Thursday, December 26, 2019

Lesson 13: Leaders in Israel

Sabbath School Today
With the 1888 Message Dynamic

Ezra and Nehemiah
Lesson 13: Leaders in Israel

 

The biblical narrative is faithfully realistic and reports successes and failures. It records disappointments and shortcomings, putting leaders on alert and cautioning them against making the same mistakes that God's people made in the past. The successes and defeats of reforms are part of the biblical story. In the end, Ezra and Nehemiah are not heroes and models for long-term successful leadership. Though Ezra and Nehemiah were great leaders, the people were not great followers and hesitated to let God change their hearts and be their strength. Hence the short-lived reforms. Permanent reforms are possible only when humans continue to collaborate with the grace and power of God. This raises the issue of the role leadership played in our 1888 history.

Official correspondence in the Battle Creek archival files corroborates Ellen White's and A. T. Jones' testimony regarding the negative attitude of the most responsible leaders in Battle Creek toward the 1888 message. A. T. Jones said that "there was a secret antagonism always carried on." [1]

The letters of the General Conference Secretary, Dan T. Jones, illustrate how this attitude functioned. Although he was deeply prejudiced against the 1888 message and the messengers, a few weeks after Minneapolis the Holy Spirit impressed him with clear evidence that A. T. Jones was a true messenger of God.

It is phenomenal how good leaders could harden their hearts against what they clearly saw to be "credentials" of the Holy Spirit. We need to understand how this happened, for we today are in grave danger of repeating their history.

Dan Jones let his heart become hardened against the 1888 messengers, while during this same period Ellen White's attitude toward them became increasingly supportive. Here we see a mysterious ferment of the human spirit. As a responsible administrative officer, Dan Jones wrote to the leadership of the Missouri Conference, his home area. He communicated his mistaken judgment. There was an under-the-table kind of influence operating, the "secret antagonism" A. T. Jones spoke of:

"I think an Institute in Missouri would be a splendid thing; but I believe an institute on a quiet plan will be just as valuable to you as to make a great parade of it and get in ... Elder A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner. To tell you the truth, I do not have very much confidence in some of their ways of presenting things." [2]

The 1888 messengers probably never knew why their ministry was not welcome in Missouri.

Dan Jones' informative letters to G. I. Butler regarding developments at Battle Creek revealed the "antagonism" operating. He encouraged Butler in his opposition to the message:

"I have often thought of what you said to me last winter that the California fellows [Jones and Waggoner] would be on the editorial staff of the Review in less than two years. I should not be at all surprised if an attempt in that direction was made inside of that many months. But I feel sure that it would meet with very strong opposition." [3]

The "strong opposition" he anticipated erupted like a volcano within his own soul during the following winter of 1890. Waggoner one day announced in his Bible class that on the next Monday morning he would discuss the two covenants. He had been officially invited, even urged, to leave his work in California and teach in Battle Creek.

But when Dan Jones heard the news about the two covenants, he could not contain himself. He immediately took steps to stop Waggoner, appealing to Uriah Smith and even to Ellen White for support.

Jones and Waggoner were not welcomeat the Battle Creek headquarters. The tension was so sharp that it is easy to understand how Waggoner found himself sent to Britain in early 1892.

Uriah Smith's opposition to the 1888 message was logical, scholarly, and apparently reasonable. He wrote Ellen White on February 17, 1890 explaining why he could not receive it.

"As it looks to me, next to the death of Brother White, the greatest calamity that ever befell our cause was when Dr. Waggoner put his articles on the book of Galatians through the Signs. ..." [4]

Could it be that there are many "Uriah Smiths" in the church today, just as sincere and reasonable in their heart opposition to the light that in God's providence must yet lighten the earth with glory?

A deep heart enmity against the humbling message of Christ's righteousness made it possible for good brethren long ago to credit ill-founded rumors and distorted reports. Ellen White often compared the situation with the Jews opposing Christ.

It's too late now for our brethren of a century ago to dig deep enough into their souls to repent of rejecting the most significant outpouring of the Holy Spirit since Pentecost.

Thank God, it's not yet too late for us to do so, for we can easily see ourselves in them. With that we say goodbye to Ezra and Nehemiah for this quarter and welcome in the New Year with a study of the Book of Daniel.

--Paul E. Penno

Endnotes:
[1] Letter to C. E. Holmes, May 12, 1921.
[2] Letter to N. W. Alee, January 23, 1890.
[3] Letter, August 28, 1889.
[4] Letter of Uriah Smith, February 17, 1890.

Notes:
Pastor Paul Penno's video of this lesson is on the Internet at: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iR-bU-meHxo

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


Thursday, December 19, 2019

Lesson 12: Dealing With Bad Decisions

Sabbath School Today
With the 1888 Message Dynamic

Ezra and Nehemiah
Lesson 12: Dealing With Bad Decisions

 

As we read through the sad narrative of the Jews' abandonment of God's plans for the reestablishment of His temple and its services in order to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah, we find parallels to our situation in the condition of today's church.

In Ezra and Nehemiah's day it was the leadership of the church--the priests and Levites--who were disregarding God's strict prohibition of mixing paganism and the truth. The sure result of such commingling was spiritual decline and apostasy. "These unlawful alliances caused great confusion; for some who entered into them were persons in high position, rulers of the people and men connected with the service of God, to whom, in the absence of Nehemiah, the people had a right to look for counsel and correct example. God had carefully excluded the heathen from uniting with his faithful worshipers; but the divinely erected barriers had been broken down, and as a consequence of mingling and intermarrying with other nations, the Israel of God were fast losing their peculiar, holy character." [1]

Through their disregard of God's command concerning paganism, the leadership of the church gave an uncertain sound to the message God intended them to preach to the world, and it caused the laypeople to become confused and lackadaisical in their spiritual life. They were the Laodiceans of the fifth century B.C., content to build their houses and farm their lands without much interest in what was going on in Jerusalem. In our efforts to accommodate the world's ideas and methods we are losing our distinctive Adventist character and message. We should not be afraid to being a "peculiar people"--that's precisely what God has called us to be! (1 Peter 2:9, 10). God promised us that if we will follow Him, He will make us "kings and priests unto God and His Father" (Rev. 1:6; 5:10).

By seeking to be like the world, adopting the world's methods in evangelism, worship, and church organization, we are "breaking down divinely erected barriers," and laying ourselves wide open to spiritual decline. 

