1 Why a Multitude of Religious Communities? Psychological Tricks and Traps in Various Religious Systems E-mail: milos@scnet.rs Tel.

+381-(0)11-2426-940 Mob. +381-(0)64-15-15-092 Milos Bogdanovic Gospodar Jovanova 20 11000 Belgrade, Serbia

WHY A MULTITUDE OF RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES?

Psychological Tricks and Traps in Various Religious Systems Milos Bogdanovic (Pages: 153, Characters: 491,650)
"Religion has become today a cover up for various forms of pseudospiritual solutions. In his book Why a Multitude of Religious Communities, Milos Bogdanovic unmasks a significant number of deceptions and traps that victimize countless people today. His insightful psychological and spiritual analysis helps people discover the burden of unclean conscience they bear. He also offers relief from the oppressive guilt many people bear today. This book offers much needed help to all those who are courageous to evaluate themselves in the light of biblical truths." Samuele Bacchiocchi, Ph. D., Retired Professor of Theology and Church History, Andrews University 4990 Appian Way Berrien Springs, MI 49103

PREFACE
A PROVOCATIVE QUESTION

There are a few hundred different Christian communities in the world which all claim to represent the only true way of observing Jesus' Gospel. Thus we are faced with several questions: Why are there so many various interpretations? Is the truth far away from man, or is man trying to be far away from it? Why are there differences between religions? And finally, why are there any differences among philosophies of life at all?
FUNCTIONAL DIFFERENCES

In the attempt to understand the nature of differences between religions, we are faced with the danger of being superficial, i.e. of dealing with the religious form instead of dealing with its contents. In other words, there are differences among philosophies of life which are only formal, which do not assume the differences of their contents.

2 However, there are also differences that are important, for they reveal different relations of a man towards good and evil, towards his own life responsibility and the character of motives that move him. A man is reasonable being, capable of differentiating between good and evil; he is also a responsible being, rebuked for evil by his conscience, and a being of free will able to resist the temptation of evil. Religion should make a man wise, able to differentiate good from evil, and to make his conscience responsible but also unburdened. It should make man's will free in choosing good, and his heart cleaned from evil. However, religion can also have an opposite function, if a man does not want to take responsibility to think and act reasonably, in accordance with his conscience. In essence, religion, as well as any other life philosophy, can have only one of two functions: to guard a man from evil by its moral ideals, or to give him excuse for evil, which he will commit scrupulously in the name of these ideals. In proportion to the distortion of its function, religion itself also undergoes distortion of its own teaching. Instead of giving wisdom, by which man will differentiate good from evil, it gives superficiality, by which a man proclaims his evil to be good. Instead of making his conscience responsible, it gives him a system to satisfy his guilty conscience. Instead of directing sinner's will to repentance, it moves him only to suppress manifestations of evil in his expression. Instead of inspiring him to ardour by the motives that are fruit of the spiritual rebirth, it evokes zealous urges of his sinful nature. As religious distortion comprises a problem of man's reason, will, conscience and motivation, main chapters of this book will deal distinctly with the loss of common sense, wrong use of will, mechanisms applied by wicked conscience and zealousness of man's unreborn motives. As people differ in the forms and mechanisms of distortion, their comprehension of religion differs as well. Therefrom, we have a multitude of different religious communities, each gathering people under one common form of religious distortion. For that reason, alongside with the analysis of the mentioned principles, we shall give examples from religious life and teaching of various religious communities. A SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS BOOK
THE NATURE OF SIN

In this chapter we shall see that a man is aroused by motives of behavior which are not useful to his well-being, and that the existence of such motives is inexplicable from the points of view of the theory of natural selection and evolution. By analyzing these motives we shall realize that they contain an element of deceit in its essence, i.e. that they do not have attributes of goodness, satisfaction, freedom, meaning etc. they allegedly express. Due to their irrationality, we shall call these motives sinful. One needs salvation from sin. Then, we shall analyze why and how one determines oneself for particular principles of sin when their existence has no meaning whatsoever. We shall see that the root of all evil is pride, i.e. in man's irrational and completely senseless independence - "independence at all costs". A sin is the only and the highest thing a man can achieve without God. We shall see that a man, relying on his sinful nature, is faced three problems that cannot be solved: limited ideals, lack of will for salvation, and the inability to realize it. Limiting oneself by one's motives and one's experience, one simply does not know how, does not want to, and is not able to help oneself.

3 A man is inclined to search for salvation not from sin, but from its manifestations on the level of behavior and feelings. There is a need to define sin as a condition which is sinful by itself, in order to solve the problem of sin in its very root. That is why it is necessary to talk about a moral law which defines sin as its violation, and true love as its fulfillment.
LOSS OF REASON AND THE AUTHORITY OF BIBLICAL REVELATION

Unable to justify one's sinful motives before one's own conscience in sensible way, one in temptation to lose sanity. Intellect is given to us so that we can comprehend the purpose of goodness in comparison with sin, and thus, by differentiating it from evil, to choose it by our free will. Contrary to sin, the true divine love is intellectually comprehensible because it itself is a sensible and useful response to the demands of Heaven, as well as to the needs of our fellow men. If sinful motives were intellectually justifiable, then they would not be sinful motives in the first place. That is why, when we choose sin, we are afraid to think because we are in danger to unmask our own motives as sinful and accordingly, we run away from wisdom to superficiality. A man whose mind is limited by the experience of sin can neither understand nor desire a higher experience. In order to have a free will, one must first have a free mind. Jesus says: "You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." (John 8:32) God discerns the character of his love for a man through his words - the Bible. By means of a versatile analysis we shall investigate whether the authority of biblical revelation justifies our confidence in it.
ENCOUNTER WITH GOD

Many try to get to know God, not through realization of the character of His love, but through some other "realizations" (by knowing God's name, experiences while praying, meditation, pictures or magic rituals). Such "revelations of God" are favorite, because they do not bind one morally; they do not make one aware of one's spiritual needs for reform of motives of his heart, and God's forgiveness of guilt. Only reasonable knowledge of God through the right idea about His character makes a man aware of his spiritual needs. God is comprehended by reason, felt by feelings, chosen by will and lived by heart! However, many people try to comprehend God by feelings, to feel Him by reason, to choose Him by a sinful heart and to live Him by will. So they fall either to heavy discouragement or to various kinds of fanaticism.
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH OR BY WORKS

As though, due to our sinfulness, we are burdened by selfish pleasures and other sinful deeds, we are, due to our guilt, also burdened by our good deeds. The biblical salvation plan wants to set us free from both kinds of burdens - both from our sinfulness and from our righteousness, and to give us freedom to love with true love. Through different religions and through all the times we see the eternal conflict between the fanatical religion which is a response to the fact that we are burdened, and a true religion which releases us from our burden.
FIVE KINDS OF FANATICISM

A man is inclined, by abolishing the law as a criterion of divine righteousness, to declare his fanatical motives to be the motives of unselfish love and goodness. We shall analyze the difference between the motives of true love and the fanatical motives of a man's sinful nature. We shall realize that without a special God's intervention, a man is only able to be "good" out of guilt, fear, pride and sentimental feelings. We shall show how false teaching takes one away from God and makes him rely upon the fanatical motives of one's own righteousness.

4 THE NATURE OF SIN

SIN AS A FAILED GOAL

The root of the biblical term for sin in Greek has the meaning of "failed goal" or "failure". What does failed "goal" consist of? In the answer we shall find an acceptable definition of sin. Jesus says: "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (John 4:13-14)
TO FEEL OR TO BE

The principle of sin can never give what it promises - it can never satiate the thirst of a man's soul. One can feel happiness in sin, but one cannot be happy in it. Feeling happy and being happy is not the same thing.

The feelings of happiness, no matter how strong or elevated they are, can never satiate, but can only deaden the thirst of man's soul. They can only repress the awareness about our inner discontent, but they cannot eliminate it. The attempt of a man to satisfy the desires of his heart by means of pleasant experiences is as meaningless as the attempt of a thirsty man to satiate thirst by pouring buckets full of fresh water upon himself. The experience of dampness and wetness neither has the function to satiate the man's thirst nor can it achieve it. In the same way in which a gift tells about the giver, the experience of dampness and wetness only tells that it is connected to water. But one should drink water and not only feel that it is wet. The feeling of happiness can tell us about God, but it cannot replace Him. By saying this I do not mean at all to convince anyone that his feelings of happiness cannot be deep and sublime. But, I want us to understand that there is a criterion which will show us that no matter how long- lasting they are and disregarding the fact how strong and elevated they are, they will never be able to fulfill the function which we ascribe to them when we are in the state of sin.

5 Let us assume that, by means of simple pleasures of body or a complex religious system, we have attained blissful feeling of happiness. But, what is there that shows us that we are still unhappy? Our motives! We are still selfish. We are still looking for happiness.

If we were happy, we would not be looking for happiness, but would be giving it away, expressing it in our life. We would do the things that we normally do in our life because we are happy, and not for the sake of being happy. Instead by selfishness, we would be motivated by a true, unselfish love. Released from internal discontent, we would not be burdened any more by asking ourselves how we feel, but by asking the vital question: "What can I do for another human being?" A man who is essentially discontent, he is looking for happiness that he does not have, and can give only what he has - unhappiness. That is why a sinful man has a need for a "psychic release". Only a mentally tense person has a need for such a release. He easily recognizes a negative experience of reality in order to find in it a motive for expression of his internal discontent. It does not make any difference whether he psychically release himself by taking part in a fight, or by watching others fight, or whether he is psychically discharging himself by listening to loud music, or in any other way. Pleasant feelings, which he has in these moments, cannot be reasonable excuse for his sins. Man is given reasonable and elevated criterion, by which he is able to realize his real spiritual state and be aware of his need for change.

6 "I would not have known what is to covet if the law had not said You shall not covet" (Romans 7:7). As long as the motives of man's heart are not in harmony with the Ten commandments of God's moral law, a man will be essentially sinful, discontent and separated from God, no matter how pleasant and sublime he feels.

The obvious connection between our basic satisfaction and the basic motives for our behavior, shows that the biblical division of motives into the good and the bad ones is neither unfounded nor relative, but it is completely reasonable and functional. There is a difference between human codex of behavior which marks the forms of behavior or human intentions, and God's law which emphasizes the motives of human's heart and asks of them to be correct.
SIN LIES IN THE WRONG ROLE OF OUR FEELINGS

A priest suggested to a mother to send her son to a secondary school of theology. As a matter of fact, as a child of divorced parents, in a poor family, her son also came under a bad influence of juvenile delinquents. To this well-intentioned proposal, the mother responded in the following way: "I cannot give him away! I love him so much!" The priest continued: "Don't you believe that your son will be much better off in a theological school than here?" "I do, but I love him so much! I cannot let him go!" This mother had a strong feeling of love towards her son but has, still, taken an attitude which is not in agreement with a true, unselfish love and goodness. Is the problem in the exaggerated strength of her feelings? No! It is in their role! And the role of feelings depends on the spiritual condition of the person in question. A strong feeling of love represents only a occasion for an expression of love you carry within you. However, if you do not have true love within you, if you are empty and discontent in your heart

7 (due to your separateness from God), than you stick to your feelings because they are wrongly oriented and because they rule your behavior. Accordingly, a strong feeling of love represents a occasion for manifestation of a spiritual condition you are in: either for manifestation of a true unselfish love, or for the manifestation of selfishness. Feelings are not, and are not to be rational per se. That is why they must never get the role of a motivating power, or they are then to lead us into an irrational behavior. Feelings should be an adequate response to the reality surrounding us, they are here to take our attention, and to give us a provocation for manifestation of our nature (true love instead of sin). Naturally, sin does not lie in the unpleasant or pleasant experiences themselves, but in the wrong role that is given to them due to our separation from God. As long as the desires of our hearts are not satisfied, both pleasant and unpleasant experiences are going to represent a temptation for us to fall into sin. As long as we are in a bad spiritual condition, pleasant experiences are going to represent a temptation for us to become selfish towards them, while the unpleasant ones will make us lose our peace of mind and become upset and angry. For example, sin is not only pleasant feeling that we have while eating tasty food, but the attempt to satisfy the desires of our heart in them. It is not a sin to feel loved, but it is a sin when we try to fulfill the emptiness of our souls with that feeling (sin is when the feelings have the role of the cause of happiness in us, instead of being the opportunity for its expression). It is not a sin to feel anger and sadness because of the injustice which surrounds us., but it is a sin if we react to this feeling of anger and sadness with concern and anger. Sin is not in feeling fear, but in being a coward.

8 We should feel fear in danger, but we should react by being brave, and not coward. Towards injustice we should feel anger, but we should react by being meek, and not angry. In misfortune we should feel sadness, but we should react by taking care, and not being worried. When we have blessings we should feel joy, but react by being grateful, and not selfish. Consequently, there is a difference between emotions and sinful motives. ********************* The beginnign of the frame! ***********************
THE ROOT OF PSYCHOLOGICAL AND SPIRITUAL NEEDS

Since psychological and spiritual needs are mutually contrasted regarding their aims, they obviously do not have the same root. Psychological needs are motivated by man's internal discontent and search; accordingly, they burden one. On the contrary, the spiritual needs are not caused or moved by discontent, but by divine love and unselfish offering. A psychological needs, i.e. the needs for the change of feelings, are the expression of a man's certain character while the spiritual needs i.e. the needs for the change of that character cannot have the root in that very character. (Out of the selfish motive a man cannot have the will to get rid of the selfishness itself. Plainly, he does not have love to love himself.) Differently from psychological needs which have their root in a man's nature (his character), spiritual needs have their root in divine inspiration, which, by reason, gives a man a justification of his need to change his bad character. Thus, the spiritual needs are inspired by God, while the psychological ones are a characteristic of man's (fallen or sinful) nature, and he has them as a side product of his spiritual discontent. In other words, to be burdened by psychological needs is the only alternative remaining to him if he wishes to be independent of God, if he does not want to satisfy his spiritual needs. Repressing his spiritual needs that direct him towards God, man becomes burdened by psychological needs by which he represses the consciousness of his spiritual emptiness and thus is compelled, as the answer to his psychological need, to make god (idol) of his experiences and feelings. The psychological needs are the root of man's spiritual pathology, while the spiritual needs and their fulfillment actually set one free from the psychological needs, and thus give one freedom to love. One's spiritual condition is manifested in one's own life and thus in his philosophy of life. Man makes an effort, before his conscience to justify his psychological needs and thus he seeks and finds different sources. The fanatical religion is the response to one's psychological needs, contrary to the true religion which is a response to one's spiritual needs. ********************* The end of the frame! ***********************

The solution does not lie in evading pleasant and unpleasant experiences, because they are a constituent part of our reality. The problem is not in what we feel, but in what we are (in our motives), because in corresponding feelings our nature find only the occasion for expressing itself. When the spiritual needs are satisfied, when we are happy in our essence, only then, actual experiences are not going to tempt us, they are going to be a reason (occasion) for an expression of our love. Our experience of reality should be realistic: adequate to it. If we try to beautify it in order to satiate the thirst of our soul, we shall either become slaves of reality (as our experience of happiness depends on it), or we shall try to escape from reality (in order to create our own experience by ourselves). The first principle could be called materialistic, and the other idealistic. There is also a third principle, when we do accept an unpleasant reality in order to beautify or justify (rationalize) it just inside our mind by various tricks, so that it does not represent any temptation to us. A real solution is not in the domain of a change of reality, or in a change of our consciousness (mind), or in a change of our emotions, but in a change of us ourselves, our motives - a transformation of heart. We will stop being the victims of unpleasant and pleasant circumstances and also slaves of our own thoughts and feelings, only by the transformation of the motives of our hearts. We will become, not the victims, but the creators of the reality, in order not to search for what is missing in our hearts, but to offer what our heart already has in God.
MATERIALISM

Spiritual discontent makes a man dependent on the situation he is in. Due to the fact that his experience of happiness depends on happy circumstances, he has to keep them that way. That is why a sinful man is burdened. His will is not free. He acts in order to be happy, and not because he is happy, and accordingly, his life becomes a must, a compulsion, a slavery. In his life struggle to construct values which are going to grant him an emotional satisfaction, a man, due to the concern whether he is going to achieve it or not, loses his peace of mind and becomes more and more unhappy. In order to calm down his conscience, faced with his failure in life, one invents relative criteria for truth, or acknowledges his internal discontent and tries to justify it: "It is good that I am dissatisfied, as of it were a motivating power which makes me work, create and achieve success!" Cannot a man have a true, unselfish love as a motivating power and thus work out of satisfaction (instead of discontent)? And another question: What is more important - happiness and peace of mind, or success? What is all success and all riches of this world for, if one is still essentially unhappy?! Man is more important than the things he does, and his internal happiness is more important than the external success. The question whether we are worried or not is more relevant than what we are worried about. A worker is more important than his job and a student is more important than his studies. "For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life?" (Mark 8:36) Someone might say: "But the success that I achieve is a blessing to my fellow human beings!"

10 Perhaps, we do achieve success, and the things that we create, perhaps, are valuable, but success causes envy much too often, while the true values created are being misused. That is why man's internal well- being is much more important than the external one. Even if one's discontent results in a temporary well-being of his fellow beings, we must bear in mind that success and well-being of his fellow beings is not the actual aim of that person, but only the means for realization his own selfish motives. It is enough for the circumstances to change, and the same, selfish motives will become a damnation for all the others. Even if one's sinful motivation represents a constant material blessing to his fellow beings, that very person will be its spiritual curse. The negative influence of a dissatisfied man represents much more of a curse than his success can represent a blessing for this world. "Better is a little with the fear of the Lord, than great treasure and trouble with it. Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a fatted ox and hatred with it." (Proverbs 15:16-17) In order for someone to represent a blessing for this world, in order for someone to want and to be able to make others happy, it is necessary that he is happy. Due to being discontent, a sinner's main motive in life is to search for the feeling of happiness (selfishness), and not giving happiness (love). Accordingly, it is more important to that person how he feels, than whether the things he is doing are good. You have to be disburdened in order to be able to discover God in your life, as well as his unselfish love and self-sacrificing goodness. Numerous psychologists do consider man's psychological needs to feel himself beloved, worthwhile, successful, powerful, rich, just etc. correct and normal. However, as long as you are burdened, you cannot love. Burdened by satisfying your psychological needs, you have neither the time nor will to love, neither yourself nor the others. Giving yourself a task to live for happiness, and not out of happiness, you are giving yourself a task which disables you to act for your own or other's good. A lady opened a yogurt at her office. However, engaged in a conversation, she forgot to drink it. The next day she founded it on her desk. When she tasted it, she noticed that it turned sour. She cried: "I cannot drink it! It turned sour! I'll have to throw it away!... But how shall I throw it away? Haven't I paid for it dearly?... But if I do drink it, I'll get sick!" And thus she hesitated for a while, but finally she did drink the sour yogurt. It is considered that you cannot dedicate yourself to spiritual needs as long as your existential needs are not satisfied. The truth is, the case is completely opposite. We see that the behavior of the above mentioned lady is not in compatibility with her existential needs, because she has disregarded her spiritual needs, and thus is selfish. A man will sacrifice both his health and existence in order to satisfy his selfishness. Every day we can meet people who grieve because of what they call "endangered" existence, but we do not need much wisdom in order to notice that it is just an excuse for their own selfish discontent. While they complain of an "endangered" survival, these people both smoke and drink, and thus show that they actually do not really care about their existence. As long as you care more that the food you eat is tasty, rather than healthy, you cannot say that you act according to the motives which are relevant to your existence.

11 The claim that only when you satisfy your lower (existential) needs, you can dedicate yourself to the higher ones (social, intellectual...) reveals nothing else but the search for a new excuse for your internal discontent. It is completely the same whether selfishness permeates our biological, social or religious spheres of life. Although it is in the forefront of our consciousness, it is never purposefully orientated towards our actual interests. We see that one is inclined to sacrifice both his health and existence in order to satisfy his selfish motives - which serve their own purposes. A voracious man will sacrifice his own stomach for the sake of food in the same way in which an egotist will be inclined to commit suicide because of his offended vanity. A nationalist will sacrifice his own nation for the sake of his national values, as though one exists for the sake of them, and not they for the sake of them. In the Bible, Jesus reprimands the religious fanaticism, explaining with a number of instances from the Old Testament that a man had not been created for the sake of God's law, but that God's law had been created for the sake of a man (Mark 2:25-26.27). As natural motives make us love with selfish love, which always requires a cause for which we love, we shall be able to sacrifice even the object of our love for the sake of the cause for our love. In true love, the cause for which we love somebody is not contained within it, but within us, within the very love by which we love. We see that natural motives of our behavior, due to their irrationality, deny the theory of natural selection and evolution. Natural selection would never have left alive the individuals acting by the motives which are not relevant to their survival. In other words, if the principle of natural selection and evolution had really created characteristics of the species, man would have never become sinful. Survival is conditioned not only by the abilities possessed by species, but also by the motives by which it has been initiated. A man has many more abilities than required by mere existence, but they are of no use to him when these abilities are moved by pathological motives and misused against his very existence. On the basis of this consideration, we can conclude that the sinful motives of behavior are at the same time pathological motives of behavior, as they make a man act contrary to his own and other people's existential needs.
IDEALISM

Numerous people become aware of the senselessness of the materialistic principle of life. They become aware of its insecurity and slavery resulting from its values. And finally, they become aware of this lack of any purpose when a realization of man's actual interests are in question. That is why they reject it and accept an idealistic principle of life. They escape from the ugly reality into the world of their own experiences, which, at least they hope so, no one will be able to spoil. An idealistic principle of the solution to man's existential problems is a characteristic of the Eastern religions. According to the Buddhist way of thinking, the problem lies in suffering. By means of different systems, one is to avoid binding oneself to the material world in order to avoid a possible feeling of suffering. Certain Buddhist orders go so far as to avoid any physical contact with the world, even the very shaking of hands.

12 We come across such principles even in some branches of Christianity. In Greece, there is a monastic order the followers of which never bathe. They consider bathing a temptation. What can we think about their victory over temptations? Instead of denying their sins, many deny only the situations which would prove that they have not denied their sins. To respond to Christ's command to deny both ourselves and our sins does not mean to run away from temptation, but win a victory over it. "If riches increase, set not your heart on them." (Psalm 62:10) Let us point out that the Bible does not see any problems with wealth as such, but with a man's attitude towards it. It does not say "if the riches increase, throw them away", but "set not your heart on them". One can deny everything he has and be on the verge of existence, but still be greedy and selfish; sinful and guilty. Renouncing one's property, which is a part of the program of some religious movements, reveals nothing else but evasion of life responsibilities. The essence of spiritual immaturity lies in man's attempt to remove the provocation for the manifestation of sinful motives from his conscience. We can remove the occasion (provocation), but the cause of sin - the very sinful motive, will still remain within our heart. Many people do not avoid situations which could present temptation, but they try to avoid experiencing temptation by directing their attention to something abstract. I had a chance to personally meet one esteemed member of charismatic movement whose face expressed unusual peace and tranquillity. I've been told that on that day, while working in the kitchen, he had been in "such close community with God", that he hadn't heard anything that his colleagues had been saying to him all working day. I had impression that he didn't notice me either, while we shook hands. One Krishna follower didn't show apprehension to talk with me about the Bible's attitude toward reincarnation, but almost the whenever I quoted the Bible, she covered her ears with her hands and repeated mantra "Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna...". Only then I realized what that mantra served for, although this girl combined several systems at a time. If that girl really put her trust into her god and if she was right, quoting from the Bible wouldn't endanger her spiritual state. Feelings of doubt would make her lean more upon God and have more confidence in Him. The feeling of anger toward "a misconception" would induce her to build an endurance and permanent peace. A lack of arguments would recommend her to divine omniprudence, etc. A stress induces us to react with that power we rely on (sin or love), and accordingly the stress will degrade or build up us. We see that an idealistic concept in realization of one's essence represents a realization of a peak of a spiritual immaturity.
CONCLUSION

We should be willing to face the experiences relevant to reality surrounding us. The problem does not lie in pleasant or unpleasant experiences themselves, but in defective role they develop due to our primeval dissatisfaction. For as long as yearnings of our being are unsatisfied both pleasant and unpleasant experiences will represent temptation for us. Pleasant experiences represent temptation for us to become selfish, and through unpleasant experiences we may lose tranquillity, start worrying and become irate. The solution will not come in avoiding pleasant or unpleasant experiences, for they are constituent of our reality. The problem is not in what we feel but in what we are, because our nature finds the occasion for its expression only in the adequate feeling. Only

13 when the longings of our heart are satisfied, when we are happy inside our being, real experiences will not represent temptation but the opportunity to express love.
THE ROLE OF UNPLEASANT EVENTS

For example, if someone is suffering we will sympathize with him. But, feeling sympathy for someone's misfortune does not mean that we are going to become unfortunate as well. Compassion will give us motivation to express what we are.
THE STATE OF SIN

If we are essentially unhappy, then our unpleasant feelings will be the motivation to express our inner unhappiness through anxiety and care for suffering person. Because we can offer somebody only what we really have.
THE STATE OF DIVINE RIGHTEOUSNESS

If we are essentially happy, then - of course - we will not enjoy the suffering of someone, but express our inner content through deeds of real divine love. We will help as much as possible. Even if we are witnesses of injustice that awakes feelings of sorrow and anger inside, we will retain peace and love. The feeling of anger will represent a temptation only if we already have anger in our nature. If desires of our heart are accomplished in God, meeting negative experiences will not represent temptation.
THE ROLE OF PLEASANT EVENTS

If we are in situation that awakes pleasant sensations, for example enjoying in the nature, we will find the motivation to express what we are through our reactions.

THE STATE OF SIN

If desires of our heart are not satisfied already, we won't be able to reply to the wonderful sights of nature. The things we can't offer, we'll try to find in it. We will try to "drug" our feelings with pleasant sights in order to (egoistically) satiate the thirst of our soul.
THE STATE OF DIVINE RIGHTEOUSNESS

The pleasant experience can't satisfy the thirst of soul, like the smell of food can't satisfy the need of a hungry person. The smell of food has the role to direct attention toward food. The same, in spiritual way, pleasant events have no other role than to reveal the One who wants to fill up the emptiness of our heart.

14 If our soul is satisfied in God, new horizons will open before us. Everything was created to glorify God; by its looks, by its deeds, and by its existence. In most modest pleasant events we will find motivation to express what we are in God. Profoundly, from our soul, we will express admiration and gratitude to God for His revelations. Through them He speaks of Himself.
COMPARISONS

In first case (when we are discontent), in pleasant events we seek source of our happiness, and in second case (when we are content), in pleasant events we find reason to express (share) happiness we already have in God. As an illustration we can show the atmosphere of Krishna temple. Provocative music, exotic food, unusual smells, colorful pictures and mystic revelations will welcome us there. Our feelings will be deeply moved. We will get the vision of "heaven" such as imagined by man's unconverted heart, which seeks the cause of its satisfaction in sensations. To such a heart simple Christian songs and hymns sound like songs for children, because there is nothing in that heart to be moved by these songs. A simple preach directed to sound mind finds no response in vacant heart. The Bible's descriptions of love and goodness seem to such a person as empty phrases because love in his heart is also just a phrase. Sometimes he tries to justify his indifference for God's Word by saying that he does not believe in its truthfulness while, on the other hand, he reads novels and watches films which he knows to be imagined and unreal. Such a man would remain cold even at the sights of Heaven, because his sinful heart is right such one. Reality and our experience of the reality should not have a function of a cause of our happiness, but only of a reason for expressing it. Bible describes how one deforms the role of reality when he tries to find the cause of happiness in it, when he seeks God in it. The created should reveal God the Creator, and not to replace Him and become a god itself: "For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made. So they are without excuse; for though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their senseless minds were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools; and they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling a mortal human being or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles. ... because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen." (Romans 1:19-25) "God's handwork in nature is not God Himself in nature. The things of nature are an expression of God's character; by them we may understand His love, His power, and His glory; but we are not to regard nature as God. The artistic skill of human beings produces very beautiful workmanship, things that delight the eye and these things give us something of the idea of the designer; but the thing made is not the man. It is not the work, but the workman, that is counted worthy of honor. So, while nature is an expression of God's thought, it is not nature but the God of nature that is to be exalted." (EGW 8T263) When someone discovers something new in the science, e.g. new planet or a law of nature, he becomes famous like he made the planet or law of nature. Let us remember a Biblical event: Adam gave a name to every animal and every bird and to every beast in the field (Genesis 2:19). Adam didn't become a great and famous inventor although he was the first man on the Earth who "found"

15 a nice garden full of different animal species. Where does this human necessity comes from, to make himself famous for the phenomena made by someone else, and just noticed by him? People subconsciously feel that glory for all nice planets and their irreproachable physical functioning belongs to someone else. But people are scared to express a respect and thanks to someone who really deserves it, because it makes them spiritually and morally responsible. That's why they are prone to express a glory and thanks to a mortal man who is hardly capable to perceive the perfection of the world around him, let alone to create it himself. Suppose that we gave to a person we like very much a birthday gift, which shows by its appearance our personal qualities and our sympathy for him. We put the gift in the garden of his house, and let the person himself concludes rationally that it was right we who had given the gift to him. Then the dear person takes the gift joyfully and says: "Oh, what a nice thing I found!" And then he becomes famous because of this discovery in front of his house door. Let's suppose that he explain further on that the gift is a natural miracle, that it has originated by a big bang, that is by a big bang in his garden. Our heart would be broken by such a disregard and blindness, wouldn't it? The fact is that we are all naturally spiritually blind. We do are spiritually blind, but not psychologically too, for we react to pleasant events mainly with pleasant feelings. But because of our spiritual weakness, our feelings have not a healthy function. A smell of a food can be pleasant, but it can not replace the food, but just points to it. So a gift speaks to a rational man about the gift-giver, same as the feeling of beautiful just speaks about the creator of the beauty, not being able to replace him. Several years ago, when I was an atheist, a nice melody raised sublime feelings in me by its nobility and then a question imposed to me: "Is it possible that there a world of goodness and justice exists really somewhere, and that this melody is just a shadow of it? How is it possible that a shadow exists of something non-existing?! This innocent melody confirms that goodness exists somewhere and I want to find it and live for it!" But the feeling of joy was soon replaced by a feeling of confusion and pain. I did not want just to feel the goodness. I did not just to walk in its shade. I wanted to be a same with it. I asked myself where it is and whether I would find it ever. Even my tomcat has that problem of confusion on its level. When I show to him: "Over there I put your food!", he is not looking in showed direction, but at my finger with confusion. Because of spiritual blindness we are also often confused. When pleasant events overshadow us we do not know where to look at.

16 Like every act of goodness, like a nice smell of flower or a wondering harmony of natural laws, so the mentioned melody revealed the sublime Creator, but I did not know where to look at, for I had closed, by my atheistic dogma, the door of my mind and heart to a further action of God's Holy Spirit. Today, when I read an old Jewish book called "The Wisdom of Solomon", I can recognize in it the atheistic confusion that I once had: "For all people who were ignorant of God were foolish by nature; and they were unable from the good things that are seen to know the one who exists, nor did they recognize the artisan while paying heed to his works; but they supposed that either fire or wind or swift air, or the circle of the stars, or turbulent water, or the luminaries of heaven were the gods that rule the world. If trough delight in the beauty of these things people assumed them to be gods, let them know how much better than these is their Lord, for the author of beauty created them. And if people were amazed at their power and working, let them perceive from the how much more powerful is the one who formed them. For from the greatness and beauty of created things comes a corresponding perception of their Creator. Yet these people are little to be blamed, for perhaps they go astray while seeking God and desiring to find him. For while they live among his works, they keep searching, and they trust in what they see, because the things that are seen are beautiful. Yet again, not even they are to be excused; for if they had the power to know so much that they could investigate the world, how did they fail to find sooner the Lord of these things?" (Wisdom of Solomon, 13,1-9.)

17
RATIONALIZATION

The most subtle "solution" which we can apply is an intellectual speculation called "rationalization". It is an attempt to picture reality in such a way that it does not represent an unpleasant sensation. If somebody is rude to us, for example, it often happens that if he hits our head with a branch, that will probably lead us into temptation to react in a sinful way. We will be inclined to respond with rage and rudeness. But if we are inspired with true love we shall have an appropriate reaction. We are most likely to leave such a person alone. The feeling of sorrow and sometimes the feeling of justified anger will be an opportunity to express the motive of love (meekness, longsuffering), not hatred towards the person with such a hostile attitude.

Those who do not want to free themselves from sin but want to remove this negative manifestation of sin in their emotions and behavior, will tend to use mechanism of rationalization. This means that our "enemy" should be represented in such a way that he, with his hostile attitude, is not considered to be an enemy anymore. With this trick we can avoid the negative experiences representing a temptation for a man in the state of sin. That is how this defensive mechanism of rationalization works. The psychologist would counsel: "Try to understand this man in order to accept him the way he really is. He is not guilty! Who knows how difficult the circumstances were, in which he had grown up. Maybe, when he was a little child, his mother used to punish him on his head!" Religious advice would be a little different:

18 "You should comprehend that God lives in him as he lives in you, so you can't hit him back because he would hit even the part of you that lives in him! Your essential problem is ignorance. The perfect peace is hidden in the cognition of the fact that God is in everything!" So, we are trying to explain and understand to rationalize the idea of ourselves and the others in such a way that it does not represent an unwanted temptation. But this only means that we will remove the occasion for the manifestation of our sinful nature but not sin itself. In their essence all psychological answers on human psychological problems are based upon removal of the reason (complexes, traumas, frustrations ...) instead of the cause (the sin). The reason (provocation) is not the cause. (Psychologists remove the reasons and the psychiatrists the symptoms of the problems). In order to become aware of the cause (root) of the very problem we need a real criterion which will show that the cause itself is bad, instead of the superficial criteria which will lead us to take reasons and symptoms as problems, which should be solved. The required criterion is the moral law of God. It defines our sinning state as the which is bad in and of itself.
CONCEQUENCES OF THE MECHANISM OF RATIONALIZATION

Under the influence of his sinful nature and guilty consience a man is inclined to distort an image of reality (idea of God, man and spiritual matters), in the way presented on the scheme:

DISTORTION OF REALITY CAUSED BY SIN DISTORTED NOTION OF GOD (GOD OR AN IDOL)

When, at the beginning of my Christian experience, someone asked me: "How do you imagine God when you pray? What does He look like?", I felt surprised and confused. Surprised, because I didn't imagine God at all, and confused because I didn't notice the lack of faith. When I asked the same question to some persons with rich spiritual experience, I realized that not one of them imagines God. Soon I found the answer in the Bible: "Then Moses said to God, "If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say to them?" God said to Moses, "I am who I am." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'I am has sent me to you.'" (Exodus 3:13-14) We do not have a need to imagine God because He Is. Do we have a need to imagine ourselves as we walk on the street, while walking on the street? No! There is no need, because we really do it. If we have a need to imagine God, it shows that we do not know Him, that we do not have a relationship with Him. And we are seriously tempted to form an invented faith, in an invented god.

19 Many people are afraid of realization of real relation with God. They fear that high notion of His goodness and justice would rebuke them for their sins, and humiliate them before their loftiness. They try to create an image of God which won't disturb their conscience, which won't make them feel responsible and obliged. That is how they try to escape from God who Is, so they imagine god with whom they'll awake feeling of happiness, safety and power for themselves. What they do not have in their essential being, they try to compensate in the area of experiences and feelings. In their religiousness they provoke their feelings by religious-magical rituals, or misusing pictures, statues or music, meditating or maybe something else. They keep adding something of their own between God and themselves, which will give them psychological security (They do not make difference between spiritual and psychological). Our relation with God can be manifested in our feelings, but it should never be based on them, because then it turns into perfidious form of idolatry. Man's relation with idols is always based on feelings, while relationship of man and God is based on faith. If we are not satisfied with simple faith, but look for feelings as its affirmation, it proves that we do not have a real relationship with God. Faith based on feelings is pure selfishness (toward God). If we stick to instruction of God's Word, we will avoid temptations that lay between God's face and ours, and which are therefore an obstacle in establishing a relationship with God. It is impossible to form an imagined faith in God if we accept Him the way He is discovered in the Bible, because He does not fulfill basic psychological conditions to be able to have a role of an idol. Man could never invent such God, because He does not suit dispositions of his sinful nature. Man is not only unable to invent Him, but such notion of God disturbs him very much. I think that every rational atheist psychologist, after reading these lines, if at all honest, would reconsider his atheistic attitudes. Because, if God was not invented, then He is real. Anyone who does not believe in real God, has to choose some false god, because there is nothing else he could choose. Only the real God can satisfy the thirst of our soul and free us from our need for having false gods. Only if our desires are deeply satisfied, we will be free from the need for feeling happy and secure.
DISTORTED NOTION OF MAN

Let's note how Jesus speaks of human nature: "If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" (Luke 11:13) When apostle Paul speaks of his nature, he says: "I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. ... What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?" (Romans 7:18-21) As opposed to Biblical, other spiritual authorities sometimes have an unusual vision of a man and the salvation plan: "This is the only way to achieve the goal; to say to ourselves and to all others that we are perfect. And while we continually repeat it, the strength will be coming. ... Let your body be imbued by this only idea: I am absolutely clean, omniscient, omnipotent, eternal, radiant I which is being born and doesn't die." (Vivekananda)

20 "Repeat in your thoughts: I am not a body, nor intellect, no feelings... Body is covering of its own I which is clean and perfect. I am endless, unlimited, eternal core. I am always free, I am eternally present. I am who am." (S. Yesudian in "Yoga and health") If I am not my body, then the sins of my body do not make me loose my basic moral value. And why is this important to me? Because with this "trick" I try to substitute the lack of the real love for myself and others. I must find some value to love people, because with my selfish love I can't accept them the way they are (sinful and guilty). That value I find in their "divine essence". That's how I can justify everyone, and forgive everyone in order to love them: "That murderer and criminal is essentially very good person. Only, this goodness is very deep in his being so it can not be seen. He is not bad, only his body is - but it is only the covering of his perfect being!" Sri Cinmoj say: "Now you love your child unlimited. After a meditation of few years you are going to love it much more, because you are going to feel a presence of God in it. Now you do not feel all the time the presence of God in your child. If the child break something you are angry and say: 'No this is not the God, but devil!' The time will come when you see only the God in your son, whatever he do or say." (Meditation, 127) "Then we are going to serve to everybody, because we know and feel that God is in it. If we do not see the God, truth or light in our actions, our physical mind is not going to be convinced in value of everything we are doing. Today we are going to serve to somebody, but tomorrow we are going to say: 'Oh, he is a real fool. He does not have a nice characteristics. Why would I serve to him?'" (Meditation, 179) We must have in mind Jesus' example. He didn't have a forgiving attitude forward the sinners in order to be able to love them but because he loved them. We shouldn't try to understand people to be able to love them, but understand them because we do love them. If we have to find some cause for loving someone, it does not only show that our love is selfish, it reveals that we think that God loves us with selfish love. We think that God looks for some values in us, to be able to love us, and then we think that the cause of His love for us is in our "divine essence" or some other attribute. Many Christians think that God loves the whole world because He sees His children in everybody. But, Bible teaches us that all the people are not God's children (1 John 3:9-20, Romans 8:14), only those among people who make just and act in accordance with God's Spirit. But, still, God loves everybody. "He makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." (Matthew 5:45) The cause why God loves us is not in us, but in Him; in His love. By nature we are all sinful and guilty rebels. We are not worthy neither of God's love, nor salvation, and so we have not any value for which God could love us. We are worthy only because He already loves us.

21 "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:6-8) When we will love people with a real love we are going to accept them like they are. Only then we can help them, when we are aware of their sins and guilt, so when we are aware of their real spiritual needs. Thinking that man can behave sinful and, at the same time to have correct (just) essence of hi being is nonsense "for out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander" (Matthew 15:19). In human mind and feelings there are only reasons (occasion) for expressions of sin, which have origin deeply in the heart. If the heart is just it is not possible to hide a human goodness: "You are light for the world. It is not possible to hide a city which is sitting on a hill." (Matthew 5:14) So, if we want to discover the real human being, if we want to find out is his nature divine or sinful, let's see how he acts while tempted. The condition is that we are watching a human being "following the path of least resistance" because we are interested in the reaction of his nature and not in the will. (The best example is to take a spontaneous reaction of an "sinless" child who does not have defense mechanism). Then we are going to see that a human being is influenced by pleasant and unpleasant events and acts spontaneously with sin (selfishness and worrying) instead with love (grace and goodness). Human being acts with something he has inside. If the human nature were divine, then temptation would build and would not humiliate his character. There would be love and not sin in his heart from birth. "Therefore, brothers, we shouldn't live by following our human nature. If you do, you will die. If you use the Spirit to kill the evil deeds of the body, you will live. All people who are being led by God's Spirit are sons of God." (Romans 7:12-14)
DISTORTED PRESENTATION OF SPIRITUAL NOTIONS

Sin limits man's ability to correct understanding of spiritual notions. In different religions' concepts we meet the same spiritual notions but they are differently explained, so mutual similarities have only formal nature.
LOVE

Many sorts of selfishness (egoism, idolatry, nationalism, ...) as well as the fanaticism of feelings (being in love, false spiritual experiences) are called love. True love is defined as spiritual state which is in accordance with God's moral law: "Love is the fulfillment of the law." (Romans 13:10)
SIN

The notion that the majority of people have about sin does not surpass the one accepted by the members of the Satanic church: "Sin is not sin in case it is expressed in natural way and in case it does not destroy other people." (A.S. La Vejv) Holy Bible defines sin as breaking God's moral law:

22 "Every one that doeth sin doeth also lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness." (1 John 3:4)
HAPPINESS

People usually think of happiness as of a pleasant event, and also pleasant experiences. We concluded before that to feel happiness and to be happy is not the same. Feeling happy can not satisfy the thirst of soul. Outer happiness has no sense if we are still unhappy. Only God can satisfy desires of our heart. Criterion of real happiness (or our satisfaction) is in motivations that move us. And they are defined in God's moral law.
FREEDOM

The idea of freedom is usually considered as freedom of expressing our own thoughts, feelings and actions. But, it has no meaning if those thoughts, feelings and actions are under the rule of inner limits. Spiritual freedom is more important than outer freedom. One is in spiritual bondage as long as there is must. And must lasts as long as he is essentially discontent. He must seeks happiness. Only if the desires of our heart are already satisfied - we are free. Then everything we do, we do because we are happy, out of happiness, and not in order to be happy.
MEANING

"I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces; I got singers, both men and women, and many concubines, man's delight. So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem; also my wisdom remained with me. And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them; I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had spent in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun." (Ecclesiastes 2:8-11) The meaning of his existence a man sees in the seeking of the happiness, and the meaning of the existence of other people, things and creatures as well as God, he usually sees as the answer to his selfish motivations. When he finally realizes that the life does not fulfill his anticipated picture of the meaning, he in his desperation thinks of suicide. It looks as if he wants to say by that: "God, you did not give me the meaning of my existence! I do not have my place under the Sun! I do not have anything of my existence and efforts and nothing of your love!" But, the question which that person tries to suffocate and which is posed by his own consciousness, is as follows: "And what did you do for this world to be nicer and better? If the darkness is all around you why are not you the light to the world? ... If you are seeking the happiness in life, you will be disappointed! You are created to have it in God and to give it to others and not to want it from others!" "Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools." (Psalm 84:5-6) Everything that is created has only one purpose of it's existence, which is to love, to serve and with its goodness to reveal and glorifies God.

