Lesson 3: The Law as Teacher

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Lesson 3: The Law as Teacher

 

Children learn to recite the Ten Commandments. You know how children are--they'll cut corners if they can.

Well, they want to start with the third verse of Exodus 20, thinking that's where the Ten Commandments begin: "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me."

But, no! That's not where they start. They start with wonderful Good News. They don't start with a stern command, Don't do this! Or don't do that! They start with the Good News that our heavenly Father is so strong and powerful that He has already delivered us from horrible slavery in the darkness of Egypt: "I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." That Good News of salvation from slavery is part of the Ten Commandments!

Church goers have usually had a love/hate relationship with the Ten Commandments. The law has seemed like a heavy burden, ten precepts carved in cold stone, heavy prohibitions that crush out all the joy of life. Everything that was fun doing seemed to be, "You shall not!" The Ten Commandments seemed like roadblocks in the highway of happiness.

Yet deep in our human hearts we have realized that it's wrong to break them; suffering must be the result either in this life or in the next. Yet we just couldn't know how to keep them, let alone love them. They seemed too hard.

Now comes this fantastic revelation: They are actually ten assurances of victory. And what we have to do is different than the "Do this or else!" rules we have thought them to be: our job is to believe the Good News that God has embedded in them. Then faith will work to produce a loving obedience.

First comes an astounding disclosure: probably we have been misquoting the Ten Commandments, without realizing what we're doing. Whoever taught them to us since we were kids usually has inadvertently left out one verse that God put in at the very beginning before any of the prohibitions. Leave it out and the Ten indeed become Bad News, a "yoke of bondage." Many, even preachers and teachers, have not seen the importance of that preamble verse. Even some who claim to specialize in preaching "the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus" have not seen it.

Here it is--the missing verse that belongs at the beginning of any true version of the Ten Commandments: "And God spoke all these words, saying: 'I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage'" (Ex. 20:1, 2).

To "fear God" does not mean to be afraid of Him, as we would fear an enemy, but to appreciate His forgiveness of our sins: "There is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared" (Psalm 130:4). It follows that to "fear God" is to love Him. When a person knows he is a sinner, and when he knows his sins are forgiven by the blood of our High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary, then he cannot help loving God. A person with such a "faith which worketh by love" (Gal. 5: 6) will "measure up" as a worshipper.

To love God is to keep His commandments, because "love is the fulfilling of the law" (see 1 John 5: 3; Rom. 13:10). In verse 19 of Revelation 11, John tells us that God's people see in the heavenly sanctuary "the ark of His testament." The law of God, traced in stone by the finger of God, is placed inside that ark as witness that God's law of love is the foundation of His government.

To believe that Good News changes the law of God from an Old Covenant set of impossible rules into a beautiful New Covenant gift of ten promises.

It's not, "Now you must do this and that and that, and then I will deliver you from the slavery of sin." God never makes bargains with us for He knows that we have a sinful, carnal mind or nature which is "enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law, neither indeed can be" (Rom. 8:7). The Old Covenant tells you what to doif you hope to be saved; the New Covenant tells you what to believebecause the Savior has already given Himself to save you. He has already died your second death instead of you. He has already paid the penalty for your sin. You wonder how can you know for sure? Simply take a breath: The life you now have is the proof that He wants you to enjoy eternal life "in Christ." If He had not died for you, you would already be eternally dead. So, thank Him!

--Paul E. Penno

Notes:
Pastor Paul Penno's video of this lesson is on the Internet at: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5mXt-rh4fg

Many of Pastor Penno's sermons are on YouTube in Spanish. Just type pastor paul penno en español in the search bar.

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

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Lesson 1: Education in the Garden of Eden

Lesson 1: Education in the Garden of Eden

 

The premise of our lesson this week is that the Garden of Eden was a school for learning. Adam and Eve had great potential for growing and learning. Ellen White writes, "they were innocent and sinless, in perfect harmony with God" (Church Triumphant, p. 28).

They were "put into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it" (Gen. 2:15). They treasured it! The word shamar connotes the beautiful idea of appreciation. Adam was to "cherish" or "treasure" the Garden of Eden, "prize" it highly.

God was their teacher and He taught them about Himself. Love is eternal. Love has its source in God, for the Bible says that "God is love" (1 John 4:8), and He is eternal. And even love of man for woman and vice versa is a gift from God, for "God created man in His own image. In the image of God created He him; male and female created He them" (Gen. 1:27).

Those simple one-syllable English words convey a wealth of meaning: our maleness and femaleness are in the image of God, and since God is love, our male/female love is of God. It is God intended, God-given. But such love is regulated by law, just as electricity is regulated by law. Transgress the law of electricity and you have disaster. Transgress God's law of male/female love, and you have disaster instead of the happiness that the Creator/Redeemer has intended for us.

And what is the law of male/female love as God intended? It is built-in to the very nature of love itself: love is eternal. Therefore love makes infidelity impossible. The 7th commandment of God's ten has its own inherent promise: Adam and Eve will not, cannot, commit adultery!

In the Garden of Eden their First Teacher, the Creator, had plainly told Adam and Eve that if they should sin, "in the day" of their transgression "you shall surely die" (Gen. 2:17). He said exactly what He meant. It was the devil, a substitute teacher, who flatly contradicted Him, telling them: "You will not surely die" (Gen. 3:5).

This error was the common idea of the natural immortality of the soul, the teaching that one cannot really die, that what we call death is merely an immediate release to another level of life. As a host of physical ills can result from a simple vitamin deficiency, so this basic error borrowed from ancient paganism, but handed down through Christendom, triggered a chain reaction of confusion in my understanding.

In effect, the tempter, the false teacher, was voicing the teachings of paganism and of much so-called Christianity when he said that there is no such thing as death itself. No man can utterly perish. The soul possesses a natural immortality.

This idea became not only the cornerstone of pagan religion, but from thence it infiltrated the doctrine of many Christian churches. The error may seem innocent enough at first thought; but consider what it does to our understanding of the cross of Christ:

It effectively contradicts the Scriptural statements, "Christ died for the ungodly," and "Christ died for us" (Rom. 5:6, 8).

In other words, the way Satan wants us to understand it, Christ didn't really die for us at all. He merely endured physical pain in which He was sustained throughout by the assurance that He had nothing to risk, nothing to lose, since He could not really die. If He had nothing to lose, He therefore had nothing to give of any value beyond the endurance of physical pain.

