Lesson 13: Final Restoration of Unity

Lesson 13: Final Restoration of Unity

 

Think of it!--the resplendent KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS coming in the clouds of heaven, surprising His enemies in the very act! He will come to rescue those who are loyal to Him. Then the moment of truth will have come for all earth's inhabitants.

The Book of Revelation pictures that final scene: "These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for He is Lord of lords and King of kings" (Rev. 17:14).

"I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse; and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He doth judge and makes war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns; and He had a name written, that no one knew, but He Himself. He was clothed with a [robe] dipped in blood; and His name is called The Word of God. ... Out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron" (Rev. 19:11-15).

For centuries, millions have endured--and continue to endure --wars, plagues, crime, grinding poverty, and unending fear. No one can say that God has brought this awful load of suffering on the world--man has done this!

Should not God be "democratic" and allow this planet to go on living in rebellion against His government and His universe? There is a ready answer. He has already done so--He still waits since the fall of man in Eden, hoping for repentance and reconciliation. He cannot and has never abandoned any "remnant" of His people who appreciate His character of love and respond accordingly. They are the ones who rightfully "inherit the earth" (Matt. 5:5).

But now in this present day, God looks down upon the earth and sees as plainly as we do that man has nearly ruined this habitat. It is evident that selfishness and sin make human life almost intolerable in many nations on earth.

The Lord tries again and again to save us. He is pleading in the most sublime, compassionate language, saying to every human soul, "'As I live,' saith the Lord God, 'I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways! For why will ye die?'" (Eze. 33:11). Love could not be more eloquent, or more persistent.

How will the lost feel when at last they actually see the face of Him whom they have persistently resisted and rejected? For those who have urged and supported the mark of the beast, just to look in His eyes will itself be torment "with fire and brimstone" (Rev. 14:9-11). The original language expresses the idea of their beholding in a flash the awful reality of their having rejected the One who suffered hell in order to save them. They can't stand it. The horror of their final realization of guilt tortures every cell of their souls.

The Lord never intended that the sight of His loving face should do that to anyone. While it is true that "our God is a consuming fire" (Heb. 12:29), it is only to sin that the revelation of His love is so destructive. If a human being persistently clings to any sin as a vine clings to a tree, the physical sight of Him who is love incarnate must also be instant destruction.

But Jesus promises that "the pure in heart ... shall see God" (Matt. 5:8). They "shall dwell with the devouring fire, ... with everlasting burnings" (Isa. 33:14). As Christ walked in Nebuchadnezzar's fiery furnace with the three Hebrew youth who believed Him, so He will save those physically who have already permitted Him as Saviour to save them spiritually from sin.

The enemy will capitulate. Even Satan himself at the end of history will openly, publically confess before the inhabitants of earth, and the intensely interested universe, his hopeless rebellion, and welcome the destruction that will mean that the great controversy is finally over: "And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, 'Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and ever!'" (Rev. 5:13).

The second coming of Christ is not the end of happiness or of our delight in the flora and fauna of earth, but the beginning of a renewal of life without pain and death, both for man and for the planet: "Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create. ... The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, ... They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain," saith the LORD (Isa. 65:17-25).

In the final judgment every human being will see that God could not have been more fair, more patient, more compassionate than He has been: "God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. ... And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light" (John 3:16-19).

Rightly understood, the world has never heard any better good news than the glorious second coming of Christ: "The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say 'No' to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope--the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who 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, New International Version).

What a bargain for "all men"! This godly grace has already come to you. The hardest thing we have to do is to say "No" to sinful temptation, but this grace actually teaches us to say it.

Believe the powerful good news, and immediately the second coming becomes your "blessed hope." "It … will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay" (Hab. 2:3, NIV). At any time when He comes, the waiting will seem to have been short!

Worldwide, "the grace of God" is working night and day "to purify for Himself a people that are His very own." The nightly TV anchors may not tell us about this, but it is the most important news in the world, and it is good.

--Paul E. Penno

Notes:
Pastor Paul Penno's video of this lesson is on the Internet at: https://youtu.be/ixPN3qnPZZk

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

RR

Raul Diaz

https://about.me/raul.diaz

Lesson 12: Church Organization and Unity

Sabbath School Today
With the 1888 Message Dynamic

Oneness in Christ
Lesson 12: Church Organization and Unity

 

The only times we read that Jesus mentioned His "church" were twice--Matthew 16:18 and 18:17. He used the word ecclesia, which means "called out," a people designated and separated from the world, defined and denominated in a form that the world could recognize as an entity.

