8. EQUIPPING FOR EVANGELISM AND
WITNESSING
So, we ask: which is stronger, sin or grace? Paul answers
unhesitatingly: “Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: that as sin
hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness” (Romans
5:20, 21).
But this has been difficult for us to believe. How often
we have thought that the TV was stronger than reading the Bible, or prayer
meeting. How often we have thought that sharing the seventh-day Sabbath truth,
or the state of the dead, or health reform, or lifestyle change was difficult. We
find the world’s hold on us so alluring that it seems by comparison that the
work of the Holy Spirit is as weak as a radio signal from Mars.
If so, something is not clear to us. We have not understood the gospel. We turn again to the 1888
message for some much-needed Good News:
When grace reigns, it is
easier to do right than it is to do wrong. That is the comparison. Notice: As
sin reigned, even so grace reigns. When sin reigned, it reigned against grace;
it beat back all the power of grace that God had given; [That was Saul of
Tarsus kicking against the pricks.] but when the power of sin is broken, and
grace reigns, then grace reigns against sin, and beats back all the power of
sin. So it is as literally true that under the reign of grace it is easier to
do right than to do wrong, as it is true that under the reign of sin it is
easier to do wrong than to do right (Jones, ibid.,
July 25, 1899).
It can never be repeated
too often, that under the reign of grace it is just as easy to do right, as
under the reign of sin it is easy to do wrong. This must be a for if there is
not more power in grace than there is in sin, then there can be salvation from
sin. . . .
Salvation from sin
certainly depends upon there being more power in grace than there is in sin.
Then, there being more power in grace than there is in sin . . . wherever the
power of grace can have control, it will be just as easy to right as without
this it is easy to do wrong. . . .
[Man’s] great difficulty
has always been to do right. But this is because man naturally is enslaved to a
power—the power of sin—that is absolute in its reign. And so long as that power
has sway, it is not only difficult but impossible to do the good that he knows
and that he would. But let a mightier power than that have sway, then is it not
plain enough that it will be just as easy to serve the will of the mightier
power, when it reigns, as it was to serve the will of the other power when it
reigned?
But grace is not simply more
powerful than is sin. . . . This, good as it would be, is not all. . . . There
is much more power in grace than there is in sin. For “where sin abounded,
grace did much more abound.” . . . Let no one ever attempt to serve God with
anything but the present, living power of God, that makes him a new creature;
with nothing but the much more abundant grace that condemns sin in the flesh,
and reigns through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
Then the service of God will indeed be “in newness of life”; then it will be
found that his yoke is indeed “easy” and his burden “light”; then his service will
be found indeed to be with “joy unspeakable and full of glory.”[1]
As usual, Waggoner chimes in with some more Good News:
The new birth completely
supersedes the old. “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things
are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God.”
He who takes God for the portion of his inheritance, has a power working in him
for righteousness, as much stronger than the power of inherited tendencies to
evil, as our heavenly Father is greater than our earthly parents.[2]
The context of Waggoner’s quotation from 2 Corinthians 5
says, “The love of Christ [agape]
constraineth [motivates] us” (verse 14). People get that backwards. Constrain, the very opposite of restrain, means “to propel,” “to push.”
That love doesn’t push us against our will, but the Holy Spirit gives us all
the motivation possible, short of that.
In the early days of motoring, some car makers
(Locomobile, for example) advertised that their cars were so strong they could
climb Pike’s Peak. But anyone trying to drive a simple Model T up that steep
road found it “hard.” The poor flivver would shudder and stall, and the
radiator would boil over. The poor man’s car just wasn’t built for that
mountain.
Need I say that many Christians view getting ready for
the Lord’s turn as even more difficult?
But now let’s drop a 420 cu. in. V-8 engine in that Model
T, and then watch it zoom up the steepest road.
It’s only a pathetic ignorance of the agape in the pure, true gospel of Christ
that makes the Christian life seem to us so “hard.” The Bible has been telling
us that the Holy Spirit is a mighty power plant to motivate:
Not by might, nor by power,
but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. Who art thou, O great mountain?
before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain (Zechariah 4:6, 7).
It takes a powerful engine to flatten out steep hills.
But that is just what an understanding of the cross does for us:
For the love of Christ
constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all
dead: and that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live
unto themselves, but unto him which died forth and rose again (2 Corinthians
5:14,15).
Look at what this actually says:
1. If One had not died for us, we would
actually be dead—all of us.
2. Christ bought the entire world with His
blood. Whether we heathen or Christian, whether we recognize
our obligation to Him not, we are infinitely in debt to Him. All we have and
all we are, already owe to His sacrifice:
To the death of Christ
we owe even this earthly life. The bread we eat is purchase of His broken body.