This error of the natural immortality of the soul is intended by its author to cast a suspicion of make-believe into the story of Calvary--just enough to paralyze the devotion of those who profess to follow Christ. If their appreciation of Jesus' cross is beclouded, their love will be stifled, and their devotion hobbled.

The sufferings of Jesus were incomparably greater than the endurance of physical pain, or the torture of any of the martyrs. There was no sham or make-believe about the burden He bore. Scripture says, "The Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all" (Isa. 53:6).

--Paul E. Penno

 

Notes:
Pastor Paul Penno's video of this lesson is on the Internet at: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lu3VqTehDY

Many of Pastor Penno's sermons are on YouTube in Spanish. Just type pastor paul penno en español in the search bar.

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

RR

Raul Diaz

Lesson 11: Sharing the Story of Jesus

Lesson 11: Sharing the Story of Jesus

 

There's a gospel song called "I love to tell the story." The verses go like this: "I love to tell the story of unseen things above ... of Jesus and His love." Telling the "story" of Jesus is essential to outreach and evangelism. It was the story that the first disciples told beginning with their first sermon and Bible lesson on the day of Pentecost. Jesus gave the disciples this promise: "Ye shall receive power, after the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:8).

It was the story of Jesus' life, death, resurrection and ascension into heaven as our High Priest that transformed people by the thousands from scoffers and doubters into to humble, believing followers of Jesus. This story gave people the confidence to face lions in the Coliseum, and to bravely endure unjust condemnation and death. It empowered a "few good men" to stand for truth though the heavens fall. It is what God is searching for today among His people.

"The greatest want of the world is the want of men,--men who will not be bought or sold; men who in their inmost souls are true and honest; men who do not fear to call sin by its right name; men whose conscience is as true to duty as the needle to the pole; men who will stand for the right though the heavens fall" (Ellen G. White, Education, p. 57; 1903).

The "power to witness" came upon the disciples because they finally came to know who Jesus really is. For three and a half years, they had followed Jesus, listened to Him give His powerful sermons, and teach lessons through the use of parables about His Father's love for the lost world, about salvation, and the coming kingdom. But they really didn't truly know Him until after they were confronted with the depth of their sinful doubts about Him.

Saul, who would become Paul the apostle, knew who Jesus was. He had seen Him teaching in the temple, and was well aware of the influence the itinerant Preacher from Nazareth had on the "common people." But the knowledge possessed by Saul/Paul at that time did nothing to convert his heart to the truth of Jesus as his Saviour from sin.

Saul/Paul knew "the story" of Jesus, but resisted it because the "story" he knew was lopsided, containing erroneous elements that led to a false view of Jesus and His mission. Saul's view was so misinformed that he was willing to not just speak out against Jesus and His followers, but "breathing out threatening and slaughter" (Acts 9:1), he was eager to arrest the followers of Jesus, and even to put them to death.

Whether or not we are able to share the story of Jesus--the story of Him that brings salvation to the world--depends upon whether or not we truly know who He is, what His character is really like, and understand what He came to this benighted world to accomplish. It is only when those indisputable facts transform your heart and mind and character that you will be able to share the story of Jesus with others in a convincing and winning manner.

"If we do not have the personal assurance of salvation in Jesus, it is not possible to share it with someone else." We cannot share with any one else what we do not know about a person's character. We may gossip, we may tell a story that we heard somewhere about that person, but we cannot tell the truth unless we know the facts about the person, and have an experiential knowledge of that person.

"God is love" is the fundamental fact of the Gospel's message. But many in the world today have grave doubts about the veracity of this fact. So, what we are we to do?

"If I should express to an infidel my doubts as to the integrity of one of his friends, he would say: 'That's because you don't know him; just try him, and you will find him as true as steel.' This would be a fair reply; and so we say to the infidel who doubts the promises of God: 'O taste and see that the Lord is good ... there is no want to them that fear Him.' Ps. 34:8, 9." (E. J. Waggoner, The Bible Student's Library, "The Full Assurance of Faith," June 16, 1890; p. 8).

In this little booklet, Waggoner quotes from a poem, the last stanza of which says: "Perhaps he will admit my plea/Perhaps will hear my prayer ... ," to which Waggoner answers: "such language might be excusable in one who knew nothing of God; but uttered by one who had known God, or rather, is known of God, it can be regarded only as libel upon God's word." He goes on, "There is no such thing as 'perhaps' with God. His promises to the penitent, and His threats to the impenitent, are equally positive. 'He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.' Mark 16:16." (Ibid., p. 11, 12).

The apostle James wrote that with God there is "no variableness, neither shadow of turning" (James 1:17). When we witness to others about what God has done for us, we cannot project any doubt about His faithfulness to perform His promise "to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them" (Heb. 7:25).

Too often we hear people say, "Yes, you have conquered that problem in your life, but we know that you will stumble and fall again and again. We all do. Don't worry about it. When Jesus comes, all sin will be taken away from us."

Such language is discouraging to people who want to be fully free from the sins that beset them. And such language is casting doubt upon the power of God to deliver "to the uttermost" those who come to Him in faith that He will deliver them from every sin, right now, in this world fallen as it is. We do not need to wait a single moment longer to have the full assurance of salvation. "Have you repented of your sins? Do you hate them, and long for a better life? Have you confessed them? Then take the assurance of God's word as evidence that your sins are forgiven, and that you are entitled to peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Ibid., p. 15).

Our faithful witness for God cannot contain any element of doubt about His power to one hundred percent deliver us from sin now, not later, but right now. And if we know Him as He wants us to know Him, then we will not project any doubts about His character when we tell the "old, old story of Jesus and His love." We will testify with full assurance and confidence of God's power over sin and death, and we will win souls for the kingdom of God.

--Ann Walper

Notes:
Pastor Paul Penno's video of this lesson is on the Internet at: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFnlE8oGhGU

 

Many of Pastor Penno's sermons are on YouTube in Spanish. Just type pastor paul penno en español in the search bar.

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

RR

Raul Diaz

Lesson 5: Spirit-Empowered Witnessing

Lesson 5: Spirit-Empowered Witnessing

Here are some questions that perplex many Christian people around the world: what is "the latter rain" of the Holy Spirit? Is that blessing falling today, like showers of rain on thirsty crops? What is the purpose of this blessing that the Bible says God will "pour out" on His people worldwide (Zech. 10:1)? How can we distinguish between God's true latter rain and the counterfeit?

