Lesson 9: The Most Convincing Proof

Lesson 9: The Most Convincing Proof

 

Is it possible to sort out the truth in this cacophony of voices that we hear today? Jesus says yes: "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32). Ellen White also voices an encouraging yes: "The house of Israel [the organized church] is to be imbued with the Holy Spirit, and baptized with the grace of salvation. Amid the confusing cries, 'Lo, here is Christ! Lo, there is Christ!' will be borne a special testimony, a special message of truth appropriate for this time, which message is to be received, believed, and acted upon. ... Falsehoods will be urged upon the attention of God's people, but the truth is to stand clothed in its beautiful, pure garments" (Review and Herald, October 13, 1904).

_______________________________________

The history and content of the 1888 message are of keen interest to Seventh-day Adventists around the world. Ellen White has said repeatedly that failure to understand and to accept that message has greatly retarded the progress of the church and delayed the triumph of the "everlasting gospel" message.

In our modern day, schisms, apostasies, fanaticisms, conflicting interpretations of the prophecies, the inroads of the so-called "new theology" [and current divisions on women's ordination and other issues] have plagued the church. The resultant loss of ministers and members has been heavy. These many problems are related to confusion and misconception of the 1888 history and message.

Those who believe the New Testament recognize that the Jews rejected and crucified their Messiah. If the Jewish nation should wish to get right with God, would it not be a good idea for them to understand that mistake and repent of it?

If we wish to get right with the Lord, would it not be wise for us to understand our history and accept His gift of repentance? "We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us, and His teaching in our past history" [1] It would follow logically that we have everything to fear if we forget our past and disregard "His teaching in our past history."

A true understanding of the gospel is precisely what this sin-cursed world desperately needs to know. After Christianity has professed to proclaim the gospel for two thousand years, the agony and evil in the world appear to be getting worse. Millions who want to believe in God feel forced to doubt that He exists or that He cares. Could it be that the pure gospel has not yet been proclaimed as it should be?

Surprising as it may be, there is more than one gospel: (a) the pure truth that Paul and the apostles preached which he calls "the grace of Christ," and (b) there is a counterfeit gospel which he says is "another gospel: which is not another," but a perversion of "the gospel of Christ." According to Paul's strong words, "any other gospel" than the true one Christ gave ends up being a "curse" (Gal. 1:6-9).

The reason why the enemy of Christ specializes in perverting the gospel is because he knows that the true one is "the power of God unto salvation" (Rom. 1:16), just as good food is healthful nourishment to one's body. But a little arsenic mixed in one's diet is lethal. In the final judgment all will see that the world's continual agony has been the direct result of a perversion of the gospel which "Babylon" has foisted on mankind (Rev. 18:24).

The truth is that the Lord has given us a special message of Good News that people must learn to believe. The Lord never called Seventh-day Adventists to preach legalism to the world. Our special commission is to recover and proclaim the precise Good News that is already "the salvation of God" and which prepares a people for the second coming of Christ. In fact, the message of the three angels of Revelation 14:6-12 is in a unique sense "the everlasting gospel" for the last days. It must be the best Good News the world has ever heard.

Can the Seventh-day Adventist Church ever come into unity in knowing and accepting this Good News message?If it is the true "remnant" church of Revelation 12:17 and 14:12, the answer has to be, Yes. If grace is stronger than sin, then truth has to be stronger than error, and the Holy Spirit must be stronger than the flesh, and light must be stronger than darkness. We do not say "if" because we doubt; we would rather say, "Because it is the remnant church," the answer has to be yes. "Mind will be arrayed against mind, plans against plans, principles of heavenly origin against principles of Satan. Truth in its varied phases will be in conflict with error in its ever-varying, increasing forms, and which, if possible, will deceive the very elect." [2] Note: the "elect" are not deceived. "Truth in its varied phases" will overcome "error in its ... increasing forms." That's Good News!

