The Mysterious Union

The

Mysterious Union of the

Human and the

Divine

edited edition

The Mysterious Unionof the

Human and the Divine

A Christian philosophyof human existence and divine existence.

by

Edward I. Edstrom

This booklet is an edited edition of the original treatise.

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Tables of ConTenTs

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Chapter 1: This Is What I Understand and Believe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 How Do I Know What Is Thruth? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Who Is Man? What Is His Nature? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Expanded Discussion of Man’s Physicaland Spiritual Nature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Who is God? What is His Nature? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 The Universe Invaded by an INTRUDER! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 What Difference Does It Make . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 The Foundation and Meaning of True Worship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Satan’s Double-Dealing Subtlety! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 From Slavery to Freedom, Liberty! How? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 The Perfect Cure—Three Miracles! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 East and West—The World Picture! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 The Protection, the Defense, the Shelter! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Chapter 2: From This Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Tradition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 TRUTH—How to Find It and How to Understand It . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 The Spirit of God and the Spirit of Man-A Parallel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 MAN—Created in Two Dimensions of Reality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 INTERACTION—Spirit and Body; Death; Soul-to-Soul Union . . . . . . . . 41 “No Other God Before Me” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Only Being Who Is One With God In All the Universe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 The Father’s Universal Presence By His Spirit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 The Link Between God and Man . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Another Comforter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 True Religion—Christ In You, the Hope of Glory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 God Shares Himself With Man Through Jesus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Sin Against the Spirit of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

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Jesus, the Medium of Prayer to the Father . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Bible Study—Your Assistant? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 The Mystery of Godliness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Divine Grace? The Spirit of Christ Shared with Man . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Freedom In Christ—Cooperation with His Spirit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Results of Union With the Father Through Jesus’ Spirit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Man Becomes a Spring of Living Water for Others . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Protection—Satan Hates and Fears the Presence of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Hope of Salvation? Mystically and Eternally One with God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Perfection Latter Rain—Human Nature Restored to Perfection . . . . . . . . . . 61 The Plan of Salvation—Three Gifts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 The Written Word and the Living Word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 We Have a Message—Jesus, the Hope of Perfection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Satan’s Most Subtle Scheme—Hide Truth, Jesus Is the Comforter! . . . . . . 64 Truth Will not Always Lie in the Dust, Trampled Underfoot! . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 The Only Hope of Man? Actual Union with Christ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 The Goal of the Gospel? Transformed, Restored to Fellowship . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Excerpts from “Constant Attainment Essential to Christian Life” . . . . . . . . 65 Excerpts from “Not in Man’s Wisdom” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Chapter 3: Questions Most Often Asked . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Key to Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

“For there is one God, and One Mediator between God and Men, the Man Christ Jesus,…” (1 Tim. 2:5)

“Let us avail ourselves of the means provided for us that we may be transformed into His likeness, and be restored to fellowship with the ministering angels, to harmony and communion with the Father and the Son.” SC 22

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InTroduCTIon

Twenty years ago, in 1954, at a monthly workers’ meet-ing on Lulengele Mission, in Central Africa, our pastors and teachers were very distressed. Islam, the religion of Mohammed, was spreading faster than Christianity! The disciples of the Prophet of “No God but Allah!”, the pro-moters of belief in only one God, were “winning” against the missionaries of what really appeared to be three sepa-rate, distinct Gods that were being “called” One! My men needed help! The explanations I gave of the nature of God and man didn’t satisfy! How was a committee of three, though eternal, though in complete agreement, though described as one, really one! Wasn’t the being called the Father, God! Wasn’t the man called Jesus, God? And what of the Holy Spirit? In what way can three individual, per-sonal entities honestly be one?I went home for lunch, heavy, burdened in spirit. I, the one who should help, didn’t know the answers! For thou-sands of Africans in “my” territories eternal life was at stake! To fail to know or to learn the real truth in these matters would, as I believed, keep them from the genu-ine hope of the life to come. In my pain I opened the book, The Great Controversy, at page 493 and read these words. “Christ, the Word,…one with the eternal Father...the only Being in all the universe that could enter into all the counsels and purposes of God”! I read on “…and to Christ, equally with the Father, all heaven gave alle-giance”. Hadn’t I just told my leaders that three sat on the creation committee? At that moment began a search for all the revealed truth available on this problem. It is hard to describe the longing that blossomed that day for a truer, a

CW 50, 51

MH 425-426

Deut. 6:4

Mark 12:29-32

SD 26

Gen. 1:26, 27

1 Tim. 2:3-5

TMK 12

8T 325

MH 409-410

MH 420-422

6BC 1110

(Rom. 6:4)

AG 208

PP 34, 35

GC 493

3RH 11-12 or

RH Jan 17, 1895

TMK 11

SR 20

MH 415, 429

7BC 1108

John 17

7BC 1145

HL 306:1231

2RH 156 or

RH July 19, 1887

MH 409, 410

Ex. 20:2, 3

Deut. 6:4

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clearer human understanding of the nature and reality of my God whom I had been sent to represent in the villages of Africa!

Confusion!

The problem I faced was serious! God had taught His ancient people clearly that God is one. “I am the Lord your God,…You shall have no other Gods before Me.” (Ex. 20:2, 3) “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord,…” (Deut. 6:4) “…knowledge of the Holy One…What is His name, and what is His Son’s name? Sure-ly you know!” (Prov. 30:1-4) When Jesus was asked the question, “Which commandment is the first of all?”, He answered, “The first of all is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one;…” (Mark 12:29-32) Now I had just read of the only Being who was one with the Father, the only begotten of this Eternal Father, the Son, who was one with Him in “nature, in character, and in purpose’, the only one “in all the universe that could enter into all the counsels and purposes of God”. (GC 493) Add to these truths these thoughts so often repeated: “…three living persons of the heavenly trio;…” (Ev. 615); “The Godhead was stirred with pity for the race, and the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit gave Themselves to the working out of the plan of redemption”. (CH 222) Then my reason, given by God Himself, spoke out, “But, three aren’t one! Three are three; one is one! Truth must first make sense!”How could I keep faith in the Bible as the Word of Truth, in the answers of Jesus who is Truth, in the inspiration of Ellen White as God’s messenger, and in my own God-cre-ated reason, my ability to read and make sense out of what I read--if I tried to accept all these apparently conflicting “truths” all together, at the same moment? Is faith the sci-ence of unseen realities (5RH 86 or RH Nov 3, 1904) or

Prov. 30:1-4

GC 347, 348

Mark 12:29-32

Heb. 4:15, 16

CH 222

Ev 614-616

GC 493

PP 34

DA 22

TMK 61

TMK 12

OHC 169

TM 41

Isa. 1:18, 20

CW 37

5RH 86 or RH

Nov 3, 1094

2RH 368 or

RH Feb 18, 1890

John 7:17

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is it believing what doesn’t make understandable mean-ing? Would a loving Creator leave me in this confusion after giving me a mind created in the likeness of His own creative mind? Would He expect me to suffer on through the years ignorant of His nature, His reality, or wouldn’t He rather at least try to give me a knowledge of Himself and His Son whom to know is life eternal? (John 17)I set out for a solution. I saw also that, should I find one, I would then have a better way to bring Jesus, the “only mediator between God and man” (1 Tim. 2:5), to all the people of the world especially to the Arabic and Hebrew thinkers who have misunderstood true Christianity’s teaching about the oneness of God, having for centuries recognized the same problem with which I had just been so clearly faced.

Solution

In the years that have followed, I have come to an un-derstanding that has helped me to grasp better the whole plan of redemption: God’s relationship to man, and man’s to God; what God must do for man, and what man must do for himself; how man, though fallen, can again con-nect with the Eternal One and find the only possible way of human happiness (AG 99); how man, created to have dominion, glory, and dignity, can again find these in “sub-mitting” to Jesus!In Part I of the paper, I will share a philosophy of divine and human existence based on my understanding of the material found in Part II which is composed of quotations from the Bible and the writings of Ellen White alone. I will state my findings as clearly as I can with no intention of being dogmatic.

Luke 11:9-10

5RH 147 or

RH July 6, 1905

1 Tim. 2:5

Rom. 11

5RH 146 or

RH June 29, 1905

Gal. 3:20

AG 363

HL 301:1206-8

AG 99

7BC 1081-1082

HL 304:1223, 121

DA 466

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ChapTer 1: ThIs Is WhaT I undersTand and belIeve

How Do I Know What Is Truth?

I believe that, if I am a rational being who really desires to know the truth, God will give me enough evidence to know what is truth! This means that I must take His written word just as it reads. It must become a part of my very life – an experiential knowledge! With divine help I must reach conclusions for myself. This I can do with confidence, for I believe His promise that He will teach His mysteries to me personally if I come to Him humbly and with a teachable spirit. Why? The most important question in life must be, “What is truth that I may understand it and live by it? “ When asked the reasons for my belief, I do not want to be confused or surprised by finding out that what I had taken to be truth is merely a set of suppositions and poorly defined ideas! The only safeguard against evil is truth, “true” truth! A dangerous fallacy is the mistake of accepting the words about truth in the place of truth Himself, being sat-isfied with the often-repeated, beautiful-sounding phrases called “truth” for the reality! I believe that I have found truth when my mind has been brought into direct communion with the mind of the Infinite, the source of eternal truth.In my search for clearer understandings I have found for myself that the Bible is truly God’s voice speaking to my soul. In it I have found the answers to my deepest, most perplexing questions. Along with this Word I accept the writings of Ellen White as His voice also, revealing to me many and wonderful thoughts and ideas clarifying and illuminating those given by earlier messengers of His, whose manuscripts make up the accepted canon of Scripture. All of these sources I value infinitely as I read them in English using honest intelligence, and believing that the Spirit of Truth will protect me from Satan’s deceptions as He teaches me the meaning He intended when He gave men the truths they needed.

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The scholars of Jesus’ time studied, memorized, and knew the Holy Scrip-tures. Yet the Master pointed out to them that though they spent their lives in this work they failed to recognize Him, the One to Whom the writings were intended to lead! And why? These wise men read and “in-terpreted” what they studied with the wrong “helper” at their sides! They wanted the prophets to say what they wanted to hear! They “needed” to uphold the traditions of the “fathers” rather than being led to Him who was the Eternal Life which they sought! I must face the danger, too, of “loving” the Written Word instead of connecting with the Living Word. What a tragedy if I should trust the words to do for me that which only He, the Spirit of Truth, who is behind these words can do! Therefore, in all my own studying, I must find Him who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Who is Man? What is His Nature?

The original question about the nature of our Creator, His being One or Three gods, and the materiality of His Spirit led to other questions: How real is this Spirit of Truth? Is He a person? Then, what is a person? In what way does He indwell the human “temple” of the body? Can I actually experience the association of the divine Spirit with my human spirit as apparently taught in the Bible? Could the word, spirit, as used about God have a similar meaning as when used about man, since man was made in His image? Does what seems logical have a real possibility of pointing in the direction of genuine truth?As I studied and pondered these questions, I came to see the parallel drawn by Paul in his discussions of the spirit of God and the spirit of man. In 1 Cor. 2:9-11, we see an example: “For what person knows a man’s thoughts except the spirit of man which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God”. I was struck by the clearness of his comparison—a man’s spirit knows his inner secrets as also does the Spirit of God know his! Again I found this relationship: “When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is the spirit of God himself bearing wit-ness with our spirit that we are children of God ...” (Rom. 8:15,16) Now

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since we were “made in God’s likeness, it becomes very reasonable that our spirit made in the image of God’s Spirit could be witnessed to by this Eternal Spirit! Would not man then be in reality spirit, if formed as a copy of God “who is spirit” (John 4:24)? The existence, the realness of the holy Spirit, the divine Spirit, suggested to me the possibility of an equal realness for the human spirit. In the past I had thought of the Spirit of God as being so substantially real but of the spirit of man as being some kind of breath! How could the Spirit of the Lord witness to my imper-sonal “breath of life” that I am a child of God? I saw clearly that I needed to explore the “mind of truth” about the nature of man, my own nature. Was man only a very complex body that when alive breathes making him a soul? Was he really created in just the one material dimension known and recognized by the physical senses? To me, man seemed to be more wonderful by far than that! Too many questions were left unanswered by this view. The idea then came, “Couldn’t a truer understanding of man himself help him to see more clearly into the nature of his Creator?” This hope, this possibility, led me on! After studying and weighing all the evidence I could find, it finally be-came clear to me that God had created man in two dimensions both of which are real: the spiritual and the physical. Man was made in the im-age of God, in the likeness of His Creator, not only in mind, spirit, soul, but in form and in feature. (GC 644-45)Let me make clear and certain right here that in speaking of this spiritual nature of man, his spirit, his soul, I know that man is created, made by God, has no source of life on his own, and therefore has no immortal “in-ner man”. Man is finite, his soul subject to the second, the final death, as Jesus Himself explained so clearly when He said we should not be afraid of these who can destroy the body but cannot touch the soul, instead we should reverence the One who can destroy both body and soul. (Matt. 10:28) The word, the noun, “Soul” is in no way synonymous with the adjectives, “Immortal,” “Conscious” in the sleep of death! I am using this word “soul” as Ellen White did when she wrote that “the holy Spirit is the soul of Christ’s life”: that is, the very center, the very reality of His being. (5RH 42-43 or RH May 19,1904) This soul is then the real person in the truest sense, his ultimate self stripped of all the external form and

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“machinery” accessory to making him a full conscious being or “person” in the broader sense of the word.For a time the word, person, caused me difficulty. Just who or what is a person? What are the basic elements to be considered? God’s Spirit is called a person (Ev 614-16) Does this mean that God’s everywhere-pres-ent Spirit has an everywhere-present body? God said that His Spirit filled the universe! (Ps. 139; Jer. 23:24) Could this really, sensibly be taken to say that his body actually fills Heaven and Earth? I have concluded that the way to understand the meaning of “person” as used in the narrower sense is to see that a person is really the “inner” life identity of a being, the character, the individuality, the real “I” of the one called, “God,” “man,” or “angel”. This part of the whole man is what I am calling his “spiritual nature”. Its constituents—the will, the mind, and the heart—are the au-thority, the intelligence, and affections that “make” him who He really is as someone distinctly individual. This is his “person” that must unite with the “person” of Jesus to experience the “covering” of Christ’s life. (COL 312) At other times this often used word “person” does mean the whole being of “God,” “man,” or “angel”—his personal spirit in union with and operating through his own distinct personal body, his “spiri-tual” presence as well as his “physical” presence. When I grasped this concept, I then could understand how Ellen White could write of “three living persons” in one place and in others of “the only being who was one with God” (making two beings in the “heavenly trio”) and still not be “confused” nor contradicting herself! (Ev 614-16; DA 22) Here is an illustration of word usage. The holy Spirit is “the personal presence of Christ in the soul”. (2RH 617 or Nov 29, 1892)And so I saw that this “personal” being called “man” was a new creation in God’s universe; one planned, brought into existence to be a compan-ion with the Infinite One, able to partake of His Creator’s nature; one who had a soul intended to be a temple for the indwelling of the Spirit, Soul, Mind, of his Maker. However, sin foiled this plan. Michael, the one like God, was born into the human family as Jesus, who lived and died that man might again be that temple! (DA 161)Even a partial understanding of these two levels of existence—the mate-

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rial and the spiritual—holds the key to the understanding of man him-self, the problem of his condition, the means of his redemption, and his relationship to his God.These questions raise their heads! If man is only a complicated breathing “body-machine” (as so many teach), where can be found the possibility of human freedom—man’s great need, his great hope? Does his sinfulness lie in his body or in another dimension, the mind? What is the source of his failures which discourage him even in his attempts to reach the ideals he sets for himself? Is there no chance of “human perfectibility”? By what means can he be preserved as himself, his real identity, through death and translation, if he is now only a body with life forces (especially when in death this body disintegrates, is eaten by worms!)? If the Bible is true in stating that I can be a sharer in the divine Nature, must my flesh in some way be attached to the flesh of God? (II Pet. 1:4) If, as some say, it is foolishness to think of a human spirit “dwelling” in a body of flesh, how do I understand the lesson taught so clearly by Paul that our bodies are temples for the indwelling of the Spirit of God? If it is impossible for two distinct “substances” of existence—the spiritual and the material—to contact each other, as some others claim, how can I be “touched” by the Spirit of God, as we teach? Without this “touch”, the religion of Jesus would then have no realness to it! For many years this problem tormented me.Finally, these questions! Must I not read the Bible as an understandable book meaning what it says? Would it be fair for God to make statements to man which simply are not true?