Can we who want it learn something from the history of the "early rain"? After over three years of teaching, the disciples were finally ready to be "with one accord in one place" (Acts 2:1).

All their individual desires for promotion were finally laid aside. Self was finally crucified with Christ so that sinful pride was humbled in the dust. Not one was seeking the highest place in the early church; each was ready to wash the feet of others.

They were not praying for power so they could be vindicated before the unbelieving scribes and Pharisees, or to be self-exalted triumphantly; they were praying for something new--the gift of love (agape). In fact, they had just begun to understand what love (agape) is! They had finally received a sobering lesson--they had seen agape in the self-emptying sacrifice of Christ.

Like a burst of lightning on a dark night or the sun shining in full strength at midnight, they had come face to face with the reality of what it cost their Saviour to save them. The Lamb of God had died the world's "wages of sin." He had "poured out His soul unto death" (Isa. 53:12), which the apostles clearly understood was the world's second death. Christ had suffered the horrors of hell in order to save us. And death and hell could not hold the Divine One who had made this supreme sacrifice of agape. Now self had to be crucified together with Christ! When they surveyed the wondrous cross on which they had seen the Prince of glory die, their richest gain they counted loss, and poured contempt on all their pride. Is there any lesson here?

The lesson for us who await "the latter rain" is sharply focused. The "early rain" wasn't a miracle of elocution that wrought that great work in the hearts of thousands. Peter didn't show off as a brilliant man. The miracle of "tongues" was only secondary to something greater than itself.

What got through to thousands of human hearts that day was a truth they had never dreamed of: they were guilty of the body and blood of the divine Son of God! They had murdered the Messiah! They couldn't blame the Romans and the chief priests. Now they had discovered their corporate guilt. Peter said, "Let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God has made that same Jesus, whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:36). "Men of Israel, ... you denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted to you, and killed the Prince of life" (Acts 3:12-15).

There are some simple, clear facts that will at least begin to clear up our perplexity. Now, after 2,000 years, we expect the gift of the Holy Spirit to be given again as the complement of the "former" blessing.

The "former rain" was the light of truth that was given as a gift--it was the perception of the truth that God's professed people had rejected, murdered, and crucified the Lord of glory. Peter proclaimed that those people present there had crucified the Messiah, the Son of God. "Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart" (Acts 2:36, 37).

The latter rain will therefore be a gift of the Holy Spirit that will bring the true and ultimate conviction of sin that only He can bring to human hearts: the guilt of the crucifixion of Christ is oursin. But that is a truth that we don't comprehend clearly, as yet. According to Zechariah 12:10-13:1, when God's people do grasp that reality, there will come the greatest repentance of the ages. It will become the "final" experience of reconciliation with Christ, something known as "the final atonement."

This will make possible a movement, a second "Pentecost," a message to be proclaimed worldwide that will "lighten the earth with glory," and prepare a people for Christ's return.

--Paul E. Penno

Notes:
Pastor Paul Penno's video of this lesson is on the Internet at: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hb1S8huvYas

Many of Pastor Penno's sermons are on YouTube in Spanish. Just type pastor paul penno en español in the search bar.

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

RR

Raul Diaz

https://about.me/raul.diaz

Lesson 4: Prayer Power: Interceding for Others

Lesson 4: Prayer Power: Interceding for Others

 

There is one prayer that will always be answered with a resounding "Yes!" from the throne of God. It's in Luke 11 where Jesus tells about the man who had an unexpected hungry guest show up at midnight and he had no bread to feed him. He goes to his neighbor, bangs on the door, wakes him, asks, "Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him."

The point is, he is not saying, "Neighbor, I am hungry this midnight hour; feed me!" Rather, "Give me something I can pass on to someone else who is hungry."

And the dear Lord assures us, "He [God] will rise and give him as many as he needeth" And then to underline the assurance, He adds, "Ask, and it shall be given you," that is, to pass on to others (Luke 11:5-9).

You end up as a pipe through which some drops of the water of life flow to someone else. That's heaven on earth! And of course you may never see the answer to your prayer this side of the new earth, but that's okay. Just praying that prayer is joy enough, and thanking Him in advance. Now you have something to look forward to in heaven beyond your previous selfish desires--looking in the eyes of some now unknown recipient of the blessing you passed on. And you don't have to "preach." Just express love to someone.

In the great controversy between good and evil, intercessory prayer is a powerful weapon (2 Cor. 10:4, 5). God is doing everything He can to reach people without our prayers, but He is gracious and never violates their freedom of choice. However, our prayers make a difference because there are ground rules in the conflict between good and evil. One of the eternal laws of the universe is that God has given to every human being the freedom of choice. All the demons of darkness cannot force us to sin, and all the heavenly angels would never coerce us to do right. God voluntarily limits Himself by our choices. He does not use force to motivate our service to Him.

When we intercede for someone else, it enables God to work in ways that He could not work if we did not pray. In the cosmic conflict between the forces of heaven and the legions of darkness, God honors our freedom of choice to pray for another by powerfully working on their behalf. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Ellen White declares the efficacy of intercessory prayer in this remarkable statement: "Ministering angels are waiting about the throne to instantly obey the mandate of Jesus Christ to answer every prayer offered in earnest, living faith." [1]

As our prayers ascend to the throne of God, Jesus commissions heavenly angels to instantly descend to earth. He empowers them to beat back the forces of darkness that are battling for the mind of the individual for whom we are interceding. The individual has the freedom to choose Christ or Satan. Our prayers do not force or manipulate the will; they provide the best opportunity for the individual to see the issues clearly, providing them the best possibility of choosing eternal life.

How about praying the Lord's Prayer? "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever" (Matt. 6:13). It's a complete prayer; it encompasses the entire plan of salvation.

Every time we pray the Lord's Prayer, we pray the prayer that may be over our heads in understanding: "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven" (vs. 10).

The "kingdom" has not yet "come." It's been awaiting establishment now for 2000 years since Christ gave us this prayer of expectation; many who reverence the Bible as the Word of God wrestle with the conviction that it's overdue. It's been hindered. They also are convicted that if there is any delay, the honor of God will be compromised.

The coming of "the kingdom" is equivalent to the great "other angel [who] comes out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him who sits on the cloud, 'Thrust in Your sickle, and reap; for the time is come for You to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe" (Rev. 14:15). It's the grand close of probationary history of this earth.

