Vol. 54, No. 4 Peter's Ladder Growing Up / Brotherly Kindness & Charity / The Church Victorious Volume 54, Number 4 In this issue • Faith & Virtue: To Have the Mind of Christ Looking unto Jesus we obtain grace to live His life. 4 • Growing Up Adding to Knowledge Temperance . 7 Learning to let God control us instead of ourselves. 7 • Patience What does Scripture teach us about this vital trait? 11 • Inspiration and Clothing: An Object Lesson From One Aspect of Godliness One of the outward signs of God's peculiar people. 14 • Brotherly Kindness & Charity The call to manifest Christlikeness with everyone. 19 11 • The Church Victorious Christ is waiting with longing desire to see us truly reflect His image. 22 • Christ and the Sealing Preparing for the close of probation. 25 • Baptism at Eden Precious fruit won through the entering wedge. 28 • Photo News 30 • Children’s Corner 22 Someone to plead for us. 32 Official Church Publication of the THE REFORMATION HERALD® (ISSN 0482-0843) Subscription rates: Seventh Day Adventist Reform Movement features articles on Bible doctrine that will enrich the United States U.S. $16.95 spiritual life of those who seek to know more about God. 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PhotoDisc on pp. 14, 19–21. EDITORIAL The Double Ladder of Christians are followers of Jesus cleansed of every defilement! Oh, that Christ—the Sinless One who forgives we might not offer to God a diseased, sins and cleanses us from them. anctificationbarren nor unfruitful in the knowledge defiled offering! An infinite price has What happens when you first come of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that been paid to bring us into connection to Christ for this wonderfulS cleansing? lacketh these things is blind, and with Christ. Self-indulgence must cease. You are drawn to Christ by His love. cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten We must come into right relations with His goodness leads you to repentance, that he was purged from his old sins” God, and we must be cleansed from all you confess your sins, and He cleanses (2 Peter 1:3–9, emphasis added). iniquity and walk worthy of the voca- you from all unrighteousness. If we are failing to succeed in the tion whereunto we are called. Then you’re baptized. Remember ascent of this ladder, we have lost our “When Jacob journeyed to the that wonderful day? You felt so clean as vision and forgotten the gospel! The house of Laban, he lay down to rest you came out of the water. Your fellow success of Peter’s ladder depends on in the wilderness, with a stone for a believers were so happy for you. You Jacob’s ladder. pillow. He was a discouraged, disap- were a newborn babe in the Lord! “When the converting power of God pointed man. It seemed to him that he Then, life went on. .. Trials, takes hold of the soul, it will work a was forsaken of friends and forgotten temptations, problems, frustrations— radical change. Those who have former- of God. His own brother was seek- just like those things that everyone ly abused their families and friends will ing him, that he might take his life. faces whether or not they’re Chris- begin to labor earnestly for their salva- While he slept, he had a vision. There tians. But perhaps, in the midst of all tion. Jesus came to save the lost, to take appeared before him a ladder, whose those clouds, your first love may have them out of their fallen condition, to base rested on the earth, and whose dwindled. make them more than conquerors, and top reached into the highest heavens. Did you forget the miracle that had to give them a seat upon His throne. God was above the ladder, and His taken place? Oh, that the soul temple might be glory shone through the open heaven, Did you lose your perspective on lighting up every round of the ladder; what really matters most in life? and angels were ascending and de- Did you forget that you had been scending upon it. When Jacob awoke, purged from your old sins? This is he said, ‘Surely the Lord is in this place; the condition of the one who fails and I knew it not. And he was afraid, to climb Peter’s ladder. We need to and said, How dreadful is this place! remember that Christ, “according as This is none other but the house of his divine power hath given unto us God, and this is the gate of heaven.’ See all things that pertain unto life and Genesis 28:10–17. godliness, through the knowledge of “The plan of salvation was opened him that hath called us to glory and to Jacob’s mind in this dream. Christ virtue: whereby are given unto us was the ladder that he saw. Christ is the exceeding great and precious promises: link that binds earth to heaven, and that by these ye might be partakers connects finite man with the infinite of the divine nature, having escaped God. This ladder reaches from the low- the corruption that is in the world est degradation of earth and human- through lust. And beside this, giving all ity to the highest heavens. We are to diligence, add to your faith virtue; and ascend the ladder that Jacob saw but to virtue knowledge; and to knowl- not by our own strength alone. It is the edge temperance; and to temperance goodness of God that leads to repen- patience; and to patience godliness; tance and reformation. We are not left and to godliness brotherly kindness; to struggle on alone.”1 R and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, 1 Pamphlet 105, There Is Help in God, pp. 5, 6. they make you that ye shall neither be [Emphasis supplied.] The Reformation Herald, Vol. 54, No. 4 3 Faith & To HaveVirtue: the Mind of Christ By A. Balbach am a perfect man,” cutting off profuse, spreading branches, mind of Christ to be a winner, I would I heard someone that they may bear fruit to His glory and be led by the mind of Satan to be a say aloud one day, as I not produce leaves only. God prunes us loser at the end. Don’t deceive yourself walked into a barber shop. with sorrow, with disappointment and into thinking, as I once thought, “I For a moment, I did not know what to affliction, that the outgrowth of strong, will follow my own mind.” There is think of the speaker. Maybe he was just perverse traits of character may be no such thing. Each of us either have joking. Maybe not; I wasn’t sure. As he weakened and that the better traits may a positive mind for the truth or a walked away, I did not know in what have a chance to develop.”1 negative mind for error, falling under sense I should feel sorry for him. “Does God actually make me a the control of Satan, even if we do not ICan we identify those who actually conqueror? When I’m a failure at recognize it at first. have the mind of Christ as mentioned school, or at work, or in business, what As people become slaves of Satan, in 1 Corinthians 2:16? does that mean?” Experience teaches they may, little by little, experience “Those who will walk closely in that a person who walks in the counsel a great change. Their looks, mind, the footsteps of their self-sacrificing, of the Lord and is willing to be taught attitude, and voice may change until self-denying Redeemer will have the by Him shall be a winner. “Whatsoever everything about them is changed. mind of Christ reflected in their minds. he doeth shall prosper” (Psalm 1:3). Here is one example: Purity and the love of Christ will shine When we are punished for our mis- The story is told of a painter who forth in their daily lives and characters, takes, let us thank God for teaching us found a child playing in the street. The while meekness and truth will guide a new lesson and giving us an oppor- painter asked the child to pose for a their way. Many misunderstand the tunity to try again with new courage, painting. For years the child’s picture object for which they were created. It increased effort, and with a mind hung in the studio with bright eyes, was to bless humanity and glorify God, enlightened with heavenly wisdom.