The water we drink is bought by His spilled blood. Never one, saint or sinner,
eats his daily food, but he is nourished by the body and the blood of Christ.
The cross of Calvary is stamped on every loaf. It is reflected in every water
spring.[3]
3. Simply believe this truth, says Paul, and
“henceforth” you find it impossible to keep on living a self-centered life.
The “constraint” goes to work immediately, and unless we resist, we shall “henceforth
live . . . unto him who died for . . . [us], and arose again.”
Don’t let that phrase, “should not,” throw you. In the
original language it does not mean our usual vain sighs, “I should be more faithful; I should pay more tithe; I should keep the Sabbath better; I should s my lesson more, I should
sacrifice more,” “I shouldn’t watch TV much.” The gospel idea is that you will
find it impossible not to serve Lord
enthusiastically if you comprehend and appreciate the significance of the cross
of Christ—what it cost Him to save you.
This idea of the constraint of God’s agape permeates Paul’s to writings. Consider the following:
Despisest thou the
riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the
goodness of God leadeth thee to repents (Romans 2:4).
His idea is that God is not standing back, as many
conceive of Him with His divine arms folded in disinterested unconcern while we
wallow in our lost condition. He is not saying, “Well, I made the sacrifice for
two thousand years ago; I’ve done My part—it’s up to you now. You must take the
initiative. If you want to come, come; and if it seems hard to you, you just
don’t have what it takes to be a Christian. I have somebody else waiting to
take your crown.”
How many millions of people feel that way about God! And
some shy and timid ones feel, “God does
have plenty of people ready to take my crown—He doesn’t need me, and I’m not really sure He wants
me.” In contrast, Waggoner emphasizes the seeking, persistent love of God
toward “every man.” It is He who takes the initiative, a radically different
idea than our usual one:
And we need not try to
improve on the Scriptures, and say that the goodness of God tends to lead men to repentance. The
Bible says that it does [emphasis
supplied] lead them to repentance, and we may be sure that it is so. Every man
is being led toward repentance as surely as God is good.[4]
When you pray for a loved one, a friend, or a neighbor to
be converted, you don’t have to wake the Lord up out of sleep to persuade Him
to do something that He is reticent to do—not according to what Paul says. The
goodness of God is already working, leading your person to repentance. The
trouble is that we often hinder what He is already
seeking to do! We thwart His answer to our prayers because we haven’t
understood the goodness, longsuffering, and forbearance of the Lord in their
true dimensions.
A lady came to prayer meeting each week asking prayer for
her unbelieving husband. I don’t remember how long it was later, but one
Sabbath morning he came down the stairs before breakfast dressed up in his good
suit. “What does this mean?” she inquired. With a big smile he answered, “I’m
going to church with you and the children.” Quick as a flash, out came her true
feelings: “But darling, if you lose your job because of the Sabbath, how can we
make the car payments, or the house payments?”
Hubby never said a word, went backup, put on his work
clothes, and that was the end of it forever.
Instead of begging the Lord to please do something for
our loved ones, a better way for us to pray would be, “Lord, thank You that You
are already leading my loved one or
neighbor to repentance. Now please, please, help
me get out of the way!”
We continue the same passage from Waggoner:
Not all repent. Why?—Because
they despise the riches of the goodness and forbearance and long-suffering of
God, and break away from the merciful leading of the Lord. But whoever does not
resist the Lord, will surely be brought to repentance and salvation.
That sounds revolutionary to many who say, “Well, I just
can’t believe the Good News is that good! It seems to me that if a sinner wants
to be saved, it’s only fair that he work hard at it, he must take the initiative,
he must do something. But this has it backwards. It says that if he stops
resisting, he will be saved!”
Yes, that’s exactly what it says.
However revolutionary it sounds, that is the Good News of
the gospel. It presupposes the active, aggressive, persistent love of God as a Good
Shepherd taking the initiative to find His lost sheep. Ellen White says the
same thing in Steps to Christ, page
27:
As Christ draws them to
look upon His cross, to behold Him whom their sins have pierced, . . . they
begin to comprehend something of the righteousness of Christ. . . .
The sinner may resist
this love, may refuse to be drawn to Christ—but if he does not resist, he will be drawn to Jesus; a knowledge of the plan
of salvation will lead him to the foot of the cross in repentance for his sins,
which have caused the sufferings of God’s dear Son (emphasis supplied).