In 1888 God sent a message that was intended by Him to develop a remnant people who would proclaim the earth-shattering message of Christ and His righteousness that would prepare the world for the second coming of His Son. Instead of heeding that message, there was a great resistance to the truth, especially among the leadership of the church. [2] A debate was opened at that time concerning the fundamental elements of righteousness by faith, which is the fulfillment of God's everlasting covenant. That debate has continued and over the last thirty-five years, strengthened as resistance to the message of overcoming sin through the power of the Holy Spirit, intensifies among the leadership of our church.

"The position taken at Minneapolis was apparently an insurmountable barrier which in a great degree shut them in with doubters, questioners, with the rejecters of truth and the power of God. When another crisis comes, those who have so long resisted evidence piled upon evidence will again be tested upon the points where they failed so manifestly, and it will be hard for them to receive that which is from God and refuse that which is from the powers of darkness." [3] Note: at Minneapolis in 1888 there were "rejecters of truth and [rejecters] of the power of God." Because our church continues to resist the truth and power, when crisis comes "those who so long [have] resisted evidence piled upon evidence" will find it hard to "refuse that which is from the powers of darkness."

Could this be the underlying reason that we now are finding pagan influences creeping through many cracks in the wall and into the church? We have resisted truth and God's power for so long that the elements of darkness are not discerned as the dangers that they really are to the spiritual condition of God's remnant people.

A "shaking" is coming and its work will be a terrible ordeal. "The church may appear as about to fall, but it does not fall. It remains, while the sinners in Zion will be sifted out--the chaff separated from the precious wheat. This is a terrible ordeal, but nevertheless it must take place." [4]

"I asked the meaning of the shaking I had seen and was shown that it would be caused by the straight testimony called forth by the counsel of the True Witness to the Laodiceans. This will have its effect upon the heart of the receiver, and will lead him to exalt the standard and pour forth the straight truth. Some will not bear this straight testimony. They will rise up against it, and this is what will cause a shaking among God's people. I saw that the testimony of the True Witness has not been half heeded. The solemn testimony upon which the destiny of the church hangs has been lightly esteemed, if not entirely disregarded. This testimony must work deep repentance; all who truly receive it will obey it and be purified." [5]

"Deep repentance." For some in the church, repentance is irrelevant and needs to be downplayed. After all, we are the chosen people of God, His remnant and the "apple of His eye." But the True Witness tells us otherwise. We are "wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked" and we don't know it.

In Ezra's day, he called the people of the church together in Jerusalem to join with him in his corporate repentance, and putting away spiritual confusion. He prayed and fasted and pleaded with God because of the sins of the leadership of the church in marrying strange women (spiritual infidelity). Then he called everyone to join with him in corporate repentance. Those who would not join with him were to be "separated from the congregation"; they were to be "shaken out" (Ezra 10:8).

Some willingly left God's congregation. "Many who had married idolaters chose to go with them into exile; and, with those who had been expelled from the congregation, they joined the Samaritans, a heathen people who had combined with their idolatrous worship many of the customs of the Jews. Hither some who had occupied high positions in the work of God now found their way, and after a time they cast in their lot fully with them." [6]

"The time is not far distant, when the test will come to every soul. … In this time, the gold will be separated from the dross in the church. True godliness will be clearly distinguished from the appearance and tinsel of it. Many a star that we have admired for its brilliancy, will then go out in darkness. Chaff like a cloud will be borne away on the wind, even from places where we see only floors of rich wheat. All who assume the ornaments of the sanctuary, but are not clothed with Christ's righteousness, will appear in the shame of their own nakedness." [7]

We see men and women in high and important stations at universities, and in conference level leadership positions, lauded pastors in large and influential churches, and we admire these people because of their scholarly attainments and powers of speech and pen. But if their message is not in accordance with the message "that God commanded to be given to the world." [8] they will soon be blown away in the winds of strife. "When I see men exalted and praised, extolled as almost infallible, I know that there must come a terrible shaking." [9]

What does corporate repentance really mean? It is not a committee action. It is not a gathering together of the leadership of the church and then their making a "corporate confession" and taking a committee vote on the action. That would be only a superficial work that had little effect in remedying the problem that stands between God and His people. "The word 'corporate' has nothing to do with the organization of the hierarchy. Repentance is a gift of the Holy Spirit, not a constituency vote. The work of repentance is always individual and personal. … Corporate repentance is personally repenting of the sins of others as though they were our own, feeling the pain and guilt of other members of the body, which we realize would be ours but for the grace of Christ." [10]

One of the last connecting links and personal witnesses to the 1888 Minneapolis conference died more than 65 years ago. J. S. Washburn was interviewed by Robert J. Wieland in 1950 for the purpose of establishing what actually took place at that General Conference Session. Elder Washburn confirmed that the crisis concerned the matter of righteousness by faith and the rejection of the message of A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner.

You and I were not in attendance at that fateful experience in Minneapolis in 1888, but as we continue to resist the work of the Holy Spirit in bringing repentance and reformation, we are corporately guilty of the same sin.

It is past time for the debate to come to an end concerning the message of righteousness by faith that has disturbed God's church for 131 years. It is past time for God's remnant people to get off the fence and fall on our faces in "deep repentance" for rejecting the only message that will save us from our sin and prepare a people for translation at the second coming of Christ.

--Ann Walper

Endnotes:
[1] 
Ellen G. White, Southern Watchman, July 5, 1904; compiled as Lessons From the Life of Nehemiah, p. 55.
[2] See Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, book 1, pp. 234, 235.
[3] Ellen G. White, Manuscript Releases, vol. 14, p. 110, January 9, 1891.
[4] Selected Messages, book, 2, p. 380, 1886.
[5] Ellen G. White, Early Writings, p. 270.
[6] Southern Watchman, July 5, 1904; compiled as Lessons From the Life of Nehemiah, p. 56.
[7] Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, pp. 80, 81.
[8] See Ellen G. White, Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, pp. 91, 92.
[9] Ellen G. White, Manuscript Release 15, 1886.
[10] Robert J. Wieland, Lightened with His Glory, p. 121.

