October- December,2007
Many, many things have been said about television, video, and even radio, but little or nothing has been said today about cellular or mobile phone. Is it good or not to use a cell phone? Is a cell phone a blessing or a curse?
No reasonable human being can overlook today the blessings and help found in the use of cell phones in our world. The only questions are, do you have credit, and is your cell phone connected to a network? You can speak with your loved ones provided that their own cell phones also are connected to the network. Cell phones have helped in bringing souls to Christ. They have helped saving many a life that would have been lost today.
For instance, there was a fatal accident one night on a lonely expressway, in which the driver died at the spot and the vehicle went beyond repairs. Fortunately, a man was able to save many people with his cell phone as he called the ambulance which arrived at that place in just a few minutes.
As a matter of fact, it is somewhat difficult to survive in this age without a cell phone. A cell phone itself is not a sin, but the abuse of this device is what needs to be considered.
Many cell phones in the world today have many features, like capturing images, long video clips, which can also record sound. Some can also download and play back movies, and others can still connect to various phones and computer websites with the help of the Bluetooth (wireless connection). Still many cell phones can send and receive e-mails instantly. And all these are classified as multimedia phones.
Films, music, websites, and other features may not be bad for the children of God who honor their Maker in all their conduct. But in the hands of many who are still serving the devil as master, cell phones end up being used to honor that very master. The word of God says, “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” (Romans 6:16).
“He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning” (1 John 3:8).
There are some things about which we cannot draw a distinct line or advise believers precisely as to their use. The apostle Paul summarized, “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).
What pleases God so much is not when someone does not have the knowledge of/or access to evil things, but what pleases Him most is his or her determination to resist evil in every condition.
What makes the abuse of cell phones more dangerous than television and video is that the cell phone is very convenient, thus one can access any website, listen to music, watch movies, chat, send mails, and make calls without any disturbance from anybody. Some of these phones can also download pictures from the websites, and store them in the phones. And some can also access television channels.
But, unfortunately, many of these films, music, websites, and pictures only defile pure thoughts. And many professed believers spend time watching these things.
When there was little of this evil, the following message came from the pen of Inspiration:
“Many of the young are eager for books. They read everything they can obtain. Exciting love stories and impure pictures have a corrupting influence. Novels are eagerly perused by many; and, as the result, their imagination becomes defiled. In the cars photographs of females in a state of nudity are frequently circulated for sale. These disgusting pictures are also found in daguerrean saloons [photo shops] and are hung upon the walls of those who deal in engravings. This is an age when corruption is teeming everywhere. The lust of the eye and corrupt passions are aroused by beholding and by reading. The heart is corrupted through the imagination. The mind takes pleasure in contemplating scenes which awaken the lower and baser passions. These vile images, seen through defiled imagination, corrupt the morals and prepare the deluded, infatuated beings to give loose rein to lustful passions. Then follow sins and crimes which drag beings formed in the image of God down to a level with the beasts, sinking them at last in perdition. . . .
“It is the special work of Satan in these last days to take possession of the minds of youth, to corrupt the thoughts and inflame the passions; for he knows that by so doing he can lead to impure actions, and thus all the noble faculties of the mind will become debased, and he can control them to suit his own purposes.”—Child Guidance, pp. 439, 440.
“The mind of a man or woman does not come down in a moment from purity and holiness to depravity, corruption, and crime. It takes time to transform the human to the divine, or to degrade those formed in the image of God to the brutal or the satanic. By beholding we become changed. Though formed in the image of his Maker, man can so educate his mind that sin which he once loathed will become pleasant to him. As he ceases to watch and pray, he ceases to guard the citadel, the heart, and engages in sin and crime. The mind is debased, and it is impossible to elevate it from corruption while it is being educated to enslave the moral and intellectual powers, and bring them in subjection to grosser passions. Constant war against the carnal mind must be maintained; and we must be aided by the refining influence of the grace of God, which will attract the mind upward and habituate it to meditate upon pure and holy things.”—Testimonies, vol. 2, pp. 478, 479.
“The baleful influence of sin poisons the life of the soul. Our only safety is in separation from those who live in its darkness. The Lord has enjoined upon us to come out from among them and be separate, and to touch not the unclean thing, and He will receive us and will be a Father unto us, and we shall be His sons and daughters. If we wish to be adopted into the family of God, to become children of the heavenly King, we must comply with His conditions; we must come out from the world and stand as a peculiar people before the Lord, obeying His precepts and serving Him.”—Ibid., vol. 4, pp. 109, 110.