23 "And whosoever would be first among you, shall be servant of all. For the Son of man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Mark 10:44-45) However, in the state of sin we are not capable to offer anything more than our misery, our discontent. What we call the meaning of life is only an excuse for our selfish and self justified motives of behavior.
DISTORTION OF REALITY CAUSED BY GUILT DISTORTED NOTION OF GOD

God wants to reveal to us the truth about himself. By His Holy Spirit He affects our intellect, heart and conscience to enable us to recognize spiritual truth in spiritual notions. However, we choke the work of the Holy Spirit when we assign to spiritual notions the meaning that does not belong to it, and deny what belongs to it. So the idea that we have about God reveals our real relations to Him. What idea has an atheist about God? He believes that God does not exist. It is the most apparent human attempt to avoid meeting with one's life responsibility. Maybe we understand it hard?! Just because we are afraid of meeting with our life responsibility! Let us suppose to have a small child committed to be cared about. The child contained enormous potentials. It could have become a great blessing for this world. But, by our irresponsible behavior we deteriorated his powers to act for good. We made his life senseless and he does not have attributes for which he could be immortalized eternally. Are we not responsible for what was committed to us to take care of? God committed us to care about and build our life, our own abilities and powers, time and possibilities by our choice to immortalize it for eternity or humiliate it to death. Are we not responsible for ourselves before Him who gave life to our souls? And naturally we want to hide us from His face. We need His approval, but we are afraid of facing our (ir)responsibility. We fear of being proclaimed our own killers. For this reason we are trying to forget Him, and when we do not succeed in doing so, then to destroy Him. Sometimes we fought against Him whom we claimed to be non-existing. It's easier to believe in mother-nature than in God Father, because mother-nature is impersonal and before her we are irresponsible. Perhaps we were by revealing of the truth "forced" to recognize God as a person, but we are still not re conciliated with Him. Then we continue to distort the idea about Him, but on another level: We try to present His character in such a light in which we would not recognize ourselves as culprits. We distort Him attributing to Him our own moral values. When we talk about God's love we present it as affectionate sentimentality that does not distinguish good and evil. We interpret it as God's readiness to satisfy our selfish motives. Our hearts are not happy about revealed God's light, magnitude and righteousness, which we find in God's Word. These are for us "dark" parts of the Bible. We fear descriptions of God's righteousness and God's law. Why they do not make us happy? For we, because of our compromise with sin, are still under their condemnation.
DISTORTED NOTION OF MAN

The presence of guilt caused by sin manifests also in those philosophies which quite deny its existence. So Sai Baba says:

24 "The cause of mass unrest among people is in their non having a right idea about their nature. Never name yourself a sinner or a culprit!" How could people lose their peace if they really had it, if they were really morally right? We can lose peace only if it is apparent, if we recognize ourselves in the notion "sinner". Real peace is not based on some belief or opinion, but on the real cleanliness of heart and intentions. Sai helped us to understand that the cause of mass unrest among people is just in their guilt caused by sin. Sai helped us to understand one mechanism of defense against guilt. He presented us a system of choking and sublimation of guilt. How does that trick function? In order not to be able to recognize themselves as culprits, many distortedly present their nature, as if they are not sinners in the depth of their souls, but their core is righteous (divine). So Sai Baba says: "Love your work even if they hate you, for in your nature is to love and forgive." With unclear conscience caused by his sins, one is prone to choke by imitation of his own righteousness. Selfish and self-righteous motives spring from his heart. He wants to legalize them as a spark of deity in himself. He tries to build up a nice opinion about himself and his motives. But, if he were lit by the light of God's face, he would understand that all his justice is dirty clothes. He would understand that it is in conflict with Christ's justice and that it is an enemy to the latter.
DISTORTED PRESENTATION OF SPIRITUAL NOTIONS

Those who are characterized by guilt-choking systems are prone to use euphemisms. It is a phenomenon of using notions that does not contain category of responsibility in its meaning. It reveals one's immaturity for facing one's own responsibility. For instance, thieves instead of the term theft often use the term borrowing. Irresponsible politicians instead of the term strike use the term work stop, and instead of crisis - complex state etc. When the use of euphemisms manifests on the spiritual level, it reveals spiritual pathology. Such persons, burdened with their self- righteousness, do not dare to use the term sin but saying error. Instead of lost they use the term imperfect, instead of salvation - enlightenment, or higher degree of spiritual development and instead of guilt which term do they use? None! That's just what they are trying to escape from. About guilt they are mainly silent, but it's visible in them. Together with pride, that is to many the main strength of their "spirituality". Without Jesus' blood they succeed to get rid of the feeling of guilt, but not of the guilt itself. It remains and continues to be manifested in their lives and their philosophy of life. If they really had peace they would not be burdened anymore by the realization of "a higher degree of spiritual development".

25

SIN AS AN IRRATIONAL INDEPENDENCE (PRIDE)

A question is posed: How did men come into the state of sin? How could one possibly choose the principles of sin which are completely irrational and useless for his survival?! The following analysis will show us that the root of all evil is pride, i.e. in man's irrational and completely senseless independence - independence by all means. Sin is the only and the highest thing a man can achieve without God.

THE ORIGINS OF SIN

God has created the world and man out of love and because of love. "So it was; and God saw all that he made, and it was very good." (Genesis 1:31) Out of love God has not created man only with what he is, with his then divine nature. Had things been such, he would have been only "an obedient automation". Man was also created with possibility to become what he wanted. He was given free will to make decisions beyond his nature. He can, if he wants, separate from God and so choose sin. "That is why God created in the garden of Eden the tree by which he would give a chance to man to express his free will: "And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, 'You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.'" (Genesis 2:16- 17) Eve decided to act independently of God's commandments. God has "thoughts good, not evil", but she did not want to believe him anymore. She indulged in the feeling of doubt in His love and so chose sin. When she tasted the forbidden fruit, a strange excitement passed through her body. On her face a happy smile could be seen. As if eternity and all the knowledge were in her. The Lord God said: "The man has now become like one of us." (Genesis 3:22). The question is being imposed: "Why is the sin that Eve made up her mind to become like God? Should not we all be inclined towards that?" We should be similar to God, to His character of love, goodness and justice. Our ancestors Adam and Eve were made in God's image. The love was a link which connected Creator God with His creatures. But, as many religious people of today, Eve wanted to become like God regarding attributes which were exclusively Godly and which are senseless for the beings created in time and space. (What would we, for instance, say for one cow which is burdened by the wish to get wings for flying and ability to solve math problems?! We would conclude that it certainly is not normal because it already has its place under the Sun, where it has grass to eat, gives milk, etc. and so fulfills anticipated meaning for its existence.) Eve felt divinely. However, trying to equate herself with God in the attributes in which she had not been similar to Him before, she lost those in which she was. Her life, defined by time and space, also lost all sense. She had not a part of love anymore. Since she did not anymore fulfill the

26 predicted sense of her existence, since she did not serve anymore anybody and anything, she found herself under the judgment of God's justice. All that is created has one and only purpose of its existence, and that is to serve. All serve something. Let us take, as an example a flower: with its nectar it feeds insects, releases oxygen necessary to the living world, and by its pleasant odor makes the beings happy in its surroundings. Now are you or me a greater blessing to this world than a simple and modest flower? In contrast to the flower, we are expected to give much more - to love. To serve with motives of true, unselfish love means to fulfill the predicted sense of our existence. If we discard the principle of love, then we discard the only possible reason for our existence. The spirit of self-sufficiency and independence is a spirit of pride. Such a spirit opposes the spirit of love. An organism functions as long as its cells and limbs serve one another. When a cell or a limb begins to act each for itself, then they separate from the whole system and prescribe their death sentence themselves, for they are themselves also dependent on the whole organism. Similarly, man created to live and act in time and space also loses the sense of life when he is motivated by pride. He does not recognize his place under the Sun, he is bothered by the dependence which he feels because he physically depends on the surroundings and spiritually upon God. He feels his body as a "prison of the soul" and wishes to escape to some other dimension beyond time and space. Instead of understanding that his spirit is making him unsuitable for life, he concludes that the problem is in life conditions, not in his pride spirit. All sorts of behavior defined by time and space act in him as if in slavery and form; as slavery it demands from him to love, but he himself has not the contents which he could give to the form. All that is hidden in time and space is a form which reveals the contents of love and so praises God, either by its existence or, if it does not, then it really has not got a reason for existence. By his fall into sin man lost his Godly image: inclination towards God by his nature and inborn immortality. Trying to realize the similarity with God regarding the characteristics by which he was not similar to Him, he lost the characteristics by which he was similar to God. Man became sinful and mortal. In order not to be immortalized with his disfigured nature, the access to the tree of life was denied for the sinner. "Then the Lord God said, 'Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever' therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life." (Genesis 3:22- 24)
TO GO BEYOND ONESELF

Adam and Eve had to make a decision beyond their perfect nature in order to commit sin. Their nature then became sinful. We are descendants of their nature, and if we wish to be faithful to God, we must also make a decision beyond our nature, we must have confidence in Christ and rely upon His righteousness. We can build up a decision for Christ only in the light of God's face; we will never find strength and motive for such decision in ourselves, for our nature is rebellious toward God. If in search for salvation we let our nature lead us, however nicely we may call them, we will abandon ourselves to the principles Adam and Eve succumbed to:

27 "So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law." (Galatians 5:16- 18) God has given us the intellect to discern good from evil, and the free will to choose what is good, despite the fact that our nature rebels against such a choice. That is why the prayer (talk with God) is a conscious act, wherein we sensibly make our decisions which are besides our nature, in contrast to meditation and other systems where we unreasonably (Proverbs 18:2) devote us to selfish and self - righteous needs of our nature. If man by his nature really wanted God, were our natural needs healthy, not pathological, Jesus would say: "If any man would come after me, he must find himself", however, Jesus says the contrary: "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself" (Matthew 16:24).
CONSEQUENCES OF RELYING UPON ONESELF

If we rely upon ourselves, we are left to ourselves, and limited by a sinful motivation of our own nature; therefore, we shall never know how, we shall never wish and be able to save our souls. If a plant tried to find life energy within itself, and thus started to fold its leaves towards itself, it would quickly wither away. Its only hope is to keep its leaves constantly open toward the sun. It's the same with us. Our only hope is to look into the one who is "the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world" (John 1:9).

We are not omniscient as God is, and we do not love ourselves as God loves us, and we are not powerful as God is (we cannot save ourselves from sin and guilt). We see that there is really no sense in relying upon ourselves and one's own nature because in that case we are faced with three insoluble problems: limited ideals, the lack of a genuine wish for salvation, and the inability to realize it.
WE DO NOT KNOW

Our ideals are limited by our experience, our nature. We are limited by our own misery. We do not know God and so we are not inclined towards Him. We cannot realize more than what we already qualitatively are. In the state of sin, we consider real love to be strange and boring:

28 "Now the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him; and he cannot know them, because they are spiritually judged." (1 Corinthians 2:14) Our criterions for good and evil are corrupted together with our nature so we are not conscious of the depth of our spiritual needs nor of the greatness of the grasp we need. Trusting ourselves we limit our ability to see the beauty of the truth and to understand the character of the real love. The deeds of real love and goodness we cannot explain differently but ascribing to them sinful background because we ourselves are good out of sinful motives. Only the One who means love can reveal love to us and make us conscious of the need for salvation.
WE DO NOT WANT

We want to remove the consequences of the sin (unpleasant feelings, sickness, bad experiences, death) because we are moved by selfishness, but we do not want the real salvation because, as we saw before, we do not have the real love for ourselves. "There is no one who is righteous, no one who is wise or who worships God." (Romans 3:10:11) We can even reasonably be conscious of the weight of the state in which we are, but in ourselves we will never find the motive and strength to get out of such a state. Only God by His Holy Spirit can in us conceive the act of salvation. And if we answer to that call, God will answer to desire which He Himself moved in our soul. Getting to know majestic God's character, the wish will appear in us to, to revealed God's love, answer also by love.
WE CANNOT

Trusting ourselves we are powerless to help ourselves even if we are conscious of the spiritual needs, even when we really want the salvation. We do not have the power to change our hearts (motives determined by our genes), nor to be redeemed for our sins. Only God can perform the miracle of goodness in our heart and life. He calls us to come to Him and says: "I have swept away your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you." (Isaiah 44:22)
THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION

Many people try to recognize the truth about the sense of life looking for it in their hearts. They look into themselves and ask themselves: "Where am I from? Where am I going? Why do I exist?" A large number of people having asked this question ended their life with suicide, as with an only exit from the hopelessness of the senselessness of their lives. Looking into themselves many could see nothing more than their own misery. Instead of looking at the sun of justice, many continued to look at their own darkness all the time until the darkness swallowed them completely. Is the question "Who am I?" the best question one can ask himself? Is that question posed to a right person?

29 It is real that the sense of our life can be known best by the Person Who also has given us the life as a gift - the Creator and Redeemer of the life. The first question posed upon man when he got out from the hands of his Creator was directed to the first person he saw then. After having been created, Adam did not see himself at a mirror and ask himself: "Who am I? Where am I from? Where am I going? Why do I exist?" What was happening to the persons who was asking that question? Let us look what the Bible says: The question "Who am I?" (Exodus 3:11) was asked by Moses, when God called him to save the tribe of Israel from the Egyptian slavery. Moses became afraid of his life task because he had started from a wrong question. He had thought about himself, his moral values and his abilities, and that is why he became discouraged. However, by His answer, God showed that, when He is present, the question "Who am I?" is irrelevant: "I will be with you!" (Exodus 3:12) It does not matter who we are and what we are like, but what is our Lord like. Why to limit oneself with one's own self and one's own weaknesses, when God's mercy and His power is at one's disposal?! God speaks to each heart which feels its own weakness: "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Corinthians 12:9) "Your strength is not in multitude, neither is your power in mighty ones but You are the God of humbled ones, savior of little ones, weak ones lean upon you, refuge for homeless, savior of hopeless." Judith 9,11. When we have lost confidence in ourselves, let us raise our look above. When we allow God that our weakness become His strength, than we shall say together with apostle Paul: "Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:10) "Who are You, God?" (Acts 9:5) This question was asked by the future apostle Paul at a crossroads of his life. The patient and merciful God responded to him: "I am Jesus who you chase after" (Acts 9:5)

30 In the response to the most important life question the future apostle understand with awe all his rebelliousness and enmity of his nature toward God. But, he also understood the wonderful truth that the force of God's mercy is stronger than the force of his nature. Therefore, even the very fact of recognizing himself as God's enemy did not mean an end of his life, but precisely its new beginning. Differently to the questions "Who am I? Where do I come from? Where do I go to?" which are burdening, the understanding of the answer to the question "Who are You, Lord? Why were You on the Earth? When are You going to come again?", means - life: "And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." (John 17:3) When Moses asked "Show we now Your way, that I may know You" and "Please, show me Your glory." (Exodus 33:13.18), in answering to his prayer God did not bring Moses in state of nirvana, nor dazzle him by sensational scientific knowledge, but He simply revealed His character: "And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation." (Exodus 34:6- 7) The one who is "delighted" (Proverbs 8:31) in being with sons of man invites us to a salutary meeting: "Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: ... have not I the Lord? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else." (Isaiah 45:20-22) Asking God the question "Who are you?" we will get eventually also the answer to the question "Who am I?" The Old Testament prophet Zechariah says that the Saviour will retain the scars of his wounds on his hands, and when the saved in eternity come and ask their Saviour: "What are these wounds on your body?" (Zechariah 13:6), they will hear the wonderful story about God's love for sinner, they will hear the answer: "The wounds I was given at the house of my friends." (Zechariah 13:6) Let us look at the Saviour's hands and we will get an answer to the question "Who am I?" "Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O earth; burst into song, O mountains! For the Lord comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones. But Zion said, 'The Lord has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me.' Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me." (Isaiah 49:13-16)

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CONCLUSION

Contrary to dealing with ourselves which burdens us (failures discourage us, and successes induce us to take the burden of pride upon ourselves, etc.), we have the honor to uplift our thoughts to God. Then, our failures induce us to rely more completely upon God, while our successes fill us with gratitude towards Him.
SIN AS LAWLESSNESS

Why it is necessary to define sin as a violation of the Law? Unpleasant manifestations of man's spiritual condition appear in his feelings and behavior, so he tries to remove them in different ways. The sin itself is not bother him, but only its manifestations, for they destroy his pleasant feelings and disturb his relationship with surroundings.
TO WANT

We try to be good by force in order to harmonize, by a "correct behavior", our relationship with the voice of conscience and with the surroundings. Perhaps in it we do succeed formally. But the most we can do is to change our behavior. Our nature remains the same; our heart, although restrained in its expression, remains sinful. In the course of time just a sublimation occurs of the old motives into new forms of our thoughts and behavior. We become ready to do good and self- sacrificing deeds, but we are moved to them by guilt, self-loving or some other sinful motive. Holy Scriptures say about idleness of man's attempt to have his heart changed: "Can the Nubian change his skin, or the leopard its spots? And you? Can you do good, you who are schooled in evil?" (Jeremiah 13:23)

DEFINITION OF MORAL

Since man is able to change only his form of behavior, not his essence too, his definition of morals tends to be superficial; adjusted to his abilities. It deals with behavior, but not with motives too. "It is not important what deed I did than which motives move me" think the bearers of such morals. The followers of some oriental religions, for example, consider to be sin to crush a bug even accidentally, but if we have a hatred in our heart, then we will not suffer consequences.

32 The followers of Krishna, speaking about Krishna universal attractiveness, claim that it is not important which motives drive a man to serve God and that God attracts both good and evil people, in order that all of them find a fulfillment of their motives in Him. Some people are even not aware of existence of the motives moving them to certain behavior. A Jehovah witness repented with such: "Forgive me, God, for I committed 27 sins! I slammed the door strongly when going out from the room, a walked over the grass although it was forbidden, I crossed the street although there was red light, ..." Perhaps his behavior represents a sin indeed, but this believer did not repent the motives he sinned out, but only the manifestations of his attitude in behavior. The cause of his sinning still remained in his heart. What is cause of such a superficial approach? The doctrine of Jehovah witnesses is full of the demands not binding morally, not demanding a reform of the motives of human heart. The superficial demands induces a man to a superficial thinking, and thus he never recognizes whether behind his good intentions may lie sinful motives. A strict ban on the traditional dyeing eggs, birthday celebrations, blood transfusions and various other bans induce a believer to form an opinion that sin is in certain action, and not in the motives for that action. We must keep in mind that in man's heart there is not an tendency to dye eggs, birthday celebrations and blood transfusion. A man can do all of it out of both good and bad motives, depending on his spiritual condition. By mere restraining oneself from dying eggs, birthday celebrations and blood transfusion abstinence we can not remove the evil from human heart. A blind observing the rules induced Jehovah's witnesses to an irrational behavior, the same as it was with Pharisees. A Jehovah's witness will hold the health commandment of the ban on blood consummation so strictly that he will sacrifice even his life to save his health (evading blood transfusion). Jesus showed clearly that man had not been made for the sake of the law, but the law for the sake of man. A superficial and blind observing the drove many people to the conclusion that the moral issue is a relative matter, for (ones have these rules, and others those ones. However, the law looking at motives is not a relative one, but, as we have already seen, is quite reasonable and functional. It will show to us that behind our good intentions often very bad motives can be hidden.
TO FEEL

We try in different ways to invoke in us pleasant feelings, in order to find in them strength for our goodness. We achieve that with certain psychological atmosphere, help of appropriate music, feeling of closeness, alcohol, drugs or, perhaps, certain religious system. Maybe we really feel love and under the influences of our feelings we do good deeds. However, goodness moved by feelings is a biased goodness. It is not appropriate to man's real interests. Its goal is that the one to whom it is directed should feel happiness, but not become happy as well. Thus, one will, out of the feeling of love, offer to his friend a drug or an alcoholic drink. He will wish to share the feeling of happiness with his neighbor but not the happiness itself (for he has not got it). In such a way under the influence of enthusiasm, Eve offered the forbidden fruit to Adam. It was the first case of fanaticism caused by feelings.

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DEFINITION OF MORAL

Fanaticism out of feelings does not demand a renunciation of sin, for the fanaticism is based on the change of feeling, not on the change of our essence. That is why it does not bear fruits, which are in accord with all Ten commandments of God's moral law. Its bearers therefore fear the Decalogue. They appeal only to the commandments which say "Love...", for they allow a superficial interpretation, and thereby the legalization of fanaticism as well. However, an unjust heart is also able to feel love. For example, man feel love for himself sincerely, and at the same time he smokes and drinks alcohol, therefore he does not love himself. The emotion of love and motive of love are not the same. Under the notion of goodness a person moved by feelings thinks about a satisfaction of others' selfish motives. He or she wishes other people around him to feel pleasantly and thinks that that is an answer to their real needs. A fanatic moved by feelings calls sin most often the outbursts of his negative feelings. Therefore he wages his spiritual battle on a wrong plane, unaware of the problem being hidden deeper than feelings - in his motives.
TO BE

We can influence the contents of our thoughts, feelings and actions by our will, but we cannot influence the contents of our heart by this "operation". Its motives still remain sinful. By avoiding negative thoughts and feelings we only remove a reason for manifestation of our sinful nature and thus we escape from the problem which we still bear in the depth of our soul. In order to achieve happiness and love, it is necessary that a man experience a change of what he is - of his essence: "Guard your heart more than any treasure, for it is the source of all life." "Wicked thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, perjury, slander - these all proceed from the heart;" (Proverbs 4:23; Matthew 15:19) If we deal with ourselves trying to change our hearts, we will get tired and disappointed, for we will try the impossible. Only God can change our heart. "I will sprinkle clean water over you, and you shall be cleansed from all that defiles you; I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone from your body and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit in to you and make you conform to my statutes, keep my laws and live by them. " (Ezekiel 36:25-27)

34

DEFINITION OF MORAL

Contrary to all superficial definitions of righteousness, which induce a man to correct and covers up the symptoms of his own spiritual state on the level of his actions and his feelings, there is a necessity for definition of his very spiritual state. It is necessary to define a sin like a state, bad in itself, and therefore induce a man to solve his problem at the root. We are given such a definition by God's moral law. Love is an accordance with the law, and sin is a breaking of the law: "Love is the fulfilling of the law." (Romans 13:10) "Sin is lawlessness." (1 John 3:4) Has God discovered somewhere his law to a man? In Old Testament we have the revelation of God's moral law, expressed in two commandments, which define our relationship toward God and our relationship toward fellow-man: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." (Deuteronomy 6:5) "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (Leviticus 19:18) Is God law expressed through two commandments, reprimanding idolatry, unholiness, disrespect, vice, greed and all other ways of behavior which are fruit of our separation from God (and our primeval dissatisfaction)? Is the definition of the law, in this way, clear enough not to be understood superficially? Of course, it is not! In accordance with such compressed definition of the law apostle Paul could not certainly have said: "I should not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said: You shall not covet." (Romans 7:7) Obviously, man needs a deeper definition of the Law than that given through two commandments and it's obvious that it exists when apostle Paul mention it.

GOD'S MORAL LAW THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

During the magnificent proclamation on Sinai, God pronounced the moral law by His voice and on the stone slab he wrote it with His finger. First four commandments are telling us about our relationship toward God, the way of expression of our love toward Him, and the other six about our relationship toward other people:

35 I I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me. II You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments. III You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not acquit anyone who misuses his name. IV Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God; you shall not do any work -you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it. V Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. VI You shall not murder. VII You shall not commit adultery. VIII You shall not steal. IX You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. X You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. (Exodus 20:2-17)

36
NECESSITY OF LAW KNOWLEDGE

"Yet, if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, 'You shall not covet.'" (Romans 7:7) Without the law we do not have the criteria whereby we could recognize difference between good and bad and to employ properly our own will in life temptations. That's why one of the main objects of Satan's efforts is contesting the law; whether by stating that it is abolished or by trying to present distortedly its own nature (the same it was with Pharisees). To understand properly the nature of the law means to be wise. When we choose sin deliberately, then the wisdom hinders us because the ability discerning good and evil induces us to be reprimanded for our own sins. The truth warns us through the conscience asks for a reform of our motives. That's why we try to understand the truth in a way which is not going to make us morally responsible, in a way our conscience will stay calmed. We run away from the wisdom to the superficiality. Different mechanisms of escaping the truth result in different philosophies of life (deceptions). If we go sincerely against our conscience by making sin then our conscience gets blunt and the common sense can stay saved. But if we are people with sensible conscience and if we do not want to go against it then we have to cheat it up pronouncing all our sins before it. In the first case we loose conscience and in the second our common sense. When we are separated from God the deception brings a "peace" to our conscience as well as a sin brings a "happiness" to our heart. Consequently, without an unclean conscience, nobody would prone to trust in the deception, as well as nobody without an emptiness in his heart would be prone to fall into sin. As well as a pleasure is a physical need of a sinful man, so the deception is an intellectual need of his unclean conscience.
SPIRIT AND SENSE OF THE LAW

In his sermon on The Mount of Blessings, Jesus presented moral law in its real, until then neglected light. Lest He be misunderstood because of emphasizing the spiritual nature of the law as one who abolishes the law, Jesus confirmed that the law was eternal and unchangeable: "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5:17-20) Pharisees were known by their strict and blind following of God's law and still Jesus said to them: "Did not Moses give you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law." "You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts; for what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God." (John 7:19; Luke 16:15) It's not enough that only our feelings, thoughts and behavior are in accordance with the law. The reform has to start from the heart (motives): "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God." (Matthew 5:8)

37 Pharisees presented all commandments of moral Decalogue perverted, because of the formal and superficial understanding of God's justice. Jesus showed the real character of moral law with exact examples of The God's commandments. About breaking Seventh commandment, Jesus says: "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart." (Matthew 5:27-28) Jesus actually just reminded the Jews of the neglected meaning of the commandments Old Testament: "And that you seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you use to go a whoring: That you may remember, and do all my commandments, and be holy unto your God." (Numbers 15:39- 40) Likewise, speaking about love for neighbour and for enemy, Jesus says: "You have learned that they were told, 'Love your neighbour, hate your enemy'. But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; If you love only those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?" (Matthew 5:43-46) In the Old Testament was written "Love your neighbour" and the commandment "Hate your enemy" was not written in the Old Testament, because the root was in the church tradition. We know that from Jesus saying: "You have learned that they were told". Commandment "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" (Leviticus 24:20) was the Commandment of the civil law (the shadow of God's justice which is going to follow wrongdoing when the last Judgment comes) but the uneducated Jewish people interpreted is as a commandment of moral law because they wanted to justify anger and hate in their hearts. But, the moral law in The Old Testament said: "You shall not take vengeance." (Leviticus 19:18) "Do not say, 'I will repay evil'." (Proverbs 20:22) "Do not say, 'I will do to him as he has done to me; I will pay the man back for what he has done'." "Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles." "If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink." (Proverbs 24:29; 24:17; 25:21) Jewish wise sayings kept a record for us of the way in which Jews, at the time of the Old Testament, considered the way God treated His enemies, even the enemies who, because of their evil ways, had to be extinct. They say: "Those who lived long ago in your holy land you hated for their detestable practices, their works of sorcery and unholy rites, their merciless slaughter of children, and their sacrificial feasting on human flesh and blood. These initiates from the midst of a heathen cult, these parents who murder helpless lives, you willed to destroy by the hands of our ancestors, so that the land most precious of

38 all to you might receive a worthy colony of the servants of God. But even these you spared, since they were but mortals, and send wasps as forerunners of your army to destroy them little by little, though you were not unable to give the ungodly in to the hands of the righteous in battle, or to destroy them at one blow by dread wild animals your stern word. But judging them little by little you gave them an opportunity to repent. For who will say, 'What have you done?' or will resist your judgment? Who will accuse you for the destruction of nations that you made? Or who will cone before you to plead as an advocate for the unrighteous? For neither is there any god besides you, whose care is for all people, to whom you should prove that you have not unjustly; ... You are righteous and you rule all things righteously." (Wisdom of Solomon 12) God's tenderness is surprising concerning His acting toward the Egyptians. Instead of punishing them with wild beasts He sent lice, grasshoppers and frogs! "Their land brought forth frogs in abundance, in the chambers of their kings. He spake, and there came divers sorts of flies, and lice in all their coasts. He spake, and the locusts came, and caterpillars, and that without number, And did eat up all the herbs in their land, and devoured the fruit of their ground." (Psalm 105:30-31.34-35) "If return for their foolish and wicked thoughts, which led them astray to worship irrational serpent and worthless animals, you sent upon them a multitude of irrational creatures to punish them, so that they might learn that one is punished by the very things by which one sins. For your all-powerful hand, which created the world out of formless matter, did not lack the means to send upon them a multitude of bears, or bold lions, or newly-created unknown beasts full of rage, of such as breathe out fiery breath... But the mere sight of them could kill by fright. ... But you have arranged all things by measure and number and weight. ... But you are merciful to all, for you can do all things, and you overlook people's sins, so that they may repent. For you love all things that exist, and detest none of the things that you have made, for you would not have made anything if you had hated it. How would anything have endured if you had not willed it? Or how would anything not called forth by you have been preserved? You spare all things, for they are yours. O Lord, you who love the living. For your immortal spirit is in all things. Therefore you correct little by little those who trespass, and you remind and warn them of the things through which they sin, so that they may be freed from wickedness and put their trust in you, O Lord." (Wisdom of Solomon 11)
RELATION BETWEEN THE MORAL LAW AND THE LAW OF JUSTICE (THE CITIZEN'S LAW)

We see here that there is difference between the law of God's justice, which is telling us about punishment for the sin ("An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth") and God's moral law which is not telling us anything about justice (punishing) but about the righteousness (motives) of human heart ("Do not say I'll revenge for evil", "Love your enemies"). Some people try to deny the character of God's love trying to bring it in conflict with God's justice. However, justice exists because of God's love towards all dwellers of the universe. It exists just lest the sin be immortalized and thereby the Order of eternal harmony and welfare be imperiled. Sin, which reigns in our hearts will be surely destroyed one day: in this life - with our repentance or when the last Judgment comes - together with us. Should sin be immortalized, it would be a damnation for both the good and the evil.

39 Some people in trying to deny God's justice claim that "Bible's God is revengeful because He menaces man that he will be destroyed unless he repents and accepts His principles". If father warns his child not to put his finger into a plug, lest it die, are we going to say that "father is revengeful because he threats"?! Are we going to call a revengeful threat the warning whereby God reminds us through Moses law to put a fence around the balcony lest someone fall down and die?! "When you build a new house, you shall make a parapet for your roof, that you may not bring the guilt of blood upon your house, if any one fall from it." (Deuteron. 22:8) If God warns us of the consequences of breaking His law and an eternal destruction, it does not mean that "He threats us revengefully" or that "He hates us", but right that shows that he loves. "Say to them, As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways; for why will you die, O house of Israel?" (Ezekiel 33:11) Whether we see love or revengefulness in God's Word and His justice, it reveals to a great extent whether we are driven by love or revengefulness when we condemn evil. When Christ's pupils suggested that fire should fall down from heaven and exterminate Samaritans who refused to offer hospitality to their Teacher, then Jesus turned back, menaced them and said: "'You do not know', he said, 'to what spirit you belong; for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them.'" (Luke 9:55-56) One should condemn a sin but not a sinner too. The sinner should be helped: "You shall not go up and down as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand forth against the life of your neighbor: I am the Lord. You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason with your neighbor, lest you bear sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance or bear any grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord." (Leviticus 19:16-18) Let us note how God's word points to the difference between condemnation moved by the spirit of love and the condemnation representing a pretext for the hatred and revengefulness of one's own sinful heart. It's obvious that it is a big temptation for a man to take God's justice in his hands and to excuse thereby his sinful acts. Now it is clear to us why the manifestation of God's justice in form of civil law on Earth was abolished when the Jews discarded Christ. As God's "empire is not from this world", man and his institutions are not competent anymore to represent God's justice on Earth. The judgement has been left in God's hands exclusively. Yet, God's justice, sometimes even before the last Judgment, discovers its character. God is not less rightful in the time of the New Testament than before. This shows us the example of Anania and Sephora. (Acts 5:1-11). And when, finally, sin and consequences of sin and Satan is destroyed, then a song will be heard: "The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of rulers, that smote the peoples in wrath with unceasing blows, that ruled the nations in anger with unrelenting persecution.

40 The whole earth is at rest and quiet; they break forth into singing. The cypresses rejoice at you, the cedars of Lebanon, saying, 'Since you were laid low, no hewer comes up against us.'" (Isaiah 14:5-8)
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE MORAL AND THE CEREMONIAL LAW

We have noticed that the Jews, in order to justify the non- consecration as well as their religious fanaticism, attributed to the moral law features of the citizen law. They used to mix justice and righteousness; they replaced the law that was to be written in the very heart of a man with the law speaking about a punishment. Today many Christians seem to be doing much like this. Tryng to justify their own lack of sanctification and their fanaticism, they also try to contest the demands of the moral law, but this time through attributing to it the features of the ceremonial law. As the ceremonial law was abolished on the Cross through the fulfillment of the plan of salvation, they assumed the doom of the moral one to be the same, namely - that the Ten commandments were abolished on the cross as well. In their opinion, there is no difference between these two laws. Of course, they are not able to persist completely in this attitude, since, yet, they do hold those of the Ten Commandments in the way that suggests the kind of fanaticism whose formal holding is a fruit of the kind of fanaticism animating them. If it were that the law was abolished, then the reasons for that should necessarily apply to all ten commandments (You shall not kill! You shall not commit adultery! ...). Jesus would not be consequent to Himself by asking of His disciples to keep a single commandment including the one saying "Love!" in case the whole moral law were abolished by His redeeming blood. If the blood of the New Testament had abolished all of the law, then it is senseless to re-establish the commandments abolished by that very blood. If the law were abolished, the apostle James wouldn't have had any right to say: "For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. For the one who said, "You shall not commit adultery," also said, "You shall not murder." Now if you do not commit adultery but if you murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. For judgment will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment. What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill," and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. But someone will say, "You have faith and I have works." Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe and shudder. Do you want to be shown, you senseless person, that faith apart from works is barren?" (James 2:10-20) But if the reasons for abolishing the law applied only to some of the commandments and not to all of them, then those reasons show that there is some difference between commandments and commandments. Again this proves that some of them are eternal while some are temporary. What is the difference between them? Which are the commandments abolished by Jesus? Let us start with the law which was written in human hearts before the fall into sin.

41 Man's reasonable consciousness that the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was forbidden (Genesis 2:16,17) as well as cognition that the seventh day is blessed and sanctified, (Genesis 2:1-3) determined the way and form of expressing man's love for his Creator. The ceremonial (or the prophetic) law, speaking of the system of sacrifices, did not exist in the moment of the creation because, at the time, there was no need for redemption. With the appearance of sin God used to give the revelation of His laws through His faithful servants (Genesis 26:3.5). In the moment of the magnificent revelation on the mount of Sinai, God, in His own voice, pronounced the moral law (Exodus 20:1.22), while the sacrificial law was pronounced by the voice of a man (Leviticus 1:1-3). The moral law (the Ten commandments) which was to be written in our hearts, was then written on the most durable material (Exodus 31:8, 24:12), while the ceremonial law on a spendable one (Exodus 24:7, Deuteronomy 31:24). The first was put into the Ark of the Covenant by Moses (Exodus 40:20), and the other was put by the Levities beside the Ark (Deuteronomy. 31:26). The moral law is eternal (Psalm 111:7.8), and the ceremonial one is for a time (Daniel 9:27, Hebrews. 7:12, Colos. 2:17). The moral law does not save us (Galatians 5:4), but keeping it is a result of the sanctification (Romans 3:31, Jeremiah 36:26- 28). The ceremonial law was not established in order to provide the salvation through keeping it (Isaiah 1:11-18, Micah 6:6-8, Hebrews 10:1-4), but it points to the Saviour and the plan of salvation (John 1:29). If it had been possible to change or abolish the moral law (expressed in Ten commandments), Jesus would not have had to die for our salvation, for God would simply have changed this law and the man would no longer be under its condemnation. But, in such a case God would not be just being non-consistent to His own principles. A change of the law would mean a change of His character. Sin would be legalized including its products: misery, slavery, absurdity and death. The nature of sin is always the same, regardless of the way we call it, by its real name or as we like it. The change of the definition or its abolishment can not change the nature of sin and its fatal consequences. When we yield to Jesus then He lives in us by His Spirit. Living in us He does not find it hard to keep His law. "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God." (1 John 3:9)
ARE THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF GOD NOT VALID ANY MORE?

Many people experience the strong sense of self-blame in their conscience when they meet a person who has, in his behavior, the works of the law. In order to calm their conscience, they accuse the person that he is a legalist and that he is looking for salvation by sticking to the commandments. And then they quote the verse: "Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin." (Romans 3:21)

42 By their own judgment, these lawbreakers sentence themselves because they reveal on account of which intentions they would live by the commandments, if they lived by them. In that way they reveal that they are without Christ and His love. They would live by the law only if they had some use of it (to be justified). That is why they say: "There is no need to live by the law in order to save myself. God's mercy is enough!" They cannot understand that living by the law is the fruit of dedication, i.e. a fruit of accepting the mercy. They have no real love in their hearts which is in accordance with the moral law (together with The Ten Commandments). "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law." "If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you." (Romans 3:31, John 14:15- 17) The criterion of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our hearts is the very living by the law (Ezekiel 36:27). In order to make excuses for their fanaticism which are not in accordance with the moral law (The Ten Commandments), many people do not know what to do with the Decalogue. Since they do not know where to put it, they claim that God gave it only to Jews, so that they would save themselves by abiding by it. However, the word of God asked the Jews to save themselves by faith (Habakkuk 2:4) in the promised Saviour who was pointed at by the whole ceremonial law (Colossians 2:16-17: John 1:29). For example, David was justified by faith, and not by the works of the law (Romans 4:5-7, Jews 11:32-33).

43 It would really be ironic if God, together with the ceremonial law which dealt with Christ's sacrifice of reconciliation as the only way of salvation, asked the Jews to save themselves in some other way. It would be senseless if God asked the Jews to save themselves in an impossible way. Due to the lack of arguments to justify this fanaticism (and thus disobeying the law of God), people are prone to accept the greatest of nonsense. Many Christians believe that from Moses to Christ, God led his chosen people to the heavy burden of legalism and fanaticism (justified by the works). However, even at the time of the Old Testament, the Word of God asked for the approach of the heart: "Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil." (Joel 2:12-13) Jesus reprimanded the fanaticism and legalism by the very reference to the principles of the Old Testament: "One sabbath he was going through the grainfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, 'Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?' And he said to them, 'Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food?' He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions." (Mark 2:23-26) As we can see, Jesus did not come among the Jews in order to preach some new doctrine, the new way of salvation different from the one that had been revealed in the Word of God, because otherwise he would not refer to the principles of the salvation and law which existed in the time of King David. Love was the practice of the law, then and now. Sabbath was created by God only for the sake of men, not as a day of tiredness, but as a day of rest (Isaiah 58:13-14). Jesus, of course, does not reprimand the sense of the Sabbath commandment, but a fanatical and a senseless way of celebrating it. If he disputed the sense of the Sabbath commandment, he would be reprimanding its Creator, claiming that he had given a senseless commandment to a man. Many people criticized the Christians who abode by the law of Moses, calling them fanatics and formalists. In that way they condemned themselves by their own judgment, because in that way they showed themselves what they thought about the character of God. God of their mind had severe character in the Old Testament period, from Moses to Christ, because he led his people to the formalism and fanaticism. Whoever criticized the law had to bear in mind that by that he made an objection to its Creator, that what he had established was wrong. When Jesus tells that God created Sabbath for the man's sake and not the man for the sake of Sabbath, He praises the character of the very God of the Old Testament who created Sabbath "for the man's sake and not the man for the sake of Sabbath". Sabbath was "created for the sake of the man" (Mark 2:27), upon the completion of the creation, before the birth of the Jewish nation, which means that it was created for all human beings and for all time. The reports from the early church authorities, writers and historians witness about that.