Expanded Discussion of Man’s Physical and Spiritual Nature

What then do I mean by man’s “physical” nature? Just what does it include?This dimension of man’s existence, his makeup, takes in all that can be measured, experienced, and known by the instruments of physics, chem-istry, and the biological sciences—any part of his fleshly nature that partakes of the bodily senses. All the organs of his form, including the brain and the nervous system, belong to it: “the very flesh in which the soul tabernacles and through which it works”. (TM 456) A clear distinc-

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tion is drawn between the mind of man and his brain with its share in the thinking processes, as well as between the spiritual “heart” and his natural heart. This body is the “machinery” of life, the living “machine”, operated by the real spiritual “person” who sets the purposes, the plans, the behavior, the reasons for existence. These are carried out and made visible, manifest by this physically real “house-instrument”.The one who understands this truth then knows that true beauty is not found in the outward but rather in the inner man – beautiful people can live in an unattractive house! Yet the lovely things within will be seen through the windows kept clean by the one inside!And what of the spiritual realm of his life? Here, we are dealing with that non-material substance created by God which is the real essence, the “heart”, the core of his life, the true man himself. This dimension of human existence is sometimes named “the mind;” sometimes “the soul”; at other times “the spirit,” or the “heart”. I studied this word usage for a long time before seeing that this whole part of man’s nature was variously being described by one of its own areas. As I have pointed out briefly above, every true “person” must have inner authority; that is will or spirit. He must also have inner intelligence; that is , mind or spirit again as it sometimes is designated. Finally he must have inner affections; that is, soul, heart, feelings, emotions. Without all these, no one could be regarded as a full, real “person” though he might lose many parts of his body and yet not have forfeited his “personhood”.The most wonderful, the most “dangerous” act of God in creation was giving to created beings a mind, a creative mind, made in the image of His own original, uncreated mind! In this gift lies the marvel, the joy, the thrill of being human! Yet in it also lies the power to create evil, to invent rebellion against the Giver!This soul “substance:, this reality of man, was given a house to live in, and a way to make himself visible, there then is a double companionship in this arrangement: an invisible soul-to-soul comfort of nearness along with the very blessed happiness of being close to another loved one’s “seen” form! The most “real,” the most vital “contact” is the internal, the spirit-to-spirit union (experienced by those who are truly married!). As

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we will develop later, it is this kind of actual union between man and God through Jesus that is the heart of this paper.God planned that this soul, this spirit, this heart, this mind of man, should rule its own home, be its master. Man should have dominion—in this kingship, the dignity, the glory of man would lie! His mind in coop-eration with the Mind of the Infinite Father would even share in the rule of the earth, his country, but with sin came the loss of power and the loss of control over his own body with its appetites, desires, and feelings! Even the earth rebelled against his direction! His soul was no longer a temple for the indwelling of His divine Companion; spirits of demons brought into it their unholy “traffic” of greed, hate, competition, and selfishness. Man needed a Saviour, a Redeemer who could drive out the evil throng and make him again a free, dignified human—a sanctuary for the Living God!As I have tried to emphasize before in this discussion, this soul, this spirit of man with which this philosophy deals, is not immortal, nor conscious in death. Only in the healthful interaction between spirit and body can man be truly whole! In this truth lies the real reason for true healthful liv-ing—health of mind and body. Since the brain is the organ of conscious-ness, there can be no knowing, understanding, nor loving during death! Tape recorders could be used as an illustration, though not perfect. Let us use a player-piano to explain. The “character” of the paper roll (the holes punched in it in correct sequence and place) determine the behavior of the piano—the tune (life story) it plays; punch in some extra holes, out of place, and hear the discordant notes! If the instrument itself breaks down, the roll is silent! Store the roll; there is no “life”, no music! Miss someone to “power” the combination; “death” reigns!And now for a look at the tape recorder for another illustration. The tapes lie stacked in the owner’s keeping, silent; he wants to hear one. The “ma-chine” stands still unmoving! The “resurrector” puts in the cassette, con-nects the “machine” with the power, adjusts the controls, and forth comes “life” music! And so with man! The essence of man, (his spirit, his soul, his mind) must have besides the living, well-operating mechanism of the body, the power of life from God, direct and through natural means, just as the recorder must be “plugged in” to the electric current.

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Here is no “greek dualism” with the “soul” struggling to get free from its prison! No antagonism of body and spirit! No independence of form and mind! No! No! God created the body for the mind, the soul! There is no true existence, no affection, no “living”, apart from real healthful active interacting cooperation. But, because this is true, one should not conclude that man does not have a spirit made in the likeness of God’s spirit which is preserved through death in God’s keeping as an existing (though unconscious, unknowing) reality until the resurrection for both the dead in Christ” and the “dead in sin”.A belief in God would infer a resulting belief that only He could have “natural immortality”! Only a “source of life” that is eternal can have life forever! The Bible makes this very plain. Thus we must conclude that any created being is subject to destruction! None is immune to annihilation! Jesus’ above-quoted words are so clear, “…rather fear Him who can de-stroy both body and soul….” (Matt. 10:28)Through death or translation the actual identical person is preserved, good or evil, to be made “alive” once more, given another “house” of the same shape, form, though of different molecules! All will in this “new” dwelling receive their final “reward”, some, the cleansing annihilating fire; others, the change to “given” immortality through their “union” with Jesus!The realness of the flesh, that the Divine Son took so that we might be-come one spirit with Him (DA 388), is evidence of the realness of the spirit that we have which becomes one with His. “What food is to the body, Christ must be to the soul” (DA 388-89) Since food must become a part of our physical being to be of value to us, Jesus’ life must become united to our life; He must be received, spiritually, into our soul. His real presence in our real soul must be there to break the real sin-chains that ruin our freedom. Satanic forces are always at work among men “to distract and corrupt the mind, and defile and destroy the body”. (AG 32) Therefore, man needs the power and purity offered him through the entrance of the actual, vital Spirit of Jesus into actual, vital union with his own spirit, giving him liberty. To understand this concept involves the need for a clearer view of the nature of the Creator.

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Who is God? What is His Nature?

The most basic truth of God’s Word is that there is only one God! Jesus Himself said that this is the first commandment of all. (Mark 12:29) In the realization of this belief, the unity of God’s creation finds its base, its source. With all “eyes” on the one Lord, His creatures are brought together in Him! It is tragic that Christians so often give the impression that there are three Gods, not one! This misconception has, in large areas of the world, made it almost impossible for the gospel of Jesus to make converts. People are left to die in their sins, in their loneliness, without knowing their Mediator, their only Way to God! Who would doubt Sa-tan’s interest in keeping this ignorance current, up to date, orthodox! Would not the above heart-rending fact of history, past and contempo-rary, be enough to drive one who loved all men as brothers to do all he could to clear up the fog, to remove the roadblocks, to make the light shine in the dark places?It is true that Jesus did tell His disciples to make converts, baptizing them in the “three-fold name” of God—Father, Son, and Spirit. (Matt. 28:19, 21; 6T 91) The Apostle Paul did write of the “grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit”. (RSV II Cor. 13:14) And still we must not forget the great truth taught so well: “... The Lord our God is one Lord ...” (Deut. 6:4)In several places Ellen White has spoken of the Father, the Son, and the holy Spirit as “three living persons”. (EV 614-16) In another place she has explained herself more fully, saying that the Father “is all the fullness of the Godhead bodily”, while the Son “is all the fullness of the Godhead Manifested”, and that the Comforter “is the Spirit in all the fullness of the Godhead, making manifest the power of divine grace” to all who ac-cept Jesus. (Ev 614-15) In a multitude of places, this writer refers only to the Father and the Son. Here is one example: “In the Bible every duty is made plain. Every lesson given is comprehensible. Every lesson reveals the Father and the Son”. (8T 157) Then again in many references we find that the Divine Son was the only being who was one with God, the only one who could enter into all His counsels and plans! (DA 22; GC 393; PP 34-6; TMK 363)

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How should these apparently contradictory statements be understood? Is it important that we be concerned? “And this is eternal life, that they know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou has sent.” (RSV John 17:3) I believe that I must know.“God is Spirit”, Jesus said. (John 4:24) Ellen White, commenting says, “God is a spirit; yet He is a personal being, for man was made in His im-age”; she continues, “As a personal being, God has revealed Himself in His Son ...”; and then, “The Lord’s throne is in heaven; yet by His Spirit He is everywhere present. He has an intimate knowledge of, and a per-sonal interest in, all the works of His hand”. (Ed 131-33) The expression, a personal being, as used here, means to me that God, the Father, is a real being in the fullest sense of the word—a personal spirit made visible to His unfallen creatures through His divine form, whose “physical” pres-ence brings them the greatest joy and comfort.Who, then, is this God, who is loved, if known? (DA 22)He is the Divine Father existing from eternity on two levels of reality: (1) the all-knowing, the everywhere-present, the all-powerful Spirit of the Creator; (2) made visible through His divine form and features. In His image we were created. From the wholeness of His being flows the life of the universe, original, genuine love! (MB 34) He is the God whom we worship. He is the God whom we love because He first loved us. To Him every knee must bow! As our King, His own Spirit “fills” the universe while holy angels veil their faces before Him as He “sits” on His throne in Heaven. His ultimate reality is His own Holy Spirit. His form gives the comfort and joy of His visible features. “We shall see His face and be glad!” He is the Eternal Presence known through His “physical” presence in the place called, Heaven. Because He is a person, His Spirit, reaching out beyond the limits of “material” form, comes to His creatures as a person, as real a person as He is, enthroned at the center of the universe! Made in His likeness, we have some idea of the nature of our Creator.In the beyond-human-comprehension-ages of eternity, this Father had a divine Son, begotten of Himself. This Son shared the One Eternal, Personal Divine Spirit. Yet since He, as a Son, has His own form and “brain”, He would have His own personality while being one with His

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Father in Spirit, in nature, having the same purposes, goals, character. With this Son the Father planned and carried out the creation of the universe, making beings in their own image who had created “copies” of Their creative Mind, Spirit, Soul. This Son was the only Being who was one with God! (GC 363) To Him equally with the Father all the universe gave allegiance. By the power of Their creative Spirit, the Son spoke the worlds into existence. By the love inherent in that Spirit, They woo the hearts of fallen humans today, as They always have since the origin of evil on our planet.To explain the nature of God’s Spirit is impossible for any of His crea-tures! How could a man who cannot even understand his own spirit with its own intellect, affections, and will, comprehend the Soul of his Maker? What foolishness it would be even to try! But the things He has revealed “belong to us and our children forever”. (Deut. 29:29) All that we can know we should know! Notice His promise, “If we come to Him in faith, He will speak His mysteries to us personally.” (DA 668) Our God by His own divine Spirit enlightens the understanding and opens to the mind the deep things of His Holy Word. How can I neglect His offer!“By His Spirit He (God) is everywhere present.” (MH 417) Through a part of Himself, His inner being, His inner self, His ultimate inner real-ity, the source or seat of His vitality, His inner person, the center of His full person, His soul, His mind, His breath of life, God reaches to the actual “ends of His infinite universe “touching” everything and everyone with His own real presence! (2RH 23 or RH March 2, 1886; DA 22) This eternal Spirit is then the “life-link” of infinite wisdom, of eternal love, the light and the life of God’s creation that is the personal oneness of the Father and Son. “The world’s Redeemer was equal with God ... He declared that He had no existence separate from the Father ...” (5BC 1142)Thus, by this spiritual presence, God has ever been at work throughout the whole of His dominion; and by this personal presence, He has been taking knowledge of, giving life to, and guiding all! Moses wrote of His “moving upon the face of the waters” in the making of our earth. (Gen 1:2) He also wrote of His work at the time of the great flood. (Gen 6:3) David sang so beautifully of the ever-with-us Spirit of God! (Ps 139) The

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hearts of angels and men were designed by our God to be tabernacles for the indwelling of His own heart, soul, spirit!

The Universe Invaded by an INTRUDER! A Mediator-Redeemer Needed!

The first of all God’s angels, Lucifer, after ages of joy, obedience, and loyalty, began to misuse the marvelous creative mind that he had been given. He was the highest of the angels. In appearance he resembled the Son, for God had created him as much like Himself as possible! Ques-tions were entertained until he doubted the truths he had known and be-lieved. Could it be that they were keeping him from his rights to share in Their councils and plans? These subtle doubts he began to spread among the angels. The King of the universe saw it necessary to call all the hosts of Heaven before Him to make plain to all the true position of His Son. As they came together, “the Son of God shared the Father’s throne, and the glory of the eternal, self-existent One encircled both”. (PP 34-6) The King explained the true situation: none but He who has life in Himself, unborrowed, can give life. No other than His only begotten Son was un-created, therefore, no one but He could be worshipped; no angel could enter into all His plans and activities!The heart-rending story of the events that followed this meeting is well known: the revolt in Heaven; the expulsion of the incorrigible angels; and the fall of Adam and Eve causing the disappointments, loneliness, slavery, shame, pain, and death of the following thousands of years!Humans, deceived and overcome, needed a way back to purity, back to communion and fellowship with their Creator-Father. Before the Earth was brought into existence, God and His Son had planned a way should men fall to the tempter: the Son, the express image of the Father, would give up His divine body forever; be born of a woman into the human race; live on Earth the life of Heaven; die as a human that the Father might extend a period of probation to those who had lost a right to life (having broken the law of life): become the divine-human link that brings the recreating, restoring, rebeautifying Spirit of the Creator into

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the spirits of men making them again as pure, as whole, as perfect, as if they had never sinned! (TM 40, 508)Only one Being in all the universe could do this service for man—the Divine Son! “Only He who knew the height and depth of the love of God could make it known” and reveal the contrast between God’s char-acter and the character of Satan (DA 22) “The only Being who was one with God lived the law in humanity”, was born into the life of a common laborer, and worked with His earthly guardian at the carpenter’s bench. (TMK 363) Born of Mary while still partaking of the divine Nature, “He gained in a new sense the title of the Son of God”. (1SM 226-227; 5BC 1114, 1146) Into His nature has flowed two streams—the Life of God and the life of humanity. Still one with God, He has become also one with man! By His divine-human Spirit He shared the Spirit of the Infinite God; while by the same divine-human Spirit, He could enter the human soul and cleanse it, and finally unite it in an eternal, mystical union with His own soul making man a joint heir with Himself to the throne of the universe. (MYP 110) Even now, Jesus sets man free-free from the bondage of trying to be wise above the wisdom of His Creator, free from the slavery of perverted appetites, free from the cruelty of the spirits of demons that torture his mind, free from the hunger and thirst of the human heart! In His life as a human, Jesus lived out a perfect character depending upon the Life of God that was veiled within His humanity. This perfect character He offers man through the link of His human-divine Spirit. Man must demonstrate by his own behavior that he wants a life like the life of God. He must longingly cooperate with his Redeemer, who always respects his individuality, his freedom, his choice, his “humanness”, his manhood. In union and cooperation with this “one mediator”, the hope of the human race rests alone! (2RH 616 or RH Nov 22, 1892)At the beginning of His earthly ministry, at His baptism, Jesus heard the Father’s voice direct from Heaven claiming Him as His beloved Son. With the voice came also the light of His glory taking the form of a dove. This form symbolized the meekness and gentleness of the Son of God and Man. (TMK 31)

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As He taught, He called Himself the “Bread of Life”, since from Him flowed the life-giving Spirit which is the true manna. (DA 386) He made clear, too, that He was the Water of Life that quenched forever all thirst. To those who received Him, He was the real Comforter of mankind. His physical presence brought hope, courage, joy, peace, rest! “No middle man comes between the sinner and Christ.” (7BC 914)At his death on the cross, as He cried out, “It is finished”, the plan had succeeded—God and man were one! A way for complete restoration was established! Satan’s death sentence could be justly carried out! Now there was one God, and one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus! (1 Tim. 2:5)While He was still with His disciples, the Master promised them that, even though He would be going away, He would not leave them comfort-less; He would be with them to the end. (John 14-16) True, He did speak of another Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, who would come to them from the Father. He had called Himself “the Truth”. Who then would be the Spirit of Truth but He, Himself, in spirit rather than in body? While He was with them, they found such comfort, such rest, in His physical nearness! But how could that physical nearness satisfy and be with the thousands of believers who would join Him from all around the world through the work of His disciples? And so He promised them “another Comforter”, one who would not be restricted by the limitations of space and location. Who was He? Jesus said, “… for he dwells with you, and will be in you”. He could be no other than the spirit, the human-divine Spirit of Jesus Himself who, as the Spirit of God, is everywhere present with all who have not rejected Him. “The Saviour would be accessible to all alike spiritually, and in this sense He would be nearer to us all than if He had not ascended on high.” (DA 668-69) Notice what Ellen White in another place writes, “… when on the Day of Pentecost the prom-ised Comforter descended … and the souls of the believers thrilled with the conscious presence of their ascended Lord …” they were ready to go through any suffering for His sake. This explains why, also, we are told that “the Holy Spirit comes to man through Christ.” (4RH 72 or RH July 25, 1899) “The impartation of the Spirit was the impartation of the

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very life of Christ …” (4RH 54 or RH June 13, 1899) “The impartation of the Spirit is the impartation of the life of Christ.” (DA 805) “Why, then, do we not have more of the Holy Spirit? Because we do not abide in Christ; because we do not eat His flesh and drink His blood.” (4RH 175 or RH Apr 24, 1900) Notice also that in speaking of the Day of Pentecost, inspiration tells us that “The Spirit of Him who died that sin-ners might live animated the entire congregation of believers”. (9T 20-1) “The Holy Spirit is the breath of spiritual life in the soul.” (DA 805) “And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; for through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.” (Eph. 2:17-18) I love the prayer of Jesus for all of His disciples, ”… that they may be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us …” (John 17:21)This understanding of the oneness of God and of the reality of the hu-man and divine spirits, with the possibility of their union, has been very helpful and gratifying to me in my attempts to bring the message of Jesus to people of Jewish, Islamic, and Unitarian faiths. I have gone to Rabbis of the great synagogues of Montreal and explained to them these concepts of God and Jesus. They have marveled, finding no way of deny-ing the possibility of Jesus’ being the Son of God. To everyone I can go fearlessly believing and teaching that God is truly one! The only question that remains for all is, “Will I accept Him?”.

