p. 468 | A STRANGE CLAIM by Chas. P. Whitford

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Michigan · Jul 23, 1901

A STRANGE CLAIM.

By Chas. P. Whitford

CHAS. P. WHITFORD, (Rutland, Vt.).

God’s servants, upon whom has been placed the burden and responsibility of proclaiming the solemn message of Rev. 14:9–12, not infrequently meet with new and ofttimes strange opinions. Brother L. H. Crisler and myself recently came in contact with one of these strange positions, and a desire to warn others of its danger prompts me to repeat it, with the hope that some self-deceived soul may be benefited thereby.

We had been holding public meetings all winter in the city of —. The message, “If any man worship the Beast and his Image, and receive his mark, . . . the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God” (Rev. 14:9–12), had been faithfully and earnestly proclaimed, and it had been clearly shown that he who disregards this warning will meet with the disapproval of God. Not only does the language of the message itself show this, but it had been shown by numerous other scriptures. In short, it had been made clear that the “wine of the wrath of God” is nothing more nor less than the seven last plagues; for of these plagues it is said, “For in them is filled up the wrath of God.” Rev. 15:1. “And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth. And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the Beast, and upon them which worshipped his Image.” Rev. 16:1, 2. These scriptures show conclusively that every individual who persists in doing what the Lord, through the proclamation of the Third Angel’s Message, tells him not to do—namely, not to “worship the Beast and his Image, and receive his mark”—will be visited by the seven last plagues.

At the close of our last service, a lady who had attended our meetings sought an opportunity to bid us “good by,” but before doing so, stated, in a confidential manner, the reason why it was not at all necessary for her to obey the Third Angel’s Message. In substance, this is what she said: “I have enjoyed your meetings, and appreciate the lectures very much indeed, but I want you to know why I cannot go with you any further. Twelve years ago I was saved by the blood of Christ. I am still trusting in the blood.”

The position of this woman seemed to us very strange. She did not question that we had been sent of God to proclaim a message which develops a people of whom it is said, “Here are they that keep the commandments of God.” Rev. 14:12. She did not deny that the voice of God commands the observance of the Sabbath, and even more, that the Lord’s Sabbath is the seventh day of the week, but, strange to say, she did deny that it was necessary for her to obey God, since she was saved twelve years ago, by trusting in the blood.

This woman is blessed with a good degree of intelligence, and she may have enjoyed a genuine religious experience up to the time of which we are speaking. Her position has given rise to the following reflections: Since this woman claims she was saved twelve years ago, my first query is, From what was she saved? Was she saved from disobedience to God? Since she claims that it is not necessary for her to obey God now, the query arises, Has she been obeying God the past twelve years? If it is not necessary for her to obey God now because of being saved, why should it have been necessary to obey God during the past twelve years, since, according to her position, it is not necessary to obey God after being saved. The mission of Christ to this world was to

save from sin; for of Jesus it is written, “He shall save His people from their sins.” Matt. 1: 21.

Notice, the record does not say that Jesus will save “His people” in their sins, but from their sins. From this we conclude that wherever we find people who are being saved from sin, there we find “His people.” Since “sin is the transgression of the law” (1 John 3:4), and since the law says, “The seventh day is the Sabbath” (Ex. 20:10), whenever and wherever it is made clear and plain to one of “His people” that he has not been obeying God in keeping the Sabbath, he will immediately obey this command of God, as well as all others, and thus it is proved that he is indeed one of “His people,” because he is being saved from sin.

It is perfectly proper to trust in the blood of Christ for salvation, but does the blood of Christ avail to cleanse one from sin who intelligently and knowingly refuses to obey the solemn message of warning of Rev. 14:9–12? The Lord says: “If any man worship the Beast and his Image and receive his mark, . . . the same [man] shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God.” “Any man” would include this woman; for the word “man” is used in its generic sense, and means any individual of the human family. But this woman says, “Not so; I shall not drink of the wine of the wrath of God, because I was saved twelve years ago.” She is laboring under a most terrible deception of Satan.

How shall the delusive spell be broken that causes not only this woman but tens of thousands of others to believe that they are saved while refusing to walk in the advancing light of God’s truth? They seem to think that when saved, they do not need to obey the law, for “by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.” “But,” the apostle says, “if, while we seek to be justified [made righteous] by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners [or transgressors of the law], is therefore Christ the minister of sin?” Gal. 2:17. In other words, will Christ live in us, and cause us to commit sin? “God forbid,” says Paul; and so says every right-minded individual. On the other hand, Christ will do the same works in us and through us that He did for us when in this world eighteen hundred years ago. He obeyed God. He kept His commandments, and so shall we when saved from sin; for it is written, “Sin shall not have dominion over you.” Rom. 6:14.

In conclusion, let us notice the following text, which clearly shows for whom the blood of Christ avails: “But if we walk in the light, . . . the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7. Brother, are you walking in all the light God has shown you? If so, and you are trusting in “the blood,” that will avail in cleansing you from “all sin;” but if you think that because the blood cleansed you from “all sin” twelve years ago, it is not necessary for you to “walk in the light” now, you are cherishing a vain hope. To be cleansed from “all sin” means to be free from sin (Rom. 6:18–23), not free to commit sin. The blood of Christ will not cover up known sins. You must stop sinning. It is a sin to disobey God. Do not be deceived. The “wine of the wrath of God” will surely be experienced by those who worship the Beast and his Image and receive his mark. “God is not a man that He should lie.” Be wise, heed the message of warning, keep the commandments of God, and you will find a refuge, safe and sure, from the plagues that will fall upon the shelterless heads of those who worship the Beast and receive his mark.