a certain amount which God has fixed, the ministry of His wrath begins. The account is closed. Divine patience ceases. Mercy no longer pleads in their behalf." {PK 364.1}

If He keeps account with nations, why can He not also keep an account with a denomination?

The universe of Heaven is watching us on their equivalent of TV. They also watched the crucifixion of the Prince of glory. They have seen that He has called for a humbling of heart, contrition, melting of soul, from the denomination that prides itself on being "the remnant church."

What response will they see us make in our generation?

Chapter 11. The Practical Problem: How Can a Church of Millions of Members Repent

Does our complex machinery get in the way of the Holy Spirit's working? As we get bigger and bigger, must we drift farther from Christ? There must be an answer.

How is it possible for a large organized church to repent? Must the body become spiritually more disjointed and uncoordinated, like a quadriplegic whose spasms and jerks are uncontrollable by the head?

The essential quality of repentance remains the same in all ages and in all circumstances. People, not machines, not organizations, repent. But the repentance called for from Laodicea is unique in circumstances, depth, and extent. The church is not a machine, nor is its organization an impersonal force. The church is a "body," and its organism is its vital functioning capacity. The individuals comprising this body can repent as a body because each member is integrally one with every other member.

As we have seen, metanoia (Greek for repentance) literally means "perceptive afterthought." It cannot be complete until the close of probationary history when history's guilt is at last discerned. So long as there is a tomorrow which will provide further reflection on the meaning of our "mind" today, or so long as another's sins may yet disclose to us our own deeper guilt, our repentance must remain to that extent incomplete.

But it will grow, for "at every advance step in Christian experience our repentance will deepen." {COL 160} The High Priest who is cleansing the heavenly sanctuary has not abdicated His work: His people may fail to learn their lessons, but He will bring them back over the same ground to test them again and again until they overcome. The final test may be in process now. {4T 214; 5T 623}

A Bright Future for God's Work

A beautiful experience is on the program of coming events, unique in history. We have often neglected that heartwarming prophecy from Zechariah, the Christ-centered prophet of the latter rain. He tells us that there will come to the last-day church and its leadership a heart-response to Calvary that will completely transform the church. Speaking through him of the final events, the Lord says:

"And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they have pierced; they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son. . . . In that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness." (Zech. 12:10-13:1).

Who is "the house of David"? It was anciently the government of the denominated people of God. Zechariah refers to the leadership of the last-day church, the same as "the angel of the church," or "the king and his nobles" to borrow Jonah's terminology. They are "the men of Judah" whom Daniel distinguishes from "the inhabitants of Jerusalem" (Dan. 9:7). "The house of David" includes all levels of leadership in the organized church.

Who are the "inhabitants of Jerusalem"? Jerusalem is a "city" of Abraham's descendants, the organized body of God's people. In Zechariah's day, it was the capital of a distinct group of people called to represent the true God to the nations of the world, a corporate, denominated body of professed worshippers.

"The Spirit of grace and supplication" is not to be poured out on scattered individual descendants of Abraham, but on the inhabitants of the "city," a visible body of God's denominated people on earth. (It is implied that no descendant of Abraham choosing to dwell outside "Jerusalem" will share in the blessing. After the Babylonian Captivity, those Jews were indeed lost to history who chose to remain in the nations where they were scattered, refusing to move back to the corporate, ancestral nation in Palestine.)

Does it seem impossible that a spirit of contrition can be poured out on a leadership and a world church congested by organizational complexity? The more involved the church becomes with its multitudinous entities, the greater is the danger of its huge collective self choking the simple, direct promptings of the Holy Spirit. Each individual catching a vision is tempted to feel that his hands are tied - what can he do? The great organizational monolith, permeated with formalism and lukewarmness, seems to move only at a snail's pace. Aside from this "Spirit of grace and supplication," the nearer we come to the end of time and the bigger the church becomes, the more complex and congested is its movement, and the more remote appears the prospect of this experience.

But let us not overlook what the Bible says. We need to remember that long before we developed our intricate systems of church organization, the Lord created infinitely more complex systems of organization, and yet "the spirit . . . was in the wheels" (Eze. 1:20). Our problem is not the complexity of organization; it is the collective love of self. And the message of the cross can take care of that!

Why the World Needs God's People

The world needs a "Jerusalem" as a "witness to all nations." (Acts 10:43) Without her; the task cannot be done. The history of old Jerusalem's failure proves that without "the Spirit of grace and supplications," denominational organization inevitably becomes rigid and misrepresentative of its divine mission. Zecharia says that a correct view of Calvary imparts contrition ("they will look on Me whom they [not the Jews and Romans of a past millenium] have pierced.") (Zech. 12:10) Thus the vision of the cross will provide the ultimate solution to the problem of human "sin and uncleanness." (Zech. 13:1)

What is "uncleanness"? It must be that deeper layer of unrealized selfish motivation that underlies all sin, which must be cleansed in the Day of Atonement, but which has never been fully accomplished in any previous generation. The motivation of fear of hell with the reverse side of the same coin, hope of eternal reward, will give way to the pure constraint of the love of Christ. The collective love of self will be "crucified with Christ" (Gal. 2:20).

How does that "Spirit of grace and supplication" work? Two distinct elements make up this remarkable experience:

a) "the Spirit of grace," an appreciation of the cross, a view of God's character of love completely devastating and annihilating to human self-sufficiency and pride; and
b) "the Spirit of supplication," prayer arising from melted, contrite hearts.

The difference in essential quality between this "supplication" and ordinary formal prayers is great. People will immediately detect the genuineness of such prayer because it will come from hearts humbled by corporate repentance. When prayer comes from such a heart, says David, then will we "teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners shall be converted to You" (Ps. 51:13). Soul-winning will become successful.

The Spirit pervading every congregation will be recognized. In close context to Zechariah's prophecy of chapter 10, we find another prophecy showing what will be the results of such denominational repentance:

"People from around the world will come on pilgrimages and pour into Jerusalem from many foreign cities to attend these celebrations. People will write their friends in other cities [denominations] and say, `Let's go to Jerusalem to ask the Lord to bless us, and be merciful to us. I'm going! Please come with me. Let's go now!" (Zech. 8:20,21, Living Prophecies, paraphrased by Kenneth N. Taylor).

The Cross and Denominational Repentance

What can anyone do to hasten this day? Must we go into our graves and leave it to some future generation?

If we refuse the repentance Christ calls for, the answer must be Yes.
If we hold to "business-as -usual" pride and dignity, the answer must be Yes.
If we permit past negative patterns of leadership reaction to continue, the answer must be Yes.

The answer can and will be No when personal and group love of self is crucified with Christ.

Only then will anyone have the courage to bear witness to truth in sanctified opposition to unsanctified group-thinking.

The answer to the question "How?" is the message of the cross. "They shall look on Me whom they have pierced," (Zech. 12:10) the Lord says. Here is focused the full recognition of corporate guilt; and the "Spirit" bestowed can only follow a full, frank repentance of the body. All human sin centers in the murder of the Son of God. So long as this is not perceived, the "Spirit" bestowed can only follow a full, frank repentance on the body. All human sin centers in the murder of the Son of God. So long as this is not perceived, the "Spirit of grace and supplication" is unwelcome to proud hearts and therefore not receivable. We then remain childish, tragically content to strut on the stage of the universe unaware of our true pathetic condition. A knowledge of the full truth brings sorrow for sin, not a self-centered fear of punishment, but a Christ-centered empathy for Him in His sufferings and a wholehearted concern for His vindication.

This transfer of concern from self to Christ will be thorough and pervasive. It has never been fully realized since apostolic days. "They will mourn for Him, as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him, as one grieves for a firstborn." (Zech. 12:10). Thank God, most of us have never known that particular kind of grief; yet we can begin to appreciate it. We will sing, "Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord." (Ps. 130:1). To shift our focus of concern for Christ - this phenomenon the Holy Spirit alone can accomplish.

Our natural concern for our own personal security has often permeated our spiritual experience in our hymns, our prayers, our sermons. If there were no power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish the miracle of this change, we might estimate that decades, perhaps even centuries, would be needed to effect such a transformation in human nature. But a "short work" is possible, and has been promised (Rom. 9:28). If Communism in Eastern Europe could collapse so suddenly, surely Laodicea's unbelief can collapse in a short time.

The last church is composed of individuals like everyone else in human history, born with a "carnal mind," the natural unregenerated heart of the sinner. But the revelation of truth will work for them a transformation of mind. The more fully the mind of Christ is received, the deeper becomes their sense of contrition. The after-perception of the enlightened mind views sin without illusion. Laodicea at last has her eyes open.

It's Good News, Not Bad

Nevertheless, this repentance is the opposite of despair or gloom. When we can view our sinful state with the repentance of enlightened "after perception," we can truly appreciate the "Good News" in it. Those who fear repentance lest it induce gloom or sadness misunderstand the mind of Christ and close their hearts to the healing power of the Holy Spirit. The laughter of the whole world is superficial and quickly turns to despair under trial. "Not as the world gives" is the joy of Christ, consistent with His being a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief (Jh. 14:27; Isa. 53:3). As the remnant church ministers amidst the tragic disintegration of human life that will characterize the last days, that deep unfailing joy of the Lord will emerge from a realistic contrition. A closer walk with the "man of sorrows" will enable God's people to help the homeless and hungry, those dying with AIDS, and those weeping over their broken bones.

Repentance for the "individual" is perceptive after-thought, a change of mind that views personal character and history in the light of Calvary. What was previously unrealized in the life becomes known. The deep-seated selfishness of the soul, the corruption of the motives, all are viewed in the light that streams from the cross.

Repentance for the church body is the same perceptive afterthought, but it views denominational history from the perspective of Calvary. What was previously unrealized within history becomes known. Movements and developments that were mysterious at the time are seen in their larger, truer significance. Pentecost forever defines this glorious reality of repentance.

It's Good News, Not Bad The "Why" of Apostolic Success

The secret of the early church's success was an understanding that "you crucified Christ," after which true repentance followed naturally. Christ crucified became the central appeal of all the apostles' ministry. The Book of Acts would never have been written unless the members of the early church had realized their involvement through the joyful experience of appropriate repentance.