R U really living 4 Christ?
“We may refuse to be corrupted, and place ourselves where evil association shall not corrupt our hearts. Individually the youth should seek for association with those who are toiling upward with unfaltering steps.”—The Faith I Live By, p. 234.
“John, the forerunner of Christ, did not expose himself to evil conversation and the corrupting influences of the world. He feared the effect upon his conscience, that sin might not appear to him so exceedingly sinful.”—Testimonies, vol. 4, p. 109.
Some professed Christians visit many nasty websites that only make the thoughts impure. They make calls, chat, and download songs, music, or watch movies that only remove the thought of their Maker from their heart.
Many young people who don’t have the privilege to stand and discuss things with the opposite sex find it very convenient to say various things over the phone which they would find very difficult to say when they meet face to face. They also make arrangements and plans that dishonor their heavenly Father. Text messages are sent and received only inside the room. Many young people whom their parents thought were fast asleep have been found in the late hours of the night very busy with their cell phones.
The question remains, does God see these things?
Christ plainly declared that “every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment” (Matthew 12:36). “For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:14).
Furthermore, God is not well pleased by the amount of money spent on all useless communication. “We are to remember that our money is not to be spent selfishly, but that all we can spare is to be used to advance the work of God.” (Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 19, p. 20).
Do all these things make the use of a cell phone a sin? No indeed. The question then is how we use it. Even a very valuable thing such as our ownself or right hand can be a problem if it causes us to sin.
Jesus makes a shocking statement: “If thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell” (Matthew 5:30). When you consider how serious matter it is to avoid sin, it really would be a lot easier to part with or restrict our use of a cell phone if our conscience would tell us to do so, than it would be to part with our right hand!
Of Joseph it was written that he lived where there was no worshipper of God, but he never sinned against Him.
“Remember that to form characters that will stand the test of the judgment is very serious business. You yourselves are responsible for the kind of character you build. No professor in an institution of learning can make your character. You yourselves decide your own eternal destiny. It is necessary to contemplate such characters as are worthy of imitation. We refer you to Joseph in Egypt, and to Daniel in Babylon. These youths were tried and proved; and because they stood firm to principle, they became representative men, and patterns of integrity. I would say to the youth at our institutions of learning, whether you profess to believe or not, that you are now in probationary time, and a second probation will not come to any of you. This is the only opportunity you will have of standing the test and proving of God.”—Fundamentals of Christian Education, p. 245.
“Those who would not fall a prey to Satan’s devices, must guard well the avenues of the soul; they must avoid reading, seeing, or hearing that which will suggest impure thoughts. The mind must not be left to dwell at random upon every subject that the enemy of souls may suggest. The heart must be faithfully sentineled, or evils without will awaken evils within, and the soul will wander in darkness.”—The Acts of the Apostles, p. 518.
“Say firmly: ‘I will not spend precious moments in reading that which will be of no profit to me, and which only unfits me to be of service to others. I will devote my time and my thoughts to acquiring a fitness for God’s service. I will close my eyes to frivolous and sinful things. My ears are the Lord’s, and I will not listen to the subtle reasoning of the enemy. My voice shall not in any way be subject to a will that is not under the influence of the Spirit of God. My body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and every power of my being shall be consecrated to worthy pursuits.”—The Adventist Home, p. 409.
Dear friends, you too can say it firmly with David, “I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me” (Psalm 101:3).
The surest way to live beyond these evils that are very close to us these days is to watch and pray. In other words, reading the Word of God always and meditating upon it, like the psalmist who said, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee” (Psalm 119:11).
“Men and women may reach a high standard, if they will but acknowledge Christ as their personal Saviour. Watch and pray, making a surrender of all to God. The knowledge that you are striving for eternal life will strengthen and comfort you both. In thought, in word, in action, you are to be lights in the world. Discipline yourselves in the Lord; for He has committed to you sacred trusts, which you cannot properly fulfill without this discipline. By believing in Jesus, you are not only to save your own souls, but by precept and example you are to seek to save other souls. Take Christ as your pattern. Hold Him up as the One who can give you power to overcome. Utterly destroy the root of selfishness. Magnify God, for you are His children. Glorify your Redeemer, and He will give you a place in His kingdom.”—The Adventist Home, p. 9