Notes:
Pastor Paul Penno's video of this lesson is on the Internet at: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyI9T4iir9k

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


Thursday, December 12, 2019

Lesson 11: Backslidden People

Sabbath School Today
With the 1888 Message Dynamic

Ezra and Nehemiah
Lesson 11: Backslidden People

 

Nehemiah, after serving in Jerusalem for twelve years (Nehemiah 5:14), returned to Babylon to again serve King Artaxerxes (13:6). After several years, Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem and discovered that the main things to which he had made the leaders swear were not being followed (10:30-39; 13:6-11). They had failed in three areas of life and practice: (1) the support of the priests, Levites, singers, and gatekeepers and the services in the house of God through tithe and offerings (13:5, 10-14, 30, 31); (2) the observance of the Sabbath commandment (13:15-22); and (3) intermarriage with non-Israelites (13:23-29). These issues of backsliding raises the matter of the Lord's mind toward the Seventh-day Adventist Church in its lukewarm condition.

An important truth that will help us understand the mind of Christ toward the Seventh-day Adventist Church is our 1888 history. In spite of decades of lukewarmness within it, the Lord sent the "beginning" of the final latter rain through delegates to a General Conference session. He honored this people with the "revelation of the righteousness of Christ" in this "most precious message" destined to "lighten the earth with glory."

The 1901 reorganization was intended to bring revival and reformation and return to the leadership of Christ working through those who believe His word, "All ye are brethren." But the spiritual renewal did not take place. It was only a "what might have been." [1]

Ellen White did not withdraw her support from the organized church, but remained true and loyal until her death in 1915. This was despite the fact that she was deeply disappointed with the spiritual results of the 1901 session. The Lord continued through all those years to honor this church with the ministry of His messenger.

The solution to our problem does not consist in destroying or changing the system of our constitutional organization, but in finding repentance and reconciliation with Christ within it. Weaknesses in organization will be rectified almost overnight when the Holy Spirit succeeds in leading us to repentance.

Literally millions of people can testify that the only agency which led them to a knowledge of the everlasting gospel of Revelation 14 is the Seventh-day Adventist Church, despite its failures. The best hope for an ultimately successful proclamation of the last message to the world is a repentant Seventh-day Adventist Church that not only proclaims the message with crystal clarity, but demonstrates without question that it works. In the midst of the 1888 era of unbelief, Ellen White had hope for reformation:

"God is at the head of the work, and He will set everything in order. If matters need adjusting at the head of the work, God will attend to that, and work to right every wrong. ... God is going to carry the noble ship which bears the people of God safely into port." [2]

"When anyone is drawing apart from the organized body of God's commandment-keeping people, when he begins ... to pronounce judgment against them, then you may know that God is not leading him." [3]

After 1901 and 1903 Ellen White made some of the strongest statements of her lifetime, identifying this organized church as the true one and giving assurance of its ultimate success in ministry when repentance permeates the body:

"We cannot now step off the foundation that God has established. We cannot now enter into any new organization; for this would mean apostasy from the truth." [4]

"I am instructed to say to Seventh-day Adventists the world over, God has called us as a people to be a peculiar treasure unto Himself. He has appointed that His church on earth shall stand perfectly united in the Spirit and counsel of the Lord of hosts to the end of time." [5]

"I am encouraged and blessed as I realize that the God of Israel is still guiding His people and that He will continue to be with them, even to the end." [6] She clearly defined "God's people" as "this denomination."

Because ancient Israel failed repeatedly as has the church in modern times does not mean necessarily that the pattern of backsliding and apostasy will continue forever. The failures of God's corporate people have always involved the heavenly sanctuary in defilement.

The foundation of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is a belief in the good news of Daniel 8:14: "Then shall the sanctuary be cleansed." Then shall this constant cloud of failure which has hovered over God's Israel be lifted; then shall God's name be cleared as His people demonstrate His plan of salvation to be a success; then shall the sacrifice of Christ be vindicated. A cynical attitude which says, "Suppose the church fails and the conditions are not met" is the same as saying, "Suppose the sanctuary will not be cleansed." The honor of God requires that it shallbe cleansed.

This is the ultimate issue in the great controversy. We have the privilege of standing in absolute loyalty to Christ and to His Bride-to-be.

--Paul E. Penno

Endnotes (Ellen G. White):
[1] Testimonies for the Church, vol. 8, pp. 104-106.
[2] Selected Messages, book 2, p. 390.
[3] Selected Messages, book 3, p. 18.
[4] Last Day Events, p. 55;Manuscript 129, 1905.
[5] Selected Messages, book 2, p. 397.
[6] Life Sketches of Ellen G. White, Remarks to 1913 General Conference Session, pp. 437, 438.

Notes:
Pastor Paul Penno's video of this lesson is on the Internet at: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFsa9iXV_Hw

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


Thursday, December 5, 2019

1888 Message Study : Worshiping the Lord

https://www.1888msc.org/resources/ssi/2019-q4/worshiping-the-lord

"WORSHIPING THE LORD"

 

 

Our lesson this week is entitled, "Worshiping the Lord". Our attention is called by the lesson to worship at the beginning of the construction of the temple in Ezra 3:11 (Memory verse), "And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the LORD.", and at its completion and dedication in Ezra 6:16, "And the children of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy."

 

The parallels between the issues in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, and the issues of modern Israel and the three angel's messages are incredible. Just as we saw above in Ezra, there is a call to worship in the first angel's message (Revelation 14:7). In both Ezra and Nehemiah there is a coming out of Babylon, just as in the call of the second angel – and the fourth angel (Revelation 14:8 and Revelation18:1-4). Just as Ezra and Nehemiah were called to rebuild the temple and the city, so we are called to restore and cleanse the temple (Daniel 8:13-14). And we could list several important other parallels. Truly, Ezra and Nehemiah are "end-time" books. They are examples for our benefit and admonition (1 Corinthians10:11)

 

But let's examine the first of these parallels - the call to worship. The first question to address is why we are called to worship God. To this question the usually glib and well-recited answer is because He is our Creator. While certainly a true statement, the fact of creation doesn't necessarily lead to worship. Imagine you were born (or PRO-created) into a home with abusive parents. What if they had brought you in to the world for the sole purpose of them demanding your service to them? Would they be deserving of worship and honor? Of course, the answer is no.

 

Ultimately, the call to worship really only has meaning when the one being worshipped is worthy of worship based on who they are in character, in personality, in how they relate to "others". No amount of power makes one worthy of worship. Just ask the citizens of North Korea and China. They have powerful leaders but are completely unworthy of worship or honor, and completely deserving of condemnation. Position does not determine worthiness of worship. A brief look at politics is sufficient to make this clear. Even if that "position" is on the throne of the universe, with all the power of that throne in view, it doesn't necessarily make one (or One) worthy of worship. Only character makes one worthy of worship. How one acts, governs, relates, thinks, and feels, is of sufficient import and makes one worthy of worship.