From Acts 10 onwards we read of how others besides Jews partook of the same experience. The apostles marveled that the Gentiles should experience the same profound response to the cross that the believing Jews did, and thus receive the gift if the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:44-47). The Holy Spirit sent the truth closer home than the apostles expected. Their contrite hearers identified themselves with the Jews and recognized their share of the guilt. In other words the Gentiles experienced a corporate repentance.

Nothing in Scripture indicates that the full reception of the Holy Spirit in the last days will be any different.

Chapter 12. What Our denominational History Tells Us

The Bad News: We have lost some battles; the Good News: the war is not over.

Does our denominational history give meaning to Christ's call for last-day repentance? There are several possible ways of looking at our history:

1) We can view our past with pride like a sports team that almost never loses a game. This attitude is thought to be loyalty, for it assumes that God's blessings on the church are His approval of our spiritual condition. The result is apathy and pervasive lukewarmness. This is by far the most popular view of our history, but its spiritual pride is the opposite of New Testament faith which always includes the element of contrition.

2) In contrast, others view our history with despair. There are real features in our history that some interpret as evidence that the Lord has cast off his church. This view has produced various offshoots, and continually spawns new movements of fruitless, destructive criticism. Often these movements are initiated as a legitimate protest against spiritual pride or apostasy, although they seldom offer a practical solution to the problem.

But there is something that both groups hold in common: Both strenuously oppose denominational repentance. The first group oppose it on the grounds that it is unnecessary. Even the suggestion is regarded as impertinent, disloyal, as the ancient priests regarded Jeremiah's appeals for national repentance. The second group reject it on the grounds that it is impossible, since they assume that the Lord has withdrawn from the church both the privilege and the possibility of such repentance.

There is a third view possible:

3) We can view our history with a confidence born of contrition. This is the realistic approach. This church is the true "remnant" of prophecy which God has raised up. The world has not yet truly heard the message, and His people have not as yet been prepared for the return of Christ. This view "rejoices in the truth." It does not seek to evade or suppress the obvious facts of denominational history that call for repentance and reformation. Our failure to honor our Lord requires simply that we fall to our knees. Nevertheless, realism highlights the future with hope. The joy of the Lord always accompanies repentance.

Attempts to Explain the Long delay

Truth always gives ground for hope. Denying or suppressing the truth produces frustrated despair. The reason is that the human conscience recognizes the reality of the passage of time, the pervading spiritual inertia, and the distressing world outlook. A disregard of Christ's call to repent will inevitably destroy the morale of thoughtful, informed church members all over the world. The loss to the church is incalculable.

We are forced to recognize that the long delay must be explained in some way. Something somewhere has to "give." Four possible solutions are usually suggested:

a) Some say that the integrity of the church itself must "give." That is, its hopes have been disappointed because its very existence, they say, has become illegitimate. It has forfeited the favor of God, they add, and no longer represents a valid movement of His leading. Ultimately, this view logically assumes a holier-than-thou stance.

b) Some theologians say that fundamental doctrines of the church must "give." The pioneers were theologically naive. In particular, the sanctuary doctrine that built the Advent Movement into a unique denomination, they say, is not scriptural. Again, this proposed solution is a fatal consequence of decades-long famine for the "third angel's message in verity," the 1888 relationship of righteousness by faith to the cleansing of the sanctuary.

c) Some propagandists suggest that our understanding of "the Spirit of Prophecy" must "give." Ellen White did not enjoy, they say, the extent of divine inspiration that we have thought was the case. She was inspired only in the sense that other 19th century writers were inspired. Something must "give," and the carnal heart, having long resented Ellen White's high, Christlike standards, would like to destroy her prophetic credibility. "We will not have this man to reign over us" was the cry of rebellious Israel concerning Jesus. Now we face the same revolt against "the testimony of Jesus." It is denigrated as a 19th century hangover.

d) Some suggest that the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost was the real second Advent, and it has been going on ever since. The longer the Great Delay continues, the stronger will be the temptation to re-structure the doctrine of the second coming and abandon belief is a personal, literal, imminent return of Jesus.

Implicit in all the above lurks a virtual charge against God Himself. "My Lord delays His coming" (Mt. 24:28) is the reechoing theme. From the days of the pioneers, it is assumed, He has mocked the prayers of a sincere people who have stood loyal to His commandments and the faith of Jesus, against the ridicule of other Christian churches and the world. This view requires us to believe that He has disappointed His people, not only on October 22, 1844, but continually ever since. The question at issue is the faithfulness of God!

The Historic Solution to Our Impasse

If we understand Christ's call to "the angel of the church of the Laodiceans" as a call to denominational repentance, than we can see the four proposed solutions above in a different light:

a) The integrity of the Church remains intact as the true "remnant" of the Bible prophecies.

b) Our foundational doctrines remain valid, being thoroughly scriptural.

c) Ellen White endures criticism and attacks as a true, honest agent who exercised the prophetic gift of "the testimony of Jesus" (Rev. 1:2,9; 12:17; 19:10)

d) The descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost is not confused with the future personal, literal second coming of Christ. The Lord has not delayed His coming nor has He mocked the sincere prayers of His people since 1844. The pioneers were truly led of the Holy Spirit in their understanding of the prophecies, the second advent, and the sanctuary. What must "give," then is only our corporate, sinful, Laodicean unbelief that has thwarted all of our Lord's attempts to bring healing, unity, and reformation.

On the other hand, the alternative is frightening. If our Lord has indeed delayed His coming, He has deceived us and we cannot trust Him in the future. But if we have delayed His return, then there is hope. Something can be done. Our unbelieving impenitence can be healed. Insisting that our Lord has delayed His coming virtually destroys the Advent hope, but recognizing that we have delayed it can validate and confirm our hope.

Just Like the Jews

Our historical parallel with the ancient Jewish nation is striking. They were God's true denominated people, enjoying as much evidence of His favor as we have enjoyed. Their pride in their denominational structure and organization was shown by their attitude, "The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, are these" (Jer. 7:4). The "temple" to us is our worldwide organization, which is as much a source of pride to us as was the temple to the ancient Jews. The Lord did indeed establish and bless the ancient temple, but the Jews' refusal of national repentance nullified its meaning.

"The same disobedience and failure which were seen in the Jewish church have characterized in a greater degree the people who have had this great light from heaven in the last messages of warning. [Shall we let the history of Israel be repeated in our history?] Shall we, like them, squander our opportunities and privileges until God shall permit oppression and persecution to come upon us? Will the work which might be performed in peace and comparative prosperity be left undone until it must be performed in days of darkness, under the pressure of trial and persecution?"

"There is a terrible amount of guilt for which the church is responsible. Why are not those who have the light putting forth earnest efforts to give that light to others? They see that the end is near. They see multitudes daily transgressing God's law; and they know that these souls cannot be saved in transgression. Yet they have more interest in their trades, their farms, their houses, their merchandise, their dress, their tables, than in the souls of men and women whom they must meet face to face in the judgment. The people who claim to obey the truth are asleep. They could not be at ease as they are if they were awake. The love of the truth is dying out of their hearts. Their example is not such as to convince the world that they have truth in advance of every other people upon the earth. At the very time when they should be strong in God, having a daily, living experience, they are feeble, hesitating, relying upon the preachers for support, when they should be ministering to others with mind and soul and voice and pen and time and money." {5T 456.1, 457.1}

Without the atonement of Christ, it is devastating to any individual's self-respect to face the reality of his or her guilt. It is the same with the church body. To face this "terrible amount of guilt" without discouragement, we also must see how God's love for the church is unchanging. Whatever that "guilt" may be, she is still the one object of the Lord's supreme regard. Again, this involves recognizing the creative aspect of God's agape love.

Critics who are ready to abandon hope for the church are unwittingly at war with that fundamental truth of God's character. The "final atonement" that we have long talked about must include a final reconciliation with the reality of His divine character in the setting of the antitypical Day of Atonement.

Many inspired statements like our denominational failure to that of the Jews. A very few examples must suffice:

"Since the time of the Minneapolis [1888] meeting, I have seen the state of the Laodicean church as never before. I have heard the rebuke of God spoken to those who feel so well satisfied, who know not their spiritual destitution. . . . Like the Jews, many have closed their eyes lest they should see." {R&H, August 26, 1890}

"There is less excuse in our day for stubbornness and unbelief than there was for the Jews in the days of Christ. . . . Many say, "If I had only lived in the days of Christ, . . . I would not have rejected and crucified Him, as did the Jews;" but that will be proved by the way in which you deal with His message and His messengers today. The Lord is testing the people of today as much as He tested the Jews in their day.
If . . . we travel over the same ground, cherish the same spirit, refuse to receive reproof and warning, then our guilt will be greatly augmented, and the condemnation that fell upon them will fall upon us." {R&H, April 11, 1893}

"All the universe of Heaven witnessed the disgraceful treatment of Jesus Christ, represented by the Holy Spirit [at the 1888 Session]. Had Christ been before them, they ["our own brethren"] would have treated Him in a manner similar to that in which the Jews treated Christ." {Special Testimonies Series A, No. 6, p. 20}

"Men professing godliness have despised Christ in the person of His messengers [1888]. Like the Jews, they reject God's message." {FE 472}

As surely as the Jew's history illustrates their need for a national repentance, so does our 1888 history illustrate our need for repentance and a final atonement. The inspired messenger of the Lord was quick to see it. According to Ellen White, the 1888 Conference was a miniature Calvary, a demonstration of the same spirit of unbelief and opposition to God's righteousness that inspired the ancient Jews. The spirit that actuated the opposers of the message was not a minor misunderstanding, a temporary underestimate of a debatable doctrine. It was inward rebellion against the Lord. If the Lord's messenger means what she says over and over, it was a reenactment of the crucifixion of Christ - in principle. This reality is our great stone of stumbling and our rock of offence.

Our History Discloses Enmity Against God

Bear in mind that these facts in no way diminish the truth that the SdA Church was then and is now the "remnant church." The brethren who opposed the 1888 message were the true "angel of the church of the Laodiceans," and God did not cast off the church. Our history makes Christ's call to repent come alive, and the only reason it has not come alive sooner is that it has not been understood. The church is basically honest at heart, and the long delay in repentance is solely due to the truth having been misconstrued and distorted.