What Difference Does It Make What I Believe about these Concepts?

What then does this belief mean to me, already a Christian? Does it open any windows of understanding? Does it make Christianity more real? Does it help me in my fight with sin? Could it help me in my need for perfection? Might it add some explanation for the delay in the return of Jesus? Does it make the “mystery of the gospel … Christ in you the hope of glory” more glorious? As a human being, will I have the right to say, “In the strength of Jesus Christ I will be a conqueror”? Can I really hold as “vital a relation with God as does the Son to the Father”? In my experience I have found the answer to all these and similar questions to be, “Yes!”

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What, then, is real Christianity? Is it only a set of doctrines, beliefs about God—something to be worn on the outside, a style of behavior, right at-titudes and actions? Or, is it more? What could that more be? Might there be a greater reality to genuine worship than we have known? Could the “love relationship” between the believer and His God be more “tangible” than merely the confession of it? Why do so many people get the idea that Christianity devalues the individual human making him a worm, a nothing? Is there a deeper meaning to the name of Jesus, Immanuel, God with us? What really, really is the Adventist message?To make spiritual progress, one must share with others what he has found out. I would like to do this, giving, in as clear a way as I can, the under-standing that has come to me in answer to these questions as I have stud-ied the writings of Inspiration. A sample of my findings will be found in the second part of this paper, “From this Evidence”. That section is composed entirely of quotations arranged to follow the outline that I am using in this first part.

The Foundation and Meaning of True Worship

The foundation of the Christian’s faith is built on the merits of a cruci-fied and risen Saviour. My soul’s dependence upon Him, Jesus, must be as real and my connection with Him as actual as that of “a limb to the body, or of a branch to the vine”! How real, how close is this? More than words! All of us need hope and assurance to take possession of our lives—the helpless soul cast without reservation upon Him, our divine-human Brother! This Jesus, Immanuel, who alone stands between the believer and the Father reveals the glory of His character, and covers my defects and transgressions with His own spotless real self!True worship means that I believe in a personal God, the Father, and His personal Son, Jesus. These alone are to be exalted, worshipped, and in whatever way I make them known through my own character, I am glorifying God. (6BC 1115; SD 58; BC 978) Through the one personal Eternal Spirit of the Father and the Son, I have continual access to the Father. (SC 97-8) The humanity of Jesus is the “life-line” through which

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I come, since, because of His life on this earth, my Brother has joined in Himself humanity and divinity. Should I fail to have the true, real, Spirit of Jesus in me, I do not belong to God! “You may commune with Christ, who will be within you, a hope of glory. This is true religion.” (2RH 92 or RH Nov 9, 1886) “Pure and undefiled religion is the life of God in the soul, the abiding of Jesus in the heart.” (2RH 151 or RH July 5, 1887) This then is the essence of genuine worship!When the Father shares with us His holy Spirit, His health-giving, His joy-giving Spirit, He gives us Himself, “making Himself a fountain of divine influence, to give health and life to the world”. (7T 273) This holy Spirit of the Father comes to us through Jesus, the “only media-tor between God and man”. (4RH 72 or RH July 25,1899) In this way the sharing of the Spirit is the giving of the actual life of Jesus to His disciples so that they can bring Him to a lost and dying world! To “eat His flesh and drink His blood” then becomes this receiving of His own Soul without which we do not have the holy Spirit, whom to resist, to ignore, is fatal, since it puts man in a position where God has no power to reach his inner life. This determined resistance of truth and evidence, this persistent refusal to respond to the invitation to repent, is called the “sin against the holy Spirit”. (5BC 1092-93) This is understandable because the inner life can be changed only as it “listens”, as it allows for change. If the inner life of God is refused entrance, what can God do unless He should simply “machine-handle” the person—a thing God can never do, an act entirely contrary to His nature.Since God is a personal Being and since we, who were created in His likeness for His companionship, are personal beings, communion with Him is as essential for our spiritual lives as food is for the body. And so “through sincere prayer we are brought into connection with the mind of the Infinite”. In the unbroken union of the soul with the Father, which is unceasing prayer, life from Him flows into our lives and from us flow back to Him purity, holiness, and love. As Christ’s humanity is the con-necting link between the Eternal One and mortals, He has promised His own personal intercession when we come to the Father in prayer using the name of Jesus. His Spirit, thus, is the Spirit who helps us in our

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prayers, who intercedes for us. (6BC 1078-79; Rom. 8:26) Because of the Son’s incarnation and death as man, humanity and divinity are one in Him, making it possible for our humanity to come into actual contact with divinity through Him.Man, created with a mind made in the image of the Father’s mind was intended to be a student—one who can grasp ideas, one who can put thoughts together logically. God has given to him much truth about Himself recorded in the Bible and other inspired books. Man honors his Maker by searching these inspired writings in order to understand their deepest meaning and to obey their counsels. (5RH 56 or RH July 7,1904) Jesus, who called Himself “Truth”, has promised man the “Spirit of Truth”, His own Spirit, to guide him, in his search for reality, into all truth. With Him as his Teacher, man can learn more in an hour than he can learn in a lifetime from all the wise men in the world who don’t know Him! (AG 214; 2RH 368 or RH Feb 18, 1890)

Satan’s Double-Dealing Subtlety!

Satan has become more and more skilled at deceiving the people who might follow God in this world claimed by the Devil. Rather than openly fighting God, he now tries to copy Him. “Satan is making desperate ef-forts to make himself god, to speak and act like God,…” (7BC 981) At the Council of Nicea, A.D. 325, he through his helper, Emperor Con-stantine, got the “church” to misinterpret two Bible expressions, “another comforter” and “another day,” to mean someone other than Jesus and the Lord’s Day a day other than Sabbath! (2RH 422 or RH Aug 26, 1890) The Usurper always tries to parallel the work of the Creator.Even in our study of the truth of the Word, Satan tries by his own spirit’s power to mislead us, setting the plain statements of revelation in a per-verted light. (TM 108) His angels will be at the side of all who study inspired writings without the true attitude of a learner depending on the Author of truth. By inspiring prejudice, self-sufficiency, and irrever-ence, he gets these “students” to use sarcasm, mockery, threats, or levity, to discourage those who differ from them in their understanding. No

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matter how carefully God’s students present the truth to them, it will be misunderstood, misapplied, and misconstrued unless the purpose of the listeners is really to want to know truth! (2RH 400 or RH June 3, 1890)One of the most vital teachings of the Bible is that fallen man can, and must, by the promises of God, become a sharer of His Nature, a partaker of His life. In the reality of this experience, he “holds as vital a relation with God as does the Son of the Father”. (TMK 159) Mystery of myster-ies, the key to the understanding of all mysteries! Paul calls this truth the “mystery of Godliness, which is Christ in you, the hope of Glory”. (Col. 1:27; 4BC 1138) Known in the life, it becomes the door for the soul to “the treasures of the universe”, (Ed 172) Some would deride and mock those who teach and believe this truth; not knowing that in doing this, they are letting down the bars for the Devil to find ready entrance to their own hearts. Satan well knows that, when we hide ourselves in Jesus, we are shielded from his darts! (4BC 1138; 7BC 908) “The closer we are to God, the safer we are, for Satan hates and fears the presence of God.” (7BC 937) As a consequence, this enemy does everything in his power to keep our attention diverted from Jesus in order to prevent the union and communion with the Saviour that is our only means of freedom. (SC 71) He knows better than we do that in this union and communion between the human and the divine the hope of man rests alone! (2RH 616 or RH Nov 11, 1892) Jesus taught this lesson in the parable of the wedding garment. In it, the marriage represents the eternal union of humanity with divinity. (COL 307) In fact, the Divine Son became one of our family so that we might become “one in spirit and life with him”. (TMK 71) The marvel and joy of the heavenly angels is that we, the fallen members of the universe, can be “forever one with Christ and the Father”, forever with their God! (TM 18) No wonder then that Jesus, the wisdom and power of God, the only name under Heaven by which men are saved, was the exalted theme of every sermon preached every discourse given by the apostles!Satan has his own counterfeit of Jesus’ great truth—he, himself, has his mystery, the mystery of iniquity! By deceit, trickery, and ignorance, he takes the place of the Spirit of Jesus in the heart temple. (7BC 974; DA

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161, 324) He makes the soul his abiding place. His most successful plan is to crowd himself between the soul and the Saviour—become another comforter, answering prayer and sending power! (2RH 422 or RH Aug 26, 1890; EW 56) He sends deceitful answers to the prayers of those who don’t recognize him, making them think that the true Father is sending His blessings while they are openly disobeying Him. His purpose in this scheme is to make them deceived “Christians” who will eventually be-come the “habitations of demons”, to change men, made in the image of the Father, into fiends—men created to reflect the countenance of their Creator into reflectors of Satanic evil and cruelty! Satan has been studying the human mind for 6,000 years learning how to unite it with his own. (2SM 352) When we learn that Satan’s supreme effort is to deceive God’s people, how alert we should be! (6RH 291-292 or RH Nov 14, 1912) A clear exposure of his work and its results has been given us—to hide from our view the truth that Jesus is the Comforter described in John 14-16, then interpose himself between us and our Saviour by getting us to look aside from Jesus for the power and grace of the Latter Rain! (2RH 422 or RH Aug 26, 1890) Our only safety and defense against this terrible enemy is the real indwelling of Jesus’ own real human-divine mediating Spirit—the Spirit of the one who met and conquered Satan in all his ly-ing, relentless, stealthy approaches! “Are we opening the door of the heart to Jesus, and closing every means of entrance to Satan?” (5RH 468 or RH Nov 19, 1908)

From Slavery to Freedom, Liberty! How?

Into this great struggle between God and Satan, between love and hate, between truth and error, each of us has been born through no choice of his own. This is not fair! Neither is it “fair” that the sinless Son should become bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh that we might have His grace, the Spirit of Jesus, to help us in our weakness; to guide us through the maze of earth’s confusion; to assure us the dignity of free men, free to choose the way of eternal life to which we have no right!How is the natural sinner made unnaturally righteous? How does the

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slave gain his liberty? How does he remain free?Our Father by the matchless gift of Himself through His Son has encir-cled our whole earth with an “atmosphere of grace, as real as the air which circulates around the globe.” (SC 68) Those who choose to breathe this restoring, this life-giving, this recreating atmosphere will know the reality of the Spirit of Jesus! They will find the elements necessary to grow up to the stature of men and women in HIM. They will grasp the truth that, without it, there is no way to resist evil. As they “breathe” it, they will know that the soul dead in sins, bound in slavery, does receive life by this spiritual entrance of Jesus. Their souls are joined to His and the feeble and finite realize that in union with Him they become one with God. (SC 52; DA 675; 5T 591) Without this abiding presence of their personal Saviour, they are lonely, hungry, thirsty, and burdened under guilt! But, as the Spirit of God touches their own spirits, sacred harmonies sound forth in response to the divine touch. (SC 78-80) Oh! how much more is meant by the phrase, “partaking of the divine Nature”, than trying, as powerless, fallen humans, to imitate His character, “acting” like God, or simply maturing in behavior!“Dying to self ”—what does it mean in the light of true freedom? “Sub-mitting to Jesus”, does that sound like liberty? “Let Him control your life”, does this really appeal to the man with a thinking mind? What hap-pens to me when I accept Jesus? How are liberty and submission related?What a thrill to realize that I could, in response to His invitation, let the Spirit of Jesus into my heart to add strength to my weak will, to make available to me His all-knowing mind and true affections. By His gra-cious offer, I could be set free to choose to be at liberty! Through coop-eration with Him, my ignorance could be united with His wisdom, my feebleness imbued with His strength, my ugliness of character covered by the beauty of His holiness. The way of real freedom is to think, to act, to walk in the ways of His guidance. By being willing to enter into this partnership, all unmerited, I was restored to my true self with the true glory and dignity that are intended for man! (DA 466) Sin conquers only as it weakens and confuses the mind, destroying the liberty of the soul. And so, I found not servile, mindless serfdom but real thinking, acting

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cooperation. Thinking toward perfection then acting it out together with the one who is able, the one who knows just what is best for man, just what is needed for genuine human happiness, is the way. Together, God and man contemplate and work for man’s restoration—a restoration so wonderful it even promises a seat with Jesus on His throne! I must use the help He offers to separate sin from my life, to uproot the growth of evil habits, to cultivate carefully every life grace, to grow in understanding, to lead others to experience what I have found, to be an open channel for the flow of living water to the thirsty around me. How is it that “union with Christ is the only means of overcoming sin”? By inheritance and our own self-damaging we are so weakened, so “destroyed”, so enslaved, so deceived, that we, without His mighty help, could never even begin to liberate ourselves from the kingdom of evil. How important to know that this living union with Him means so much more, has so much more reality than just the study of His words! True, these words are extremely important—they are the direction sheet, the road map, the written way! But, His words must lead me to Him or else I, as a sinner, am left in my sins in spite of the promises. (John 5:39-40)The true sanctification proffered us means man’s habitual, conscious, mo-ment-by-moment realization of his communion with the Father through Jesus. (7BC 908) It leads to an honest regard for all of God’s counsel, every bit of advice, every suggestion that would improve the health of body and soul. The Father and Son through the medium of Their One Personal, everywhere-present Spirit are intensely interested in, and work for, man’s development toward the true goal of life—godliness, godlike-ness. (Ed 13-19) As we become one with the Father and the Son through union with Their common Spirit, the Living Water flows into our lives as the living sap from the vine to its branches making us able to produce the fruits of the Spirit: joy, peace, love, goodness. The powers of our souls are “imbued with the divine energy of the Holy Spirit” and thus we become strong to expel sin from our lives. This is freedom in the highest sense! (DA 466)

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The Perfect Cure-Three Miracles!

