SST 13| "Exhortations From the Sanctuary" | Paul Penno (+playlist)

"The Cosmic Conflict Over God's Character"

Sabbath School Today

With the 1888 Message Dynamic 

The Sanctuary

Lesson 12: "The Cosmic Conflict Over God's Character"

 

When a prominent leader we trust is arraigned in court, the case attracts front-page or prime-time TV coverage. Can you think of a case that would attract more attention than the trial of the century? What kind of publicity would there be if God Himself were on trial?

Prophecy calls for a message to rivet the attention of the billions who "dwell on the earth." The phrase implies that while mundane matters absorb people's attention, an announcement will startle them and command their attention: "Fear God, and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment is come" (Rev. 14:6).

Whose Judgment? Ours, or His? We have long thought it was only ours, and have seen the message as bad news, a stern warning of being taken to court unless we shape up. We tremble with terror at the idea.

But the original language of the first angel's message allows a different understanding. The "hour of His judgment" can also mean the hour when God Himself is to be judged. Rather than being the Accuser, He has become the Accused in the dock. And He needs a defense.

The idea of God being on trial is not as wild as it may appear. It's no secret that the vast majority of those who "dwell on the earth" are angry with Him. It's natural, because they have a carnal mind which "is enmity against God" (Rom. 8:7). They blame Him for their troubles, and especially for the horrendous injustices that plague the world at large. Our very legal terminology describes killer earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, tidal waves, and other natural disasters as "acts of God."

Alienated People Are a Problem to God. He could act as boss and zap them out of existence, but He is fair and even generous to subject Himself to their accusations and to stand trial on their charges. Any other solution to the problem would be unwise, for it would foment further rebellion.

It has often been said that God won His case in court when Christ died on His cross 2000 years ago. In a sense He did. But humanity has kept on suffering and sinning ever since. If God completely won the war at the cross, why does the agony go on and on? If Christ would only come the second time, He could end all this misery. Even the saints, who aren't supposed to be angry with Him, can raise serious questions in court: Why does the Lord wait so long to come? Doesn't He feel for the world's woes? Why doesn't He do something?

The only way that God can defend Himself against a charge of indifference is to plead some circumstance beyond His control which has delayed His intervention. Such a circumstance exists; the problem is for Him to prove it in court. The cosmic prosecution and jury, the world's inhabitants and the unfallen beings of the universe, yes, even the devil and his cohorts, must see the evidence and be convinced.

Paul saw that God will have to go in the dock, and was confident "that You may be justified in Your words, and may overcome when You are judged" (Rom. 3:4). Goodspeed says, "And win your case."

If all that's important is their own case, people might go blithely on, unconcerned about their appearance in court, nonchalant, indifferent to their own personal fate. But they will sit up and take notice when God goes on trial. They will realize that they are character witnesses in His trial, the greatest court case of all history. Thus an entirely new motivation will transcend the hitherto supreme concern they have felt for their own personal security (the root cause of lukewarmness). They actually find it possible to be concerned for Him. That would be a miracle!

The good news in the first angel's "everlasting gospel" is, therefore, much better news than we have thought. It gives every believer in Christ something all-absorbing to live for--he/she can make a significant contribution to God's acquittal. We need not enter the judgment shrinking in terror because of our own insecurity, but go in joyfully honoring Him. To "fear" Him is not to cower in dread of a confrontation with Him, but to thrill with tingled delight that our individual testimony for Him will be effective evidence in court. Only this can "give glory to Him."

How Can God Be Vindicated? The sacrifice of Christ on the cross was complete in that it guaranteed a final victory. But that victory has yet to be realized and demonstrated in His people. What is the problem?

Satan and millions of people press the point that God's professed people are little better than those who make no profession of devotion to the "third angel's message." He can say that they are still lukewarm (that's true; their lukewarmness is sin); they are often worldly and self-caring; their divorce rate is almost as high as that of the world; and they do not demonstrate any significantly higher motivation of love than do the religious adherents of "Babylon." Satan thinks he has a case.

Every one of us is in a special sense an exhibit in God's great trial, giving either glory or shame to Him. Not one of us can evade the merciless spotlight of the cosmic TV lens. The serious problem that God faces is that Laodicea's continued lukewarmness 2000 years after the cross tells the world and the universe that something doesn't work. Legally or theoretically, His plan of salvation is OK; but practically, it fails. Sin itself is not being vanquished.