Whereas the ancient Jews rejected their long-awaited Messiah, we rejected our long-awaited outpouring of the latter rain. Note some points of comparison:

a) "The Jews' Messiah was born in a stable." The beginning of the latter rain in 1888 was manifested in surprisingly humble circumstances. Both events caught the respective leaders by surprise.

b) "The Jews failed to discern the Messiah in His lowly guise." We failed to discern in the humble and sometimes faulty message of 1888 the beginning of the eschatological opportunity of the ages.

c) "The Jews were afraid Jesus would destroy their denominational structure." "We" feared that the 1888 message would damage the effectiveness of the church through uplifting faith rather than obedience to the law as the way of salvation.

d) "The opposition of Jewish leaders influenced many to reject Jesus." The persistent opposition of leading brethren in the years that followed 1888 influenced younger workers and laity to disregard the message. The church at large would have accepted the message had it come to them unopposed by leadership.

e) "The Jewish nation never repented of their sin, to this day." Thus they never recovered the blessings that Jesus' lordship would have brought to them. Likewise, we have never as a denomination faced our corporate guilt. We have not repented of our rejection of the beginning of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and recovered the message. For this reason we have never yet enjoyed the full blessings of its renewal. The very obvious reality of a century of history demonstrates this truth.

Note how the gospel commission could have been finished nearly a century ago:

"The influence that grew out of the resistance of light and truth at Minneapolis tended to make of no effect the light God had given to His people through the Testimonies. . . .
If every soldier of Christ had done his duty, if every watchman on the walls of Zion had given the trumpet a certain sound, the world might ere this have heard the message of warning. But the work is years behind. What account will be rendered to God for thus retarding the work?" {General Conference Bulletin, 1893, p. 419}

"The light that is to lighten the whole earth with its glory was resisted, and by the action of our own brethren has been in a great degree kept away from the world." {1SM, 235}

That humble messenger believed to her end that the SdA Church is the true "remnant" of Bible prophecy, entrusted with God's last gospel message of mercy. She was loyal to the church to the end, believing that humbling of heart before God is the only response we can make that will enable Heaven to renew the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The Full Truth is Uplifting, Not Depressing

The full truth is always upbeat, positive, encouraging. Someone might try to distort Peter's sermon at Pentecost and label it as "negative" because it clearly pinpointed the guilt of the nation and called for repentance. But Pentecostal power for witnessing followed Pentecostal repentance. A repeat of this glorious phenomenon awaits our repentance and reconciliation with the Lord.

God's love for the world demands that His message of Good News go everywhere with power. We know that it is unfair of the Lord to withhold from us further showers of the latter rain until we repent in the same way that the Lord required ancient Israel to repent. It can be said of us in truth, "Great is the wrath of the Lord that is aroused against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us." (2.Kings 22:13). We can pray as did Ezra, "From the days of our fathers down to this present day our guilt has been very great." (Ezra 9:7, NEB).

The reason is that the sins of spiritual fathers get ingrained into us, except for specific knowledge and repentance. Even though we were very few in number in 1888, the character of that unbelieving impenitence has been propagated throughout the worldwide body like a spreading virus. The disease must run its course until repentance can eradicate it. Until then, each new generation absorbs the same lukewarmness. This is not the Augustinian doctrine of original sin. There is no genetic transmission of guilt. We simply recognize the reality of how sin has been propagated ever since Eden "through the medium of influence, taking advantage of the action of mind on mind, . . . reaching from mind to mind." {R&H, April 16, 1901}

Daniel's Corporate Repentance

Our position parallels that of Judah in the days of Daniel. He could have argued before the Lord, "Some of us and some of our fathers were true, Lord; look how faithful I have been, also Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! We have practical health reform. Remember how some of our `fathers' such as Jeremiah, Baruch, and others, stood nobly for the truth in times of apostasy. We are not all guilty, Lord!'

But how id Daniel pray? Notice his use of the corporate "we":

"All Israel has transgressed Your law, and has departed so as not to obey Your voice. . . . For our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are become a reproach to all that are around us. . . . I was . . . confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel." (Dan. 9:11,16,20).

The fact that Daniel was not personally present in the days of King Manasseh did not keep him from confessing Manasseh's sins as though they were his own. The fact that we were not personally present in 1888 makes no more difference than that Daniel was not living in the days of his fathers. Christ in His own flesh has shown us how to experience a repentance for sins in which we have not thought we were personally involved. If He, the sinless Christ, could repent "in behalf of" the sins of the whole world, surely we can repent in behalf of the sins of our fathers, whose spiritual children we are today. The essential truth that cries for recognition is that their sin is ours, because of the reality of the Biblical principle of corporate guilt.

Did the 1901 General Conference Cancel the 1888 Unbelief?

We must take a brief look at an argument that has been assumed to contradict the need for denominational repentance. Some have assumed that the 1901 General Conference Session was an about-face, a reformation that undid the rejection of the 1888 message and canceled its consequences. This view implies the parallel assumption that the latter rain and the loud cry have been progressing ever since. Large baptisms and financial and institutional growth are often cited as evidence, even though the Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses can also cite phenomenal statistical growth.

It is true that the 1901 session did bring great organizational blessings that could keep our machinery running smoothly for centuries. It is also clear that no deep spiritual reformation occurred. The lady with keen discernment wrote to a friend a few months after the 1901 Session:

"The result of the last General Conference [1901] has been the greatest, the most terrible, sorrow of my life. No change was made. The spirit that should have been brought into the whole work as the result of that meeting was not brought in because men did not receive the testimonies of the Spirit of God. As they went to their several fields of labor, they did not walk in the light that the Lord had flashed upon their pathway, but carried into their work the wrong principles that had been prevailing in the work at Battle Creek." {13MR 122.3}

The fact that Daniel was not personally present in the days of King Manasseh did not keep him from confessing Manasseh's sins as though they were his own. The fact that we were not personally present in 1888 makes no more difference than that Daniel was not living in the days of his fathers. Christ in His own flesh has shown us how to experience as repentance for sins in which we have not thought we were personally involved. If He, the sinless One, could repent in behalf of the sins of the whole world, surely we can repent in behalf of the sins our fathers, whose spiritual children we are today. The essential truth that cries for recognition, is that their sin is ours, because of the reality of the Biblical principle of corporate guilt.

In consequence of this impenitence, the finishing of God's work was delayed an indefinite time:

"We may have to remain here in this world because of insubordination many more years, as did the children of Israel; but for Christ's sake His people should not add sin to sin by charging God with the consequence of their own wrong course of action." {Letter, December 7, 1901; M184, 1901}

Even so, it was not too late then to engage in an experience of repentance. The Lord's messenger did not write the phrase "denominational repentance," but she expressed the principle. "All" needed to participate:

"But if all would only see and confess and repent of their own course of action in departing from the truth of God, and following human devisings, then the Lord would pardon." [7000]

John the Baptist could have spent several lifetimes trying to encompass all the needs for reformation in his day. So we could spend decades addressing each departure from the Lord's plan for us. But John preferred to lay "the ax . . . to the root of the trees" (Mt. 3:10) [7100]

Would repenting of "our" rejection of the latter rain lay the ax to the root of our present spiritual problem? Yes, for that is indeed its root.

But roots have a way of lying beneath the visible surface.

Chapter 13. Corporate Repentance Path to Christlike Love

"The last message of mercy to be given to the world is a revelation of God's character of love" (EGW). Will corporate repentance lead to a "caring church"?

"God is love," and therefore love is power. If the final manifestation of the Holy Spirit will demonstrate to the world that powerful love of God, a new comprehension of it must come first to the church:

"It is the darkness of misapprehension of God that is enshrouding the world. Men are losing their knowledge of His character. It has been misunderstood and misinterpreted. At this time a message from God is to be proclaimed, a message illuminating in its influence and saving in its power. His character is to be made known. Into the darkness of the world is to be shed the light of His glory, the light of His goodness, mercy, and truth.
This is the work outlined by the prophet Isaiah in the words, "O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God! Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and His arm shall rule for Him; behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him." Isaiah 40:9,10. {COL 415.4} Those who wait for the Bridegroom's coming are to say to the people, "Behold your God." The last rays of merciful light, the last message of mercy to be given to the world, is a revelation of His character of love. The children of God are to manifest His glory. In their own life and character they are to reveal what the grace of God has done for them." {COL 415.4,5}

Most of us agree that this is largely yet future. May its final fulfillment come soon!

Love, the Purifying, Consuming Fire in the Coal

Love as agape is not a namby-pamby, mushy sentimentalism. The same God who is agape is also "a consuming fire" (Hebr. 12:29). That fire is death to selfishness, sensuality, love of the world, pride and arrogance. It is death to lukewarmness as well. Strange as it may sound to legalistic ears, it is impossible for a church to be weak and sickly if that love is understood and appreciated.

When it does impregnate the church as fire permeates the coal, the church will become super-efficient in soul winning. Each congregation will be what Christ would be to that community were He there in the flesh. Cleansed by the fire of sin-consuming agape, the church will become an extension of Christ's power to redeem lost people.

Then the Holy Spirit will at last do His final work in human hearts. This is because members of the body will receive the "mind of Christ." One's heart beats faster to think about it:

"Servants of God, with their faces lighted up and shining with holy consecration, will hasten from place to place to proclaim the message from heaven. By thousands of voices, all over the earth, the warning will be given. Miracles will be wrought, the sick will be healed, and signs and wonders will follow the believers. Satan also works, with lying wonders, even bringing down fire from heaven in the sight of men. Revelation 13:13. Thus the inhabitants of the earth will be brought to take their stand.
The message will be carried not so much by argument as by the deep conviction of the Spirit of God. The arguments have been presented. The seed has been sown, and now it will spring up and bear fruit. The publications distributed by missionary workers have exerted their influence, yet many whose minds were impressed have been prevented from fully comprehending the truth or from yielding obedience. Now the rays of light penetrate everywhere, the truth is seen in its clearness, and the honest children of God sever the bands which have held them. Family connections, church relations, are powerless to stay them now. Truth is more precious than all besides. Notwithstanding the agencies combined against the truth, a large number take their stand upon the Lord's side." {GC 612.1-2}

What could those "rays of light" be except the love of God seen in His people? Imagine the joy that will flow like a river when the Lord's pure Good News goes forth in glory and power! How many human hearts now in darkness will meet Christ and find in Him their soul's longing!