Full redemption is described very beautifully in a short phrase: “Divine grace is needed at the beginning, divine grace at every step of advance, and divine grace alone can complete the work ...” (TM 508-9) The first result of His life on mine is a complete change of attitude—now I begin to want to do what God wants me to do for my best. The second effect is that I now find in Him strength to meet and conquer temptations and habits that before ruled my life. In this stage, I am not earning my salva-tion, not working my way to Heaven; no, never! What am I doing? I am learning to love what the unfallen beings love, to hate what they would hate! I am practicing here their way of life that I might be at home with them! I am demonstrating that I really “mean business”! I am giving God the “right” before the universe to complete the work He must do to make me ready to go with Him! I am living under the covering, the promise of His righteousness, while I wait in faith for the last, the greatest miracle of all! This third miracle all must have without exception. When, in God’s own wisdom, our Saviour sees that the time has come, He will make those who are wearing His wedding garment, those who have “worked” till the close of day, His forever, mystically and eternally His! All the scars and damage of sin will be gone—made as pure, as innocent, perfect as if they had never sinned! (TM 40,508) With perfectly restored souls, they await the one for whom they have waited so long! At His coming, changed!—to have a body like His glorious body—now able to live in His complete presence never again to be separated for eternity, never again to experience sin!Really knowing our own condition, how could I be unkind, thoughtless, or crushing to another human needing the same help as I, falling into the same “pits” into which I do? What a commentary on human response to divine love when God tells us that our inhumanity to each other is our greatest sin! (MH 163) “Nothing is more needed in our work than the practical results of communion with God.” (MH 512) “He who is imbued with the Spirit of Christ abides in Christ.” (MH 489) Whatever others may think of us or do to us, it need not disturb our oneness with Christ, the fellowship of the Spirit.” (MH 485) The real badge of Chris-

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tianity, the strongest argument in the world for Jesus, is that which shows the reality of man’s union with God—a loving and lovable person! (MH 470) My only work is to teach the Gospel by thought and act. And, since the Gospel is the news of God’s demonstrated love, and love is the light and the life of God, it can flow from me to others only as the actual, encouraging life of Jesus is a spring in me. Again we see that only in the reality of the experience of the Saviour’s indwelling Spirit can my hope lie, can I represent Him to the world. Now I see why it is Satan’s constant effort, his unending interest, to keep people from knowing about, and thus from entering into, this actual, personal contact with the Saviour—the closer they are to Jesus the safer they are! For Satan fears and hates the presence of God! (7BC 937; SC 71; 2RH 616 or RH Nov 22, 1892; 5T 48)

East and West – The World Picture!

In the world picture, notice how cleverly Satan has operated. Followers of the great religions of the East sense the human need for union with the Divine—they thirst about it, they teach about it—the way to enter into Nirvana! How sad to know one’s need but fail to have the way! How an-nihilating to humanness to have to believe that, in this longed-for unity, self is lost—forever indistinguishable, lost in the great “stream” of divini-ty! Here in the West where the Way is preached about, taught, “believed”, the Devil has stolen from men the feeling, the sense, the hunger for this oneness for which they were created, the oneness for which Jesus prayed, the oneness for which the divine Son entered humanity! Is it any wonder, then that Jesus and Him crucified should be the center of every lesson we teach, the heart of every doctrine?Now we have a message—Jesus, the Way! (6BC 1113) The “new life” is begun in Him, this “new life” is sustained by Him, this “new life” finally becomes eternally yours through union with Him! All that a true hu-man could hope for—the original change, the daily changes, and the last perfecting change making us ready for His return—all are found in that actual, person-to-person contact with Him!

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Notice again how Satan has schemed to confuse the rest of the world who “believe” in the God of the Bible. For centuries Hebrew people have studied the Holy Scriptures, have hoped for life in them, have looked for the “coming King.” They have been blinded by the enemy, kept from seeing Jesus of the “new scriptures” as the answer to their longings, the fulfillment of the promises. Would they but follow the clear, understand-able prophecies preserved by their ancestors, they would find Jesus, the “Desire of All Nations”, the “One altogether lovely”! With Him in their souls, what a blessing they would be to the world by their loyalty to the Sabbath, the true day of worship set up by the Divine Son for the hap-piness and good of every human! How much the whole world needs the respect, the diligent regard for the law of Jehovah! Why? Satan has led the “Christian” world to profess belief in, the only One who can give strength, guidance, and real ability to honor His laws. But, along with the profession of their acceptance, Satan leads them to deny the claims of the laws Jesus came to uphold, especially the day which He taught was planned for man. They added to the confusion by seeming to worship three gods! The result is that, rather than attracting the Jewish world to Jesus, these “Christians” repel the people they try to win. The deception will be complete when Satan himself, as a visible, complete person, will come as our Lord to deny “true” truth and settle men in error for their final destruction. In preparing the “state” for this final act of the drama, Satan has made it seem necessary to look apart from Jesus, in another direction, for the Holy Spirit. As they look to this other being, they are captured by the spirits of fallen angels. By the power of these spirits, men will do many marvelous “miracles”, many “god-like” deeds, preach many “love” sermons, reveal much “light”! Because they have neglected the study of God’s Word in depth, Satan interposes himself between their souls and the Saviour—they are caught in the trap of Genuine Spiritualism!

The Protection, the Defense, the Shelter!

In what will lie the protection of God’s true commandment-keeping church? Will there be a defense in the terrible events ahead? Where will I find a shelter in this storm?

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First, I must have true knowledge. It is only through a correct under-standing of Jesus’ work and mission that we can have all the benefits of His life, that we can become complete in Him. The knowledge brings these blessings within our reach. (6BC 1113) Then I must have a living connection with Heaven—the abiding presence of our divine Jesus. I must have a living faith that makes a soul-to-soul union with Him so real that I can stand up in my God-given manhood and be an over comer. I need the kind of faith that gives me strength to say, and mean it. “They can kill my body, but they cannot touch my soul, hid with Jesus in God!” Before the “time of trouble” ahead, I will know the companionship of His Spirit, the comfort of His nearness. I will believe now that later, when all else may seem to fail, I will have courage. I will realize then, as well as now, that my experience in divine things will be in proportion to the vividness of my sense of His companionship. Now I must pray for an increasing vividness of that sense. For readiness for the crises ahead, the spirit of Jesus must fill my soul! (HL 301; 5T 454)Before God can do His final act for His people, before He can seal them as His, they must be settled into the truth—intellectually, they must know what He wants and needs to do, what He has promised; and spiri-tually, they must experience His last operation of grace in their souls. When this is accomplished, they will not be moved! This is what it means to be settled in the truth. (4BC 1161)Soon we will know the full meaning of the divine grace needed to com-plete God’s work before Jesus’ coming. The command that will unseal the fountain of living water will bring the perfecting latter rain when the Lord will give in greater measure of His Spirit (TM 508-9, 512) Then the hope of righteousness by faith will be realized. From those, standing clothed in Jesus’ righteousness, will be taken away forever the under gar-ments of human failures, character weaknesses, roots of sin; thus leav-ing their soul free of evil and all its results. At that time they will stand before the universe with their inner lives made actually as innocent, as perfect, as restored, as complete as if they had never sinned! This is why the saints, after receiving their crowns, will cast them down at the feet of their Redeemer disclaiming any right to them, claiming no good-

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ness of their own, falling in adoration and pure love before Him whose death reconciled them to the Father, whose life now is theirs! (TM 40) They had realized that He could not tear from them, violently, their own stained garments; and so they had cooperated with Him on the earth. They had shown their heartfelt desire to be rid of them; through His own indwelling Spirit, they had learned to love what He loves, to hate what He hates. They had tasted Heaven—His unfailing Presence had lived and remained in them. Though feeling completely unworthy, they are not strangers in that lovely land! (5RH 469 or RH Nov 19, 1908)In the time of the latter rain, we will know the deep movings of the Spirit of God. We will know that Jesus lived and died that we might have our human natures “restored, rebeautified, reconstructed from their ruins, and made fit for the presence of God”. (5T 537)During this time the 144,000 will be selected. Why are they singled out? Against the opposition of the majority, before the whole world they have stood with the wonderful truth that man, though fallen, can and must become mystically and eternally one with the Father through Jesus, mak-ing them sons and daughters of God. They have stood unmoved because they have known from personal individual, free-choice experience, the reality of having Christ formed within themselves; now, they are about to enjoy the glory that they had been promised-the hope of the gospel-being in His “physical” presence, faith is soon to become sight! (7BC 978)With the return of Jesus in “material” form (the “complete” Comforter in body and spirit), men are given new bodies made of finer material, all the physical imperfections, and physical scars, gone! The plan of salva-tion is completed in man! True, there remains, after a one-thousand-year vacation in heaven, the receiving of the kingdom; but all is settled—sin is forever past in their lives and is never again to exist in God’s dominions! Jesus has been to them the “Author and Finisher” of their faith! The Plan that began with a gift, that was carried forward by a gift, and that ended by a gift HAS SUCCEEDED!

And so I conclude.“For there is ONE God, and one mediator between God and man, the

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man Christ Jesus ...” “The influence of the Holy Spirit is the life of Christ in the soul. We do not see Christ and speak to Him, but His Holy Spirit is just as near us in one place as in another. It works in and through every one who receives Christ.” (6BC 1112) “The Spirit of Christ, flowing into the hearts of all who are indeed united with Him, makes them partakers of the divine nature. They become pure, even as He is pure.” (RH Sept 20, 1881, par 4) It is possible to be under the influence of a spirit that is not the Spirit of Jesus and so miss the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise that the faithful ones will be sharers with Him in the kingdom He has re-ceived from His Father! (5RH 338 or RH July 4, 1907) To guide me and prepare me for these things, He has given me His word to be a character detector, to show me my need, to lead me to the Way. I must let it lead me to Him, who is the way! I must be aware of and avoid Satan’s hidden snare-to get me to expect from this holy, powerful, written Word that which only He, who inspired that Word, can do! How real is the danger to accept a wording of truth for the truth Himself!Why, then wouldn’t Satan do everything he could to keep us from under-standing that Jesus is our Comforter, our Guide, our Counselor, our Way through life? Could the extent to which he has succeeded be the main reason for the delay in the return of Him who is the only living water to our thirsty souls?Henceforward, let us let Jesus be all in all to us! With the Apostle Paul, let us seek to experience the whole truth of the gospel. “For to me, to live is Christ….” (7BC 903)“Let us avail ourselves of the means provided for us that we may be trans-formed into His likeness, and be restored to fellowship with the minister-ing angels, to harmony and communion with the Father and the Son.” (SC 22).

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ChapTer 2: from ThIs evIdenCe

Tradition

“If we have the Spirit of Christ and are laborers together with Him, it is ours to carry forward the work which He came to do. The truths of the Bible have again become obscured by custom, tradition, and false doc-trine. The erroneous teachings of popular theology have made thousands upon thousands of skeptics and infidels. There are errors and inconsisten-cies which many denounce as the teaching of the Bible that are really false interpretations of Scripture, adopted during the ages of papal darkness. Multitudes have been led to cherish an erroneous conception of God, as the Jews, misled by the errors and traditions of their time, had a false conception of Christ. ... It is ours to reveal to the world the true charac-ter of God. ... My brethren, let the word of God stand just as it is. Let not human wisdom presume to lessen the force of one statement of the Scriptures.” (5T 710-11)“The human mind becomes dwarfed and enfeebled when dealing with commonplace matters only, never rising above the level of the things of time and sense to grasp the mysteries of the unseen. The understanding is gradually brought to the level of the subjects with which it is constantly familiar.” (CH 257)

TRUTH—How to Find It and How to Understand It

“There is absolutely no safeguard against evil but truth. ... There are many in the church who take it for granted that they understand what they believe; but, until controversy arises, they do not know their own weak-ness. When separated from those of like faith and compelled to stand singly and alone to explain their belief, they will be surprised to see how confused are their ideas of what they had accepted as truth. ... This light should lead us to a diligent study of the Scriptures and a most critical

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examination of the positions which we hold. ... Believers are not to rest in suppositions and ill-defined ideas of what constitutes truth.” (AG 30)“You must lay yourselves and your opinions on the alter of God, put away preconceived ideas, and let the Spirit of Heaven guide you into all truth.” (RH, February 18, 1890 par. 17 or 2RH 369)“You search the scriptures, because you think that in them you have eter-nal life; and it is they that bear witness to me; yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.” (RSV John 5:39-40)“Only through the divine Spirit will the word be living and powerful to renew the soul unto eternal life. This is what Christ tried to impress upon His disciples.” (COL 65)“Without the Spirit of God a knowledge of His word is of no avail” (AG 214)“The experimental knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ, whom He has sent, transforms man into the image of God….It brings him into com-munion with the mind of the Infinite, and opens to him the rich treasures of the universe.” (COL 114)“We should day by day study the Bible diligently, weighing every thought and comparing scripture with scripture. With divine help we are to form our opinions for ourselves as we are to answer for ourselves before God.” (GC 598)“Take no man's explanation of Scripture, whatever his position, but go to the Bible and search for the truth yourselves.” (TM 155)“God has told us that He did do it (unite humanity with His divinity), and we are to accept the Word of God just as it reads.” (7BC 919)“Without the Spirit of God a knowledge of His word is of no avail. ... Without the enlightenment of the Spirit, men will not be able to distin-guish truth from error, and they will fall under the masterful temptations of Satan.” (COL 408)“The Bible with its precious gems of truth was not written for the scholar alone. On the contrary, it was designed for the common people; and the interpretation given by the common people, when aided by the Holy Spirit, accords best with the truth as it is in Jesus. The great truths neces-sary for salvation are made clear as the noonday, and none will mistake and lose their way except those who follow their own judgment instead of the plainly revealed will of God.” (5T331)

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“If we ever know the truth, it will be because we practice it. We must have a living experience in the things of God before we are able to un-derstand His word. This experimental knowledge is what strengthens the intellect and builds us up into Christ our living Head.” (CT 97)“Many a portion of Scripture which learned men pronounce a mystery, or pass over as unimportant, is full of comfort and instruction to him who has been taught in the school of Christ. One reason why many theologians have no clearer understanding of God's word is, they close their eyes to truths which they do not wish to practice. An understand-ing of Bible truth depends not so much on the power of intellect brought to the search as on the singleness of purpose, the earnest longing after righteousness.” (CSW 38)“God's truth is the same in all ages, although differently developed to meet the wants of his people in various periods ... Through all these cen-turies the truth of God has remained the same. That which was truth in the beginning is truth now ... What is now needed is divine enlighten-ment, and a more intelligent knowledge of the wonderful dealings of God with his people anciently.” (RH, March 2, 1886 par. 1, 6, 12 or 2RH 23)

The Spirit of God and the Spirit of Man—A Parallel

“For what person knows a man’s thoughts except the spirit of the man which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thought of God except the Spirit of God.” (RSV 1 Cor. 2:11)“When we cry, ‘Abba Father!’ it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order to be glorified with him.” (RSV Rom. 8:15, 16)“As His (God) spirit works with your spirit, there will be manifest a sav-ing grace by which we shall be deeply convicted of the wonderful trans-formation that is taking place in your character.” Sermon by E.G. White, Oakland, Ca, Oct. 20, 1906 (1SAT 369)“The God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let

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them have dominion!’ ... So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (RSV Gen. 1:26-27)“All heaven took a deep and joyful interest in the creation of the world and of man. Human beings were a new and distinct order. They were made "in the image of God," and it was the Creator's design that they should populate the earth. They were to live in close communion with heaven, receiving power from the Source of all power ... God created man a superior being; he alone is formed in the image of God, and is capable of partaking of the divine nature, of cooperating with his Creator and executing His plans.” (SD 7)“In the beginning, man was created in the likeness of God, not only in character, but in form and feature. Sin defaced and almost obliterated the divine image; but Christ came to restore that which had been lost. He will change our vile bodies and fashion them like unto His glorious body … The last lingering traces of the curse of sin will be removed, and Christ's faithful ones will appear in ‘the beauty of the Lord our God,’ in mind and soul and body reflecting the perfect image of their Lord.” (GC 645-646)“And man, his mind and body created in God's own similitude, must be active in order to fill his appointed place.” (SpT Series B, No. 1, pp 29, 30.)

