From its beginning to the end, the Holy Bible is full of warnings. We read in Genesis 2: 16–17 that “the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” So God gives us the right thing and warns us against the bad.
Reading further in the Spirit of Prophecy, when Satan and the evil host met together to plan to beguile to disobedience the holy pair in Eden, a task which he said only he could accomplish, and for a time sought retirement to bring his plan to maturation, this is what the heavens did:
“God assembled the angelic host to take measures to avert the threatened evil. It was decided in heaven’s council for angels to visit Eden and warn Adam that he was in danger from the foe. Two angels sped on their way to visit our first parents. The holy pair received them with joyful innocence, expressing their grateful thanks to their Creator for thus surrounding them with such a profusion of His bounty. . . . The angels graciously and lovingly gave them the information they desired. They also gave them the sad history of Satan’s rebellion and fall. They then distinctly informed them that the tree of knowledge was placed in the garden to be a pledge of their obedience and love to God; that the high and happy estate of the holy angels was to be retained upon condition of obedience; that they were similarly situated; that they could obey the law of God and be inexpressibly happy, or disobey and lose their high estate and be plunged into hopeless despair.” –The Story of Redemption, p. 29
Despite all such efforts of love by God to our first parents, the story goes as it has always been told. So “by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” Romans 5:12. So Adam and Eve slighted the warnings and thus faced death as forewarned. God’s word is sure.
Way before this the first to rebel in the courts of heaven had been given the same favor of being warned of the consequences of the course he had taken. “The Son of God presented before him the greatness, the goodness, and the justice of the Creator, and the sacred, unchanging nature of His law. God Himself had established the order of heaven; and in departing from it, Lucifer would dishonor his Maker and bring ruin upon himself. But the warning, given in infinite love and mercy, only aroused a spirit of resistance. Lucifer allowed his jealousy of Christ to prevail, and became the more determined. As the dispute centered also on the supremacy of Christ, “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. . . . In great mercy, according to His divine character, God bore long with Lucifer. . . . A compassionate Creator, in yearning pity for Lucifer and his followers, was seeking to draw them back from the abyss of ruin into which they were about to plunge. But His mercy was misinterpreted. Lucifer pointed to the long-suffering of God as an evidence of his own superiority, an indication that the King of the universe would yet accede to his terms. If the angels would stand firmly with him, he declared, they could yet gain all that they desired.” –Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 36, 39–40. Fellow angels pleaded with him but to no avail; they were denounced as deluded slaves.
The time had come when mercy could plead no more with Lucifer and his associates for he had passed its bounds. Warnings could plead no more; they had been slighted and resisted for too long, and divine mercies were misinterpreted. This is what inspiration has to say on this matter:
“Satan trembled as he viewed his work. He was alone in meditation upon the past, the present, and his future plans. His mighty frame shook as with a tempest. An angel from heaven was passing. He called him and entreated an interview with Christ. This was granted him. He then related to the Son of God that he repented of his rebellion and wished again the favor of God. He was willing to take the place God had previously assigned him, and be under His wise command. Christ wept at Satan’s woe but told him, as the mind of God, that he could never be received into heaven. Heaven must not be placed in jeopardy.” –The Story of Redemption, p. 26
From the book of Revelation 12: 7–9, we are told that “there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not;” “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him;” “Neither was their place found any more in heaven.” Forever lost!
The above are just a few examples of slighted warnings and the accompanying consequences. Talk of the time of Noah warning the world and his warnings slighted and ridiculed; Lot’s wife looking back when told not to do so and turning to a pillar of salt; Ahab being killed in war when sufficiently warned by the Prophet Micaiah not to go; Pilate by his wife not to do any harm to our Lord Jesus; etc. Thus all who made light of the warnings were forever lost.
A Reformation Messenger Full of Warnings
One Sunday morning I rushed to the post office to check if the Messenger had arrived. When I got it I sat down at the post office steps and immediately started reading it. It is the reading of this Reformation Messenger of June 2011, Volume 18, Number 6, that motivated me to write this article. Please read and reread this Messenger such that with the aid of the Spirit of God you will never be the same again.
In the last part of this article let us examine that Messenger issue concerning our topic and let God speak to us. One thing I found very touching is that the messages given therein were as if the contributors had agreed to write on a particular topic in advance—“break up your fallow ground.” This topic was presented in different ways by the writers.
As reformers of the end time we are in danger of being satisfied by the name only and ignore character perfection until it is too late to adjust. This is the heart of the issue. Under the topic “Eden Restored,” the writer remonstrates with the reformers to allow the great Gardener to uproot the bad weeds in the heart. If there is something remaining, then we need to go to the garden of Gethsemane figuratively so that Jesus may rid us of the entire weeds, even one sliver that is left behind. Another article deals with secret sins and consequences; another exhorts us to live up to the light given; another presents the fearful fact that what we sow is what we shall reap as God is not mocked (Galatians 6:7). In the Children’s Corner is the story of an apostle who, if it were not for God revealing the right way as he demanded, would have taken away his life. Do we ever have such a desire and challenge God to give us strength to obey Him? Since we are in God’s vineyard, according to another writer in the same Messenger, God has done and is doing all He can to save us, but if we go on and on transgressing with the result that we bear no spiritual fruits required of us, then God will be left with no choice but to hew us down.
“He spake also this parable; A certain [man] had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung [it]: And if it bear fruit, [well]: and if not, [then] after that thou shalt cut it down.” Luke 13:6–9
This Messenger may well contain a message of doom if we slight its warnings. It warns but also provides remedy to the stony heart in order that it may succumb to God’s operation. So do not hesitate to seek Jesus closely now. I hope you will read it again if at first you simply browsed it.
In conclusion, let me quote the conclusion of the article, “The Lord’s Vineyard, ” whose writer has written much about the need for us to be perfect, which no doubt is his burning desire each day that all of us in the Reformation may be saved thereby (in perfection).
“We do not know how many times the Lord has said about each one of us, ‘Let it alone one more year.’ Suddenly it may be the last year for us, and then the limit of mercy has been reached. May the Lord help us to produce good grapes, good works, and then the Lord will be pleased with us.” AMEN
Joel Msiska,
Malawi