Suppose we kid ourselves into thinking that everything is fine. Then the alternative charge comes into focus: Why is Christ so slow in coming the second time? If God's people are as ready as they will ever be, why doesn't He come? They continue to sin and Christ as High Priest continues to "cover" for them. Satan charges that this has become unfair, and hundreds of millions of Muslims protest that the Christian doctrine of substitution is unethical and even immoral. But Revelation 3:17 says that Laodicea seems satisfied with this and apparently "has need of nothing" while God in the dock must blush with shame. Meanwhile, the world's misery keeps getting worse.

In fact, Jesus says that the situation with the seventh and last church is so serious that it makes Him so sick at His stomach that He feels like throwing up (that's what verse 16 says in the Greek). If we could see His face as it really is, we would not see the frozen smile of mindless approbation that artists paint; we would see a divine face that registers the acute pain of nausea. How can we bring healing to Him?

The answer is not a more rigid works program. Neither is it a fear-oriented spiritual terrorism--straighten up or else face the plagues. We've heard that for decades, too. Neither will it help any longer to anaesthetize our spiritual nerve, blocking out the Holy Spirit's painful conviction that something is terribly wrong. Jeremiah reproves the false shepherds who tell the people that "all's well, all's well, when all is not well" (Jer. 6:14, Moffatt).

The Bible says that the answer is a special message of much more abounding grace, a message that has the power built into it that delivers from the addiction of continued sin, self-centeredness, and worldliness. Rightly understood, "the gospel of Christ is the power of God to salvation" here and now, salvation from sin (Rom. 1:16). And the message of the three angels about "the hour of God's judgment" has that power inherent within it, for it is to produce a people who truly (not supposedly) "keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." They "are without fault before the throne of God" (Rev. 14:12, 5).

By supplying a wholly Christ-centered motivation, the third angel's message in verity accomplishes what has never been accomplished by any generation of saints in history. "All these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us" (Heb. 11:39, 40). A far clearer understanding of the message must come when "another angel," a fourth, comes "down from heaven having great authority" so that the earth can be "illuminated with his glory" (Rev. 18:1).

Only then can "another voice from heaven" speak with heart-convincing authority to the millions of honest souls in "Babylon," "Come out of her, My people" (Rev. 18:4). They will respond, in numbers far beyond our present comprehension. Once the great court case is settled and God has clearly won His case, the gospel commission will be quickly finished.

When Will Such a Message Come? The proper question is not in the future tense, but past. Not when will it come, but when did it come? According to Ellen White, its "beginning" came in the 1888 message of Christ's righteousness. Only God, not the angels, knows when Christ will come. Consider then how, over a century ago, they hoped for the final victory in the crisis in the government of God, and how disappointed they were that His people on earth "in a great degree" rejected that "most precious message." Untold suffering has been the result for billions of people. And no human mind can imagine the suffering that has accrued to the heart of God.

A profound insight was recognized by Ellen White during the 1888 era: "Something great and decisive is to take place, and that right early. If any delay, the character of God and His throne will be compromised" (An Appeal to Our Ministers and Conference Committees (1892). There has been a delay of a full century: the crisis could not be more serious.

Can we be content to be indifferent? Is it enough to remain little children in understanding and experience, willing for more decades to grind by through the 21st century while these great issues remain unresolved?

What is the 1888 message? How does it differ from what we think we already understand ("I-am-rich"?) of the gospel? Is it the same message of "justification by faith" proclaimed by popular Sunday-keeping Evangelicals? Or is it somehow uniquely Adventist? Does it have power to deliver from self-centeredness and lukewarmness? How can it arrest world attention so that the world can be lightened with its glory?

"The hour ... is come." Thousands of loyal Seventh-day Adventists worldwide are discovering the power of the much more abounding grace inherent in that message.

--Robert J. Wieland

--------------------------------------------------------Please forward these messages to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. 