From our beginnings
as a people, the reason for the need of a health message was not so much the
desire to live longer and enjoy lives more free from suffering, as to maintain
clarity of mind to comprehend the truths to be associated with the grand
“Adventist” concept of the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary. That sanctuary
message was the driving force that made the Adventist message unique and
appealing to “the remnant” who reverenced the Bible.
The idea of
“cleansing” came to be thought integral to living in the antitypical Day of
Atonement. Tobacco was seen as “the filthy weed,” and its use “defiling.” The
emphasis on giving up tobacco was not so much fear of lung cancer or high blood
pressure or all the other ills that follow its use today, but on this idea of
“cleansing.” Abundant Scripture was
found on the evils of drunkenness, and total abstinence easily became the
application of the idea of “cleansing” in the abandonment of all alcoholic
drinks. In the early literature of the
church, little is said about the physiological detriments of alcohol or tobacco
use. Their use was viewed in the light of the cleansing of the sanctuary.
From the 1844 era to
that of 1888, the health consciousness of the Seventh-day Adventist Church was
concentrated on the idea of a preparation for the second coming of Christ. The
motivation was not egocentric as is the popular emphasis on “health” in the
American public today. The concern that transcended that egocentric one was
getting ready for the soon-coming close of probation (and yet its motivation was largely Old Covenant, and therefore
egocentric at heart). We have to be honest and recognize the egocentricity;
fear played a prominent role in “health reform.” (This is not to suggest that
fear is or was a bad motivation for healthful living, nor is it so today; it is
to suggest the need for a better motivation in order to become a more effective
truth in practical godliness).
That idea of a better
motivation was finally to arrive with the proclamation of the 1888 message when
its time came.
Let us make clear
what is the contribution that the actual, original 1888 message makes to the
true Sabbath, the nature of man and lifestyle changes. “The Lord in His great
mercy sent it,” to strengthen these teachings among Seventh-day Adventists
today. The 1888 message on does not torment us with greater fear or guilt. But
it encourages us with that much more abounding grace that motivates us to be
reconciled to our Lord and to His truth. In that experience of reconciliation
with Him we find the blessed motivation to deny self gladly and live the
health reform message because we find that self-denial is a joy “in Christ.”
It’s beyond the “burden” experience.
This is accomplished
by a simple but powerful truth that is seldom comprehended among us as a
people:
The self-denying
death that Jesus died on His cross is not the kind of death that the popular
Sunday-keeping Evangelical churches assume that it was. The gospel is far
greater Good News than they are capable of seeing![5] Jesus died the second death of the entire
world.
Not until the sinner
can grasp that holy truth can he sense the “power” that is in what Paul calls
“the truth of the gospel” (Gal. 2:4, 15). It’s the power of God unto salvation
that Paul describes in Romans 1:16. Lukewarmness in practicing health reform is
that which Jesus describes in Revelation 3:14-21 as what makes Him so sick at
His stomach that He feels like throwing up.[6] We
can wear a cross around our necks and decorate our churches with its symbol and
still appreciate nothing of what happened on Christ’s cross.
Paul begs us, “We
implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God” (2 Cor. 5:20). If we are,
as Christ implores us, we shall also be reconciled to “health reform.” So
“practical” is the “godliness” of Day of Atonement faith that our long-indulged
perverted appetites our wrong religious beliefs. You won’t miss your harmful
favorites. To bring Paul up to date, “Christ lives in me; and the life which I
now live in the flesh [the flesh
where appetite rules] I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and
gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2:20).
On the annual Day of
Atonement the lifestyle of God’s people was appropriate to the solemn faith
that followed their high priest in his special work in the most holy apartment
of the sanctuary. This was not due to cowardly self-centered fear, but a
concern for the high priest himself, in whom the entire nation was incorporated.
On that day alone, he would come into the solemn presence of the Holy One of
Israel, to be judged as the representative of the people of Israel
It’s easy to see why
they were concerned. They laid aside all their day-to-day interests and
concentrated on the success of his
mission. We might say that they were more concerned for the plan of salvation for the nation than they were for their
own individual salvation.
What’s special about living in the antitypical Day of Atonement?
Christ our High
Priest is now cleansing the heavenly
sanctuary. As the ancient Israelites had special duties in that typical service, so God’s people around
the world have special duties appropriate to this antitypical service. The correlation appeals to common sense. No
one is so naïve as to think that since 1844 God requires total abstinence from
food as the ancient Israelites practiced it in “type” for one day. The point is
that today we don’t make food an idolatrous “god” and live to enjoy sensuality.
