Vol. 2 Timely
Greetings No. 28
THE ONLY
PEACE OF MIND
Volume 2
Number 28
Copyright, 1948 Reprint
All rights reserved
V.T. HOUTEFF
THE SPIRIT THAT ORIGINATED EVIL,
AND ITS MANIFESTATION TODAY
TEXT OF ADDRESS BY V.T. HOUTEFF,
MINISTER OF D. SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS
SABBATH,
MT.
Our text is found in Isaiah, chapter 2,
verse 22.
Isa.
In this verse of Scripture God recommends
that we cease from man. And the reason
given is that man's breath is in his nostrils; because without breath he is but
a lump of dirt, and therefore of no account.
He is no God.
The plea would not have been made if the
people were not putting their trust in man rather than in God for their
salvation; that is, rather than doing what the noble Bereans
did, studying to know whether "these things be so," God's people are
giving heed to what others think or say.
They are today doing what hundreds of thousands were doing in Jesus'
day: trusting in the opinions of their learned priests, scribes, and
rabbis. The Jews' giving heed to hearsay
instead of engaging in personal investigation and experience of their own with
the source of truth is, therefore, the very
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thing that crucified the Lord.
And where do you suppose such confidence in
man originated? -- We often think that evil originated with Eve when she
reached for the forbidden fruit. But the
fact is that evil already existed before Eve came in contact with it. Let us read this from the prophet Isaiah:
"How art thou fallen from heaven, O
Lucifer, son of the morning! how
art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast
said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I
will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of
the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of
the clouds; I will be like the Most High.
Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the
sides of the pit." -- Isa. 14:12-15.
We understand that Satan's name before he
sinned was Lucifer, and that he sinned before Eve
sinned, that he was impersonated in the serpent that deceived Eve. We shall therefore consider the sin in heaven
before we further consider sin on earth.
Satan, we are told, was not the only sinner
in Heaven, for with him were cast out of Heaven a third of the angelic host
(Rev. 12:4). These were cast out of
Heaven because they gave heed to the words of Lucifer, to a man in Heaven,
rather than giving heed to the word of God.
This was the angels' downfall.
Lucifer himself fell when he aspired to be as God.
These two sins -- trust in man, and desire
to exalt self -- are still the leading sin elements
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now here on earth.
This was Eve's stumbling block and to many even
today it is still the stumbling block.
No, appetite alone was not the cause of Eve's downfall. The serpent did not say, "Thou shouldst eat of this fruit for it is wonderful, more
delicious than any other fruit in the
The fruit, of course, appealed to her, but
she was tempted by the idea of having the opportunity to be exalted to the
throne of God, to be exalted to the same position to which Lucifer himself
aspired. Lucifer must have honestly
believed that he would be as God if the angels in Heaven and the men on earth
would but take orders from him.
And so we see that the Devil deceived Eve on
the same grounds he deceived himself and his angels, the only difference being
that he caused Eve to eat of the fruit which he himself and his angels would
not eat. Consequently, Eve sinned
against her physical being, too, by taking into it something that was not
created for food, and consequently she died.
But Satan and his angels still live.
This same stumbling block, the desire to
exalt self, has predominated throughout the ages, and it predominates
today. No, I am not making rash and
empty statements. I have the facts to
back up my words. For example, in the
days of the Exodus Movement, there were Korah, Dathan, and Abiram who aspired to
the office of Moses and Aaron as Lucifer aspired to the throne of God, the
highest offices they could have longed
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for. And did not
Lucifer fall because of wanting to be above all others for nothing more than to
exalt self? And was not the same true of
the fall of Korah, Dathan
and Abiram?
Today we see the same clamoring for position
even in our own churches. The offices of
Church Elders, Sabbath School Superintendents, Secretaries, Pianists, and other
such church offices, let us remember, hold no monetary compensation. But in spite of it, every year in most of the
churches, as far as I have been able to observe, there is a clamor and a
quarrel by men and women for one or more of these offices. Since there is no monetary remuneration for
such services, then what is the fuss about if not purely for self-exaltation,
if not for the purpose of being looked up to as somebody?
You see, then, that the same clamor for
self-promotion that existed with Lucifer, with Eve, with others down through
the ages, exists today. My statement,
you see, is backed up by actual facts.
Moreover, if such be the case with those who receive no monetary
consideration for their services, then what could be the case with those who
are well paid? This question you can
answer for yourself to your own satisfaction.