"Sabbath School Today" is on the Internet at: http://1888mpm.org

To subscribe send an e-mail message with "subscribe" in the body of the message to sabbathschooltoday@1888message.org

SST 12 | "The Cosmic Conflict Over God's Character" | Paul Penno

SST #11 | "Our Prophetic Message" | Paul Penno

"Our Prophetic Message"

Sabbath School Today

With the 1888 Message Dynamic

The Sanctuary

Lesson 11: "Our Prophetic Message"

Our prophetic message is the three angels of Revelation 14:6-12. As history's sun of 6000 years finally goes down, "the last rays of merciful light, the last message of mercy to be given to the world, is a revelation of His character of love." [1] At the sunset of earth's history the Lord Jesus sends a message of "the everlasting gospel" to the ends of the earth (vs. 6).

The gospel is the glad tidings of the work of Christ as the sacrifice for sinners and His atoning ministry in the heavenly sanctuary. In 1888 this message alerted Ellen White. Almost immediately she recognized in it "showers of the latter rain from heaven" and "the beginning" of the light of the fourth angel of Revelation 18. [2] At no time before 1888 had she recognized any such clear light. [3] The "everlasting gospel" is the clearest understanding of Christ's saving work in all history. Hence it is the 1888 message. Justification [forgiveness] by faith is "the third angel's message in verity." [4]

What is the meaning of the cross? What is the divine mandate of Seventh-day Adventists? Which gospel has the Head of the church authorized us to proclaim to the world? Does it differ from the Protestant churches? Or is it the same as what Martin Luther and the Reformers taught? In what way is the Lord's 1888 message of justification by faith (which "in His great mercy He sent" us) different from that of the Sunday-keeping churches? Herein lies the continental divide issue for Seventh-day Adventists for 125 years since 1888.

Although Martin Luther "clearly taught" "the great doctrine of justification by faith" [5] for his day, "yet he did not receive all the light which was to be given to the world." [6] Ellen White said that Luther did not preach all of the gospel: "The message of salvation has been preached in all ages; but this message [the third angel's message which in essence is justification by faith] is a part of the gospel which could be proclaimed only in the last days, for only then would it be true that the hour of judgment had come." [7]

Why is this true? Because since 1844 we have been living in the cosmic Day of Atonement. The "new light" and "new truths" she speaks of must include a clearer understanding of justification by faith which is parallel to Christ's "new" work (since 1844) of cleansing the heavenly sanctuary. What wasn't true in Luther's day is true today--this is the heavenly Day of Atonement, and of judgment.

There is an understanding of the gospel of justification by faith that is "new light" for these last days, a message that must include "showers from heaven of the latter rain," and "the beginning" of the loud cry that must yet lighten the earth with glory. That is the 1888 message. How does it go beyond the Reformers?

Ask Mr. John Calvin, What did Christ accomplish on His cross? Answer, He saved those for whom He died, but the atonement is limited to God's preselected elect.

Ask Mr. James Arminius, for whom did Christ die? Answer, He died to make salvation available to everyone in the world. Only those whodo something by believing in Jesus are saved.

Ask the 1888 message, What did Christ accomplish on His cross? The answer, He "taste[d] death for every man" (Heb. 2:9). He paid "the wages of sin" which "is death"--the second death (Rom. 6:23).

Christ actually saved the world by His death on the cross. As Paul states it, "The judicial action, following upon the one offence [of Adam], issued in a verdict of condemnation, but the act of grace, following upon so many misdeeds, issued in a [judicial] verdict of acquittal. ... The issue of one just act [the cross] is acquittal and life for all men" (Rom. 5:16, 18, NEB).

Writes E. J. Waggoner: "God has wrought out salvation for every man, and has given it to him; but the majority spurn it and throw it away. The judgment will reveal the fact that full salvation was given to every man and that the lost have deliberately thrown away their birthright possession." [8]

The 1888 message helps us to see in Scripture what is missed by Calvinism and Arminianism. What Christ accomplished on His cross is God's pardon given to everyone. Salvation is effective to those for whom Christ died (Calvinism), and Christ died for everyone (Arminianism) irrespective of whether they believe or not.

The prevailing view of Protestants and Evangelicals and Catholics is that death is the door to heaven. Thus the "gospel" of justification by faith as understood by them cannot see that Christ died the second death for everyone. Christ gives to every person the gift of forgiveness and eternal life because He took our penalty of death for sin and literally went to hell for each and every soul.