Ellet J. Waggoner has written: "The union of the Father and the Son is union of Spirit. We cannot comprehend this union, but we may know that it is not a forced union, but that it results from their very nature. They have one life. Their thoughts and purposes are the same, not because they come together and compare notes and agree to be alike, but because one life is in them both. So the union of believers is to be a vital union, or it is not any union at all. It is not accomplished by strife and debate and decisions of majorities, but by yielding the mind to Christ and hearing His voice. They are to be united by the mind and Spirit of Christ. The life of the Father and the Son in each member of the church will produce the most perfect union in the whole body. ...

"This gives no ground for the idea that there may be divisions in the church of Christ, one division believing one thing, and another division believing and practising another thing. God has 'tempered the body together, ... that there should be no schism in the body (1 Cor. 12:24, 25). 'There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all' (Eph. 4:4-6). The apostle's exhortation is, 'that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment' (1 Cor. 1:10). But let it be borne in mind that this union is not artificial, but natural; not the human nature, however, but the divine nature. ...

"Christ desires unity, but He does not try to force it, because the unity which is essential is the unity of growth into Christ, and growth cannot be forced. The religion of Jesus is love, and force kills love. Where there is no love there is no righteousness; ..." [3]

We want to "win" not merely "warn" those with whom we are in disagreement. We live in a time fraught with tremendous significance; we are living this side of the greatest world movement that has ever happened in 6000 years of history--the earthis to be "lightened" with the glory of that fourth angel of Revelation 18. The "beginning" of that wonderful work came in 1888.

Let me encourage you: Be true to the truth; defend it, but do so with Christ-like words, in a generous spirit.

--From the Writings of Robert J. Wieland

Endnotes:
[1] Life Sketches of Ellen G. White, p. 196.
[2] Ellen G. White, Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, p. 407.
[3] Ellet J. Waggoner, "Unity and Uniformity," The Present Truth, April 20, 1893.

Notes:
Pastor Paul Penno's video of this lesson is on the Internet at: 
https://youtu.be/CSXig2A_fV4

"Sabbath School Today" is on the Internet at: http://1888message.org/sst.htm

RR

Raul Diaz

https://about.me/raul.diaz

Lesson 8: Unity in Faith

Sabbath School Today
With the 1888 Message Dynamic

Oneness in Christ
Lesson 8: Unity in Faith

 

The Quarterly begins with a snapshot of the controversy of 1888, but the image is blurred, and must be brought into proper focus.

Yes, there was discussion about just which tribes constituted the ten horns of Daniel 7. However, the controversy and "hostile attitudes" began two years before, and remains with us to this day. In 1886, E. J. Waggoner wrote a commentary on the covenants that focused Galatians 3:24 on Christ instead of the law. The General Conference leadership took exception to Waggoner's position because they saw it as undermining the foundation of their argument in support of the perpetuity of the Sabbath. Their attitude was, throw out the law and you throw out support for the Sabbath truth! Waggoner was not throwing out the law. He was instead placing the law where it belonged. The goal was not perfect law-keeping, but the perfect righteousness of Christ as the only source of our salvation.

When Ellen White came down on the Waggoner and Jones' side of the debate, the older and "more experienced brethren" became upset. A. G. Daniells later wrote that she had to stand "almost alone" against nearly the entire General Conference in her defense of Waggoner and Jones' position on righteousness by faith in Christ alone. [1] The elder brethren's feet were firmly set in the concrete of their "stand by the old landmarks" position. They could not accept that two young men with practically no theological experience could have been chosen of God, and given "divine credentials" [2] to teach them--the theologically experienced brethren--concerning the everlasting covenant and righteousness by faith.