44 The church official Tertulian who is now recognized by both Eastern and Western church, claimed that Jesus, in his debates with Pharisees, did not abolish the Sabbath commandment but that he pointed out that abiding by it had to be filled with love and goodness: "Pharisees were in the total misconception regarding the Sabbath commandment. ...In order to justify by law the healing of a man whose hand dried, Jesus asked the Pharisees: 'Is it allowed to do good deeds on Sabbath? To save one soul or to lose it?' By that He, approving the deed, which He did for the salvation of the soul, taught the Pharisees which deeds were forbidden by the Sabbath commandment, i.e. the human one, and which were approved of by God's, the ones that had been done for the salvation of the soul. ..." (Tertulian, Aduersus Marcionem IV, 9-11) A contemporary of Tertulian and the church writer Origen writes: "Let us leave the Jewish Sabbath regulations on the side and look how a Christian should think about Sabbath. No one should do any secular work on Sabbath. No secular work should be done on Sabbath. If that is why one keeps away from secular work and does nothing secular on that day, but have the time only for he the spiritual work, for going to church, listening to sermons and teachings, for thinking only about the secret godly things, taking care of one's hope, have the upcoming judgment day in front of your eyes, and not direct your look towards the contemporary and visible things but to the invisible and future ones, - that is abiding by Sabbath for a Christian. But the Jews could abide by it too. ... On Sabbath, everyone sits on their own place and does not leave it. But what is the spiritual place of one soul? Justice is its place, just like the truth, wisdom, holiness and everything what is Jesus himself, is the place of the soul. No one should leave t his place in order to abide by Sabbath in the right way and in order to complete the holy day of Sabbath by sacrifices; as the Lord said: Who remains in me, I shall remain in him too." (Origen, Towoi XII) Euzebius, the father of the church history (339 AD), wrote: "It is necessary to see the meaning of Sabbath. ... According to it, if the people of God break away from the work that tires the soul and give themselves away to God totally, as well to research and observation of the godly and the spiritually recognizable, then, of course, they are celebrating Sabbath too, in a way God approves of. About these Sabbaths the Holy Bible teaches us the following: 'Therefore, yet another Sabbath remains among the people of God to rest.', and further: 'Let us make sure we enter that peace.'... We, who died in this worthless and mortal life enjoy the God-pleasing and spiritual peace which frees us from the work and slavery of our bodies in which we celebrate Sabbath and have rest." (Euzebius Caesareensis, Commentaria in psal. 91)
EMOTIONS AS THE AUTHORITY OF TRUTH

As it can be supposed, a fanatic out of emotions puts his own emotions ("the voice of the heart") above the authority of the word of God. To him, the criterion of truth is in himself, and not in God, and that is why he is prone, unintentionally and sometimes, to utter a confession: "But, I feel and understand it in this way! ... The Spirit tells me so!"

45 Of course, the truth does not depend on what we think of it. It is not important what we think or feel, but what the truth is! A fanatic does not submit his feelings to the authority of the Holy Bible but he interprets the Holy Bible on the basis of his experiences and feelings and calls it the inspired interpretation. He often speaks of his inspiration as if he wanted to say: "Maybe what I think does not seem reasonable and as if it were not according to the Bible, but that inspiration leads me in such a way and I am following that way!" In that way he takes up the attitude of acting irresponsibly towards the power that possessed him, as if he were privileged so that he could not be led by any power but the one of God. He simply passes the Biblical verses which reprimand his spiritual state as if such passages did not exist. He denies any of their importance because, from the point of view of the fanatical forces of his own heart, he cannot explain them in a sensible way and not disagree with them at the same time. "As soon as something disturbs me, I know that it is the demon" he comments and in that way calms his conscience. In order to justify his state before his conscience, he often disputes the role of reason and in that way gets into conflict with the fundamental points of the Biblical teaching. Let us remember the role of reason: "And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life." (1 John 5:20) Without the revelation of the Word of God and His law which is directed to our reason, we ourselves are in the position to become aware neither of the love of God nor of the weight of our own sinfulness. If the voice of human heart were reliable, the apostle Paul would not have to emphasize the necessity of the law as the mirror of our state and our spiritual needs: "I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet." (Romans 7:7) Without our reason we are not able to understand the demands of the law of God, and act correctly in temptation, making the distinction between good and evil: "The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding." (Job 28:28) Taking our feelings and the voice of our heart as the criterion of truth, we discover our insanity: "He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered." (Proverbs 28:26) "A fool hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart may discover itself." (Proverbs 18:2) When the apostle Paul reprimands the religious zeal of the Jews, he reveals that the sincerity itself is not sufficient:

46 "For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God." (Romans 10:2-3) The Word of God calls us to admit our insanity and start following our reason: "Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars: She hath killed her beasts; she hath mingled her wine; she hath also furnished her table. She hath sent forth her maidens: she crieth upon the highest places of the city, Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled. Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding." (Proverbs 9:1.36) If we do not take into account these Biblical principles in the role of reason, then we are not really Christians.
THE COMMONEST REASON OF MISUNDERSTANDING OF BIBLICAL REVELATION

Many people have been "looking for" the truth for years, going from one church to another, reading all possible religious and philosophical literature, and still can not get to a cognition of what the truth is. As if a Truth with capital T does not exist, as if does not exist God Who wants to reveal the truth personally to them, and as if the truth itself is not understandable. Obviously the problem is not in Truth, God and understandability of the truth, but in themselves! What is their essential problem? They do not allow the Truth to speak itself about itself, but they set conditions to it! They claim that they ask God in prayer what is the truth, but they actually ask themselves, their hearts. They have raised the voice of their selfish and self-righteous Me so high that are not able to hear God's voice at all. The voice of their personal doubts and assumptions, of selfish and selfrighteous desires, is so strong that because of it they can not hear at all the answer to the question: "What is the truth really?" They have made themselves, their "I think ..." and their ways more important than the truth and God Who is revealed by the truth. Man's unreadiness to listen to other people's advice often points to his unreadiness to hear the advice and voice of divine inspiration. If we, in our arrogance, have to condition our acceptance of certain opinion by whether our great Me also agrees with it, then we limit our power to cognate those character attributes which are not contained in our nature, but are necessary for us to be obtained. A friend of mine took the Gospel with a great zeal, and then stated after a couple of days: "I don't like it! Jesus is very arrogant! He always repeats: I am this and I am that! He is just performing miracles and putting on airs!" What is the problem of my friend? He has not read the Bible in a spirit of humility! It has resulted in his asking his own Me, not God Himself, what is the truth. And why is it bad?

47 His sinful nature is not able to understand the real unselfish goodness, presented to him through studying the Bible. But, as his nature itself is proud and arrogant, it gave its own comment on the Bible on the basis of the principles it is driven by. My friend saw pride and arrogance in the Bible because he himself would be good only out of such motives. One acquaintance of mine has a similar problem in her approach to the Bible. She said to me that Eastern religion fit much more to her heart, whereas she cannot understand the Bible at all. I said to her: "If we are trying to understand, feel and experience Holy Scriptures through ourselves, asking our heart, our nature, then we will not understand their true sense, for the Holy Scriptures are given to us in order that we understand something new through them, something we have not in ourselves, in our nature, in our heart, which we should have. Holy Scriptures were not given by man, but by God. They must not reduce themselves to a level of the human in order to be understandable, but their aim is to el evate man to God and His character." Again, another friend of mine told me that the Bible itself looks to him quite rational, but therefore too much cold, differently from some ready interpretations of the Bible of the Christian community he belonged to. I told him: "The problem is not in the Bible, but in you. Its revelation is not cold, but so are our hearts. Instead of provoking the fanaticism of our hearts by reading some distorted spiritual literature, we should humiliate ourselves and admit that, upon a rational revelation of the Bible, our heart has not love. Then we should stick to Christ's righteousness, and not to search through ourselves, looking for a goodness we will never find. The Bible is a test of the character of our heart, but our sinful and sel f-righteous heart cannot be a test for the Bible!" A similar arrogance is noticeable also with those who consider themselves to be faithful and correct Christians. Sometimes, in some special situation they reveal that they actually do not believe God, but themselves. Faced with their life responsibility, they are prone to claim: "I have not will to do that work! I don't feel like working ... I like most this, and least that! I would like most ..." Let us notice that those persons ask their Me for permission for any thing, whether their Me can or cannot, whether it wants or not to do the task standing before them. Although those persons claim that they believe in God, they do not ask God what His will is, but ask themselves. Saying that they have not a will to do what they should, they show that they are looking for a strength of will in themselves, not in God. They condition a faith in God by the faith in their wishes and abilities. In doing so they limit themselves automatically by their selfish motives, lack of love to do this or that, and also even by a lack of money or abilities which would be given to them as a gift should they rely upon God, not upon themselves. They claim to be trusting in God, but show by their actions that they have not trust at all that God loves them, and that He will give them, because of His love toward them, the needed power of unselfish love and abilities to complete the task they are called to by God's providence. Such persons show by their deeds also that they disbelieve God that it is better to act according to His law, but that it is better for them to walk their own ways. In their arrogance, those persons show in such way that they doubt that their Creator knows better what is the best for them. And when such persons experience hard life troubles, then they grudge to God for He has permitted those troubles, as if God should have forced them against their free will to renounce the way of life they have chosen themselves.

48 Many understand not until the time of troubles how much they relied upon themselves instead upon God, but thus the troubles are just an opportunity for them to humiliate before God, hear His voice and accept His wise leading and patronage. Many are waiting that certain situation or inspiration throws them to God's arms; however, the natural course of things always tends to separate us from God. We ourselves have to humiliate ourselves and choose God, because we want it with our will, not because our nature wishes so, for our sinful nature does not stand God. It is precisely why man is given the free will to make decisions independently of his nature, in order that he be free from himself. Precisely in order that we know how to use free will, to know to distinguish the motives of our Me from God's inspiration, we are offered a wisdom. And when our Me begins to rebel against the voice of reason, how many of us are willing to subjugate the voice of their Me to the voice of the Truth?! While a majority tests the voice of the Truth asking their Me for opinion and approval, few men agree to humiliate themselves, to admit their weakness and helplessness and to obey to the divine truth and its power. Do we start from our Me or from God, do we start from our biases and prejudices or from what the truth really is? It can be seen while studying Holy Scripture: Do we try to recognize ourselves at any price as those who allegedly fulfil his justice by their lives, or we admit to be in a conflict with God's law and therefore need God's mercy in order to have stand before God's face? The Pharisees who, in spite of their strict morality, sent Jesus to the cross, did not read the Bible in order to rejoice in God's goodness, but to rejoice in their own. They made efforts to enable their Me to be obedient to the law, instead of renouncing their sinful Me through the law and relying upon God. They actually endeavored to understand the demands of the law through themselves and their sinful nature, and it was why they had interwoven the motives of their sinful nature into their observance of the law.
DIFFERENT SINS AND DIFFERENT EXCUSES

People have different sins. Some people have sin of voracity, while others commit adultery. The ones who are voracious maybe are not inclined to adultery. For them voracity is something completely normal, while the adultery is sin. For others voracity is disgusting while adultery is their meaning of life... While some people look for salvation in belonging to their church, others do not mind belonging to the church because they are arrogant etc. Everyone is inclined to justify his own sins and at the same time ready to remonstrate the sins of others. It is normal that everyone accepts such philosophy of life that justifies their own sins. To justify the rejections of the absolute truth which would otherwise reprimand him for his sins, he forms the understanding that the truth is relative, so, by that, he soothes his conscience before his free choice. "Ah, you who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!" (Isaiah 5:20) People are inclined to remove the consequences of sin in different ways; psychological tension, guilt, etc. It shows that people differ not only in their sins but also in mechanisms they use to

49 remove the consequences of sin and thus they differ in excuses which they use to justify themselves. That's why there are so many different life philosophies. "The time will come when people will not put up with healthy teaching. Instead, following their own evil desires, they will gather to themselves many, many teachers to say what they want to hear." (2 Timothy 4:3-4)
LOSING OF COMMON SENSE

In order to reject the truth which reprimands our sins we must be unfair to ourselves and God. That is how, besides other sins, we commit the sin of dishonesty which opens the door for committing even worse sins being unaware of our real spiritual condition. Since we are dishonest we must not think rationally because then we would have to face the unpleasant truth. Since we can not justify our sins in the rational way, we use irrational arguments and by this action we provoke distortions in the use of reason. Imagine a smoker who wants to justify his use of tobacco. What does he do when he wants to justify his unhealthy habit? He talks about the large number of smokers; or about famous people who smoke; or finds justification in his feelings: "I do not feel any pain caused by smoking!". All these irrational arguments provoke the losing of common sense. If this person later decides to come back to God, he has difficult problems because he was hindered from realizing the truth by irrational approach. As he comes across more various conceptions, he would not know how to distinguish which one is true because his irrational criteria are mixed with the common sense criteria of the truth. One conception seems right to him because it is confirmed by his favorite authority; the second seems right to him because everybody thinks so; the third, too, since he likes it very much, and the fourth because it is really reasonable. And so he does not know what to think anymore, because all opinions seem reasonable. Often such persons who, due to their dishonesty and making excuses, lost their common sense, come to the conclusion that the reason is unusable because "by it everything can be proved and denied".
THE FALSE TOLERANCE

Due to not using their mind, many people are not able to justify to others rationally their life beliefs. But this is the requirement of God's Word: "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have." (1 Peter 3:15) If we are not ready to explain rationally before others our life comprehension, we do not have moral right neither before us nor before God to assert that that is neither clear itself to us nor that it is right too. "Ah, you who are wise in your own eyes, and shrewd in your own sight!" (Isaiah 5:21) As they fear of examining their own life attitudes, many are prone to sort of say: "Don't you touch my opinion, for neither I touch yours!" They name it "tolerance". Perhaps it would be more correctly named "common escape from the truth". One who is really on the side of truth has nothing to fear, for truth will remain the truth even if exposed to the severest criticism. Just the fact that it will resist any criticism and examination will be the proof of it being really the truth.

50 The persons who are characterized by the mentioned spirit of superficiality are forced to be "tolerant" toward the bearers of different opinions, for they would, developing the spirit of rational reflection, come to the danger of unmasking their own defense mechanisms as well.
THE INTOLERANCE

"Nowhere is easily forgotten that someone can have opposite conviction and that that conviction is honest and sincere. Immediately some back thoughts and perfidious intentions are being inserted for anyone who has different opinion. So we wonder where such bitterness comes from? And why should not we expect it? Do we call the enemy the person who criticizes severely when he has the object, and praises everything which is worth praising? In life he is usually called a friend." (Politika, No.1, Jan 12, 1904, page 1) Some express open intolerance. Since they cannot support the correctness of their comprehension by rational arguments nor by their life example, they use other methods to prove that they are right. They are afraid of different comprehension because they have no arguments by which they could justify their own. Since they cannot successfully fight against the truth, they fight against those who bear it. Secular religion (religion of multitude) must be superficial as much as not to reprimand a single sin of its supporters. It must not enter their inner spirituality but must be satisfied with certain form which shall make none morally responsible. Of course that such religion is so spiritually weak that it is sufficient to expose it to the mildest examination and it will lose its power (based on irrational arguments). In order that such superficial religion should be spread, it must be intolerant towards other comprehension and tolerant towards the sins of its bearers. It must base its power on the political power because it does not possess the power and force of the truth. The real God's Church does not need political power to keep it from false teachings. Is its teaching so weak that for its believer it is sufficient only to enter some other philosophy and immediately leave this one. Such comprehension is an insult for the truth and God. His truth is stronger than any error. Let's remember the early Christian Church whose believers were slandered, persecuted and killed and that did not hinder them to evangelize the greatest world kingdom in those times. The argument based upon the force of the truth and character of Christ's love cannot be beaten by anyone. As darkness has no power against light, so the misconception has no power over the truth. The one who is apprehensive to meet a different opinion by that very fact shows that he doubts the truth of his own conviction and that he does not believe himself to have been sanctified by the Holy Spirit (Luke 21:15). We should be tolerant toward the deceived but not toward the deception. Just as God respects our right to be deceived, so we should respect the right of others to be deceived. We should not respect the sin but should respect the sinner. God Himself planted the tree of knowledge of good and evil right because He asks for and respects our free choice. Who are we to demand that their choice should be right, when the Creator of life Himself leaves a freedom to everyone to make his or her own choice?! Joshua son of Nun says: "Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve ... but as for me and my housebold, we will serve the Lord." (Joshua 24:15)

51 If we are intolerant towards the sin and deception (which justifies the sin) and show intolerance towards sinners and deceived people, then we reveal satanic character. Lucifer likes sin and he despises the sinners and appeals to his right to destroy them for their sins. Christ does not like sin but loves the sinners and appealing to the merits of his blood, he increases the chance for them to be saved.
ACCEPTANCE OF THE AUTHORITY OF THE BIBLE

Some truths are acceptable because they are obvious by themselves. We do not need biblical education to know them, although they are already in Bible. We read Bible in order to recognize those truths in it, and to be reminded of them. However, there are truths that are not clear by themselves, and for knowing them we need revelation of omniscient Authority, we need special God's revelation. To question "Which book represents God's revelation?", stating that one book itself is the evaluation of God is not enough. There are various books which state for themselves to be divinely inspired. Because of that we cannot and we must not look for an answer relating to the authority itself, but we should reach it through thinking an reasonable testing the worth of our confidence in certain authority. When we are occupied by the question whether some revelation is from God, we pray God to give us reason, honesty and courage to recognize the truth. Searching for the truth, we could experience a real psychic crisis, in which we are becoming aware of our superficiality (inability to realize a difference between "goodness" and goodness, between deceit and truth). But, being humble, we will be attracted to God by His Holy Spirit. Our awakened consciousness reveals our weakness, which could become God's strength in our lives, if we do not, in the meantime, deaden it by various systems. In God we are finding strength and readiness to accept truth, although it is not acceptable for our expectations and our natural tendencies. The truth must be practical. It must not offer partial solutions but has to be the perfect answer to human needs. It tells our mind how to use our will in the right way and how to protect ourselves from evil. It gives a reasonable answer not to unimportant but to the essential needs of our being. In its essence the truth is good because it discovers God's love for us (but not for our sins and self-justified urges). By thinking about the point (the sense) of its teaching, we recognize also the readiness of the truth to endure every criticism and re-questioning. Understanding the truth we are recognizing the controversy between the good and the evil, which also exists in our life. The truth helps us to distinguish the God's voice from voice of our sinful and self- righteous Ego. Maybe we shall hear an "internal voice" in our thinking. But we must not allow that to think and decide for us. It can only give us advice because we do not know if it is from God or from Satan. We accept the truth because we understood it and not because we got a sign that it is really it. On the basis of what was said we see the worthiness of the one who speaks. When we study the Bible we recognize the spiritual truths in it which are clear by themselves (easy to understand). On the basis of them we accept the authority of the One who tells them. We understand that their author is God. The truths that are not clear themselves we get to know and confirm by relating to by then already confirmed authority of the One who tells them. Those are, for example, the truths about the question of a man's life after death, in which part of the universe is God's throne etc. There are also the truths which represent the trial stone for our trust in God and test our obedience (love) for God, as, for example, the truth about whether a man will really die if he eats the fruit of recognizing good and evil.

52 It is clear to us that for the answer to all these questions we need the omniscient Authority. We can check various theories which are trying to give answers to those questions reasonably. All those theories can be even logically correct but they exclude each other at the same time. By the reason itself we are not able to get to know which one of them is the right one. When we are faced by suppositions, it is realistic to have a reserved attitude towards them. But if we already have the reasonable foundation of trust in the One who gives us the answer to all those questions then we should believe Him. For example, we believe ourselves that we can do many things although it is reasonably not clear to us how we succeed in doing them. But that faith in our ability must be reasonable. We must reasonably research its foundations and see if there is any sense in believing that we can do what we want. We should understand the truths that can be understood reasonably. Therefore, on the spiritual level we must reasonably investigate the foundations of our trust in the One in whom we believe in order to be sure that it is really Him and in order to be sure that our relationship with Him is really correct. Let us think of Adam and Eve. They were tried by the question of whom to believe. The disputable (and trial) question was whether they were going to die if they had eaten the fruit of getting to know good and evil. To that question they could get no answer by thinking about the chemical characteristics of the fruit. In that case the forbidden fruit would not have the function of the trial stone of their faith, because it would not test their obedience (love) for God, but maybe only their intelligence and their being informed. The answer to the asked question revealed the object of their trust and confidence and because of that it was spiritually functional. They were in two minds about trusting God and trusting the snake who talked. Who were they to believe? They could not investigate by reason if the fruit were really lethal or not, but they could investigate by reason the Object of their trust. Their trust in God had reasonable foundations. They knew that He created them and that He loved them. God gave them the most beautiful planet, without a trifle of evil and doom. He presented them with a blessing of his friendship. In the moment of temptation their common sense reminded them of all that. They had reasonable foundations of the trust in God. To the question whether they were really going to die if they ate the forbidden fruit they had a worthy answer. However, instead of following the way of reason they allowed themselves to be moved by the flattering promises of the one tempting them, the promises and the false hopes which take the generations of human kind into sin and ruin them still today. The prerequisite of trust in someone is the knowledge of his character. The more we get to know a man the less we will believe him whether it is about getting to know another man or oneself. (Of course, only under the condition of that we do not diminish life goals!) "Thus says the Lord: Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals, and make mere flesh their strength... Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord... The heart is devious above all else; it is perverse - who can understand it?" (Jeremiah 17:6-9).

53 There is only One who is Sinless. By getting to know God's character more, our trust in the Only One who is worthy of our trust and the Only One who is free from human weaknesses will develop. A false teaching builds the trust too, but not in God and His word, but in a man and his authority (church...) to interpret the truth. Therefore, for example, by their teaching, Jehovah's witnesses lead a man to approach the authority of the Holy Bible with doubt so that the man will afterwards, as an answer to the aroused doubt, find security in the authority of their organization as in the unmistakable interpreter of the truth. How do they achieve such transition of the authority from the Bible to themselves? They stir the attitude of doubt toward clear messages of the Holy Bible by symbolic interpretation of its verse, (as if God were unable to express Himself clearly and directly) so that a man feels that an external authority which would interpret them in a right way is necessary. In addition, they stir the doubt in the Holy Bible by seeing the foundation points of their teaching in those passages which are thought as changed and omitted due to bad translations from the original Biblical manuscripts so that their followers need again to trust in the organization of The Guarding Tower, which will tell them "what is right and what is not". In the traditional Christianity the authority of the Holy Bible is often separated from man by the claim that only an institution of formal ("visible") church can interpret the Bible in a right and inspired way so that a man is forced again to build the trust in the church as an institution and not in God. It is not enough only to have "reasonable" foundations of our trust. It is necessary that God be the object of our trust, and not a sinful and mortal man who is, like ourselves, prone to weaknesses and misconceptions. The apostle Paul sends us a warning: "See to it that no one makes a prey of you by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ." (Colossians 2:8)
A NEED FOR THE FALSE AUTHORITY OF THE TRUTH

Many are afraid to think because that would put them in danger of unmasking their own (irrational) excuses for sin. That is why they gave their trust to somebody else (the church or group they belong to, a priest...) or to something else (astrology, radiestesia...) that will think and decide for them. When they come to the contact with spiritual literature, many like to know immediately the author of it. They feel insecure when they should think, so they cling to "the irrational authorities of the truth". They judge the veracity of the spiritual literature on the basis of who wrote it instead on the basis of what is written in it. It is easier for them to be mislead than to think. We are all invited to think and reasonably distinguish between good and evil and not to dice with our destiny leaving it in the hands of coincidence. The Word of God calls us to put the authority of the Bible above all other even the authority of the church. Let us see what the apostle Paul says: "But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we preached to you, let him be accursed.

54 As we have said before, so now I say again, If any one is preaching to you a gospel contrary to that which you received, let him be accursed." (Galatians 1:8-9) The only way to find out whether the church authority speaks according to the Gospel or not is not to ask it itself since the authorities of all Christian churches will claim that they preach the true and undistorted teaching of the Gospel. The only thing left for us is to check it ourselves with God. Let us notice that the apostle Paul does not say: "If false apostles or a demon tells you the gospel different from us, may they be damned", but "if we (the apostles of the true church of God) or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary ... let him be accursed". Therefore, it is entrusted upon the man himself to check if the apostles who represent the authority of the church or an angel from heaven speaks according to the Biblical Gospel or not. This praise of noble-mindedness shows that we should interpret spiritual authority by the Bible and not the Bible by spiritual authority. Can we imagine a bishop who calls the noble-minded the believers who searched through the Bible to find out is that truth what he preached to them? Hardly so! Believers of the majority of the Christian churches are ashamed to think and check in the Bible what they hear from their pulpit. The more the theory in which they believe is senseless, it is considered the greater blasphemy not to consider it correct. As the proof of their total subjection to the earthly authorities, they sacrifice their common sense on the pulpit of human stupidity. If we blindly accept the truth too, without understanding its contents, nothing will help us. The truth is functional only when we understand it, when it helps us make a difference between good and sinful impulses, when we make difference between Christ's and human justice. We are not to convince people about the truth but to deduce detailed reasons sensibly. By only convincing people about the truth nothing can be achieved. It is not enough that a man accepts the truth but it is necessary that he understands it in order to be able to submit himself to it. God created man to be able to understand truth - if he wants to understand it. The truth does not need any other authorities in order to prove it. It is a reflection of God's character and it is an argument sufficient by itself. We must not be haughty and refuse to accept advice from others if they can be understood by themselves, but we must not under any circumstances allow others to think for us and become mediators between us and God. To many people their conceited "Self" is upset when they hear about a Biblical teaching, church organization or about keeping the Commandments. As if they do not need any advice, as if they are the only people on Earth who have the discovery of truth, they are limited by themselves and by their limited experience. They found their irrational authority of the truth in themselves instead in external authorities, in their "godly inspiration", intuition, in their conscience or their feelings. They are not ready to give reasonable explanation of their beliefs but they produce a completed judgment which they base upon themselves, the experience of their inspiration and the voice of their heart. By saying, "But I feel like this; my inspiration tells me so!" or "I think like this!" they unconsciously reveal that they put themselves, their feelings and their thoughts above the common sense and above the authority of God and His words. "A fool hath no delight in understanding, but only that his heart may reveal itself." (Proverbs 18:2)

55 The truth does not depend upon what we feel or think about it. Thus it is senseless to quote one's personal impressions as the criteria of truth. Why should others be led to dice with their own destiny accepting blindly our feelings and thoughts as the voice of God?!
BIBLE IN A FUNCTION OF THE FALSE AUTHORITY OF TRUTH

"The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." (2 Corinthians 3:6) Sometimes it happens that a man seeks in the Bible the system by which he will compensate the usage of the reason and personal comprehension of the truth. He searches for the system of the rules of behavior by which he will free himself from the responsibility to think about what is really good and what is really bad. The Bible has the purpose to help a man to understand the truth and not to compensate his own usage of the reason and personal responsibility in the understanding of the truth. If he still tries to misuse it, seeking in it the system of the rules of behavior by which he will get the salvation, then he will not succeed to realize its global harmony. As Biblical revelation claims the reform of the inner motives and is not content with some formal scheme of behavior, that trial of the interpreting of the Bible will lead its interpreter to the situation to by one "rule" come to the conflict with another "rule". For instance, in his Sermon on the Mount Jesus says first: "In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." (Matthew 5:16), and then: "Be careful not to do your good deeds in front of people, so that they will notice you. If you do that, you will not receive a reward from your Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 6:1). Jesus first calls us to perform good deeds so that people see them and then to watch that the people do not see them. Isn't that contradictory? No, if we want to understand the sense of the message! If Jesus said only "Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven", many would be satisfied with their justice, unconscious of the fact that it is moved by the wish for approval and favor of the environment, instead by real Godly love. If Jesus only said "...not to do your good deeds in front of people, so that they will notice you", many would find the excuse for their senseless and useless life which does not represent any deed nor blessing for this world. So, the purpose of this illusory contradiction is the definition of the real motives of our justice. If we are moved by real motives, then our good deeds will not be of sensational spirit; they will not move the attention of others to ourselves but will raise the thoughts and hearts of the people towards Christ. Those deeds will be His and will reveal His character. Just because the Holy Scripture (differently from, for instance, Koran) does not give the "recipe" for the living but asks for the understanding and realization of its sense, it "lets" the multitude of different trials of interpretations and multitude of religious communities which interpret it as it suits them. Of course that none of wrong interpretations does not succeed to interpret such Holy Scripture so that it should stay one whole unit, but always one verse stays in contradiction with superficial interpretation of the second verse.
THE ROLE OF REASON

Our superficiality is the consequence of our fear of thinking and encounter with our own responsibility to face God, what is a final result of such thinking. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge" (Proverbs 1:7). For they are afraid of encounter with God, people are afraid of thinking.

56 For they would, by rational thinking, unmask their mechanisms of the desertion from God and by that very fact their sins as well, many contest the use of reason. They assert: "The use of reason can only be obstruction!" To justify their unreasonableness they assign to the reason a function which does not belong to it and then criticize it saying that it cannot, for example, save them. Or they refer to the cases of misusing the reason. However, the problem is not in the reason but in the motives of a man who (mis)uses it. Words can be misused too and nevertheless, nobody sees the solution in silence. The reason has, of course, its purpose and it depends on our will whether it will be misused or used for God's glory. Many contest for the significance of reason saying that by reason it is not possible to acquaint God. Many deny the significance of the reason claiming that the love is not rational so that therefore love cannot be understood by the reason. Love is the only thing which can be understood by the reason. It is the concrete answer to man's spiritual and physical needs. Those needs are understandable by the reason and therefore it is possible to give an answer to them. Exactly, the sin is the one which is not understandable by the reason and is therefore confronted by the reason. We already noted that the sin cannot be justified by the reason. It is unreasonable because its choice does not have any purpose and its existence does not have any meaning. When, on the Judgement Day, God poses the question to the Satan, "Why did you induce my people to rise against me?" The Satan will only lower his head. He will not know what to say. To reasonably explain the sin would mean to justify it and that it is not possible. It is impossible to, before the examination of the reason, proclaim the freedom as slavery, senselessness as sense, distress as happiness, sin as goodness. The error just arises as the attempt of the man to justify by the reason (rationalize) the sinful deeds as those being good. Many also attempt to deny the significance of the reason claiming that by reason it is impossible to know God. It is true that we can not by reason understand some divine attributes. It is not clear to us how God created time and space; how He is omnipresent; how He maintains gravitation law, etc. However, many human attributes, too, are not clear to us. To me it is not clear really how I succeed to move my legs and arms by my will. A lot of that that happens in my organism is not clear to me but again I miss nothing. I am alive and healthy and so far I have never died. Those truths which are not rationally understandable are neither important for our life. However, spiritual truths which reveal God's character, His love and mercy, are understandable and their understanding is of the fundamental importance for they reveal to us the difference between good and evil, indicate freedom of our will and tell us how to use it correctly. "To depart from evil is understanding." (Job 28:28) Human wish to learn and realize those divine attributes which are not understandable by reason is a sin which had induced Eve to bring her God's disapproval and damnation. Some religions even today induce man to tend toward the experience which corresponds to the eating of forbidden fruit "of knowledge of good and evil". They dissuade man from the use of reason and call him to accept as the criterion of truth a personal experience of the offered way of enlightenment. So admirers of Krishna say:

57 "You can not by your limited reason comprehend God. Krishna is absolute. He possesses all qualities simultaneously; both good and evil ones." Common sense tells us that is impossible that God has mutually exclusive qualities. It would mean that He is simultaneously happy and unhappy (unsatisfied), free and a slave, sensible and senseless, immortal and mortal, alive and dead etc. Upon this comment a follower of Krishna would say: "Here you see how the reason is limited and unable to understand spiritual truths! If you wish to realize a higher degree of spiritual development meditate, adhere to four regulative principles, and all will be clear to you!" Followers of many religions promise us that we will be proved that their way is right and true only if we test it and live it ourselves. Some of them say: "If you meditated with Hare Krishna mantra, you would realize that this is the right way, and everything would be clear to you." Others say: "Try to confess your sins, and you will see that you will be relaxed!" Still others say: "Use in your prayer the name Jehovah, and you will see the power of that real God's name." ..... etc. (We noticed how various religions want to draw us close to God through technique, instead of recognizing and personal encounter with God through the revelation of His character. But it is fair to be with God only those who chose Him, who are drawn and overcome by His unselfish love!) We bear great responsibility to God for our life to just like that, blindly, without reasonable checking, accept any way of the enlightenment and thus gamble with our destiny. Let's assume that, upon accepted council and technique we really experience that enlightenment. What would it prove? Nothing! Because the experience alone is not relevant. It cannot serve as any criterion at all because the demons can provoke it as well. The criterion is at the back of the experience and its real function and not in the very experience and its visible sensations. Let's remember that the Satan promised to Eve the experience which will assert the truthfulness of his promise. He promised to her that her eyes would be opened and that she will come to know what is good and evil only after tasting the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3:1-5). We are responsible before God for our life to gamble with our destiny, easily accepting some way, without reasonable checking. Eve had got a simple and reasonable warning that the fruit of knowledge of good and evil is a mortal one. She already knew what is good and what is evil.

58 Satan told her that that was only a mistake, that she would not die, but if she ate the forbidden fruit she would become like God. And as many do it today too, Eve took as the criterion of truth her feelings and impressions; the voice of her heart: "And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat." (Genesis 3:3-6) Eve really experienced what the Satan had promised her (Genesis 3:20). But, the tragic epilogue of her experiment is known to all. We do not have the need to gamble with our destiny experiencing various ways of salvation to find the real one. Risking to choose the wrong way we risk to lose the ability to discern good from evil. And just because of that the mere experience is not the criterion. For instance, the experience can show us that strong toothache has stopped. And is that so because its real cause or only the symptom has been removed (tablet against pain)? That is still the question! Many try to justify the experimenting with the sin saying: "It is necessary to experience the sin to understand what the love is." But, having chosen the sin we lose the ability to understand the character of the real love. It becomes strange and boring to us. Is it necessary for us to experience death to understand the worth of the life? We should not be deceived, but dead man is not able to understand anything. Instead to experiment and thus gamble with the seeking of the right way, God wants us to accept the truth because we understand it. In order to use correctly our free will in this great conflict between good and evil we must first understand the truth that explains what and between what we are to choose. We are given the clear revelation of the most important truth in the Bible, especially in God's law and in the life of Jesus Christ. God also reveals Himself to us through the life of His faithful children and through the nature which, although desecrated by the sin of a human kind, still bears His seal. Those revelations of God speak to our mind, conscience and feelings, so the sense has been given to us in order to understand and be able to make a free choice. It would have been really senseless if God had created a man with whom He would not communicate simply and rationally. If it was like that, man would have an excuse to fall in trance or experience some special and changed states of consciousness in order to reach the truth about God. "It is not in heaven, that you should say, 'Who will go up to heaven for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?' Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, 'Who will cross to the other side of the sea for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?' No, the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe." (Deuteronomy 30:1214) To reach the truth, it is not necessary to be specially intelligent, educated or gifted. To experience "illumination" the only necessary thing is to stop running away from the truth. Then we will recognize it. The truth is always here and with us. And when we close our eyes before it, it still remains the truth.

59 The problem is not in human inability to understand the truth. Man does not want to think; he is afraid to use the reason for he fears facing the truth. When apostle Paul speaks about Jews he says that their zeal is not in accordance with the reason: "I can testify that they have a zeal for God, but it is not enlightened." (Romans 10:2) Why such honest but still irrational zeal cannot be accepted, is revealed by the next verse: "Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness." (Romans 10:3) We see a typical example of the absence of the use of reason when we talk about examination of motives of religious zeal. Human righteousness (self-righteousness) which is urged by forces of human sinful nature, interferes with divine righteousness, which is urged by real love. Man fears to think for then he would become conscious that he is driven by: guilt, pride, religious feeling or some other force instead of real divine love. It is not said in vain that "only 5% of people think, 25% think that think, and the remaining 70% would rather commit suicide than to think". God gave us His Word and sent the force of the Holy Spirit just to move us to think, to make us face our life responsibility and fulfill it in a right way relying upon His mercy, leading and power.
TO BE WISE IS TO BE FREE

"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:32) We are often limited by the experience and the reason is given to us to exceed that limitation, to really distinguish good from evil. We have got the right sense for that reason, to be able to believe what we do not see: "And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life." (1 John 5:20) We have got the reason not to be deceived by what we see: Many appeal to their experiences saying "I believe that it is the real thing, I felt it in the prayer!" or "I believe in reincarnation because I personally experience it!" But, if we should blindly believe in everything we see or hear, we would believe in the most simple missionary trick. We would believe that there is Donald Duck because we see his movements on the screen and hear his voice. If Jesus believed in all that he saw, he would believe that Satan is the angel of light because he presented himself as such when he tempted him in the desert. On the basis of the same event we see that the Satan showed to Jesus "in one moment" all the kingdoms of this world (Luke 4,5). So, the Satan has the power to reproduce adequate exact information and on the basis of additional made up information to reconstruct the experience of reincarnation or any other experience. The greatest atheists will believe in false Christ, those who believe just in what they see. Rejecting to willingly accept Biblical Christ they will be compelled by the force of experiential proofs (miracles) to accept Anti-Christ.

60 "For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great sings and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." (Matthew 24:24) Without using the reason there is really not a way to notice the difference between the truth and mistake and to use our will in the great conflict between good and evil. "The simple beliefeth every word; but the prudent man looketh well to his going." (Proverbs 14:15) "Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and lifts up thy voice for understanding; If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hit treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear of he Lord, and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path. When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul; Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee: To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh frowart things; My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion: So shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck. Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble. When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet. For the Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken." (Proverbs 2:3- 6.9-12. 3:21-24.26) If we would always act according to reason, then we would not commit a single sin, because the reason is always saying that the sin is meaningless; that it is better to have confidence in God and His love for us, than to have confidence in our own experience. We commit a sin because we submit to the voice of our sinful heart, which assure us that it is better to follow the path with fewest obstacles, that it is better to follow one's natural instincts.
UNDERSTANDING OR SEEKING THE SIGN THE STRESS OF THE USAGE OF THE REASON

Many experience stress when they should use the reason, when in the temptation they should see the difference between right and wrong reaction. Before them appear at least two alternatives, two life philosophies, two principles before which they are invited to decide. Two motivations cover those two life philosophies. Let's assume that one of them is right and another by all means sinful. The man is bewildered because he alone does not have the wisdom to see which is the right one. If he had the wisdom to unmask the philosophy which stands for the excuse for man's sins, then such wisdom would stand for the danger that he could unmask the motives of his own justice as sinful motives. The man is in a stress. He would rather not to think or that someone else think instead of him. He would wish that certain sign exist or miracle which would show him what to choose. But, such a sign or miracle would not be just because they would hinder his free choice. The truth is to be accepted only on account of the choice of character which it reveals, so the seeking of the sign instead of understanding of the sense of the truth itself would show that the truth is being accepted by force and not by free will, because of man's wish. God could have made man in that way that he in his mind never falls into mistake but then man would not have the freedom to choose himself or reject God's character (revealed by the truth).