When an honest heart recognizes this ultimate truth of what happened on the cross, "the love [agape] of Christ constraineth" (compels) the soul to live "henceforth" only for the One who died our second death for us. The results, in God's plan, are phenomenal: All old covenant, egocentric motivation is transcended. The Sabbath truth, for example, comes into its own. In the final loud cry yet to come, for which the 1888 message was an advance billing, "the rays of light penetrate everywhere, the truth is seen in its clearness, and the honest children of God sever the bands which have held them. Family connections, church relations, are powerless to stay them now. Truth is more precious than all besides. ... A large number take their stand upon the Lord's side." [9] That glorious climax to the gospel commission was what the Lord intended "us" to see in the 1888 era. But rejecting ("in a great degree") the beginning of the latter rain could lead to a spiritual abortion.

The old covenant motivation of fear will not figure in this closing work. "The grace of God that brings salvation ... teaches us to say 'No' to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age." Why this ultimate power in soul-winning? The "grace" points to the cross: "Our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, ... gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good" (Titus 2:11-14, NIV).

According to Ellen White's divinely inspired prophecy in The Great Controversy, our denominational evangelism has yet to come fully into its own. "The everlasting gospel" has not as yet been proclaimed in all its clarity to Protestant and Catholic alike, much less the non-Christian world. When we are willing to embrace the full truth of biblical justification by faith we will have a message that will startle modern Evangelical churches. Then the thrilling prophecies of Revelation 18:1 and The Great Controversy will be unfolded.

--Paul E. Penno

Endnotes:[1] Christ's Object Lessons, p. 415.
[2] Special Testimonies, Series A, No. 6, p. 19; Review and Herald, Nov. 22, 1892. See her series of articles in Review and Herald from January 21 through April 8, 1890. She saw the message of Jones and Waggoner as a call to follow Christ by faith into the Most Holy Apartment. There is the heavenly center whence the experience of justification by faith is ministered to earth's last generation, resulting in a growth in grace that will prepare a people for the final crisis and translation.
[3] "It was the first clear teaching on this subject from any human lips I had heard" publicly presented (Ms. 5, 1889). The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, p. 349.
[4] Ellen G. White, "Repentance the Gift of God," The Advent Review And Sabbath Herald, April 1, 1890, p. 193.
[5] The Great Controversy, p. 253.
[6] Ibid., pp. 148, 149.
[7] Ibid., p. 356.
[8] The Glad Tidings, p. 14 (Glad Tidings ed.).
[9] The Great Controversy, p. 612.

Note: “Sabbath School Today” and Pastor Paul Penno’s video of this lesson are on the Internet at: http://1888mpm.org

--------------------------------------------------------
Please forward these messages to your friends and encourage them to subscribe.

To subscribe send an e-mail message with "subscribe" in the body of the message to sabbathschooltoday@1888message.org

SST #10 | "The Eschatological Day of Atonement" | Paul Penno

"The Eschatological Day of Atonement"

Sabbath School Today

With the 1888 Message Dynamic

The Sanctuary

Lesson 10: "The Eschatological Day of Atonement"

  

This week's lesson poses the question (Sunday), "None of us is immune to the danger of trying to play God. How might you, however subtly, be doing the same thing?" This serious question should be pondered frequently both by individuals as well as our corporate church.

The eighth chapter of Daniel uses the Hebrew word gadal (Strong's 1431) to describe the actions of four powers that enlarge themselves and assert their power and wills over others. The word connotes self-pride and disregard for the rights of others in favor of self-interests. This spirit of gadal is most specifically described in reference to the little horn power (Dan. 8:9-14). The chapter also attributes it to Lucifer's attitude which caused his fall to the earth (vs. 10). When Lucifer gave in to thoughts that he would ascend to heaven and raise his throne above the stars of God, he decided to make himself like the Most High (Isa. 14:13-14). In his heart of hearts, Lucifer must have known he didn't have the power to create, but as his ego strengthened, Lucifer cast logic aside in favor of asserting himself over others. With this, he produced an entire system of self-deception that rebels against the simple logic that God is God and He alone creates.

A system that substitutes anything in place of God, regardless of its logic, is exhibiting this spirit of gadal. Paganism makes no apologies for teaching that man must do something to attract and manipulate the gods. The subtly is that while men are not capable of doing what the gods require, they are capable of manipulating the gods to do it for them.