MAN—Created in Two Dimensions of Reality

“Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in health; I know that it is well with your soul.” (RSV III John 2)“Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, and make holiness perfect in the fear of God.” (RSV II Cor. 7:1)“The question of how to preserve the health is one of primary impor-tance. When we study this question in the fear of God we shall learn that it is best, for both our physical and our spiritual advancement, to observe simplicity in diet.” (9T 154)“Since the mind and the soul find expression through the body, both

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mental and spiritual vigor are in great degree dependent upon physical strength and activity; whatever promotes physical health, promotes the development of a strong mind and a well-balanced character … As the pupils advance in years, instruction in this line should be continued until they are qualified to care for the house they live in (body).” (Ed 195-196)“Teach them the importance of caring for the body—the house they live in.” (CH 427)“The very flesh in which the soul tabernacles and through which it works is the Lord's. We have no right to neglect any part of the living machin-ery. Every portion of the living organism is the Lord's. The knowledge of our own physical organism should teach us that every member is to do God's service, as an instrument of righteousness.” (TM 456)“The sympathy which exists between the mind and the body is very great. When one is affected, the other responds. The condition of the mind has much to do with the health of the physical system.” (MM 105)“Men and women are led to see and understand the truth which is need-ed to save the soul as well as the body … The mind that God has made, He can mold without the power of man; but He honors men by asking them to cooperate with Him in this great work.” (MM 188)“We are to keep mind and brain open to the truths of God's word.” (FE 548)“The brain is the organ and instrument of the mind, and controls the whole body. In order for the other parts of the system to be healthy, the brain must be healthy.” (MM 291)“Vital energy is imparted to the mind through the brain; therefore the brain should never be dulled by the use of narcotics or excited by the use of stimulants.” (Te 74)“Who can doubt that satanic agencies are at work among men with in-creasing activity to distract and corrupt the mind, and defile and destroy the body?” (MH 142-143 or AG 32)“The body is a most important medium through which the mind and the soul are developed for the upbuilding of character. Hence it is that the adversary of souls directs his temptations to the enfeebling and degrading of the physical powers.” (AG 256)

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“And the truths which the parable teaches were made a living reality in His (Jesus’) own life. In both His physical and His spiritual nature He followed the divine order of growth illustrated by the plant, as He wishes all youth to do.” (COL 82-83)“There is an intimate relation between the mind and the body, and in order to reach a high standard of moral and intellectual attainment, the laws that control our physical being must be heeded … We must indi-vidually answer to God for our habits and practices. Therefore the ques-tion with us is not, "What is the world's practice?" but, "How shall I as an individual treat the habitation that God has given me?’" (FLB 228)“The word of God plainly warns us that unless we abstain from fleshly lusts, the physical nature will be brought into conflict with the spiritual nature … The highest interests of the being are imperiled by the indul-gence of appetites unsanctioned by Heaven.” (CD 382)

INTERACTION—Spirit and Body; Death; Soul-to-Soul Union

“So it will be with all who will live godly in Christ Jesus. Persecution and reproach await all who are imbued with the Spirit of Christ … Wicked men may torture and kill the body, but they cannot touch the life that is hid with Christ in God. They can incarcerate men and women in prison walls, but they cannot bind the spirit.” (AA 576)“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (RSV Matt. 10:28) (Jesus); (RSV Eccl. 12:7)“Every organ of the body was made a servant of the mind.” (3T 136)“To the Christian, death is but a sleep, a moment of silence and darkness. The life is hid with Christ in God, and "when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory’." (DA 787)“… and then he (Jesus) said to them, ‘Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awake him out of sleep.’ The disciples said to him, ‘Lord, if he is fallen asleep, he will recover.’ Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep.” (RSV John 11:11-13)

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“For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward; but the memory of them is lost. Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and they have no more forever any share in all that is done under the sun.” (RSV Eccl. 9:5-6)“If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my service I would wait, till my release come. … Thou prevailest forever against him, and he passes; thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away. His sons come to honor, and he does not know it; they are brought low, and he perceives it now.” (RSV Job 14:14, 20-21)“And the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.” (RSV Eccl. 12:7)“Our personal identity is preserved in the resurrection, though not the same particles of matter or material substance as went into the grave. The wondrous works of God are a mystery to man. The spirit, the character of man, is returned to God, there to be preserved. In the resurrection every man will have his own character. God in His own time will call forth the dead, giving again the breath of life, and bidding the dry bones live. The same form will come forth, but it will be free from disease and every defect … God shall give the righteous dead a body that will please Him.” (6BC 1093)“The spirit of Jesus slept in the tomb with His body, and did not wing its way to heaven, there to maintain a separate existence, and to look down upon the mourning disciples embalming the body from which it had taken flight. All that comprised the life and intelligence of Jesus remained with His body in the sepulcher; and when He came forth it was as a whole being; He did not have to summon His spirit from heaven. (5BC 1150)“Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, into thy hands I com-mit my spirit!’ And having said this he breathed his last.” (RSV Luke 23:46)“Christ became one flesh with us, in order that we might become one spirit with Him. It is by virtue of this union that we are to come forth from the grave,--not merely as a manifestation of the power of Christ, but because, through faith, His life has become ours. Those who see Christ in His true character, and receive Him into the heart, have everlasting life. It is through the Spirit that Christ dwells in us; and the Spirit of God,

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received into the heart by faith, is the beginning of the life eternal. … What food is to the body, Christ must be to the soul. Food cannot benefit us unless we eat it, unless it becomes a part of our being. So Christ is of no value to us if we do not know Him as a personal Saviour. A theoretical knowledge will do us no good. We must feed upon Him, receive Him into the heart, so that His life becomes our life.” (DA 388-389)“It was the Maker of all things who ordained the wonderful adaptation of means to end, of supply to need. It was He who in the material world pro-vided that every desire implanted should be met. It was He who created the human soul, with its capacity for knowing and for loving. And He is not in Himself such as to leave the demands of the soul unsatisfied.” (Ed 133)“Christ came to break the shackles of sin-slavery from the soul.” (DA 466)“His (Jesus’) presence will cleanse and sanctify the soul, so that it may be a holy temple unto the Lord, and ‘an habitation of God through the Spirit’." (DA 162)“When united to Christ, soul is joined to soul, the feeble and finite to the holy and infinite, and man becomes one with Christ.” (5T 591)

“No Other God Before Me”

“Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.” (RSV Deut. 6:4)“… ’Which commandment is the first of all?’ Jesus answered, ‘The first is, Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’” (RSV Mark 12:28-29)“Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one.” (RSV Gal. 3:20)“Through the divine nature, Christ was one with the Father, and by as-suming humanity, he identified himself with man.” (RH, November 11, 1890 par. 8 or 2RH 437)“Before man can find a home in the church, before passing the threshold

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of God's spiritual kingdom, he is to receive the impress of the divine name, "The Lord our Righteousness." Jeremiah 23:6. Baptism is a most solemn renunciation of the world. Those who are baptized in the three-fold name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, at the very en-trance of their Christian life declare publicly that they have forsaken the service of Satan and have become members of the royal family, children of the heavenly King.” (6T 91)“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.” (RSV Matt. 28:19-20)“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellow-ship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” (RSV II Cor. 13-14)“Christ and the Father, standing side by side upon the mount, with sol-emn majesty proclaimed the Ten Commandments.” (Ev 616)“God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (RSV John 4:24)“God is a spirit; yet He is a personal being, for man was made in His image. As a personal being, God has revealed Himself in His Son.…The greatness of God is to us incomprehensible. ‘The Lord's throne is in heaven’ (Psalm 11:4); yet by His Spirit He is everywhere present. He has an intimate knowledge of, and a personal interest in, all the works of His hand.” (Ed 132)

Only Being Who Is One With God In All the Universe

“To know God is to love Him; His character must be manifested in con-trast to the character of Satan. This work only one Being in all the uni-verse could do. Only He who knew the height and depth of the love of God could make it known.” (DA 22)“Besides these mystic symbols and shadowy types pointing to a Saviour to come, there was a present Saviour to the Israelites … He who was equal with the Father in the creation of man was commander, lawgiver,

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and guide to his ancient people … The clouds that then enshrouded his divine form have been rolled back … His divinity is now hid, not under a cloud, but under the garb of humanity.” (RH, March 2, 1886 par. 2 & 3 or 2RH 23)“The only Being who was one with God lived the law in humanity, de-scended to the lowly life of a common laborer, and toiled at the carpen-ter's bench with His earthly parent.” (TMK 363)“The Spirit of God, working in and through the diverse elements, will produce harmony of action. … There is to be only one master spirit--the Spirit of Him who is infinite in wisdom, and in whom all the diverse ele-ments meet in beautiful, matchless unity. … Christ Jesus is in union with the Father, and from the great center this wonderful unity is to extend … through all classes and diversities of talents. We are all to respect one another's talent; we are to harmonize in goodness, in unselfish thoughts and actions, because the Spirit of Christ, as the living, working agency, is circulating through the whole. … It is not striking actions that produce unity; it is the mold of the Holy Spirit upon the character.” (OHC 169)“I AM means an eternal presence; the past, present, and future are alike with God … Christ was using the great name of God that was given to Moses to express the idea of the eternal presence.” (TMK 12)“The God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion. …’” (RSV Gen. 1:26)“After the earth was created, and the beasts upon it, the Father and Son carried out their purpose, which was designed before the fall of Satan, to make man in their own image. They had wrought together in the cre-ation of the earth and every living thing upon it. And now God said to His Son, ‘Let us make man in our image’." (TMK 13)“The Sovereign of the universe was not alone in His work of beneficence. He had an associate--a co-worker who could appreciate His purposes, and could share His joy in giving happiness to created being. … Christ, the Word, the only begotten of God, was one with the eternal Father—one in nature, in character, in purpose—the only being that could enter into all the counsels and purposes of God. … The Father wrought by His Son in the creation of all heavenly beings. … There was one who

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perverted the freedom that God had granted to His creatures. … And coveting the glory with which the infinite Father had invested His Son, this prince of angels aspired to power that was the prerogative of Christ alone.” (PP 34-35)“Before the foundations of the earth were laid, the Father and the Son had united in a covenant to redeem man if he should be overcome by Sa-tan. They had clasped Their hands in a solemn pledge that Christ should become the surety for the human race. This pledge Christ has fulfilled. … The Father's arms encircle His Son, and the word is given, ‘Let all the angels of God worship Him.’" (DA 834)“All the communion between heaven and the fallen race has been through Christ.” (PP 366)“It was Christ that spoke to His people through the prophets. It is the voice of Christ that speaks to us through the Old Testament. ‘The testi-mony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.’" (PP 366-367)“God has communicated with men by His Spirit, and divine light has been imparted to the world by revelations to His chosen servants. … The Infinite One by His Holy Spirit has shed light into the minds and hearts of His servants. … God has been pleased to communicate His truth to the world by human agencies, and He Himself, by His Holy Spirit, quali-fied men and enabled them to do this work.” (ML 40-41)“After his (man’s) transgression God would communicate to man through Christ and angels.” (SR 51)“No one need be overcome by the speculations presented by the enemy of God and of Christ.” (1SM 228)“To have fellowship with the Father and His Son Jesus Christ is to be ennobled and elevated, and made a partaker of joys unspeakable and full of glory.” (SD 9)“To save the transgressor of God’s law, Christ, the one equal with the Father, came to live heaven before men, that they might learn to know what it is to have heaven in the heart.” (CE 76)“Christ the Word, the Only Begotten of God, was one with the eternal Father,--one in nature, in character, and in purpose,—the only being in

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all the universe that could enter into all the counsels and purposes of God.” (GC 493)“The world's Redeemer was equal with God. His authority was as the authority of God. He declared that He had no existence separate from the Father. … He was so perfectly connected with God, so completely embraced in His encircling light, that he who had seen the Son, had seen the Father. His voice was as the voice of God.” (5BC 1142)“The King of the universe summoned the heavenly hosts before Him, that in their presence He might set forth the true position of His Son and show the relation He sustained to all created beings. The Son of God shared the Father's throne, and the glory of the eternal, self-existent One encircled both. … Before the assembled inhabitants of heaven the King declared that none but Christ, the Only Begotten of God, could fully enter into His purposes, and to Him it was committed to execute the mighty counsels of His will. … The exaltation of the Son of God as equal with the Father was represented as an injustice to Lucifer, who, it was claimed, was also entitled to reverence and honor. (PP 36-37)

The Father’s Universal Presence By His Spirit

“It is not essential for us to be able to define just what the Holy Spirit is. Christ tells us that the Spirit is the Comforter, ‘the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father’. … The nature of the Holy Spirit is a mystery. Men cannot explain it, because the Lord has not revealed it to them.” (AA 51-52)“The secret things belong to the Lord our God; but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” (RSV Deut. 29:29)“If we come to Him in faith, He will speak His mysteries to us personally.” (DA 668)“The ministry of the divine Spirit in enlightening the understanding and opening to the mind the deep things of God's holy Word, was the bless-ing which Paul thus besought for the Ephesian church.” (GC88 f or GC ix)

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“… and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters.” (RSV Gen. 1:2)“My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh, but his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.” (RSV Gen. 6:3)“Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy pres-ence? If I ascent to heaven, thou are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, thou art there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the ut-termost parts of the sea, even there thy hand shall lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.” (RSV Ps. 139)

The Link Between God and Man—Jesus, the Divine-Human Son

[John 17:1-5 quoted.] “Christ is not praying for the manifestation of the glory of human nature; for that human nature never had an existence in His pre-existence. He is praying to His Father in regard to a glory pos-sessed in His oneness with God.” (5BC 1146)“In His (Jesus’) humanity He was a partaker of the divine nature. In His incarnation He gained in a new sense the title of the Son of God. …While the Son of a human being, He became the Son of God in a new sense. Thus He stood in our world—the Son of God, yet allied by birth to the human race. … From all eternity Christ was united with the Father, and when He took upon Himself human nature, He was still one with God. He is the link that unites God with humanity.” (5BC 1114)“From eternal ages it was God's purpose that every created being, from the bright and holy seraph to man, should be a temple for the indwelling of the Creator. Because of sin, humanity ceased to be a temple for God. Darkened and defiled by evil, the heart of man no longer revealed the glory of the Divine One. But by the incarnation of the Son of God, the purpose of Heaven is fulfilled. God dwells in humanity, and through sav-ing grace the heart of man becomes again His temple.” (DA 161)“And when Jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God de-scending like a dove, and alighting on him; and lo, a voice from heaven,

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saying, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.’” (RSV Matt. 3:16, 17)“Never before had angels listened to such a prayer as Christ offered at His baptism, and they were solicitous to be the bearers of the message from the Father to His Son. But, no! Direct from the Father issues the light of His glory. The heavens were opened and beams of glory rested upon the Son of God and assumed the form of a dove, in appearance like burnished gold. The dovelike form was emblematical of the meek-ness and gentleness of Christ. … Notwithstanding the Son of God was clothed with humanity, yet Jehovah, with His own voice, assures Him of His sonship with the Eternal.” (TMK 31)“Jesus announced His mission to cleanse the heart from the defilement of sin—from the earthly desires, the selfish lusts, the evil habits, that cor-rupt the soul. … No man can of himself cast out the evil throng that have taken possession of the heart. Only Christ can cleanse the soul temple. But He will not force an entrance.” (DA 161)“From all eternity Christ was united with the Father, and when He took upon Himself human nature, He was still one with God. He is the link that unites God with humanity. …Only through Him can we become children of God. To all who believe on Him, He gives power to become the sons of God. Thus the heart becomes the temple of the living God. It is because Christ took human nature that men and women become partakers of the divine nature. He brings life and immortality to light through the gospel.” (1SM 228)“If we neglect to link ourselves in divine connection with Christ, the current of life-giving energy cannot flow in rich streams from us to the people.” (DA 825)

Another Comforter—The Divine-Human Spirit of Jesus, the Mediator

“Christ brought men and women power to overcome. He came to this world in human form, to live a man amongst men. He assumed the lia-bilities of human nature, to be proved and tried. In His humanity He was

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a partaker of the divine nature. In His incarnation He gained in a new sense the title of the Son of God. …While the Son of a human being, He became the Son of God in a new sense. Thus He stood in our world—the Son of God, yet allied by birth to the human race.” (1SM 226-227)“In Him (Jesus) God and man become one, and it is in this fact that we find the hope of our fallen race.” (3SM 128)“The life-giving Spirit, flowing from the infinite fullness of God, is the true manna. … Jesus then spoke plainly: ‘I am the bread of life.’… As from that bread they had received physical strength and refreshment, so from Christ they might receive spiritual strength unto eternal life.” (DA 385-386)“In thoughts and desires, in words and actions, there must be an identity with Christ, a constant partaking of His spiritual life.” (5BC 1143)“As by faith we look to Jesus, our faith pierces the shadow, and we adore God for His wondrous love in giving us Jesus the Comforter.” (SD 124)“’But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you.’ O how precious are these words to every bereaved soul! Christ is our Guide and Comforter, who comforts us in all our tribulations.” (6BC 1076)“… and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.” (RSV Matt. 28:20) (Jesus)“And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him; you know him, for he dwells with you, and will be in you. I will not leave you desolate; I will come to you. … In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.” (RSV John 14:16-20)“There is no comforter like Christ, so tender and so true. He is touched with the feeling of our infirmities. His Spirit speaks to the heart.” (TMK 171)