The coming of the kingdom is also equivalent to the grand climax of Christ's work as the world's High Priest: "We have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, ... not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin" (Heb. 4:14, 15). The High Priest's work is to reconcile the alienated hearts of God's people to Him; another name for that is the ministry of the antitypical Day of Atonement, a simple word, at-one-with-God-in-heart. Yes, for that to happen would be a miracle; but that's what the Lord's Prayer has been praying for all this long while!

Another word for that is "the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary" (Dan. 8:14), a phrase that makes sense only if it is understood as the cleansing of the hearts of God's people from all sin, known and also unknown. The honor and vindication of Christ in the "great controversy with Satan" is involved in thus establishing "the kingdom." That is our true motivation, something that transcends our concern for saving our own poor little souls.

That includes the healing of the wound that Lucifer's rebellion and Adam and Eve's sin in joining with the great rebel, have caused.

Praying the Lord's Prayer constantly reminds you and me of the privilege we have of a part in bringing the great controversy to a close.

In fact, when we pray the Lord's Prayer we find we can't wait so we can get back to work to do what we can to help in the great crisis now going on.

Our part in the "great controversy" may be small; but the Lord does not "despise the day of small things" (Zech. 4:10). God delights in blessing you when you share a New Covenant truth with someone discouraged and confused. This helps fulfill the Lord's Prayer which says, "Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven."

--Paul E. Penno

Endnote:
[1] Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, book 2, p. 377.

Notes:
Pastor Paul Penno's video of this lesson is on the Internet at: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3DF_-8KcfM

Many of Pastor Penno's sermons are on YouTube in Spanish. Just type pastor paul penno en español in the search bar.

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

RR

Raul Diaz

https://about.me/raul.diaz

Lesson 3: Seeing People Through Jesus' Eyes

Lesson 3: Seeing People Through Jesus' Eyes

 

About 20 years ago there was a Christian movement that identified itself by wearing jewelry and bracelets with "WWJD?" on them--"What Would Jesus Do?" The idea was that the wearer was declaring that their actions and words took place with this question foremost in their minds. If presented with a situation, they would ask themselves: what would Jesus do if He were confronted with this problem?

The biggest problem that Jesus ever faced was the rebellion of His creatures when Adam and Eve sinned by listening to the Enemy and turning their backs on their Maker. It was not an insurmountable problem, neither was it a problem which the Godhead was unprepared to meet. The problem was promptly answered by Jesus Himself. "I will put enmity [intense hatred] between you [Satan] and My beloved. They have turned their backs on Me now, but they will come to realize the intensity of My eternal love for them, and they will return to Me." That is His promise to all who will believe.

Jesus looked with pity upon His deceived human friends, and with His divine arm He encircled them in His embrace of love. Forgiveness was immediate, even though Adam did not ask for it. "As soon as there was sin, there was a Saviour." The death penalty did not fall on Adam because "the instant man accepted the temptations of Satan, and did the very things God had said he should not do, Christ, the Son of God, stood between the living and the dead, saying, 'Let the punishment fall on Me. I will stand in man's place. He shall have another chance.'" [1] Adam well knew the punishment for sinning; the death penalty was clearly presented to him by God Himself. "In the day that you eat of this tree, you will die." (Gen. 2:17).

What would Jesus do when His children rebelled against Him? He laid down His life for them. "Let the punishment fall on Me, so that man can have another chance." Each and every human being ever born into this world was born because of the gift of Jesus' death for them. In theological terms this is called "legal justification" and it took place "as soon as there was sin" in this world through Adam's fall. The human race was placed on a second probation to see how, individually, we would handle the gift of God's Son. Through His death Jesus redeemed the human race. "He has bought us; and having bought us, He has broken every bond that hindered us from serving Him. If we but believe, we have the victory that has overcome the world. 1 John 5:4; John 16:33." [2]

Jesus saved us from the just penalty of the broken law that demanded the death of the sinner. He did this by "being made a curse for us" (Gal. 3:13). "Sin can have no dominion over us if we accept Christ in truth and without reserve. This was just as much present truth in the days of Abraham, Moses, David, and Isaiah, as it is today." [3]

In the Garden that fateful day when Adam sinned, victory was obtained for the whole human race through the promise of God's everlasting covenant which is the eternal promise that the Son of God would lay down His life to save us. "This victory, in its fullness, is free to every soul in Christ Jesus. It is received by faith in Jesus. It is accomplished and maintained by 'the faith of Jesus,' which He wrought out in perfection, and has given to every believer in Him. For 'this is the victory which overcometh the world, even our faith.'" [4]

When we "see people through Jesus' eyes" we will see that they are saved by His precious blood. They are already one of God's children, destined for the eternal kingdom. All were "chosen before the foundation of the world" as "adopted children in Jesus Christ" (Eph. 1:4, 5). There is no difference in race, social position in life, male or female, Jew or Gentile. All were included in that promise to place enmity in our hearts against sin and Satan so that we might learn to appreciate the gift of God's love for us, demonstrated through His Son, who laid down His life for His friends (John 15:13; Rom. 5:10).

This being the truth, it is our responsibility as God's witnesses to declare to all who have not heard this good news that they already have forgiveness for their sins. No one is asked to make himself "good" before he can come to God. No one is capable of "making himself good." That is an impossibility. We are all "without strength" and completely incapable of making ourselves any better than we are: "wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked" (Rev. 3:17).

Jesus' mission was to save the world, and salvation comes only through His compassion and love. "At the time of Christ's first advent the world was in a terrible condition. Men were being controlled by satanic agencies. The Majesty of heaven looked with pity on the human race. He saw that Satan was gaining control of the bodies and minds of men, and Christ knew that He alone could break the enemy's power. It was because of this that He laid off His kingly crown and royal robe, and clothing His divinity with humanity, came to our world to meet the powers of darkness, and to hold in check the forces of Satan. This was His work. A counter-working influence, coming from the highest authority, was to hold the enemy in check, and resist his power." [5]

"The Lord wants everyone to be saved, and that with the very fullness of salvation. And therefore He has given to every one of us the very fullness of grace, because it is grace that brings salvation. For it is written, 'The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,' Titus 2:11. Thus the Lord wants all to be saved, and therefore He gave all of His grace, bringing salvation to all." [6]

If ever there was powerful good news, this is it! "To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God" (2 Cor. 5:19, 20). God has already done what is necessary for the salvation of the whole human race. Our assignment as God's ambassadors is to bring this good news to the people we come into contact with on a daily basis.