The apostles called ancient Israel a "church in the wilderness" (Acts 7:38), and we read that Israel was a visible organization that the world could see as God's denominated people.

Paul thought of a beautiful illustration of what the church is--it's a "body." "Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular ... in the church" (1 Cor. 12:12-28). In his brilliant depiction of the relationship of the church and its members to Christ, Paul considers the church to be the "body of Christ" which "is not one member, but many" (vss. 27, 14). "As the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ" (vs. 12). "By one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, ... The body is not one member, but many" (vss. 13, 14). Paul describes the corporate unityof the church.

There is no English adjective that can be used to describe this relationship of the body to the head, or of the various members of the body to each other. Hence it is necessary to employ a Latin derivative as an adjective to describe this "body" relationship: corporate. (The word comes from the Latin corpus, meaning "body.") For example, "all the members of that one body, being many, are one body" (vs. 12). They bear a corporate relationshipone to another.

In Revelation 12 we see the history of the true church and the identification of the "remnant" church. Through the ages she is symbolized as a "woman." After the horrors of 1260 years of papal persecution, she emerges as from a tunnel, now identified as "the remnant": "And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ" (vs. 17).

With the end of the Dark Ages, inventions began pouring out of fertile minds. The horror of slavery began to be abolished; the little nation of ex-British colonies began to prosper in the New World; Christian people awakened as from a long sleep--the second coming of Christ was near. The world had embarked on what the Bible describes as "the time of the end." A preparation for the return of Jesus Christ became to intelligent people a reasonable "blessed hope." Through unmistakably divine leading, the message began to go worldwide.

Hearts responded and capable people did things. Clearly blessed by the Holy Spirit, a message joining together the gospel of Jesus with the ideals of healthful living worked wonders in tired, sickly people; the world's finest health institution (for then) was established in Battle Creek, Michigan, where even European royalty crossed the Atlantic to come. There the "West's" finest Christian publishing house was established. What the apostles after Pentecost longed for seemed to be on the verge. A solemn but joyous sense that the world had entered into the cosmic Day of Atonement gripped hearts worldwide. The "blessed hope" of the imminent return of Christ made life here below a taste of heaven.

For a century and a half that church has been identified by divine inspiration as the Seventh-day Adventist denomination, which had its roots in the Great Disappointment of 1844 and the reformations that followed in succeeding decades until its formal organization in 1863. Throughout the years of Ellen White's long lifetime, she constantly identified the Seventh-day Adventist Church as that "remnant." Yet even in her day there were unfaithful leaders and pastors who taught error and even apostasy, whom she rebuked, corrected, and sometimes even denounced.

Then it was discovered that Christ's message to the seventh church of history had become applicable: the church was "Laodicea," the one whose worldly lukewarmness made the Lord so nauseous that He felt like throwing up (Rev. 3:14-21). Now a battle rages in people's minds and hearts: is that last organization into a "body of Christ" doomed to eventual failure? Or is a corporate repentance possible (and sure)? Can the dream be recovered?

The 1888 General Conference brings us to our modern times; we learn that our own brethren virtually "rejected Christ" and "insulted" [1] the Holy Spirit in negative reactions against the message that was the "beginning" of the latter rain. This also occurred before any of us were born; but it is not enough to write off this history as past and not realize how we would do the same if we had the "opportunity" unless we specifically repent of that sin.

The Lord Himself, not an official committee nor an independent ministry, will "shake" this church, cleanse and purify it. But He has to have human agents with whom to work. The reason why the final events have not yet taken place may well be that those who do "sigh and cry" are doing so negatively instead of positively. To "sigh and cry" does not mean to wring one's hands in despair; it means to do something to help. Of ourselves we are powerless to stem the rising tide of evil, but we can seek to save every soul that our sphere of influence may touch.

All believers in Christ need the discipline of fellowship with a larger number of brethren and sisters whose association can be used by the Holy Spirit for the maturing of their Christian experience. (The Lord sees that one way we must learn to "gather warmth" is from "the coldness of others." [2]).

May we plead with the Lord, in this time of the cleansing of the sanctuary, to grant us the precious gift of corporate repentance--the discernment to see how the sins of others would be our sins but for the grace of a Saviour, to discern how they could be our sins if we were subjected to the same pressures and temptations they have had to meet. We need Christ's righteousness 100 percent, not less. When He has a people who can so humble their hearts before heaven, He can begin to work. 