Meanwhile, congregations can too easily give the impression of being a comfortable, exclusive religious club, whereas the Lord declares that His church is "a house of prayer for all nations" (Isa. 56:7). That will include "sinners" we have not thought much about. The Lord speaks of His true people scattered still in "Babylon" as "My people" (Rev. 18:4). But they may not turn out to be the "nice" people that we hope will join our club. Do we want "bad" people to come out of Babylon and join us?

The Lord does! Why does He send sunlight and rain on "the just and the unjust," (Mt. 5:45) even His enemies? The answer: His love is not natural for us to have. If we could manipulate the bounties of nature, would not our discriminating between good and bad people be more efficient in persuading the bad to become good than God's way of showering blessings on both alike?

Many people are counted by the Lord as His, whom now we consider hopeless. There are Mary Magdalenes and thieves on the cross. The moment we try to be selective in our love, we forfeit connection with the Holy Spirit. As the Pharisees and scribes murmured, so we are too easily scandalized because Christ "receives sinners" (Lk. 15:1,2). But the greater the evil of the sinner, the greater is God's glory in redeeming him:

"The divine Teacher bears with the erring through all their perversity. His love does not grow cold; His efforts to win them do not cease. With outstretched arms He waits to welcome again and again the erring, the rebellious, and even the apostate. His heart is touched with the helplessness of the little child subject to rough usage. The cry of human suffering never reaches His ear in vain. Though all are precious in His sight, the rough, sullen, stubborn dispositions draw most heavily upon His sympathy and love; for He traces from cause to effect. The one who is most easily tempted, and is most inclined to err, is the special object of His solicitude." {Ed 294.2}

Repentance Lights the Fire in the Coal

How can we learn this kind of love? There is only one way that will work: by seeing Christ as He truly is. He was perfectly sinless; nevertheless He loved sinners. His repentance "in behalf of the sins of the world" taught Him how weak He was apart from strength from His Father. He knew He could fall. He was born in the same river that sweeps us into sin through the force of its undertow, but He stood firm on the rock of faith in His Father. He perfectly resisted that undertow, even when all appearances told Him that He was forsaken.

The Father sent His Son "in the likeness of sinful flesh" (Rom. 8:3). In very truth He is our "brother." He bore the guilt of every sinner. When we learn to look upon Him with such understanding, we will realize a sense of oneness with Him. We will feel toward Him a heart union that will wipe out the appeal of worldly allurement and self-concern.

Zechariah's prophecy about "the house of David" seeing that they have "pierced" Christ is a definite promise of the gift of repentance (Zech. 12:10; Jh. 19:37). Corporate repentance felt for corporate guilt will trigger the reception and exercise of this overflowing love. The ability to feel for and to love every sinner was the only way that Christ's heavenly agape could be true to itself. Its expression was the direct result of his experience in our flesh of corporate repentance. He truly put Himself in the place of "every man," for whom He "tasted death" (2.Cor. 5:14,15; Mt. 27:34). And He encourages us that we too can learn to love even as He loved us.

Repentance Lights the Fire in the Coal Righteousness by Faith Leads to Repentance

Only a repentance such as this can make sense of the expression, "The Lord our righteousness" (Jer. 23:6). The one who feels that by nature he has at least some righteousness of his own will naturally feels that he is to that extent better than someone else. Feeling so, Christ will be a stranger to him. And so, then, must the sinner likewise be a stranger to him.

It is natural to human nature to abhor the genuine truth of Christ's righteousness. We resent the contrition implicit in seeing all our righteousness in Christ. We shrink from putting ourselves in the place of the alcoholic, the drug addict, the criminal, the prostitute, the rebel, the derelict. We so easily say in heart, "I could never sink to such a depth."

So long as we feel thus, we are powerless to speak as Jesus did an effective word to help. Love for souls is frozen. Restraint and selfishly directed, it ceases to be agape. It is bad enough if we decline to enter the kingdom of Heaven ourselves through letting the Holy Spirit melt down our deep-frozen hearts. But it is worse when we actually shut up the kingdom so that the contemporary Mary Magdalene or thief on the cross cannot get in.

Blessed would be the millstone to be hung around the neck of an unloving saint, and blessed would be his/her drowning in the sea, said Jesus, rather than face in the Judgment the results of a lifelong lovelessness. "It were better not to live than to exist day by day devoid of that love which Christ has enjoined upon His children" (CT 266). It is time to understand that the guilt of the whole world's sin, its frustrated enmity against God, its despair, its rebellion - all is "mine" apart from me that grace, I would embody the whole of its evil, for "in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells" (Rom. 7:18). Until we fully appreciate that truth, we cannot fully realize the imparted righteousness of Christ.[9100 See also here]

This is why the repentance Christ begs us to accept takes us back to Calvary. It is impossible to repent truly of minor sins without repenting of the major sin that underlies all other sin. This is why there has to be a blotting out of sin as well as a forgiveness of sin. The heavenly High Priest is not in the business of plucking fruit off bad trees. In this Day of Atonement, He will lay His ax to the root, or He will leave the "tree" alone. A skin-deep conversion, that may have been appropriate in past ages will not do now. The underlying idea behind the message of Christ's righteousness is that I possess not a shred of righteousness of my own, and only when I see that can I discern the gift of His.

"According to your faith be it unto you," (Mt. 9:29) is the measure of our receptivity. By true repentance, we accept the gift of contrition and forgiveness for all sin of which we are potentially capable, not merely for the few sins which we think we have personally committed. Thus Christ can now impute and impart potential righteousness equal to His own perfection, far beyond our capacity. But it abounds much more than the potential guilt we can realize in behalf of the sins of the world.

The Miracle-working Power of Love

Partaking of the divine nature of the Lord Himself, the penitent "delights in mercy" (Micah 7:18). He discovers his greatest pleasure in finding apparently hopeless material and helping these people become subjects of God's grace:

"Tell the poor desponding ones who have gone astray that they need not despair. Though they have erred, and have not been building a right character, God has joy to restore them, even the joy of His salvation. He delights to take apparently hopeless material, those through whom Satan has worked, and make them the subjects of His grace. He rejoices to deliver them from the wrath which is to fall upon the disobedient. Tell them there is healing, cleansing for every soul. There is a place for them at the Lord's table. He is waiting to bid them welcome." {COL 234.1}

Paul's doctrine must at last come into its own. The seed sown nearly 2000 years ago must begin to bear the blessed fruit that the whole creation has groaned and travailed together in pain to see at last.

The Holy Spirit is Beginning to Work

The repentance Christ calls for is beginning to be realized. When one member in a congregation falls into sin, a little reflection can convince many members that they share in his or her guilt. Had we been more alert, more kindhearted, more ready to speak "a word in season to him who is weary," more effective in communicating the pure, powerful truth of the gospel, we might have saved the erring member from falling. With knowledgeable pastoral care, almost any church can now be led to feel at least some of this corporate concern.

Therefore it is encouraging to believe that within this generation a large sense of loving concern can be realized on a worldwide scale. When this time comes (and it will come unless hindered), there will be a heart-unity and concern between races, nationalities, and social and economic cultures seldom seen as yet. Disparate theological groups within the church will humble themselves at the feet of Jesus. The fulfillment of Christ's ideal will be on all levels. The winter of frozen inhibitions and fears will give way to a glorious spring where the loves and sympathies that God has implanted in our souls will find more true and pure expression to one another.

It will be impossible any longer to feel superior or patronizing toward people whose race, nationality, culture, or theology, is different from ours. With "the mind of Christ,"(1.Cor. 2:16) a bond of sympathy and fellowship is established "in Him" (1.Cor.3:1). This miracle will follow the laws of grace.

This Will Take God's People a Step Further

Instead of limiting itself to a shared repentance in behalf of our contemporary generation of the living, it will take in past generations as well. Paul's idea, "As the body is one, and has many members, . . . so also is Christ," (1.Cor. 12:12) will be seen to include the past body of Christ also. Thus Moses' command to repent for the sins of previous generations will make sense (Lev. 26:40). The "final atonement" becomes a reality, and the pre-Advent judgment can then be concluded.

While there will be a shaking, and some, perhaps many, who refuse the blessing will abandon church fellowship, the inspired word implies that a true remnant of believers in Christ will remain. The shaking of the tree or branches is not all bad news. It offers the good news that "gleaning grapes will be left in it" (cmpr. Isa 17:6; 24:13). Those who are left "shall lift up their voice, they shall sing . . . for the majesty of the Lord" (Isa. 24:14). Those who are shaken out will only make "manifest, that none of them were of us" (1.Jh. 2:19). God's work will go forward unhindered and greatly strengthened.

In this time of unprecedented upheaval, the church will be united and coordinated like a healthy human body that has been healed. Backbiting, evil surmising, gossip, even forgetfulness of the needs of others, will be overcome. The listening ear tuned to be sensitive to the call of the Holy Spirit will hear and act upon the conviction of duty.

When He says as He said to Philip, "Go near, and join yourself to this chariot," (Acts 8:29) the obedient response will be immediate; and a soul will be won as the deacon won the Ethiopian official from Candace's royal court. At last the "Head" will find a perfectly responsive "body" with which to dwell; and rejoicing over His people with singing, the Lord will gladly bring into their church fellowship all His people now scattered in Babylon. The moment they step in the door, these honest-hearted ones will sense the presence of the heart-melting agape of Christ which is a "consuming fire" to sin (Hebr. 12:29). Oh, the joys that contrition will make possible!

Miracles of heart-healing will come as if Christ Himself were present in the flesh. Chasms of estrangement will be bridged. Marital dissensions will find solutions that have evaded the best efforts of counselors and psychiatrists. Broken homes will be cemented in the bonds of love that elicits ultimate contrition from believing hearts. Harps now silent will ring with melody when the strings are touched by this Hand.