--Ann Walper

Endnotes:
[1] Ellen G. White, Letter 22, Feb. 13, 1900.
[2] E. J. Waggoner, The Glad Tidings, p. 13; CFI ed. (2016).
[3] Ibid., p. 66.
[4] A. T. Jones, Review and Herald, Oct. 2, 1900; cf. Gal. 2:16, 20; Rom. 12:3.
[5] Ellen G. White, Review and Herald, January 21, 1909.
[6] A. T. Jones, Review and Herald, April 17, 1894.

Notes:
Pastor Paul Penno's video of this lesson is on the Internet at: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMUp5ehWZ6Q

Many of Pastor Penno's sermons are on YouTube in Spanish. Just type pastor paul penno en español in the search bar.

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

RR

Raul Diaz

https://about.me/raul.diaz

Lesson 1: Why Witness?

Lesson 1: Why Witness?

 

When we are changed by the grace of God, charmed by His matchless love, and redeemed by the power of Christ, we cannot be silent. We long to tell the story of Christ with others.

Let's spend a few weeks looking at each lesson during this quarter in the light of the 1888 message which God has given us to give to the world.

The Bible tells us that God would very much like for everyone to go to heaven, because He "will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth." Christ "gave Himself a ransom for all" (1 Timothy 2:3-6). The Father and the Son personally love each person on earth, no matter how much he may have sinned. The Holy Spirit says to each one, "Come" (Revelation 22:17).

The idea that Christ is running the special "shop" of salvation here, and He stays inside like a shopkeeper until the sinner takes the initiative to come seek Him out, is not what the Bible says! We must mention two reasons for this:

First, Christ is the Good Shepherd who does not wait for the lost sheep to try to find its way home again; He always goes in search of it: "I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth His life for the sheep" (John 10:11). The lost sheep may be lost out on the hills on a wild, stormy night; no matter. The Good Shepherd leaves His "ninety and nine" and at the risk of His own life goes out in the wildest storm imaginable through the mountains "until He find it" He goes "after that which is lost, until He find it" (Luke 15:4).

Second, "The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10).

Don't imagine that you can save yourself, or that you have grown up on the right side of the railroad tracks so you are naturally almost saved on your own; if the Lord were to leave us to ourselves, we would be hopelessly lost.

Think of a shepherd of sheep; he has had a hard day, he is tired and hungry; his wife has cooked his favorite roast for supper; but as he counts his sheep, he finds that one is not there; it's out somewhere in the mountains.

A wild storm is brewing; she says, "Come and rest and eat your supper, you have 99 sheep, are they not enough for you?"

But he can't rest and eat; one sheep is lost.

So out in the wild storm he goes, maybe looking all night, cold and hungry; he must find that one sheep!

And who is it? You personally, and me personally.

No human being can possibly believe until first of all he hears the good news. You cannot originate faith within yourself apart from understanding God's love. No one has a self-starter. We cannot make our own atonement apart from the revelation of Christ.

Even faith itself is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8). "How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher ... [of] glad tidings of good things! ... Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:14-17).

The moment you hear the smallest beginning of that good news, make a choice immediately to believe it. Don't delay even a moment.

The evangelist who has understood "the third angel's message in verity" (the 1888 message) has the glorious privilege of being the one who tells it so it grips hearts. He forgets himself; he is caught up in the whirlwind of the Holy Spirit, whether his audience is large or small. "In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, 'If anyone thirsts, let him come unto Me and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water'" (John 7:27, 28; compare Song of Solomon 4:15).

This glorious final movement began at the 1888 General Conference Session at Minneapolis, but it was disliked, shoved away, and "in a great degree" rejected and "kept away" from both "our people" and "from the world." [1]

Doesn't it make good sense to recover the message as the "messengers," A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner, brought it, the ones who were given "heavenly credentials"?

When the gospel is presented in the light of the great cosmic Day of Atonement, and the truths of the cross shine clearly, Pentecost can be repeated. The apostles brought to the people the conviction that they had crucified their Lord of glory, and yet there was forgiveness for them. Then only they could truly fear the Lord.

In 2 Corinthians 5:14-15, the apostle Paul notes that some people think he's crazy for wearing himself out in service for Jesus; (he calls himself "a slave of Jesus Christ" Romans 1:1), but he explains that a new motivation has possessed him. "The love of Christ constraineth us." And it's not a shallow sentimentalism, for he says "we judge thus, that if One died for all, then all died" (New King James Version).

That's a reasonable, common-sense deduction! One-dying-for-all means that if One had not so died, all would be dead. (He clearly saw that the "death" Jesus died was his own second death.) And from that common-sense deduction, Paul's soul is moved with such total gratitude that "henceforth" he can no longer live unto himself; "I am crucified with Christ" becomes his daily heart-choice. No ugly fear clouds the pure flame of his devotion. He is a "slave" of love, a heart appreciation of what it cost the Son of God to save him from hell itself.

--Paul E. Penno

Endnote:
[1] Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, vol. 1, pp. 234, 235.

Notes:
Pastor Paul Penno's video of this lesson is on the Internet at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYjlsN2IDNg

Many of Pastor Penno's sermons are on YouTube in Spanish. Just type pastor paul penno en español in the search bar.

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

RR

Raul Diaz

https://about.me/raul.diaz

Lesson 10: The Bible as History

Sabbath School Today
With the 1888 Message Dynamic

How to Interpret Scripture
Lesson 10: The Bible as History

 

Through His covenant promise, God works directly with His agents--Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and the prophets--to see that history's prophetic destiny of the promised Messiah is fulfilled. In the "fullness of the time," God sends His Son, the ultimate divine act in human history, to pay the penalty for humanity's rebellion against the divine law of God's government (Gal. 4:4).

All creation anticipates Christ's proclamation from the cross: "It is finished" (John 19:30). As prophesied, after three days, He breaks free of the tomb, appears to hundreds of people, and ascends to heaven.

He then goes into the Holy Place to perform His High Priestly ministry before entering the Most Holy in 1844 for the pre-Advent judgment. The prophet Daniel foresaw that it would take 2300 years (Dan. 8:14) for God's people to realize an understanding of the extent of God's purposes in Christ to redeem and eliminate sin through His shed blood.

When God's judgment is finished, He returns in triumphant glory to claim His ransomed people. The scope of Scripture thus spans the beginning and end of human history.