“Christ said, ‘It is expedient for you that I go away.’ No one could then have any preference because of his location or personal contact with Christ. The Saviour would be accessible to all alike, spiritually, and in this sense He would be nearer to us all than if He had not ascended on

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high. Now all may be equally favored by beholding Him and reflecting His character. The eye of faith sees Him ever present, in all His good-ness, grace, forbearance, courtesy, and love, those spiritual and divine attributes. And as we behold, we are changed into His likeness.” (RC 22; RH, April 28, 1891, par 6; RH, December 5, 1912, par 6; RH Jan 2, 1913, par 6)“The Holy Spirit is the breath of spiritual life in the soul. The impartation of the Spirit is the impartation of the life of Christ. It imbues the receiver with the attributes of Christ. Only those who are thus taught of God, those who possess the inward working of the Spirit, and in whose life the Christ-life is manifested, are to stand as representative men, to minister in behalf of the church.” (DA 805)“The Spirit of Him who died that sinners might live, animated the entire congregation of believers.” (8T 20-21)“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? You are not your own, you are bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” (RSV 1 Cor. 6:19-20)“When on his resurrection day these disciples met the Saviour, and their hearts burned within them as they listened to his words; when they looked upon the head and hands and feet that had been bruised for them; when, before his ascension, Jesus led them out as far as Bethany, and, lift-ing up his hands in blessing, bade them, ‘Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel,’ adding, ‘Lo, I am with you alway;’ when on the day of Pentecost the promised Comforter descended, and the power from on high was given, and the souls of the believers thrilled with the conscious presence of their ascended Lord,—then, even though, like his, their path-way led through sacrifice and martyrdom, would they have exchanged the ministry of the gospel of his grace, with the ‘crown of righteousness’ to be received at his coming, for the glory of an earthly throne, which had been the hope of their earlier discipleship?” (GC 350-351) (See 9T 20-21)“For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, the testimony to which was borne at the proper time.” (RSV I Tim. 2:5-6)“Jesus alone could give security to God; for He was equal to God. He

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alone could be a mediator between God and man; for He possessed di-vinity and humanity. “ (7BC 914)“No middle man comes between the sinner and Christ.” (7BC 914)“Above all else is the infinite gift of God’s dear Son, through whom flow all other blessings for this life and the life to come.” (RH, February 9, 1886 par. 20 or 2RH 18)

True Religion—Christ In You, the Hope of Glory

“Christianity—how many there are who do not know what it is! It is not something put on the outside. It is a life inwrought with the life of Jesus. It means that we are wearing the robe of Christ's righteousness.” (TM 131)“You may commune with Christ, who will be within you, a hope of glory. This is true religion.” (RH, November 9, 1886 par. 16 or 2RH 92)“Pure and undefiled religion is the life of God in the soul, the abiding of Jesus in the heart.” (RH, July 19, 1887 par. 23 or 2RH 92)“The merits of a crucified and risen Saviour are the foundation of the Christian's faith. The dependence of the soul upon Christ is as real, and its connection with Him must be as close, as that of a limb to the body, or of a branch to the vine.” (GC 73)“The Father and the Son alone are to be exalted.” (SD 58)“To give glory to God is to reveal His character in our own, and thus make Him known. And in whatever way we make known the Father or the Son, we glorify God.” (7BC 979)“Christ, Emmanuel, stands between God and the believer, revealing the glory of God to His chosen ones, and covering their defects and transgres-sions with the garments of His own spotless righteousness.” (6BC 1115)“There is a personal God, the Father; there is a personal Christ, the Son.” (6BC 1068)

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God Shares Himself With Man Through Jesus

“And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; for through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.” (RSV Eph. 2:17-18)“But you are not in the flesh, you are in the Spirit, if the Spirit of God really dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although your bodies are dead because of sin, your spirits are alive because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit which dwells in you.” (RSV Rom. 8:9-11)“…that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us …” (RSV John 17:21)“You must lay yourselves and your opinions on the alter of God, put away your preconceived ideas, and let the Spirit of Heaven guide you into all truth.” (RH, February 18, 1890 par. 17 or 2RH 368)“Joy in the Holy Spirit is health-giving, life-giving joy. In giving us His Spirit, God gives us Himself, making Himself a fountain of divine influ-ences, to give health and life to the world.” (7T 273)“The Holy Spirit comes to man through Christ.” (RH, July 25, 1899 par. 14 or 4RH 72)“The impartation of the Spirit was the impartation of the very life of Christ, which was to qualify the disciples for their mission.” (RH, June 13, 1899 par. 7 or 4RH 54)“Why, then, do we not have more of the Holy Spirit? —Because we do not abide in Christ; because we do not eat his flesh and drink his blood.” (RH, April 24, 1900 par. 8 or 4RH 175)

Sin Against the Spirit of God

“To ignore the Spirit of God, to charge it with being the spirit of the devil, placed them in a position where God had no power to reach their

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souls. …They have resisted the only Spirit that could lead them, enlight-en them, save them. …The sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit does not lie in any sudden word or deed; it is the firm, determined resistance of truth and evidence. … The sin against the Holy Ghost is the sin of per-sistent refusal to respond to the invitation to repent.” (5BC 1092-1093)

Jesus, the Medium of Prayer to the Father

“Christ is the connecting link between God and man. He has promised His personal intercession by employing His name. … Yes, Christ has be-come the medium of prayer between man and God. He also has become the medium of blessing between God and man. He has combined divin-ity and humanity.” (6BC 1078-1079)“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words.” (RSV Rom. 8:26)“Through sincere prayer we are brought into connection with the mind of the Infinite. … Unceasing prayer is the unbroken union of the soul with God, so that life from God flows into our life; and from our life, purity and holiness flow back to God.” (SC 97-98)

Bible Study—Your Assistant?

“He must study the Word of God, getting its meaning, and obeying its precepts.” (RH, July 7, 1904, Par. 14 or 5RH 56)“When the Spirit of Truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth …” (RSV John 16:13)“Without the Spirit of God a knowledge of His Word is of no avail.” (AG 214)“The spirit in which you come to the investigation of the Scriptures will determine the character of the assistant at your side. Angels from the world of light will be with those who in humility of heart seek for divine

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guidance. But if the Bible is opened with irreverence, with a feeling of self-sufficiency, if the heart is filled with prejudice, Satan is beside you, and he will set the plain statements of God's word in a perverted light. There are some who indulge in levity, sarcasm, and even mockery toward those who differ with them. Others present an array of objections to any new view; and when these objections are plainly answered by the words of Scripture, they do not acknowledge the evidence presented, nor allow themselves to be convinced. Their questioning is not for the purpose of arriving at truth, but is intended merely to confuse the minds of others.” (TM 108)

The Mystery of Godliness—Forever One with the Father and the Son

“Scarcely can the human mind comprehend what is the breadth and depth and height of the spiritual attainments that can be reached by becoming partakers of the divine nature. The human agent who yields obedience to God, Who becomes a partaker of the divine nature, finds pleasure in keeping the commandments of God, for he is one with God; he holds as vital a relation with God as does the Son to the Father.” (TMK 159)“To them God chose to make known … this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (RSV Col 1:27)“We cannot understand it; we can only believe, as declared by the Scrip-tures, it is ‘Christ in you, the hope of glory’. A knowledge of this mystery furnishes a key to every other. It opens to the soul the treasures of the universe, the possibilities of infinite development.” (Ed 172)“They act as though ignorance of divine things were not dangerous and even fatal to the soul … They deride those who teach and believe the mystery of godliness, ‘Christ in you, the hope of glory.’ The principles underlying these things are not discerned by them; and they go on in wrong-doing, leaving the bars open for Satan to find ready access to the soul.” (4BC 1138)“Christ became one with humanity that humanity might become one in spirit and life with Him. By virtue of this union in obedience to the Word of God, His life becomes their life.” (TMK 71)

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“The parable of the wedding garment opens before us a lesson of the high-est consequence. By the marriage is represented the union of humanity with divinity; the wedding garment represents the character which all must possess who shall be accounted fit guests for the wedding.” (COL 307)“… and that we shall be with Him where He is, forever one with Christ and the Father, is a marvel to the heavenly host, and it is their great joy.” (TM18)“Through yielding to satanic influences, men will be transformed into fiends; and those who were created in the image of God, who were formed to honor and glorify their Creator, will become the habitation of dragons, and Satan will see in an apostate race his masterpiece of evil—men who reflect his own image.” (7BC 974)“Are we opening the door of the heart to Jesus, and closing every means of entrance to Satan?” (RH, November 19, 1908 par.7 or 5RH 468)

Divine Grace? The Spirit of Christ Shared with Man

“In the matchless gift of His Son, God has encircled the whole world with an atmosphere of grace as real as the air which circulates around the globe. All who choose to breathe this life-giving atmosphere will live and grow up to the stature of men and women in Christ Jesus.” (SC 68)“They must have His grace, the Spirit of Christ, to help their infirmities, or they cannot resist evil.” (SC 52)“You are one with Christ. He will give you grace to be patient, He will give you grace to be trustful, He will give you grace to overcome restless-ness, He will warm your heart with His own sweet Spirit.” (2SM 231-232)“So the soul dead in trespasses and sins receives life through connection with Christ. By faith in Him as a personal Saviour the union is formed. The sinner unites his weakness to Christ's strength, his emptiness to Christ's fullness, his frailty to Christ's enduring might. Then he has the mind of Christ. The humanity of Christ has touched our humanity, and our humanity has touched divinity. Thus through the agency of the Holy Spirit man becomes a partaker of the divine nature. He is accepted in the Beloved.” (DA 675)

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“When (we are) united to Christ, soul is joined to soul, the feeble and finite to the holy and infinite, and man becomes one with Christ.”… Do we abide in Christ? and are we one with Him?” (5T 591)“The Spirit of God, moving upon their spirit, calls forth the sacred har-monies of the soul, in answer to the divine touch.” (AG 305)“Such ones need the abiding presence of Christ in the soul. Only in His strength can they keep guard over the words and actions.” (3BC 1157)

Freedom In Christ—Cooperation with His Spirit

“The only condition upon which the freedom of man is possible is that of becoming one with Christ. ‘The truth shall make you free;’ and Christ is the truth. Sin can triumph only by enfeebling the mind, and destroying the liberty of the soul. Subjection to God is restoration to one's self,—to the true glory and dignity of man.” (DA 466)“Shall we not accept the enmity which Christ has placed between man and the serpent? … We have a right to say, In the strength of Jesus Christ I will be a conqueror.” (TMK 16)“God works, and man works. We are to co-operate with God. Thus only can we be partakers of the divine nature. … Do your best every day, and trust God for the future.” (RH, April 14, 1904, par. 4 & 21 or 5RH 33-34)“Let the sinner co-operate with his Redeemer to secure his liberty. … There is no limit to the spiritual advancement that he may make if he is a partaker of the divine nature.” (RH, July 7, 1904, par. 13 & 14 or 5RH 53)“The only defense against evil is the indwelling of Christ in the heart through faith in His righteousness. Unless we become vitally connected with God, we can never resist the unhallowed effects of self-love, self-indulgence, and temptation to sin. We may leave off many bad habits, for the time we may part company with Satan; but without a vital con-nection with God, through the surrender of ourselves to Him moment by moment, we shall be overcome.” (DA 324)“It is in this life that we are to separate sin from us, through faith in the atoning blood of Christ. Our precious Saviour invites us to join ourselves

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to Him, to unite our weakness to His strength, our ignorance to His wisdom, our unworthiness to His merits. … It rests with us to co-operate with the agencies which Heaven employs in the work of conforming our characters to the divine model.” (GC 623)“Under the influence of the Spirit of God, man is left free to choose whom he will serve. In the change that takes place when the soul sur-renders to Christ, there is the highest sense of freedom. The expulsion of sin is the act of the soul itself. True, we have no power to free ourselves from Satan's control; but when we desire to be set free from sin, and in our great need cry out for a power out of and above ourselves, the pow-ers of the soul are imbued with the divine energy of the Holy Spirit, and they obey the dictates of the will in fulfilling the will of God.” (DA 466)

Results of Union With the Father Through Jesus’ Spirit

“Union with Christ is our only means for overcoming sin. Living in Christ, adhering to Christ, supported by Christ, drawing nourishment from Christ, we bear fruit after the similitude of Christ. We live and move in Him; we are one with Him and one with the Father.” (TMK 318)“All true obedience comes from the heart. It was heart work with Christ. And if we consent, He will so identify Himself with our thoughts and aims, so blend our hearts and minds into conformity to His will, that when obeying Him we shall be but carrying out our own impulses. The will, refined and sanctified, will find its highest delight in doing His ser-vice.” (DA 668)“When we submit ourselves to Christ, the heart is united with His heart, the will is merged in His will, the mind becomes one with His mind, the thoughts are brought into captivity to Him; we live His life. This is what it means to be clothed with the garment of His righteousness.” (COL 311-312)“Sanctification means habitual communion with God.” (7BC 908)“True sanctification will be evidenced by a conscientious regard for all the commandments of God, by a careful improvement of every talent,

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by a circumspect conversation, by revealing in every act the meekness of Christ.” (7BC 908)“Our sanctification is the work of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is the fulfillment of the covenant God has made with those who bind themselves up with Him, to stand with Him, His Son, and His Spirit in holy fellowship. Have you been born again? Have you become a new being in Christ Jesus? Then cooperate with the three great powers of heaven who are working in your behalf.” (7BC 908)

Man Becomes a Spring of Living Water for Others

“The Spirit of Christ within him is like a spring welling up in the desert, flowing to refresh all, and making those who are ready to perish eager to drink of the water of life." (RH, December 24, 1908 par. 8 or 5RH 479)“Come into actual, personal contact with Christ, that you may exert an in-fluence that is uplifting and reviving.” (RH, May 5, 1910 par. 9 or 6RH 33)“Under all circumstances reproof should be spoken in love. Then our words will reform but not exasperate. Christ by His Holy Spirit will sup-ply the force and the power. This is His work.” (COL 337)

Protection—Satan Hates and Fears the Presence of God

“The closer we are to God, the safer we are, for Satan hates and fears the presence of God.” (7BC 937)“Hence it is Satan's constant effort to keep the attention diverted from the Saviour and thus prevent the union and communion of the soul with Christ.” (SC 71)“Man is privileged to connect with Christ, and then the divine and the human combine; and in this union the hope of man must rest alone.” (RH, November 22, 1892 par. 8 or 2RH 616)“It is only by personal union with Christ, by communion with Him daily, hourly, that we can bear the fruits of the Holy Spirit.” (5T 48)

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“Satan is even now seeking by disasters upon sea and land to seal the fate of as many as possible. What is the defense of the people of God at this time?—It is a living connection with heaven.” (RH, November 19, 1908 par. 8 or 5RH 468)“When self is hid in Jesus, we are shielded from the darts of the enemy.” (7BC 908) “Why were they so specially singled out? Because they had to stand with a wonderful truth right before the whole world, and receive their oppo-sition, and while receiving this opposition they were to remember that they were sons and daughters of God, that they must have Christ formed within them the hope of glory.” (7BC 978)

Hope of Salvation? Mystically and Eternally One with God

“The people whom God has made the depositaries of His law are not to permit their light to be hidden. … The love of Christ must be diffused in their own hearts. The Spirit of Christ must be poured out upon them, and they must be making ready to stand in the judgment.” (5T 454)“It is your privilege to experience the completeness of salvation in Christ. Jesus is your only hope. You are to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. …All that is written concerning the spiritual life is written for you, and may be attained through uniting yourself to Jesus. …Eat of Christ's flesh, drink of his blood, and you will become one with the Father and with the Son.” (RH, May 17, 1892 par. 5 or 2RH 569)“My brother, my sister, face the light. Come into actual, personal contact with Christ, that you may exert an influence that is uplifting and reviv-ing.” (RH, May 5, 1910 par. 9 or 6RH 33)“He died to purchase our salvation, and to make us one with Him, mysti-cally and eternally one.” (TM 519)“Only by a union with Christ, whose property we are by creation and by redemption, can we win eternal life.” (RH, August 20, 1903 par. 20 or 4RH 548)“For while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of