Bewildered and frustrated youth will see a revelation of Christ never before discerned. Satan's enchantment of drugs, liquor, immorality, and rebellion will lose its hold, and the pure, joyous tide of youthful devotion to Christ will flow to the praise of His grace. "The Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you. The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness or your rising." (Isa. 60:2,3). Marvelous will be the results when the church learns to feel for the world as Christ feels for it. The Head cannot say to the feet, "I have no need of you" (1.Cor. 12:21). This is why "God has set . . . in the church" the various gifts of His Spirit. The church becomes His efficient "body" in expressing Himself to the world in the same way that a healthy person expresses through his physical members the thoughts and intent of his mind. All gifts will lead to the "more excellent way," which is agape. (1.Cor. 12:31).

The world and the vast universe beyond will watch with wonder. The final demonstration of the fruits of Christ's sacrifice will bring the great controversy to a triumphant close. In a profound sense hardly dreamed of by the pioneers, a work will be done in the hearts of God's people that is parallel to and consistent with the cleansing of the sanctuary in Heaven. Thus it will be "cleansed," justified, set right before the universe.[9200]

The Certainty of Christ's Success

Such an experience will transform the church into a dynamo of love. It is God's plan that no church will have seating capacity for the converted sinners who will want to stream into it. Corporate and denominational repentance is the whole church experiencing Christ-like love and empathy for all for whom H died. Of course, not all in the world will respond. In fact, many will reject its final proclamation. But many more than we have thought will gladly respond.

Let us beware of the sinful unbelief that doubts how good the Good News is. Those who say, `It is too good to be true!' should consider a lesson hidden in Scripture. In the days of Elisha, Samaria suffered a terrible famine through a siege by the Syrian army:

"As a result of the siege the food shortage in the city was so severe that a donkey's head cost eighty pieces of silver, and half a pound of dove's dung cost five pieces of silver. . . . The king . . . exclaimed, "May God strike me dead if Elisha is not beheaded before the day is over!"
Elisha answered, . . . "By this time tomorrow you will be able to buy . . . ten pounds of the best wheat or twenty pounds of barley for one piece of silver."
The personal attendant of the king said to Elisha, "That can't happen - not even if the Lord himself were to send grain at once!
"You will see it happen, but you won't get to eat any of the food," Elisha replied." (2.Kings 6:25-7:20, TEV)

We have all been nurtured in a common unbelief that makes it easy for us to sympathize with the "king's attendant." How could such frightful famine be relieved by such incredible plenty in a mere 24 hours? Elisha's message was the contemporary Spirit of Prophecy, and the highly placed officer simply did not believe the gift.

The Lord frightened away the invading Syrians and they left their huge supplies for the starving Israelites:

"It so happened that the king of Israel had put the city gate under the command of the officer who was his personal attendant. The officer was trampled to death there by the people and died, as Elisha had predicted. . . . That is just what happened to him - he died, trampled to death by the people at the city gate." (2.Ki. 7:17,20)

Unbelief in this "time of the latter rain" will shut us out from taking part in the glorious experience that the Lord foretells for His people. Inspired statements confirm the vision of the "whole church" within history fully experiencing such blessing, doubtless following its purification.

"We are to be consecrated channels, through which the heavenly life is to flow to others. The Holy Spirit is to animate and pervade the whole church, purifying and cementing hearts. Those who have been buried with Christ in baptism are to rise to newness of life, giving a living representation of the life of Christ. Upon us is laid a sacred charge. The commission has been given us: "Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always even unto the end of the world." Matthew 28:19, 20, margin. You are dedicated to the work of making known the gospel of salvation. Heaven's perfection is to be your power." {9T 20}

"The time has come for a thorough reformation to take place. When this reformation begins, the spirit of prayer will actuate every believer and will banish from the church the spirit of discord and strife. Those who have not been living in Christian fellowship will draw close to one another. One member working in right lines will lead other members to unite with him in making intercession for the revelation of the Holy Spirit. There will be no confusion, because all will be in harmony with the mind of the Spirit. The barriers separating believer from believer will be broken down, and God's servants will speak the same things. The Lord will co-operate with His servants. All will pray understandingly the prayer that Christ taught His servants: "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." Matthew 6:10. (8T 251)

"In visions of the night, representations passed before me of a great reformatory movement among God's people. Many were praising God. The sick were healed, and other miracles were wrought. A spirit of intercession was seen, even as was manifested before the great Day of Pentecost. Hundreds and thousands were seen visiting families and opening before them the word of God. Hearts were convicted by the power of the Holy Spirit, and a spirit of genuine conversion was manifest. On every side doors were thrown open to the proclamation of the truth. The world seemed to be lightened with the heavenly influence. Great blessings were received by the true and humble people of God. I heard voices of thanksgiving and praise, and there seemed to be a reformation such as we witnessed in 1844.
Yet some refused to be converted. They were not willing to walk in God's way, and when, in order that the work of God might be advanced, calls were made for freewill offerings, some clung selfishly to their earthly possessions. These covetous ones became separated from the company of believers." {9T 126.1-2}

Here is where we take off our shoes for we tread solemnly on holy ground. This modest volume has attempted to explore Christ's call to the angel of His church to repent. Let us pray that the Spirit of God may employ many voices to echo the call. The Head depends on us as members of His "body" to express His will. Let no humble person underestimate the importance of his or her individual response. Perhaps all the Lord needs is to find one person somewhere who is baptized and crucified and risen "with Christ" (Eph. 2:5) and who thus shares His experience of repentance.

Then the precious leaven of truth can permeate the whole body.

Appendix A

A Repentance of Ministers and Their Families

The following statement from Ellen White indicates the depth of response that will come from ministers and their wives and children when the Holy Spirit gives the gift of repentance:

In the night season I was in my dreams in a large meeting, with ministers, their wives, and their children. I wondered that the company present was mostly made up of ministers and their families. The prophecy of Malachi was brought before them in connection with Daniel, Zephaniah, Haggai, and Zechariah. The teaching of these books was carefully investigated. The building of the temple, and the temple service, were considered. There was close searching of the Scriptures in regard to the sacred character of all that appertained to the temple service. Through the prophets, God has given a delineation of what will come to pass in the last days of this earth's history; and the Jewish economy is full of instruction for us.
All these things were closely studied by the company before me in my dream. Scripture was compared with scripture, and application was made of the word of God to our own time. After a diligent searching of the Scriptures, there was a period of silence. A very solemn impression was made upon the people. The deep moving of the Spirit of God was manifest among us. All were troubled, all seemed to be convicted, burdened, and distressed, as they saw their own life and character represented in the word of God, and the Holy Spirit was making the application to their hearts.
Conscience was aroused. The record of past days was making its disclosure of the vanity of human inventions. The Holy Spirit brought all things to their remembrance. As they reviewed their past history, there were revealed defects of character that ought to have been discerned and corrected. They saw how through the grace of Christ the character should have been transformed. The workers had known the sorrow of defeat in the work intrusted to their hands, when they should have had victory.
The Holy Spirit presented before them Him whom they had offended. They saw that God will not only reveal himself as a God of mercy and forgiveness and long forbearance, but by terrible things in righteousness He will make it manifest that He is not a man that He should lie.
Words were spoken by One, saying, "The hidden, inner life will be revealed. As if reflected in a mirror, all the inward working of the character will be made manifest. The Lord would have you examine your own lives, and see how vain is human glory." "Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts; all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me. Yet the Lord will command His loving-kindness in the daytime, and in the night His song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life." {RH, February 4, 1902}

Appendix B

Laodicea Is Not Doomed

Serious efforts have been made to convince church members to leave the organized SdA Church, or at least to withdraw their support and fellowship. The argument is that Philadelphia, not Laodicea, represents the true church that will get ready for Christ's coming. Joseph Bates is cited as a venerable authority for this view. But this dear pioneer was mistaken in this, as he was on some other points as well. Ellen White never lent her endorsement to this idea of his. Her early testimonies about the Laodicean message thoroughly contradict his view. [See 1T, 185-195; 3T 252-255]
The idea that Philadelphia, not Laodicea, is the translation church conflicts with the general pattern of the prophetic picture in Revelation. The number seven indicates that the seven churches symbolize the true church through succeeding periods of history from the time of the apostles to the close of probation [AA 581,582,585]. The message to Laodicea is "the warning for the last church," not the next-to-the-last one [6T 77]. The message does not apply to apostates, but to God's true people in the last days [7BC 959; 3T 252,253].
The Lord's intention has always been that the message to Laodicea result in repentance and overcoming on the part of His true people and that it prepare them to receive the latter rain [1T 186,187]. There is no hint in Scripture or the Spirit of Prophecy that the message will ultimately fail; God's true people will heed "the counsel of the True Witness, and they will receive the latter rain, and thus be fitted for translation" [1T 187,188]. Nowhere does Ellen White say that God's true people must leave Laodicea and return to Philadelphia.
It is, of course, true that spiritual applications can be made from all of the messages to the seven churches, appropriate to God's people in all generations. Human nature is the same the world over and in all generations, so that spiritual principles apply to all. But the messages to the seven churches reveal a progression of victorious overcoming that will enable the last generation finally to reach a maturity of faith and understanding. "The harvest of the earth" will at last be "ripe" (Rev. 14:12-15). Heart acceptance of truths in all the appeals to "the angels of the seven churches" will be necessary for this eventual ripening of the "full corn in the ear . . . when the fruit is brought forth" (Mk. 4:28,29). But for the last-day church to return to Philadelphia would be to set the clock back to a previous generation and violate the prophetic symbolism. The messages to the six churches have prepared multitudes of believers for death; repentance on the part of Laodicea prepares a people for translation.

The message to Laodicea parallels the time of the cleansing of the sanctuary and the work of Christ in the Most Holy Apartment. The obvious intent of the Revelation symbolism is to relate Laodicea with the time of the "seventh angel" sounding his trumpet during the "time of the dead, that they should be judged" when "the temple of God was opened in Heaven" and the Most Holy Apartment came to view, (Rev. 11:15-19).

The message to Philadelphia obviously precedes the antitypical Day of Atonement, fittingly parallel to the "mighty angel's" work of Revelation 10, which also precedes the final message of the three angels (verse 11). To change the order of the seven churches is as confusing as changing the order of the seven seals or the seven trumpets. God knew what He was about when He gave the visions to John at Patmos, and we dare not tamper with the inspired order of these messages.