No other sacred religious text provides this perspective of totality in time and place. No other books, secular or sacred, contain prophetic messages of God's omniscient foreknowledge and His intervention in human affairs.

Why do we need to go back in history to 1888 and devote time to what happened there? 1888 marks a significant progression in the understanding of God's people in coming to a full knowledge of the plan of salvation.

Ellen White put it succinctly: "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]

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 (Dan. 8:14; Rev. 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 "special power of the Holy Spirit that God longed to impart to them" "was resisted, and by the action of our own brethren has been in a great degree kept away from the world." [2] This is the primary reason for the long delay in the finishing of our gospel commission. The Lord has not delayed His return; we have 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." [3] 

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." [4] 

But what difference does this make to us in 2020? Does this terrible sin of 1888 have any appreciable affect on us now?

Yes, this sin does have a serious affect on our relationship to the Holy Spirit today. It has delayed the preparation of God's people for the coming of the Lord for over 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 we are told that "sin has continued its hateful work, reaching from mind to mind" [5] 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 those who have gone before us. They insulted the Holy Spirit and showed enmity against Christ through His delegated messengers.

Until full understanding of our history and a full repentance bring full healing and reconciliation, the spiritual alienation will continue. The hard hearts and mind set of our predecessors 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. Large numerical increases to the church do not necessarily indicate the reception of the Latter Rain. Christ will reap the mature grain harvest at His coming (Rev. 14:15), which is prepared by the message of the Holy Spirit. This Latter Rain message--the cleansing of the sanctuary--began in our history during the 1888 era.

--Paul E. Penno

Endnotes:
[1] Life Sketches of Ellen G. White, p. 196.
[2] Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, book 1, pp. 234-235.
[3] TheEllen G. White 1888 Materials, p. 1043 [1892].
[4] TheEllen G. White 1888 Materials, p. 1479.
[5] Review and Herald, April 16, 1901.
[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=vRnxZsuK3XQ

Many of Pastor Penno's sermons are on YouTube in Spanish. Just type pastor paul penno en español in the search bar.

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

RR

Raul Diaz

https://about.me/raul.diaz

Lesson 8: Creation: Genesis as Foundation--Part 1

Sabbath School Today
With the 1888 Message Dynamic

How to Interpret Scripture
Lesson 8: Creation: Genesis as Foundation--Part 1

 

The book of Genesis contains or anticipates all of the truths found in the Bible. In spite of accusations that the stories are myths, our culture borrows freely from it. The question, "am I my brother's keeper," is still a common phrase, though few know its origin. Many other examples come to mind. Some secular universities even teach creation concepts in science classes under the names "creationism" or "intelligent design." Christians know that the word of God contains a power that attends no other written or spoken word. Perhaps students who study this biblical book, even if taught as myth, will come to hear the voice of God.

God begins His written record with simple words: "in the beginning." We might ask, "the beginning of what?" All creation necessarily has a beginning, but God is eternal and has no beginning. Thus, even though the book begins with "in the beginning" it cannot be referring to God's beginning. This book answers the perennial question, "how did we get here?" That alone justifies including the Genesis account as part of legitimate study.

Jesus Christ Himself is the Beginning (Col. 1:18). He is the beginning of the creation of God (Rev. 3:14). He is the power of God, and the wisdom of God (1 Cor. 1:24). He is the one speaking in the eighth chapter of Proverbs saying, "The Lord possessed Me in the beginning of His way, before His works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was" (Prov. 8:20-23). The words "set up" come from a single Hebrew word meaning "anointed." This word is also used in the second chapter of Psalms, "But as for Me, I have installed My King upon Zion, My holy mountain. I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to Me, 'Thou art My Son, today I have begotten Thee.'" (Psalm 2:4-7, New American Standard Bible).

How can Jesus be the beginning of creation? It is true that the fleshly body of Jesus had not yet been prepared "in the beginning." However, God is eternal, and He speaks of things that happen in points of time as if they already exist since He cannot lie. In Genesis 3:15 God promised the world a Redeemer Who would accomplish the necessary things to restore fallen mankind to a direct communion with God.

"For Seventh-day Adventists, the book of Genesis is of special significance. Not only does it explain and justify their keeping of the seventh-day Sabbath as a people united in a covenant with the God of Israel, it also substantiates their 'advent' hope, when the world will be restored to its original 'Genesis' state. It is noteworthy that nearly all Seventh-day Adventists beliefs are both found in and founded on this book: the seventh-day Sabbath ... the unity of human nature ... conditional immortality ... the Law of God ... the great controversy ... salvation ... substitutionary atonement ... the practice of tithe ... the ideal of a plant-based diet ... the distinction between clean and unclean meats ... the meaning of baptism (1:1-3; cf. 1 Peter 3:21), the cosmic significance of the sanctuary doctrine ... the creation ... the Trinity ... the responsibility of mission to the nations ... and the gift of prophecy (3:15; 20:6)." [1]

It is generally accepted that Moses wrote the first five books of the bible of which Genesis is the first. Before the flood people relied on their memories to pass down stories to the next generation. Adam lived for almost a thousand years, so he could verify stories as they were handed down. If anything was written before the flood, nothing has been found. Mankind's life expectancy quickly diminished after the flood. The Genesis account makes no attempt to provide a complete history of everyone in the world before or after the flood, but focuses on the people who believed in the one true God. After the flood, the focus is on Abram, one of apparently few humans who still believed in a single, all-powerful God. He is chosen to begin the nation that Jehovah would use to demonstrate to the world just Who He is and how He deals with humans.

God called Abram out of Ur, in the Chaldean area at the southwest portion of Babylonian territories. Ur is on the Euphrates river just west of where it joins with the Tigris river, which continues south emptying into the modern day Persian Gulf. These geographic locations still exist, mutely testifying to the accuracy of the Genesis record. The Tigris and Euphrates were originally identified in Genesis 2:10-14 as the third and fourth rivers that arose from the river that God placed in Eden. It seems significant that God did not allow the cataclysmic dynamics of the flood to obliterate two of the four rivers originally placed in the antediluvian world.

Our Quarterly asks the question "What difference does it make to know that you were created by God?" (p. 65). This question goes to the value of a human being. We are told that humans were created in "the image" of God. There is tremendous encouragement in knowing that. Much more value can be given to a human created by God, in His image, compared to the theory that a piece of slime slid off a ledge in some primeval forest and somehow triggered an evolutionary advantage to that particular piece of slime resulting in development of the human race.