61 In the stress which induces us to use the reason, examine our motivation and choose the right one, man often reacts in immature way, by running away from the temptation instead by the victory over the temptation. He concludes: "I have to think about all that independently and objectively!" And then he makes a mistake and "confines" himself to think about everything alone, unconscious that he cannot be free and independent from his greatest enemy, his sinful and self- righteous nature. The cause of the prejudice and irrationality not beyond the man but in his motives. From them we cannot escape anywhere. The only strength which can induce a man to impartially and reasonably think is the strength of love which is, through the truth recognized and dwells in God. Just by neglecting the voice of his sinful and self-righteous nature and by opening of the mind towards the sources of Godly inspiration, man gains the freedom to be limited to his own partiality and to understand the sense of Godly truth - the real unselfish love. The second alternative is that a man should let himself to his own sinful motives, that they should define whether something is true or not. Then the man tries to feel the truth and as the character of his being differs from the character of the love he needs, he won't be able to experience the truth but he will, with his sinful heart, react to it indifferently or even arrogantly and rebelliously. If the acceptance of the truth we condition by the acceptance of the same by our sinful and self-righteous nature, we would always rather choose the sin and deceit which justify it. So, a man has at least two alternatives out of which one provokes the trauma of his sinful nature just because it reveals the truth about love which he lacks, while the second alternative represents the excuse for his sinful and self-righteous motives. The alternative - the encounter with the truth - provokes the feeling of one's own weakness to recommend him to the power of God. The consciousness about one's own superficiality recommends the man to God's wisdom. The consciousness of one's own sinfulness induces him to rely upon God's righteousness. The truth gives man the freedom to be raised above himself and realize the anticipated but otherwise lost sense of existence - love.
SPECIFIC GOD'S INTERVENTION

On account of the sinful life each of us experienced greater or smaller deviations in the usage of the reason and because of that we created difficulties in the understanding of the truth. We must not be discouraged if, in the seeking of the truth, everything is not immediately clear. Even the apostles themselves did not understand everything at once. When Jesus was preaching about the kingdom of God using the stories, he said: "Listen, then, if you have ears." (Matthew 13:9) Listening to the stories about the sower and weeds Christ's disciples maybe seemed to be satisfied and happy as those who have the ears to listen. But, "when Jesus had left the crowd and gone indoors, his disciples came to him and said, 'Tell us what the parable about the weeds in the field means.'" (Matthew 13:36) The future apostles did not understand Christ's stories but they were asking to understand them. Many today make statements that they do not understand spiritual truths and stop there. They hesitate to ask for the answer from Him as if God is indifferent regarding their lack of understanding or powerless to give them the answer. "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." (James 1:5) "Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars: She hath killed her beasts; she hath mingled her wine; she hath also furnished her table. She hath sent forth her maidens: she crieth upon the highest places of the city: Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: As for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him: Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled. Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding." (Proverbs 9:1- 6)

62 If we live according to the light of the truth which is already revealed to us, God will enable us to accept even greater light. "That is why the Lord is going to teach you letter by letter, line by line, lesson by lesson." (Isaiah 28:13) If we rely upon God humbly, He will direct us towards the truth in the way adjusted for us: maybe through elevated feelings, deep inner revelation or in some other way. Such specific God's grace for us will last until we are able to, normally - by simple studying of God's Word, reasonably understand the truth. We must have in mind that specific God's intervention does not have the purpose to give us the system which will be a compensation for the usage of our reason, but to enable our reason to function correctly. In this is seen the difference between God's and Satan's working methods.
SPECIFIC SATAN'S INTERVENTION

If we pray for greater revelation of the truth and do not live according to which has been given to us, then we reveal bad motives of our curiosity and find ourselves in the temptation to be the prey of Satan's traps. That problem is being revealed in the appearance of the Church of the "Saints of the last days" of Jesus Christ or popularly called the Church of Mormon. In the beginning of the last century, in the place where more than one of Christian communities were active, Joseph Smith was born. Perplexed by the existence of a large number of religious communities which all appeal to one, the same Holy Scripture and interpret it differently, appealed in his prayer, to the Biblical promise: "But if any of you lacks wisdom, he should pray to God, who will give it to him; because God gives generously and graciously to all." (James 1:5) As the answer to the prayer he got the vision which showed him that "Bible lost its authenticity by being copied and that there exists other holy book which will help Bible to restore its original significance." Soon the Book of Mormon came to existence and with it the new Christian community. When the missionaries of the Church of Mormon told me about this event, I asked them a question: "Joseph Smith not only got clever and reasonable answer to his question but got one question more. How should I know whether the vision he got is from God or from the Satan?" (Up to now a lot of prophets have appeared having mutual contradictory teachings with common assertion: that Bible lost its credibility and they are here to bring it back.) The missionaries answered me: "Pray to God and He will reveal to you whether Joseph Smith is real or false prophet!" I answered them: "Suppose that I turn to God in prayer tonight and as the answer get the vision in which an angel expounds the assertion to me that Joseph Smith is a real prophet. Let's imagine that I also got strong inner conviction and surety in godlike revelation authority. But, how am I to know that my conviction and vision are from God and from the Satan?! I will get one question more! All in all - three questions: Why so many religious communities?

63 Is Joseph Smith real prophet? And is my vision from God?" If we pray to God for the specific grace and the revelation of the truth and do not accept the revelation already given to us, we are then tempting God. Joseph Smith had Bible. The Holy Spirit made him realize the truth of God. But, instead to accept and live by the truth already revealed to him, he started to "philosophize" on the subject "which church is the real church?". He noticed that all the three churches in his place had weaknesses in their doctrine and that was his excuse not to live according to those revelations which God was directing to his common sense. He was waiting to learn the whole truth and specifically the truth about the real church. In that way he was tempting God by his blackmailing. Didn't he have enough understandable revelations in the Bible, which could fill his heart with faith, hope and love? Joseph Smith was praying, but not for the courage to accept and live by the truth which is revealed to him through the Scripture, but for something new which he would be more ready to accept. He was proud of himself before God for he noticed the weaknesses of the churches with which he came into contact and therefore he felt privileged that God would particularly answer to his prayer. The Satan lay claim to this man because he persistently rejected the testimony of the Bible and Holy Spirit. And so, the young man found himself under the power of Satan. Many pray for the revelation of the truth but not also for the courage to hear and accept it. When they get its revelation, they continue to pray as if nothing is clear to them until Satan gives them what they would like to be the truth. As the criterion of the truth they take that whether something appeals to their sinful heart or not. They want to accept the truth without meeting God to which the truth obliges them. That's why they take superficial attitude toward the truth without understanding so they seek the sign which will be compensation for the understanding and checking of the correctness of their philosophy of life. They would be ready to accept the truth only if they would be compelled to accept it and because of that they seek some miracle or a sign. But, God does not act that way. When He reveals Himself to a man, He wants to make him reasonable and all specific God's interventions have only that purpose. "The reason shall guard you." (Proverbs 2:11) If an argument, by which God asserts the authenticity of His inspiration, should be in the very "sign" or "miracle", how would we be sure that it is really from God and from the Satan?! "Even Satan can disguise himself to look like servants of righteousness." (2 Corinthians 11:14) Here many persons experience the trauma. They are not ready to stand before God and to confront the responsibility to understand what is really the truth, but, as if they are by some miracle privileged to choose God without meeting Him, think that God would keep them from the trial and temptation. But, God wants us to accept the truth because of the truth, because it is the truth; out of love and not because we are compelled to it by some miracle or sign. We accept the truth because we understood it, because we realized its purposefulness for our own good and that further means that we accept the truth because we have, through it, understood God's love toward us. We cannot choose God differently but through His character which the truth reveals to us, so the seeking of the sign shows that we seek God out of interest and not because we really care for Him because of His character.

64 Trying to accept the truth without rational understanding is as we say to God: "I accept the truth because I have to accept it for the sign says that it is the truth and not because I see, understand and accept Your love in it!" The seeking of the sign in such a way reveals our fear of the acceptance of the responsibility which the understanding of the truth brings to us. We are afraid of the encounter with the truth which will reprimand our running away from God and our compromise with sin. God respects the freedom of man's will and therefore allows Satan to give man the excuse for anarchy. "And with all wicked deception for those who are to perish, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends upon them a strong delusion, to make them believe what is false, so that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness." (2 Thessalonians 2:10-12) "If you indulge stubbornness of heart, and through pride and self- righteousness do not confess your faults, you will be left subject to Satan's temptations. If when the Lord reveals your errors you do not repent or make confession, his providence will bring you over the ground again and again. You will be left to make mistakes of a similar character, you will continue to lack wisdom, and will call sin righteousness, and righteousness sin. The multitude of deceptions that will prevail in these last days will encircle you, and you will change leaders, and not know that you have done so." (EGW RH 16.12.1890) "On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers.'" (Matthew 7:22-23) "As Spiritualism more closely imitates the nominal Christianity of the day, it has greater power to deceive and ensnare. Satan himself is converted, after the modern order of things. He will appear in the character of an angel of light. Through the agency of Spiritualism, miracles will be wrought, the sick will be healed, and many undeniable wonders will be performed. And as the spirits will profess faith in the Bible, and manifest respect for the institutions of the church, their work will be accepted as a manifestation of divine power." (EGW GC 588) "We need not be deceived. Wonderful scenes, with which Satan will be closely connected, will soon take place. God's Word declares that Satan will work miracles. He will make people sick, and then will suddenly remove from them his satanic power. They will then be regarded as healed. ... Many who have had great light will fail to walk in the light, because they have not become one with Christ." (EGW Letter 57, 1904) "I saw that soon it would be considered blasphemy to speak against the rapping, and that it would spread more and more, that Satan's power would increase, and some of his devoted followers would have power to work miracles, and even to bring down fire from heaven in the sight of men. I was shown that by the rapping and mesmerism these modern magicians would yet account for all the miracles wrought by our Lord Jesus Christ, and that many would believe that all the mighty works of the Son of God when on earth were accomplished by this same power." (EGW Ew 86, 1850) "When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn." (Isaiah 8:1920) "The people of God are directed to the Scriptures as their safeguard against the influence of false teachers and the delusive power of spirits of darkness. Satan employs every possible device to prevent men from obtaining a knowledge of the Bible; for its plain utterances reveal his deceptions.

65 At every revival of God's work, the prince of evil is aroused to more intense activity; he is now putting forth his utmost efforts for a final struggle against Christ and his followers. The last great delusion is soon to open before us. Antichrist is to perform his marvelous works in our sight. So closely will the counterfeit resemble the true, that it will be impossible to distinguish between them except by the Holy Scriptures. By their testimony every statement and every miracle must be tested." (EGW GC 593 1888) In order that the authority of deceit get its "power", it makes an effort to deny the authority of the Holy Scripture. It is absolutely all the same whether it gives itself the right of unique legitimate interpreter of God's Word or, maybe, claims that the Bible is changed and so lost its authenticity.
DID BIBLE MAINTAIN ITS AUTHENTICITY?

Before we answer to this or any other question, we must clear up with ourselves whether we want the truth at all. Jesus, on one occasion, knowing the motives of his conversationalists, answered them: "If I tell you, you will not believe!" (Luke 22:67)
WOULD GOD ALLOW THE BIBLE TO LOSE ITS AUTHENTICITY?

The assertion that God allowed the Bible to lose its authenticity is blasphemous because it denies the character of God's power and love. The way by which God fulfilled the salvation plan and moved the authors of Biblical books to write down the salvation truth, represents much greater miracle than that which would be necessary to maintain those very same scriptures. And the salvation itself would not have any sense if not revealed and offered to man.
BIBLE IS ACCEPTED BECAUSE ITS CORRECTNESS IS UNDERSTANDABLE

When man accepts the authenticity of the Bible as Word of God, he does not do it because he gambles with the possibility that it is really God's Word, but because he understands it from the Bible itself. He accepts it as inspired for he understands its significance. When, in it, by any chance, should be found the verses which, for example, speak for the sake of reincarnation, he could not accept that book as inspired anymore. Why? Because it would, having lost its sensibility, lose its inspiration as well. Without the possibility of the usage of the reason man would be really left to the game of other social and various factors in the forming of his philosophy of life and he would have an excuse for his spiritual and moral irresponsibility.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL PROOFS CONFIRM THE BIBLE AUTHENTICITY

Numerous archaeological findings among which are the manuscripts of Kumran, definitely confirm that the Bible up to now has not lost its authenticity. Also, the Old Testament is a Jewish book and Jews have kept it in their hands independently from the Christian Church. If Christian Church really influenced its contents, then the differences between Jewish and Christian Old Testament would appear and those differences do not exist. Also, between Jewish Old and Christian New Testament there are no differences regarding the doctrine. The first has the fulfillment in the second. The Old Testament speaks of Jesus to come and the New Testament of Jesus who came.
PSYCHOLOGICAL PROOF OF DIVINE INSPIRATION

Biblical doctrine is in conflict with human psychology. Man would never be able to invent it such as it is now regarding its contents. Moreover, he, by his nature, does not have the motives out of which he would accept it but has only the motives out of which he could reject it. It touches his

66 natural motives of behavior thinking that they are the expression of his selfishness and selfrighteousness. If someone influenced the Bible contents, he would include into it just what pleases man's nature and not what is against it and the Bible would not be anymore the subject of so many critiques and doubts.
LOGICAL PROOF

The claim that the verses which speak for the sake of the existence of reincarnation are taken out of the Bible is very frequent. But, should such verses be found in the Bible, then they would come into conflict with a number of verses which exclude the possibility of reincarnation. The Bible critics would finally find the proof that the Bible is contradictory to itself and deny its inspiration. THE ENCOUNTER WITH GOD AND THE CONSEQUENCES
THE IDEA OF GOD'S CHARACTER

Certainly the most subtle way of avoiding the encounter with God is to pray to God and neglect the studying of the Bible. Without the Bible our idea of God is distorted under the influence of sinful nature and self-righteous conscience and such an idea of God suffocates the work of the Holy Spirit. It is best seen in the lives of such people who amount to hundreds of millions in Christian world and who pray every day but still live sinfully, going to extremes. In their life there is nothing supernatural - divine. Someone noticed very smartly: "If you are the same person before and after prayer, it was not the prayer" It is not possible to encounter God and remain the same. A man who every day appears before the face of the Most High encounters His uncorrupted justice and such an encounter results necessarily in deep repentance or in hardening of the heart. A man should be very impudent to resist the call to repentance in personal encounter with God. Had it really been a prayer, man would not have been able to stay the same. So, the majority of the world in their prayers does not encounter God at all. The majority only plays with their own conscience. Many of them are aware of the senselessness of their sinful life. They are aware of the burden which oppresses their soul. They believe that God exists and that He loves them but do not know how He could make them happy. They pray for months and years but without the result. What does God want to offer them? Money? Some blessed feeling of happiness and righteousness? They pray for months and years but without a result. In the prayer they call Christ's name by their words but neither hear nor see an answer. Where is their mistake? Whether we have really turned to God in prayer does not depend on the name whereby we call Him but on the correctness of the idea we have about His character. It is possible to pronounce the name of Jesus in a prayer and still have an experience with Satan (see Matthew 7:22- 23), who is also called a "god of this world" in the Bible (2 Corinthians. 4:4). There is not magic in the very form of God's name but there is salvation in the understanding and accepting of God's character. Many have prayed for long but have not real spiritual experiences just because they have never opened their hearts really to God in prayer. Because of neglecting the Holy Scriptures' authority

67 their idea of God is so distorted that God with His Holy Spirit cannot communicate with them through such an idea at all and make them aware of their real spiritual needs. If we wish to acquire a correct idea of God's character let us acquaint Him through the life of Jesus Christ. "Thomas said to him, 'Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?' Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.' Philip said to him, 'Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.' Jesus said to him, 'Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, Show us the Father?'" (John 14:5-9) Let us note that we can acquaint God through His character only. Although many wish to see God with their physical eyes, they try to get to Him closer through an icon or statue and feel and experience Him through the prayer or meditation, He reveals Himself to us exclusively through the character of His unselfish love. It is only by observing His acting and by understanding of the sense of that acting that we can acquire a correct idea about the character of His love. "He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? saith the Lord." (Jeremiah 22:16) We observe God's acting through the Gospel. In such associating with Jesus we must not be superficial but have to allow Him to reveal Himself to us such as He really is and not as what we suppose, fear or wish He is. In order to understand the significance of the correct idea of God's character, let us look at the Biblical account of the encounter of a Samaritan woman with Christ: "There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?" (John 4:7-11) It was only after Jesus had stressed it that the Samaritan woman understood the spiritual meaning of a directed appeal: "Jesus said, 'Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water that I shall give him will never suffer thirst anymore. The water that I shall give him will be an inner spring always welling up for eternal life.'" (John 4:13-14) Finally the Samaritan woman understood that there is an offer of spiritual contents before her. She always felt something missing in her life. Aware of the discontent of her soul, the Samaritan woman sincerely cried for the offered gift of salvation: "'Sir', said the woman, 'give me that water, and then I shall not be thirsty, nor have to come all this way to draw.'" (John 4:15) Jesus did not respond immediately to the stated need. He changed the course of conversation. "Jesus replied: 'Go home, call your husband and come back.' She answered, 'I have no husband.' 'You are right', said Jesus, 'in saying that you have no husband, for although you have had five husbands, the man with whom you are now living is not your husband; you told me the truth there.'" (John 4:16-18)

68 We see that Jesus deflected the course of the conversation to one very unpleasant direction. Not without a reason. The woman made certain of her guilt and sins. Had she not felt guilty she would not have hidden the fact that she had "five husbands". In a very gentle way Jesus reminded her of her sin of adultery. It was only when, in the light of the moral law, she became aware of her spiritual needs and understood the need for forgiveness of sins and liberation from the force of sin, that she could recognize and accept the offered gift of salvation. "The woman answered, 'I know that Messiah' (that is Christ) 'is coming. When he comes he will tell us everything.' Jesus said, 'I am he, I who am speaking to you now.'" (John 4:25-26) The opinion frequently heard is: "Don't you see that people look for God, but they don't know where to find Him!" The human selfishness and self-righteousness is being legalized as "a desire of man for God", and so an impression has been created that the accepting of salvation has the drawback of purely technical choice: "Who would not like to be happy and blessed? All people want to save themselves, but do not know how!" In that case God would be responsible for He has not removed the technical drawbacks because of which some can be saved more easily by chance, whereas others try to live and have no luck. However, we have already seen that the problem is not in alleged man's ignorance but in his not wanting and willing to know how to save himself. He is bothered by the consequences of sin: feelings of discontent, guilt, nervousness, tension, disrupted relationships with surroundings etc, and not the sin itself. Without the reasonable understanding of God through the requirements of God's moral law he does not see a problem in the sin itself but just in its consequences. The Samaritan woman suffered because of her sins. She had come to take water at midday, in hot sun, because she knew that was the only way to avoid reproaches of other villagers for she was an immoral woman in the people's eyes, too. Her sinful life resulted in the feeling of guilt and conscious discontent she hoped Jesus would remove when she cried out for the offered salvation. But she was not aware of her spiritual needs at the moment. What she sought would rather correspond to what is called by God's word "a poisonous wine having intoxicated the people with drunkenness" instead of the water of life. Her idea of God was not clear sufficiently to make her conscious of her real spiritual state. We can wonder why her idea of God was not sufficiently clear. The Samaritan woman belonged to a nation that believed in the Book of Law (Old Testament), but was, beside the faith in Jehovah, prone to idolatry as well. (About the origin and faith of Samaritans see 2 kings 17:27-41.) That resulted in the conflict with Jews and in a separate temple for worship: "The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews." (John 4:19-22) Let us note Jesus' statement: "You worship what you do not know..." (John 4:22) An icon or statue, regardless of whether they express an authentic image, do not offer to a man the needed revelation of the moral divine attributes. They can provoke sublime and generous feelings but can not make a man aware of his real spiritual needs.

69 The recognition of God through icons, statues or meditation does not oblige a man morally. "And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ." "I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet." (1 John 5:20; Romans 7:7) Even the personal encounter of the Samaritan woman with Jesus could not make this woman certain of her spiritual needs until Jesus did it by verbal expressing of reprimands against her debauched, lawless way of life. It was only when she, in the contact with Jesus, acquainted God's character through requirements of His Law, that she became aware of her great spiritual need and only then the confidence in Christ's love toward her got a life-giving significance for her. Many have realized that they cannot quench the thirst of their souls by selfish enjoyments. And then, being unaware of their spiritual needs, they direct those very selfish strivings toward Christ. They hope that God will give them as a present the feeling of happiness and self- righteousness which they have failed to realize themselves. For some time God makes them certain of the character of their spiritual state. However, if they persist in their selfish and self-righteous motives and so suppress the work of Holy Spirit, they become obsessed by demons who then provoke the desired religious sensations. The spiritual needs provoked by such sensations ("poisonous wine") are just suppressed, being not satisfied as well. Such persons pray for salvation out of selfishness, being unaware that they should renounce the selfishness itself in order to be saved. Perhaps they feel blessed and satisfied, but this is not a criterion of their real spiritual state. They are not aware they are burdened because they abolish the criterion - the law, that high point of reference on the basis of which solely they can become aware of their burden and by that itself also of their great spiritual need. A preacher of false religion stresses to his believers that sin is not good because of its certain consequences, instead of trying that believers, in the light of God's character such as revealed through the law, become aware that sin is not good itself. Likewise, a preacher of false religion presents God as the good One only because He offers a man the solution of the latter's sinfulness and loss, instead to try that believers, in the light of the revealed God's character, become aware that God is good in itself and is worthy of being served regardless of the blessings He offers to a man. Such preachers speak often about Jesus in the same way the representatives of transcendental meditation advertise the advantages of their system of meditation. In "The Watchtower" publications frequently appears a term "it is useful if...". In so-called spiritualist churches God's aptness to offer physical and psychical recovering is always emphasized to a man, pleasing, of course, every non-revived heart too. As if believers would discard God had they not some benefit from Him. It suffices if one neglects, speaking about Christ in his preaches or publications, God's moral law. A man will get a conviction that Jesus wishes to help him and that He has died for him on the cross in order to help. However, the only need a man is aware of in himself is the need of satisfying selfish and self-righteous motives and so he will look for the satisfaction of these motives in the offered idea about Christ. God's blessings must not become a motive of a man's religious acting for they will then keep the man burdened by his strivings for the blessing and hinder him in acquainting God in a right way. The burden must be reprimanded by the cleanness of God's character in order that man become

70 aware of all that makes him burdened and so be able to receive a real rest, peace and happiness in God. A sinner must be attracted by Christ's love and induced to live for God regardless of whether he ever feels the peace and happiness of his own soul. He must find a motive for his repentance and reconciliation in God and not in his own selfish interests. One to whom misfortune and personal interests represent a motive for turning to true God will have surely a temptation by some false religion at his disposal, that religion also offering to the man a solution for his private problems but without removing their cause - sin. Those who are not hindered by sin essentially but only by its consequences, do not see the criterion of realized salvation in a coordination of their heart with God's moral law, but pay their attention to their experiences and feelings and assess their spiritual progresses or regresses on the basis of their emotional and other blessings. However, the feeling of being saved had by many believers does not mean they are saved indeed. The insisting on the feeling of being saved reveals only their burden by an unclear conscience. Let us suppose that a multiple murderer appears on a trial and states before the judge: "I do not feel guilty!" Then the judge continues: "By the law of this country you are guilty! Your feelings are not the criterion!" The defendant responds: "I was not acquainted with legal orders! I do not feel guilty!" Judge: "You were responsible to get acquainted with the law! Even if you had not had the opportunity to get to know demands of the law, were you not warned by conscience?" Defendant: "I solve the problem of guilt by alcohol. I am not a burdened man. I do not feel guilty! But it seems right that you wish to take away my peace, don't you?" The defendant could also state "I don't feel guilty for, you know, I have a good system of meditation" or "I am religious". The pills against pains do not remove the cause of illness but only the symptoms. They can sometimes have fatal consequences for they retain man in a state of self-content and apparent security. A patient can be quite satisfied with the service of his doctor. He can state sincerely that he does not feel pains any more but is completely unaware of his inner state of decomposition. Likewise, a man can be quite satisfied with the state of his soul and be completely unaware of his spiritual hollowness. Criterion of neither corporal nor spiritual well-being is in the feelings. It is necessary to include reasonable criteria. On a spiritual level, a law is whereby we check a factual state of things. Without the law a man is not aware of his spiritual needs but only of his burden. He will therefore be prone to accept a religion to feel well and not in order to live for God and his neighbors. Since he is hindered just by consequences of sin, not by the sin itself too, he is thirsty for the poisonous wine instead of the water of life and therefore he accepts a false religion (that being an answer to his selfish and self-righteous motives). A man, of course, needs a legitimate forgiveness and not a psychological satisfaction.

71 How is it possible for those persons to come to God still out of true motives and not out of burden? Only if these persons acquire, through God's help, a rational and correct idea of God's character, they would open the doors of their mind and heart to the attractive force of Holy Spirit. Reprimanded for their selfish and self-righteous desires, they would be induced to stick to Christ as to their only Righteousness. The encounter with God, through His word, would result in their deep repentance, reconciliation and liberation from the force of sin. So, without the law, a sinner does not understand the need for the "water of life". Differently from the "poisonous wine", it is considered by them to be tasteless and needless. How The Supreme Lawgiver can forgive a sinner without transgressing himself His own law and come under the verdict of His own righteousness? Only by His taking on himself the punishment which is merited by the sinner. In contrast to the poisonous wine of false religion, in order to drink from the spring of the water of life, we need a sacrifice: "You will find me waiting for you there, by a rock of Horeb. Strike the rock; water will pour out of it, and the people shall drink." (Exodus 17:6) The blow must fall on the Sinless one in order that a sinner becomes justified. "And all drank the same supernatural drink; I mean, they all drank from the supernatural rock that accompanied their travels - and that rock was Christ." (1 Corinthians 10:4) "On the last and greatest day of the festival Jesus stood and cried aloud, 'If anyone is thirsty let him come to me; whoever believes in me, let him drink... As the scripture have said, streams of living water shall flow out of his heart." (John 7:37-38) "As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your captives free from the waterless pit. Return to the stronghold, you prisoners of hope; today I declare that I will restore to you double... So on that day the Lord their God will save them, his own people, like sheep, setting the all about his land, like jewels set to sparkle in a crown." (Zechariah 9:11-17)
THE TRAUMA OF THE ENCOUNTER WITH GOD

The power of free will is in the willing choice of God, in recognizing and accepting God through His character of love. There is no magic, techniques or rituals which can replace an encounter with a personality. Meeting God through His personality shows that we choose God because of his moral attributes and not out of the selfish motives. Jesus asked us to dinner because he wanted to point out the intimacy of that meeting: "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne." (Revelation 3:20-21) However, the encounter of man with holy and righteous God, with his attribute of true and unselfish love, provokes a great trauma of his sinful nature. Let us think of these Biblical personalities:

72 Adam: "And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself." (Gen. 3:10) Isaiah: "Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, ... for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." (Isaiah 6:5) Daniel: "And I Daniel alone saw the vision: for the men that were with me saw not the vision; but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves." (Daniel 10:7-8) Peter: "When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord." (Luke 5:8) John: "And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:" (Revelation 1:17) Priests and Roman soldiers: "As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground." (John 18:6) Priests and Roman soldiers, meeting the glory of Christ godliness, felt it and fell down to the ground, but Peter, with similar experience, chose to obey to the non-sinful Spirit. Expressing his unworthiness with words: "Go out from me, my Lord, because I am a sinful man", he fell down to Jesus' knees telling him this way that he did not want to leave Him like patriarch Jacob, who said during his fight with angel: "I will not let thee go, except thou bless me." (Genesis 32:26) When we submit to His Spirit, then we are saved: "I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved." (Genesis 32:30) Trying to avoid a traumatic ascertaining of his real spiritual state - his sins and dirty consciousness and the conflict of those motives with God's character - man forms a "protective blockade" in his relationship with God. The same mechanism exists in the relation between people. If a parent is sad because of his misdemeanor toward a child, he is going to give him better money-pocket, to calm his conscience and to show that he loves him. But the relationship is not resolved in essence. This parent did not have energy to apologize for the sin and to ask for forgiveness. Between the parent and the child there will always remain a blockade in their relationship.

73 We can read of a similar mechanism in the instance of Mary and Martha: "Now as they went on their way, he entered a village; and a woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving; and she went to him and said, 'Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.' But the Lord answered her, 'Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things; one thing is needful. Mary has chosen the good portion, which shall not be taken away from her.'" (Luke 10:3842) A more intimate encounter of Martha with Christ would result in her ascertaining of her spiritual emptiness that she tried to suppress by her zeal and concern toward being hospitable to her guest. Only when one stops trying to approach God with his own righteousness and merits, he is ready to accept the righteousness of God Himself and to accept His merits. We notice that a real love results in a trauma of human sinful nature, no matter whether it is a consequence of interpersonal relationships or that with God. Only in meeting with God's love (through Bible) and through accepting it (through prayer) one can find a real encounter with God and salvation. Studying the Bible is not the end in itself but has the sole purpose to create in our consciousness such a high picture of God's character through which the Holy Spirit can be able to communicate with us and to have made a miracle of goodness in us. The idea of God's character we are to create in ourselves through the Scripture daily: "And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates. ..." (Deuteronomy 6:6-9) Studying the Bible and prayer help us to introduce and choose God and salvation. If we do not respond to the invitations of God's Spirit, studying the Bible or prayer can become a "techniques" or "system" in which we are looking for salvation instead in God.
MAGIC INSTEAD OF A TRAUMATIC ENCOUNTER WITH GOD THROUGH HIS CHARACTER

Instead of a direct contact with God through the revelation of His character, man is apt to apply magic act (technique or system) by which he just turns attention of his mind from the mentioned revelation to the ritual itself. The magic technique itself represents a temptation to man to look for a spiritual fulfillment in it instead in God. For example, when the Israelites began to attribute magic characteristics to the ark of God's covenant, it was taken away from them by enemies. When they began to attribute magic characteristics to the bronze serpent, it had to be destroyed. Today many Christians seek the salvation in the ritual of Communion attributing the magic role to it, but, the Holy Scripture clearly reveals that man must be before the ritual reconciled with God to be able to venerably come to Him and in that way only show his already existing choice: "Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord." (1 Corinthians 11:27) For the role of the ritual Jesus says: "And he took bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, 'This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.'" (Luke 22:19)

74 Should a realization of the contact with God be possible through certain technique or system instead through an idea of His character, then it would not be in spirit of justice because it would mean that we accept God on account of some other reason, not because we want to choose God through His character.
"THE REAL NAME" INSTEAD OF THE TRAUMATIC

Many try to reach God by knowing God's "real name". They think that the "code" for the encounter with God is the right idea about His name and not the right idea about His character. Whether we really pray to God does not depend upon the name (Jesus, Jehovah, Krishna, Allah), but upon the idea which we have about His character. Just the name does not reprimand man for sin so it does not induce him to the reform of the character, and so an insisting on the "real name" is precisely a characteristic of those who have a distorted and morally optional idea of God's character. For instance, Jehovah's witnesses who insist upon the "real" God's name, think that God had to lie to His disciples several times out of "pedagogical" reasons. If their ideal lies and uses dishonest methods to realize His aims, what can be expected from them? It is no wonder that they insist upon the name and neglect God's character. "They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God. They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me." (John 16:2-3)
LEGALISM INSTEAD OF THE TRAUMATIC ENCOUNTER WITH GOD THROUGH HIS CHARACTER

Coming closer to God through lawful legalism does not oblige morally either because it does not require a reform of motives but only of forms of behavior. Jesus warns the Pharisees and scribes with the following words: "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and faith; these you ought to have done, without neglecting the others." (Matthew 23:23) The form of the law must not be an aim in itself. A definition of the law exists to define the motives of human heart, in order to help man to differentiate a real love from self-righteous goodness and other sins. Because it deals with motives, the Biblical revelation is different from all other human philosophies that deal with irrelevant questions. There is not a dogma in it which blindly looks upon behavior. We see from Biblical examples that holy breads which are dedicated to the holy service in the temple can be used for food beyond its holy role if someone starves. The holiness of Sabbath is in the spirit and not in the blind form of literal vacation. The law is made for man and man is not made for the law. The only dogma which exists in the Bible is the one which defines the motives of human heart. The sin of the heart can be never excused in the name of anyone's aims. When man has lost the contents of the real love in his heart then the form of the commandments is replaced with a contents of the guilt arising precisely due to a lack of love. As man does not have love to think about the appropriateness of his deeds, a formal observing the commandments becomes an aim in itself to him. That is how legalism arises. For instance, if a spiritually reformed nation had been liberated from voraciousness, pride and boastfulness and later has lost contents of a real love, then, as a by-product of the spiritual apostasy, a form of behavior appears which is an aim in itself - the traditional "goodness". in the example cited, it is regarded as a sin of pride and boastfulness even if man just mentions to have newly

75 bought things at home or it is regarded as an indecency if at least little food has not been left on the plate at the end of a meal. A multitude of behavior rules remind in that way just nostalgically of the former times when behind their form really stood the contents of a real love. So, when behind a lawful form the contents of love disappears, the legalism appears which is soon transformed into human customs and tradition which are very favored because they never oblige morally and never require the reform of the heart. Today, in the time of reviving of the religiousness, the growth of crime is noticeable as well as every other evil. The state of the world is worse and worse which shows the wrong role of today's religion. Not only that its requirements are not morally obliging, but also because its role is wrong. Human customs not only fail to require a reform of the heart but also help those who make mistakes to be even more free in their aberration because they serve to them for a calming of their dirty consciousness. Mush as the observers of these customs are not interested in the motivation which moves them to the observation of them, they are more sensitive to a violation of their form. "Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, 'Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders?'... Jesus replied, 'And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?'" (Matthew 15:1-3)
THE EMOTIONS INSTEAD OF TRAUMATIC ENCOUNTER WITH GOD THROUGH HIS CHARACTER

An attempt of a contact with God through pictures, statues and meditations does not require a traumatic encounter with God's character and by that itself a making man certain about his spiritual needs. By certain psychological atmosphere through pictures, statues and meditations it is possible to provoke in man a feeling of guilt but to feel guilty is not the same as to be conscious of guilt. Also, by certain systems man can be liberated from the feeling of guilt but the liberation from feeling guilty does not mean a liberation from the guilt itself. Such an experiential attempt to meet God not only fails to make man aware of a need for a change of his own character but just represents an answer to his selfish and self-righteous need for certain feelings. More than two and a half thousand years ago Jewish sayings speak of it: "For a father, consumed with grief at an untimely bereavement, made an image of his child, who had been suddenly taken from him; he now honored as a god what was once a dead human being, and handed on to his dependents secret rites and initiations. Then the ungodly custom, grown strong with time, was kept as a law, and at the command of monarchs carved images were worshipped. When people could not honor monarchs in their presence, since they lived at a distance, they imagined their appearance far away, and made a visible image of the king whom they honored, so that by their zeal they might flatter the absent one as though present. Then the ambition of the artisan impelled even those who did not know the king to intensify their worship. For he, perhaps wishing to please his ruler, skillfully forced the likeness to take more beautiful form, and the multitude, attracted by the charm of his work, now regarded as an object of worship the whom shortly before they had honored as a human being.

76 And this became a hidden trap for humankind, because people, in bondage to misfortune or to royal authority, bestowed on object of stone or wood the name that ought not to be shared. Then it was not enough for them to err about the knowledge of God, but though living in great strife due to ignorance, they call such great evils peace. For whether they kill children in their initiations. or celebrate secret mysteries, or hold frenzied revels with strange customs, they no longer keep either their lives or their marriages pure, but they either treacherously kill one another, or grieve one another by adultery, and all is a raging riot of blood and murder, theft and deceit corruption, faithlessness, tumult, perjury, confusion, over what is good, forgetfulness of favors, defiling of souls, sexual perversion, disorder in marriages, adultery, and debauchery. For the worship of idols not to be named is the beginning and cause and end of every evil. For their worshipers either rave in exultation, or prophesy lies, or live unrighteously, or readily commit perjury; for because they trust in lifeless idols they swear wicked oaths and expect to suffer no harm. But just penalties will overtake them on two counts: because they thought wrongly about God in devoting themselves to idols, and because in deceit they swore unrighteously through contempt for holiness. For it is not the power of the things by which people swear, but the just penalty for those who sin, that always pursues the transgression of the unrighteous. But you, our God, are kind and true, patient, and ruling all things in mercy. For even if we sin we are yours, knowing your power; but we will not sin, because we know that you acknowledge us as yours. For to know you is complete righteousness, and to know your power is the root of immortality. For neither has the evil intent of human art misled us, nor the fruitless toil of painters, a figure stained with varied colors, whose appearance arouses yearning in fools, so that they desire the lifeless form of a dead image. Lovers of evil things and fit for such object of hope are those who either make or desire or worship them." (Wisdom of Solomon 14,15-30; 15,1-6;)
THE MEDIATION OF THE SAINTS INSTEAD OF THE TRAUMATIC ENCOUNTER WITH GOD THROUGH HIS CHARACTER

Faithful Godly people during their life were not favored because they represented a constant reprimand for the consciousness of the sinners. The majority of them ended their lives by being either stoned or killed in other way by crowd. The crowd which did not give them the right to live even as to ordinary people, that very populace which lives as sinfully as before, now worships their image and puts them in the place of God. How is such a turn of events possible? Because their dedicated life which stood for a reprimand for the sins of the world is removed now finally. Now when they are dead, when the words of warning and reprimand disappeared, the crowd sends them prayers gladly and asks advises from them. It stands before their dumb pictures and enjoys the silence and peace of its lulled consciousness. The attempt to avoid an encounter with God through His character and by that itself an unpleasant witnessing of ones own sinfulness and guilt is found in the classical role of the saints to whom the role of mediators between God and man is attributed. "For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." (1 Timothy 2:5)

77 However, in traditional Christianity there is whole a bureaucratization of the mediation between God and man in which the mediator does not have a role to fill the difference between what the sinner is and what he should be, but has a function to suppress the awareness of that difference by distorting the idea of what the sinner should become according to his character. Catholic authorities assert openly: "If you are afraid of the Father, pray to the Son. And if you are afraid to come before the Son, then pray to Mary, she certainly won't reject you!" (It is obvious that it is counted on her maternal instinct!) By such a system the sinner is induced to appeal indirectly to God in the way in which he will not humiliate himself by a total acknowledgment of his sins and his guilt. In such a service the prayer to the saints appeared, that, in a Christian form wrapped, way of service to false gods. We can just imagine how much in human mind the idea of God and His character is distorted when the Object of prayer is sought in one man! It is no wonder that the life of such believers does not differ by character from the life of average unbeliever. When the apostle John kneeled before the sinless angel to bow to him, he was reprimanded for that by the words: "But he said to me, "Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers the prophets and of all who keep the words of this book. Worship God!" (Revelation 22:9) After all, why would man all have the need to pray to dead man at all when he has the alive God? The Scripture says: "When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?" (Isaiah 8:19) To go before man instead before God shows a distrust in God's grace and a lack of will to have chosen God through His character. In that way the fear from a "direct" encounter with God through His character often reveals an unconscious but willing wish of the man to continue to sin further on.
KEEPING AWAY FROM CHRIST - ESSENCE OF FALSE RELIGION

One Christian who seemed to be very anxious about salvation of his soul, complained about his inadvertent sins. He spoke about his plan become a monk to resolve his spiritual problems. When I asked him to explain me his problem in more detail, he answered that he very often commits adultery inadvertently. Since it is impossible to be in Christ and to have this kind of problem, I asked him how much time during the day he spends in building union with God; how much time he dedicate to prayer and studying God's word. He replied: "Well, I pray while, say, I'm driving a car and now I don't read the Bible but other Christian literature!" This young man, even though he looked like someone who was ready to sacrifice his life and do everything in order to be reconciled with God, didn't make any effort to really get to know Christ as The Friend and the Saviour. He wanted to be a Christian without meeting Christ. All his interest for spiritual things was motivated by selfish interests. The young man wanted to be free from the unpleasant feeling of guilt and longed for bliss and God's presence in his heart. He thought so much about himself and so little about the beauty of God's character. He did not make a decision to put Jesus above all the other things in his life, even above the question of his salvation and feeling of bliss.

78 Only a few minutes of prayer and reading the Bible during the day, like many "Christians" usually have in order to build their spirituality, has no other purpose than to calm their consciousness. That way they show that they do not find the communion with Jesus pleasant. (If the communion with God is not pleasant to us now it will not be pleasant to us in Heaven either.) In order to justify their spiritual indifference towards studying Holy Scriptures some people say: "But I know what was written in the Bible! There is no sense to read it again!" I drink water every day not in fear of forgetting its taste but because it is the answer to the needs of my organism. On the spiritual level, we have our spiritual needs. To satisfy our spiritual needs we need God's word which is going to open the door of our mind and heart to our God, our Saviour. When we read a novel for the first time it's the most interesting and then it becomes less interesting each time we read it again. We are reading the Bible to feed our spirit so it's not possible for it to be less interesting by the time. By the time our capacity to understand love is growing, and that is why studying the Bible brings us more blessing. We read the Bible to be in communion with God. Only in the first enlightened study of the Bible man comes upon new revelation. Then, later on, he reads the Bible and reminds himself of these revelations and through them maintain communion with God. In order to justify their spiritual indifference towards prayer some people say: "It's enough that you pray a few minutes every day sincerely and with faith and God will accept you!" That is right! But before a man comes to such a prayer of salvation, where he will subdue his will to God, it is necessary for him to pass through dozens of minutes and even hours of prayer and fight (in acceptance of God, admittance of the depths of one's needs and building up the saving confidence in the Saviour). "Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray. My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up." (Psalm 5:3) Man is inclined to spend many hours in conversations with other mortal men, but only a few minutes with God. Such a superficial communion cannot result in one's awareness of spiritual needs, repentance and trust in God. "Many, even in their seasons of devotion, fail of receiving the blessing of real communion with God. They are in too great haste. With hurried steps they press through the circle of Christ's loving presence, pausing perhaps a moment within the sacred precincts, but not waiting for counsel. They have no time to remain with the divine Teacher. With their burdens they return to their work. ... Not a pause for a moment in His presence, but personal contact with Christ, to sit down in companionship with Him - this is our need." (EGW Education 260) One priest said: "Don't tell me about the people who have time for prayer and others who don't. We are all praying to something or to someone." (M. Venden)

79 If they are not satisfied in God, the desires of the heart remain and man tries to satisfy them in everyday actions, thus falling into many sin. As our mind has to indulge in some thoughts why cannot they be holy and pure thoughts that will open out hearts to God, that will fill them with love and therefore make our lives a blessing to the world?!
STRUGGLE OF FAITH

With regard to efforts we should make to reconcile with God and achieve His righteousness in our heart and life, we can get confused with the greatness of Biblical demand. God's moral law asks us to have heart free of any sinful wishes, to love our enemies and besides, to be obedient and joyful. But, apostle Paul says: "I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?" (Romans 7:18.24) God's moral law asks us to do impossible, and again, apostle John says: "His commandments are not burdensome." (1 John 5:3), and Christ himself says: "For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:30) This apparent contradiction may seem insoluble, unless we read Biblical report on the conversation between Christ and a rich Jewish nobleman: "Jesus looked at him and loved him. 'One thing you lack,' he said. 'Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.' At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, 'How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!' The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, 'Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.' The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, 'Who then can be saved?' Jesus looked at them and said, 'With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.'" (Mark 10:21-27) The word of God does not ask us to do what falls within God's competence and what appears to be impossible for us. Only God can save us from sin and guilt. Only God can change our heart and give us the fruits of spirit. That yoke is light, because it is not a result of ours, but of God's power and intervention: "It is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose." (Philippians 2:13) The law asks us to do impossible, but God does not ask us to do impossible. The court in which our prayers appear today is not a court requiring the sinner's justice, but the one in which the sinner is awarded justice upon his confession of his own guilt. Christ has not come to punish us, but to save us. His mercy is with us until we despise it. To live with God is magnificent indeed. But, we must choose God as our own Saviour and rely on his salutary power. Christ's yoke (which we carry all day long) is light, but not easy to be chosen (at the time of prayer, i.e. meeting with God).