Quotations from the message to Philadelphia which Ellen White applies to people in the last days do not require that Laodicea be eliminated from the prophetic succession, any more than her frequent quotations from others of the seven messages require that we "join" Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, or Sardis.

The problem with Laodicea is not with its identity or with its name. Laodicea is not a dirty word - it simply means, :judging, vindicating, or justifying, the people." It is a name appropriate to the realities of the investigative judgment that precedes the second coming. It connotes victory, not defeat.

The name Philadelphia is also significant. It is compounded from phileo, meaning affection, and adelphos, brother. The word phileo denotes a lower level of love than agape. But "speaking the truth in agape and growing "up into Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ" is the experience that will characterize God's people as they grow in maturity in preparation for Christ's coming. "The whole body" of the church, last make "increase of the body unto the edifying [building up] of itself in agape" (cmpr. Eph. 3:14-19; 4:13-16; EW 55,56, COL 415, 416).

As noted elsewhere in this book article, the expression "I will spue thee out of my mouth" is not an accurate translation of the Greek. Christ did not say that Laodicea must suffer His final rejection, without hope. The Greek is mello se emesai, which means literally, "You make Me sick with nausea," or "I am so nauseated that I am on the point of vomiting." But the verb mello does not require a final action. Christ's nausea can be healed; it is possible for Laodicea to repent and thus to overcome her terrible lukewarmness.

Read Christ's letters to the angels of the seven churches at one sitting, consecutively. It will be very evident that they show an historical goal direction oriented toward the return of Christ. Thyatira is pointed forward "till I come." Sardis is pointed forward to the pre-advent judgment. Philadelphia is told, "I come quickly." But Laodicea meets Christ "at the door," and is offered the ultimate honor of sharing with Him His royal authority.

Another internal evidence that Laodicea is the last church is Christ's introduction of Himself as "the Amen." This is a word that throughout the New Testament expresses finality.

Christ's message to Laodicea is closely related to the Song of Solomon 5:2, which He quotes (/partially/ from the LXX version) in Revelation 3:20. This often neglected truth established Christ's Laodicean appeal as that of the Bridegroom to His beloved. Her eventual response is not rejection of the Bridegroom's love, but repentance and preparation for the "marriage of the Lamb" (Rev. 19:6-9). Thus the promise to the "certain one" of Revelation 3:21 (Greek, tis) is the offer of an intimacy in relationship to Christ that is not matched in any of the offers to the previous six "angels of the seven churches." "The angel" of the last church is clearly the one whose repentance is unique, and whose overcoming at last presupposes a unique victory and unique honor - that of sharing executive authority with Christ Himself. A higher destiny awaits the Bride than those who are merely "guests" at the wedding. It is difficult not to recognize the relationship between Revelation 3:21 and the glorious victory of the 144,000 (Rev. 7:1-4; 14:1-5; 15:2-4).

Thus it becomes clear that to cancel Laodicea out of the prophetic picture, to consider the True Witness' appeal to end in failure, is to rob Christ of the honor and vindication He so richly deserves. It violates the fulfillment of the prophecies in Revelation. Cancelling Laodicea and substituting Philadelphia requires the defeat of the True Witness, and the final humiliation of the patient Bridegroom who is still knocking at the door.

Appendix C

Ezekiel 18 and Corporate Guilt

Does Ezekiel deny the principle of corporate guilt? He says:

"What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge?
Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.
The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him." Eze. 18:2,4,20.; cmpr. Jer. 31:29,30; KJV.

Ezekiel discusses a good man who does everything right, but who has a son who does everything wrong. Then he discusses how the wicked man's son "seeth all his father's sins . . . and doeth not such like . . . He shall not die for the iniquity of his father" (Vs. 14-17). Sin and guilt are not passed on genetically. The prophet's point is to recognize the principle of personal responsibility. The son need not repeat his father's sins unless he chooses to. He can break the cycle of corporate guilt by means of repentance.

But Ezekiel does not suggest that any righteous man is righteous of himself, nor does he deny the Bible truth of justification by faith. Any righteous man must be righteous by faith; apart from Christ he has no righteousness of his own. The wicked man is the one who rejects such righteousness by faith. The prophet does not deny that "all have sinned,' and "all the world . . . [is] guilty before God" (Romans 2:23,19). Apart from the imputed righteousness of Christ, therefore, all the world is alike guilty before God.

The son who saw his father's sins and repented is delivered from the guilt of those sins by virtue of Christ's righteousness imputed to him, but he is not intrinsically better than his father. There is a sense in which the son's repentance is a corporate one: he realizes that he had been in his father's place he could have been just as guilty. He does not think he could not do such sins. He humbly confesses, "There but for the grace of God am I." Now he chooses the path of righteousness. Ezekiel is not denying the truth of corporate repentance; he upholds it.

Webster's Dictionary entries:
1. antithetical = opposite.
2. impenitence = unrepentant.
3. veneer = used in the sense of `on the surface'.
4. proleptic = the adjective of `prolepsis', meaning a figure by which objections are anticipated; and error in chronology, consisting in an event being dated before its actual time.

[0006] What I found EGW wrote is this:
To practice the principles of love which Christ taught by precept and example, will make the experience of every one who follows him, like the experience of Christ. Such souls will labor with Christ, seeking to uplift and bless their fellow-men. If we desire healthfulness of soul, a sunny experience, we must put into practice the rules given us in Isaiah 58. When those who are connected with the sacred work of God in all our institutions, shall open the door of their hearts, Jesus will come in; for a long time he has been knocking for an entrance. When he is permitted to enter, the sunshine of his righteousness will pervade the soul; but "he that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase." {RH, January 15, 1895 par. 2; Eccl. 5:10}

[0010] After getting permission from the author and Publisher I set out typing as fast as possible to make this message available for many around the world. I think all(?) typos are found. Even though it is free over the Internet, we encourage those who can to order your copy of this book at: Glad Tidings Publ., 8784 Valley View Dr., Berrien Springs, MI 49103, (269) 473-1888; E-mail: glad@parrett.net.
We added some more Bible text source info where the original does not have them. The author may have assumed most know their Bible enough to remember that it can be found in its pages. But on the Internet not all may be that familiar and that is why the transcriber added scripture source information. Studying this paper for a while, please read it with caution to make sure things are so according to scripture. We found no scriptural errors after thorough reading. The caution was put in because of some comments the transcriber heard but finds them not to be based on reality.
Also note, we usually quote the whole paragraph when the original book quotes only portions, those which we highlight. This we did in order to show that the quotes are used within the contextual meaning of what the author was trying to say. Those paragraphs having no bold print are usually those which are quoted in full in the book too.

[016] How urgent such a repentance among leading men in our world wide organization really is may be illustrated in this more recent account. According to July 2008 reports some 400,000 people, and millions more via communications media, attended Pope Benedict's final mass, the high point of his week-long trip to Sydney, Australia. - The event was called `World Youth Day 2008' and focused on revitalizing the RCC, especially among young people. About 250,000 were expected to attend, but 500,000 descended on the city. About 300,000 camped overnight in preparation for the final mass. - The Holy See had even granted special "Plenary Indulgences." According to the July 9, 2008 edition of `The National Catholic Register,' the pope was offering special indulgences, or pardons for sins, to certain pilgrims who came to Australia. Here we have the German pope reviving the medieval traditions of indulgences. We recall that it was the German monk and later Dr. Martin Luther, who denounced the Pope's right to grant pardons on God's behalf. Luther in his 95 Thesis, stated that those who taught that indulgences absolved a person from sin, according to the Holy Scriptures, were in error. The question we must ask today as we see the papacy reestablishing medieval Roman Catholicism - where are the Martin Luther's of the 21st Century? - In addition to the daily masses, indulgences, relics, penance, confessionals, and all of those RC rituals, WYD 2008 provided many vocation "expos" aimed at trying to recruit young people into becoming nuns and priests. - What is disheartening is that Seventh day Adventists were part of the infrastructure that helped sponsor the event. So we ask, what business or responsibilities do we have as God's end time people for these souls, if not for saving precious souls for the kingdom. On this subject the servant of the Lord wrote,
"In the very time in which we live the Lord has called His people and has given them a message to bear. He has called them to expose the wickedness of the man of sin who has made the Sunday law a distinctive power, who has thought to change times and laws, and to oppress the people of God who stand firmly to honor Him by keeping the only true Sabbath, the Sabbath of creation, as holy unto the Lord." {Testimonies to Ministers, p. 118. (1903); Ev 233.2} - The WYD also exemplified the nature of the RCC. This event was so big that two years before the Pope's arrival the New South Wales Parliament passed the WYD Act 2006. In this legislation the civil liberty of free speech was suspended during the pope's visit. You were not allowed to protest or disturb any of the pilgrims who came to hear the pope. If you would dare to offend or annoy any of the RC visitors, you would be arrested and have to pay a fine of $5,500. - This is significant precedent information. Here we see an elected government for all the people protecting the rights of one religion over all others. To speak against, or to expose what the Bible says about this institution, was against the law. Could this be a prelude to what is about to happen in this world? - Because of so many people in the region, big business wanted to help that church in hosting the WYD 2008. The list of corporate sponsors included: Coca Cola, Mercedes-Benz, Quantas Airlines, Telstra Telecommunications, The Daily Telegraph, Avis, and the Sanitarium Health Food Company. This Sanitarium Health Food Company is owned by the Seventh day Adventist church of Australia (they have a website). They supplied a product of theirs for the pilgrim's breakfast table. What is disconcerting is that a profit and success minded young company president and his assisting leaders of this church affiliated institution became part of the infrastructure that helped all the pilgrims who came from all over the world to go and see the Pope, participate in mass, and receive "plenary indulgences!" It is almost unbelievable what these leaders seem to be thinking and the ignorance they display when it comes to Luther's history and French history and then remember the claims of this religion. Just because we live in 2008 this religion has not changed and will not change one iota, except individual members. - No doubt there are many more instances of missing our calling which make the message of repentance to the church of Laodicea very, very timely and demanding immediate action.

