When the seventy disciples left Jesus, He asked the twelve disciples, “Will you also go away?” John 6:67. “Then Simon Peter answered Him, Lord to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that Thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.” John 6:68–69
Did the disciples have a choice? Yes, they had the choice to leave Jesus and go to someone else or return to their previous life. But that would have meant to lose their salvation and eternal life. We have the same choice that the disciples had. We can do what the seventy disciples did, or we can follow the example of the twelve disciples and remain in the church of God. Satan would gladly accept us into one of his churches that he is controlling. If we want to go to heaven then we have no choice. There is only one way that leads to heaven.
When Moses was about to leave his people and to die, he called all the people together and gave them a choice. “See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it. I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.” Deuteronomy 30:15–19
God is not divided. The Holy Spirit leads people into one church only. The work of the Holy Spirit is to unite the people of God, to bring them into oneness.
“Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.” Ephesians 4:13. We must fit into one company, into one church, and into one doctrine. If we cannot fit into this oneness we will be lost. Sister White writes in the book Education, as we leave the church fellowship, we leave Christ. She also warns us not to visit fallen churches, because they will confuse us.
“I was shown the necessity of those who believe that we are having the last message of mercy, being separate from those who are daily imbibing new errors. I saw that neither young nor old should attend their meetings; for it is wrong to thus encourage them while they teach error that is a deadly poison to the soul and teach for doctrines the commandments of men. The influence of such gatherings is not good. If God has delivered us from such darkness and error, we should stand fast in the liberty wherewith He has set us free and rejoice in the truth. God is displeased with us when we go to listen to error, without being obliged to go; for unless He sends us to those meetings where error is forced home to the people by the power of the will, He will not keep us. The angels cease their watchful care over us, and we are left to the buffetings of the enemy, to be darkened and weakened by him and the power of his evil angels; and the light around us becomes contaminated with darkness.” –Early Writings, p. 124–125
Is there anything optional in our religion? Is everything a must? We must do this or be lost. We must not do this or we will be lost again. Yes, this is true. What about the cross, do we have to carry it?
“And He said to them all, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” Luke 9:23
“It is never convenient to take up the cross and follow in the path of self-denial, and yet this must be done.” –Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, p. 135
The cross means to put away our idols, vanity, the world, and sin. It means also to do missionary work, to help others, and sacrifice for others.
To Paul, the cross become his glory, “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.” Galatians 6:14
We have a choice of sowing seed. We decide what kind of seed we sow, but we have no choice of the harvest. We must bear the results of our sowing.
“Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein: and he that rolleth a stone, it will return upon him.” Proverbs 26:27
This is the law of God. “God Himself will take the case in hand. His restraining powers will be in a measure removed from the agencies of evil, so that a train of circumstances will arise which will punish sin with sin.” –Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 728
“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.” Galatians 6:7–8. If you have done something wrong as a result, something wrong will be done to you. In the same way, if you have done something good, then something good will be done to you. Although bad things happen to good people such as in the case of Job and Joseph; they found themselves in bad situations and had not done anything wrong at the moment to deserve their situation. They were being tested by the Lord, to purify their characters and after proving faithful, something good did happen to them in the end. “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.” Revelation 3:19
“Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out My hand, and no man regarded; But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of My reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon Me, but I will not answer; they shall seek Me early, but they shall not find Me: For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD: They would none of My counsel: they despised all My reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.” Proverbs 1:24–31
Some disasters and troubles that come upon people, “are the fruit of their own way”. Yet God will forgive them of their wrong doings if they repent. The harvest of their sowing will hopefully teach them a lesson that they would not want to repeat their mistakes. “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28
Those who wilfully go in a wrong direction will have a guilty conscience which has no more comfort. This will cause pain and suffering much greater than any physical suffering. Judas could not live with his guilty conscience, he rather committed suicide.
Not only individuals, but complete churches have gone in a wrong direction. “The church has turned back from following Christ her Leader and is steadily retreating toward Egypt.” –Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, p. 217. This was written to the Seventh-Day Adventist Church already in 1882.
Now the question, “where shall we go?” is important. It is a life and death question. The Apostle Paul says, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23. We need therefore to repent and put away even the smallest sin, even the little vanity, and live for Christ only. The time is serious. Even a neglected duty can keep us out of heaven.
The whole universe is watching us with a keen interest. The angels are doing their utmost to hold us in the faith. There is only one way that leads to heaven. Satan is trying to lead us in the wrong direction but God is greater than Satan. Leave your life in His hands, and He will guide you in the right direction. Soon our time is over, and even one unrepented sin will keep us out of heaven. Amen.
Timo Martin