As the argument continued through the years following Minneapolis, in 1890 Ellen White wrote to Uriah Smith that he, Dan Jones, and "Brother Porter" were "spending [their] investigative powers for naught to produce a position on the covenants to vary from the position that Brother Waggoner has presented. ... The covenant question is a clear question and would be received by every candid, unprejudiced mind ... You have turned from plain light because you were afraid that the law question in Galatians would have to be accepted." [3]

Ellen White wrote, "In the manifestation of the power that lightens the earth with its glory [referring to Rev. 18:4 under the power of the latter rain], they [the opposers of the 1888 message] will see only something which in their blindness they think dangerous, something which will arouse their fears and they will brace themselves against it. Because the Lord does not work according to their expectations and ideas, they will oppose the work."[4]

Tuesday's lesson discusses our unique sanctuary doctrine. We most assuredly must stand firmly on our distinctive and essential doctrines--the work of our High Priest for His people, and the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary. This is our "essential doctrine" that called us out in 1844, and separates us from all other denominations in the whole world. But when was the last time you heard a sermon on Sabbath morning on any aspect of the sanctuary? [5] There are other people who keep the Sabbath, who long for the coming of Christ in clouds of glory, and who understand the non-immortality of the "soul" of man. But no other people understand the ministry of our High Priest in purifying a "peculiar people" who will defend His character of love before a disintegrating world on the brink of self destruction.

During the same time when God was seeking a people upon whom He could rain down the blessings from heaven, Satan was fast at work creating a counterfeit theory of righteousness so deceptive that it captured the minds of many of God's "elect." This deception was rooted in pantheism, taught by J. H. Kellogg at Battle Creek, and infected some of the "brightest stars" of the church at that time. It was a theory that made the sanctuary unneeded baggage in man's quest for holiness.

"Any man who seeks to present theories which would lead us from the light that has come to us on the ministration in the heavenly sanctuary, should not be accepted as a teacher. A true understanding of the sanctuary question means much to us as a people." [6] These words were written in the context of the pantheism crisis precipitated by the teachings of Kellogg on the nature of God. "If God is an essence pervading all nature, then He dwells in all men; and in order to attain holiness, man has only to develop the power within him." [7]

The crisis that confronted the church at the turn of the last century (the "alpha"), will raise its head again (as the "omega") just before Christ returns. Many people will be confused about our distinctive doctrines, and will be led to abandon the sanctuary truth and all that is part of that truth (e.g., the investigative judgment; cleansing and transformation of our characters before the second coming).

"There is in it [pantheism] the beginning of theories which, carried to their logical conclusion, would destroy faith in the sanctuary question and in the atonement. I do not think that Dr. Kellogg saw this clearly. I do not think that he realized that in laying his new foundation of faith, he was directing his steps toward infidelity." [8]

Pantheism's theory is that all is one and all is god (monism). If all is god, then man is god. This idea was deceptively transformed into "Christ in you," a counterfeit to the Biblical teaching of "Christ in you, the hope of glory ... that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus." (Col. 1:27, 28). If all is god, then all is good, and the concept that sin separates us from God is denied, and salvation "from sin" loses all meaning. We don't need a Saviour if god is "us," as pantheism declares. All a person needs to do is "seek the god"--or "divine spark"--within each of us, by opening the mind through "mindfulness" meditation, controlled breathing, slowly repeating resonant syllables while attempting to obtain a "clear mind," and "focusing on the divine."

However, there is a vast gulf between this "new age" type of hypnotic meditation and the "meditate upon every Word of God" type of "thoughtful hour" we are counseled to do when "contemplating the life of Christ." "It would be well for us to spend a thoughtful hour each day in contemplation of the life of Christ. We should take it point by point, and let the imagination grasp each scene, especially the closing ones. As we thus dwell upon His great sacrifice for us, our confidence in Him will be more constant, our love will be quickened, and we shall be more deeply imbued with His spirit. If we would be saved at last, we must learn the lesson of penitence and humiliation at the foot of the cross." [9]

Notice: The focus is not on us, but on Christ's work of righteousness. Such deep contemplation may and should elicit a response from a broken and contrite heart. Tears may flow, heart rate quicken (rather than slow, as in "new age" meditation), as our mind reflects on the differences between our sinfulness, and the love and righteousness demonstrated by God in Gethsemane and on the cross.