The bottom-line issue is denominational repentance. The "bride" of Christ is repeatedly declared to be His church. She has indeed been unfaithful to her true Lover, but she can repent. Many in leadership have maintained for decades that "we" do not need such repentance; other despairing people have maintained that denominational repentance is needed but is impossible. But Christ calls for it; His vindication requiresit; our history demonstrates the need for it; and prophecyassuresit.

Does it seem impossible that a spirit of contrition shall be poured out on a leadership congested by organizational complexity? The more involved the church becomes with its multitudinous entities, the greater is the danger of its huge collective self choking the simple, direct promptings of the Holy Spirit. Each individual catching a vision is tempted to feel that his hands are tied--what can he do? The great organizational monolith, permeated with formalism and lukewarmness, seems to move only at a snail's pace. Aside from this "Spirit of grace and supplication," the nearer we come to the end of time and the bigger the church becomes, the more complex and congested is its movement, and the more remote appears the prospect of repentance.

But let us not overlook what the Bible says. We need to remember that long before we developed our intricate systems of church organization, the Lord created infinitely more complex systems of organization, and yet "the spirit ... was in the wheels" (Ezek. 1:20). Our problem is not the complexity of organization; it is the collective love of self. And the message of the cross can take care of that!

--From the Writings of Robert J. Wieland

Endnotes:
[1] Examples of Ellen White's use of these expressions are: Counsels to Writers and Editors, p. 30; Through Crisis to Victory, pp. 279, 280, 290, 301; Special Testimonies to the Review and Herald Office, pp. 16, 17; Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, pp. 96, 97, 294; Fundamentals of Christian Education, p. 472; MS 24, 1890.
[2] Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, p. 136.

Notes:
Pastor Paul Penno's video of this lesson is on the Internet at: https://youtu.be/HDHtBxc4VkY

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

RR

Raul Diaz

https://about.me/raul.diaz

Lesson 10: Unity and Broken Relationships

Sabbath School Today

With the 1888 Message Dynamic

Oneness in Christ

Lesson 10: Unity and Broken Relationships

 

When we appreciate what it took for the Father and Jesus to forgive us sinners, then we will find it in our hearts to forgive others their sins toward us.

The "good news" that salvation in Christ is not a mere provision, but a fact; that Christ is not merely offeredto every man, but givento every man; that the Lord loves us so much that we cannot be lost unless we resist the Holy Spirit; that it is easy to be saved and hard to be lost, in view of this great salvation; that when Christ died on the cross, He actually did something for "every man"; that it is God who takes the initiative in effecting our salvation, and that it is impossible to be lost unless we take the initiative in resisting and rejecting what He has effected for us; and that justification by God's free grace is effected for "all," God in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, "all men" owe even their physical life to Christ's sacrifice and by His stripes they are healed.

This all sounds like "good news" to me. But the world does not know or understand it because no one is telling it to them, or at least very few are; and those in the remnant church who should understand it and proclaim it powerfully and effectively are themselves confused by conflicting concepts of justification by faith. Here are several Scripture passages which support the 1888 view:

"We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:1, 2). "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins" (1 John 4:10). Truly this "propitiation" applies to "all men." It is more than a mere "provision," for "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." [1] "Our Saviour Jesus Christ ... hath brought lifeand immortality to light through the gospel" (2 Tim. 1:10).

The "propitiation" therefore is already effective for "all," "saint or sinner." "All men" live because of it. It is the basis for justification. Only because of the "propitiation" is it possible for God to overlook "the sins of the whole world" and send His "rain on the just and on the unjust", and open His hand, to satisfy "the desire of every living thing" (Matt. 5:45; Psalm 145:16).

Christ "is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:2). The text does not say that provisionally, possibly, maybe, perhaps, Christ will be the propitiation for the sins of the whole world if and when and not until the sinner "accepts." Christ already is that propitiation. This grand "provision" of the cross is "set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood" (Rom. 3:25). When the "propitiation" is "set forth" to the sinner and he believes it, then he experiences justification by faith.

"When we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly,... God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. ... When we were enemies, we were reconciledto God by the death of His Son" (Rom. 5:6-10).