[0030] To illustrate Corporate Repentance let us use the following well known Bible example:

The king (repentance team leadership - a church, church leadership) must leave with God the events of the future; he could not alter the eternal decrees of Jehovah. But in announcing the retributive judgments of Heaven, the Lord had not withdrawn opportunity for repentance and reformation; and Josiah, discerning in this a willingness on the part of God to temper His judgments with mercy, determined to do all in his power to bring about decided reforms. He arranged at once for a great convocation, to which were invited the elders and magistrates in Jerusalem and Judah, together with the common people. These, with the priests and Levites, met the king in the court of the temple. {PK 400.1}

To this vast assembly the king himself read "all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord." 2 Kings 23:2. The royal reader was deeply affected, and he delivered his message with the pathos of a broken heart. His hearers were profoundly moved. The intensity of feeling revealed in the countenance of the king, the solemnity of the message itself, the warning of judgments impending--all these had their effect, and many determined to join with the king in seeking forgiveness. {PK 400.2}

Josiah now proposed that those highest in authority unite with the people in solemnly covenanting before God to co-operate with one another in an effort to institute decided changes. "The king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book." The response was more hearty than the king had dared hope for: "All the people stood to the covenant." Verse 3. {PK 400.3}

In the reformation that followed, the king turned his attention to the destruction of every vestige of idolatry that remained. So long had the inhabitants of the land followed the customs of the surrounding nations in bowing down to images of wood and stone, that it seemed almost beyond the power of man to remove every trace of these evils. But Josiah persevered in his effort to cleanse the land. Sternly he met idolatry by slaying "all the priests of the high places;" "moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord." Verses 20, 24. {PK 401.1}

God's representative, acting like Moses of old, metted out severe punishment under a sort of shared royal, divine theocracy. Today that would not take place. But we should probably heed the rest of the account.

Conclusion: We are in dire need of a "King Josiah" like leader in our church to initiate frequent sessions of repentance among us all around the world in the offices of the church. We ought to have a culture of genuine "repentance" or at least know how to repent.

[0050] Note that the Father has refused to judge us, but has committed all judgment unto the Son, because He is the Son of man (John 5:22,27). Christ likewise says He refuses to judge those who do not believe in Him. Therefore the only people whom He will judge are those who believe in Him, and He will vindicate them (John 12:47,48). - What distinguishes carnal Christians from spiritual Christians? Jesus standing at the door and knocking for admittance is saying with that, he desires a close, spiritually intimate relationship with His people. He married His church on earth and therefore has a right for being let into our life. The very fact that Christ stands outside the door and knocks implies that we are unconverted. Is Christ speaking here to the unconverted? No, He has already identified Laodicea as His people, His church Rev. 3:14-22. These are not unconverted people, they belong to Him. What does Christ mean then when He asks us to open the door and allow Him to enter? It means this, I am left on the outside when it comes to your works. That is the issue. Earlier He has told Laodicea, "I know thy works." He does not say, `I am the source of your works.' He is telling Laodicea, `the source of your works is your self-righteouness that you rely on. So He knocks at our heart's door to be let in for He wants to be the source of our righteousness.' He says, `I want to work in you, from within.' - - - To fully understand what Christ is saying to Laodicea we need to remember that the NT divides Christianity into two camps, spiritual and carnal. Paul wrote to ". . . I brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ." (1.Cor. 3:1) But Paul does not speak of these carnal Christians as to unconverted, but as babes in Christ. That is so, because at first Paul had to feed them the truth as with milk (verse 2 etc.). That is about 10 years after he established that church in Corinth. They were not growing spiritually. Then he lists numerous problems - envy, strife, etc. but in verse 16 he does not say that they are unconverted or lost. No, he says, "Ye", plural, "are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you." They are converted and they have experienced the new birth but you cannot tell that by their life style. - This is the picture of carnal Christians. Their behavior is that of ordinary people instead of reflecting the life of the Spirit who dwells in them. - - Spiritual Christians, however, have not only been converted, but they are also walking in the Spirit. Therefore, conversion is not the factor that distinguishes carnal from spiritual Christians. Carnal Christians still have much "self" in them, while spiritual Christians have learned to give in, to ignore their own "self" or "flesh". - The main problem with carnal Christians is that they misrepresent Christ because their behavior is so much like that of unconverted, worldly people. They have lost their saltiness. They are in a very dangerous position. The devil can easily pull them on his side. - - There are two things going on in the life of a spiritual Christian, first, they are subduing the flesh through the power of the Spirt, second, they are reflecting the righteousness of Christ. Paul says, "... Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh." (Gal. 5:16) In other words, the way to conquer human flesh is not by will power or human effort, but "by walking in the Spirit." This is the only way, "... put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof." Those will develop the fruits of their walk in the Spirit, (Rom. 13:14; Gal. 5:22-25)

[0100] See, for example, Norval F. Pease, By Faith Alone, foreword by the General Conference president, R.R. Figuhr (1962); A.V. Olson, Through Crisis to Victory, pp. 237-239 (1966); L.E. Froom, Movement of Destiny, pp. 357, 358, 445, 686 (1971); George R. Knight, From 1888 to Apostasy, p. 64 (1987); G. R, Knight, Angry Saints, pp. 130, 131, 150, 151 (1989).

[0110] See George F, Rice & Neal C. Wilson, The Power of the Spirit, (R&H, 1991).

[0120] On this thought let us read again how it was done in Israel of old and as it is already posted in reference [30] which we repeat here. We read: "The king (repentance team leadership - a church, church leadership) must leave with God the events of the future; he could not alter the eternal decrees of Jehovah. But in announcing the retributive judgments of Heaven, the Lord had not withdrawn opportunity for repentance and reformation; and Josiah, discerning in this a willingness on the part of God to temper His judgments with mercy, determined to do all in his power to bring about decided reforms. He arranged at once for a great convocation, to which were invited the elders and magistrates in Jerusalem and Judah, together with the common people. These, with the priests and Levites, met the king in the court of the temple." {PK 400.1}
The king's session of repentance was initiated by the king after considering the situation. It seems to the transcriber, that we must wait on the Lord, but it also seems that we must use every little opportunity and have someone preferably among our leaders to step out and get things going. Ought we not to have, if not a culture of repentance, the knowledge, practice and experience how to approach the Lord in such a session of repentance? Have we forgotten how to intercede for our people?
Examples: L.H.Christian, The Fruitage of the Spirit, 1947; A.W. Spalding, Captains of the Host, 1949; A.V. Olsen, Through Crisis to Victory, 1966; L.E. Froom, Movement of Destiny, 1971; A.L. White, The Lonely Years, 1984.

[0250] Documenting the Greek reading in the Book of Revelation and Mark.
Revelation 3:20

[0300] Examples: Christiansen, L.H., The Fruitage of Spiritual Gifts, 1947; Spalding, A.W., Captains of the Host, 1949; Olson, A.V., Through Crisis to Victory, 1966; Froom, L.E., Movement of Destiny, 1971; White, A.L., Lonely Years, 1984.

[0310] See for example the February 1988 issue of Ministry; Wallenkampf, Arnold, What Every Adventist Should Know About 1888; George Knight, From 1888 to Apostasy and Angry Saints.

[0340] I will ask Elder Wieland next time I see him (which is soon Feb 09) what parameters this legalism, a rather broad subject, includes. I would suggest it includes what we have already in the links in the encyclopedia under legalist. Actually, the type of legalists like they existed in Judah in the days of Jesus on earth (sticklers for endless man made laws as in the Talmud), are not a problem, today the problem is rather illegalism.

[0400] Note that there is only one kind of righteousness that Jesus says it is "blessed" to "hunger" for - the kind that is by faith (Matthew 5:6).

[0495] [CIAS comment] How is the popular version of this righteousness by faith expressed? May be so: "The consistent message of Hebrews is a PRESENT mediation and PRESENT victories over sin, not a past or a future mediation and victory over sin as the Evangelicals teach."

[0500] Compare Testimonies to Ministers, p. 91,92. We read, The Message of Justification by Faith - "The Lord in His great mercy sent a most precious message to His people through Elders Waggoner and Jones. This message was to bring more prominently before the world the uplifted Saviour, the sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. It presented justification through faith in the Surety; it invited the people to receive the righteousness of Christ, which is made manifest in obedience to all the commandments of God. Many had lost sight of Jesus. They needed to have their eyes directed to His divine person, His merits, and His changeless love for the human family. All power is given into His hands, that He may dispense rich gifts unto men, imparting the priceless gift of His own righteousness to the helpless human agent. This is the message that God commanded to be given to the world. It is the third angel's message, which is to be proclaimed with a loud voice, and attended with the outpouring of His Spirit in a large measure."

[0510] "Let every one who claims to believe that the Lord is soon coming, search the Scriptures as never before; for Satan is determined to try every device possible to keep souls in darkness, and blind the mind to the perils of the times in which we are living. Let every believer take up his Bible with earnest prayer, that he may be enlightened by the holy Spirit as to what is truth, that he may know more of God and of Jesus Christ whom he has sent. Search for the truth as for hidden treasures, and disappoint the enemy. The time of test is just upon us, for the loud cry of the third angel has already begun in the revelation of the righteousness of Christ, the sin-pardoning Redeemer. This is the beginning of the light of the angel whose glory shall fill the whole earth. For it is the work of every one to whom the message of warning has come, to lift up Jesus, to present him to the world as revealed in types, as shadowed in symbols, as manifested in the revelations of the prophets, as unveiled in the lessons given to his disciples and in the wonderful miracles wrought for the sons of men. Search the Scriptures; for they are they that testify of him." {RH, November 22, 1892 par. 7} - If a person reads the Bible like he would any other book, start at the beginning to the end, he would ere long get to Exodus 20, and read the Law of God - keeping that in mind, by the time he reaches Revelation 22, he would never read anywhere that any part of God's law was done away with, quite to the contrary, he would read that it is in force till the end, Rev. 14:12.