The Bible teaches that "there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12NASB). Even though we objectively know the way of Jesus is the only way, we are easily tempted to look to ourselves and our behavior to assure us of salvation. Even our beloved Seventh-day Adventist Church has had difficulty understanding this. Very sincere and respected teachers have fallen into a works trap, fearing that grace will always give way to license. There are those who have taught that works are produced by beholding Jesus and being influenced by His great love for us as manifested by the cross. That allows Him to give us a "graced in ability" to keep His law, and it is our law keeping that entitles us to heaven. Thus, we think that we have maintained a proper "balance" between grace and works. We have done our part, (satisfying our gadal) and God has done His, and our flesh is now holy by our combined efforts.

Since gadal is a trait common to all, God gave Israel the sanctuary system to demonstrate His and our roles in the plan of salvation. The sinner must humble himself and bring a sacrifice which bears his sins after he confesses them. After he kills the sacrifice, the remainder of the process is carried out by the priest. The sinner is not even allowed to watch once the priest takes the sacrificial blood within the veil of the Holy Place. This ritual was carried out by the priests on a continual basis throughout the year. This reinforced that confessed and forever forgiven sin was constantly transferred into the throne room of God, symbolized by the Most Holy Place.

Wonderful as that is, David asked for more: "According to the greatness of Thy compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin" (Psalm 51:1, 2). Even John contemplates more than just a forgiveness transaction, if I confess, He forgives (1 John 1:9). God wants to go way beyond just forgiveness, He wants us to cleanse us. How does the sanctuary symbolism portray this? We have already looked at the continual priestly functions, assistance with the sacrifices, renewing the lampstand, the table of showbread, and the altar of incense, but a special service took place once a year called the Day of Atonement,Yom Kippur. This required participation by each person in the camp. The idea was that both harbored and hidden sin rendered the camp "corporately" unclean. A cleansing on a corporate scale was required.

The process is described in Leviticus 16 and 23. Time and space prevent us from exploring the significance of each detail, but it is rich in showing us the mind of God. The continual sacrifices demonstrated Christ's willingness to be the sin bearer for all sin. The special rituals of the Day of Atonement signify the final cleansing process. Israel has long understood this to have end time implications rather than just an annual event. When the Seventh-day Adventist Church passed through the Great Disappointment in 1844, they began to understand its role in the end time events as participants in the process Israel referred to as "afflicting the soul."

Most people are afraid of this process because they believe it will reveal yet another thing they must overcome. They are right, but the only reason to dread this is because they think they must do it themselves. Christ used the metaphor of putting on a wedding garment, which He supplies to describe the cleansing of our characters before His coming for His bride. It is only the spirit ofgadal that prefers our filthy garments, because that's the best we can muster.

Why can't God just let us keep sinning until He comes and then resolve everything? What if the church never corporately becomes willing to submit? Christ answered the latter question when He said that "no one" knows the day nor the hour except the Father (Mark13:32). This is a statement of hope, because the Father retains His omniscience and can see the future. The end will come.

But again, why is this cosmic Day of Atonement necessary? We find an example in the world of sports. For many years it was considered impossible that the record of running a mile in four minutes would never be broken. Then, in 1954 Roger Bannister did the impossible, he beat the record. In a similar way, the last generation of God's people will pass judgment on the entire human race of past ages as well as all the living. They will verify that there is no reason for failure and sin. They will prove the truth of the cleansing of the sanctuary and confirm that a people can stand before God without embarrassment, having come up to the standard outlined for Adam before the fall. All cases will be decided when Laodicea, the last church, comes to see herself as she really is. Then the repentance of the ages can take place and she be granted the "white raiment" and spiritual discernment that has long been proffered. Probation can close when, in humble repentance, the church accepts the wedding garment and opens the door to her Divine Lover. [1]

--Arlene Hill

Endnote:

See Donald K. Short, "Then Shall the Sanctuary Be Cleansed,"chapter 7, "The Cleansing of the 'True Tabernacle'" (especially p. 78).

--------------------------------------------------------Please forward these messages to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. 

"Sabbath School Today" is on the Internet at: http://1888mpm.orgTo subscribe send an e-mail message with "subscribe" in the body of the message to sabbathschooltoday@1888message.org