Returning to our discussion on the sanctuary, we find that an essential element to the sanctuary doctrine is Christ, our High Priest, and His ministry in cleansing a people from all sin. The nature which Christ assumed in His incarnation is a necessary aspect of the sanctuary. If Christ was not "touched with the feelings of our infirmities" so that He could be "in all points tempted like as we are" (Heb. 4:15), then He does not qualify as our High Priest. In God's design in the earthly sanctuary, the priest was taken from among the people he was to represent in his work of intercession. The priest had common temptations and inclinations to sin; he "knew what was in man" (see for example John 2:25), and therefore was prepared to present the repentant petitions of fallen men and women before the throne of grace.

When Christ became human, in order to save the human race, He had to assume that which He was not. Even though Jesus took upon Himself the common inclinations and propensities of fallen flesh, never once did He indulge them, and never once did Jesus sin, not even by a thought. Therefore, Paul implores us, "let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus" because with that mind, we too can overcome all sin. [10]

"Now as to Christ's not having 'like passions' with us: In the Scriptures all the way through He islikeus andwithus according to the flesh. He is the seed of David according to the flesh [Rom. 1:3]. He was made in the likeness of sinful flesh [Rom. 8:3]. Don't go too far. He was made in the likeness of sinfulflesh, not in the likeness of sinfulmind.Do not drag His mind into it. His flesh was our flesh, but the mind was 'the mind of Christ Jesus.' Therefore it is written: 'Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.' [Phil. 2:5]. If He had taken our mind, how, then, could we ever have been exhorted to 'let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus?' It would have been so already." [11]

If we would just "let" this mind be in us--stop fighting against the work of Holy Spirit to cleanse us--then Christ could finish His work in the heavenly sanctuary, and come to take His purified people home. The work of purifying a people must begin in the hearts of the people, which is the source of the fountain of sin that flows into the heavenly sanctuary.

"The service in the earthly sanctuary shows also that in order for the sanctuary to be cleansed and the course of the gospel service there to be finished, it must first be finished in the people who have a part in the service. ... The cleansing of the sanctuary, as to the sanctuary itself, was the taking out of and away from the sanctuary all the transgression of the people ... And this stream must be stopped at its fountain in the hearts and lives of the worshipers, before the sanctuary itself could possibly be cleansed. ... The ministry of Christ in the true sanctuary does take away sins forever, does make the comers thereunto perfect, does perfect 'forever them that are sanctified.'" [12]

Overcoming all sin in this present life through the power of Christ's faith alone working in us to "will and to do of His good pleasure," will produce the outworking of His love through us toward others (Phil. 2:12, 13). This is the goal of Christ's ministry in the heavenly sanctuary--the final display of God's power to transform our characters. Then we will be prepared to visibly display His character of love to the lost world. [13] It is this that will develop a united and "peculiar people" of whom He can declare: "Here are they that keep the Commandments of God and the faith of Jesus!" (Rev. 14:12).

--Ann Walper

Endnotes:
[1] See A. G. Daniells, The Abiding Gift of Prophecy, p. 369.
[2] Ellen G. White,Testimonies to Ministers, p. 91; Selected Messages, book 1, p. 259.
[3] The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, p. 604; Letter 59, 1890.
[4] Review and Herald Extra, Dec. 23, 1890.
[5] An excellent source book for studying the sanctuary message isThe Cross and Its Shadow, by S. N. Haskell, who was a delegate to the 1888conference, and one of the few at that time who believed the Jones and Waggoner message.
[6] Ellen G. White, Manuscript 125, 1907, p. 6.
[7] Ellen G. White,The Faith I Live By, p. 40.
[8] Ellen G. White, Letter 33, 1904, par. 4.
[9] Ellen G. White,TheDesire of Ages, p. 83.
[10] See Robert J. Wieland'sThe Good News is Better Than You Think, CFI Book Division ed. (2018), pp. 13, 14, 24, 52, and 53 for a discussion of how we "let" Christ's mind be in us.
[11] A. T. Jones,"The Third Angel's Message No. 17," 1895 General Conference Bulletin, p. 327.
[12] A. T. Jones, The Consecrated Way to Christian Perfection, pp. 120, 121, Glad Tidings ed. (2003).
[13] See Ellen G. White,Christ's Object Lessons, pp. 415, 416.