We practice reasonable health reform so we can keep our minds clear to
appreciate the special solemn work our great heavenly High Priest is
accomplishing because it’s the most important activity going on in the
universe. The Seventh-day Adventist health and dress reform message with its
idea of world soul-winning mission grew out of this unique understanding of the
heavenly Day of Atonement. It’s not a fear trip or a works program. It’s a
growing concern for the mission of Christ.
Without food life
could not be sustained; but of all periods of world history, our Saviour has
singled out this post-1844 era as uniquely the time to “take heed to
yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting [eating
gourmet food or even too much good food], and drunkenness [the use of anything
that lessens mental and physical alertness such as alcohol, drugs, tobacco],
and cares of this life [keeping up with the world’s materialism]” (Luke 21:34).
Now as never before
is the time when we eat to live, not live to eat. The true motive in health
reform is not trying to add a few more years so we can play golf, or to
vacation a little longer. It is living
for the honor and glory of our Redeemer as He brings the great controversy with
Satan to a triumphant victory. We want to keep in tune with His special
work, alert to the promptings of His Spirit, mentally, spiritually, and
physically capable of cooperating with Him in His ministry for ourselves and
for the world.
Does “ye shall do no
manner of work” (Lev. 23:31) mean we mustn’t hold a job during this antitypical
Day of Atonement? Common sense says we have to work to make a living and
support a family. But now our identity with Christ gives us something far more
exciting to live for than worldly pleasure and acquiring things. “After all
these things do the Gentiles seek” (Matt. 6:32).
What was permissible
or normal in past history becomes out of date on the great Day of Atonement. In
World War II, the nation’s common “innocent” pursuits like pleasure driving
gave way to the priority needs of gasoline for the national emergency.
The Day of Atonement is a cosmic emergency.
Adventist distinctive
lifestyle reform grew out of this concern for cooperation with the heavenly
High Priest in His closing work of atonement. In a special sense, those who
follow Christ by faith have their attention focused on Him, not on themselves. Their
motivation again is not egocentric but a corporate concern for the final
success of His mission. A clearer understanding of the cross and the Saviour’s
sacrifice delivers them from vanity. The miracle takes place: self is crucified with Christ. Then,
wonder of wonders, they become really
beautiful!
The glorious good
news of it all is that never in world history have we had a better opportunity
to find release from the painful, crippling tyranny of self. God’s people in
these last days are to be the most beautifully free from pride, sensuality, and
materialism of any people of all time, and the most selfless humans the world
has ever been refreshed to see, and therefore the happiest.
Their lifestyle is
not a do-it-yourself works program of self-torture. It is a “sign” of an inner
devotion to Christ and a preoccupation with Him that demonstrates they have
found something more exciting to live for than adorning themselves or indulging
sensual appetites. (Incidentally, Bible principles exclude something worse than
wearing jewelry: the pious extreme of dressing in shabby, unattractive clothes
that call attention to one’s superior “relationship” with the Lord. That’s
another ego trip. True dress reform requires both neatness and unobtrusive,
sensible good taste).
Ellen White saw a
connection between dress reform and the cleansing of the sanctuary. She was
overjoyed to connect the Day of Atonement ministry with the special 1888
message of justification by faith (see her Review
and Herald articles for the first four months of 1890). Her constant
concern for the church was a “correct understanding of the ministration in the
heavenly sanctuary [which] is the foundation of our faith.” Professed believers
must be able to “exercise the faith which is essential at this time, [and]
occupy the position which God designs them to fill” (Evangelism, pp. 221, 222). This is why she said, “To dress plainly
[that is, without drawing attention to ourselves], abstaining from display of
jewelry and ornaments of every kind, is in keeping with our faith” (Testimonies for the Church, vol. 3, p.
366). “Our faith” is unique in the world: it is following Christ in the Most
Holy Apartment of the heavenly sanctuary.
At the age of 38,
Frances Havergal paid a five-day visit to a family in London
Four years later she
re-read the poem and was struck by her lines, “Take my silver and my gold, not
a mite would I withhold.” She wrote a friend that this “now means shipping off
all my ornaments to the Church Missionary House (including a jewel cabinet that
is really fit for a countess).”
“When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the
Prince of glory died,
My riches gain I count but loss
And pour
contempt on all my pride.”—Isaac Watts
[2] The Everlasting Covenant, p. 66.
[3] The
Desire of Ages, p. 660.
[4] Signs
of the Times, November 21, 1895.
[5] This raises the question why we as a people
and as ministers especially have been flocking to Bill Hybel’s Willow Creek and
Rick Warren’s Saddleback and Robert Schuler’s Crystal Cathedral to learn from
them how to proclaim the Gospel!