Two institutions, marriage and the Sabbath, were created by God at the end of creation week. The concept of "rest" is inherent in both. Since we know that Adam was created on the sixth day, he did not need to rest from labor, but God wanted him to enter into God's rest. The Sabbath was created so mankind could have an entire 24-hour period where he did not need to "labor and do all your work." That is a very practical reason to enter into God's rest, but there are always spiritual aspects in His design. He knew that in addition to physical rest we needed mental rest as well. Focusing our thoughts on our Creator is an essential part of rest, yet so often humans completely ignore this to their detriment.

"But God always was and is everywhere present; why then do not all people have rest?--For the simple reason that as a general thing men do not recognize His presence, nor even His existence. Instead of taking God into account in all the affairs of life, most people live as though He did not exist. 'Without faith it is impossible to please Him; for he that cometh to God must believe that He is.' Heb. 11:6. This shows that the general inability to please God, and so to find rest, arises from practical unbelief that He exists." [2]

The "rest" inherent in marriage also has practical and spiritual implications. "In Christ we have the rest and the inheritance; but in order to be made partakers of Christ we must 'hold fast the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end.' Heb. 3:14." [3]There is no rest out of Christ, either in marriage or on the Sabbath. It is significant that in order to adequately create "man in our image" two separate beings were required.

The relationship of marriage is also used to represent the relationship Jesus wants to have with His church. Yet Christ told the disciples, "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).

A happy marriage is one in which the husband and wife are committed to making things work even though there will be "tribulation." The knowledge that both respect their marital commitment produces a restful relationship. Likewise, Christ has fulfilled His commitment to the church. He made promises to restore the broken relationship to Adam and Eve. He worked out a righteousness that the bride requires to "make herself ready" and paid the penalty for sin at the cross. All the bride needs to do is enter into that rest by faith.

--Arlene Hill

Endnotes:
[1] Jacques B. Doukhan, Seventh-day Adventist International Bible Commentary,p. 22.
[2] Ellet J. Waggoner, The Everlasting Covenant: God's Promises to Us, pp. 283-284; Glad Tidings ed., 2002.
[3] Ibid., p. 288.

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

Many of Pastor Penno's sermons are on YouTube in Spanish. Just type pastor paul penno en español in the search bar.

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

RR

Raul Diaz

https://about.me/raul.diaz

Lesson 6: Why Is Interpretation Needed?

Lesson 6: Why Is Interpretation Needed?

 

"Interpretation"

To interpret means to explain what is unintelligible,--to put that which is vague and mysterious into plain language.

The Bible Plain. But the Bible does not stand in need of this. It is simple and plain to those who are simple enough to believe just what it says, without trying to make it fit their ideas.

Light. David said, "Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path" (Psalm 119:105). A light is for the purpose of making other things clear; but a light which could not be seen without the aid of another light, would not be much of a light.

All Light. Even the most difficult portions of the Bible are for the purpose of giving light. "We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts" (2 Peter 1:19). "At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou halt hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast: revealed them unto babes" (Matt. 11:25).

The Difficulty. How is it, then, that people find such difficulty in understanding the Bible? It is because there is a settled conviction in the minds of most people that the Bible does not mean what it says. Accordingly people will go everywhere except to the Bible, to find out the meaning of the Bible. They get from some source or other an idea of what the Bible means, and then try to fit the language of the Bible to that idea. This makes necessary a "system of interpretation;" and as different classes of people have different ideas, so there are different systems of interpretation, and all tend to obscure the light.

Teachers. Is there, then, no need of teachers? Indeed there is. The gift of teaching is third in order of the gifts of Christ, and is above the gift of working miracles. See 1 Corinthians 12:28. But remember that it is a gift of the Spirit. Teaching the Bible properly does not consist in "interpreting" it by human wisdom, but in "comparing spiritual things with spiritual" (1 Cor. 2:12, 13), by the aid of the Spirit, whose office it is to guide into all truth (John 16:13).

Example of Christ. Jesus, the great Teacher, who was anointed with the Holy Spirit for the purpose of preaching the Gospel to the poor, occupied His time in directing the minds of the people to the Word. They could not understand it because they had glossed it over so much with human speculation and tradition. See Matthew 15:3, 6-9; John 5:46, 47.

The Walk to Emmaus. When He walked with the two disciples to Emmaus, "He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself" (Luke 24:27). That is, as they had been slow of heart to believe, He set the Scriptures so plainly before them that they could not help seeing them as they were, and, referring to the matter, they said, "Did not our heart burn within us, while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us the Scriptures?" (verse 32).

The Opened Word. That is what is wanted. Let the Scriptures be opened. "The opening of Thy words giveth light" (Psalm 119:130). For they themselves are light. "It giveth understanding to the simple." What is necessary is that we should consider what the Lord says, and He will give us "understanding in all things" (2 Tim. 2:7).

Rest on the Word. Before the crucifixion Jesus had told the disciples these things. He had spoken plainly of His coming decease. But the difficulty was that they did not listen to what He said. Their thoughts were on their own plans, their own ideas as to how it ought to be, and notwithstanding the plainest statements, they did not hear what He told them. Now, when the Lord had been removed from their sight, and they failed to recognise Him on the walk to Emmaus, He directed their minds to the Word, and they saw what they could not see before because they listened to it without preconceived opinions and plans of their own. It is evident that "their eyes were holden that they should not know Him" in order that their faith might rest on the Scriptures alone, and that having found Christ and His life in the Word their faith might stand when His visible presence was removed from them.

--Ellet J. Waggoner, one of the 1888 "messengers"
The Present Truth, vol. 11, no. 38, (Sept. 19, 1895), pp. 593, 594.

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

Many of Pastor Penno's sermons are on YouTube in Spanish. Just type pastor paul penno en español in the search bar.

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

RR

Raul Diaz

https://about.me/raul.diaz

Lesson 5: By Scripture Alone--Sola Scriptura

Sabbath School Today
With the 1888 Message Dynamic

How to Interpret Scripture
Lesson 5: By Scripture Alone--Sola Scriptura

 

The 1888 message is all about "sola scriptura"--the Bible "alone" as its source. The message is not opinion or imagination, but was gleaned from God's holy Word by two men who were avid Bible students.