 

Repeatedly in Revelation, there are statements about God's worthiness. In different places, by different groups in God's universe, there are conclusions made about God's worthiness as the basis for worship. Revelation 5:9 says, "You (Jesus the Lamb) are worthy because you were slain, and have redeemed us". In Jesus we see God. And what we see is a being Who sacrificed Himself for us. Now, we can truly say we've met someone worthy of our honor and worship.

 

A worship not based on obligation, or command, or requirement, or religious formalism, or tradition, or a sense of "I ought to". But worship based on a heart appreciation of the goodness and love of God most clearly revealed at Calvary. Now, I see something, someone, Who is worthy of worship.

 

No more is the first angel's message, "Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come: and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters" a statement telling us, "you better worship God – because He is judging you! And if you don't worship Him, then read a couple more verses and you'll see what He has in store for you in the 3rd angel's message!".

 

Rather, the first angel's message becomes an appeal from God through us, to the world, to see God in Jesus (the everlasting gospel of Revelation 14:6). And when we see God like that, we will want to fear (honor) Him, and give Him glory (worship), because in this great controversy He (God) is being judged.

 

Satan has formed an opinion about God – not worthy – and Satan is spreading his view of God's character and government. Now it is time for us to be settled into our opinion about God based on the evidence of Jesus, and the evidence of God's dealing with the sin problem throughout history. When we do this, we will have the "loud voice" of the first angel to tell the world that "God is worthy" of worship. And God calls for our worship to answer the voices from Satan's side that God is "not worthy".

 

In Ezra and Nehemiah, there was a call to worship based on an appreciation for God's goodness manifested in God fulfilling His promise in the 70 year prophecy of Jeremiah, and based on God's presence as they rebuilt the temple, the wall, and the city. They appreciated what God had done – and this produced worship in their hearts without manipulation or coercion.

 

How much more do we have to be appreciative of! As we look to Jesus – as we see God in Jesus – may it awaken a deep and final heart appreciation that will lead to a worship that will always be the song of our heart. A worship that will move us to leave Babylon, and to eject Babylon from our hearts – a "cleansing of our heart's sanctuary" that we will never turn away from. May we be settled into the truth of God now and for eternity.

 

~Bob Hunsaker


Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Lesson 9: Trials, Tribulations, and Lists

Lesson 9: Trials, Tribulations, and Lists

 

Unfortunately, God's people have an age-old problem of forgetting what He has previously done, what He is doing now, and what He will do in the future. The Levites lamented the disregard of God's interventions and guidance, leading to the downfall of the people. They declared, "They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them" (Neh. 9:17, New International Version).

Forgetting God's leading in the past is a sure path to sin. The people of God forgot how kind He was to them. Their faulty memory was not filled with His mighty acts, and they rebelled against Him. This is why Nehemiah admonished the people to not fear the enemy: "Don't be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight" (Neh. 4:14, NIV).

Why do we need to go back in history to 1888 and devote time to what happened there? Is it not sufficient that we simply face the future?

Willing ignorance or even unwitting misunderstanding of sacred history is terribly dangerous. George Santayana wisely said, "A nation that does not know history is fated to repeat it."

Ellen White put it even more strongly: "The Lord has declared that the history of the past shall be rehearsed as we enter upon the closing work." [1] "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." [2]

Two complimentary dates in Adventist history demand special attention: 1844 and 1888. The first marks the prophetic beginning of the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, the Day of Atonement and the beginning of the sounding of the seventh angel's trumpet (Daniel 8:14; Revelation 11:15-19).

The second date marks the beginning of the long-awaited outpouring of the latter rain and the loud cry. History and inspiration are clear that the latter rain and loud cry were in a large measure resisted and rejected. [3]

This is the primaryreason for the long delay in the finishing of our gospel commission. The Lord has not delayed His return; wehave delayed it. There is no problem facing this worldwide church as serious as our relationship to the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Godhead. The Lord's inspired messenger said of the 1888 experience: "I know that at that time the Spirit of God was insulted." [4]

Again, "All the universe of heaven witnessed the disgraceful treatment of Jesus Christ, represented by the Holy Spirit. Had Christ been before them they would have treated him in a manner similar to that in which the Jews treated Christ." [5]

True, but what difference does this make to us in 2019? Does this terrible sin of 1888 have any appreciable effect on us now?

Yes, this sin does have a serious effect on our relationship to the Holy Spirit today. It has delayed the preparation of God's people for the coming of the Lord for nearly 130 years.

Sin and guilt are not passed on from our fathers genetically (Eze. 18:19-30). None of us were personally present in 1888 to join in that sin, but sin is passed on from generation to generation by the influence of mind on mind unless repentance takes place. For example, the sin of crucifying Christ involves a guilt that includes the "whole world ... all classes and sects who reveal the same spirit ... manifested by those who put to death the Son of God [6] unless they experience genuine repentance.

By nature we are not better than they. By nature we are not better than our fathers who insulted the Holy Spirit and showed enmity against Christ through His delegated messengers.

Until full understanding and full repentance bring full healing and reconciliation, the spiritual alienation will continue. The hard hearts and mind set of our forefathers are passed on to us through the influence of mind on mind. The Bible declares that this was also the experience of the ancient Jews: "… ye do always resist the Holy Ghost; as your fathers did, so do ye" (Acts 7:51).

Practically without exception, Seventh-day Adventists recognize our need of the Holy Spirit. Since Ellen White recognized in the 1888 message the beginning of the latter rain, there has been no further authenticated manifestation of the latter rain. The latter rain prepares the grain for the harvest; large numerical increases to the church do not necessarily indicate the reception of the latter rain.

Yes, God cares about His children. He cares about the details of their lives. He longs to be close. The joy of God's leading was the strength of Israel--and "the joy of the LORD is your strength" today (Neh. 8:10).

--Paul E. Penno

Endnotes:
[1] Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, book 2, p. 390.
[2] Ellen G. White, Life Sketches, p. 196.
[3] The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, p. 1043.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid, p. 1479.
[6] Ellen G. White, Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, p. 38.

