Keeping.

Keepers.  If you are a keeper, what exactly does that mean? If you keep something you are actively involved in the keeping process, right?  You've made a choice to keep. Keeping something implies the choice available to no longer keep that something. If something is forced kept upon you then you aren't choosing to keep that something.

Is it possible for you to be forced to keep something? Yes. I could be locked in a cage and in that cage could be a pillow I'm forced to keep, meaning I can't get rid of that pillow, or better still, because let's be honest, pillows can be torn apart etc. I could be forced to keep an iron block. If the door to my cage was opened and I had the ability to leave the cage or discard things in the cage, I could get rid of that iron block. However, as long as the door is closed and I have no means for getting rid of the iron block, I'm forced to keep it with me. Not too many of us, the majority of people in the world, are forced to keep things. We have the choice to give up all our worldly possessions, we have the choice to give up any previous principle we might hold. We have a freedom of will to choose to keep something mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually. And even those who have been made captive and imprisoned will still have the choice mentally, spiritually and emotionally to keep what they will. Some of the worst tortured have talked about the keeping of their faith protecting them from breaking. Others are broken by torture and everything is stripped from them- mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

Keeping is for the most part- a choice. Children may grow up in a household being instructed to keep the rules of their parents and if they don't- consequences for the non-keeping result in punishment. A lot of children will have the thought (I know I did) that when they are grown up they won't have to listen to the rules of their parents any longer, they can do what they want. This freedom of being able to do what you want to do is in part determining what parts of the principles you are taught that you will keep. You choose.

We are constantly making choices in our lives, endlessly making them and we reveal our choices in our lives.

We choose to keep to a set of personal standards we may develop and yes, often a lot of those standards we choose to adhere to are kept by our fellowman by choice. When a person veers off the standards commonly kept they become noted for doing so and depending on how they choose to veer determines if their choice results in being simply quirky, maybe a bit odd, or strange, grossly abnormal, certifiable, criminal etc.  The degrees of how we accept the spoken and unspoken norms of society are personal choices.

Other than being forced into standards by captivity- physical or otherwise- we daily make choices it's not something new to us.

Keeping something normally is done by a choice we make.

If I choose to keep the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus- I am making a choice to actively keep these things. I am participating in the choice to keep. When we read this--

Rev 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. 

--we are told that if we do these things, if we make this choice we are among those who are the saints of Christ and this is the patience the saints have.

A choice to obey, a choice to keep, a decision to be active in my desire to be a saint of God, and have the patience of a saint.

If I claim to belong to God, to belong to Jesus, then I am claiming that I keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus- I am proclaiming my status as a keeper.  So, what does being a keeper of God's commandments and the faith of Jesus mean?

More on this tomorrow by the grace and will of God.

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(Excerpt)

THE MOST IMPORTANT EVENT WE FACE TODAY

In the Great Controversy we read concerning the Papacy [1] - "She is silently growing in power. Her doctrines are exerting their influence in legislative halls, in the churches, and in the hearts of men. Stealthily and unsuspectedly she is strengthening her forces to further her own ends when the time shall come for her to strike." Is the hour when the Papacy will strike, the most important event we face today? NO! In Country Living, we read -"The trade unions will be one of the agencies that will bring upon this earth a time of trouble such as has not been seen since the world began." [2] Is this time of trouble the most important event we face today? NO! Documentation is not lacking from political sources that Communist Infiltration is growing in our own national government to a point where it has reached an alarming level. Should the objective be realized -the take over of our government -would this be the most important event which we face today? NO! What then is the most important event?

We have reached the final and last generation of men, and we face the close of human probation!

Because of this fact, a text from the book of Revelation trumpets forth to us for recognition and evaluation. It is the edict of our High Priest when He completes His work of final atonement. This edict declares -"He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy let him be holy still." [3] Consider the repeat of the word - "still". If I am to be still "holy" after Jesus ceases His intercession, then I must be "holy" when the decree goes forth. Since the decree works no change, only fixes beyond all change our earthly state of character, then I must be "holy" prior to the issuing of the decree. Not only is this event the most important event which we face today, but also the question of "how" this state of holiness might be realized is the most important question which we face today. All other research, all other study and investigation should take second place to this all important question!

This verse in Revelation consists of contrasting couplets -unjust and righteous; filthy and holy. From the letter of the Vienne and Lyons Martyrs in the 2nd Century, which antedates any manuscript upon which the New Testament text is based, we find that the first part of this verse reads -"He that is lawless (Greek - anomos) let him be lawless; and he that is righteous [or justified] let him be righteous (lit., 'be justified') still." [4] The two verbs which are connected with the other couplet, filthy and holy, are in the passive thus projecting "the constant middle sense of passive verbs when the act depends on a man's self." [5] For example one clause would literally read -"'Let the filthy pollute himself still." Thus the action indicated by the verbs in this verse reveals the two -not four -distinct groups of people when probation's hour closes - the dead and the living! This edict, then, closing

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the final atonement, reflects the results of the judgment of the dead, and the judgment of the living.