Notes:
Pastor Paul Penno's video of this lesson is on the Internet at: https://youtu.be/Sdn9GeTx5yk

"Sabbath School Today" is on the Internet at: http://1888message.org/sst.htm

RR

Raul Diaz

https://about.me/raul.diaz

Lesson 7: When Conflicts Arise

Lesson 7: When Conflicts Arise

 

The unity of the church is a precious fruit of "the truth of the gospel." Jesus is the Truth. "The most precious message," which uplifts and honors the sacrifice of Christ, unifies. So-called "gospels" derived from the old covenant--man's power to be saved--divide the church.

The issue of circumcision threatened to split the early church. The rites and ceremonies of the law of Moses as a means of salvation assumed an idol-status in the minds of certain "false brethren" (Gal. 2:4) who came to the Antioch church from Judea (Acts 15:1). They taught "unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved" (Acts 15:1, New King James Version).

"They insisted that the Jewish laws and ceremonies should be incorporated into the rites of the Christian religion. They were slow to discern that all the sacrificial offerings had but prefigured the death of the Son of God, in which type met antitype, and after which the rites and ceremonies of the Mosaic dispensation were no longer binding" [1] They succeeded in gathering to themselves the support of the Jewish Christians in Antioch, creating no small stir.

The Apostle Paul felt obliged to confront this matter head-on for it was an issue over "the truth of the gospel." Is it the power of God's grace that saves sinners; or, is it circumcision that saves, and hence the power of man's obedience to the whole law that saves?

It had been some time since Paul had paid a visit to Jerusalem. The church of Antioch thought it would be a good thing for him to go and discuss this matter with the other apostles and brethren assembled there (Acts 15:2).

Paul's visit to Jerusalem was a divine mandate--"by revelation" (Gal. 2:2). God's purpose for him going was to preserve the unity of the church leadership regarding the gospel. Obviously the "false brethren" were intentionally seeking to unsettle the minds of the apostles and create a division between the churches and an internal conflict among the apostles over the gospel.

Paul's purpose in going was not to see whether his gospel was in harmony with the brethren. He was clear that "the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of JesusChrist" (Gal. 1:11, 12). His purpose in going to Jerusalem was to proclaim the gospel to the apostles in order to preserve the unity of the church. That which creates disunity in the church is "another gospel," which is not really the gospel. Satan knows this and seeks to bring in the principle of the old covenant self-reliance, and self-sufficiency, in every possible way to create dissension and disunity.

The entourage that accompanied Paul to Jerusalem were Barnabas and Titus. Paul brought Titus into the church without circumcision. The significance of this detail is that the apostles in Jerusalem didn't require Titus to be circumcised in order to fellowship with them. This was a confirmation of the unity which prevailed among the apostles.

The "false brethren" conspired to enslave the Gentiles to the yoke of bondage--the old covenant. Peter said: "Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?" (Acts 15:10). "Peter here referred to the law of ceremonies, which was made null and void by the crucifixion of Christ." [2] Whoever induces people to trust in the law for righteousness without Christ simply puts a yoke upon them and fastens them in bondage.

