Lesson 13. The Return of Our Lord Jesus

Sabbath School Today
With the 1888 Message Dynamic

Preparation for the End Time
Lesson 13. The Return of Our Lord Jesus

Why have 2000 years of human suffering had to drag by since Christ the Saviour of the world was born? Why the long delay of the second coming?

The popular view taught through most of these 2000 years is that when good people die they go straight to heaven, or at least to purgatory to be purified for heaven--the doctrine of "natural immortality of the soul." But the Bible teaches that those who die, sleep until the resurrection day (John 11:11). And the resurrection depends on the second coming of Christ, for He alone can raise the dead (John 5:25-29; 1 Thess. 4:16, 17). And when Jesus returns, those who are not ready will not be able to endure the glory of His appearing (2 Thess. 1:7-10). And therefore the time of Christ's second coming depends on His people getting ready, for He would not dare to come if they are not ready (Heb. 12:29).

Jesus likens His people getting ready to a farmer's crop growing up and maturing until it is ready for harvest (Mark 4:26-29). The growing up makes it possible for Him to come the second time to "reap" the "harvest" (Rev. 14:14, 15). But the "crop" cannot become mature until "the latter rain" of the Holy Spirit's outpouring comes (Joel 2:23, 24). The "former rain" fell at Pentecost at the beginning of the Christian dispensation; but the latter rain will close that dispensation. Therefore nothing can be more important than for the church to seek the blessing of the latter rain (Zech. 10:1).

And where is the good news? The latter rain is the 1888 message of "much more abounding grace," a clearer view of what the Saviour of the world has done for us, a revelation of His love (agape) that "constrains" every honest-hearted soul to live unto Him and not unto self (2 Cor. 5:14, 15), so that this truth can "lighten the earth with glory" (Rev 18:1-4).

No Fear of His Coming

"Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me. ... If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also" (John 14:1-3).

Obviously, He doesn't want us to be afraid of His returning to our troubled earth. Anyone having no fear about His first coming need not be fearful regarding His second coming. For those who believe, it is easy to see how this is the most welcome, exciting good news. But will it be the same for everyone?

When He went away, two angels assured His disciples, "This same Jesus ... shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven" (Acts 1:10, 11). Who was "this same Jesus"? He was a physical person, for after His resurrection He told His disciples, "Handle Me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see Me have" (Luke 24:39). He will come as a real Person in a literal, physical body and will interact with real people. "He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him" (Rev. 1:7).

But "this same Jesus" is not One with a different character. If He was loving and compassionate when He was here, He must be the same when He comes again. But what about those who irrevocably reject Him? His love and compassion must take a different form for them. It would not be love to perpetuate an existence which for them, would only be endless misery.

In a democracy, presidents or prime ministers are elected by the people's wishes. But at the present time, the vast majority of earth's inhabitants either don't know about it, don't believe it, don't care about it, or really don't want Jesus to come back to earth. That being so, then why should He?

Two compelling reasons make His personal return to this world necessary: "A time of trouble" will engulf the world (Dan. 12:1). A new and unhappy development on earth will make His intervention necessary--a final, ominous scene in the last act of the cosmic drama of the ages. Those in rebellion against God will issue a terrible and evil decree causing "as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed, ... and that no one might buy or sell, save one that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name" (Rev. 13:15-17).

In fact, at that fearful time only a few left on earth will not be bent on self-destruction. Christ's second coming will literally be a rescue mission of world proportions. As a nation ousts a tyrannical and cruel usurper and welcomes back its true sovereign, so His loyal subjects will long for, and even plead for, His return. In the end, the only sane and reasonable people left on earth will joyously welcome Christ at His glorious return. The Psalmist represents Him as enthroned upon the praises of His people (Psalm 22:3).

He is the world's rightful Ruler. He has been temporarily ousted by an overthrow engineered by an enemy--Satan, who subverted Adam and Eve in his rebellion (Gen. 3). When Christ first appeared as the world's Saviour, Satan deceived His own people into rejecting and crucifying Him. But far more than the Jews were involved, for "the kings of the earth stood up [took their stand], and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ" (Acts 4:26). Therefore the rightful Ruler of earth must return, take His rightful position and restore His peaceful and beneficent authority after the coup has run its course. The Lord speaks by His ancient prophet:

"'Take off the crown; nothing shall remain the same. Exalt the lowly, and abase the exalted. ... It shall be no longer, until He comes whose right it is, and I will give it [the crown] to Him'" (Eze. 21:26-27, New King James Version).