Notes:
Pastor Paul Penno's video of this lesson is on the Internet at: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3o21VNDr3o

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


Thursday, November 21, 2019

Lesson 8: God and the Covenant

Ezra and Nehemiah
Lesson 8: God and the Covenant

 

There are three types of covenant in the Bible: parity agreement, suzerain treaty, and the everlasting covenant. The everlasting covenant was also known as a land grant covenant because it conveys land from the king to the beloved recipient.

A parity agreement was made between two parties of equal stature in their society, such as two kings or two wealthy men. They were "on par" with each other, on equal footing in the society in which they lived, one not having any more power than the other. It was a mutual cooperation contract based on respect between the parties. When a parity covenant was made, both parties were promising each other that if they should fail in any particular to uphold their end of the bargain, then they expected to be punished for breaking their promise.

The suzerain treaty/covenant was a political agreement that was historically made prominent by the Hittites, and other powerful empires in the ancient Middle East. The noted Bible scholar George Mendenhall, did extensive studies on the suzerain covenant found in Hittite archeological records, and wrote The Law and Covenant in Israel and the Ancient Near East(1955). In his study he showed the elements necessary for the making of a suzerain, or peace, treaty between nations, where one nation was considerably stronger and more wealthy than the second covenanting party.

When the second party followed the stipulations of the suzerain treaty, peace was ensured between the nations. Under the suzerain treaty, the lesser, more vulnerable, party was held strictly to their end of the bargain. If any violation was made, it was guaranteed that the mightier king would initiate a covenant lawsuit (i.e., war) and bring the promised consequences and punishments upon the weaker party (destruction or captivity).

The everlasting covenant is unique. There is only one "everlasting covenant," and it was instigated by God Himself as soon as Adam fell in the Garden. It has never been modified, though it has been mostly misunderstood and ignored by mankind for more than 6000 years. It is the underpinning of the third angel's message that is to be given to the world with a loud voice.

The everlasting covenant is God's promise to the whole human race that He will reverse the enmity that Satan implanted into the minds of Adam and Eve when they chose to believe his lie about God's character (Gen. 3:4, 5). We all have inherited this brokenness through our fallen flesh and estranged minds. But God will turn that enmity (hatred) for Him into unconditional appreciation for His gift of salvation in Christ alone. The battle is for our mind. We're to "let" God put the mind of His dear Son into us (Phil. 2:5), so that we can think the thoughts and do the will of our heavenly Father. "All true obedience comes from the heart. It was a heart work with Christ. And if we consent, He will so identify Himself with our thoughts and aims, so blend our hearts and minds into conformity to His will, that when obeying Him we shall be but carrying out our own impulses." [1]

In the Garden and speaking prophetically directly to Satan, that "old serpent" (Rev. 12:9, 20:2), God announced, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel" (Gen. 3:15, New King James Version). In the everlasting promise, the Seed that would come through Abraham's descendants and crush Satan's head, was Christ (see Gal. 3:16). Though Satan would attack the fallen humanity that Christ assumed in His incarnation, tempting Him "in all points like as we are," yet Satan could not induce Jesus to sin, not even by a thought. [2] As the mind of Jesus was fully in tune with His Father, so our minds are to His that we may receive His power to overcome all sin.

The first time we find a parity covenant is in Genesis 15:17 and 18, in which God the Father and God the Son, blazing out of that awful darkness like "a smoking furnace and a burning pot," passed between and consumed the animals that Abraham had prepared (Gen. 15:9, 10). This method of covenant-making was well known among the Canaanites. They divided an animal down the spine, laid the halves out on the ground with a separation between the pieces, allowing room for the two parties to walk between them. Then both parties together would walk between the animal parts while promising each other that they would keep their end of the bargain, on pain of death, saying, "Let it be to me as to this animal if I should violate my promise to you."

Since the parity covenant was made between two parties of equal stature, Abraham could not have participated in this covenant-making ceremony except as a witness sitting on the sidelines. He was not "on par" or equal to God, and would not have attempted to participate. Furthermore, Abraham knew that it required both parties to "pass between the parts" at the same time in order to seal the covenant.

The parity covenant appears two more times in the Genesis narrative, once between Abraham and Abimelech, and another time between Isaac and Abimelech (Gen. 21:22-32; 26:26-31). The parties in these stories are on equal footing, both being "kings" or leaders of their separate clans. Later, in 1 Kings 21:31-34, King Ahab made a parity covenant with King Ben-hadad, to secure peace between their nations.

The suzerain treaty also appears in Scripture. When God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt "with a strong hand" and bare them "on eagle's wings" to bring them to Himself (Ex. 13:9, 19:4), He intended to initiate a marriage with His people at Sinai. But the people refused to understand His intentions. Their slavery to Pharaoh had left them with a twisted understanding of God's character. In Egypt they had been forced to serve Pharaoh or suffer terrible consequences. When they arrived at Sinai, they mistook God's marriage proposal, believing that He was offering them a suzerain treaty, and therefore they readily agreed to the terms. "All the LORD has said, we will do!" (Ex. 19:8; 24:3, 7). Knowing their hearts were unconverted, God acquiesced and the "blood of the covenant" was "sprinkled upon the people" (vs. 8), showing that they had accepted full responsibility for fulfilling their side of the treaty. Their promise of fidelity lasted about six weeks (Ex. 32:1-10).

Forty years later, the suzerain treaty was codified in Deuteronomy chapters 28, 29 and 30, in which the "blessings and curses" of the suzerain treaty are clearly laid out. The suzerain covenant was by its very nature, an "if/then" conditional covenant. If the lesser party would abide by the treaty stipulations, then no curses would befall them, but if they did not abide by the stipulations, then curses would be poured out upon them. The covenant curse, "therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against thee," was carried out under the Assyrian and Babylonian captivities (Deut. 28:47, 48), and the final destruction of Judah and Jerusalem under the Romans in A.D. 70 (vss. 49-57).

God condemned the Israelites because they "served other gods of wood and stone" (Deut. 28:36, 37), and forsook the God of heaven. Later, He condemned them because they would not abide by the terms of the suzerain treaty that Nebuchadnezzar put them under. It was because they would not stand to their side of the treaty that "the king of Babylon" came to Jerusalem and took "the princes thereof, and led them with him to Babylon" (Eze. 17:11-16; 18-21). And thus Daniel and his three companions ended up in Nebuchadnezzar's palace (Dan. 1:1, 2).

