The Knowledge of Evil – Part 4

“Hear ye the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel.” ¹ Christ is coming with power and great glory. He is coming with His own glory and with the glory of the Father. He is coming with all the holy angels with Him. ² “Unless you arise to a higher, holier state in your religious life, you will not be ready for the appearing of our Lord.” ³ For our God is a consuming fire. ⁴

Hear this, all ye people. Give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world, both low and high, rich and poor, together.” ⁵ “Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate. And He shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.” ⁶ “If you choose sin, and refuse to separate from it, the presence of God, which consumes sin, must consume you.” ⁷ “For our God is a consuming fire.” ⁸

“If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.” ⁹ Do you ask: “How does God regard those who are perishing in their sins?” ¹⁰ “Do you believe that God’s judgments are hanging over the inhabitants of the earth?” ¹¹ “Shall the people be left in ignorance of the great event before them and have to meet that awful day unprepared?” ¹² “Are you putting forth earnest efforts to win others to the Saviour?” ¹³ “You profess to believe the truth; yet your works testify to the fact.” ¹⁴

I was convinced! The Bible, which is the word of God, and the Spirit of Prophecy, which is the Testimony of Jesus, were
speaking directly to me. Standing on the promises, I forsook all that I might work for my Lord. Unfortunately, I did not fully comprehend the promise recorded in Luke 22:35. Nevertheless, the Lord did not leave me, nor did He forsake me. My brother, my sister’s brother, took me into his home.

My brother told me, he found “Satan’s bible” inside a wall locker at school. Out of curiosity, he began reading it, and his eyes were opened. He saw that “unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required.” Nevertheless, he continued looking. Then he saw “a house divided against itself.” The servants in the house were striving for “the chiefest seats in the synagogues.” But more importantly, he saw the master of the house, “the Devil, as a roaring lion,” “going to and fro in the earth,” “seeking whom he may devour.” He saw “the Thief who “cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy”. He saw Satan wanting to fill him with his spirit, and work in him “to will and to do of his good pleasure.” And my brother cried, “wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” ¹⁵ “Never did a soul utter that cry unheeded.” ¹⁶

The sons and daughters of Adam are fully as inquisitive and presumptuous as was Eve in seeking forbidden knowledge.
They gain an experience, a knowledge, which God never designed they should have… ¹⁷ The true high education is gained by studying and obeying the word of God. But when God’s word is laid aside for books that do not lead to God and the kingdom of heaven, the education acquired is a perversion of the name. ¹⁸ Sentences are imprinted in the memory. Thoughts are suggested. Almost unconsciously the reader is influenced by the spirit of the writer, and
mind and character receives an impress for evil. ¹⁹

“As wax retains the figure of the seal, so the mind retains the impression produced by intercourse and association. The influence may be unconscious, yet it is no less powerful.” ²⁰ The work of the enemy is not abrupt; it is not, at the outset, sudden and startling; it is a secret undermining of the strongholds of principles. It begins in apparently small things- the neglect to be true to God and to rely upon Him wholly, the disposition to follow the customs and practices of the world. ²¹ “The mind gradually adapts itself to the subjects upon which it is allowed to dwell. It becomes assimilated to that which it is accustomed to love and reverence.” ²² “As the mind becomes perverted, it is ready to grasp any reading of a simulating character. Thus the way is open for Satan to bring the soul fully u;–der his c’cmination.” ²³ “Those who would not fall prey to Satan’s device must guard well the avenues of the soul; they must avoid reading, seeing, or hearing that which will suggest impure thoughts.” ²⁴

In the truths of His word, God has given to men a revelation of Himself; and to all who accept them they are a shield against the deceptions of Satan. ²⁵ “In every command and in every promise of the word of God is the power, the very life of God, by which the command may be fulfilled and the promise realized. He who by faith receives the word is receiving the very life and character of God.” ²⁶ His power, His very life, dwells in His word. ²⁷ “The principles of the word of God – principles that are as high as heaven, and that compass eternity – we are to understand in their bearing upon our daily life.” ²⁸ Those indulge perverted appetite in eating or drinking. If they do this, the brain will be confused; they will be unable to bear the strain of digging deep to find out the meaning of those things which relate to the closing scenes of this earth’s history. ²⁹ “Said the angel” Prepare, prepare, for what is coming upon the earth. Let your works correspond with your faith.” ³⁰

Chester Cosby

1 Jeremiah 2:4
2 COL 420
3 5Y 717
4 Hebrews 12:29
5 Psalms 29: 1,2
6 Isaiah 13:9
7 MB 62
8 Hebrews 12:29
9 Mark 4:23
10 9T50
11 9T 27
12 9T 60
13 9T39
14 IT 192
15 Romans 7:24
16 DA 335
17 5T 504
18 COL 107
19 7T 203
20 4T 587
21 PP 718
22 GC 555
23 7T 203
24 PP 460
25 GC 465
26 COL 38
27 MB 150
28 MH 454
29 TM 114
30 IT 123