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His Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by His life.” (RSV Rom. 5:10)

Perfection Latter Rain—Human Nature Restored to Perfection

“Divine grace is needed at the beginning, divine grace at every step of advance, and divine grace alone can complete the work. …We are not to trust to the ordinary working of providence. We must pray that God will unseal the fountain of the water of life. And we must ourselves receive of the living water. … As we seek God for the Holy Spirit, it will work in us meekness, humbleness of mind, a conscious dependence upon God for the perfecting latter rain.” (TM 507-509)“What we need is the quickening influence of the Holy Spirit of God. … It is the time of the latter rain, when the Lord will give largely of His Spirit. … Self must be hid with Christ in God; then when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, we also shall appear with Him in glory.” (TM 512)“But they had repented, they had accepted the righteousness of Christ. They were therefore standing before God clothed with the garments of Christ's righteousness, and ‘He answered and spake unto those that stood before Him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him He said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.’ Every sin of which they had been guilty was forgiven, and they stood before God as chosen and true, as innocent, as perfect, as though they had never sinned.” (TM 39, 40)“The work of overcoming is a great work. Shall we take hold of it with energy and perseverance? Unless we do, our "filthy garments" will not be taken from us. We need never expect that these will be torn from us vio-lently; we must first show a desire to rid ourselves of them. We must seek to separate sin from us, relying upon the merits of the blood of Christ…” (RH, November 19, 1908 par. 20 or 5RH 469)“The end is near. Let our churches arise. Let the converting power of God be experienced in the hearts of the individual members, and then we shall see the deep movings of the Spirit of God. The forgiveness of sins

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is not the sole result of the death of Jesus. He made the infinite sacrifice, not only that sin might be removed, but that human nature might be restored, rebeautified, reconstructed from its ruins, and made fit for the presence of God.” (5T 537)“Just as soon as the people of God are sealed in their foreheads—it is not any seal or mark that can be seen, but a settling into the truth, both intel-lectually and spiritually, so they cannot be moved—just as soon as God's people are sealed and prepared for the shaking, it will come.” (4BC 1161)

The Plan of Salvation—Three Gifts

“As the plan of redemption begins and ends with a gift, so it is to be car-ried forward.” (RH, December 24, 1908 par. 8 or 5RH 479)“Divine grace is needed at the beginning, divine grace at every step of advance, and divine grace alone can complete the work.” (TM 507, 508)“…and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the pioneer and the perfecter of our faith. …” (RSV Heb. 12:1, 2)

The Written Word and the Living Word

“The word of God is a character-detector, a motive-tester. We are to read this word with heart and mind open to receive the impressions that God will give. We must not think that the reading of the word can accomplish that which only He whom the word reveals, who stands behind the word, can accomplish. … The end of our faith is the perfection of human char-acter, the sanctification of the entire being. … Christ's life abiding in the soul is the cause of our joy and the pledge of our glory.” (RH, October 1, 1901, par. 8, 10 & 11 or 4RH 339)“Finite man is united with the infinite God. When thus united, the words of Christ abide in us, and we are not actuated by a spasmodic feeling, but a living, abiding principle.” (SD 291)

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We Have a Message—Jesus, the Hope of Perfection

“Hanging upon the cross Christ was the gospel. Now we have a message, ‘Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world.’ Will not our church members keep their eyes fixed on a crucified and risen Saviour, in whom their hopes of eternal life are centered? This is our mes-sage, our argument, our doctrine, our warning to the impenitent, our encouragement for the sorrowing, the hope for every believer. If we can awaken an interest in men's minds that will cause them to fix their eyes on Christ, we may step aside, and ask them only to continue to fix their eyes upon the Lamb of God. They thus receive their lesson. Whosoever will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and fol-low Me. He whose eyes are fixed on Jesus will leave all. He will die to selfishness. He will believe in all the Word of God, which is so gloriously and wonderfully exalted in Christ. “As the sinner sees Jesus as He is, an all compassionate Saviour, hope and assurance take possession of his soul. The helpless soul is cast without any reservation upon Jesus. None can bear away from the vision of Christ Jesus crucified a lingering doubt. Unbelief is gone.“The Cross of Christ Moves the World.—The cross of Calvary challeng-es, and will finally vanquish every earthly and hellish power. In the cross all influence centers, and from it all influence goes forth. It is the great center of attraction; for on it Christ gave up His life for the human race. This sacrifice was offered for the purpose of restoring man to his original perfection. Yea, more, it was offered to give him an entire transformation of character, making him more than a conqueror. “Those who in the strength of Christ overcome the great enemy of God and man, will occupy a position in the heavenly courts above angels who have never fallen. “Christ declares, ‘I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.’ If the cross does not find an influence in its favor, it creates an influ-ence. Through generation succeeding generation, the truth for this time is revealed as present truth. Christ on the cross was the medium whereby mercy and truth met together, and righteousness and peace kissed each other. This is the means that is to move the world.” (6BC 1113)

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Satan’s Most Subtle Scheme—Hide Truth, Jesus Is the Comforter!

“The reason why the churches are weak and sickly and ready to die, is that the enemy has brought influences of a discouraging nature to bear upon trembling souls. He has sought to shut Jesus from their view as the Comforter, as one who reproves, who warns, who admonishes them, saying, ‘This is the way, walk ye in it.’ Christ has all power in heaven and in earth, and he can strengthen the wavering, and set right the erring. … Every soul must have a realization that Christ is his personal Saviour; then love and zeal and steadfastness will be manifest in the Christian life. … Satan has achieved his greatest success through interposing himself between the soul and the Saviour. … How precious is the thought that we may indeed become partakers of the divine nature, whereby we may overcome as Christ overcame! … He is living water to the thirsty soul.” (RH, August 26, 1890 par. 10, 11 & 12 or 2RH 422)“It is best to prepare the heart for the reception of the Holy Spirit, that it may have free course in the entire being. It is best that you should open the door of the soul-temple, and let the Saviour come in. ‘Behold, I stand at the door, and knock,’ the Saviour says; ‘If any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me’.” Sermon by E,G, White, Oakland, Calif., October 20, 1906 (1SAT 376.4)

Truth Will not Always Lie in the Dust, Trampled Underfoot!

“However weak and compassed with infirmity the people of God may be, those who turn from disloyalty to God in this wicked and perverse generation, and come back to their allegiance, standing to vindicate the holy law of God, making up the breach made by the man of sin under the direction of Satan, will be accounted the children of God, and through the righteousness of Christ will stand perfect before God. Truth will not always lie in the dust to be trampled underfoot of men. It will be magni-fied and made honorable; it will yet arise and shine forth in all its natural luster, and will stand fast forever and ever.” (TM 40, 41)

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The Only Hope of Man? Actual Union with Christ

“Man is privileged to connect with Christ, and then the divine and the human combine; and in this union the hope of man must rest alone; …” (RH, November 22, 1892 par. 8 or 2RH 616)“Wherever we go, we bear the abiding presence of the One so dear to us; for we abide in Christ by a living faith. He is abiding in our hearts by our individual, appropriating faith. We have the companionship of the divine Jesus, and as we realize his presence, our thoughts are brought into captivity to him. Our experience in divine things will be in proportion to the vividness of our sense of his companionship.” (HL 301)

The Goal of the Gospel? Transformed, Restored to Fellowship

“Let us avail ourselves of the means provided for us that we may be trans-formed into His likeness, and be restored to fellowship with the minister-ing angels, to harmony and communion with the Father and the Son.” (SC 22)

Excerpts from “Constant Attainment Essential to Christian Life”

by E.G. White, (RH, June 4, 1889 or 2RH 307-308)

“Paul speaks of the riches of the glory of the mystery that is to be made known to the Gentiles. There are many mysteries in the word of God that we do not comprehend, and many of us are content to stop our investi-gation when we have just began to receive a little knowledge concerning Christ. When there begins to be a little unfolding of the divine purposes to the mind, and we begin to obtain a slight knowledge of the character of God, we become satisfied, and think that we have received about all the light that there is for us in the word of God. But the truth of God is infinite. With painstaking effort, we should work in the mines of truth, discovering the precious jewels that have been hidden. It is the minis-ter's privilege to have a constant supply of fresh truth for the people. He

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should be in such a position that he can bring from the treasure-house of God not the same thing over and over, but new beauty and new truth. “The Spirit of God will rest upon the diligent searcher for truth. He who desires the truth in his heart, who longs for the working of its power upon the life and character, will be sure to have it. …”Those who seek for more and still more of the Spirit of God, will not be disappointed. They will hold daily communion with God, and di-vine power will surely attend their efforts as they present the truth. As certainly as the truth is presented in the Spirit of Christ, it will reach the hearts of the people. Brethren, we should not go into the desk unless we have previously devoted some time to wrestling with God in prayer. We should not be satisfied to use the set discourses that we have preached over and over for the last ten, fifteen, or twenty years. We should draw fresh, new matter from the store-house of God's word. …“There is a great work to be done for this time, and we do not half realize what the Lord is willing to do for his people. We talk about the first an-gel's message, and the second angel's message, and we think we have some understanding of the third angel's message; but we should not be satis-fied with our present knowledge. Our petitions, mingled with faith and contrition, should go up to God, for an understanding of the mysteries that God would make known to his saints. We should have a realization that unless taught by the Holy Spirit, we shall not rightly comprehend the Bible; for it is a sealed book even to the learned, who are wise in their own conceit. Jesus meant just what he said when he directed his disciples to "search the Scriptures." Searching means to compare scripture with scripture, and spiritual things with spiritual. We should not be satisfied with a superficial knowledge. We should search for the hidden treasure concealed beneath the surface, as the merchant-man seeks for goodly pearls. Light, great light, will reward the diligent searcher for truth. “There are many who have not taxed their mental powers, and who have no experience in putting to the stretch their utmost ability to find out what is truth. …“If you are content to think and to preach in one narrow channel, you will not advance in understanding, nor know the depth and grandeur of

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the truth. If you desire to understand the mysteries of God, you must search the Scriptures. There is nothing that will develop the intellect like wrestling with the great problems of truth revealed in God's word. You may keep your mind in constant meditation and prayer, even when your hands are busy. The truth of God is a treasure that is of more value than everything else in the world. Its priceless value is illustrated by the par-able of Christ, concerning the man who found a treasure in a field, and he went and bought that field, that he might plow every part of it, and search out all the treasure that it contained. The blessed Bible, the field that contains the treasure, the garden of God, is open to you. Search the Scriptures; dig in the mines of truth until the precious jewels that have been hidden there for ages shall be brought out, and you can present them to the people. “In the time of the Saviour, the Jews had so covered over the precious jewels of truth with the rubbish of tradition and fable, that it was impos-sible to distinguish the true from the false. The Saviour came to clear away the rubbish of superstition and long-cherished errors, and to set the jewels of God's word in the frame-work of truth. What would the Saviour do if he should come to us now as he did to the Jews? He would have to do a similar work in clearing away the rubbish of tradition and ceremony. The Jews were greatly disturbed when he did this work. They had lost sight of the original truth of God, but Christ brought it again to view. It is our work to free the precious truths of God from superstition and error. What a work is committed to us in the gospel! An angel's pen could not portray all the glory of the revealed plan of redemption. … Depths, heights, lengths, and breadths of love and wisdom, all passing knowledge, are made known in the plan of salvation. “Christ was the originator of the law; and the blindness of the Pharisees is an illustration of how people who claim great light and knowledge can misunderstand and misrepresent the work of God. Glorious truths have been buried out of sight, and have been made lusterless and unattractive by error and superstition. Jesus reveals the light of God, and brings forth the beautiful radiance of the truth in all its divine glory. The minds of the honest are filled with admiration. Their hearts are attracted in holy affec-

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tions toward him who brought forth the jewels of truth and displayed them to their understanding. “The Jews understood some portion of the truth, and taught some part of the word of God; but they did not comprehend the far-reaching na-ture of the law of God. Christ swept away the rubbish of tradition, and displayed the real kernel and heart of the purposes of God. When he did this, they became exasperated beyond control. They circulated false reports from one town to another that Christ was destroying the work of God. But while Jesus did away with the old forms, he re-instated the old truths, placing them in the frame- work of truth. He matched and joined them together, making a complete and symmetrical system of truth. This was the work our Saviour did; and now what shall we do? Shall we not work in harmony with Christ? Shall we be ruled by hearsay? Shall we let our own imaginings hide from us the light of God? We are to read attentively, to hear understandingly, and to teach others also the things we have learned. We must be constantly hungering for the bread of life, constantly seeking for the living water and the snow of Lebanon, that we may be able to lead the people to the living, cooling waters of the Fountain of truth.”

Excerpts from “Not in Man’s Wisdom”

by E.G. White (RH, July 18, 1899 or 4RH 68-69)

“Before his ascension, Christ commissioned his disciples: ‘All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all na-tions, 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 alway, even unto the end of the world.’ When the disciples prepared themselves for the descent of the Holy Spirit, by putting away all selfishness, all love of supremacy, and all differences, by becoming of one accord, of one mind, divine grace came upon them in a marked manner. The pentecostal season brought to them the evidences that they were accepted in the Beloved, and that their prayers, ascending to God in faith, would assuredly be answered.

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The power of the Holy Spirit was given to accompany the preaching of the Word. “In the commission to the disciples, and the descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, Christ shows that power and wisdom are not with the many, and that they do not come from man, but from Christ. The apostle Paul declares: ‘He is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the begin-ning, the first-born from the dead; that in all things he might have the pre-eminence. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell; and, having made peace through the blood of the cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblame-able and unreproveable in his sight: if ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven … even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.’ “Speaking to his disciples, Christ said, ‘It is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.’ These they were to proclaim to the world. ‘What ye hear in the ear,’ he said on one occasion, ‘that preach ye upon the housetops;’ for there is nothing in the knowledge of truth and righteousness that is to remain a mystery. The door is thrown open for all who believe. ‘And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it.’ “Christ makes a distinction between those who believe on him and those who do not, and tells his followers the evidence they must give to the world that they love the Saviour, who gave his life a ransom for them. ‘If ye love me,’ he says, ‘keep my commandments. And I will pray the Fa-ther, and he will give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you

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forever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world can not receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.’ ‘He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself unto him … If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.’ … If man sustains no vital relation to God, he reveals that he is connected with an-other leader, who is controlling his mind, and holding him in darkness, that he may not see the evidences of truth. The world can not receive the Spirit of truth, because they have not made the truth, which would make them wise unto salvation, their study. They can not receive truth, because they do not see Christ as the truth. They do not know him. ‘This is life eternal,’ said Christ, ‘that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.’ “Those who know the truth are responsible for those who know it not. As a part of God's great firm, we have a work to do in building up the inter-ests of that firm. As instruments of righteousness, we are to build up the kingdom of God, according to the plans he has laid before us. All who are connected with God will be imbued with his Spirit. The light that has been given them they will communicate to those who are in darkness. They will never cease their efforts to win souls to Christ. This is the work before all who claim to believe in Jesus. And in this work they will give themselves to God, soul, body, and spirit. They will bear their burden of soul in prayer to God, that those who know him not may be convicted and converted. To neglect this work is to insult Jehovah, to grieve the Holy Spirit, and to prove disloyal to Christ. “The Lord would have all his workers weighted with a wisdom that is di-vine, that wisdom which God gives to all who ask in faith. Paul said: ‘And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom,

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but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of man, but in the power of God.’“His after-sight led him to understand that there was something needed above human wisdom. God taught him that something above the world's wisdom must come to him. He must receive his power from a higher source. In order to convict and convert sinners, the Spirit of God must come into his work, and sanctify every spiritual development. He must eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of God.“Christ is the mystery of godliness, and God calls for a humble reliance upon him, whose divine aid is promised to all. … ’For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are: that no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: that, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.’“This mystery all the intelligence of human beings is of itself incapable of understanding. Man's learning may be considered supreme, but it is not that higher education which he can take with him into the kingdom of heaven. The learned men of the world, notwithstanding all their intel-lectual studies, know not the truth as it is in Jesus. In his epistle to the Ephesians, Paul brings to view a kind of education which these supposed intellectual stars have not: ‘Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,’ he says, ‘who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved.’