The controversy over the covenants that took place at the 1888 General Conference session concerned the definition of the "old" and the "new" covenants. Because of the misunderstanding of the Sinai covenant, many people were led to believe that the Ten Commandments were part of the "old covenant" that was "nailed to the cross" and "taken out of the way." For many Christian denominations, except primarily Seventh-day Adventists, this "taking away" meant that the Sabbath was replaced with Sunday. The seventh-day Sabbath was defined as a burden that "was against us" because it was assumed to be part of the "old covenant" that had been done away with at the cross.

Our pioneers were strong in their convictions concerning the Bible, that it is entirely the Word of God given to us, and all of it contains truth we should follow. No part can be safely ignored or set aside as unimportant. In their defense of the seventh-day Sabbath, the leaders and evangelists of the church taught that the law in Galatians chapter 3 was the ceremonial law that concerned the feast days and sacrificing of animals.Thatlaw was assumed to be "against us" and was "nailed to the cross," and was no longer binding on Christians.

The dispute arose in 1886 when E. J. Waggoner wrote that the law in Galatians was primarily the moral law, not the ceremonial law. It was the moral law raised up before the sinner that condemned him and brought him to the foot of the cross in repentance for his sins that took the life of the Son of God.

"That verse reads, 'For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.' The ceremonial law never had power to slay anyone. But even allowing that it did once have that power, it had itself died, having been nailed to the cross at least three years before Paul was converted. Now I ask, How could Paul be slain by a law that for three years had had no existence? This verse shows upon the face of it that the moral law is referred to." [3]

Many of the leaders of the church were afraid that if they accepted Waggoner's position on the law in Galatians, that it would undermine the Adventist position that the Sabbath is a part of the moral law and is therefore binding and imperishable. Between 1886 and 1888 the dispute caused a division between the leadership of the church and E. J. Waggoner and A. T. Jones. The argument and misunderstanding concerning the covenants has continued from that time until the present day.

On March 8, 1890, Ellen White composed a letter to Uriah Smith who, with G. I. Butler, had been foremost in the opposition against Waggoner over the covenants, and the message of Christ and His righteousness. In that letter she wrote, "Do not labor so hard to do the very work Satan is doing. This work was done in Minneapolis. Satan triumphed. This work has been done here. Night before last I was shown that evidences in regard to the covenants were clear and convincing. Yourself [Uriah Smith], Brother Dan Jones, Brother Porter and others are spending your 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." [4]

What was Waggoner's position on the covenants? "The covenant and the promise of God are one and the same thing. This is clearly seen from Galatians 3:17, where Paul asserts that to disannul the covenant would be to make void the promise. In Genesis 17 we read that God made a covenantwith Abraham to give him the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession. Galatians 3:18 says that God gave it to him by promise. God's covenants with men can be nothing else than promises to them." [5]

"The earth fresh and new from the hand of God, perfect in every respect, was given to man for a possession. Genesis 1:27, 28, 31. Man sinned and brought the curse upon himself. Christ has taken the whole curse, both of man and of all creation, upon Himself. He redeems the earth from the curse, that it may be the everlasting possession that God originally designed it to be; and He also redeems man from the curse, that he may be fitted for the possession of such an inheritance. This is the sum of the gospel." [6]

Thus Waggoner summarizes the whole of the everlasting covenant in this one paragraph. Christ assumed fallen human flesh, that in that flesh He might perform the duty of the nearest of kin in redeeming what was lost in the Fall. Then Christ restores not only the earth, but repentant men and women, giving us the necessary righteousness so that we may inherit the whole earth made new. The everlasting covenant is God's promise to us that He will restore all things and give us the promised land to have and to hold forever as His righteous redeemed family.

"... this is indeed the promise that Abraham and his seed [all who have the same faith that Abraham exhibited, see Gal. 3:28, 29] should be heirs of the world. We must study the details of this promise. And first let us note the fact that the inheritance promised is an everlasting inheritance. ... But the only way in which Abraham and his seed may have everlasting possession of an inheritance is by having everlasting life. Therefore we see that in this promise to Abraham we have the assurance of everlasting life in which to enjoy the possession." [7]

The eternal purpose of the everlasting covenant is salvation from sin through the work of the Son of God, who would be born through a descendant of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The whole matter hinges on faith, whether for Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, or us living today. Romans 4:16 tells us that "the promise was sure to all the seed ... which are of the faith of Abraham; who is father of us all." Righteousness was "imputed" to Abraham because he believed the word of God to him (see Gen. 15:6), and that same righteousness is "for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead" (Rom. 4:24).

--Ann Walper

Endnotes:
[1] Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 668.[2] Hebrews 4:15;The Desire of Ages, pp. 24, 123.
[3] E. J. Waggoner,The Gospel in Galatians, p. 16, [p. 52 of the PDF]; please read pages 16 through 18 for the full context of Waggoner's argument; document found at: http://www.gospel-herald.com/e_j_waggoner/two_books_on_galatians.htm
[4] The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, vol. 2, pp. 604, 605.
[5] E. J. Waggoner, The Glad Tidings, p.71, CFI Book Division (2016).
[6] Ibid., p. 70.
[7] E. J. Waggoner, Romans: The Greatest Treatise Ever Written, p. 86ff; CFI Book Division (2019).

Notes:
Pastor Paul Penno's video of this lesson is on the Internet at: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zwu43B4VwNE

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


Thursday, November 14, 2019

Lesson 7: Our Forgiving God

Sabbath School Today
With the 1888 Message Dynamic

Ezra and Nehemiah
Lesson 7: Our Forgiving God

 

At the 1888 Minneapolis General Conference, Jesus came knocking at the door of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He in effect said, "Because I came and took your sinful flesh upon myself, I already know you and I want to marry you. I have already given Myself to you for eternity, but because you don't know Me well enough yet to surrender yourself fully to Me, I'm going to give your leaders a 'most precious message' that reveals Me as I truly am. Based on this 'light' that reveals My character--the 'beginning' of the loud cry--I'm going to let your leaders decide whether or not you will open the door and surrender yourself to Me. If you open the door we will be intimate. I will come inside and sup with you and you with Me."