80 Therefore, we must make utmost endeavours not to achieve salvation, but to chose salvation. We choose our Saviour only through understanding and acceptance of his character. Any other motive or approach to God would not be righteous. We choose Him in the way that by knowing God through prayer and His word we achieve penitence. "With my whole heart I cry; answer me, O Lord! I will keep thy statutes. I cry to thee; save me, that I may observe thy testimonies. I rise before dawn and cry for help; I hope in thy words. My eyes are awake before the watches of the night, that I may meditate upon thy promise. Hear my voice in thy steadfast love; O Lord, in thy justice preserve my life." (Psalm 119:145-149) Simple reading of the word of God and thinking over the kindness of God results in God's answering our persistent prayers. And all this implies a heavy struggle with oneself and God, as our sinful nature cannot bear contact with the Holy and Righteous. It has "to fall on the rock and break". Remember Jacob. Jacob means a swindler. Jacob was a swindler. That was his nature. That was him. But Jacob fought with God. Him, a swindler wrestled with the Holy and Righteous God. In prayers, he fought for undeserved blessing. He did not count on his justice, as he was aware of his guilt. He counted on God's mercy. With sincere confession and repentance this sinful man begged the angel of vow asking for His mercy: "Then he said, 'Let me go, for the day is breaking.' But Jacob said, 'I will not let you go, unless you bless me.'" "In the womb he grasped his brother's heel; as a man he struggled with God. He struggled with the angel and overcame him; he wept and begged for his favor. He found him at Bethel and talked with him there the Lord God Almighty, the Lord is his name of renown!" (Genesis 32:26; Hosea 12:3-5) Jacob struggled with God and won. He got a new name - Israel and a new character. The whole nation was given his name, which means: "One who struggles with God" (See Genesis 32:28). This is the name we get, if we are faithful to God; we are a spiritual Israel. The word of God calls upon us to follow. The example of Jacob, father of faith: "Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called." (1 Timothy 6:12) "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." (Jeremiah 29:13) Let us consider what is meant by "struggle with God". That means: trust in God, in spite of resistance of our sinful nature, distorted consciousness, obscure mind and limiting circumstances, in the sense that He, being love, will fulfill all that He promise. That further means "to choose God", by our own will and in spite of our nature, and trusting His promised intervention and offered power, to live according to His will. Because we choose God independently of the attitude of our nature, we must not try in our prayer to provoke some strong feelings (nor a feeling of our own sinfulness, nor a feeling of God's acceptance). Otherwise, it would mean that we rely on a power of our ego, instead of a simple

81 accepting the rational revelation we are given by God about our sinfulness and of a simple belief in God that He will, because of His promise, answer our prayer. It is very dangerous to try to serve God with our nature, because the will power whereby we obey God's law must not be drawn from our ego, our natural motives and feelings, but from God. It means that we must not try in our prayer to become satisfied with ourselves, but with God. Instead of building a confidence in our character, we ought to believe in God's character and to live according to it, relying on the power promised by God. How will we save ourselves from the trap mentioned, from the attempts to become satisfied with ourselves and serve God with our own righteousness? A correct understanding of God's character revealed through His law guards us from relying on the power of our nature, but induces us to give up our own righteousness and rely exclusively and only on Christ. Gaining confidence in God means that we submitted our will to God. In that way, the influence of our sinful nature through suspicion, fear, selfishness, pride and rebellion against God will not affect us, as we no longer rely on the power of our sinful nature, but on God and the power of His unselfish love. Many religious persons suffer under the burden of their willing efforts to meet the requirements of God's moral law, and at the same time trying to avoid an encounter with God and obedience of their will to Him. Instead dying to their sinful and self-righteous "self", they try to adapt that "self" and get it accustomed to the religious requirements pressing their conscience. Instead of renouncing it, they just sublime it into their zeal. When they are reproached for not having surrendered their hearts to God, they reject that reproach pointing to their religious efforts, or to their sentiments and self-sacrifice as a proof of their devotion. Only when life temptations break down their castles built in the air, they can understand the real nature of their foundations. But then, self- discouraged, in most cases they give up religion generally, thinking that it cannot represent anything else but that what they have already gained through their previous experience. Their gloomy descriptions of religious experience reveal their endeavour to meet the requirements of the law of God, by a force of their sinful nature and self-righteous conscience. They have been always afraid of deeper understanding of God and personal contact with Him, so that they have never experienced actual repentance. They have never experienced that "The one standing in Him never fails into sin", since they have never been in Christ.
REAL OR PSEUDO-REPENTANCE

Many people do not understand that they need Jesus when they feel and behave correctly as much as when they have made mistakes. We always depend on God. We should not look for a security of non- sinning - in ourselves, in the confidence in the character of our love for God; that security should be based on a confidence in God, in the character of His love for us, that He will save us lest we sin. Peter believed sincerely that he would remain faithful when he gave the word to Jesus: "But he spake the more vehemently, If I should die with thee, I will not deny thee in any wise. Likewise also said they all." (Mark 14:31)

82 Instead to give promise humbly he did it with pride. While wanting to save God's honor he wasn't aware that he himself was to be saved by God. He based the security of his faithfulness upon himself, instead upon the relationship with (dependence on) God, and therefore he renounced him three times that night. In order to repel many souls from salvation Satan has spread a conviction in Christian world that a sinner should settle himself first; check his heart whether he really wants God or not and make a sincere decision not to make mistakes anymore in order to come to Christ and be accepted by Him such as he is. While some give up their faithfulness to God because, of course, they do not find such power and wish in their hearts, others really regret for their trespasses and make important decisions but these decisions are falling down like a house of cards when they are to be confirmed in the real life. They all make a mistake because they are forming the decisions about repentance on a "distance" from Christ, without meeting him. They either fail to find any motives inside themselves to serve to God and therefore give up that idea, or try to form such a decision in the motives they can find and evoke when they are at a distance from Christ. So they repent out of a feeling of guilt, fair, a hurt self- self- righteousness or on a basis of excited sentimental feelings. However, these kinds of repentance are pseudo-repentance. When they have lost the motive of their "repentance", they will fall into sin again at the first next temptation. Then they repent again, and make mistakes again. Let us notice what are the motives for man to repent without Christ. Only out of sinful motives: selfishness, fear, excited feelings ... or mere guilt. But this is not a repentance out of true motives. (He would need also a repentance for his sinful motives of repentance.) In the Church tradition we find advises for repentance: "The old man advised to cry continually and to think about death: this is the road of repentance, and there is not another road." Judas repented precisely in that way, after his betrayal, but that did not help him. His repentance was so sincere and deep that he got into a state of self-despair and commitment of suicide, but the sincerity is not sufficient. Real repentance needs true motives. What are the motives of a real repentance? "Or do you presume upon the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not know that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?" (Romans 2:4) God accepts a repentance motivated by real love exclusively, and it can be a result of our acquaintance with Christ solely. Only Christ is the source of every good motive and only He Himself can be a repentance to us. In a community with Christ we hate sin. We can choose sin only if we go away from God because He represents a continual repentance for sin to us. Repentance is given as a gift by God as well as forgiving: "Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins." (Acts 5:30-31) For repentance we should pray as well as for forgiveness and consecration, because we by our nature do not want to renounce sin.

83 Many people fear admission of their spiritual helplessness, whereby they prevent Christ from offering them repentance as a gift. They approach Christ telling him: "Lord, I desire to give you my heart!" They only think that they want to give themselves to Jesus. If they stayed in a peaceful and simple examination of the Gospel and prayer, dealing with Jesus, and not with themselves, they would understand that they do not want Christ at all. Only then would they, gradually, in the light of God's face, succeed to build up a real decision for Christ. Once, when I asked a believer of one Protestant Church how to come to repentance because I like sin more than Christ, the comments were that I would burn in Hell if I did not repent, etc. That believer wanted to help me immediately and to provoke the repentance in me. When failed to succeed, he said: "You, in fact, don't like the sin! It is just Satan who is attacking you! Deeply in your soul, you love Christ!" I replied to him: "If I liked Christ I wouldn't sin. My feelings are not a criterion of love toward Christ: the criterion is accordance of my life with God's law (John 14:15)!" We should come to Christ such as we are, with all our sinfulness and guilt to receive repentance from Him. Let us approach Him with all the discontent of our soul but not because of the discontent. Then, let us ask in our prayer to discover God's face and if our mind is turned to Him we will give Him a motive to act upon us and to have lead us to repentance by His goodness. Repentance is a God's deed and the only thing we can do from our side is to allow it to Him. Today, many Christians think that the commandments of God are abolished on the cross. We can wonder rightly: "What do they repent for if they do not repent for the breaking of the law i.e. if they do not repent for the sin which is defined by the breaking of God's law?" They do not repent for the sin truly, but only for the consequences of the sin, because they have underestimated what only can give them a testimony for the sin - the law. If we establish a superficial relationship with God, without an effort to get acquainted Him through the demands of His laws, we are going to call sin just the symptoms of our sinful condition (bad relationship with environment, non-balanced behavior..) and we will not understand that sin is the state in which we are. We are going to regret for the symptoms and not for the sinful condition. The cause of sinning will still remain in us, waiting in a temptation just a opportunity for a new manifestation. We will be saved from the trap of pseudo-repentance by a correct idea about His character, reached through His word, and by a personal encounter with Him during the prayer. In various Christian tracts we can find "techniques" of repentance and salvation which suggest a sinner to admit his sins and guilt and turn to God for help. With this trick Satan, also, induces people to a pseudo- decision for Christ (pseudo-repentance). All admissions of sin and guilt and all kinds of repentance which are not a fruit of the community with Jesus have a negative function, regardless of their sincerity. They provoke human arrogance and self- self-righteousness. That is how we can meet believers who always stress that they are only "sinful and mortal people". They see a meritorious value real value in their open admission of sin and guilt.

84 "No man can of himself understand his errors. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9.) The lips may express a poverty of soul that the heart does not acknowledge. While speaking to God of poverty of spirit, the heart may be swelling with the conceit of its own superior humility and exalted righteousness. In one way only can a true knowledge of self be obtained. We must behold Christ. It is ignorance of Him that makes men so uplifted in their own righteousness. When we contemplate His purity and excellence, we shall see our own weakness and poverty and defects as they really are. We shall see ourselves lost and hopeless, clad in garments of self-righteousness, like every other sinner. We shall see that if we are ever saved, it will not be through our own goodness, but through God's infinite grace." (EGW COL.159)
THE VICTORY

A Christian who keeps a constant distance from Christ cannot lead a victorious Christian life. By his example and sometimes by his words, he spreads around him a conviction that a real victory over the sin is not possible, whereby an impression is made that the blood of Christ is shed in vain and the whole salvation is not offered to man. To justify his fruitless life he misuses Biblical verses which speak of the weakness of human nature as if man is left to himself. None is guilty to have been born with inborn inclination to sin but if he relies upon that nature he will surely ruin. If he relies upon divine power, he will be free from sinful inclinations of his nature. God's word speaks clearly: "No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or know him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. Everyone who commits sin is a child of a devil; for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The Son of God is revealed for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. Those who have been born of God do not sin, because God's seed abides in them; they cannot sin, because they have been born of God." (1 John 3.6-9) Maybe we will have difficult temptations in the life. In those moments we will be inclined to look at ourselves and shout: "I am weak and helpless to resist! This overcomes all my power!" We must remember that God in His plan of salvation did not foresee that we should look in ourselves for the power for victory over the temptations. In ourselves we will find our greatest enemy. Our strength is in God, our greatest Friend. If we rely upon Him we will have His strength for the victory over the temptation. If the temptation is greater, we will gain greater grace and power to win. "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your strength, but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it." (1 Corinthians 10:13)
GOD'S PROMISES

The Holy Scripture is full of God's promises which reveal to us God's character; His love and grace towards the fallen man. If we with all our heart want from God to reveal His face to us He will reveal Himself through His words: I created you to be my servant, and I will never forget you (Isaiah 44:21). He will hear his forsaken people and listen to their prayer (Psalm 102:17). But God is my helper. The Lord is my defender (Psalm 54:4). Your troubles will not overwhelm you (Isaiah 43:2). His angel guards those who honor the Lord and rescues them from danger (Psalm 34:7).

85 If they fall, they will not stay down because the Lord will help them up (Psalm 37:24). He helps those who are in trouble; he lifts those who have fallen (Psalm 145:14). He is merciful and quick to forgive (Isaiah 55:7). You are mine (Isaiah 43:1). I will forgive their sins (Jeremiah 31:34). The people of Judah and of Jerusalem will be rescued and will live in safety (Jeremiah 33:16). Let Almighty God be your gold (Job 22:25). I will give them a new heart (Ezekiel 11:19-20). I will guide them to streams of water (Jeremiah 31:9). I will take pleasure in doing good things for them (Jeremiah 32:41). He will take care for all your needs (Psalm 37:19-25). Seek your happiness in the Lord, and he will give you your heart's desire (Psalm 37:4). ... . . "O taste and see that the Lord is good! Happy is the man who takes refuge in him!" (Psalm 34:8) "If any man's will is to do his will, he shall know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority." (John 7:17)
SALUTARY FAITH OR SELF-CONVICTION

"Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you. So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." (Mark 11:23-24) "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." (Hebrews 11:7) Many people thought they had faith in God until the moment they became aware of heaviness of their situation and spiritual condition, and then they found they missed faith. They do not believe that God is going to hear their voices and grant them. A preacher, asked to explain how it is possible to build up a true faith in God and His voice, used a simple example: After the service, before the gathered people, he took a boy, put him on a wall, then walked away a little and said: "Jump to me"! The boy jumped right into his hands. Then the preacher took another boy and said: "Jump"! But the boy began to cry. He was afraid to jump because he did not have faith that he will be caught.

86 "Why did the first boy have the faith to jump but the second one not?", the preacher asked the people. "Because the first boy is your son!" replied the gathered. Son knows his father and therefore has trust in him. Confidence in Christ is also gained by an acquaintance and associating with him. How are we establishing the community with Christ? By conversation! We turn to Him in prayer and He answers through a reasonable idea about His character which we build by studying the Scriptures. When, during the prayer we ask Him to show us His face, He is uncovering Himself through the words from the Bible and He is showing us His love and grace toward people who are as sinful as we are. The result of communion with Jesus is friendship, and friendship results in faith. "So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes by the preaching of Christ." (Romans 10:17) If we do not have faith in God, that He wants and can help us, if we have doubts that he is going to give what is really good to our souls, it means that we do not know Him well. Someone noticed: "Faith is not given to people who are looking for it, but to those who are searching for Christ." The example of a priest with a faithful and unfaithful boy showed us in which direction we have to make a mental effort if we want to get real faith. In non-Bible doctrines we meet a building of faith by means of a "techniques". "We can strengthen the faith in God by repeating His name!" (Sai Baba) If we want to build up a confidence in someone, will repeating his name help us? Would the boy from the mentioned example have had faith in his father had he not been a witness of his love in his life? If we want to establish faith in another person by provoking sentimental feelings for that person, instead of logical investigation of what that person is like, it is very possible that we will see too late, because of our prejudice, that we are cheated. Faith should have logical and not psychological (sentimental) foundations. We cannot build up a salutary faith by repeating God's name or notions reflecting God's character, and because our understanding of notions of God's character, His love, goodness and justice is defined by our knowledge about God's acting, not by the very form of the notions of love, goodness and righteousness. That is why it is necessary to use common sense, in order that by analyzing Gods actions we can understand a true meaning of the mentioned concepts or we will be tempted to understand them in a way common for our own sinful nature. (Divine love is often put on the level of human sentiments, and God's righteousness is being interpreted superficially, as if it condemns only bad intentions, etc

87 ...) Only a sublime idea about God's character and in our mind can open the door of our heart to God. If a system of repeating God's name is not in a service of building of salutary faith, why it is used by many as a way of salvation? Because they are trying in that way to replace a lack of knowing God and real confidence in His character. To get a really clear answer to this question, let us remember the second boy from the previous example who was standing on the wall and crying because he was afraid of jumping. By long repeating the preacher's maybe this boy could have got the feelings of security and courage to jump, but it would not have been the faith but only the feeling (self-conviction in an assumption) of security. The foundation of meditation is emotional experience. In this we find the difference between function of a real prayer and meditation: "When I pray, I think that God is high above me, above my head. When I meditate I feel that God is deeply inside me, in my heart." (Sri Chinmoj, Meditation, 75) Those who have replaced sinful pleasures with meditation just replaced one burden with another. They are still burdened as much as before. Meditation is followed by different experiential sensations, whereby man feels that his troubles are solved. He feels that longings of his soul are satisfied. However, feelings are not competent. Behind the feelings, the essential motives remained same (sinful). The discordance of his motives of behavior with commandments of God's moral law reveals that his spiritual needs have been just suppressed, but not satisfied. That is why those who meditate either discard the importance of Ten Commandments, or interpret them superficially, in order to justify the fanaticism driving them. We have to admit that it is more easily to a sinful heart to repeat some name, mantra or prayer than to put all its strength in the direction of knowing Him Who is the only one who can justify human faith. Love is opposite to our fallen nature and that is why a simple and logical communication with God is difficult until we obey our will to God's one. As we do not have love in our heart, we find it hard to study the Gospels and to think about God in the light of His face. When we want to make a contact and build friendship with an acquaintance, we do not look into ourselves and our own problems in the associating with him, but we look at him: we look for hearing his voice and his solutions. Many people lack faith because they have put their problems, whether circumstances or character is concerned, between God's face and theirs. Meanwhile, we should not believe what we are asking in prayer for, but in Someone to whom we are praying. If we look at the problem, instead at the Saviour, we will not be able to acquaint Him and to build up the needed salutary faith that He can and wants to grant our prayers. In the same way, repeating a mantra or prayer distracts man from a real meeting with God because it deprives him of the attention that he would direct toward acquainting Him as a character. The very attempt to make a communion with God through meditation distorts the idea about God's character, and therefore Holy Spirit leaves us. God is being represented as an automaton who will reply with his blessings after enough long asking in a certain "code".

88 A Christian is praying to God with the same words he would talk with Jesus with were He near him, physically present. How did Jesus' disciples talk to their Teacher? They were not repeating one sentence like mantra, but they were carrying out the burdens of their souls and asking for help from Him. We can observe the same thing in prayers which God's son directed to His father. Every following prayer of Jesus was different from the previous one, even if it had the same meaning (Compare verse 39 of Chapter 26 of Matthew with verse 42 of the same book). Nowhere in the Bible a magic sentence is written which provokes magical reactions, because God wants one normal and alive experience of the meeting and community with man based on love. For those who see in a prayer a salutary techniques; who think that they will receive God's mercy by long repeating of certain prayers and mantras, Jesus says: "But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking." (Matthew 6:7) Why not ask God by a simple prayer (in our own sincere words) for what we need ?! The first reason why our prayers become empty and we are looking for a supplement in a certain techniques is our non-awareness of what we really need; we are not aware of our spiritual needs. This is happening because we do not know God! We do not know the sublime nature of His character so that we can understand the necessity of reforming our own character. We are not aware of the need for forgiveness and a change of heart. The second reason why we try to supplement our prayers with certain "techniques" is because we do not have faith in God that He is going to do what He has promised if we ask for it. This happens, also, because we do not know God! We do not trust that He is love because we do not know Him. Meeting with God results in an unpleasant but real awareness of our own loss. Submission to Christ asks for a willing effort. It is easier to go the shorter way which does not require the meeting with Christ, self-humiliation and renouncing our own "Self". Then we can, for hours, utter the same mantra or prayer and nourish our own proud "Self". God does not want to burden us with a need for special feelings. We can always rely on Him with a simple faith, because He is always the same, no matter what we think or feel about Him. "The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy." "For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed." (Psalm 103:8. Malachi 3:7) Those who are meditating do not know God and therefore believe Him, that He is love and that He is going to do what He promised. Because they do not rely on God they can only rely on themselves and their feelings, to build their own security in those feelings. "Still, we should have on our mind, when we pray, that we are as individuals separated from God. We feel that he is in one place and we are in another. Then, we are not in our highest conscience, where we feel that we are one with God." (Sri Chinmoj, Meditation, 77) "In the prayer we feel that we have nothing and that God has everything. In meditation, we know that everything God has, we also have or we are going to have one day. We feel that we are same as God, with only difference that we still have not expressed our own divinity.

89 We feel (during the prayer) that God is high up while we are deeply down. We see the abyss between His and our being. We are looking up to Him and crying for Him, but we do not know when and to which extent will He grant our prayers. We feel helpless. In meditation, however, we don't ask God for any help, gift or divine characteristic; we are simply entering the sea of His reality." (Sri Chinmoj, Meditation, 75) In entire Bible not a single fact says that faith is based on meditation or any other experiential feeling but on a simple confidence and relying on God. When apostle Paul describes the secret of his experiences with God he does not say "I felt him very deeply", but "I knew to whom I believed". (2 Timothy 1:12) The truth of God's character does not depend on what we think or feel. If someone is worth of our trust, what our feelings have to do with it?! Right the unpleasant feelings will be a test of our real trust in God. Maybe we feel that God is up and we are down; maybe we feel the abyss between His and our face, maybe we do not know when and how He is going to fulfill our prayers but all this does not matter because we know in Whom we believe. "His work is honourable and glorious: and his righteousness endureth for ever. He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he." (Psalm 111:3. Deuteronomy 32:4) We know that we believe in One who, from His throne from Heaven, hears our weak voice from the Earth down. We know that we believe in One who has bridged the abyss between God's and our being by His pierced hands. We know that we believe in One who is going to grant our prayers in the way and time best for us. We believe in God's promises, not because the very techniques of faith is salutary, but because they reveal the character of God's love. Our faith in God's promises shows that we trust and accept that God is love and will therefore fulfill His promises. Thus, salutary is only a faith which in God's promises recognizes God's love toward sinner. Faith which is not satisfied with simple God's promises reveals a doubt in God as being love. Disbelief in God's promises means a disbelief also in the character of God who has given them. If we know God, we will be satisfied with a simple faith, no matter what our feelings are. One inspired writer says: "Do not wait to feel that you are made whole, but say, "I believe it; it is so, not because I feel it, but because God has promised." (EGW SC51) Human need for adequate feelings as a sign and proof of God's acceptance and guidance is present in a subtle form among many people who believe to be Christians. They pray: "God, let me feel love toward all people in the world!" They are waiting to feel love and judge their own spiritual state according to that. (Love feeling we can have without God as well!) They do not trust God because they lack confidence in God as granting their prayers, do not know and do not accept His character, and therefore they rely on them themselves (their feelings). But, the Bible's concept of faith is not based on feelings but on a real relationship with God. When we pray we do not wait to experience a transformation of our sinful heart. We do not think about ourselves and are not looking at our feelings for a proof of granting of our prayers. We are praying, looking at Christ, until we establish a perfect trust that God has taken over on himself to solve our problem.

90 If we need to substantiate faith by feelings, it is a sign of its insipidity. A faith in God which looks for a permanent confirmation in feelings is not a real, but imagined faith in God. That reveals that we do not know God. It shows that we want a blessing without an encounter with the Giver of blessings, with God. This "faith" looses its power in a moment of temptation, whilst a faith based on personal relationship with God, while tempted, strengthens its foundations even more. Let us see what the faith is in the Bible's example of Jesus meeting with a Canaanite woman: "Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, 'Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.' But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, 'Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.' He answered, 'I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.' But she came and knelt before him, saying, 'Lord, help me.' He answered, 'It is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs.' She said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table." Then Jesus answered her, "Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish." And her daughter was healed instantly." (Matthew 15:22-28) Had the Canaanite woman relied on her feelings or her experience, she would have lost her faith immediately. But a real faith is not a consequence of a chance, but of our willing decision to believe in the character of God's love for us. Instead of relying on her experience, on what she saw and felt, the Canaanite woman deceived her own character. She decided to rely on Jesus' character, and not to abandon Him until she received what she had asked for. Tempting of faith by delaying of granting her prayer helped her to ask more from Jesus and to rely on Him more completely. Differently from the feeling of doubt suspect which helped to establish the faith in Jesus, the feeling of safety provoked by meditation or any other prop would help to suppress her real need for the Saviour. She relied on Him in spite of her feelings and therefore she won. That is the experience of all faith winners in the Bible. "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (Hebrews 11:1) God encourages man with great promises and then leads him to a seemingly insoluble resolved situation. Man is confused, for a moment, because when he is looking at himself, he really does not see an exit. (Matthew 19:26). However, "man's trouble gives an opportunity to God". Man lifts his look to God. The time of temptation helps him to check his spiritual state and become aware of the need for cleaning his own motives. He understands how his faith is worthless and how much he needs God. In the prayer he is fighting with God, with all power of his being. (Luke 11:11-13; 18:1-8) He is building a confidence in Him and relies upon Jesus' merits because only inside them, by no means in himself, sees he something which makes him worthy of God's promise and blessing. With whole his being relies he on God and so he becomes a winner of faith. "Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken. So shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification." (Romans 4:18- 25)

91 "By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Through faith Sara herself also received strength to conceive seed and delivered a child when she was past the age because she judged Him who had promised to be faithful. Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable. All these died in faith not having received the promises, but having seen them far off and were persuaded by them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country and truly, if they had been mindful of that country they came from, they might have had the opportunity to return. But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city. By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure. By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff. By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones. ... By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace. And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens." (Hebrews 11:8-34) "Faith grows strong by coming in conflict with doubts and opposing influences. The experience gained in these trials is of more value than the most costly jewels." (EGW T3 555) While we are always looking at Christ we will keep the feeling of weakness of our soul, but this feeling will not bother us. We know in Whom we believe. Our faith in Jesus exceeds the importance of the feeling of our weakness. It does not matter how we feel but who God is in reality. Man can be disappointed only in someone in whom he relies on. Because we do not rely on ourselves, we will not be disappointed with ourselves and our weakness. Our weakness will lead us to lift our look up, to be encouraged by God, His goodness and His power. But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.' So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:9-10) We do not rely on ourselves, but on living God. Only from such a faith, based on the One we know, a victorious Christian life could originate. "What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall

92 tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:31-39) "And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you." (Matthew 17:20)
WHY MEDITATION OR YOGA ARE SIN

Many people think that it is exaggerating to think that yoga or meditation are sin. They do not understand why it is a violation of the first God's Commandment: "I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me." (Exodus 20:2-3) Person who indulges himself in eating probably does not even think that he is breaking the first Commandment of God's moral law (by looking for salvation in the food). His non-awareness of the fact does not change the truth that he is looking for salvation in eating. "For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things." (Philippians 3:18-19) If we rebuke person who indulges in eating for his sin, that person could justify himself that he will eventually die of starvation. Or, a person who is exercising yoga breathing could say that he has to breathe anyway, so why could not he do it in a healthy and useful way. So the problem is in the function of what we are doing. If we are doing something in order to please ourselves spiritually, than by doing this we are breaking first Commandment of God's moral law. Only unsatisfied person is desperately looking for happiness and pleasure. If we are really relying on God and accepting His salvation, we are not going to make some other actions to save ourselves "a little bit more", as if God could not help us completely. Then our actions are not going to be selfish and egocentric. Some actions are no doubt unnecessary e.g. meditation and therefore no doubt sinful. Other are necessary and that is why they represent a very smart temptation as a person can cover up his selfish and self- righteous motives with it. The person who indulges in eating can eat healthy and with moderately but at the same time to be a glutton. Proud and self-righteous person can do good deeds and think it is the reason of his righteousness before God. If they would come to know God's character in a better way through His word, many people would realize that they are tired and burdened, and that they were looking for comfort and salvation in many necessary as well as in unnecessary doings.
ROLE OF SUPERSTITION

Until a man with his obstinacy has succeeded to suppress the voice of his conscience, he has been receiving through it the truth that it is a sin to look for salvation in meditating or in some other method. This divine truth is in conflict with man's sinful nature and it results in feelings of fear and guilt. The Satan is smartly trying to extinguish this truth.

93 When man discards the testimony of the Spirit and violates the first Commandment of God's moral law with any "technique", Satan has right to the sinner because of the committed sin, and sometimes Satan attacks the sinful person with such an evil that he destroys him or her completely. Then, in order to suppress the voice of conscience of his victim, he induces the sinner that the cause of the failure in some "technical" error. That is how the sinner suffers and burdens himself on a wrong plane, misunderstanding the spiritual cause of his or her problem. Satan came up with different ways of superstition trying to mislead different minds. Here are some examples: "Everything is going bad because of your horoscope!" "Someone did the magic to you. You should find your talisman!" "I got up on my left leg, that's the cause why everything is going wrong!" Of course, some cheats can be subtle: For example, when one attendant of transcendental meditation got his mantra (a word wich causes magic reactions by repeating) it was said to him "not to reveal this mantra to anybody, because it could be very bad for him". Before the demons show their power over their medium on psychical and spiritual plane and destroy him visibly, they induce him to violate a rule (to reveal his mantra to someone else or similar) in order that he thinks, when troubles appear, that the problem is in breaking a "technical" rule, instead in the separation from God - in breaking the moral law.
THE CONFLICT BETWEEN JUSTIFICATION BY WORKS AND JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH THROUGH AGES

Justification by works is the principle of false salvation, which presume certain "techniques" or system by which we try to reconcile with God (in fact we reconcile with our conscience), by doing deeds of justice. On the other side, there is the principle of the real salvation, which presume that we realize the uselessness of the attempts to get justice by our own acts and through God's revelation, we realize that our only hope is to accept Christ's righteousness through faith. "What then are we to say? Gentiles, who did not strive for righteousness, have attained it, that is, righteousness through faith; but Israel, who did strive for the righteousness that is based on the law, did not succeed in fulfilling that law. Why not? Because they did not strive for it on the basis of faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written, 'See, I am laying in Zion a stone that will make people stumble, a rock that will make them fall, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.'" (Romans 9:30-33) People who do not understand God's character can think that their good deeds can save them. But, who had ever realized God's character in the real light, he gave up himself and his own righteousness, since he realized that his justice is profaned by sin and that it can only burden him even more with guilt. Also, everyone who had realized God's character in the real light, has understood that he is not left to himself. The confidence in God's grace toward the sinner and Christ's sacrifice on the Calvary is becoming his only life-giving alternative. *** In the following several pages we will analyze the principles of the conflict between the justification by works and justification by faith through ages: from Biblical examples of Adam,

94 Cain and Abel, Pharisees and tax collector up to the example from history of young Christian church and its later apostasy and finally the example of false and real reformation of our times.
THE CLOTHES OF FIG LEAVES OR THE LAMB'S SKIN

Before the fall into the sin, instead of the animal fur the man was covered and illuminated by the glory of God. "Now they were both naked, the man and his wife, but they had no feeling of shame towards one another." (Genesis 2:25) But because they had sinned, they got to an condition in which the presence of God's glory would have meant an instantaneous death for them. That is why the glory of God retired from them. "And they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons." (Genesis 3:7) They were ashamed of their nakedness because it discovered the absence of God's glory and it reminded them of the committed sin. Their desperation become even greater when they noticed around themselves the consequences of their transgression. A damnation fell onto the Earth because of their sin. The leaves started to fade and animals became mortal. "Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze and hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, 'Where are you?' He replied, 'I heard the sound as you were walking in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, and I hid myself.'" (Genesis 3:8-10) Having an aroused feeling of guilt they tried to justify themselves by passing the responsibility for the committed sin to each other. But, the exterior circumstances could not justify their guilt. The temptation was precisely an opportunity for them where they could, with a right choice, glorify God and thereby be glorified themselves. Distrust in the love God had towards them enabled them to be tricked by flattering of the tempter and to fall into the sin. Now in the light of God's presence they felt guilty and like lost rebels. They have found themselves in a changed state, in which the community with God did not represent joy any more. By their sin and their guilt they got to a hostility with God's character and his righteousness. When they had heard God's voice in the garden, Adam and Eve got afraid, and then they were the witnesses of something unexpected. With surprise they listened to God Who, while cursing the snake, was saying the words that represented a hope in salvation and eternal life to the fallen man and humanity. Then they heard for the first time the prophecy about their Saviour: "I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your brood and hers. They shall strike at your head, and you shall strike at their heel." (Genesis 3:15) God will raise The Saviour from the woman's descendants, in the laps of God's church The Saviour will be born. He will smash the snake's head; destroy the evil, but then he will get a death bite; he will pay the price of the human transgression. Then the first sacrifice was offered - an innocent lamb. The spilt blood of an innocent animal became a symbol of an innocent sacrifice which God Himself would make through Christ in order to redeem the fallen humanity. So Jesus will become "...the

95 Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." (John 1:29) Many centuries later the angel choirs will sing the "new song", to the Lamb's glory, saying: "Thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of ever kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing." (Revelation 5:9.12) "And the Lord God made garments of skins for the man and for his wife, and clothed them." (Genesis 3:21) The clothes of fig leaves, the symbol of the human clothes of justice could not justify the sinful man before the heaven's condemnation. The human righteousness cannot fulfill the demands of God's justice because it is desecrated by sin. God Himself dressed the Eden couple in the lamb's clothes which is the symbol of Christ's clothes of righteousness. The putting off the skin from sinless lamb had lethal consequences upon the lamb, as man's putting on Christ's clothes of righteousness had cost the Saviour the lethal consequences. Man's natural reaction to the aroused feeling of guilt is to try to suppress impure conscience by building the feeling of its own righteousness. However, before God that justice is worth not more than fig leaves. God is not asking from us to come out in front of him offering our righteousness, but, what a wonderful miracle, God gives us His own righteousness as a gift. God's intention is to dress our naked bodies in white clothes of His own character in which we will walk while we are still on this earth. "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, ..." (Isaiah 61:10) "After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and tongue, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb. All the angels were standing around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying: Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen. Then one of the elders asked me. These in white robes-who are they, and where did they come from? I answered, Sir, you know. And he said, These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits in the throne will spread his tent over them." (Revelation 7:9-15)

96
CAIN'S AND ABEL'S SERVICE

A non-admission of the need for the Redeemer from sin and guilt does not free a sinner from his sin and guilt. Just what many think of as a sign of their faithfulness to God - their religious service reveals precisely their non-reconciliation with God. Let us remember Cain and Abel and their religious service: "In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel for his part brought of the firstlings of his flock, their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell." (Genesis 4:3- 5) Both Cain and Abel offered their sacrifices in their service to God. As among different religions in the world, so among those two services there was not an apparently significant difference. Either offered what he had with regard to the conditions in which he lived. We often hear the assertion: "Let everyone serve God in his own way, God accepts every service on condition that it is sincere and from the heart!" By this assertion it is often tried to justify the religion of the sinful and self-righteous human heart which scorns God's law in the name of respecting human customs (which stand for a covering for sinful heart and unclear conscience. It is forgotten that real love is not a blind course of some motives which come out from the interior of our being. Love is a reasonable and purposeful answer to the needs of the environment and requirements of the Heavens. If I come across a wounded man on the street I will not give him a bouquet of flowers to show him in that way that I love him, but I will help him as much as possible. There are no differences in character with men, except those caused by sin, which might prevent men from acting in the only purposeful way in the meeting with a person who needs love (in this case - help). In the same way and in the relationship with God, there exists adequate, already defined way in which man should show his love to God (the first 4 commandments of God's law speak of it). In the Garden of Eden we see that the man should have expressed his love toward God through the obedience the ban on eating the forbidden fruit, then through the acceptance of the holiness and blessing of the Day of Rest, and after the Fall, we see the ceremonial sacrificing of animals which represent the prophecy of Christ's sacrifice. Differently from Abel, Cain offered as sacrifice fruit and vegetables which surely cannot be the ceremonial prophecy pointing to Christ. So, Cain's service revealed his unconsciousness of the need for the Redeemer of the sin and guilt. God could not accept such service as pleasant. "And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. And Cain talked with Abel his brother: ..." (Genesis 4:4-8) Differently from Abel, Cain still did not kill anyone but in his heart the sin was conceived. His attempt to, by criticizing and self- justification, soothe his conscience, did not bear results. Therefore, when they were in the field, Cain murdered his brother (Genesis 4:8). "The deserved karma happened to him because he killed innocent animal" Cain probably thought, having established his "peace" and "justice on the Earth". But the peace of his conscience he still could not establish.

97 When God then appeared to him, Cain said to Him: "Today you have driven me away from the soil, and I shall be hidden from your face; I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and anyone who meets me may kill me." (Genesis 4:14) Cain was afraid of what he deserved. The fear of confrontation with his own conscience he transferred to the fear from confrontation with the environment. He ascribed his aggressive tendencies to others and to God his character of not forgiving. In His grace, God did not take Cain's life immediately after the sin committed. He left him alive and offered him a chance to repent in the meantime. However, Cain, with his conscience burdened, was afraid that the punishment he had deserved would befall him immediately. The fear befell him for he had rather accepted to bear the heavy burden of his conscience, than the easy yoke of God's mercy. "So the first will kill me that I meet" said Cain. God did not want to torment Cain by karma, i.e. by the burden of guilt and the fear of coming judgment, in order to made him thereby obedient to God. "And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him." (Gen. 4:15) We should respect man's right to serve his deity in the way he wants it, but that does not mean that God will accept man's arbitrary and self-righteous service. God accepts only a service which is the expression of man's obedience. It is worth before God because it reveals the love of the one who is moved by it. But, let us note that God accepts only voluntary obedience. When Cain decided to go his own way, God did not block that way of his. The one who is saved will not be with Christ because he had to be so, for, maybe, he had had troubles in the life, but because he voluntarily decided to love his Lord. Every human being is given the opportunities to choose to whom he will serve. According to the teaching of those who believe in reincarnation everyone will be saved sooner or later. Their resistance to God only postpones the time when they will be, through an expiation for their sins, cleansed and be with God again. That is compulsory salvation. Let us imagine a man who say to the girl he wants very much: "Dear girl, I want to be intimate with you but I respect the freedom of your choice. You do not have to be with me! But, I will beat you so much and you will suffer so much until you finally agree with my requirements!"
THE PHARISEE AND TAX COLLECTOR

As in past, many people today also do not have a consciousness about the need for a Redeemer from sin and guilt, and therefore they do not pose the question of how to solve their problem of sin and guilt. And when the notion of religion is mentioned to them, they have a need to justify themselves before their conscience with the words having, most usually, the next meaning: "I live a decent life. I wish nothing bad to anyone, I do not want other people's possessions, and I will not give away mine. I did not kill anybody, I did not steal anything from anyone. I go to church regularly! Is not that enough?"

98 Their justification looks like a justification of the haughty and self- righteous Pharisee from Jesus' example: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.' But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted." (Luke 18:10-14) Both the Pharisee and tax collector went to the same temple for religious service. Both of them, moved by strong religious needs, directed their prayers to God Who had the same name. Likewise, they went away from their religious service convinced in their justification before God, and both of them were very satisfied and thankful to God for that reason. But, there was still a difference between them. Both of them went away satisfied, but while the Pharisee went satisfied with his own character, the tax collector went satisfied with character of God Who had forgiven him and accepted him. Why did Jesus say that only the tax collector was justified before God, and not the Pharisee too, when the latter was very satisfied with his own righteousness and, in his opinion, far above the righteousness of the tax collector. Those who seek a spiritual perfection in an attempt to become satisfied with themselves, are trying the impossible. With correct criteria of perfection such an attempt can only traumatize us. Our nature is not sinless so that we could be satisfied with it. What is revealed by the fact that someone is nevertheless satisfied with himself? In which case a man can be satisfied with himself? It is only when his criteria of perfection are degraded from the sinless to a level of the sinful, from the divine to a level of the human. If we have a good opinion about ourselves and our nature, it speaks just that we have not met Christ; that we have not yet comprehended the real beauty of God's character, and that our criteria of goodness are very low and distorted. Many make efforts to suppress every ray of divine light, they try to defy every demand of the sublime divine righteousness, proclaiming them to be fanatical demands just because they are hindered by those demands in the attempt to become satisfied finally with themselves and their own righteousness. An attempt of a man to feel satisfied with himself and his righteousness is a root of every spiritual and psychic pathology. The very need for such a feeling is not a spiritual need, but a psychic one. It is not a deed of the Holy Spirit, but of a man's sinful nature and his unclean conscience. Differently from a spiritual need, its aim is a change of feeling, not a change of the character and a realization of an unity with God. A fanatical adherence represents always an answer to our psychological needs, whose aim is a feeling of satisfaction with ourselves, while a sound religious faith rightly liberates us of that burden and induces us to be satisfied with the One who has promised to liberate us from sin and guilt.