Summarizing Revelation 22:11, we find:   those who have died in Christ have been justified, and that justification has been made eternal; and those who are alive of the redeemed, reflect that Holy Likeness fully, and are decreed by their Divine Intercessor. Forever to reflect that image. But this holiness rather than being imputed - justified -arises from the impartation of the divine nature. Thus will be fulfilled the prophecy - "the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints." [6]

Commenting on this same group of saints, the servant of the Lord wrote:   "Their robes must be spotless, their characters must be purified from sin by the blood of sprinkling. Through the grace of God and their own diligent effort, they must be conquerors in the battle with evil." [7] This does not permit a shift to the left, solely by grace, which is justification only; neither does it permit a shift to the right -salvation by works. It is to be a cooperative picture, God and man working for the objective of God's glorification - His character fully revealed in a group of fallen humanity.

The group who will be declared holy when probation's hour closes are clearly defined in other references in the book of Revelation. They are the "remnant" of the seed of the women, and they "keep" the commandments of God. [8] This "seed" not only gives mental assent that the Commandments should be kept - this is the theological position of the woman in white, and had been the position of the true church through all of its ages - but the remnant experience the reality of this theoretical theology; they keep the commandments! The law which Paul declares to be "holy, just, and good " [9] becomes through the New Covenant operation by the Holy Spirit [10] so much a part of their lives that the decree that closes probation declares that they shall be holy still. This picture in Revelation 12 is the Biblical source of the statement:      I also saw that many do not realize what they must be in order to live in the sight of the Lord without a high priest in the sanctuary, through the time of trouble. Those who receive the seal of the living God, and are protected in the time of trouble, must reflect the image of Jesus fully. [11]

The original Seed of the woman was the Man-Child. His victory caused the Voice in heaven to declare - "Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ." [12] That "power" was the "spirit of holiness" because of which the grave could not hold Him. [l3] When the final vindication is given in the lives of the "remnant of her seed", this same Voice will again be heard proclaiming -      "They come! they come! holy, harmless, and undefiled. They have kept the word of My patience; they shall walk among the angels." [14]

From the deadly bondage of their fallen natures, they have experienced a spiritual resurrection revealing an impartation of life - even the divine nature. [15]

Revelation 14 tells us that this group is the end product of the Three Angel 's Messages. Following the Third Angel, the declaration is made - "Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." [16] They not only give lip service to the message of the Third Angel, but they also experience the verity of that message. Several wrote to Sister White after the 1888 Minneapolis meeting asking if the message of justification by faith is the third angel's message. Her reply was - "It is the third angel's message in verity." [17] We may study about 1888, and we may know all the ins and outs of the rejection of the message. We may call the attention of

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the church to this phase of our history by manuscripts, and series of lectures but unless we understand the objective of the message itself, we are going to come short in the final hour when the decree goes forth. We may still be talking about the theology of the church - that men ought to keep the commandments of God - instead of sensing the significance of the "remnant" in relationship to the woman when probation's hour closes.

We must ever keep in mind that the basis of commandment keeping is found in the prologue which God Himself had proclaimed with His holy law - "I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." [18] Only when we realize the redemption from the bondage of Egypt (sin), can we start on the path of imparted righteousness. What we have failed to realize is that "the church [the woman in white] has turned back from following Christ her leader, and is steadily retreating toward Egypt." [19] It is impossible to join this retreat toward Egypt, and obtain the deliverance from Egyptian bondage which permits the realization which is experienced by the "remnant of her seed which keep the commandments of God" [8] Ours is to determine with which group we shall be associated. [20]

The experience which leads to the final determination of filthiness is also the result of a religious involvement. In Revelation 17 it speaks of another woman clothed in purple and scarlet through whom "the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication." They drink from the golden cup in her hand, which is "full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication." [21] (The word translated, filthiness, in this verse is not the same word in Rev. 22:11 translated, filthy, a though the final result will be the same.) This woman -Babylon the great -has become "the habitations of devils." [22] Those who drink of her doctrines reflect the image of their source, even as those who drink from the cup in the hand of Jesus will reflect His image. We read:      Through yielding to satanic influences, men will be transformed into fiends, ... become the habitation of dragons, and Satan will see in an apostate race his masterpiece of evil, -men who reflect his own image. [23]

Herein lies the great deception. When men declare that it is impossible for the law of God to be kept; that it is by grace alone, and has been done for us in Jesus, and that our perfection rests upon the acceptance of the fact of an accomplished act; and when these same theologians place Christ in His earthly life on a level above the plane of fallen man, they are but echoing the sentiments of the arch apostate who declared from the beginning of the controversy that "the law of God could not be obeyed" by a creature. [24] The end result will be - even while giving lip service to Seventh-day Adventism - a reflection of the image of Satan.

Basic in this false theology is the failure to differentiate between the state required for man at death, and the state required for the living when probation's hour closes. But in this differentiation is found the genius of the Advent Movement raised up by God in 1844. This differentiation is the thread that is woven into our history of 1888, and the deviations that have taken place in such intermovements of the church as reflected in the Holy Flesh Movement of Indiana, and the Brinsmead Awakening of the past decade. This we shall analyze in the next thought paper.