Those who "seemed to be pillars" (Cephas, James, and John) in the church, "perceived," "the grace that was given unto Paul" (Gal. 2:9). They finally relented and humbled their hearts and extended to Paul "the right hands of fellowship" (vs. 9). In effect the apostles said, "Paul, thank God, you are preaching the true gospel. You must go to the Gentiles and we will go to the Jews." Even with this the apostles didn't go far enough.

What the apostles should have said was, "Paul, we want you to go to the Gentiles, but go to the Jews also; and we will go to the Gentiles also." So Peter, James, and John still weren't clear that it was their job to go to the whole world as is indicated by the incident that followed.

At Antioch Peter was accustomed to eating in fellowship with the Gentiles. When he saw a delegation from Jerusalem headquarters sent by James, he got up from eating with the Gentiles. He went to another table and the Jewish Christians followed him. Peter's action was prompted by "fearingthem which were of the circumcision" (Gal. 2:12).

Paul had brought these Gentiles into church fellowship with the knowledge that Christ was their Messiah. Now Peter's actions sent the wrong message to the Gentiles. The Gentiles might be led to think, "We are lost because the Messiah is only for the Jews." Paul was not afraid of these "false brethren." So Paul confronted Peter publicly over the issue "because he was to be blamed" (Gal. 2:11).

Paul "saw that they [Peter and the "false brethren"] walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel" (Gal. 2:14). Peter was sending the message to the Gentiles that in order to be saved they must be circumcised. In other words, believing that Christ is the Messiah is fine. However, the power of man's obedience to the whole law must be added to this in order to be saved. This false gospel had the potential of dividing the church.

The 1888 message brings to the forefront the principles of the two covenants. The old covenant is manifested by many different so-called "gospels," all based on self-sufficiency. "All that the Lord hath spoken wewill do" (Ex. 19:8). God's new covenant promise is the "much more abounding grace" of Christ crucified and resurrected. It is this true gospel that unites the church. The old covenant "gospels" generate bondage to sin and foster disunity.

There is only one "truth of the gospel" that is in harmony with all God's ten commandments and that is the "most precious message" which uplifts and honors the sacrifice of Christ. It is "present truth" in the setting of our cosmic day of at-one-ment-with God. That is, it is God's love revealed in the ever-present cross, that reconciles alienated hearts to Himself by means of Christ's High Priestly ministry. This gets to the taproot of unconscious sin so that the soul identifies with the crucified One. Justification by faith and the cleansing of the sanctuary truth become one grand truth which lightens the earth with God's glorious true character of self-denying agape-love.

--Paul E. Penno

Footnotes:
[1] Ellen G. White, Acts of the Apostles, p. 189.
[2] Ibid., p. 194.

Notes:
Pastor Paul Penno's video of this lesson is on the Internet at: https://youtu.be/2vplR0s1jGQ

"Sabbath School Today" is on the Internet at: http://1888message.org/sst.htm

RR

Raul Diaz

https://about.me/raul.diaz

Lesson 6: Images of Unity

Sabbath School Today
With the 1888 Message Dynamic

Images of Unity
Lesson 6: Images of Unity

 

 "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, coming down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard, coming down upon the edge of his robes. It is like the dew of Hermon, coming down upon the mountains of Zion; for there the Lord commanded the blessing--life forever" (Psalm 133:1-3).

____________________________

The Bible is full of metaphors but none is more important for the church than the 1888 message's concept that we are all "in" Christ. All other metaphors are developed out of that basic concept. To understand this, there are some hints in David's psalm quoted above. He connects unity to the "oil" as the vehicle which connects "brothers." How do we come to understand that we are all brothers and how does that unify us? The answer is in the sacrifice of the cross.