99 Now the questions are: What is it which enabled the Pharisee to become satisfied with himself and his character, differently from the tax collector who found his only alternative in being satisfied with God? What is it which saved the tax collector from burdening himself with psychological needs and opened his heart for the action of the Holy Spirit, Who made him aware of his spiritual needs? Let us see who of the two had in his mind more sublime idea about God's character. Who of them had an idea about God based on the demands of God's moral law? Of course, only he who showed, by his repentance, his recognition of God's law, could have that idea. Who of them repented for violating the law? The Pharisee had such a degraded and superficial idea about God's law that he did not understand at all his guilt in front of it. In essence he did not know God through the law, but through legalism. Differently from legalism which satisfies itself with a certain religious form of behavior, God's law looks at the heart and ask for its motives to be correct. (Legalism is just one of many ways whereby a sinner hides himself from the real face of the law.) Differently from the Pharisee, the tax collector knew God through the law, and therefore the Holy Spirit had the freedom through such an idea of God's character to lead him up to a sincere repentance. Many Christian have so distorted idea of God's character that through such an idea Holy Spirit cannot contact them and to make them aware of their spiritual needs. "Yet, if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. I would not have known what is to covet if the law had not said, 'You shall not covet.'" (Romans 7,7) Because of neglecting knowledge of the law, many Christians never repent for a sin itself, but just for undesired consequences of sin in their emotions and behavior. Who keeps in his mind a correct idea about God's character in the light of His law will never be tempted to justify himself by the deeds of his own righteousness, for the law discourages him permanently from such an attempt. He understands that he will never be able to be satisfied with himself, but that does not hinder him at all when he is satisfied completely with God, His character and His plan of salvation. On one occasion The Israelites became very disappointed with themselves. They wept bitterly hearing the demands of the law they violated. Then the priests "said to all the people, 'This day is holy to the Lord your God; Do not mourn or weep.' For all the people wept when they heard the words of the law. Then he said to them, 'Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions of them to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord; and do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength'." (Nehemiah 8:9-10) The Israelites could proceed to weep over themselves continually because of their sins, but if God had forgiven them and accepted them with joy, how would they have underestimated and despise so great a mercy. Having understood the joyful message of the priest, then "all the people went their way to eat and drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were declared to them.". (Nehemiah 8:12) Let us remember of the story about lost son. The lost rebel could not certainly be satisfied with himself, but by making the efforts to become satisfied with the character of his father he opened the

100 door of his own salvation. His hope was not founded in a confidence in his own repentance, but in the confidence in the character of his father, full of mercy and forgiving. And the confidence in such a character could not fail to result in his sincere and deep repentance. Everyone willing to acquaint God's character could exclaim: "To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens!" (Psalm 123:1) "O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; I will lift up my hands and call on your name. My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast, and my mouth praises you with joyful lips when I think of you on my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me." (Psalm 63:1-8) Somebody could ask: "What if I become satisfied with God, but continue to sin by my life? What will save me from an imagined correctness of my life?" If we decide to become satisfied with our life, nothing will save us from an imagined correctness, but if we decide to become satisfied with God, God Himself will save us. The purity of His character, revealed by his law, will reprimand us for any attempt to abuse His name. God will not give us a confidence in His forgiving our sins and guilt, unless we rely on Him truly and accept by faith His gift of repentance. We will not be satisfied with a simple confidence in the character of Who we have not chosen to be our God. As with Pharisees, so with us psychological need will appear inducing us to additional action whereby we will attempt to calm our unclean conscience. While the Pharisee watched the tax collector in order to elevate his own character, the latter had an opportunity to watch the sacrifice being offered daily in the temple, elevating his hopes to God and revealing the divine plan of salvation. Righteous God could not forgive a sinner in any other way, but to take his place Himself. The sword of condemnation fell on the Sinless One, in order that the sinner be justified. The tax collector had his consolation in the promised Saviour, prophesied by David the psalmist thousand year ago: "May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the needy, and crush the oppressor. May he live while the sun endures, and as long as the moon, throughout all generations. May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass, like showers that water the earth. In his days may righteousness flourish and peace abound, until the moon is no more. May he have dominion from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. ... May all kings fall down before him, all nations give him service. For he delivers the needy when they call, the poor and those who have no helper. He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy. From oppression and violence he redeems their life; and precious is their blood in his sight. Long may he live! ... May his name endure forever, his fame continue as long as the sun. May all nations be blessed in him; may they pronounce him happy. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things. Blessed be his glorious name forever; may his glory fill the whole earth. Amen and Amen." (Psalm 72:4-19)

101 Differently from the tax collector, the Pharisee believed more in his than in God's plan of salvation. He considered that God would accept him on the basis of his own deeds of justice, on the basis of the values of his own character. Thus the Pharisee showed that he believed more in his than in God's character. If our confidence in God is conditioned by our confidence in our own character, by our belief that we have first to clean ourselves to become an object of God's mercy, then we can be sure that that is not a faith in God, but a faith in ourselves and in our own character. Therefore our question should be: "Do I have a confidence in God's accepting me on the basis of my own character and my own plan of salvation? Do I know God's character so well that a feeling of the weakness of my own nature becomes an irrelevant factor in my spirituality?" Many persons, having recognized themselves as the tax collector, who, poor in spirit, stand before righteous God, cannot reconciliate themselves with their role. They have not decided to become satisfied with God to such an extent that they could remain discontent with themselves. Since they have not a confidence in God's accepting them such as they are, they make all the efforts of their will to take a role of the pride and self-righteous Pharisee. Differently from the Pharisee saying in his prayer "Thank you, God, for I am not like... this tax collector!", they as if say in the prayer "God! Help me to be like this Pharisee!... help me to feel that I am perfect in my goodness!". Instead of seeing the axis of their relationship with God in understanding of His character, they put their consecration to the fore. Instead of dealing with God, they deal with themselves, trying to build up a feeling of their own righteousness by their religiosity. In that way they just suppress the acquired testimony that they are poor in spirit. Instead of in God, they find a peace on the garment of their own justice. Since they have not confidence in God, they look within themselves and their positive feelings and strivings for a proof of God's approval. Dealing with themselves, in an attempt to realize spiritual perfection, they prevent Jesus from dealing with them and from giving them, as a present, a real victory over the sin. Morris Venden, in his work "Behold, I am coming..." says: "If we constantly look at ourselves and wonder how do we do and how much have we achieved, we have nor a least possibility to be saved. But if we look at Jesus, if our eyes are always directed toward Him, we have no a least possibility to be lost." Looking at oneself is a temptation for man's sinful soul. It is lethal spiritually for it provokes his selfishness and self-righteousness. Our will receives the strength from what we are looking at. A girl tried seven days without success to get rid of the sin of tobacco, until she gave up and uttered: "I can't do it any more! God, I tried all! Take me in your hands, I am utterly lost!" She continued, as before, to pray regularly and study the Gospel, but now without the burdening covenants not to light a cigarette any more. Five days later her mother "shocked" her with the words: "How nice you have not lit a cigarette for five days!" Not before that had the girl become aware of her being free of the unhealthy vice five days already. How is it possible that she was not aware of her victory over the sin five days already?

102 Because she retained the feeling of her weakness even after the victory. She walked in the light of God's face and therefore she was still aware of being a sinner in her nature. As she did not deal with herself, her sins and her covenants of non-sinning any more, she did not rely on herself any more. She still had a will not to sin, but by dealing with Jesus she forgot about herself and her own (un)righteousness lost its power faced with God's righteousness. We do not need to wait for a feeling of change of our heart, but we should start living according to the God's law, believing in His promised salvation. Our confidence in God's approval and salvation must not be based in our confidence in ourselves and our righteousness (Matthew 6:3), but in our confidence in God and His promises. Let us look at Him and we will live. By looking at God and getting acquainted with His character, we acquire a confidence in Him. We believe that God is love because we know Him. And when we have confidence in Him, then we believe that He is good enough to be willing to save us, and powerful enough to do it. His call has a saving power and therefore His salvation is complete, not partial. God invites us to realize a spiritual perfection: "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matthew 5.48) Perfection would be impossible should it depend on a sinlessness of human nature, but it is possible because God - the object of human choice - is sinless. Consequently, to be perfect does not mean to be of a sinless nature, but to be independent and free from the sinful nature by a complete confidence in God and relying on Him. With a confidence in God our very nature will begin to change, but we must never become satisfied with it, because then the process of consecration will cease. Perfect is a baby that at its age recognizes its parents and rejoices at them, although it still does not know to speak, but should it remain such all its life it would certainly not be perfect any more. It must not become satisfied with itself, for its development will stop. Perfect is what corresponds completely to a certain level of development. Perfect is the sinner who answers completely to the message. God sends to him in the present time, regardless of his previous sinful heritage (and experience). Perfect was the lost son in the moment when in the pigsty turned a look of faith toward his father and decided to return to him. Perfect is the tax collector who obeyed completely the testimony about his own sinfulness and about God's mercy and His accepting. The tax collector showed a confidence in God and in righteousness He offers mercifully to every sinner who repents, the sinfulness of his human nature having become therefore quite invalidated and neglected. Did the tax collector continue to sin? Watching the sublime demands of the law he had violated, and the service of the offering the innocent sacrifice, that had replaced him, the tax collector's heart was led to a sincere and deep repentance. The tax collector was forgiven much. And who was forgiven much, has a great love (Luke 7:47). And who has a great love will observe God's law (Romans 13:10).
PAGANISM AND CHRISTIANITY

"In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." (2 Timothy 3:12)

103 "If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also. But all this they will do to you on my account, because they do not know him who sent me." (John 15:19-19) "All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved." (Mark 13:13) When we review the reports of Roman historians we will see the fulfillment of Christ's prophecies: "To calm the rumors, Nero accused and tortured some people who were hated on account of their evil deeds - the community popularly called "Christians". The founder of that sect, Christ, was killed at the order of Pontious Pilate, the ruler of Judea when Tiberius was the king. Their mortal superstition temporarily was pushed away but it began to awaken again - not only in Judea but in Rome itself, where various dirty and shameful things were accepted." (Tacitus, Annals 15,44) "Since the Jews constantly created disturbances at the inducements of Christ, Claudious sent them away from Rome." (Svetonije, "The Lives of Kings", the year of 121) Roman king Decius performed one of the biggest Christian persecutions (249-251). He tried to destroy the Christians by the Death Decree considering them responsible for moral decline of Rome. The heathen philosopher Celzus pointed earlier to the Christian internationalism as political danger for the Roman Empire, by which he started several edicts for their persecution. As long as Christianity had its life force, it was persecuted. It was not hinder by the persecution but just gave it an opportunity for revealing its strength and its character. The cause of the persecution was in the reprimand which a Christian believer carried in his life against the sin and immorality. "The world loves sin, and hates righteousness, and this was the cause of its hostility to Jesus. All who refuse His infinite love will find Christianity a disturbing element. The light of Christ sweeps away the darkness that covers their sins, and the need of reform is made manifest. While those who yield to the influence of the Holy Spirit begin war with themselves, those who cling to sin war against the truth and its representatives. Thus strife is created, and Christ's followers are accused as troublers of the people." (The Desire of Ages, 306) Let us note that a heathen has definite action by which he tries to calm his conscience. He longs for peace. But instead to be calmed down so that he will coordinate his life with his conscience, he suffocates the voice of consciousness and lowers it to the level of his sinful life. The testimony of the Holy Spirit by which God wants to induce him to accept the salvation is proclaimed by him to be the voice of his enemy. As he merges with the sin, in the reprimand directed towards the sin he sees the reprimand directed towards him personally. So the aggressiveness which the truth has in the conflict with his self- deception is attributed by him to the represents of the truth and thus concludes that they are aggressive in their appearance. And, at the end of everything - a heathen reduces his contact with Christians to the personal conflict and enmity. The reprimanded conscience often induces man to the defense by condemning and projection of his own sinful motives. Limited by his sinful motivation the heathen cannot understand the deeds of real love differently but looking at them through the principles of his own self- righteous conscience and sinful motivation. On account of his superficial access he is not in a state to see the difference between right and fanatic religious zeal. A true Christian is for him liberal because he does not undertake any religious efforts to be saved (on account of the justification by faith only),

104 being for him at the same time a fanatic because he leads apparently very limiting life (because of the deeds of the law which are the consequence of the salvation). For example, Jesus was reprimanded for "liberalism" because he associated with tax collectors and sinners, while John the Baptist was accused for "fanaticism" because of the moderation in food and drink (Luke 7,33-34). The people are apt to laud the religious activities which someone invests to be saved (justification by works), because they flatter their personal attempts of salvation without Christ, while they are apt to call the fruits of real dedication a fanaticism, because they reprimand their conscience in front of their undedicated and fruitless life. "On this basis an opinion about the Christians as about atheists primarily was created in the folk. The accusation for atheism sprang in the most natural way. In the heathen religion, because of the emptiness of its inner contents, its ritual side was very much developed. The heathens had many beautiful temples, altars and images of various gods. In the temples abundant sacrifices were offered and various religious rituals were performed. At first, Christians did not have either temples or icons. Considering that the essence of the religion is in rituals and not understanding Christian doctrine at all regarding the respect for God in spirit and truth, common people began to look at Christians as at atheists in the roughest sense of that word. Christians were accused of killing children, eating their bodies and drinking their blood and giving themselves to perversion at such meetings. Finally, the avoidance of the profane parties and theaters by Christians and their separated life in their own circles gave an opportunity for them being accused for the hatred towards mankind... As atheists and violators of the law, Christians were in the eyes of people hated by gods and culprits for all people's misfortunes. They should have been destroyed in order that the fury of gods be avoided." (P. Malitski, "History of Christian Church", the Textbook of the Christian Orthodox University, Belgrade, 45-47) In the fourth century the persecution was finished and soon a much greater enemy of Christianity replaced it - the compromise with heathens.
APOSTASY AND REFORMATION

In the time of the apostasy of Christian Church (2 Thess. 2:3.7) the teaching of the justification by faith was neglected and then rejected. Instead in God, the people started to seek the salvation in their religious activities again. That is how fanaticism was born. It is sufficient to look at the teaching of Church fathers and the Church history and be encountered with almost incredible examples of the attempts of salvation: by sleeping on the rock, standing on the pillar, being buried in the ground, by eating moldy bread, not taking a bath and by other various feats. In the Church doctrine the service itself (liturgy or mass) is considered the sacrifice which is to be offered to God for the salvation. As the apostatized church could not support its teaching by God's power and authority of the Bible anymore, it relied upon the political power and that was what Middle Ages made dark. The freedom of thinking and usage of the reason became dangerous threat to the irrational authority of

105 the church. Religious leaders forbid God's service performed in national language and the Bible was the first on the list of forbidden books. Individuals who wanted to be spiritually exalted were sent to the monasteries in order that so that their deed be sheltered from those who needed it most. And then God raised the Reformation. The light of the truth about justification by faith solely came to shine through the darkness of the Middle Ages and found its place in the hearts of all sincere people. One of its proponents was Jean Calvin. Before he had converted, he had discussions with his nephew: "A nephew of Calvin, who had joined the reformers, was in Paris. The two kinsmen often met, and discussed together the matters that were disturbing Christendom. "There are but two religions in the world," said Olivetan, the Protestant. "The one class of religions are those which men have invented, in all of which man saves himself by ceremonies and good works; the other is that one religion which is revealed in the Bible, and which teaches men to look for salvation solely to the free grace of God. "I will have none of your new doctrines," exclaimed Calvin; "think you that I have lived in error all my days?" But thoughts had been awakened in his mind which he could not banish at will. Alone in his chamber he pondered upon his cousin's words. Conviction of sin fastened upon him; he saw himself, without an intercessor, in the presence of a holy and just Judge. The mediation of saints, good works, the ceremonies of the church, all were powerless to atone for sin. He could see before him nothing but the blackness of eternal despair. In vain the doctors of the church endeavored to relieve his woe. Confession, penance, were resorted to in vain; they could not reconcile the soul with God. While still engaged in these fruitless struggles, Calvin, chancing one day to visit one of the public squares, witnessed there the burning of a heretic. He was filled with wonder at the expression of peace which rested upon the martyr's countenance. Amid the tortures of that dreadful death, and under the more terrible condemnation of the church, he manifested a faith and courage which the young student painfully contrasted with his own despair and darkness, while living in strictest obedience to the church. Upon the Bible, he knew, the heretics rested their faith. He determined to study it, and discover, if he could, the secret of their joy. In the Bible he found Christ. "O Father," he cried, "his sacrifice has appeased thy wrath; his blood has washed away my impurities; his cross has borne my curse; his death has atoned for me. We had devised for ourselves many useless follies, but thou hast placed thy Word before me like a torch, and thou hast touched my heart, in order that I may hold in abomination all other merits save those of Jesus." (GC 220) The teaching of traditional Christianity of man being able to save himself by good deeds was unmasked by the Protestant reformation as a teaching which was in direct conflict with Biblical plan of salvation: "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God not because of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9) Although the basic principles of the reformation would soon be neglected, they brought great blessings to the reformed nations on the level of morality, social order (civil democracy), scientific and economic achievements.

106 The people who have hidden themselves from God's face by means of various rituals and people's rules, idolatry, the mediation of dead saints and live priests, can be in a sincere belief that their own deeds of righteousness could recommend them to God's salvation. But, whoever had removed the veil of self-deception and acquired, in the light of Biblical revelation, a right idea about the sublimity of God's character, he has "given up" himself and his justice because he has understood that it is desecrated by the sin and can only burden him more by the guilt. The one who has met God's character in the right light, also realized that he is not left to himself. The confidence in God's grace toward the sinner and Christ's sacrifice on the cross of Calvary become life- giving necessity to him. *** By the middle of 19th century the basic principles of the Protestant reformation were abandoned. The conscience of the people who came back to worldly life cried out for a freedom from the "pressure" of Biblical doctrine. The appearance of Darwinism (which had been accepted as wanted justification of basic foundations of modern atheist ideologies), then modern spiritism and antinomianism (the belief that God's commandments have been abolished on the cross) gave the "freedom" of conscience to the world before its further sinning.
THE FALSE REFORMATION OF OUR TIME

The need for the spiritual awakening and reformation today is more than apparent. Many become aware that mystic rituals and teachings which flatter the arrogant and self-righteous heart cannot satisfy the thirst of a soul. The attempts of religious reformation appear within the frame of traditional churches as well as beyond them. Dissatisfied by the formalism and coldness of traditional Christianity, many turn their face to new ideals contained in a smiling face which, instead of worry and sorrow, shines with a joy of salvation and new life in Jesus Christ. But, false theories about sanctification which are the consequence of neglecting God's Law, have produced people not being aware of their spiritual needs, that having opened the door to deceit and false reformation. By neglecting God's moral Law, man loses the ability to discern good from evil; he is not able to discern Christ's righteousness from human righteousness, A simple Christ's appeal from the God's Word directed to common sense induces a sinner to humiliate himself with confession of the stoniness and sinfulness of his own heart. The sinner usually reacts indifferently to the appeal of the Spirit. The awareness of that call is being suffocated in time, and so a graceful chance passes. Soon, the Satan appears with his fanatical appeal which flatters the motives of the man's non-reborn nature and his sentimental feelings. Such an appeal does not require from man to humiliate himself by throwing his righteousness and glory into ashes, but just flatters man's self- righteousness and therefore is accepted by him. False religious reformation, which comes to being as reaction to the weakness of traditional Christianity and modern Protestantism, is a characteristic of the Pentecostal movement in the Protestantism, Charismatic movement in the Catholic Church and Godpraying movement in the Orthodox Church.
THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FALSE REFORMATION

107 "But many of the revivals of modern times have presented a marked contrast to those manifestations of divine grace which in earlier days followed the labors of God's servants. It is true that a widespread interest is kindled, many profess conversion, and there are large accessions to the churches; nevertheless the results are not such as to warrant the belief that there has been a corresponding increase of real spiritual life. The light which flames up for a time soon dies out, leaving the darkness more dense than before. Popular revivals are too often carried by appeals to the imagination, by exciting the emotions, by gratifying the love for what is new and startling. Converts thus gained have little desire to listen to Bible truth, little interest in the testimony of prophets and apostles. Unless a religious service has something of a sensational character, it has no attractions for them. A message which appeals to unimpassioned reason awakens no response. The plain warnings of God's word, relating directly to their eternal interests, are unheeded. With every truly converted soul the relation to God and to eternal things will be the great topic of life. But where, in the popular churches of today, is the spirit of consecration to God? The converts do not renounce their pride and love of the world. They are no more willing to deny self, to take up the cross, and follow the meek and lowly Jesus, than before their conversion. Religion has become the sport of infidels and skeptics because so many who bear its name are ignorant of its principles. The power of godliness has well-nigh departed from many of the churches. Picnics, church theatricals, 464 church fairs, fine houses, personal display, have banished thoughts of God. Lands and goods and worldly occupations engross the mind, and things of eternal interest receive hardly a passing notice. Notwithstanding the widespread declension of faith and piety, there are true followers of Christ in these churches. Before the final visitation of God's judgments upon the earth, there will be, among the people of the Lord, such a revival of primitive godliness as has not been witnessed since apostolic times. The Spirit and power of God will be poured out upon his children. At that time many will separate themselves from those churches in which the love of this world has supplanted love for God and his Word. Many, both of ministers and people, will gladly accept those great truths which God has caused to be proclaimed at this time, to prepare a people for the Lord's second coming. The enemy of souls desires to hinder this work; and before the time for such a movement shall come, he will endeavor to prevent it, by introducing a counterfeit. In those churches which he can bring under his deceptive power, he will make it appear that God's special blessing is poured out; there will be manifest what is thought to be great religious interest. Multitudes will exult that God is working marvelously for them, when the work is that of another spirit. Under a religious guise, Satan will seek to extend his influence over the Christian world. In many of the revivals which have occurred during the last half century, the same influences have been at work, to a greater or less degree, that will be manifest in the more extensive movements of the future. There is an emotional excitement, a mingling of the true with the false, that is well adapted to mislead. Yet none need be deceived. In the light of God's Word it is not difficult to determine the nature of these movements. Wherever men neglect the testimony of the Bible, turning away from those plain, soul-testing truths which require self-denial and renunciation of the world, there we may be sure that God's blessing is not bestowed. And by the rule which Christ himself has given, "Ye shall know them by their fruits," (1 Matt. 7:16) it is evident that these movements are not the work of the Spirit of God." (EGW GC 1888. 463-464) Differently from Christians of the real reformation who retain the feeling of sinfulness of their nature but by Christ's grace and Christ's power live righteous lives, the bearers of false reformation retain their old sinful lives but feeling to be righteous (accepted by God). Jesus calls us to discern the really faithful ones from those being that just by name:

108 "Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few. Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? So, every sound tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears evil fruit. A sound tree cannot bear evil fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will know them by their fruits. Not every one who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers.'" (Matthew 7:13-23)
THE THREE ANGELS' MESSAGE

"And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, as a testimony to all nations; and then the end will come." (Matthew 24:14) In the chapter 14 of the Revelation we find the repeating of this Jesus' prophecy with stressed order for preaching of those truths which are neglected during great apostasy of the Church and which represent a reprimand against the false religious reformation of today, which neglects the demands of God's law. "Then I saw another angel flying in midheaven, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and tongue and people; and he said with a loud voice, 'Fear God and give him glory, for the hour of his judgment has come; and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the fountains of water.' Another angel, a second, followed, saying, 'Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who made all nations drink the wine of her impure passion.' And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, 'If any one worships the beast and its image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also shall drink the wine of God's wrath, poured unmixed into the cup of his anger, and he shall be tormented with fire and sulphur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up for ever and ever; and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.' Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." (Revelation 14:6- 12) The message "Fear God and give Him glory", spoken about by the first angel (Revelation 14:7), is a right message for our time. It induces us to face our life responsibility, to use our common sense and reexamine our relationship with God. The truth about God's judgement should induce us to become aware of the need for the Redeemer and His robes of justice. The First Angel's message also invites us to express the neglected respect for God as the Creator of Heaven and Earth in the way defined by Him through His moral law (Genesis 20:8-11). In that way the news of the first angel elevate the neglected authority of God as the One who had created the world in six days, contrary to the accepted belief in the evolution theory which denies God's creative power and God's character. Many, when speak of the way of expressing of love toward God and neighbor, claim that "one should not be formalist". They say: "It is all the same what way you express your love, if you are sincere about it!" However, is our love really a love if it in its expressing does not take into

109 consideration the volition of the one we love? Some say: "What God is it if He does not accept me with the service I like to offer to Him?" We must have in mind that God's commandments are not given to represent the test of God's love toward us but they represent the test of our love toward God. They help us to see the weakness of our own righteousness in order to rely upon God's righteousness. Man did not give the commandments to God, but God gave the commandments to man and therefore they are called God's commandments and not man's commandments. Regarding many who consider themselves godly, their stories about great love toward the One Who has saved them from the slavery of sin are only the stories. When they should confirm it by the obedience to God's will expressed through His law, their hearts remain indifferent. To calm their conscience before their disobedience, they give an excuse that the form of obedience is not what is important so much. Thereby they reveal, contrary to their claims, that the form is actually very important to them. It is hard for them to renounce their form for the sake of the form defined by God's word as an expression of their love toward Him. They have other gods to whom they are more obedient both essentially and formally. Without the call of the First Angel's Message many could not become aware of the sinfulness of the motives making them religious. The First Angel's Message, dealing with the form of the love toward God, touching the authority of people's customs and tradition, induces man to examine himself whether he really listens to and believes in God's or man's word. The Second Angel's Message (Revelation 14:8) speaks of the spiritual fall of Babylon, the false religion which "quenched the thirst of all peoples". Instead "the water of life" it gave "poisonous wine of its whoredom". The Third Angel's Message (Revelation 14:9-11) declares damnation over those who has, by rejecting the authority of God's word, acknowledged the supreme authority of political and religious system which had put itself in the place of God and dared to have changed God's law (Daniel 7:25). God's word speaks that apostatized churches will unify in the common points of their teachings, relying upon the political power (Revelation 17:2) and persecute those who are really faithful to God and the authority of His word. The majority of the world will have the form of godliness (2 Timothy 3:5) while those who are really faithful to God will be in minority (Luke 18:8). Jesus says: "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation, and put you to death; and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake." (Matthew 24:9) The trial rock will be in keeping of all of the Ten God's commandments. The temptation will be the accepting of the changed commandments and thus paying homage to the Anti-Christ. (Daniel 7:25) God will interfere in the last moment by His Second coming and thus save His people (2 Thessalonians 2:8). The acceptance of the call of The Three Angels' Message results in faithful God's remainder "who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus" (Revelation 14:12).
LAODICEA AND THE REAL REFORMATION

110 One believer of the Adventist Church, known by her religious and self-sacrificial zeal, had a dream that she was before Jesus and the group of the saved dressed in white robes of salvation. But she was not in the group of the saved. With tremble she was asking herself why she was out of the group dressed in white robes of Christ's justice? Why had she not been saved? When she looked down at her robe, she was terrified realizing the reason of her being lost. She did not see white robe on herself but the one she always liked to wear - the prettiest and the most solemn robe from her wardrobe. Just what many today consider their recommendation for the Heaven will be the reason for their not being saved. We have neither some our own righteousness nor our merits on the basis of which we could be saved. We should not even try to be just to be saved (justified). Regardless of how much such attempts look successful, they will never bring a peace to our soul. The process of the consecration does not have the purpose to reconcile us with God. It could never do that because it is a process and because we are guilty for the sins already done. The justice which gives us the peace with God (forgiveness) and the power which transforms us into Christ's character (consecration), is not based upon our efforts and our merits, but upon the merits of Jesus Christ, our only Redeemer. "In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation." (2 Corinthians 5:19) "For no human being will be justified in his sight by works of the law, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction; since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, they are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus." (Romans 3:20-24) It would be ideal if a majority of Christians world, in their spiritual life, retain the awareness of the weakness of their nature and dependence on God's power, such as they had in the beginning of their spiritual experience. After they experience visible changes of their character, renounce alcohol, tobacco, bad manners and similar sins, many have descended their looks from Jesus to themselves. From the justification by faith they go unnoticeably to the justification by works. Instead of dealing with Christ's righteousness they begin to deal with their own. The consequences of one's own sinfulness, manifested before in unpleasant feelings and inadequate relationship with one's environment disappeared almost completely, so that they got a thought now that they can rely finally on their own righteousness. That is how they came to a very difficult spiritual state. They cannot recognize themselves any more in the poor in spirit called blessed by Jesus (Matthew 5:3). Such a spiritual state of believers corresponds to the description of Laodicea, the church of the last time to which Jesus directs a warning: "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth. You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked." (Revelation 3:15-17) A superficial preacher thinks that main problem of Laodicea are believers who make mistakes in their open liberalism toward sin or visible fanaticism toward Biblical commandments. But, God's

111 word does not see a focus of the problem in those who are "cold" Christians, who maybe openly break God's commandments and the church rules of behavior. The problem of the church are the majority of the "lukewarm" self- satisfied Christians who, when they look at themselves and their justice, do not really see any particular sins. When they look at themselves they honestly say: "I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing." (Revelation 3:17) A Laodicean is not a Christian who could be helped by reprimanding, because his form of the behavior is perfect. He cannot be caught "neither by head nor by tail" because he does not have visible sins. Reprimanding him for his sins, we can help him just to become a good Laodicean, not a good Christian as well. A question is imposing upon us: how to help a Laodicean to become a warm Christian. In the answer to that question two direction of a false reformation appear: Ones think that the demands of the law should be made more rigid. However, thereby fanaticism and legalism would be distended even more, hiding behind the formally right godliness of a Laodicean. Others think that the demands of the law should be mitigated or abolished, for it induces the believers to fanaticism. However, in order that a sinner could be justified by faith, that he would wish to have the robes of Christ's justice, he must first become dissatisfied with his own justice. And that is impossible without the law. The right understanding of God's moral law induces a sinner to be justified only by the faith in Christ's merits (Galatians 3:24). A Laodicean does not understand the demands of the law in the right and profound way because he avoids the personal encounter with Christ. In the encounter with Him he would understand the sinfulness of the motives which move him. That is why Christ's advice to Laodicea is not the change of the church doctrine, but the building of the personal community with God: "I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I love, I reprove and chasten; so be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. He who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I myself conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne." (Revel. 3:18-21) "The design of the message to the Laodiceans was to rid the church of just such fanatical influences; but the effort of Satan has been to corrupt the message, and destroy its influence. He would be better pleased to have fanatical persons embrace the testimony, and use it in his cause, than to have them remain in a lukewarm state. I have seen that it was not the design of the message to lead brother to sit in judgment over his brother, to tell him what to do, and just how far to go; but for each individual to search his own heart, and attend to his own individual work." (EGW 2SG 223) So, the solution of the problem of Laodiceans is not in a correction of their behavior, but in a correction of their relationship with God - in knowing of God and obedience of his own will to Him. Differently from a legalists, who are afraid of the notion of the justification only by faith and from a sentimental fanatic, who is afraid of the notion of law, a Laodicean is confused by the notion of James' struggle with God. He is "good" without God and therefore he is wondering why he should

112 fight with God. As he has no a community with Christ any more, he does not understand that the motives of his justice are in conflict with Christ's justice and therefore he does not understand whence the notion "fight" pointing to the conflict.
JESUS - THE ONLY WAY

We saw that the problem of guilt is always manifested in some pathological ways in religious life, if it has not been solved in the only right way, through Jesus Christ. About the danger of neglecting that most important truth, Martin Luther wrote: "If the teaching of justification (by believing in the merits of Christ) were once lost, then all good Christian teachings would be lost too... Then the one who went astray from this Christian justice had to get into the justification of the law, and by that I want to say that, if he loses Christ, he has to get into believing in his own deeds." (LUTHER ON GALATIANS, PP.136) A well-known Baptist preacher Charles Finny says: "The great skill in treating a sinner who is worried about his soul is to clear away all his difficulties and disperse the darkness; to cut off all his misconceptions, in order to undermine all his selfrighteous hopes, and to eliminate all the support of consolation which he could find in himself. ..... Sinners often cling to their wrong supports in life, as in a death rattle. The last person the sinner wants to go to is Jesus Christ. The sinners would rather save themselves in any other way... They would rather make sacrifice of some sort, they would make any expense or endure any accident and they would not simply rely on Christ as their Saviour like guilty and sinful rebels. He is the last way by which they would like to be saved. For it is in total contrast with their selfrighteousness and because it destroys their conceited "self" and self-reliance, they are really not willing to accept that." (J.T.C. "The Last Call")
JUSTIFICATION IN NON-CHRISTIANITY

Non-Christian religions openly reject Salvation by Christ's sacrifice of reconciliation. Most of these religions denied Christ in the past, but now the tactic is changed. They accept Him as God's prophet, teacher and healer. But not as the Redeemer of mankind. Mutual tolerance, respect of different ways of salvation are very often in their speech, while by their teaching, they undermine the basis of biblical salvation by Christ's sacrifice of reconciliation. Some of them consider that Judas was crucified, not Jesus (by Koran). Others consider that Jesus came from Tibet according to the "newly discovered texts" and that he did not die on the cross, but thanks to a beneficial influence of meditation he bore pains, survived and run away secretly. His grave is in India, some say. Some say that Jesus went to France with his wife and that he had his descendants; some say that Jesus did not really die on the cross but only his spirit left his body. There is an opinion that Jesus died on the cross by common death as many others who died for noble and progressive ideas. However, Christ's death was not the common one. It took one or a few days to die on the cross while our Saviour died only within six hours. Why? Because he died not from physical injuries and the loss of blood, but because he literally bore the divine punishment which mankind deserved because of their sins. If Christ's sufferings would consist of only His physical pains then His death would be less worth than the one of His followers who died martyr death in a more cruel way. Would it be worth in that case, that the Old Testament

113 emphasize the importance of the death of a person foretold, Christ, since millions of martyrs died through centuries for the same ideas. What do the Jewish prophets tell us about the mission of our promised Saviour in the Old Testament? Prophet Isaiah: "See, my servant shall prosper; he shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high. Just as there were many who were astonished at him so marred was his appearance, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of mortals so he shall startle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of him; for that which had not been told them they shall see, and that which they had not heard they shall contemplate. Who has believed what we have heard? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity; and as one from whom others hide their faces he was despised, and we held him of no account. Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By a perversion of justice he was taken away. Who could have imagined his future? For he was cut off from the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people. They made his grave with the wicked and his tomb with the rich, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him with pain. When you make his life an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring, and shall prolong his days; through him the will of the Lord shall prosper. Out of his anguish he shall see light; he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge. The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors." (Isaiah 52:13-53:12) Perhaps we are astonished that non-Christian religions openly reject Salvation by Christ's sacrifice of reconciliation. But since Christ was rejected by the Jews themselves whose Holy Scriptures clearly point to Him as the Lamb of God who took on Himself the sins of the world, then there's no wonder that He was rejected by the rest of the world.
JUSTIFICATION IN CHRISTIANITY

All Christian Churches cite the blood of Jesus Christ but only in wider context of their teaching it is seen that they seek Salvation outside Jesus. Some of them seek Salvation from guilt in good deeds, others in self-atoning, then in the renunciation of sinful wishes, in obeying the law, in praying to God and fasting by strict penitential decisions, in religious rituals, in missionary work, in observing the laws of healthy food etc. Almost all Christian churches are characterized by preaching the truth of the Salvation plan and because of spiritual heresy their believers are "forced" to use "spiritual defensive mechanism" which will block positive outfit of the mentioned evangelistic truth.

114 In the following chapters we are going to analyze the few most spread spiritual mechanisms of a spiritual self-righteous person: a cry of self- compassion, unholy joy, criticism and condemnation, burden of proof of community with God and running away from God through religious zeal.
A CRY OF SELF-COMPASSION

A joy of Salvation is sometimes so great that it can be manifested by a cry. But in certain Christian communities we can see how the believers whine during prayer to God and their faces become convulsive while crying. They will say that they are crying for joy but they look very sad. If we had been eyewitnesses of the tears of joy of those who are really faithful to God we could have noticed that their faces were lit up with joy and freshness. A wise man will notice the difference and recognize the spirit of self-compassion of which preacher Charles Finny says: "To pray for them as for 'miserable sinners', does the Bible ever use this kind of language? The Bible never speaks about them as about 'miserable sinners' as if they deserve more to be pitied than accused. Christ takes pity on sinners in His heart. So does God our Father... But God never says anything like 'miserable creature' for sinners, as if they can do nothing because of the condition they are in. The idea that he is miserable instead of sinful, and unhappy instead of guilty, pleases and brings relief to the sinner very much. I saw a sinner who was trembling in agony under the influence of the truth at the meeting until someone started to pray for him as for one 'miserable' creature, so that this one would weep bite tears brokenhearted, thinking that he has got really big help by this prayer saying: 'Oh, how beautiful the prayer is!' If you went to him and spoke to him, you would probably ascertain that he pities himself as if he is an unhappy poor creature, that maybe he even starts to weep because of his unfortunate situation, but that his reprimand for sin and his comprehension of the awful guilt are vanished."
PSYCHOLOGICAL RELAXATION BY UNHOLY JOY

The Holy Scriptures invite us to be joyous in Christ: "Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say rejoice." But we, the human beings, are superficial when we see how the members of a religious community talk with enthusiasm about Christ, how their faces are smiling and happy, we rush to conclude that in that community the spirit of Christ is indisputably present. We forget that a sinful heart can also be happy and because of our superficiality we do not go into the question of difference between his joy and the joy of a devoted heart. There is difference between holy joy and humor. The characteristic of humor compared with holy joy is frivolity. If we tell humorous people that they are not serious they will say: What is wrong with that? We should be happy! They can't understand that a man keeps his seriousness and dignity in the holy joy. "Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling." (Psalm 2:11) A devoted heart is joyous for the revelation of God's love, goodness and righteousness. "I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches." (Psalm 119:14) All that is created by God gives a motive to a man for joy and admiration because creation reveals the Creator's character. Harmony and beauty of nature, God's Word-the Bible and the lives of the saints are an inexhaustible source of the holy joy. In the unholy joy (frivolity) a man rejoices for the desecration and distortion of those things God created.

115
NATURE OF UNSACRED JOY

The nature of unsacred happiness is contained in different forms of psychological release. Somebody is released psychologically by beating himself, somebody by listening to rhythmical music, somebody by making jokes and fun or in some other more subtle ways. The sinner looks for the occasion for his psychological release in an external discord that is going to provoke him to show his own internal discord (very old unhappiness) with his whole soul. Let's see, for example, the content of one joke, or caricatures. They contain perversion and sin. Without perversion they would seem very boring to an sinful heart. A kind of discord gives an opportunity to a man to live in "psychological relaxation" , which is expressed through pleasant feelings (unholy happiness). Some consider that it is healthy to laugh with such kind of joy which is the expression of psychological emptying. We can notice that it is all the same healthy as much as it is for the sick man healthy to cough. Coughing is healthy, but it reveals that man is sick. None will be healed if he is forbidden to cough, but if he is healthy, man is not going to cough anymore. Say in another way, man who is spiritually unburdened - will not have the need to be psychologically unburdened. He does not have the need to psychologically release himself when he is not psychologically tense. That's why the Bible phenomenon of psychological release through laughter gives credit to the deranged person: "For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool: this also is vanity." (Ecclesiastics 7:6) Notions like holy humor or holy joke - does not exist! Frivolity removes from the human mind opportunities for expressing of holy happiness. In such a spiritual condition man is not in good mood for it. Prayer and studying Bible, thinking about the holy scenes to this kind of mind seem unacceptable and like a burden. Unholy conclusions do not deserve to be thought about. If dedicated by Holy Spirit, human heart is going to find always and everywhere an opportunity to express holy happiness. In order that the spirit of unholy happiness should not poison our mind and suffocate our readiness to rejoice at beauty of God's character, God's Word warns us: "But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience." (Ephesians 5:3-6) "Folly is joy to him that is destitute of wisdom: but a man of understanding walketh uprightly." (Proverbs 15:22) Are there motives for humor, jokes and frivolity in the Heaven? The atmosphere of Heaven is the atmosphere of holy happiness. There, everything is perfect, there is no discord and reasonfor unholy happiness (frivolity).
ROLE OF UNHOLY HAPPINESS

"One who laughs a lot, people do not trust to." (A Serbian proverb)

116 The spirit of unholy happiness helps a sinner to eliminate unpleasant result of his sin, the feeling of responsibility (the guilt). So man's tendency for unholy happiness, besides the indifference of his heart toward holy things, discovers impure conscience too. Someone who, by his words or actions consciously made sin, will try to explain his behavior declaring "I was joking", or "I was not serious". And what does it show? Man was not serious, i.e. he was irresponsible to admit the seriousness and responsibility for what he was doing and in the same time he was asking people not to take it for sin. Of course, by suffocating conscience about responsibility, man does not eliminate his responsibility. As we se, it does not matter if a man jokes about his or somebody else's weaknesses. Sin is sin no matter in what course it is expressed. Person who laughs at himself because of his sins shows that he does not regret for the cause (the very motive) of his sinning. He is going to continue to sin because the real repentance asks for the admission of the sin and the admission of guilt because of that sin. God's word judges a man's try to legalize sinful actions by covering them with veil of frivolity. "Fools mock at making amends for sin, ..." (Proverbs 14:9) During the evangelistic sermon, God makes a sinner certain of how deep his spiritual needs are. The man understands that he cannot stand anymore before the heavenly Father in dirty clothes of his own character. The sin is so heavy violation that somebody, for the sinner's salvation, gave his soul to death. "Should I, because of superficiality, scorn so deep love, so big sacrifice?" asked himself someone who understands even a bit of Bible's gift. God's Word says: "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." (Philippians 2:13) You could imagine how dangerous it is to put the frivolous atmosphere in the sermon (unholy happiness). The sinner is lulled in the false surety instead to give up himself. Instead of spiritual salvation he experiences psychological relaxation. Usually at the beginning of a sermon a speaker says an anecdote, like as if he wants to say: "Don't worry! I am not going to explain God's word to you in a way you would ask yourselves: What should I do to be saved? And I am not going to speak to you about Christ the way that His purity and holiness make you aware of your own dirtiness. My sermon is not going to make you morally responsible. Even more, I am going to entertain you!" Telling jokes is not necessary for making frivolous atmosphere. It is enough to put on certain kind of music. Believers are given music with spiritual message but with inadequate melody and rhythm (like pop and rock music). This music provokes the feelings which suffocate man's awareness of the need for Redeemer. Under the Satanic inspiration the speaker can create unholy and frivolous atmosphere of the sermon with special movements, "speech" of his body, by using unholy sentences in his vocabulary or in different ways. Only one person inspired by unholy happiness can damage work of whole group (Ecclesiastes 9:18; Galatians 5:7-10).