(1)  Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 581

(2)  Ellen G. White, Country Living, p. 10

(3)  Revelation 22:11-12

Rev 22:11  He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. 

Rev 22:12  And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. 

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(4)  Jamison, Fauset, and Brown, Commentary on the Whole Bible, p. 604

(5)  Henry Alford, The Greek Testament, Vol. IV, p. 747

(6)  Revelation 19:7-8

Rev 19:7  Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. 

Rev 19:8  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. 

(7)  Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 425

(8)  Revelation 12:17  Rev 12:17  And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

(9)  Romans 7:12  Rom 7:12  Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.

(10)  Hebrews 10:15-16

Heb 10:15  Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, 

Heb 10:16  This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them

(11)  Ellen G. White, Early Writings, p. 71

(12)  Revelation 12:10 Rev 12:10  And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. 

(13)  Romans 1:4 Rom 1:4  And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead: 

(14)  Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 636

(15)  II Peter 1:4 2Pe 1:4  Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 

(16)  Revelation 14:12 Rev 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. 

(17)  Ellen G. White, Review & Herald, April 1, 1890

(18)  Exodus 20:2 Exo 20:2  I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 

(19)  Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 5, p. 217

(20)  For full presentation obtain taped sermon - "Out of Egypt Have I Called My Son"

(21)  Revelation 17:2, 4 Rev 17:2  With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. Rev 17:4  And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:

(22)  Revelation 18:2 Rev 18:2  And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. 

(23)  Ellen G. White, Review & Herald, April 14, 1896

(24)  Ellen G. White, Desire of Ages, p. 761

A CRISIS

The Palmdale Accord entered into by theologians and administrators of the Church has produced a crisis rather than the unity of the Holy Spirit. (It is true that these men professed to have achieved a "unity of spirit and viewpoint." But this is vastly different than a unity in the Holy Spirit.) These men agreed that "when the words righteousness and faith are connected (by 'of ', 'by ' et cetera) in Scripture, reference is made to the experience of justification." (1) Note the "period." In other words, they are saying according to the Bible, righteousness by faith is justification alone. Then in the same accord, these men declare, after enlarging the concept of "righteousness", "thus Seventh-day Adventists have often used the phrase 'righteousness by faith' theologically to include both justification and sanctification." 1  But if the first concept is true, then the second acknowledgment as to the position of the church theologically is unscriptural!

As if this weren't enough to add to the confusion, these learned men of the Church concluded the statement on "Justification and Sanctification" with this sentence: "Sanctification thus begins with the new birth and justification, and all flow from the righteousness of Christ." 1  Is the "new birth" something apart from "justification"?  2  It has already been agreed that justification involves an "experience." What is this experience if it is not the "new birth"? Should not this sentence have read -"Sanctification begins with the new birth or justification, the whole experience thus flowing from the righteousness of Christ."

Let us consider the crisis in which this accord places us as Seventh-day Adventists. If the idea that both sanctification and justification are included in the phrase "righteousness by faith," and that this concept is not Biblical, then upon what have we based such a theological position? The answer is clear -the men whom the Lord sent to the Church with "a most precious message" In 1888,   3  - and the servant of the Lord who stood behind these men. The real crisis over justification by faith concerns, therefore, the authority of the Spirit of Prophecy in the area of theology,

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and the heart of the message of 1888.

This crisis has been painfully pointed up by a recent publication from the Southern Publishing Association - Perfection, the Impossible Possibility. Containing essays by four men of the Church - Douglass, Heppenstall, LaRondelle, and M. Maxwell - the conclusions drawn in these presentations thwart any "unity of spirit and viewpoint", let alone "the unity of the Holy Spirit." One reviewer of the book has with clear insight classified these essays into two categories:   the possibles, Douglass and Maxwell; the impossibles, Hepenstall and LaRondelle. And with keen perception the following table was compiled by the reviewer as to the number of times each of the authors used the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy to substantiate their position:  4 

AUTHOR	BIBLE	SPIRIT OF PROPHECY
Doug1ass	47	101
Heppenstall	53	8
LaRondelle	232	4
Maxwell	60	148

This is followed by the inescapable conclusion: It cannot be doubted that sinlessness is not usually implied in the Biblical concept of perfection; the "impossibles" have proved their point. Yet they have largely ignored the Spirit of Prophecy in doing so, as the above table shows. It is difficult to deny that Ellen G. White taught sinlessness as a requirement for translation; many of her statements are simply too plain to be explained away. 4

Then the question is asked - "WHERE DOES THAT LEAVE US?" The evidence compiled in the book review on Perfection, and the Palmdale Accord on "Righteousness by Faith" spells only one answer -a crisis of the greatest magnitude!

1  "Christ Our Righteousness" Review, May 27, 1976, p.4

2  A. John Clifford and Russell R. Standish, Conflicting Concepts of Righteousness by Faith in the Seventh-day Adventist Church - Australian Division, pp 74, 75

3  Ellen G. White, Testimonies to Ministers, p.91

4 "Book Review", Southern Accent, Sept. 16, 1975, p.6. -

October 1976  -  "Watchman, What of the Night? " Thought Paper.  Adventist Laymen's Foundation.  (Excerpt)