Christ laid aside His divinity ("emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond servant, and being made in the likeness of men," Phil. 2:7). Notice, He did not abandon his divinity, He laid it aside. In other words, He didn't use it to help Him during His earthly ministry. Many find this difficult to believe because He performed miracles and never sinned. Christ came to demonstrate to the world and watching universe that the Holy Spirit can indwell "sinful flesh" so completely, that "our life will be a life of continual obedience" as if "carrying out our own impulses." [1]

Why did Christ have to lay aside His divinity? The Bible teaches that it is unethical for someone to be punished for another's wrong. Ezekiel 18:20 makes it very clear: "The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father's iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son's iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself." Since the first Adam brought the entire human race into sin, the only solution was the eternal (second) death; no human sacrifice could pay this penalty and be resurrected. That required the death of Someone with the poawer to resurrect, but Divinity cannot die.

To resolve this dilemma, Hebrews 10:5 says, "Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says, 'Sacrifice and offering Thou hast not desired, but a body Thou hast prepared for Me" In order for God to save us through Christ He had to qualify Christ to be our Savior. God did this by combining the divine life of His Son with the human Adamic life and uniting the two in the womb of Mary. Corporately, the entire race, out of all the created beings in the universe, was united with Divinity. We did not deserve this, but our magnificent and gracious God made this supreme sacrifice.

"None but the Son of God could accomplish our redemption; for only He who was in the bosom of the Father could declare Him. Only He who knew the height and depth of the love of God could make it manifest. Nothing less than the infinite sacrifice made by Christ in behalf of fallen man could express the Father's love to lost humanity." [2]

"By His life and His death, Christ has achieved even more than recovery from the ruin wrought through sin. It was Satan's purpose to bring about an eternal separation between God and man; but in Christ we become more closely united to God than if we had never fallen. In taking our nature, the Saviour has bound Himself to humanity by a tie that is never to be broken. Through the eternal ages He is linked with us." [3]

The angel told Mary that Jesus' conception would be accomplished by the Holy Spirit which "will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy offspring shall be called the Son of God" (Luke 1:35). Mary's pregnancy was not initiated by an ordinary man, but by the Holy Spirit. Thus, humanity and divinity were combined her womb.

"If He were not of the same flesh as are those whom He came to redeem, then there is no sort of use of His being made flesh at all. More than this: Since the only flesh that there is in this wide world which He came to redeem, is just the poor, sinful, lost, human flesh that all mankind have; if this is not the flesh that He was made, then He never really came tothe world which needs to be redeemed. [4]

When Jesus told Nicodemus we must be born again, He meant born of the Spirit, just as the Spirit caused His conception in the womb of Mary. David must have recognized something of this mechanism when he could think of nothing to compare his joy to except the anointing oil which inaugurated Aaron's high priestly imagery. That oil was given so lavishly that it fell onto his beard and cloths, all the way to the hem of his garment. Again, the imagery was echoed when Mary Magdalene found there was so much of her gift of oil that she had to use her hair to catch the excess.

The imagery is continued at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the earth to facilitate Christ's high priestly ministry, which He began at His ascension. The imagery parallels the lavish oil of Aaron, which resulted in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit so that the believers at Pentecost were anointed with the oil which anointed Jesus in heaven.

The result of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, if accepted in the heart of the believer results in the washing of regeneration. David saw this when his mind went to the "dew of Hermon" which washed Zion.

Imagery and metaphor are wonderful vehicles to help us understand the plan of salvation. David's Psalm 133 describes that only the oil of the Holy Spirit and the washing of regeneration can accomplish unity among believers. By accepting our position in Christ, we realize we stand equally with all believers. Whatever degree of unity is necessary to protect the church will flow naturally from that.

--Arlene Hill

Footnotes:
[1] Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 668.
[2] Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, p. 14.
[3] The Desire of Ages, p. 25.
[4] A. T. Jones, The Consecrated Way to Christian Perfection, p. 41; Glad Tidings ed. (2003).

Notes:
Bible verses are from the New American Standard Bible.