117 God's Word address a warning to all people who think that are believers: "Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets." (Luke 6:26) A devoted life of Christian, his humbleness, his kindness and goodness are the reprimand for his undevoted environment. That is why real Christians are not popular in the world. The fruits of religious fanaticism also contain actions which have the form of love and goodness. However, Satan will not allow his followers to be a light for this world, and to reprimand the world for godlessness and immorality. To erase this reprimand Satan inspires his "Christian" with the spirit of unholy happiness which is filling his behavior and his whole life. Through such distorted human behavior God's character cannot be revealed. We see that the work of the Holy Spirit has been suppressed by the fact that in company with this person, the wicked one is not reprimanded for the sin, but he feels self-content. He finds approval and peace for his own conscience. "A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned." (Matthew 12:35-37)
PSYCHOLOGICAL RELAXATION BY CRITICISM AND JUDGMENT

If the sermon were stopped in the middle, everything would be all right. As the revelation of God's character make the sinner aware of his guilt and his need to be saved the preacher, suddenly, puts "poison" in his contents. The criticism of human evil started. Many of Bible verses were cited, which are judging formalism and lawlessness of the apostate churches. The believers who were present with head movements showed approval for the contents of the sermon. Already formed face lines of old believers, by its look showed that poison is a part of everyday meals of their spiritual food. The spirit of judgment is one of the ways by which many people try to calm their impure conscience. In the light of somebody else's sins they feel more correct than in the light of God's face. To raise themselves more, they have to humiliate others. All judgments that are stated on the account of other people and other churches could be correct and in a very subtle way given to the sinner as a excuse for his tendency to judge others. Doing bad things relaxes a human being only psychically, but spiritually it humiliates him more, for man is changing into what he is looking at. The one who judges discovers that his idea about God is very low. If his idea about God was elevated he would have felt himself sinful in the light of His face, and then would not criticize others. We are all sinful enough that Jesus must have died on the Cross of Calvary to give us salvation. "Do not judge, because we are all sinners." (Shakespeare) When the spirit of criticism appears in the sermon or in human consciousness, it destroys awareness of the sinner to be saved in Jesus Christ. Those who judge the others think that God harbor a judgement to everyone, because they did not manage to reconcile with God by their righteousness. They impute to the others their impure

118 conscience, asking of them to do the same as they do. When the others do not behave in accordance to their expectations, then they are judging them. To show this spirit and actions, Jesus said: "Do not judge, or you too will be judged." (Matthew 7:1) "But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother's way." (Romans 14:10-13)
RUNNING AWAY FROM GOD THROUGH RELIGIOUS ZEAL

Pharisees thought so much about their goodness that they didn't have time to get know God and in the light of His character become aware of their sinfulness and need for spiritual salvation. They were running away from God as real heretics are running away thinking about their own "problems". Many people load their mind with religious contents because they want to make a compensation for the feeling of guilt, for they did not give their hearts to God. Very often religious contents, with which man's mind is dealing with, are the result of his running from the real encounter with God. It does not matter if we are doing that by meditation, by abusing spiritual music, by intense missionary work or other religious activity.
THE BURDEN OF PROVING COMMUNION WITH GOD

Due to the guilt created because of their compromise with sin, many people carry the burden of proving God's acceptance. When they talk about their spiritual experiences they do not do it in order to proclaim the character of God's love but to "prove" by means of their spiritual experiences that they are with God, to calm down their own guilty conscience. Jehovah's witnesses lead neatly the evidence about how many magazines they have spread daily, how many hours they have spent giving Biblical lessons, etc. Of course that such dealing with one's own personality and one's own success is totally not needed temptation for sinful man's heart. It also in this case reveals the self- righteous motives of religious zeal. Let's imagine how would it be if a husband would make daily list of the deeds of love toward his wife. His wife would justifiably suspect in the sincerity of that love, since her husband is so much burdened by proving something that he had already done. Jesus said: "But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing." (Matthew 6:3) Man can justify himself by means of his deeds not only by obeying the laws and performing good acts, but also through religious feelings and through other religions manifestations which feed man's self- justice. One girl, a member of a charismatic movement, after being baptized by the "Holy Spirit" (in a such manner that she started speaking "unintelligible tongues"), was constantly repeating: "I finally have the proof that I am with God! I finally have the proof that God has accepted me!" The one who is really in peace with God does not have any need for any proof. He is satisfied with simple faith, trust in Him and His promises. He is not burdened with the constant compulsion to feel his communion with God and he does not look for its justification in miracles or signs which accompany his religious life. There's no need to be engaged in constructing a belief in his own salvation.

119 "We are never to rest in a satisfied condition, and cease to make advancement, saying, 'I am saved.' When this idea is entertained, the motives for watchfulness, for prayers, for earnest endeavor to press onward to higher attainments, cease to exist. No sanctified tongue will be found uttering these words till Christ shall come, and we enter in through the gates into the city of God. Then, with the utmost propriety, we may give glory to God and to the Lamb for eternal deliverance. As long as man is full of weakness--for of himself he cannot save his soul--he should never dare to say, 'I am saved.'" (EGW 1SM 314)
FALSE SPIRITUAL GIFTS

For so called Pentecostal churches it is characteristic that they insist on signs and miracles by which believers try to prove that they are with God. The simplest way to notice that in their case a manifestation of miracle is not from God is the example of their gift to speak in unintelligible tongues. The real gift of speaking unintelligible tongues, together with other gifts, was given to Christ's disciples on the Day of Pentecost when they were all filled with Holy Spirit, so that they could preach the Gospel more powerfully (Acts 2). The gift of tongues received its practical application three and half years later when they started preaching the Gospel to pagans (in their mother tongues which Christ's disciples had not been familiar with). The possession of spiritual gifts is not purpose for itself, but the means of expressing love. In his attempt to respond to the needs of the church and the world, man notices that he lacks different gifts and that is why the Holy Spirit gives those gifts to him as well as His divine power to apply them. Contrary to the real gift of tongue, the false gift of tongues does not have the qualities of a spiritual gift (it does not serve for preaching the Gospel) but has the qualities of a "spiritual" fruit. By means of his gender of impure gender, man imitates his feeling of self-justice in him. It appeared for the first time in history with the female oracles in Delphi and then, not far away in the Corinthian church. You can see that God's spirit has not been disclosed through the above mentioned manifestation of the gift in Corinth, by the fact that apostle Paul had to write an epistle to the Corinthians telling them how to "self-control" that gift, as though the Holy Spirit, if working through that gift, did not have the power to control itself and remind the believers of the desperate situation the church was in. Contrary to the real gift of tongue, the false gift does not demand the unity of church (1 Corinthians 1:11-12; 11:18-19). As it is not a spiritual gift, it does not serve people (1 Corinthians 14:2), but serves for abomination (1 Corinthians 14:23). It develops one's own self- justice and not the church (1 Corinthians 14:4). It demands a translator (1 Corinthians 14:9). It is mindless (1 Corinthians 14:14.20). As it is not the fruit of God's spirit it has to control itself (1. Corinthians. 14:27-28) and is characterized by disorder (1 Corinthians. 14:23.31- 33). If we ask the one who has been "baptized" by such a gift of tongues, about the purpose of that gift, what kind of blessings and advantages he has considering that he cannot understand it with his mind, we shall notice that the person will not be able to provide a sensible and rational answer to us. He will explain to us that the Holy Spirit is praying through him in his own divine tongue without justifying its practical importance for him. It represents the temptation for man's sinful and self-righteous nature which would first accept anything else rather than salvation, than Christ.

120 When we ask a religious supporter of meditation why he needs to meditate when there is already God to pray to, he will try to convince us that meditation helps him in the spiritual development and will list the same arguments the bearers of the gift of tongue use in order to justify their speaking in unintelligible tongues. The one who really believes in God, naturally does not need any additional technique. If the Spirit has a message for someone, He will then forward it by the gift of prophecy on the language understandable to that person. Accordingly, it is absurd to reveal the Spirit by means of gift in the tongue not familiar to the bearer of that particular gift. Does not the Holy Spirit have the power to pray in the language understandable to any man?! Is not the revelation of the Creator in the world created adapted to His creatures? It is impossible for us to love God with our soul and all our mind if our mind does not take part in expressing that love, but only is a passive and useless audience. And if a bearer of the gift of tongue "must" pray in an unintelligible tongue which meaning is hidden, why is it necessary for him to be aware of the prayer of the Holy Spirit when he does not understand it? Why should my mind listen to the things that do not bring any fruit to it? There are many important happenings but they will burden our mind only if we are aware of them. It would be the same thing if I put a microphone in front of my mouth during a meal in order to be able to amplify the sound of my slurping and thus increase my own enjoyment in food. Chewing is important and necessary but it does not mean that I must listen to it. It is even more unreasonable for a man to subdue to the spirit without the participation of his mind and a voluntary choice of God through the understanding and acceptance of his character (and that is also close to the experience of meditation). Sometimes, those who have the "gift of tongue" say: "Try the experience of the gift of tongue and you will see how good it feels." Thus they lead man to check the offered way by personal experience, in the same way by which Satan had tempted Eve. However, experience is not a criterion (Genesis 3:6). Faith, contrary to an assumption, must have reasonable foundations. Man is responsible to examine the inspiration of spiritual experience intellectually and not to "gamble" with himself/herself by means of senseless subduing of his will to the power which obsesses him. That is why apostle Paul reminds the Corinthians: "For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful. What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also. ... Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men." (1 Corinthians 14:21) A false gift simply does not have any other purpose but to give to a sinner a "proof" of God's acceptance and calm down his impure conscience. Among their supporters one can observe the fruit of that subtle form of justification by works. We shall hear conversation like the following: "And have you been baptized by the Holy Spirit?... Lucky you! I haven't been baptized by it yet but I hardly wait to start to speak in tongues myself!" The plan of salvation is sufficient and complete so that there is no need for its further compensation and improvement by means of some additions as such as could be, for example, the above mentioned gift of tongue.

121 Contrary to the false gift of tongue which scandalizes the unfaithful (1 Corinthians 14:23), the real gift of tongue actually represents a sign to the unfaithful (1 Corinthians 14:22). Being a gift, it serves to import others (1 Corinthians 14:12.19.26). It is characterized by the spiritual unity of the church (Acts 2:1). It does not need a translator (Acts 2:6- 8). It is reasonable (1 Corinthians 14:15). It does not have to self- control itself as it inspired by God (Acts 2:4). It is characterized by decency and order (1 Corinthians. 14:40).
WHY THE WORLD REJECTS CHRIST'S SACRIFICE?

We can see that various systems of resolving the problem of guilt are the main cause for all differences between religions. Simply justification by faith in Christ and His mediatory merits do not function when man makes compromise (consciously or unconsciously) with the sin. "There are some who seem to be always seeking for the heavenly pearl. But they do not make an entire surrender of their wrong habits. They do not die to self that Christ may live in them. Therefore they do not find the precious pearl. They have not overcome unholy ambition and their love for worldly attractions. They do not take up the cross and follow Christ in the path of selfdenial and sacrifice. Almost Christians, yet not fully Christians, they seem near the kingdom of heaven, but they cannot enter there. Almost but not wholly saved, means to be not almost but wholly lost." (EGW COL.118) God cannot forgive the sins which people do not repent and which they do not want to leave. The sinners who are not satisfied with simple plan of salvation are undertaking some additional techniques and systems to achieve peace as if God is without power and does not want to save them. The difference between religions appears not only because of different attempts to resolve the problem of guilt (justice) but because of different attempts to resolve the problem of sin (righteousness). As a result of different sins, that are sublimated in religion and goodness, there are many different life philosophies. REAL OR FANATICAL MOTIVES OF RELIGIOUS ZEAL Many sincere believers are confused and discouraged by their fruitless Christian life. They listen with approval to a preacher reprimanding their bad spiritual state, unaware that they got in such an unenviable state by listening to the teaching of their preacher. They do not relate a cause to the consequence; they do not blame their false religious system for their failure, but the "lack of decisiveness of their will". People who are discouraged in such a way give up Christianity forever, considering that "they are not for that" and that victory over the sin is not possible. The cause of their failure was in them who, having fought spiritually in a wrong place, believed blindly in the teachings of their spiritual authorities. Only God's demand provides moral obedience. Demand of man's philosophy does not enable him to live correctly, because it does not have the power to change a heart, to set his nature free from sin. It raises in human heart only the strengths possessed by his sinful nature: pride, selfishness, idolatry, rage, guilt, fear and sentimental feelings. Those are the strengths of fanaticism. Today, in the time of the reformation of false religiousness many try to solve the lack of fruits of faith by permitting to be moved in their religiousness by the strengths of fanaticism. Let us see how simple and rational is the order directed by God to man:

122 "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) A simple God's word directed to the common sense leaves a sinful human heart cold and indifferent. Instead to humiliate itself before God, admit its lostness and rely on divine mercy, such a heart usually discards the work of Holy Spirit: "It leaves my heart cold! That is why I do not believe it is truth!" God says: "I have written to him the great things of my law, but they were counted as a strange thing." (Hosea 8:12) The simple revelations of God's love and goodness, contained in the Holy Scriptures, seem uninteresting to many. The sermon listened by them must be "charged emotionally" in order to have an echo in their hearts. How does our heart become petrified? "God speaks to men through His servants, giving cautions and warnings, and rebuking sin. He gives to each an opportunity to correct his errors before they become fixed in the character; but if one refuses to be corrected, divine power does not interpose to counteract the tendency of his own action. He finds it more easy to repeat the same course. He is hardening the heart against the influence of the Holy Spirit. A further rejection of light places him where a far stronger influence will be ineffectual to make an abiding impression. He who has once yielded to temptation will yield more readily the second time. Every repetition of the sin lessens his power of resistance, blinds his eyes, and stifles conviction. Every seed of indulgence sown will bear fruit. God works no miracle to prevent the harvest. "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." Galatians 6:7. He who manifests an infidel hardihood, a stolid indifference to divine truth, is but reaping the harvest of that which he has himself sown." (EGW PP 268) When we postpone our answer to the call of mercy then our heart becomes stony and ,as such ,resistant to God. In the state of indifference toward the reasonable order of God's word we give an opportunity to Satan to tempt us by the deceit of the fanatic religion which is in accordance with our unconverted affinities upon which our sinful heart does not remain mute. If the revelation of God's love revealed through the Bible leaves us cold and indifferent then there is not any other greater and stronger revelation that can move love in us. The only thing that remains to us, if we do not want to humiliate ourselves before God, is to arouse the fanatical strengths of our nature. Here are several examples of simple orders that arouse fanaticism. Fanaticism caused by guilt and fear: "How can you behave in that way?! Are you aware of responsibility you take on yourself for your behavior?" Fanaticism caused by pride and selfishness: "Aren't you ashamed of your behavior? Do you know who you are to behave in that way?" Fanaticism caused by feelings: "How you are not sorry for yourself on account of such behavior of yours?" Consequently, since we do not have in our nature the real love that would move us to obedience, we tend to go by the line of least resistance and to excite either sentimental feelings or guilt, or perhaps some other strength of our sinful nature, in order to draw out the strength for our religiousness or any other zeal.

123
FANATICISM CAUSED BY GUILT

We have probably already had encounters with the persons who are ready to do great and selfsacrifying deeds for others. From their mouth we have frequently heard the word "I am sorry" but we became sad when we realized that their goodness did not stem from love but from the guilt tormenting their conscience. In the depth of their souls, because of their sins, they are not reconciled with God. They have suppressed the awareness of the sin which is the source of their guilt and thus they feel guilty for all that gives them the pretext for that. If they accidentally trip some passer-by in the street, they will not perhaps sleep quietly because of restless conscience. They do not mean by sin man's spiritual state or his broken community with God, but the lack of care and self-control that results from the undone good deed or done bad deed. Therefore, when they commit a sin, they do not repent the motives they committed the sin (selfishness, pride, irritability, cowardice, absence of love etc.), but for the form of behavior by which they hurt another man or simply violated the established codes of behavior. Since they do not have the consciousness of God's approval, they try to acquire it from men, before their mundane authorities or their personal conscience, keeping blindly to their codes of behavior. They can be very self-sacrificing, they are ready to set aside from their pockets the great amounts of money for the poor but in all their goodness those persons do not have joy. The joy of divine love is replaced by the worry of pangs of conscience. They cannot accept themselves as sinful persons which need Christ's justice ascribed to us. When they notice sinful habits and affinities in their nature, they try immediately to correct their state in order to feel righteous before their conscience. They do not permit God to lead them gradually and so they put a burden upon themselves to be faithful toward any demand that comes before their conscience. They try to consume solid food although they are not even in the stage of milk. They do not have confidence in God and His acceptance and therefore they try to save them themselves. One girl, a student of theology had a load of sadness and darkness on her face. She was different from all other colleagues by her shyness and quietness. And then, at once, she got the light of a nice day in her life. During the preparations for the next exam with a topic "justification by faith" where all the students and their professor were, the girl asked one question, and received the answer which moved all her being. The professor shouted: "Why is your reaction toward the gift of salvation like as if you had got an atomic bomb? ... Take this gift!" The girl went out with tears on her face and that was the beginning of the new life for her. A few weeks later students saw in her completely another person and the new preacher of teaching about justification by faith. Her face shone in the happiness of salvation. She understood completely that the salvation is accepted "gratis". All who, in the light of God's face, saw the dirtiness and distortion of their own characters and cried out to God "Give me that water, and then I shall not be thirsty" have heard His answer: "When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them." (Isaiah 41:17) "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is a thirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." (Revelation 22:17)

124
THE PRINCIPLE OF REVERSE BEHAVIOR UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF THE FEELING OF GUILT

Let us recall the example of a mother who arouses the maternal feeling of love for her son. The emotion of love which should not represent just the pretext for expressing the real love (not possessed by it), is used by this mother as a driving power. She will be prone to say: "Oh son, I love you so much, I love you too much!" It is impossible to love somebody too much! What is revealed by this frequent and senseless statement? In psychology defensive mechanism of reverse behavior is known. If we dislike somebody especially, we are prone to be especially kind and good toward that person in order to appease our unclean conscience by sacrificing deeds or sentimental feelings. Likewise, the mother bearing on herself a burden of guilt because she does not have the real love (patience) for her son, appeases her conscience by provoking and emphasizing her maternal feelings. A young man will emphasize his sentimental feelings for a girl rightly because his conscience warns him that he is with her on account of the selfish motives. Thus a religious person will also arouse his or her fanatical motives and emphasize his or her great love for God. In order that such a person become aware of his load it is necessary to open the doors of his mind and heart to the action of the Holy Spirit through the correct idea of God's character. Then he will see the difference between the character of his own righteousness and that of God's righteousness.
FANATICISM OUT OF FEAR DOUBTFULNESS OR TRUTHFULNESS

Fear is one of the motives that generate one's curiosity. It does make a difference if our curiosity is motivated by the fear of error (by doubt) or by the love for truth. It is not the same if one is errorfearful or truth-loving. We met people whose curiosity was driven by doubt. They are not satisfied with a simple explanation of the reality that surrounds them. They have a habit of "digging" beyond simple explanations, in the effort to find something hidden or complicated. They can never receive enough evidence to make themselves sure of the truth. Even in the secular life we do not possess all the evidence of a given truth and still go on living. We have no evidence that we are going to be hit by a car on the street and still do not reach some hidden corners. We have no evidence if the water we drink has not a deadly poison in it. Would this be a reason for us to stop drinking water? Are we going to lose our identity and cease to exist because no one brought scientific evidence of our existence yet? We cannot prove that all this, somehow, is not a dream or hallucination. Therefore, notwithstanding all the absence of evidence, we behave in the most acceptable way we can. The life compels us to stand for the truth and we go on living by it. Not until we begin to live in accordance with the truth which is most acceptable for us, we get into spiritual readiness for learning, understanding and living by the truth that will be a complete answer to our own spiritual and physical needs. If we overlook the evidences set before us and those that go without saying and begin to suspect the truth, we can fall into the sin of doubt. We will not set us free from doubtfulness by greater comprehension of truth, but by a heart conversion, because doubt is a sin and vagueness of the truth is the only opportunity for the manifestation of the motive of doubt.

125 If we allow our curiosity to be stirred by the wrong motives, if we investigate the truth out of fear instead of love, we shall accept it and live out of fear instead of love.
DOUBT AS SPIRITUAL BLOCKADE

The truth is inviting us to accept Christ and by trusting Him enter the road He has set before us. Doubtfulness lowers our sight from Christ to the road itself, and make us analyze the road in order to test if Christ is really trustworthy. Different from doubtfulness, true love make us direct our attention to Christ and by reasonable realization of the character of His love, establish that He is worthy of our trust. "Many are unwilling to accept of Christ until the whole mystery of the plan of salvation shall be made plain to them. They refuse the look of faith, although they see that thousands have looked, and have felt the efficacy of looking, to the cross of Christ. Many wander in the mazes of philosophy, in search of reasons and evidence which they will never find, while they reject the evidence which God has been pleased to give. They refuse to walk in the light of the Sun of Righteousness, until the reason of its shining shall be explained. All who persist in this course will fail to come to a knowledge of the truth. God will never remove every occasion for doubt. He gives sufficient evidence on which to base faith, and if this is not accepted, the mind is left in darkness. If those who were bitten by the serpents had stopped to doubt and question before they would consent to look, they would have perished. It is our duty, first, to look; and the look of faith will give us life." (EGW PP 432) The doubters first expect to get every single detail cleared up on the way they were introduced to, before they are ready to come to Christ and follow Him on His way. Now, what are the motives and whose inspiration is it when we meditate apart from Christ? How can we understand divine love through the principles of our merciless heart? Meditation apart from Christ offers no way out and has the virtue of bringing us into even deeper darkness. Only if we live according to the truth that we did understand, we will be enabled to receive higher and greater truth. Only if we accept Christ by the measure of accepting that He has invited us to, we will be enabled to appreciate His love in greater glory and to give ourselves to Him deeper. We cannot test the safety of the way God is inviting us on by observing and investigating the way itself, but by knowing the divine Person that leads us on that way. When we get to know the character of God, we will not care what the way is like. Peter walked on water because He believed Jesus by His word. The moment Peter let a big wave draw his attention away, he doubted and began to sink. We cannot and should not, by reason, examine all the details of our way, but can and should examine the object of our trust intelligently. By contemplating on the character of Him that is invisible, we begin to trust God, that He, with His mighty arm, will lead us completely securely. (Psalm 37:5) If our mind is fixed on the things physically visible, the unclearness of the way will feed our doubts and our discouragement. False religion tries to satisfy the sinful human curiosity. It does not develop the trust in God: it tries to make the way a secure one. It furnishes the motives of one's selfish curiosity giving him some rational explanations why it is useful to act this or that way. It gives the system of suggestions and advices and induces one, by accepting and observing them, to develop the feeling of his own security, leaving God as a figure needed only in theoretical sense.
THE FEAR FROM THE ENEMY

The doubt is much used in false giving attributes and accusations of the motives of ideological opponents. When someone cannot deny the attitudes of the opponent, then he tries to deny the motives of their carriers. As the accusations against the "enemy's" motives are less proved, people's paranoia is strongly activated: "They have secret scriptures about ... behind them there lie..."

126 As we see the emotion of the fear is motivated by not defined experience. Clear and factual defining of the "enemy" would remove the provocation for the imagination of the listener to attach him those motives which he is apt to project. Not defining gives the broadness of the projection. Bad motives which move some organization cannot be the argument by which the attitudes of that organization are denied. The error must be unmasked with the truth and not by paranoid accusations. Maybe behind the astrologers there lies masonry, but those are not the reasons that it is bad to believe in astrology, nor that it is bad to be a mason. Paranoid person understands that something is bad because it is in connection with something else which is also bad and which lies behind it, but such connections are not suitable to the principles of common sense, nor will help the man who is in temptation. The error is dangerous only because it gives a man an excuse to sin, and the truth is good because it reveals the character of the real godly love and thus enables us to rightly use our will in the life temptations. Every other thinking is not important for the people's salvation and it often represents not needed and dangerous temptation.
FEAR AS AN EMOTION

The feeling of fear may be a real, adequate answer to the experiences of the real life, as danger, surprise, obscurity of a situation, etc. but if fear becomes a driving force of life, it is then the fear as the sinful motive of phobia, paranoia, cowardice, doubtfulness, skepticism, etc. For example, a feeling of fear is an adequate answer to an oncoming danger from an automobile approaching to us in a great speed. Now, the role of feeling can be correct, depending on our spiritual state. If we are in the right communion with God we will have the emotion of fear and we will not go away from it, but we will go away out of motive of love for ourselves, for driver, etc... But in the bad spiritual condition the mere emotions of fear will govern us. In other words, we will become cowards, we will go away out of the motive of fear and not of love (because we do not have love). As the emotion of fear is not rational itself (and the emotions should have the rational role), it can happen that we, out of the fear, remain petrified and fall into a danger. If we are reconciled with God, then we have no reason to fear because we have the trust in God's leadership and we will not have cause for fear in our motives. We will not have the fear in ourselves so our zeal will not be pervaded by the fear as the moving force: "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." (1 John 4:18) "For God gave us not a spirit of fearfulness; but of power and love and discipline." (2 Timothy 1:7) Differently from the fear as motive which is therefore the sin, the emotion of fear exists, what is the consequence of the understanding of God's greatness, His great love and grace towards a fallen man. Such emotion of fear appears together with the emotion of joy: "Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling." (Psalm 2:11) Fear is the emotion which is adequate answer to the unclearness and greatness of that which we try to comprehend. The revelation of the limitless God's love toward us overcomes our power to explain it to ourselves and when we personally accept such understandable God's love, we feel fear and amazement, perplexity and thankfulness.

127 "But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared." (Psalm 130:4) "I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me, and I will forgive all the guilt of their sin and rebellion against me. And this city shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and a glory before all the nations of the earth who shall hear of all the good that I do for them; they shall fear and tremble because of all the good and all the prosperity I provide for it." (Jeremiah 33:8-9)
FANATICISM OUT OF ANGER TOWARD INJUSTICE

"The government under which Jesus lived was corrupt and oppressive; on every hand were crying abuses, - extortion, intolerance, and grinding pride. Yet the Saviour attempted no civil reforms. He attacked no national abuses, nor condemned the national enemies. He did not interfere with the authority or administration of those in power. He who was our example kept aloof from earthly governments. Not because He was indifferent to the woes of men, but because the remedy did not lie in merely human and external measures. To be efficient, the cure must reach men individually, and must regenerate the heart." (EGW DA 509) Our world is full of injustice: "But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;" (2 Timothy 3:12-13) God permits the sin to reveal its real nature completely in order that it be destroyed on His Day forever, without any question of the justification of such an act. To accept the world as such, means to accept evil as its constituent element. Facing the evil represents the temptation to many. A man himself feels responsible to take a negative attitude toward evil and sin, whether just with an inner attitude or with some action. However, to a man, the temptation is to response to evil by evil as well. (The feeling of anger represents the temptation to us to fall into the sin of anger and hatred.) A man cannot realize higher spiritual contents than those he devotes his spirit to. If we permit the evil to occupy our mind regardless of how positive intentions we have, we will become evil, too. An old Russian proverb says: "Who fights against a dragon for hundred years becomes a dragon himself!" Therefore we meet much more persons today who hate injustice than those who love justice. We meet many of those who love mankind much but not man as well. Without voluntary efforts directed toward understanding God, the beauty of His character, a man is left to the fanatic motives of his sinful nature. Somebody said: "We will fight until the last man lest genocide be done on us!" A man can have an expressed zeal and sincere readiness to sacrifice even his life in the fight against evil. However, should such a man find himself in the atmosphere of Heaven, he would himself feel a stranger. The atmosphere of Heaven would not find an echo in his heart, thoughts and motives. Jesus' spirit is different: "But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your

128 enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?" (Matthew 5:39- 47) A girl got ready and started off to a birthday party but her father stopped her at the door, shouting: "Wash the dishes first and then go to the party!" The girl obeyed her father's order. She tried to wash the dishes carefully and be as quiet in doing so as possible. And then she heard the voice of her father: "Be more quiet! Don't bang so much!" She continued to wash the dishes even more quietly. When she finished, her father forbade her, without any rationale, to go to the party. She went to her room without a word of comment. She prayed on her knees for her father and then went to sleep. In the morning, mother awakened her and said: "Listen what has happened! Last night, about half past one, your father got up, sat at the table and began to cry. He was sorry for having been so bad toward you!" When on the same day he returned from job, he asked his daughter to forgive him for his behavior toward her. Then they hugged and kissed one another. Had this Christian girl reprimanded her father for his unrighteous behavior, she could have stirred the justified feeling of his guilt but she would have, just by that, hindered the action of the Holy Spirit and He could not have later produced the real penitence moved by love. The penitence moved by guilt or fear is not the real penitence. Love cannot be extorted by force (Proverbs 27:22). "And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kindly to everyone, an apt teacher, patient, correcting opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant that they will repent and come to know the truth, and that they may escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will." (2 Timothy 2:24-26) Only love can arouse love. Humiliation raises humiliation and forgiving - forgiving. Only a heart healed from the poisonous sources of this world can reveal the love for others. "Even John, the beloved disciple, the one who most fully reflected the likeness of the Saviour, did not naturally possess that loveliness of character. He was not only self-assertive and ambitious for honor, but impetuous, and resentful under injuries. But as the character of the Divine One was manifested to him, he saw his own deficiency and was humbled by the knowledge. The strength and patience, the power and tenderness, the majesty and meekness, that he beheld in the daily life of the Son of God, fi lled his soul with admiration and love. Day by day his heart was drawn out toward Christ, until he lost sight of self in love for his Master. His resentful, ambitious temper was yielded to the molding power of Christ. The regenerating influence of the Holy Spirit renewed his heart. The power of the love of Christ wrought a transformation of character." (EGW Steps to Christ 73)

129
FANATICISM CAUSED BY SELFISH LOVE

Human selfishness need not to be directed only toward material values. The Bible describes to us how the Jews of Jesus' time were the slaves of their religion. They were known for their readiness to live and die for their faith. They were waiting for Messiah and when He finally appeared among them, they were not able to recognize Him. Since they were looking for their spiritual salvation in their religious activities, they were not ready to recognize him in Jesus Christ. They blindly and fanatically obeyed to the system of their religious codes and had forgotten Who was their religious system pointing at. By His simple and irreproachable life, Jesus "touched" their self- righteous religiousness. In order to remove the reprimand directed to their religious fanaticism, Jews blamed Him for acting against the integrity and interests of the Hebrew religion and nation. Archpriest Caiaphas said for Jesus: "It is more to your interest that one man should die for the people, than that the whole nation should be destroyed." (John 11:50) Later on, when Jesus was brought before Pilate with the demand that He be crucified, the Hebrew leaders manifested how their love toward their people was a hypocritical one: "Pilate said to the Jews, 'Here is your king.' They shouted, 'Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!' 'Crucify your king?' said Pilate. 'We have no king but Caesar', the Jews replied." (John 19:15) Christ was blamed for jeopardizing the survival of the Hebrew people, and then, contrary to their belief, they betrayed the interests of their people claiming that they did not have another king except Caesar. In their fanaticism they were ready to live and die for their faith but not for God as well. Proud and selfish man can be a slave to his moral values, too. When those values are violated by his carelessness, he can, deeply hurt and disappointed, commit suicide. He may have seemed as a man who loved himself much but, in fact, he loved his values, not himself. A nationalist is a slave of the values of the nation he belongs to. He seems to be patriot, ready to live and die for his brethren. However, he does not prefer a man to his moral values. He will sacrifice his life for the preserving of his national alphabet, as if he existed because of it and not conversely. A man is, of course, more important than his national values. For he does not exist because of it, but conversely. When an average young man describes the reasons he loves his girl, he underlines her values: goodness, intelligence, beautiful eyes, hair, clothes etc. The values that can represent the provocation for expressing the real love get a role of the foundation, i.e. the cause of his (selfish) love for her. The young man thinks that he loves his girl, however, if in his mind the expected idea about her values is disturbed, he will lose the motive of his love for the girl. He loves his values, and not her. He is with her because of himself not because of her. Here we meet selfish love which always demands the cause of love for somebody or something. And so the cause becomes more important than the person whom we "love". Because we find the cause for the love in adequate man's values, they will be more important for us than the man himself. We will tend to sacrifice even himself for the reasons we "love" him for. We see again how the selfish motives induce a man to behave inappropriately to his real interests and see how human motives of the behavior refute the theory of natural selection and evolution.

130 Instead of permitting God to change their nature (heart), many are satisfied by a Satan-offered change in the sphere of feelings and experience.
FANATICISM CAUSED BY FEELINGS

"Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh." (Ezekiel 36:26) "Many who speak to others of the need of a new heart do not themselves know what is meant by these words. The youth especially stumble over this phrase, "a new heart." They do not know what it means. They look for a special change to take place in their feelings. This they term conversion. Over this error thousands have stumbled to ruin, not understanding the expression, "Ye must be born again." Satan leads people to think that because they have felt a rapture of feeling they are converted. But their experience does not change. Their actions are the same as before. Their lives show no good fruit. They pray often and long, and are constantly referring to the feelings they had at such and such a time. But they do not live the new life. They are deceived. Their experience goes no deeper than feeling. They build upon the sand, and when adverse winds come their house is swept away." (EGW MYP 71) Without the correct understanding of God's moral law they are not aware of the spiritual needs but only of the psychological ones and therefore they are satisfied by psychic sensations. The experience of emotional excitement is called by them the experience of rebirth. The fruits of fanaticism are called by them the fruits of faith. Since their conscience is distorted (because of neglecting God's law) they are not able to see the difference between the holy and unholy, between the real love and fanaticism. They are prone to justifiably condemn the fanaticism of the justification by works, the characteristic of traditional Christianity and by doing so to arouse the fanaticism caused by feelings: "What are those cold formalistic prayers?! ... You count by your rosaries how many times you have directed a prayer of love to God! Do you, young man, count the kisses to your girl? Do you know at all what the love is? ... there is not a worth in your sole desire to be good, if you don't feel a love! You must experience God! You must feel Him deeply!" To such men who are moved by a fanaticism caused by feelings, we can say: "Your feeling of love means nothing! You should have love!" Many do not understand that to feel love and to have love is not same. Biased goodness moved by feelings is possessed by some alcoholics while they are influenced by alcohol. Such love is possessed also by persons in love. However, the fruits of fanaticism differ from the fruits of love. A person in love, while under the influence of his or her fascination, does not take the characteristics of holiness: humiliation, patience and renouncing one's desires. A sinful man can also feel love but cannot have it as well. We always meet people who sincerely feel love for themselves, while they, at the same time, smoke and drink. It shows to us that if we feel love for somebody it does not mean that we have it too. In order that a man have love it is necessary for him to experience the change of what he is (his nature) and not what he feels.

131 The purpose of feeling is not to move us to goodness. It is the characteristic of liable persons only. We should be good not because we feel goodness but because we are good. Real goodness is a principle, founded on the communion with Christ and not on the feelings. In psychology, love is considered to be an emotion. We make the difference now between the very emotion of love and the motive for love. When the emotion of love gets a role of a driving power then the fanaticism caused by feelings is in question. An important feature of the mentioned kind of fanaticism is its non- enabling a man to obey the commandments of the moral Decalogue. Why? Because it is not the fruit of the conversion of heart - motives, but is based only on the conversion of the feelings. And converting of the feelings does not demand the renunciation of sins. It is possible for a person in a state of emotional fascination to behave kindly and amiably but his obedience to God's commandments is merely formal and accidental. He or she will respect more the commandments the formal violation of which would spoil his or her feelings. But some commandments cannot be understood by him or her from his or her sentimental standpoint, as shall be seen in the following chapters. We will show the difference between the real love and fanaticism caused by feelings analyzing a man's relationship with God (from the First to the Fourth commandment) and with a neighbour (from the Sixth to the Tenth commandment).
NEGLECTED LOVE FOR GOD SPIRITUAL OR PSYCHIC PEACE

There exists an interesting phenomenon related to the Fourth God's commandment which tell us about the seventh day as the day of rest, devoted to God. A fanatic moved by feelings bases his relationship to God on the feelings, consequently on the psychic level. He strives every day to have psychic peace and blessings, and wonders why he or she ought to have it only every seventh day. The only difference between the day of rest - the Fourth commandment and other days is, according to some, physical rest and therefore they interpret the Fourth commandment as a sanitary commandment. However, why would a sanitary commandment be inserted into the moral Decalogue? What is the problem of a sentimental fanatic? He does not realize the difference between a spiritual and psychic rest. We should have a spiritual rest in Christ every day. Of course, God did not ask the Jews to be faithful to him just one day weekly. When God consecrated and blessed the seventh day for the Eden couple, He also did not mean that they should be faithful to Him on that day only and have spiritual peace only then. Differently from the spiritual peace, psychic peace does not depend on our relationship with God but on our relationship with the object the attention of our mind is paid to. Our work and creativeness during six working days demand the attention of our mind and determine our psychic experience. The seventh day is dedicated to God ("Holy Lord's day") and it represents the day -restfrom creative activities that demand the paying of attention of our soul and activity of our body. A fanatic moved by feelings must have psychic peace every day for he does not know the experience of spiritual peace. He is burdened by psychic peace for he tries by it to suffocate his spiritual unrest. He often feels guilty because he has, by his work, forgotten God. Therefore he is

132 burdened by the idea that he must always in his intellect and feelings maintain the idea of God, thinking otherwise that God has abandoned him. Since he determines his spiritual state on the basis of his psychic experience, it seems absurd to him that he should be in psychic peace every seventh day only, what is understood by him as if he should have the spiritual union with God on that day only.
THE NEGLECTED CATEGORY OF HOLINESS

Real godly love comprises the category of a principle, holiness and respect which a fanatic, stirred by his feelings, can neither understand nor give. That is why, to him, abiding to the day of rest of the Fourth Commandment of God, would represent a heavy burden. He considers those who celebrate the seventh day to be formalists. Why is that so? Because he would be a formalist himself if he, in the spiritual state he was in, tried to dedicate the holy day to God. He looks at himself and in that way discovers the absence of love in his heart. He is under the impression that God gave Sabbath to Jews in order to torture them by fanaticism and legalism and he wonders how could the prophet Isaiah call that day pleasure (Isaiah 58:13). The seventh day can be considered holy only by the one who is holy himself. That is why the Fourth commandment is the symbol of becoming sanctified (Ezekiel 20:12) and for those who are stirred by the feelings it is an almost ideal test of not being sanctified. A fanatic stirred by feelings avoids quoting Biblical verses which reveal the holiness of God. The categories of holiness and respect are neglected not only in doctrine, but in life as well. So, at the their meeting for praying we can notice how one group of believers prays aloud while at the same time another group of believers talks with each other without the due respect for the holiness of the prayer. When a man's heart is stirred by the prayer for forgiveness or by deep thankfulness, then it is joy and pleasure to express his spiritual attitude in a physical way too, of course, as much as the circumstances allow it. In all Biblical reports the one who prays kneels, except when, because of the concrete needs of the situation he stands or lies. However, a fanatic, because of the feelings, when he prays, mostly sits or sometimes stands. The intonation of his voice, during the prayer, does not seem adequate with the conversation with another person; it looks more like a set up speech by which he tries to make God merciful and not like a conversation with the Creator of the Universe on whose heart lies the salvation of man. A fanatic stirred by the sentimental feelings often cannot endure simple spiritual hymns. In fact, some demons by which they are possessed cannot endure it. Let us remember how an evil spirit left Saul while David played for him on his harp (1 Samuel 16:23). That is why the choice of music which the fanatic listens to rarely contains spiritual hymns. Spiritual music which he listens to most often sounds like popular music which appeals to the unconverted heart in which it quenches the thirst of its soul. It can have other forms too, but in any case it is at least the kind of music which reveals the character of godly love. The bearers of the aforementioned fanaticism express their disrespect towards God in the way in which they sometimes, as they pray, mention God's name too frequently unnecessarily and in that way they openly break the Third Commandment of the moral code of God. Some of them prayed as if they tried to please God by frequently mentioning His name, they addressed to him with the endearing words that they would address to a kitty or a puppy. In the home of God they often behave so unholy, in the way they would not behave in the presence of some earthly ruler (silly actions, dressing, ...).