The General Conference Session that was held at Minneapolis in the fall of 1888, opened with a Bible Institute that convened October 10. The general business session began on October 18 and ran more than two full weeks, ending on Sunday November 4. This church conference was one of the most significant meetings ever convened by the church. At those meetings, God attempted to shed light on the fact that the church leaders had succumbed to legalism in their presentation of the message of Christ's second coming.

The leaders, especially George I. Butler, Uriah Smith, and J.H. Morrison, arrayed their influence against A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner, two young men from California. Butler had been president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church since 1872. Smith was the first secretary of the General Conference, elected in 1863 and served in 1876 as the General Conference treasurer. Smith began working in the offices of Advent Review and Sabbath Heraldin 1853 and became its editor in 1855, a position he was repeatedly elected to for more than 45 years.

Jones and Waggoner were considered "up-starts" and untrained in theology. Jones served in the army, and during that time he developed a passionate interest in ancient history. Beginning in 1887, Jones became the editor of the American Sentinel,the magazine that eventually became the church's official organ of the religious liberty department of the church (Libertymagazine). In 1897, Jones was appointed editor of the Review and Heraldmagazine. He held this position until 1901. Uriah Smith worked as his associate editor. From 1901 to 1903, Jones served as president of the California Conference. Waggoner was a medical doctor, who in 1883 stopped practicing medicine and became the assistant editor for the Signs of the Times, serving under his father.

The opposers of the message presented at the 1888 General Conference Session claimed that Jones was cocky, arrogant and lacked respect for the older brethren who had been at the head of the work for many years. They considered Waggoner's views on the law in Galatians chapter 3 to be Biblically unsound, and a detriment to the Adventist evangelism work because, to Butler and Smith, it undermined their foundation for preaching the Sabbath commandment.

Because Waggoner had published an article in the Signs of the Timesthat was strongly opposed by Smith and Butler, "the law in Galatians" became the topic of controversy at Minneapolis. When A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner were challenged on their presentation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and His righteousness as the only source of our salvation, they stood before the Minneapolis conference delegates and presented their case entirely from Scripture.

In reply to their opponents at that conference Jones and Waggoner stood before the delegates with their open Bibles, nothing more. Waggoner read a verse, and then Jones read a verse, and so it went until they had presented the entire message from their Bibles alone. It would do us well if we dwelt upon the verses they presented, studying them deeply, just as Waggoner and Jones did. It was through a deep, prayerful, Holy Spirit-led study of these verses that they arrived at the truths they presented at Minneapolis. When we become thoroughly conversant in these verses--having knowledge and experience in them--then we will be able to defend the message of Christ and His righteousness against any dissenter.

Waggoner opened their presentation by reading Jeremiah 23:5-7. Jones followed by reading Ephesians 2:4-8. Waggoner: Galatians 2:16-21; Jones: Romans 11:1-33. Waggoner: Romans 1:14-17; Jones: Romans 2:12-29. Waggoner: the whole of Galatians chapter 3; Jones: the whole of Romans chapter 3. Waggoner: Galatians 5:1-6; Jones: Romans 9:7-33. Waggoner: the whole of Galatians chapter 2; Jones: Romans 4:1-11. Waggoner: the whole of Romans chapter 5; Jones: Romans 1:15-17. Waggoner: Romans 8:14-39; Jones: 1 John 5:1-4. [1]

When Jones and Waggoner completed their readings, they calmly took their seats without further comment. The men gathered in that small church in Minneapolis were stunned into silence.

The following summer, Mrs. White was asked whether she endorsed the message presented by Jones and Waggoner and her reply was: "When Brother Waggoner brought out these ideas in Minneapolis, it was the first clear teaching on this subject from any human lips I had heard, excepting the conversations between myself and my husband. I have said to myself, It is because God has presented it to me in vision that I see it so clearly, and they [the church leaders who were in opposition] cannot see it because they have never had it presented to them as I have. And when another presented it, every fiber of my heart said, Amen." [2]

Ellen White called the message of Christ and His righteousness that Jones and Waggoner taught at Minneapolis in 1888 "the most precious message," because it brought "more prominently before the world the uplifted Saviour, the sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. It presented justification through faith in the Surety; it invited the people to receive the righteousness of Christ, which is made manifest in obedience to all the commandments of God." [3]

This statement flies in the face of those who claimed during that time of early opposition that Waggoner's view on the law in Galatians destroyed their foundation for presenting commandment-keeping, especially Sabbath-keeping. Ellen White recognized that when we believe the message we will become commandment-keepers by faith, and not commandment-keepers by works, striving to keep the law in our own power. In his treatise on the Book of Galatians, Waggoner wrote that we "become doers of the law." This is what "righteous" means--a doer of the law by faith in the power of Christ to work out His own character in our lives. "How shall we become doers of the law, and thus escape wrath, or the curse? The answer is, 'He who through faith is righteous shall live.' By faith, not by works, we become doers of the law! 'With the heart man believeth unto righteousness.' (Romans 10:10)." [4]

Today many voices are being raised proclaiming that overcoming sin is an impossibility, and some even claim that overcoming is not necessary for "salvation." God just "declares" us saved and that's enough to get us a "ticket" into heaven at the second coming of Christ. These voices tell us that there is no such thing as a "final generation" through whom God will demonstrate His righteous character of love to the dying world. The increasing argument is that no character change is necessary; no true heart obedience is required. But people who make this claim are "false guideposts."

"I have no smooth message to bear to those who have been so long as false guideposts, pointing the wrong way. If you reject Christ's delegated messengers, you reject Christ. Neglect this great salvation, kept before you for years, despise this glorious offer of justification through the blood of Christ and sanctification through the cleansing power of the Holy Spirit, and there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation." [5]

Let us be like A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner, diligent students of the Bible, searching for the deep things of God that we may present them clearly to anyone who asks us. In this way, we will be true Protestants and able to stand in the final hours of this earth's history.

--Ann Walper

 

Endnotes:
[1] From R. T. Nash, "An Eye Witness Account," Manuscripts and Memories of Minneapolis 1888, p. 35.
[2] Ellen G. White, Manuscript 5, 1889, 10; Sermon, Rome, New York, June 19, 1889.
[3] Ellen G. White, Testimonies to Ministers, pp. 91, 92.
[4] E. J. Waggoner, The Glad Tidings, p. 58.
[5] Testimonies to Ministers, p. 97.

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

Many of Pastor Penno's sermons are on YouTube in Spanish. Just type pastor paul penno en español in the search bar.

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

RR

Raul Diaz

https://about.me/raul.diaz