The beautiful biblical description of the relationship between Christ and His church as that of a Groom and His Bride has never been more vividly illustrated than in the 1888 experience. The advances of the Groom were rejected at Minneapolis and at our insistence He has remained outside the door knocking. "We" did not appreciate what "we" heard and what "we" saw. By rejecting this light, we insulted His Spirit and treated Jesus in a manner similar to that in which the Jews treated Him. [1]

This is a brief and true history of the 1888 message as revealed in the Bible (Song of Solomon) and in the Spirit of Prophecy. Tragically the centennial year of this "insult" to the Holy Spirit and the rejection of the "beginning" of the loud cry is what "we" as a corporate body chose to celebrate at Minneapolis.

We believe our history needs to be repented of--not "celebrated." It is our conviction that celebrations of the Minneapolis meeting are a modern day re-enactment and endorsement of what took place 100 years ago.

God's faith in His people is on trial at this time. Does He have a plan for how we should remember our history in the light of the 1888 message? The Bible provides the answer.

As Nehemiah studied the prophecies of Daniel and Jeremiah and realized that the time for the end of the Jewish captivity was at hand, he did something for the release of their bondage through prayer and fasting (Daniel 9). Even though there is no written record that Nehemiah individually contributed to the sins of Israel which caused their punishment, in his prayer he identified himself as part of the problem. In effect he led Israel to say, "We have sinned, ... neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets," ... "but unto us confusion of faces," ... "we have rebelled against Him," "... neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord."

In his plea for corporate forgiveness, He wrote, "And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers" (Neh. 9:2).

Like Israel of old, we have been in bondage. Their captivity lasted 70 years; so far ours has continued over 130 years. It is time for our release. But the Lord can't release us unless we want to be freed.

Unlike Nehemiah, through the sin of continued lukewarmness each one of us has entered into the same rebellion against the Holy Spirit which was manifest in the 1888 episode. If the record books of heaven record sins that would have been committed had there been opportunity [2], and if the guilt of the crucifixion of Christ rests upon every sinner [3], then each one of us was represented by Peter denying his Lord, by the crowd at Jesus' trial choosing Barabbas over Christ, by the soldier nailing Jesus to the cross and by our brethren at the 1888 Minneapolis Conference, and the Holy Spirit's "beginning" of the Loud Cry has been rejected.

Repentance is not a ritual we go through for personal gain or to escape punishment. It is a gift from Christ to His church given through the Holy Spirit. No one should feel worthy of this deep repentance. In fact, some may feel this call to fasting and prayer is unnecessary. But as Nehemiah led the people anciently and fasted and prayed, we repent not because we are worthy but because we know Christ is worthy. Our repentance is for the glory of God that He might be justified when He speaks and be cleared when He is judged (Psalm 51:4; Isa. 5:16).

Like Nehemiah of old, we have an opportunity to place ourselves where the Lord can choose if this is the time to grant us the beginning of His gift of repentance. Only He can turn a seeming defeat into a glorious victory!

--Paul E. Penno

Endnotes:
[1] The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, vol. 4, p. 1479.
[2] Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 5, p.1085.
[3] Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 745.

Notes:
Pastor Paul Penno's video of this lesson is on the Internet at: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXRIrnRUfXs

 

 

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



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Thursday, November 7, 2019

Lesson 6: The Reading of the Word

Sabbath School Today
With the 1888 Message Dynamic

Ezra and Nehemiah
Lesson 6: The Reading of the Word

 

We can take a lesson from the experience of Israel after they finished the wall. The neighboring people knew how much trouble they caused Israel during the construction process. In spite of that, the wall was finished and the troublemakers saw this as a sign of the strength of Jehovah, the God Israel. Often when we have trouble in this world, we wonder why God doesn't intervene to smooth our way. We tend to forget that He always has the greater picture in mind, so we can be grateful that He uses us to carry out His plans. Israel could review her past history with God and have confidence He would accomplish what He promised. The Lord was gracious and gave the struggling workers two prophets to reinforce the leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah.

We can review the history of our church and have the same confidence regardless of how bleak things might look. God has given the Seventh-day Adventist Church the solemn responsibility of preaching the messages of the three angels in Revelation 14. Some are confused as to just what that message is. The Spirit of Prophecy made it clear in a statement printed in the Review and Herald, in 1890:

"Some of our brethren have expressed fears that we shall dwell too much upon the subject of justification by faith, but I hope and pray that none will be needlessly alarmed; for there is no danger in presenting this doctrine as it is set forth in the Scriptures. If there had not been a remissness [sic] in the past to properly instruct the people of God, there would not now be a necessity of calling especial attention to it. Some of our brethren are not receiving the message from God upon this subject. They appear to be anxious that none of our ministers shall depart from their former manner of teaching the good old doctrines. We inquire, is it not time that fresh light should come to the people of God, to awaken them to greater earnestness and zeal? Several have written to me, inquiring if the message of justification by faith is the third angel's message, and I have answered, 'It is the third angel's message in verity.'" [1]

Our Sabbath School lessons this quarter focus on the brave faith demonstrated by Ezra and Nehemiah. Regardless of the opposition from within and without Israel, they knew they were doing a "great work" for God and they remained true to it. The resolve of these leaders restored the people's confidence and after returning to work, they completed the wall in 52 days.

The "great work" our church has been given is to preach the three angels' messages, which Ellen White stated is the message of justification by faith. It is this gospel that Jesus directed His followers to take to the entire world before the end would come. It follows that if we are preaching another distorted gospel mixing a works program with faith in what Jesus accomplished on the cross, we are preaching the same error the Syrians had come to know, mixing pagan ideas with the worship of the true God.

One of the things that was especially damaging was the letter Rehum wrote to Artaxerxes against Jerusalem (cf. Ezra 4:8-24). The most serious accusation was that in the past, the Jews had risen up against the Babylonian kings, and Judah's kings had taken tribute, custom and toll that was rightfully due the foreign kings (vs. 19). Unfortunately, this was true and even though the then living Jews had not done these things, their forefathers had and they were stuck dealing with the reputation.

In a remarkably candid response, they wrote "But because our fathers had provoked the God of heaven to wrath, He gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar..." (Ezra 5:12). This is an example of what is meant by "corporate repentance." Even though the ancestors who created the Jews' reputation of resisting foreign kings were long passed away, the people who were then alive were the only ones who could do anything to correct the past.

The same is true of us living today. No, we weren't alive when our church forefathers rejected the message and messengers of 1888, but we are the only ones who can correct the situation today. In the 1890s many claim that the church leaders reversed their rejection of the 1888 message of righteousness by faith, but more thoughtful researchers found differently.

