Sabbath School TodayWith the 1888 Message Dynamic
Jesus Wept: The Bible and Human EmotionsLesson 12: "Nature as a Source of Health"
The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork.
Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge (Psalm 19:1, 2).
Our memory text for this week (quoted above) reveals that God wants to show Himself to us through the natural things that He has created. This is consistent with what Paul tells us in Romans 1:20, "For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead." Do you want to see the things of God and do you want to know His power in your life? The evidence of His presence is all around you. Just look and say, "Thank you."Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge (Psalm 19:1, 2).
"But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach" (Rom. 10:6-8).
"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" (Rev. 3:20).
There are eight principles of nature--remedies for improving, or reforming, one's health: proper nutrition, exercise, fresh water, sunlight, abstemiousness, fresh air, sufficient rest, and trust in God, for He is the One who wants to give you what He has already given you in Christ. Good health is part of the gift of righteousness, salvation, and eternal life. When you couple this with an intellectual understanding and heart-felt appreciation of the infinite Price He paid on the cross to give you all this, you have a winning combination. All these natural remedies, if practiced, will bring you closer to the evidence of the presence of God in your life and they will keep your mind and body in such a tone of health that God can more easily communicate the special things He has for you in these last days before Jesus comes.
In 1888, the Lord brought to His people a message that is yet destined to lighten the earth with its glory. Indeed it is the message of the three angels of Revelation 14:6-12 and was the beginning of the latter rain of the Holy Spirit, as described by the fourth angel of Revelation 18:1. This message is the beginning of the special things that God has for us to know and understand for these last days. It is called "the third angel's message in verity":
"The Lord in His great mercy sent a most precious message to His people through Elders Waggoner and Jones. This message was to bring more prominently before the world the uplifted Saviour, the sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. … This is the message that God commanded to be given to the world. It is the third angel's message, which is to be proclaimed with a loud voice, and attended with the outpouring of His Spirit in a large measure" (Testimonies to Ministers
, pp. 91, 92).Our health (using the natural remedies) is intimately associated with the third angel's message, but it needs the dynamic understanding of God's new covenant agape to empower it.
"As the right arm is connected with the body, so the health reform and medical missionary work is connected with the third angel's message, and is to work efficiently as the right arm, for the defense of the body of truth" (Review and Herald, June 20, 1899).
"I was again shown that the health reform is one branch of the great work which is to fit a people for the coming of the Lord. It is as closely connected with the third angel's message as the hand is with the body. … To make plain natural law, and urge the obedience of it, is the work that accompanies the third angel's message to prepare a people for the coming of the Lord" (Testimonies for the Church
, vol. 3, p. 161)."When the third angel's message is received in all its fullness, health reform will be given its place in the councils of the Conference, in the work of the church, in the home, at the table, and in all the household arrangements" (Review and Herald, June 20, 1899).
So when we receive the 1888 message in all its fullness, the eight natural remedies will be given their proper place, because they will be seen as a gift from Jesus' healing ministry in the heavenly sanctuary. The cleansing of the sanctuary truth involves God's people growing up into the fullness of Christ and being "sealed" by His self-sacrificing love. The 1888 messengers knew and understood the importance of the natural remedies in the last days before Jesus comes:
"When the health reform was given to the people of God, it was defined as that which is to fit the people for translation. That is the meaning of health reform. The leading thing, the great thing, that God intends health reform to do, is to prepare His people for translation. … We are in the most solemn time we ever saw. Let us consider it" (A. T. Jones, 1893 General Conference Daily Bulletin, p. 88).
"Genuine faith in the Third Angel's Message is evinced by a practical reception of all the truths brought out by it. Among them … involves a practical belief in true temperance, for that is a vital part of the Third Angel's Message. True temperance, or health reform, as it is termed, has been declared to bear the same relation to the last message that the right arm does to the body. Then if we do not believe and practice it, our faith is a crippled faith" (E. J. Waggoner, "Thoughts on the Twelfth Chapter of Hebrews," The Signs of the Times, Feb. 22, 1883, pp. 91, 92).
Some people perceive health reform to be a form of legalism, as if what we do with our health will somehow commend us to God and inspire Him to let us sneak in through the "pearly gates." Health reform that is motivated by a desire for personal heavenly reward or to avoid hell is legalism because of the self-centered motive in it.
Health reform is part of the third angel's message of Revelation 14:6-12. However, "the third angel's message in verity" of Revelation 18:1, the 1888 message, is not health reform. It is the heart-reconciling truth of the message of the cross converging with the cleansing of the sanctuary truth. It supplies the constraining love of God to practice "health reform."
So then, viewed from the cross/sanctuary perspective, "health reform" is the self-denying principle inherent in the repentance which God gives us during our cosmic Day of Atonement. "Health reform" is our appointed "fast." It is what is meant for us to "afflict your souls" (Lev. 16:29, 31). We may even now join in with the sufferings of Christ and count it all joy by saying "No" to the desires of appetite for that which is harmful; and "Yes" to that which God has provided through the natural remedies. When we join with Christ in self-denial, He receives the reward for which He died.
Receiving the 1888 message in it's fullness, is a heart-felt appreciation of Who God is, what He has done, what He is doing today, and what He is about to do--in you--and what it cost Him to give us good health. If this is your motive for what you do, there is no self-centered legalism motivating it. It is a faith which works by agape--not legalism.
Undoubtedly you want to honor God by letting Him impart to you the refreshing manifestation of the latter rain power in its fullness. Part of righteousness by faith is choosing to receive the blessings which God has provided in its natural setting.
Receive the "beginning" of the latter rain in its fullness, which will put everything else in its proper place. Believe the good news of "much more abounding grace." "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things will be added unto you" (Matt. 6:33).
"I was shown that if God's people make no efforts on their part [to yield to God's word, cf. Christ's Object Lessons, p. 61], but wait for the refreshing [latter rain] to come upon them and remove their wrongs and correct their errors; if they depend upon that to cleanse them from filthiness of the flesh and spirit, and fit them to engage in the loud cry of the third angel, they will be found wanting. The refreshing or power of God comes only on those who have prepared themselves for it by doing the work which God bids them, namely, cleansing themselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God (Testimonies for the Church
, vol. 1, p. 619).Now is the time for us to be "rooted and grounded in love," "filled with all the fullness of God" (Eph. 3:17, 19). Indeed, for a long time, God has wanted to bring the full manifestation of the refreshing latter rain in order to mature the grain for the harvest. You and I can be prepared to participate in the fullness of that latter rain that had it's beginning in 1888 by letting the message fill our hearts and minds. Then we will be properly prepared to receive God's gifts of the eight natural remedies which He has ordained to cleanse both mind and body. Let Him do it. He will show you the way and hold your right hand (cf. Isa. 41:13).
--Craig Barnes
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