[0530] See Selected Messages, Vol. I, p. 118. However, at this date some in the Advent Movement are just starting to wake up to preach the message in all the world. The long delay was/ is of vexing proportions. For a while, in 1990's they were searching for a program to facilitate this outreach. It was called `Net 93' etc. Today it does not exist. Why? Think about `Corporate Repentance.' While some may join the church, about 60% vanish after a while. Some let themselves be baptized into several faiths, just to be sure. We must ask ourselves if the number of members on our church books is relevant to the work of the High Priest in the final atonement. Are these many thousands of new members the result of understanding Revelation 14 and knowing the terrible conflict that awaits God's remnant church? Will more members contribute to the repentance and contrition required on the great day of final atonement - the cleansing of the sanctuary? Do SdAs really believe that the second coming of Christ is contingent upon an ever larger membership? Of course we know that any significant increase in membership is taking place in third world countries. But other denominations are having the same kind of results in these areas in the world. Experience has shown our treasury department that the greater this third-world membership becomes in some areas, the greater the demands and burden on the home church. This defies the gospel principle which requires that every branch bear fruit. Furthermore simply having a numeric increase will do nothing but make thousands more Laodiceans. That cannot be the answer. The reign of sin is far too deeply entrenched for an ever larger membership to conquer. - If current promotional material is being read correctly it appears this is our chief reason for existing. Shall we begin making plans for the year 3000? It cannot be so. The patience of the Lord must be vindicated. Our calling is infinitely higher than these man-made plans. New: I believe this author made some meaningful contributions.
The SdA church is being weighed in `the balances of the sanctuary.' We are called to an experience corresponding to the faith we embrace and the spiritual advantages we had. The fact that we consider we have a special message for the world, a kind of corporate predestination in the end-time, puts us in supreme jeopardy. The ancient Jews were in the same predicament. The apostasy that had overtaken them required life times to develop. Their rebellion was so subtle in its manifestations that it was not fully unmasked even by Jesus Himself. It took another 40 years to bring full fruition and retribution to the nation. The Holy Spirit had to probe ever deeper and so it must be with us to the very end. When at any point the work of the Spirit is refused, we stop short of God's ideal and conversion dies. It was the truth of their history that in the end overcame the Jews. Every evidence had proved that Jesus was the long awaited Messiah. But the complete, total, final rejection came when the one man Stephen stood before the leaders of the nation (church) and called them to repentance by laying bare the history of the nation. The stoning of Stephen was the final rejection of the witness that the Holy Ghost brought, and for this malady there was no further remedy for them, except that out of Saul became Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles. - The priests and rulers knew all too well the content of their sacred history. To accept this history as presented by Stephen, meant to accept Christ and this meant repentance. To deny was to insult the Holy Spirit and to "mistake the form of godliness for the power thereof." To be blind to God's purpose is one thing; to be opposed to it is a completely different thing and amounts to being in league with the enemy. Jesus laid down the principle this way, "If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth." (Jh. 9:41). A sin that remains is an unpardonable sin. Probation for the Jewish church extended beyond Calvary even to the end of the 70th week of Daniel 9:24. Jesus had promised the ultimate in understanding: "Howbeit when he, the spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth." (Jh. 16:13) When this Spirit of truth was rejected, the Lord had to make another plan.
Solemn consideration declares that the root of our denominational problem is to be found in our 1888 episode despite of what J.R. Zurcher wrote in his, `Touched With Our Feeling'. The fruits of that event become more bitter with each passing year. The theological deviations among us become more subtle and soul destroying during that time. The vindictive spirit demanding litigation consumes ever larger amounts of money and effectively kills the Spirit. But heavenly insight proclaims there is no need for this church to continue indefinitely. Eternity can be ushered in soon! The work can be finished in an incredible short time. But it will require more than we have been willing to face so far. We must act now. It will require acceptance of the heavenly "eyesalve." It will require the repentance of the ages, accepting the "love" and "rebuke" which the True Witness gives. It will require an understanding of the truth of our history that so far has deluded many and is ignored by others. It will require the correction of theological confusion. We must not prefer graduates of institutions which do not teach the three angels messages. It will require the abandonment of worldly policies and man-made programs. Every species of legalism, i.e. illegalism, will have to die. Finally the ultimate experience awaiting the church is like that which Jesus went through in Gethsemane. Only God's very own will be willing to accept that. [Based on Donald K. Short, Our Church in the Very End Time, 2003.

[0540] Reference added by CIAS: "I asked the meaning of the shaking I had seen and was shown that it would be caused by the straight testimony called forth by the counsel of the True Witness to the Laodiceans. This will have its effect upon the heart of the receiver, and will lead him to exalt the standard and pour forth the straight truth. Some will not bear this straight testimony. They will rise up against it, and this is what will cause a shaking among God's people."
"I saw that the testimony of the True Witness has not been half heeded. The solemn testimony upon which the destiny of the church hangs has been lightly esteemed, if not entirely disregarded. This testimony must work deep repentance; all who truly receive it will obey it and be purified." {EW 270.2,3}
In the 1858 edition of GC we read: "I saw the angels of God hasten to the assistance of all those who were struggling with all their energies to resist those evil angels, and trying to help themselves by calling upon God with perseverance. But the angels left those who made no effort to help themselves, and I lost sight of them." {1858 GC chap.32; EW 270.1; 1SG 184.1}
The Situation in the end-time was described this way:
"The last note of warning had been given. When the saints, and all heaven were interested for their salvation, they had no interest for themselves. Life and death had been set before them. Many desired life; but did not make any effort to obtain it. They did not choose life, and now there was no atoning blood to cleanse the sinner. No compassionate Saviour to plead for them, and cry, Spare, spare the sinner a little longer. All heaven had united with Jesus, as they heard the fearful words, It is done, It is finished. The plan of salvation had been accomplished. But few had chosen to accept the plan. And as mercy's sweet voice died away, a fearfulness and horror seized them. With terrible distinctness they hear, Too late! too late!
Those who had not prized God's word were hurrying to and fro. They wandered from sea to sea, and from the north to the east, to seek the word of the Lord. Said the angel, They shall not find it. There is a famine in the land; not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. What would they not give for one word of approval from God? but no, they must hunger and thirst on. Day after day have they slighted salvation, and prized earthly pleasure, and earthly riches, higher than any heavenly inducement and treasure. They have rejected Jesus, and despised his saints. The filthy must remain filthy forever.
A great portion of the wicked were greatly enraged, as they suffered the effects of the plagues. It was a scene of fearful agony. Parents were bitterly reproaching their children, and children reproaching their parents, brothers their sisters, and sisters their brothers. Loud wailing cries were heard in every direction, It was you who kept me from receiving the truth, which would have saved me from this awful hour. The people turned upon the ministers with bitter hate, and reproached them, telling them, You have not warned us. You told us all the world was to be converted, and cried, Peace, peace, to quiet every fear that was aroused. You have not told us of this hour, and those who warned us of it you said were fanatics, and evil men, who would ruin us. But the ministers, I saw, did not escape the wrath of God. Their sufferings were ten fold greater than their people's." {1SG 199-210}

[0560] The prayer of Daniel was one of corporate repentance. He was interceding in behalf of his nation, in particular the leadership (kings, princes and fathers) of his nation, Daniel 9:8-11. - Such a forgiven person has forgiven also all those whom he needed to forgive - without exception, Mark 11:25,26.

[0600] God told Abraham, "In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (Gen. 12:3). Israel was intended to be the greatest nation on earth (Exodus 19:5,6), "the light of the world!" (Mt. 5:14). If they had preserved the faith of their father Abraham and had repented, Israel would have remained the greatest and most powerful nation on earth. The four and tyrannous world empires had to fill a vacuum in history left by the failure of Israel.

[0620] "The truth of our history indicates that all the while we have been praying for the gift to come during this past century and more, there is evidence that we have unwittingly been resisting it. (See here for reasons) . . . The proclamation of the gospel of Christ requires effective communication of one human heart to another, not merely visual or audio exposure to electronic stimuli. The avenues of that effective communication were open in the 1888 era; it was easier to grip the attention of people then than it is now. Our most effective electronic presentations today are quickly drowned out by the never-ending flood of sophisticated entertainment often inspired by Satan. ... we have made our task more difficult today, so much so that for many SdAs, especially youth, the entire prophetic picture has slipped out of focus. So vast and complex are the needs for social betterment of world population that many now can see only unending years of "social gospel" work. ... A major segment of the world is held in such an iron-fisted grip that for many SdAs the 3rd angel's warning against "the mark of the beast" seems archaic and irrelevant. The weary [making] passage of more than a century of mysterious delay has antiquated Adventism in their thinking. Can we get the prophetic picture back into focus? Yes, ... the first step is to recover what we lost in 1888. There we will find solid truth ... that is something we can recover. Our youth will listen, and be moved." {R. Wieland, Grace on Trial, p. 38,39}

[0700] New Testament evidence indicates that Christ and His apostles did not teach the early church to expect the second coming in their generation. 2.Thess. 2:1-10 makes clear that the apostles had at least a rudimentary comprehension of the time sweep of Daniel's prophecies. Likewise, the statement, "Behold, I come quickly" in Revelation has always been understood as applying in a proleptic (?) sense to those living in the end of time. Surely, God has not deceived His people for 2000 years, at least they have not thought so!

[0750] Confusion on this point has fueled the fanatical idea that individuals must leave Laodicea and return to Philadelphia. But this would set the clock back more than a century and put final events into reverse gear. Nowhere does Christ call individuals to leave Laodicea; He calls on "the angel of the church" to repent. See Appendix B rehardening the Philadelphia-Laodicea relationship.

[2000] EGW, Ministry of Healing, p. 25, 26.

[2600] 2SAT 167.1.

[3000] On sackcloth see also 2.Kings 19:2.

[4000] 2.Chronicles 24:20,21 (Matthew 23:35) in five languages.
"And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the Lord, that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken the Lord, he hath also forsaken you. And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the Lord." 2.Chronicles 24"20,21

[4700] But we must be careful not to fall into the mistaken belief that salvation is possible only when being part of or `within the church', a decidedly Catholic view. It is not what the group does which determines if heaven can be our home, but how we as individuals relate to Christ moment by moment. The end time church is a worldwide movement not tied to a bureaucracy.

[5000] Suppose the leadership fails, or rejects the Lord's appeal? Israel's history demonstrates that "the people" can intervene, demand and lead out in repentance; see Jeremiah 26.

[5300] CIAS comment: Finding that the Lord is working mightily bringing people to Bible based faith in the salvation through God's grace in Christ all around the world where the 3 angels messages are preached in 202 out of 228 countries in all languages. is certainly heart warming. In