Pastor Paul Penno's video of this lesson is on the Internet at: https://youtu.be/l4z5gBLfAi8

"Sabbath School Today" is on the Internet at: http://1888message.org/sst.htm

RR

Raul Diaz

https://about.me/raul.diaz

Lesson 5: The Experience of Unity in the Early Church

Sabbath School Today

With the 1888 Message Dynamic

Oneness in Christ

Lesson 5: The Experience of Unity in the Early Church

 

During this quarter, millions of Christians around the world are giving special study to unity within the church. We're studying what the Bible speaks of as unity within the church. Christ prayed for it (John 17:20, 21). Paul said that Christ's agapewill produce it (Eph. 4:13-16). The very doctrine of God demands it (vss. 2-6). But we have to face reality: churches often have disagreements and divisions, even within one denomination and even within one church body.

In a church that has for 150 years stood for creation in 6 days, a literal reading of Genesis 1, 2, etc., there are now powerful voices advocating evolution. And there are divisions about women's ordination, about music in church worship services, etc. And for many, "the blessed hope" of the soon second coming of Christ is receding into the background, and a materialistic earthly millennium is taking its place.

Why does disunion seem to flourish so? And how can the church enlighten the earth with glory if it is in a divided state? And what can bring the true unity Christ prayed for? There is a solution.

If God is real and if His Bible is true, it follows that God has a solution for the problem of disunity.

God will bring His people into unity. That which to doubters today seems impossible, the Holy Spirit will accomplish.

He brought the disunited eleven apostles into unity before the Day of Pentecost. They were "with one accord in one place" (Acts 2:1). That was "the former rain," and the "latter rain" is promised to be even greater.

God cannot use force to accomplish it. For Him to burn down the churches or strike them with lightning, wouldn't solve the root problem.

Ephesians tells us the solution: for those "tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine," is the message of agape(4:14, 15). Such a message is the objective gospel, the message of what Christ accomplished, the pure biblical truth of justification by faith.

Christ has promised solemnly that if He is lifted up on His cross, that is, if His agapeis clearly proclaimed, He "will draw all men unto [Himself]," and that of course is perfect unity (John 12:32). Let the leadership of a church that is being fragmented receive that most precious message of Christ's righteousness; the miracle of unity will be as certain as day follows night.

"Pentecost" is a big word to Christian people. It came 50 days after Christ's resurrection. The disciples met together to pray and study for 10 days previous, so that by the time that the Day of Pentecost arrived, they were finally in total harmony and unity, "in one accord" (Acts 2:1). May the Lord hasten the day when His modern "apostles" will finally be in "one accord" in their understanding of the truth of the gospel!

A great blessing came on that day. The true and genuine "gift of tongues" was manifest so that everyone from all parts of the world who were gathered in Jerusalem heard the glad tidings in his own language so he could clearly understand it. The Holy Spirit was given in a fullness that has never since been equaled.

What was it about the message of Pentecost that had such tremendous power that 3000 were converted, truly converted, in a day?

Was it something that even Paul did not as clearly articulate? Ellen G. White has said, "Great truths that have lain unheeded and unseen since the day of Pentecost, are to shine from God's word in their native purity" (Fundamentals of Christian Education, p. 473; 1897).

Is there a "great truth" that shone clearly on the Day of Pentecost that even the apostle Paul did not preach? Yes, there is one: Speaking to that great crowd of thousands of people from many nations and languages, Peter boldly declared that theyhad crucified the Son of God: "Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:36). A few days later he told them, "Ye denied the Holy One and the Just, ... and killed the Prince of life" (Acts 3:14, 15). Nothing in Paul's epistles is quite so strong, so directly confrontational!

What happened on the day of Pentecost? A repentance deeper than has ever been known. The murder of the Son of God is the greatest sin ever committed; repentance for that sin is the greatest a human heart can ever know. Do you think it might be possible that Peter's sermon applies to us today?

--Paul E. Penno

Notes:
Pastor Paul Penno's video of this lesson is on the Internet at: https://youtu.be/wA2bML8eDKU

"Sabbath School Today" is on the Internet at: http://1888message.org/sst.htm

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