"The message of righteousness by faith was preached with power for more than ten years during which time the Minneapolis crisis was kept before the leaders. This message brought the beginning of the latter rain. 'The time of test is just upon us, for the loud cry of the third angel has already begun in the revelation of the righteousness of Christ, the sin-pardoning Redeemer. This is the beginning of the light of the angel whose glory shall fill the whole earth' (Ellen G. White, Review and Herald, Nov. 22, 1892). Why did not the latter rain continue to fall? Because the message that brought it ceased to be preached. It was rejected by many and it soon died out of the experience of the Advent people and the loud cry died with it. It can begin again only when the message that brought it then is revived and accepted. ...

'Just before the end the Advent people will review their past history and see it in a new light. ... We must acknowledge and confess the mistakes of our fathers and see to it that we do not repeat them and thus further delay the final triumph of the Advent Movement. The history of the past must be reviewed and studied in the light of these mistakes and their consequence in a long delay of the coming of Christ' (Taylor G. Bunch, The Exodus and Advent Movements in Type and Antitype, Privately Published Facsimile, cir. 1937, pp. 107, 168)." [2]

We can learn a lesson from Ezra. When the people gathered "as one man" (Nehemiah 8:1) they asked Ezra to bring the "book of the Law of Moses" to be read. Obviously, Ezra supported their request and all were blessed to hear the word of the Lord. If Ezra had opposed the request, pressure from the people might have compelled him to read God's words to them.

Like ancient Israel, our church has all but buried the original message that God gave us. We need to know our history, especially the important subject of righteousness by faith. Without an understanding of this process, the Seventh-day Adventist Church's unique concept of the cleansing of the sanctuary makes no sense. Without that, the bride will never "make herself ready" by clothing herself in "fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints" (Rev. 19:7, 8). We need to pray for the leadership of our church that they will come to embrace this message so the membership aren't afraid to study it. 

--Arlene Hill

Endnotes:
[1] Ellen G. White,Review and Herald, April 1, 1890.
[2] Ron Duffield, The Return of the Latter Rain, p. 13.

Notes:
Pastor Paul Penno's video of this lesson is on the Internet at: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OU0GBKUCoc4&list=PLsjY9Yfwx9Nx1uiXLl_c49fae41rrkgPO

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


Thursday, October 31, 2019

Lesson 5: Violating the Spirit of the Law

Lesson 5: Violating the Spirit of the Law

 

Nehemiah unselfishly helped the poor and opposed the corrupt leaders. The underprivileged were being enslaved as cheap labor for the rich and powerful. Unable to work their own land and provide for themselves, they were forced to sell their children into slavery in order to survive. They had no money to buy food and were crying for help. When Nehemiah heard that they had to mortgage their fields, vineyards, and homes to pay taxes, he "was very angry" (Nehemiah 5:6).

In light of social injustice and exploitation, it is appropriate and important for Nehemiah to speak openly and directly to the nobles and officials. He rebuked them strongly and publicly (5:8). He called them to walk in the fear of God and stop the injustice. He went so far as to command them to return all the confiscated fields, vineyards, and houses, along with the interest they had charged.

Godly leadership is crucial to restoring justice in life. It can influence for good, even in the face of powerful exploiters.

Our lesson is concerned with motives in our actions of obedience to the law. Ellen White writes: "The Searcher of hearts weighs the motives, and often deeds highly applauded by men are recorded by Him as springing from selfishness and base hypocrisy. Every act of our lives, whether excellent and praiseworthy, or deserving of censure, is judged by the Searcher of hearts according to the motives which prompted it."[1] Every deed of our "lives is judged, not by the external appearance, but from the motive which dictated the action." [2] Everything depends on the motive, and this involves what it means to be justified by faith.

Rightly understood the Bible idea of justification by faith addresses our motives. E. J. Waggoner, one of the 1888 messengers, writes: "What is it to be justified [by faith]? ... substitute for real righteousness. They think that the idea of justification by faith is that if one will only believe what the Bible says, he is to be counted as righteous when he is not. All this is a great mistake.

"Justification has to do with the law. The term means making just. ... The just man, therefore, is the one who does the law. To be just means to be righteous. Therefore since the just man is the one who does the law, it follows that to justify a man, that is, to make him just, is to make him a doer of the law.

"Faith brings Christ into the heart, and the law of God is in the heart of Christ. And thus 'as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.' This One who obeys is the Lord Jesus Christ, and His obedience is done in the heart of everyone who believes. And as it is by His obedience alone that men are made doers of the law, so to Him shall be the glory forever and ever." [3]

In a very practical sense, faith is not merely to trust the Lord like you trust the bank or the insurance company. You can do that and still remain as selfish as you were before, because such trust is a self-centered concern. The John 3:16 idea of faith solves the problem and lifts our naturally self-centered hearts out of a dark cave into the sunlight: faith is a heart-melting appreciation of what it cost the Son of God to save us.

We know this from several texts that tell us what faith is. Those two things that God did in John 3:16 are: He so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. Those two trigger: we believe. God's loving and giving come before the believing! If your heart says "Thanks!" for God's love and gift, then you've already begun believing. But just begun, for one's selfish heart only begins to come alive; you grow; the hardness is melted day by day. And that kind of faith "works through love" (agape). Your motives and your conduct are transformed from the inside out. Don't get discouraged if progress seems slow. The Holy Spirit is working!

In other words, faith couldn't even exist unless first of all there was the revelation of that love at the cross (agape). All of this is just another way of saying that salvation is by grace, "not of works, lest anyone should boast" (Eph. 2:9).

If faith "works through love," then there is no end to the good works that it will continually motivate us to do. Here is the victory over every kind of evil the devil tempts us to do. Faith is itself a change of heart. It reconciles an alienated, selfish heart to God; and since no one can be reconciled to His holy law, such faith immediately makes the believer become obedient to all ten of the joyous commandments of God. The love of Christ supplies an infinitely powerful motivation.

--Paul E. Penno

Endnotes:
[1] Ellen G. White, Gospel Workers, p. 275.
[2] Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 3, p. 507.
[3] E. J. Waggoner, Signs of the Times, May 1, 1893.

Notes:
Pastor Paul Penno's video of this lesson is on the Internet at: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aX_Bqy4Ccc&list=PLsjY9Yfwx9Nx1uiXLl_c49fae41rrkgPO

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