The death of Christ made effective a lawful justification applicable to all men. Legally, "all men" were justified, because He died for "all" (2 Cor. 5:14, 15). He satisfied the demands of the law for sinners. And He died for them "while we were yet sinners" (Rom. 5:8). "When" we were still "enemies, we were reconciled ..." (Rom. 5:10).

That sounds like a blatant contradiction, doesn't it? How can you be "reconciled" while you are still in enmity? The answer is: we were justified legallyby a sacrifice made for "all men" (Rom. 5:18), and the reconciliation is included.

But think about it, legal justification and "receiving the atonement" are two different things. We receivethe atonement [reconciliation] only when we believe. "We have now received the atonement [reconciliation]," Paul says in Romans 5:11,when we are "justified by faith" (verse 1). To confuse legal justification with justification by faith will not help us finish the work in this generation; it will set our clock back to the 16thcentury, and lead to antinomianism. Instead of completing the Reformation begun by Luther and Calvin, such confusion will only retard its progress.

"Therefore as by the offence of one [Adam] judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of Onethe free giftcame upon all men unto justification of life" (Rom. 5:18).

Again we have what appears to be a contradiction! How can Paul contrast the "judgment" which came by Adam upon "all men to condemnation" with the "free gift ... unto justification" coming likewise"upon all men"? The vast majority of "all men" certainly do not exhibit any of the fruits of "justification by faith"!

The answer to this apparent contradiction is simply to say that that is true--"all men" do notexhibit the fruits of justification by faith because they have not been justified by faith. They have only been justified legally;and the simple fact that they live is evidence of that legal justification. "All men" would not be able to draw even one breath if that forensic justification were not effective for them. The very fact they live is proof that Christ died for them, and is the "propitiation" for their sins.

Here is where the "gospel" comes in. We are commissioned by the Lord to "go into all the world" and tell "all men" that they have been justified. We are to bear "good news." God has no chip on His shoulder against them. He is not imputing their trespasses unto them. The propitiation is already a fact, not a mere provision. And when some believe, that moment they are "justified by faith."

"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 ..." (2 Cor. 5:14, 15).

All wouldbe dead if He had not "died for all." The grave is what we deserve. The very fact "all" live is evidence that a forensic justification has been effective for them in that "our Saviour Jesus Christ ... hath brought life... to light through the gospel" (2 Tim. 1:10). "Life" has thus been provided for "all men" who deserve only death. More than this, those who appreciatethe "Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world" (John 1:9), those who "believe," for themChrist Jesus also "hath brought immortalityto light through the gospel" (2 Tim. 1:10).

"God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them" (2 Cor. 5:19).

Clearly, God does not "impute" any man's trespasses unto him until he rejects Christ. Therefore, the only sin for which anyone will be condemned in the Judgment is the sin of unbelief, that is, the sin of not appreciating the sacrificewhich effected a legal justification for all. [2] When Christ died, He did something for every man, woman, and child in the world. He was "the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world" (John 1:9). This "Light" is not a mere provision--it is effective. "In Him was life; and the life was the light of men" (verse 4). No one, saint or sinner, ever knows a moment of joy, ever smiles, but by virtue of the sacrifice of Christ. This is "news" the world needs to hear; and for those who believe it, it is "goodnews."

"For all alike have sinned, and are deprived of the divine splendor, and all are justified by God's free grace alone, through His act of liberation in the person of Christ Jesus" (Rom. 3:23, 24, New English Bible).

This "all" means what it says, for it harmonizes with the other passages. The New English Biblecorrectly translates the Greek "justified," which is a present participle with the word "all" as its proper subject. Since God's grace is "free," it must be equally manifested to "all." If it is a mere provision subject to certain conditions it cannot be described as "free." But this "justification by God's free grace alone" obviously must be forensic, for "all men" do not believe it and receive it.

Paul continues in verses 25-28 to discuss justification, proceeding from the forensic justification effected for "all" to the experiential justification which brings "remission of sins" "throughfaithin His blood." And because faith is counted for righteousness, God can "be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus." This involves a change of heart! Justification by faithis not merely forensic, a judicial "declaring" millions of light-years away. It includes remissionof sins! "Remission" is not a mere entry in a legal record, without relation to the heart of the sinner. "Remission" is the actual taking away of the sin, accomplished in justification by faith.

--Paul E. Penno

Endnotes:
[1] Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 660.
[2] Cf. ibid., p. 58.

Notes:
Pastor Paul Penno's video of this lesson is on the Internet at: https://youtu.be/TU6qd2gdFGQ

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

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