133 We can also notice often how a fanatic, stirred by the feelings, treats God as if He were his "colleague": "The two of you; Jesus and you; to start as you embrace Him, singing songs! ... Well, you have to give it to me ... I laugh at Him, He must make my wish come true, and I am enjoying myself!" (Dr. T.Ivancic, the seminar on Petrovaradin, 20.05.1989) A fanatic has less respect than an average unbeliever. Why? Because the truth, when it does not sanctify, hardens the heart. Does a fanatic believe in the truth? Yes! But, to its call directed to the common sense he refuses to answer. He answers to the call directed to the feelings and in that way wages the battle on the wrong plan. The misconception which is added to the truth in which such a fanatic believes, has a role to justify his system of pseudo-repentance and justification without Christ. It also justifies distorted representation of God's character (God's law), the purpose of which is to make excuse for the sinful and fanatic branches of faith. The effect of the misconception is such that it distorts both the function and representation of terms which are the subjects of truth. A fanatic, stirred by the feelings, reads the Bible and other spiritual literature in the same way as many people read love stories, feeding on the emotions which he try to stir in himself. (That is why some parts of the Bible seem strange and boring because he does not succeed to fill this misuse with them.)
NEGLECTED LOVE TOWARDS A MAN CHANGEABLE "GOODNESS" TOWARDS OUR NEIGHBOURS

The goodness of the ones who are stirred by the feelings is not constant. At one time they are kind to you and cry for joy because they met you and at some other time they are indifferent as if they did not know you. Behind their tender feelings, hearts of stone are hidden. They often seem like tender persons but the truth is that they are just sensitive. Under the influence of negative circumstances they very easily and very often fall into psychological crisis which they wrongly call spiritual crisis, just as the spiritual state of a man depends on his relationship with his surroundings and not on his relationship with God. They very often justify their weaknesses by negative external influences. That is how they realize that they are building their house in the sand (on their feelings), instead on the rock (on Christ); because of their unclear conscience they are constantly burdened by the proofs of God's acceptance. However, miracles and other sensations which follow their life, will not justify them on the Judgment Day. Jesus says: "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it." (Matthew 7:22-28) Because of the spiritual experience which is based on feelings, such person hardly understand why God allows innocent people to suffer; that is why such person often has to justify the phenomenon

134 of suffering in his consciousness. To the one who builds on his feelings, the suffering represents also the crisis, which he has to justify before his conscience. God often allows that the one who relies on his feelings experience strong temptations in order to become aware that his spirituality is based upon wrong foundations. But, a fanatic stirred by the feelings, instead of overcoming the temptations, most often just runs away from the temptations. When the Holy Ghost shakes his conscience and gives the testimonial of his real spiritual needs, he consider the testimonial to be the cause of his spiritual crisis. The obtained testimonial about his hard state makes him try to suffocate it and hide it immediately, instead of admitting the wrong foundations and building the union with God "which not even the door of hell will overpower". A fanatic moved by feelings, being unstable, hardly can take the Christian exile. That is why Satan does not raise false exiles, against these followers of his, because in that case the power of their deception will lose its power.
WRONG ROLE OF RELATIONSHIPS AMONG PEOPLE

The bearers of fanaticism out of emotions seek salvation from their feelings in each other, in tender sentimentality which is aroused by the spirit of Satan. Almost every selfish heart is overburdened by the need to feel loved and they misuse it. They mislead him to seek for salvation in the feeling of closeness and being loved. They are prone to the outlets of tenderness and closeness by which they charm their victims. One female believer reveals the motives of coming to her religious communion: "Oh, I felt so lonely without you. I could not bear to be without you for so long, so I returned from my trip just to be with you!" (She returned after only three days of her trip!) Another female believer, from the same community, used to tell me that she knew that her community did not accept the whole truth, but she could not leave it because of the good company she found in it. "I feel fine there!" she says and in that way shows her real motives for coming to her religious communion (selfishness). A person who is stirred by real unselfish love does not attend the religious meetings in order to feel nice there, but to give love to those who need it most. The search for salvation in the felling of closeness often induces these believers to overstep the limit of intimacy which is reserved only for one's spouse and in that way the bearers of the aforementioned fanaticism become prone to sins of prostitution (sexual intercourse before marriage) and adultery, which the Word of God condemns (1 Corinthians 6:18). When special closeness, reserved only for the spouse, starts directing itself towards the members of the whole religious community and then towards the whole living and non-living world, then it is one of the Satan's imitations of the real love which is the characteristic of many "enlightened" representatives of meditation, so as of many "Spirit- enlightened" Christians. Of course, the feelings of closeness can have the wrong role even when they are directed towards one person only. The persons who seek salvation in the feeling of being loved and closeness are not ready to recognize the atmosphere of the real love of God. There is nothing which can arouse it in them and that is why it seems cold and uninspiring to them.

135 The sermons directed to common sense such persons comment with the words: "Oh, what a cold sermon! Without the Spirit!", not trying to explain why many believers listen to such cold sermons with joy, even with tears in their eyes. If cold words could not stir emotions in the hearts of the believers, they had aroused real, unselfish love for sure.
HEALTH GUARDIANSHIP AND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE CLEAN AND THE UNCLEAN

Is it truly possible to love other people with an honest and real love, and not to love ourselves at the same time - as we smoke, use alcohol, unhealthy food and show in other ways a lack of consideration for our own health?! Can we truly be better toward others than toward ourselves?! If we are moved by a real love toward our neighbor and ourselves, we will behave purposefully according to the our and others' well- being. Even if we do not know what God's word and His law speaks, we will take care of our and others' health. Through our own attitude we would make others enthusiastic about the principles of right living and healthy nutrition. Goodness moved by feeling and not by a motive of love cannot induce man to keep health principles. Imagine how person in love, in the state of its amorous passion, is getting a tendency toward keeping the health advices, and giving up alcohol, smoking and unhealthy food? Through health counseling we cannot make happy a person driven by emotions-born fanaticism or some other non-reborn motives. To a selfish person is more important that the foods be tasty than healthy. Since such a person does not see God's love in health advices and he has not love himself, he feels the advices a burden. Such a person sees "God's love" just in satisfying selfish and selfrighteous human motives. It was the lack of love that made the Jews of Christ's day overlooked the real sense of God's commandments, so that they observed them blindly and fanatically. The lack of love induces the Christians of our days to overlook the real sense of God's commandments, so they do not observe them at all. This phenomenon one can observe in the attitude of most Christians toward Bible rules of nutrition and life, that make distinction between the clean and the unclean (Leviticus 11). On the basis of the experience of Daniel the prophet we can see quite clearly that the purpose of the classification into clean and unclean is of a purely medical character: "But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's rich food, or with the wine which he drank; therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. ... Then Daniel asked the guard whom the palace master had appointed over Daniel: 'Please test your servants for ten days. Let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. ...' So he agreed to this proposal and tested them for ten days. At the end of ten days it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king's rich food." (Daniel 1:8- 15) The persons that have not a true love for themselves are prone to see God's love and care for them as a burden. They are not able to understand the demands of divine love in a right way, explaining them through the principles of their own sinful and non-reborn heart. They say: "There is no need for observing the health advices from the Bible. God's mercy is enough to be saved!" So they are showing that their religious zeal is moved not by love, but by a selfish interest.

136 In an effort to justify their lack of love for their own and other's health, many Christians see the classification into clean and unclean food as abolished one on the cross of Calvary, and that Christ's sacrifice made all the unclean clean. The belief that by his death on the cross Jesus abolished the classification into the clean and unclean caused disastrous pestilence in the world's population during the Middle Ages. Because of the violation the Biblical principles of life and nutrition, the epidemics took millions of lives. At the same time, the Jews were accused of causing the epidemics because of them being non-touched by them, because of their observance the health principles of the Bible: "The person who has the leprous disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head be disheveled; and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, 'Unclean, unclean.' He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease, he is unclean. He shall live alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp." (Levitisuc 13:45-46) Contrary to the principles of folk healing practices, whose solutions are symptomatic in their nature, the principle of the Bible revelation is a health prevention. "If you will listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in his sight, and give heed to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will not bring upon you any of the diseases that I brought upon the Egyptians; for I am the Lord who heals you." (Exodus 15:26) If establishing the classification of foods into clean and unclean was a source of blessings for Noah and the other generations that lived before Christ, why should not it be so for those after Christ?! If we believe God is love, do we not believe that He is interested in extending blessed advices about life and nutrition to man? Do we find an abolition of health advices in the New Testament? When at the first synod of the early Christian church the preaching of the Gospel to the gentiles was discussed, a question was emerged whether they would be expected to observe the customs and holy days bearing a national Jew character, as well as the rules of the ceremonial law having been abolished with its fulfillment on the cross. If Christ's sacrifice really had abolished the classification into the clean and unclean, the apostolic synod would have had no any right to expect the gentiles to observe the rules belonging to the Moses' law of the clean and unclean. However, the synod's conclusion was that "you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and what is strangled and from fornication" (Acts 15:29). If it is a sin to eat the strangled and the blood, it is certainly sinful to eat carrions, snakes, frogs, insects, shells, crabs, pork and all other kinds of unclean foods. Those believing Jesus had abolished the Old Testament health laws are not consistent to their opinion. They avoid a physical contact with the people sick with serious and contagious diseases, do not eat carrions and insects and carnivores and observe many other Old Testament bans, although Jesus, as they say, "cleaned it all up" on the cross. Why should Jesus have abolished the health commandments? Because they are, allegedly, of a ceremonial nature. However, it is sufficient to look at Leviticus, chapter 11 and understand that in the classification of food into clean and unclean there not any allusions to the plan of salvation, nor it has any symbolic function, but only a literal one.

137 For instance, what elements of the plan of salvation is pointed to by the verse: "Any animal that has divided hoofs and is cleftfooted and chews the cud - such you may eat. But among those that chew the cud or have divided hoofs, you shall not eat." (Leviticus 11:3- 4) Likewise, the Word of God tells us the following: "All winged insects that walk upon all fours are detestable to you. But among the winged insects that walk on all fours you may eat those that have jointed legs above their feet, with which to leap on the ground." (Leviticus 11:20- 21) What allusion to the plan of salvation makes the commandment whereby certain animals are forbidden for food, and certain others are permitted, just because they "have jointed legs above their feet, with which to leap on the ground"?! No one, for sure! Instead of giving a reasonable explanation why Jesus should have abolished the sources of expected to put away the sources of health blessings, they confuse many people by a wrong interpretation of apostle Peter's vision: "On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour: And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance, and saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth: Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean. And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven. Now while Peter doubted in himself what this vision which he had seen should mean, behold, the men which were sent from Cornelius had made enquiry for Simon's house, and stood before the gate..." (Acts 10:9-17) Let us notice that if Jesus on the cross had really abolished that, as they describe it, "slavish law", the apostle would certainly have known about it three and a half years before the vision and he would have not stated: "By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is profane or unclean." (Acts 10:14) God would have not allowed the apostles, in the power of Pentecost, to preach some "yoke" of the abolished Law for three and a half years and then, on the basis of Peter's vision, to contradict themselves. The timing of that seeming "delay" of vision points to its real purpose. Daniel the prophet had foretold that three and a half years after abolishing the ceremonial law on Christ's cross the Gospel would be preached to the gentiles (Daniel 9:24-27). Had the message of the vision with all kinds of unclean animals had the purpose of abolishing the biblical division to the clean and unclean, the apostle Peter would have had full right to challenge its inspiration, fearing not to bring upon himself a damnation of preaching differently from that which Jesus instructed him to. There is actually a principle here: "But though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach unto you any gospel other than that which we preached unto you, let him be anathema." (Galatians 1:8). The apostle even exhibited his readiness to challenge the message of the vision when he exclaimed: "By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is profane or unclean." (Acts 10:14)

138 But, realizing that the revelation did not imply food but the gentiles world, he was able to say of his own vision: "But God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean." (Acts 10:28) Now it is clear to us that Peter's vision with the sheet has not a purpose of bringing about some new light, but only to remind, at a right time, of the light revealed back in the Old Testament times.
AN IDEALISTIC IDEA ABOUT SIN

Through Isaiah the prophet God condemns the hypocritical members of God's chosen people who ate unclean food and at the same time cared not to desecrate themselves with a contact with other sinners, considering them to be unclean. "I held out my hands all day long to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices; a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens and offering incense on bricks; who sit inside tombs, and spend the night in secret places; who eat swine's flesh, with broth of abominable things in their vessels; who say, 'Keep to yourself, do not came near me, for I am too holy for you.' These are a smoke in my nostrils, a fire that burns all day long." (Isaiah 65:2-5) It was for the gentiles, that were considered unclean by the Jews, that God said through Isaiah the prophet: "I was ready to be sought out by those who did not ask, to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, 'Here I am, here I am,' to nation that did not call on my name." (Isaiah 65:1) Let us notice that God condemns the Jews precisely for they "who eat swine's flesh, with broth of abominable things, in their vessels;" (Isaiah 65:4). Unclean conscience caused by their own sin resulted in a fear from desecration through a contact with other sinners. In the fear of desecration they also observed the ritual washing of hands before every meal, as some people today who by washing try to free themselves from the influence of a negative energy. Many religious persons are characterized by an idealistic idea about sin, which see the source of sin and temptation in negative feelings. In order to save themselves from temptation and sin they apply various religious rules and techniques; however, by avoiding negative external influences they remove not the sin itself from their hearts, but just an opportunity for its manifestation. So the Pharisees thought that the source of sin must lie in physical contact with another sinner. Because of the influence of a superficial idea about sin some Christians were confused over eating the food dedicated to pagan gods. Apostle Paul, in his answer, said: "Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that 'no idol in the world really exists,' and that 'there is no God but one." Indeed, even though there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth as in fact there are many gods and many lords yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. It is not everyone, however, who has this knowledge. Since some have become so accustomed to idols until now, they still think of the food they eat as food offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. 'Food will not bring us close to

139 God.' We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if others see you, who posses knowledge, eating in the temple of an idol, might they not, since their conscience is weak, be encouraged to the point of eating food sacrificed to idols? So by your knowledge those weak believers for whom Christ died are destroyed. But when you thus sin against members of your family, and wound their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food is a cause of their falling, I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall. Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables. Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat; for God has welcomed them. If your brother or sister is being injured by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. Do not let what you eat cause the ruin of one for whom Christ died." (1 Cor.8:413) "For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs. Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him. ... I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean." (Romans 14:2- 3.15) Even before that, Jesus condemned such an idealistic idea of sin, making it clear that a sin does not enter the heart, but comes out of it: "And when he had called all the people unto him, he said unto them, hearken unto me every one of you, and understand: There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man. Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him; because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats? And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man." (Mark 7:14- 23) "These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man." (Matthew 15:20) So, neglecting the health, eating the unclean food, smoking, drinking alcohol, taking drugs, do not provoke sin in man's heart, but reveal its presence.
TEMPTATION FOR THE HONEST

Under the influence of wrong teachings which are preached by the bearers of fanaticism out of emotions, many true believers become ruined because they are led to seek the proof of God's acceptance in emotions. Instead of trusting God, they build trust in themselves and their own being which is just a part of their positive feelings. When they lose their pleasant feelings they think that they are spiritual outcasts and in that way they show that they had not believed in God before but in themselves. "Many make a serious mistake in their religious life by keeping the attention fixed upon their feelings and thus judging of their advancement or decline. Feelings are not a safe criterion. We are not to look within for evidence of our acceptance with God. We shall find there nothing but that which will discourage us. Our only hope is in "looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our

140 faith." There is everything in Him to inspire with hope, with faith, and with courage. He is our righteousness, our consolation and rejoicing. Those who look within for comfort will become weary and disappointed. A sense of our weakness and unworthiness should lead us with humility of heart to plead the atoning sacrifice of Christ. As we rely upon His merits we shall find rest and peace and joy. He saves to the uttermost all who come unto God by Him. We need to trust in Jesus daily, hourly. He has promised that as our day is, our strength shall be. By His grace we may bear all the burdens of the present and perform its duties. But many are weighed down by the anticipation of future troubles. They are constantly seeking to bring tomorrow's burdens into today. Thus a large share of all their trials are imaginary. For these, Jesus has made no provision. He promises grace only for the day. He bids us not to burden ourselves with the cares and troubles of tomorrow; for "sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." (EGW 5T 199)
DIFFERENT KINDS OF FANATICISM OUT OF EMOTIONS

Religion based on emotions we can also find in non-Christianity for example, in Sai Baba teaching. Let us read about the experience of a journalist who went through "conversion" just by looking at Sai Baba: "A strange thing happened to me then: all at once I felt absurdly happy, unable to suppress the roaring laughter while at the same time I as sure that I was on the verge of bursting out crying without control!"
DIFFERENT INTENSITIES

There are differences in the intensity of the feelings (peace and gazing, a smile and a look full of love, loud laughter and uncontrollable crying, delirious talk and body spasms, rolling over the floor with shivering and sweating of one's body, /which exist in Krishna's consciousness as an indicator of the realization of a higher level of spiritual development/). According to Krishna's teaching, a guru (a spiritual teacher) achieved such a high level of spiritual development (he shrieked and rolled in mud) that he had to beg Krishna to lower him a little so that he could speak normally to people.
DIFFERENT ROLE

There are various kinds of fanaticism out of emotions. They are different from each other by their negative role: searching for the signs of God's acceptance in emotions, pleasing the longings of the heart, suffocation and suppressing the unsolved problem of guilt, the distorted representation of God's character, emotions as moving force for goodness, feeling as the criterion of the truth, pseudo-self- repentance out of emotions etc.
DIFFERENT KINDS

There are different kinds of fanaticism out of emotions, which depend on the kind of feelings which are aroused by the spirit of demon (sensationalism, excitement, being in love, paganism, idolatry, pity, unholy joy, the feeling of closeness, peace, happiness, nirvana, power, the experience of "eating the fruit of distinguishing good from evil" etc.).
PSEUDO-REPENTANCE OUT OF FEELINGS

141 A Christian woman was once called to take an urgently necessary medicament to her friend. She promised to take it to her friend during the day but the day passed quickly and she did not do what she had promised. When, during her evening prayer, she became aware of what she had (not) done, she burst out crying and conscience-smitten wept for forgiveness from her heavenly Father. She felt that God forgave her and with tears of thankfulness she ended her prayer and went to sleep. The next day she decided to hurry and bring the medicament to her friend as soon as possible. But her temporary obligations led her to postpone going to her friend for later and later, so once again she did not do what she promised. She became aware of it only in the evening, again during the evening prayer. She burst out crying bitterly because of her negligence. She could not understand herself because she really cherished true and strong feeling of love. That evening she prayed and with deep belief in salvation she went to bed. The same story was repeated the next day and for a few more days, so not only until the fifth day did she manage to take the medicament to her friend. As she begged her friend in tears to forgive her because she was so late, she heard the answer: "I forgive you. And whether God will forgive you too, I do not know!" That answer shook her up. She got the feeling of not knowing what to think. She could forget it all but she decided to fight with herself and with God until she cleared up what she had done wrong. She realized soon that, with her pseudodecision, she had only been calming her conscience (Matthew 21:28-31). As it was unpleasant to her to face the fact that she did not really want to leave her sins, she tried hard to excite her emotions while praying and reading the Bible. During that she was possessed by a demon and he was arousing a very pleasant and sublime feeling. She would often say: "Oh, Jesus, I love you so much! I love you so much!" Deep in her soul she bore the impression that something was wrong but she would suffocate it by directing her attention to her internal feeling: "I know that God is with me! I can feel Him in me!" She was not satisfied by the simple faith but she needed the proof that she was with God. Later, as she was freeing herself from the influence of the power of Demon, in the light of the face of God she felt as if she were fighting against the slimy and ugly excitement "which suppressed her soul and which represented a blockade" in her relationship with God. Let us notice that this believer was aware of her problem back in the evening of the first day, but she was not aware of the depth of her problem, only of its symptoms. Many people who were aroused by the fanaticism out of feelings know that they have serious spiritual problems but do not want to become aware of the depth of it, and in that way solve it in its essence. They drink from a poisonous spring and make up fanatical branches of faith which later they try to control themselves according to their rational assurance about their own sin but without a radical change of their spiritual state. At the moments of a higher level of sobriety they act like alcoholics who, after the phase of drunkenness, when they have headaches and hangover, take a smaller amount of alcohol in order to eliminate the unpleasant symptoms of their drunkenness. Just like the alcoholics, they do not see the problem (not even the solution of it) deeper than their own intentions and feelings. That is actually why they dispute the role of reason and the significance of teaching which would lead them to raise the higher referential point of their

142 experience before themselves and in that way become aware of their spiritual and not only psychological (selfish) needs. The law was given to them that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful (Romans 7:13). The law was given to us so that we can understand that sin is bad itself and not only because of its manifestations on the level of feelings. In the light of the law of God, we understand the whole weight of sinfulness of our own nature and in that way become aware of the need to accept the offered hand of God's blessing completely. In a closer communion with Christ, the sin becomes strange and loathed and in that way, because of the acceptance of the big blessing - we stand solidly on the eternal Rock, resisting the strongest of the temptations.
FALSE SELF-CRITICISM OF FANATICISM

Sometimes the fruits of fanaticism reveal their origin so drastically that their bearers are forced as well to characterize them as a bad phenomenon. We should not be confused when we see their preachers criticize the very kind of fanaticism which they had stirred themselves by the way of their preaching. Such trick of self justification is applied by Sai Baba too: "On that day, after a short conversation, he chose several young men of his age (physically) to race him from rock to a tree on top. But before they could open and close their eyes, Baba had already been calling them from the top. He asked others to stand where they were and cried to each one of them: Look at me, I give you a burning 'darshan' of the vision of light! Suddenly, there was an enormous ball of fire, like the sun, which penetrated the atmosphere. It was impossible to watch that ball with one's eyes open. Three to four disciples fainted and fell down." "He (Sai) keeps repeating without stopping - miracles are not important. The real miracle is ... the love that he plants in your heart!" (Skript. Sai Baba) Let us think about Sai Baba's miracle with the ball of fire in the light of the biblical prophecy from the Book of Revelation 13:13-14: "And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; ..." Let us compare Sai Baba's claim that he is the Messiah and his phenomenon with the Biblical verses which deal with the difference between the true and false Christs: "Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." (Matthew 24:23-27) The principle of false self-criticism and self justification of fanaticism we meet in Christian churches, too. In spiritual communities in which, through various miracles, the spirit of excitation and sensation is aroused, we often hear the believers speak: "If people should come here only for the miracles, then they should better not come! It is pitiful that they are more attracted by the sensation than Jesus!"

143 In the churches which are characterized by the fanaticism out of emotions, we can hear touching and heartbreaking calls not to rely on emotions because they must be neither our criterion nor our aim. In the end of the sermon which provoked haughtiness and hatred towards the members of a different church, a priest would say: "Please, do not let what you have heard arise anger in you. We love our enemies. We..." Some traditional Christians would say that breaking of the Second Commandment of Moral Decalogue is if we bow in front of the icons worshipping them. "We should do that respecting them but not worshipping them too", they say. However, temptation is temptation, regardless of how we call it. A sinful heart does not pay attention to that. Only the human conscience sometimes needs an excuse which is in the change of the definition of its behavior. We cannot change the spiritual state of a man by mere reflection but only by admitting and penitence. God's laws do not bother whether we bow in front of the icons respecting or worshipping them. The Second Commandment of God completely forbids us to bow in front of them in any way (Exodus 20:5). "For we walk by faith, not by sight:" (2 Corinthians 5:7) The security a sinner can get through icons and sculptures is psychological only and thus it is of the fatal effect because it suffocates the spiritual needs of a man. (The consciousness of the weakness of his nature and the dependence on the power of God.) The one who relies on the living God does not need any psychological support. (When we talk to someone on the phone, we do not see him and we still do not need to look at his photo in order to make sure that we are speaking to him and in order to build trust in what he tells us.)
HYPOCRITICAL CAUTIOUSNESS

In various religious communities we can hear the banishment against various "temptations", while, at the same time, we can notice that the greatest temptation for the sinful and the self-righteous human being, the religious communities possess in their very teaching. Jehovah's witnesses consider it a temptation too great to read the religious literature of other religious communities and do not the temptation in their own teaching which flatters the spirit of the haughtiness of a sect and quarreling argumentation. They see temptation in carrying weapons in the army and do not see temptation in their teaching, according to which, after Armageddon, they will gather and bury the bones of the ones who were not the members of their community for seven months. If they think that they are of so weak that taking weapons into their arms or reading the literature of other religions would be the temptation for them, how comes that their own teaching is not a temptation for them?! The members of some religions of the East see temptation in shaking hands with a person of different sex, and do not see temptation in their teaching which says: "Be the light for yourselves!" (Buddha) Sai Baba can openly reprimand haughtiness as the worst of all sins, but he supports it himself by saying: "Appreciate your own self. Meditate about our personal self. Kneel down before your own self. God lives in you as You."

144 The teachers of some religions who incite a man to seek salvation in himself will say: "We cannot save ourselves. Only God can save us...Think of Him, about the beauty of His character... And now, as you begin this meditation, please pay attention to your breathing and to your body posture!"
DIVINE PEDAGOGY

A false doctrine can contain in itself wonderful truths and their supporter can use sublime terms but interpret them in such a function that they will arouse sinful motives in the person accepting those truths and terms. In God's acting toward a man we see the wisdom by which the divine pedagogy saves a man lest the latter transform the blessings of God's mercy and patronage because of the weakness of his nature, into a damnation. When God speaks about the blessings He gives to His people, then He pronounces the warning that it is not the people who have some values in themselves (its earthly "roots") nor merits, on the basis of which He would bless them: "For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: But because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt." (Deuteronomy 7:6-8) A man is not saved by his righteousness but by his choice. "Therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live, ... for he is thy life" (Deuteronomy 30:19-20) Loyalty to God is a prerequisite of blessing but not because the mercy is earned by that loyalty but because the mercy is accepted by it. "When the Lord your God thrusts them out before you, do not say to yourself, 'It is because of my righteousness that the Lord has brought me in to occupy this land'; it is rather because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is dispossessing them before you. It is not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart that you are going in to occupy their land; but because of the wickedness of these nations the Lord your God is dispossessing them before you, in order to fulfill the promise that the Lord made on oath to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. Know, then, that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to occupy because of your righteousness; for you are a stubborn people." (Deuteronomy 9:4- 6) Lest the people attribute to themselves the glory of the victory over the surrounding pagan tribes and thus burden themselves with self- love and ambition, God used Moses: "Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed; and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed." (Exodus 17:11) So it was clear to the Israelites that they were not winning by their strength and abilities. And how did God prevent them to adore Moses as someone who, by his force, perhaps bioenergy, was giving the strength to the Israelites? The Biblical account says:

145 "But Moses' hands grew weary; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; so his hands were steady until the sun set." (Exodus 17:12) When Moses did not have the strength to hold his own arms upright, how then he alone would have the strength to help Israel? Lest the people adore a man as a saviour, God often used men who were weak themselves. Having been invited by God to rescue Israel, Gedeon answered: "He responded, 'But sir, how can I deliver Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.' The Lord said to him, 'But I will be with you, and you shall strike down the Midianites, every one of them.'" (Judges 6:15-16) God also used a woman several times through whom He did great things. So it was obvious, especially to the Israelites, that strength is not in body but in God. Sometimes God used very "banal" reasons in order to announce clearly that He is the only Saviour. When the Israelites were attacked in the desert by poisonous serpents, God asked a look of faith at the bronze serpent nailed on a stick. It was clear to all that the serpent itself did not have the power to save but that the miracle was done by God. The serpent on the stick represented actually the evil nailed on the cross. It had its rational message - to point to the plan of salvation, as the rituals of the ceremonial law do. They did not win a man's feelings as pagan rituals did. The slaughter of innocent animals cannot give confidence and encouragement to a corporal heart. But it can send the reasonable revelation of salvation to the mind of a sinner who became aware, through God's law, of the need for the Redeemer. By no human sacrifice, authority, nor the presents (bribe) can a man deserve or merit a favor from Heaven: "For the Lord your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward." (Deuteronomy 10:17) Therefore the salutary message of Gospel does not ask from a man to offer something great to God but to accept in his humility and simplicity what God gives him. Being ill with leprosy, the Syrian duke Naaman asked for the miracle of healing and the prophet Elisha gave him a simple directive to wash himself seven times in the Jordan. Naaman doubted initially and refused God's salutary proposal: "Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage. And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean? Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean." (2 Kings 5:12-14) Naaman was not recovered by the very act of washing himself in the Jordan but by the faith in God just displayed by him on that occasion. When a woman who had had a flow of blood was healed by touching Christ's garment, it was clear that it was not touching Christ that healed her, for others also were touching Him (see Luke 8:45). Only the faith is salutary just showed by the woman in such a way:

146 "And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace." (Luke 8:48) When the walls of Jericho fell down, that was not achieved by magic encircling them, but by the faith the Jews just showed in that way. "By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days." (Hebrews 11:30) Lest a God's miracle be ascribed to the natural course of things or a chance but to the one Who revealed Himself to us by the miracle, God relates it with His faithful servants. "And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet." (2 Kings 13:21) The dead bones of prophet Elisha certainly were not able to give life for "life can originate from Life only". Thus God reminds the Israelites of His own force and power related by Him to the principles of living followed by His faithful servant Elisha. Let us notice that the miracles done by God were not based on certain principle or technique. The army commanders of Israel did not hold their arms always upright in order to receive God's blessing in war nor they were always encircling a hostile fortress in order that its walls fall down. If a man should, later on, be bit by serpent, he would not install the bronze serpent on the stick again and look at it. If Syrian army commanders should get leper, they would not be healed by washing themselves in Jordan. If people should die, they would not be resurrected through Elisha's bones but that was happening, as well as in other examples, just on one occasion. When people still tried to make a principle from a miracle, God often showed by His intervention that it was the loyalty to Him and not the matter or magic power that His approval and blessing depends on. When Israelites tried to win the battle against Philistines with help of the Testament Tabernacle (with the tablets of Ten Commandments), the Philistines grabbed the Tabernacle from them. And when they began to offer incense to the bronze serpent, the faithful king Ezekiel shattered the serpent lest it represent any more the opportunity for idolatry and magic (2 Kings 18:4). Satan tries to abuse the manifestation of God's force ascribing to people the rituals or things a principle of miraculous power. And so, right the means used by God to show that He is a mighty Saviour, and not that means itself, is used by Satan to humiliate a man even more, inducing him to adore a thing or ritual instead of Creator. His humiliating of human dignity goes even so far that we see in the Christian world the people that bow in the temple of the living Saviour to the bones of dead creatures. In the East, believers eat the excrement of the supreme lama from Tibet, etc. Of course, there are always miracles (Deuteronomy 13:1-4, Isaiah 8:20) by which Satan appeases the conscience of a man before his humiliation: the relics heal, the excrement of the supreme lama is a medicine for all diseases, blood drips from statues, etc. The common sense has long been sacrificed lest it disturb the lulled conscience. "Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own

147 bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen." (Romans 1:21-25) Throughout Biblical history, from Adam to the apostles, we will not find any case that God performed a miracle through an icon or picture. Of course, not without reason. Worshipping icons was not a characteristic of early Christian Church. Here is the evidence of that we find with its church fathers and earlier synods: "It is an insult for God to make an image of Him in wood or stone." (Justin the Martyr, Justin's apology, II, p.44) "God is to be respected withot pictures. Worshipping icons disgraces God." (Augustin, De Civitate Dei, 1. VII, C.5.) "Infamy would be done by a believer who makes a material image in a church; thence he would be guilty of blasphemy condemned by saint Paul for he would thereby replace the form of the immortal God with a form of a mortal man." (Augustin, De Fide, fym. c. VII) "We Christians have nothing in common with statues, for it is said by the second God's commandment. The first thing we bring forth to those who come to us - is to scorn idols and all statues and pictures; the character of Christian religion is such that it tend to elevate our thoughts above statues, in accordance with God's law given to humanity." (Origen against Celsius, 1,V,7) "Holy and ecumenical council... conforming to God's word, in accordance with six previous synods, and according to the accepted doctrine of church fathers and practice of the Church since the first days asserts and announce, in the name of Holy Trinity, with one heart and mind, that worshipping statues and pictures is forbidden; that worshipping statues and pictures or some other creature is encroaching the honor we owe to God and that it is falling into idolatry." (Synod at Hierea near Constantinople, year 754) If our attention dwells on a created instead of on Creator, it cannot remain without consequences. It suffices to see the character of an idolater and understand that a man transforms into what he looks at. He is cold and dead spiritually as well as the object of his worship: "Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not. ... They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them." (Psalm 115:4-8) Is a cold human heart to be heated by the even colder walls of a church? God does not dwell in hand-made churches (Acts 17:24) but in His faithful children. Whereas a corporal heart is delighted with beauty of a building, the spiritual soul notices and recognizes the character of the living Christ's Church; the community of the faithful ones. A living man should be a light to the world (Matthew 5:14) and raise the thoughts of people from visible to invisible, from the material reality to the spiritual one. What opens really our hearts to God are not certain pictures, rituals, designations (names) or phenomena, but the correct idea about the character of God's unselfish love, the idea we can acquire by prayer and reasonable studying of His word. That idea is sublime in relation to our character and therefore it will elevate us.

148
TO FIND ONESELF OR TO DENY ONESELF

In order that the real church should keep itself from not dedicated people it is necessary to be exposed either to severe persecution (which undedicated can hardly endure) or to heretics of other religious communities (in order that the excuse be given to the undedicated to leave the unwanted truth and still keep the form of godliness for their conscience). Every rejected religious community is characterized by definite kind of religious fanaticism which appears on account of the guilt because of the compromise with the sin. As the light of the truth is more revealed in definite historical moment or geographical region, so must the error be more subtle and closer to the truth in order that sinners could have free choice. If there are no heretics, then in the real church there are many who do not like the truth but they are compelled to accept it because of the power of its arguments and because of their consciousness. Such believers, who are believers only by name, represent the greatest danger for the real God's church. Always is more dangerous the enemy of the church who is in it, than the one who is in another religious community. Although he can have good intentions and the same form of behavior by which the real believers act, he unconsciously spreads around himself those fanatical motives which move himself to the zeal. On account of his undedication he has the damnation on himself and his deeds God cannot bless. So, in order that the real church should be freed from such false (liberal and fanatical) believers, heretical teachings of other religious communities help it regarding it: "For there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized." (1 Corinthians 1:19) So, good role of rejected churches is in that that they clean and keep the real Church from fanaticism. In the great choice of various systems of self-salvation (justification regardless of Christ, pseudorepenting and false genders of faith) which various religious teachings give, man has the possibility to find just the system which is adequate with his personal compromise with the sin and his personal attempts to remove the developed feeling of guilt. Instead to deny himself, the sinner in the doctrine of the rejected church tries and succeeds to find himself. One known professor and psychiatrist stated that "...people of the certain region have the certain religion. To man's nature in Europe Catholicism and Orthodoxism are most suitable!" (Dr. Vladeta Jerotic, the lecture in the church of St Peter, in Belgrade, 24.3.1988) That claim is true. Man's nature is sinful and for it the religion in which it can be interwoven is the most suitable. Differently from the real one, fanatical religion is always the answer to the man's psychological needs or, in other words, it is the answer to man's burden.
NEW BABYLON TOWER

The members of the heresy Churches are confused because they don't realize their own faults but see the faults of other people. What happens when seven women take one man and everyone assert that she is his bride. Why does God's Word use the word Babylon to explain the meaning of all heresy churches.

149 "So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead [was] a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH." (Revelation 17:3-5) Heresy church "Big Babylon" is "whore mother" and others came from her. People who are working on unification of churches often say: "It's necessary to be unite to avoid misunderstanding and that we could agree and love more." Of course, this is political and not spiritual resolution of human problem. We have to be united and love each other. But, we are going to love each other if we unite and not unite to love each other. Moving all religious, national, class and other differences, we don't move reason of the sin but only the motive for its manifestation. Let's remember the destruction of Babylon tower (Genesis 11). God admitted that the difference between languages became the test for judgment which inspired people. The world is still building a Babylon tower, not upwards but on the surface of the Earth. Even today the differences between languages are the test for spiritual situation of the humanity. There is no administration which can change human heart and plant love into it. Only love can awake love! Only God can change inflexible-flexible human heart, it's doesn't choose by its own will. So the real human unity is based on moral (spiritual) values: love, goodness and justice and not religious, national or super-national values. Many Christians of Babylon make efforts to unify in one general church, to establish one universal religious theory. That's everyone who's working on unification doesn't speak about differences. Instead to admit and resolve the problem with authority of God's Word, they seem to say: "God didn't want to say clearly what He really thinks that we couldn't know what is really the truth". They are trying not to think about differences and not to make Christian science undefined in its contents and too large that everybody could find his place. Instead to speak about the way of salvation they are speaking about the large way which is going to bring them into hell. It's very usual opinion that differences existing between religions are formal. Sai Baba says: "All religions are based on universal love". "All religions are going toward God." But God's word sounds differently in different religions: "Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;" (2 Timothy 4:3-4) The differences in religious form are not important if there are not differences in contents. It's absolutely not important if we are praying to Allah, Jehows, Krishna or Christ, if we have the right opinion about someone to whom we are prying. God is not formalist.

150 The problem is not only that non Christian world doesn't have the right opinion about Christianity but the Christians themselves don't have the right opinion about Christian religion. The ways Christians look at God are almost similar to those of some people from Orient and not to those in the Bible. Sotona also is not a formalist. He doesn't care if we say to him that he is Jesus, Krishna or Lucifer: "I don't think that there is even the simplest difference between different aspects of God: Sai Rama, Krishna and others. I don't say that one is more important and other less. Just continue to respect your own chosed God you heriteted and then you are going to understand that you approached me. Because all names are mine". (Sai Baba) Some traditional churches are proud that there is not "confusion" in their faith and they don't have the same characteristics as spiritual Babilon. But it's only the formal harmony. If every Christian should say what he really thinks about thess spiritual notions, Christian church would be separated in a lot of little sects and groups where every group would have its own opinion about God, love and salvation. All orthodox believers are not different from all the sects from the West. The harmony based on the belonging to one church and not on the same character of love is formal and not spiritual. It doesn't help regarding the resolution of familiar, political and international problems between the orthodox. All orthodox believers agree that Christmas is on the 7th of January and that the Christ's sign should be three fingers. But these are not spiritually functional truths and it's sure that because of the difference of the date and the number of fingers, orthodox church can't be spiritually superior to the catholic. When we are talking about the things spiritually important before God, there is not harmony even between theologies. For ex: Understanding God's moral law or should we do good things to save us or because we are saved. When the priests of all kinds of the traditional churches have to scold at the mistakes of all others, they are in a very difficult situation. Why? Because if they should scold at them they would scold at many believers from their own church who have other mistakes but in another form. That's why they should scold only at the form. They say: "They are not the members of that church but of another one and that's why they are not going to be saved... Only this church has the power of Saint Spirit. The proof that this is a real apostle's church is that the church father sais so..."
FORM WITHOUT REALLY CONTENTS

Insisting on the religious form shows very often big mistakes in the contents hidden behind the form. When someone can't offer good contents he tries to offer what he has - a good form. "And thou, even thyself, shalt discontinue from thine heritage that I gave thee; and I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in the land which thou knowest not: for ye have kindled a fire in mine anger, [which] shall burn for ever." (Jeremiah 17:5) The real church doesn't sermonize itself but thinks about a sinner and pushes him toward Christ: "For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake." (2 Corinthians 4:5) When they are speaking about happy news they don't mention God but the value of the church which they belong to. When they have to describe in their words what Christ on Golgotha means,

151 they can't say anything. The greatest thing of God's love is the act of ransom and this is going to be good news for all saved.
MESSAGE FOR OUR TIME

For the last solemn time God wants to unify his people and prepare them for his second coming. Are people ready for all temptations in the future? God's word describes the world situation of the near future. "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away." (2 Timothy 3:1-5) These days we are witnesses of these words. Many people who heard the words of the Bible didn't want to give them up. They got the truth and can't deny God's existence. That's why they are responsible. That's what they are asking for the studies with truthful contents they can't deny. Today many people become religious but it's not necessary to have wisdom to admit that behind the religious form a sinful soul lies. When one is waken up from his untruthful self-contents given by a religious form, God is sending him triple angel's news contained in the last part of the Bible, Relevation, chapter 14 from verses 6 to 12. Bible authorities are pushing him to recognize the real reformation among all other wrong reformations. But only someone who is living in accordance with received light is going to recognize God's invitation in triple angel's news. Someone who is willing to compromise with sin is not going to recognize stronger light for he didn't live in weaker. His heart becomes like wooden, the will is not strong anymore, conscience is perverse, mind dishonest and there is no answer in his heart and soul.
TEMPTATION OF BABYLON

For Babylon meeting of all heresy churches, the second angel's news say: "And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird." (Revelation 18:2) Is there really believers in Babylon? The God is asking them: "And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities." (Revelation 18:6) One of the reasons why it is dangerous to be in churches is not to be heart by her evil. What is dangerous in the wrong science "poisoned wine" from Babylon? All other heresy churches are telling us the truth mixed with sin.

152 The truth is telling us that we can save goodness only by God and that the roots of the salvation are defined by some principles (law). Almost every heresy church could say with justice that the truth is in its sermon. But, telling a mistake with the truth is too strong a temptation for already felt man who would accept everything else but not Christ for his salvation. Someone can say: But this church is giving wonderful angel's truths! Is it important that it has some mistakes at the same time. I heard a priest who explained this kind of behavior with a simple example: "Let's see the contents of the rat-poison: 98% of corn flower and 2% of pure poison!" Babilon wine is "poisoned wine". In other terms, a mistake told with the truth perverts the meaning of the notions we are speaking of. At the moment when the poison of the deceive is added to the truth, the truth stops to be a moving strenght, and gets a function of the excuse for the fanatic motives, which are expressed in its name, and which are inspired by the poison of the deceive.
SPECIAL IMPORTANCE OF SECOND ANGEL MESSAGE

God's word in chapter 18 of the Revelation is telling us about the importance and power of the second angel's news which are pushing one to give up mistakes from other heresy churches. Here we can find the answer to the prayer: "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen." (Matthew 6:13) By leaving Babylon a Christian is not going to do anything special except to live in accordance with God's word. If the church were he belongs exclude him, because he is following ten Commandments, could be sure that this was not God's church, but meeting place "Big Babilon." "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in [them]; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye se parate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean [thing]; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." (2 Corinthians 6:14-18)