Plainly, one who aspires to position simply
for self-exaltation, especially when such an office holds out spiritual
responsibilities as does a church office, such a one
should not be given any consideration whatsoever. And if he already has any station of
responsibility, he should be relieved of it, for such high-minded leaders are
spiritually blind, and they draw the multitude to themselves as did Lucifer
draw the angels to himself and to doom.
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Moreover, this class of
leaders, dead to Christ and alive to themselves, as a rule love to
parade, and even to exaggerate their religious deeds. Such should therefore be branded as
Satan-inspired disciple-seekers. This class of men are naturally clever. They manage to gain the confidence of the
people by the same method with which the priests and rabbis in Jesus' time
deceived the nation: They prayed where they could be seen; they marred their
faces to appear to be fasting; they made it their business to air far and wide
whatever good they did; they were adept at making themselves appear very
religious, pious, philanthropic, and righteous.
Multitudes are still charmed by such
so-called good men, and multitudes unquestionably accept their decisions as it
they were God's decisions. Against such,
remember Inspiration warns: "Cease ye from man,
whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?" Isa. 2:22.
That these man worshipers be seen even more
realistically, let me tell you something: Thousands have advised us to recant
if the president of the General Conference sees no light in our teaching, if he
sees no light in our revival and reformation among God's people. They seem to be just as sincere in this as
were the Jews who confidently took sides against Jesus by making the high
priest's decisions their own decisions!
Their wish for us to recant "if the
president sees no light," shows that they are copying the Jews of old,
rather than looking into the matter themselves, with confidence in the Spirit
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of God to show them personally what Truth is; they have
absolute confidence in what man, "the president" tells them!
Was not this very spirit in the hearts of
the men that rejected and crucified the Lord?
Obviously this class of persons is not led by Truth, but by men of
position. Such ones never ask, "Is
it Truth?" but "By whom is it advocated?" And if it does not come from the channel
through which they would have it to come, then, of course, Truth is rejected.
They never stop to think that God is not
taking orders from them; that they are not choosing God's servants for Him, and
that the General Conference president was elected by men, not because of his
authority on the Scriptures, but because of his ability to command; that Truth
has never yet originated through him, that whatever Bible truth he himself has
ever learned is only that which inspired men of God have taught him. The laity, therefore, have
never had greater need to cease from men as they have this day. And if they do not reform, God have pity on
them.
It is to be remembered, though, that they
are doing this foolish thing only because the ministry has so trained them,
only because some ministers are in league with the spirit that was in Korah, Dathan, and Abiram when they aspired to the position of the prophets,
although God has not delegated them as such.
Then, too, when a preacher begins
broadcasting his good deeds and accomplishments, along with his religious
experiences; also when a preacher rubs his eyes and blows his nose
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unnecessarily as he preaches
and endeavors to make his audience start crying; -- when you see these things
in a preacher, know for certain that he is pulling the wool over the eyes of
his listeners, that there is something up his sleeve. I say, when you see a preacher doing these
things, he is aiming to enlist your endorsement to something of his own. Beware!
You may peruse the entire Bible, and I
assure you that you will not find one of these things practiced by any of the
prophets. They never aimed to make God's
people sad, but always to rejoice in the Lord.
Take for example Jesus Christ. His work, His mission, was greater and more
important than any before Him or after Him.
He had religious experience that was worth telling, and if such a
procedure would have been beneficial in the work of salvation, He certainly
would have taken advantage of it. Instead
of preaching Himself, though, He preached the Truth. He never tried to persuade anyone by talking
of Himself. He simply spoke of Bible
truth, and gave God, not Himself, the credit.
And if anyone can preach repentance and love, He could, but He never
tried to play on the emotions of His audience, never tried to set them crying
over anything.
No one, moreover, including ourselves, has
ever accepted the writing of the prophets on the merits of their goodness,
their education, or their personal religious experience. They wrote nothing concerning themselves, and
nothing to bolster their office. All who
have accepted them, have done so on the merits of
their own writings. That is all. They never tried to
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win converts by what they themselves were or were
not. Are they not to this day having
success? And is it not the Truth of God
that we must be after? The Jews asked
for a sign, and the Greeks for wisdom, but God's people of today are asking for
both sign and wisdom, rather than for Truth.
Let us, therefore, never forget that the
spirit of self-exaltation originated all the evil which we see today, and which
is harder at work than ever before. We
should not give the Dragon a chance to trap us, and dump us into doom with the
"third part of the angels" who took hold of
his tail and could not let loose of it.
Let us ever remember that--
"The lofty looks of man shall be
humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone
shall be exalted in that day." Isa. 2:11.
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