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“These divine heights the true believer may reach. All who will may see the mystery of godliness. But it is only through a correct understanding of Christ's mission and work that the possibility of being complete in him, accepted in the Beloved, is brought within our reach. His long hu-man arm embraces the human family; his divine arm grasps the throne of the Infinite, that man may have the benefit of the infinite sacrifice made in his behalf. And to as many as receive him, he gives the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. “There are many who are too exalted in their own opinion to receive this mystery. There is a science that the Most High would have these great men understand; but they can not see the Truth, the Life, the Light of the world. Human science is not divine enlightenment. Divine science is the demonstration of the Spirit of God, inspiring implicit faith in him. The men of the world suppose this faith to be beneath the notice of their great and intelligent minds, something too low to give attention to; but here they make a great mistake. It is altogether too high for their human intelligence to reach.“The gospel message is far from being opposed to true knowledge and in-tellectual attainments. It is itself true science, true intellectual knowledge. True wisdom is infinitely above the comprehension of the worldly wise. The hidden wisdom, which is Christ formed within, the hope of glory, is a wisdom high as heaven. The deep principles of godliness are sublime and eternal. A Christian experience alone can help us to understand this problem, and obtain the treasures of knowledge which have been hidden in the counsels of God, but are now made known to all who have a vital connection with Christ. All who will may know of the doctrine. “God is glorified in having channels through which he can communicate the treasures of heaven to a fallen world. Every one who will cleanse his soul of impurity, and let the similitude of Christ's character be placed on his character, will reflect back to God in pure currents the praise and thanksgiving of the souls he has won for Christ. The Saviour says, ‘Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father’."

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ChapTer 3: QuesTIons mosT ofTen asked

If Jesus is the Comforter as stated in RH, August 26, 1890 par. 10 or 2RH 422 as you quote, why did Jesus Himself speak of another Comforter?

In answer to this question, I would point out the fact that Jesus also told His disciples that this Comforter was with them and would be in them; that He would not leave them comfortless because He would come to them. These followers of Jesus loved to be with Him – to walk with Him, to talk with Him, to eat with Him, to see and feel Him near! In place of His physical, visible companionship they were to have ANOTHER FORM OF His comforting PRESENCE. THE INDWELLING OF His own REAL but INVISIBLE PERSON. His SPIRIT. In this way He, Jesus, their COMPANION and Lord, would be nearer to each one of the believers scattered around the world than if He had remained as a WHOLE BEING on this earth. When on the Day of Pentecost the promised Comforter arrived, they recognized Him as the SPIRIT of Je-sus, their ascended Lord; their SOULS were thrilled as He filled their inner lives. (GC 351) Now their comfort came from His INVISIBLE SPIRIT rather than from His VISIBLE FORM.

Are you saying then that the Comforter is Jesus’ INFLUENCE in the world, or that the Holy Spirit is God’s INFLUENCE at work with men?

No, I AM NOT! The Spirit of God, which is also the Spirit of Jesus, is NOT an INFLUENCE: this divine Spirit of Heaven is the very LIFE, the creative life, of God – the ULTIMATE REALITY of His BEING! Now, this actual LIFE of God and Jesus has an infinitely great and power-ful INFLUENCE which changes hearts, molds lives, guides minds. But, without Jesus’ own PERSONAL PRESENCE in the SPIRIT of man, we don’t have a personal saving experience. (DA 347; 1T 303-304; CT 226; 7T 67; YI Nov. 12, 1907)

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How do you react to the statement found in The Acts of the Apos-tles, page 52, that the NATURE of the Holy Spirit is a mystery that man cannot explain?

Nowhere in this discussion have we tried to say anything about the NA-TURE of the Spirit. We have simply tried to see WHO the Spirit is—the ONE Spirit that is the LIFE, the INNER PERSON, of BOTH the Fa-ther and the Son. This is not explaining the Spirit’s nature any more than the traditional explanation of the Trinity (set up with Emperor Constan-tine’s help in A.D. 325 at the Council of Nicea) making the Spirit a third, separate distinct individual “god” in the God family of heaven. It is true that God has not revealed to man the mystery of His own NATURE, but He has given us abundant information to make it clear to us who the Holy Spirit is in contrast to the evil Spirit in the universe, the spirit of Satan and his angels. Please study this helpful verse, Romans 5:10. “For, if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!”

The statements made in Evangelism, pages 616 and 617 seem to make the Holy Spirit a “person” in the fullest sense, having a body that is “walking through these grounds.”

In earlier pages of this paper, I have stated my belief that the Spirit of God is a person, not a physical being, but a person in the more restricted sense. The Spirit of God is His inner life, the source of His being, the PERSON of His form. In the Spirit are encountered the MIND, the WILL, and the SOUL of God—these are the bases of personhood. For me, it is impos-sible to try to conceive of the Holy Spirit OF a BEING capable of being physically at the same time everywhere! Suppose there were many camp meetings at once as we had in Central Africa! I see in the above quotation an emphasis on the REALITY of God’s invisible PRESENCE. Think also in this connection of the statements of the Apostle Paul that our bodies (with their legs, hands, mouths) are to be temples for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit of God. (I Cor. 3:16, 17; 6:19, 20)

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There is a verse in the Bible that needs explanation. It is I John 5:7. “for there are three who bear witness in Heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one.” What about that?

In reply, let me point out that this verse is italicized, meaning that it is a supplied verse. Late MSS of the Vulgate (Roman Catholic Version of the Bible) have added these words. There is a clear substantiation of this fact in our own SDA Bible Commentary. Look for it under 1 John 5:7 in Volume 7. I would hate to use for my strongest proof-text a verse that does not belong in the Holy Scriptures (especially when the evidence against it is so clear!).

Doesn’t believing that man has a soul open the way for spiritualism?

No, not if it is clearly understood that man’s soul is mortal, unconscious during the sleep of death. Ellen White called the truth of the non-im-mortality of the human soul one of the pillars of our faith. (CWE 30-31) Denying the human soul’s existence results in a cold, machine-like view of man and leaves him no true identity should he die, nothing to resur-rect but a new body! A “soul-less” person would make much of the plan of redemption meaningless and impossible to understand.

In II Cor. 13:14, we read. “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” What do you have to say about this verse?

Here are a few thoughts that might help. In Steps to Christ, page 52, the grace of Christ is defined as the Spirit of Christ. Others define grace as favors given, though unmerited. Surely Christ’s sharing of His Spirit is unmerited by the human family! Notice the exact quotation. “They must have His grace, the Spirit of Christ, to help their infirmities, or they cannot resist evil.” On page 73, we find this enlightening thought. “The regenerating influence of the Holy Spirit renewed his heart. The power of the love of Christ wrought a transformation of character. This is the sure result of union with Jesus. When Christ abides in the heart, the

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whole nature is transformed. Christ’s Spirit, His love, softens the heart, subdues the soul, and raises the thoughts and desires toward God and heaven.” Then again in Thoughts from the Mount of Blessings, page 18, in one edition, or page 34 in another, we are told that “Righteousness is love, and love is the light and the life of God. The righteousness of God is embodied in Christ. We receive righteousness by receiving Him.” And so the conclusion is that, when we have the Spirit of Jesus actually living in us, we have the life of God which is love, the love of God; we have the grace of the Lord Jesus which is His Spirit; and we have the fellowship of the holy Spirit, which is the ONE PERSONAL Spirit of both the Father and His Son. This SPIRITUAL fellowship gives us the experience of the REALITY of God and His Son though their, invisibly “physical” forms, are so far away! I find this verse a most precious one!

Aren’t these truths about God’s indwelling in the human spirit, His life IN the believer through Jesus, bordering on pantheism?

No. But error always lies as close to truth as it can! Satan’s best schemes are those that “allow” falsehoods to be almost true, doctrines to be almost right, just enough off to “ruin” one’s salvation! Pantheism is the belief that God is all, and all is God. It fails to separate God from His creation! His creatures were made out beyond Himself—not as a part of Himself! His only begotten Son was of Himself—NOT CREATED! But God created beings, men and angels, to be temples for the indwelling of His own Spirit: When the plan of restoration is finally completed, fallen men will sit with Jesus on the throne as His brothers – not because they have become gods- but because they, through Jesus, have been grafted on to the Spirit of God through the humanity our Saviour added to divinity. There is no pantheism here—GOD WILL ALWAYS BE God! Man will always be man- but man joined on to God’s Spirit in an eternal, never-to-be-broken union, an unending marvel to the unfallen universe!

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Would you explain how God could speak of “My Spirit” as in Gen. 6:3?

I believe that it is important that we understand this concept: a whole BEING can talk of any part of his being as “his”. For example, I, as a two-dimensional being can talk of my body, my hands, my mind, my brain, my soul, or any part of living, acting, thinking, feeling wholeness – the complete person. And so the Father in the same way could speak of His form or image, His Spirit or Heart, since these are parts of His WHOLE-NESS or a FULL PERSON. The Son in the same way could also say, “MY SOUL is grieved, is heavy”. In this sense I understand the Apostle Paul when he wrote in Rom. 8:9 of the Spirit of God (God’s Spirit).

Why do you see it as so important to understand that the Holy Spirit is the ONE SPIRIT that is the UNITY of the Father and Son?

In the first place, I believe that God wants us to understand the truth that He has revealed about Himself to humanity. If it weren’t important, why did He tell us what he has? I would like to suggest a very thoughtful and careful study of Jesus’ prayer found in John 17. But, more specifically, I believe that this knowledge is our safeguard against Satan’s specially-prepared trap for us. He has schemed and worked for centuries to lay the groundwork for a traditional, almost Satan’s most cunning and terrible temptations and cruelty. His own Spirit, His invisible Self, He shares without restraint that we might have guidance, strength – feel His recre-ating power.

How would you explain the great commission,”…baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit….” [Matt. 28:16-20?]?

I would first point out the way Ellen White spoke of this passage in 6T 91. “Those who are baptized in the THREEFOLD NAME of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,…have become…children of the heavenly King.” I believe that Jesus was wanting people to know that when they

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are baptized, they are not made members of His Kingdom without the presence of God! Though in body the Father and Jesus, His divine-hu-man Son, are billions of light-years away, by Their one personal Spirit, They are there at every true baptism. Here again we understand that our one God, the Father, and His one Son, Jesus, are present throughout the whole universe by Their invisible, common, Holy Spirit which comes to humans through our one Mediator’s now infinite humanity. Thus Paul, the great apostle of the Gospel, could write of being baptized into Christ Jesus. “For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His.” (Rom. 6:4-5) Jesus Himself also said: “If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and WE will come to him and make OUR home with him.” (John 14:23) This is God’s amazing grace that does not leave us comfortless but rather gives us the blessed companionship of Himself through Jesus.

Whenever I try to talk about these ideas with people, this quotation from Evangelism, page 616, is used almost invariably to bring our discussion to a close: “We need to realize that the Holy Spirit, who is as much a person as God is a person, is walking through these grounds.” –Manuscript 66, 1899. [From a talk to the students at the Avendale School.] Can you help me with this objection?

I believe that anyone who has read this thesis will agree that I believe that the INNER PERSON of God is as much a PERSON as His WHOLE PERSON is! The problem is really: “Does the INNER PERSON of God, the HOLY SPIRIT of God, walk on legs in every meeting place of be-lievers, even when these meetings may be many at the same time and in many parts of the world?” Could I point out the truth that “While Jesus ministers in the sanctuary above, He is still by His Spirit the minister of the church on earth. He is withdrawn from the eye of sense by His part-ing promise fulfilled, ‘Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.’ (Matt. 28:20) While HE delegates His power to inferior minis-ters, His energizing presence is still with His church.” (DA 166) Here is another helpful truth: “There is strength for us in Christ. He is our

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Advocate before the Father. He dispatches His messengers to every part of His dominion to communicate His will to His people. He walks in the midst of His churches. …’Who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks.’ Revelation 2:1. This scripture shows Christ’s relation to the churches. He walks in the midst of His churches throughout the length and breadth of the earth. He watches them with intense interest to see whether they are in such a condition spiritually that they can advance His kingdom. Christ is present in every assembly of the church. He is acquainted with everyone connected with His service. He knows those whose hearts He can fill with the holy oil, that they may impart it to others.” (6T 418) These thoughts taken together must surely mean that the Holy Spirit of God through the human spirit of Jesus, our Mediator, IS PRESENT in all assemblies as really as if the Saviour, Himself, were walking among His people as a WHOLE PERSON rather than only by his INNER SELF unencumbered by the limitations of human or divine bodily form.

In summary, why do you place so much importance on the under-standing that the holy Spirit, the Comforter, is REALLY the SOUL, the SPIRIT, the VERY SELF, the “INNER MAN”, the PERSON of JE-SUS reaching out and beyond his PHYSICAL BEING to the SOULS, the SPIRITS, of His creatures?

Let me reemphasize these truths given us direct from God, Himself, through His Messenger, Ellen White:“The reason why the churches are weak and sickly and ready to die, is that the enemy has brought influences of a discouraging nature to bear upon trembling souls. He has sought to SHUT JESUS FROM THEIR VIEW AS THE COMFORTER, as one who REPROVES, who WARNS, who ADMONISHES them, saying, ‘This is the way, walk ye in it.’ Christ has all power in heaven and in earth, and he can strengthen the wavering, and set right the erring. …Satan has achieved his greatest success through interposing himself between the soul and the Saviour.” (RH, August 26, 1890 par. 10, 11; 2RH 422) “If you would stand through the time

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of trouble, YOU MUST KNOW CHRIST, and APPROPRIATE THE GIFT OF HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, which he imputes to the repentant sinner. Human wisdom will not avail to devise a plan of salvation.” (RH, November 22, 1892 par. 8; 2RH 615) “Righteousness is love, and love is the light and the LIFE of GOD. The RIGHTEOUSNESS of GOD is EMBODIED in Christ. WE RECEIVE RIGHTEOUSNESS BY RE-CEIVING HIM. …As the body is continually receiving the nourish-ment that sustains life and vigor, so the SOUL must be CONSTANTLY COMMUNING with CHRIST, submitting to Him and DEPENDING WHOLLY upon HIM.” (MB 18-19) “It is INSANITY to be quiet and at ease as so many are at the present time, having no assurance THAT THEY ARE INDEED SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF GOD. …The Spirit will bear witness with your spirit that you are indeed children of God. You MAY COMMUNE with CHRIST, WHO WILL BE WITH YOU A HOPE OF GLORY. This is true religion. All else is deception, a delusion.” (RH, November 9, 1886 par. 16; 2RH 92).

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key To abbrevIaTIonsof

e.G. WhITe book TITles and perIodICals

Key Book Title

AA The Acts of the ApostlesAG God’s Amazing GraceAH Adventist Home4BC SDA Bible Commentary (Vol. 4, for example)CD Counsels on Diet and FoodsCG Child GuidanceCH Counsels on HealthCOL Christ’s Object LessonsCSW Counsels on Sabbath School WorkCT Counsels to Parents, Teachers and StudentsCW Counsels to Writers and EditorsDA The Desire of AgesEd EducationEv EvangelismEW Early WritingsFE Fundamentals of Christian EducationFLB The Faith I Live ByGC Great ControversyGC88 Great Controversy, 1888 editionGuidelines Guidelines to Mental HealthGW Gospel WorkersHL Healthful LivingHP In Heavenly PlacesMB Thoughts from the Mount of BlessingMH The Ministry of HealingML My Life TodayMM Medical Ministry

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Ms ManuscriptMYP Messages to Young PeopleOHC Our High CallingPK Prophets and KingsPP Patriarchs and ProphetsRC Reflecting Christ1SAT Sermons and Talks (Volume 1)SC Steps to ChristSD Sons and Daughters of GodSL The Sanctified Life1SM Selected Messages, Book 12SM Selected Messages, Book 2SR The Story of Redemption9T 56 Page 56 of the ninth volume of the Testimo nies (Others marked the same way – 2T 32, etc.)Te TemperanceTM Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel WorkersTMK That I May Know HimWM Welfare Ministry

Key Periodicals

RH Review and Herald2RH Volume 2 of the E.G. White Review and Her ald articles (Other volumes are indicated in the same way – 5RH, etc)ST July 8, 1902 From the periodical, The Signs of the TimesYI Youth Instructor

79

noTes

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The Mysterious Union

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