The Knowledge of Evil

“Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not…”¹ When I was a young boy, I had several pictures of a Man whom some black people today refer to as the blonde haired, blue-eyed Jesus Christ. One picture showed Him standing in a field with a shepherd’s rod. Another showed Him knocking tenderly on the door of someone’s house. And another captured Him carrying a sheep, like a child in His arms. Of them all, my favorite one was the portrait of Him. He was the most handsome Man I had ever seen; fairer than “ten thousand, and thousands of thousands.” I would stare into His face for hours. I even took the pictures to bed with me. When I think of those days, I always wonder whatever happened to those pictures and to my adoration of them?

Around that same time, I dreamt a very impressive dream. In the dream, there was a time of total chaos! People were running “to and fro in the earth,” “without any hope for the future, without God, lost.” “Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which (were) coming on the earth…”² I was among a group of “little” people, who found refuge under the porch of a house. When I awoke, I saw standing beside my bunk, the silhouette of a man with his arms raised. He was darker than the darkness in the room. His presence was like a cold winter night. Was it not “him that had the power of death, that is, the devil?”

“What is the purpose of living? Why am I here?” These questions I asked myself, while traveling this country while in the U.S. military. Unfortunately, I did not search for the answers until ten years later. “But when the fullness of the time was come,” God “called (me) out of darkness into His marvelous light.” “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.” Proverbs 9:10

Approximately two and a half years after my conversion, my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother, introduced me to her brother, the son of her mother, but not the son of her father. He was very interested in our health message, which I practiced to the best of my ability. “What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?” ³ “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, ho!y, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” ⁴ “If the power of appetite is so strong upon the human family, and its indulgence so fearful that the Son of God subjected Himself to such a test, how important that we feel the necessity of having appetite under the control of reason. Our Saviour fasted nearly six weeks…” ⁵

My brother also was very knowledgeable in the Scriptures, and very inquisitive of the hope that was in me. We spent several days together. “It is natural to seek companionship. Everyone will find companions or make them. And just in proportion to the strength of the fellowship, will be the amount of influence which friends will exert over one another for good or for evil.” ⁶

“In the first two great temptations Satan had not revealed his true purposes or his character. He claimed to be an exalted messenger from the courts of heaven, but he now throws off his disguise.” ⁷ Several times, my brother had hinted that he studied the occult, tempting me to inquire. Finally, he said that when he was young, he wanted to be a warlock. A warlock is “a man practicing the black arts: Sorcerer.” ⁸ He told how he had cursed a classmate. That classmate was attacked by his best friend. He told how he often obtains “revelations” of the winning lottery numbers, and “power” to attract the women he desired. He also told me how he held seances in his basement, and evil spirits would manifest themselves to him. Then he asked if I believed him. Most certainly! For in the Bible, it tells of men and women performing such acts.

Then he asked if I was afraid. At first, I wasn’t. But when I was alone, “Evil angels crowded around (me), pressing their darkness upon (me), to shut out Jesus from (my) view, that (my) eyes might be drawn to the darkness that surrounded (me), and (I) distrust God and murmur against Him.” ⁹ “But when (I) saw the wind boisterous, (I) was afraid; and beginning to sink, (I) cried, saying, Lord, save me.” ¹⁰

And it came to pass, I dreamt a dream. In the dream, I was in an Adventist book store seeking to purchase some of Sister Ellen White’s books. I was sure that by reading them I would acquire the spiritual strength which I now lack. I was sorrowed to find the store without books, nor bookshelves. I pleaded to the clerks for help. They gave me a printout containing the titles of the books written by her. Two of the titles commanded my attention. One was entitled, “Spiritual Powers”. The other was entitled, “The King of the Universe”. THE KING OF THE UNIVERSE!!! “And He arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.” ¹¹
AMEN

1 Ecclesiastes 12:1
2 Luke 21:26
3 1 Corinthians 6:19
4 Romans 12:1
5 SM 1 p. 284
6 4T p. 587
7 SM 1 p. 286
8 Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary
9 1Tp. 180
10 Matthew 14:30
11 Mark 4:39