Although He came the first time as a meek and lowly One, He comes the second time as "KING OF KINGS and LORD OF LORDS" (Rev. 19:16).

--Paul E. Penno

Notes:
Pastor Paul Penno's video of this lesson is on the Internet at: https://youtu.be/slTed3zBAVI

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



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Lesson 12. Babylon and Armageddon

Sabbath School Today
With the 1888 Message Dynamic

Preparation for the End Time
Lesson 12. Babylon and Armageddon

 

To set the stage for the great battle of Armageddon, let's first answer some questions to make sure we understand what the Bible tells us about the timeframe and those involved.

"Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued" (Dan. 12:1).

This verse predicts a "time of distress such as never occurred," which occurs after Michael stands up.

"And I heard the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, as he raised his right hand and his left toward heaven, and swore by Him, who lives forever that it would be for a time, times, and half a time; and as soon as they finish shattering the power of the holy people, all these events will be completed" (vs. 7).

What is meant by "finish shattering the power of the holy people"?

"Many will be purged, purified and refined; but the wicked will act wickedly, and none of the wicked will understand, but those who have insight will understand (vs. 10).

How does God purge, purify and refine His "holy people?" God precipitates a time of trouble "such as never occurred."

Why does He do this? The book of Revelation tells us that its purpose is to "reveal" Jesus Christ (Rev. 1:1). He uses human beings to reveal Jesus, but how does He do this?

"In the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God is finished, as He preached to His servants the prophets" (Rev. 10:7).

What is this mystery and how is it accomplished?

"That is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations; but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you the hope of glory" (Col. 1:26, 27).

So, the mystery of God is finished in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel. Who is this angel?

"And the seventh angel sounded; and there arose loud voices in heaven, saying, 'The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever'" (Rev. 11:15).

We can therefore conclude that God will prepare a people at the very end of time who have accepted His purification process so completely that they reflect Christ perfectly.

Ellen White tells us that "Satan finds in human hearts some point where he can gain a foothold; ... But Christ declared of Himself: 'The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in Me.' John 14:30. Satan could find nothing in the Son of God that would enable him to gain the victory. He had kept His Father's commandments, and there was no sin in Him that Satan could use to his advantage. This is the condition in which those must be found who shall stand in the time of trouble. It is in this life that we are to separate sin from us, through faith in the atoning blood of Christ. ... None can neglect or defer this work but at the most fearful peril to their souls." [1]

At the prompting of Satan, Christ went through great trials and temptations while on this earth, which intensified at the end of His life as He went to the cross. This persecution of Christ continues in the person of His holy people, and like Christ's life, will intensify at the end of human history. But, God will seal His people so He can demonstrate to the angels and watching universe that He can, through the mystery of the indwelling Holy Spirit, write His law in their hearts and His law therefore can be kept.

This is the essence of the 1888 message. It is not through our own works that we are perfected because God has "shattered" the power of His holy people. It is entirely by faith that they are purified in God's refining fire.

After their faith is sealed, God's final judgments will fall in the form of the bowl "plagues" of Revelation 16. These literal plagues have not yet fallen, because they are declared to be the last plagues. They cannot fall until the world has been warned, and the work of salvation has closed. And that work cannot close as long as there is one human soul somewhere who will yet respond to the Good News of the grace of Christ.

As long as the Holy Spirit has been working in the earth, judgments and disasters have brought many people to think and to repent. But before the last plagues can be poured out, the Holy Spirit will have been driven finally from the earth by the rejection of the wicked. It will then be demonstrated that troubles will not bring to repentance those who have rejected God's goodness, for only "the kindness of God leads you to repentance" (Rom. 2:4).

It is during the pouring out of these plagues that the warnings against worshiping the beast and his image and receiving his mark will be fulfilled, and the rejectors of God's grace will "have no rest day or night" (Rev. 14:10, 11). These plagues will bring the downfall of Babylon in one day (Rev. 18:8).

What would this world be like if it were not for the restraining power of the Holy Spirit? Multitudes do not realize that they owe all their security and happiness under what measure of law and order prevails, to the blessed ministry of God's Spirit in the earth. During the time of the plagues, all will see clearly that when men give themselves up to the control of Satan, they will themselves produce a hell here on earth.

While imagining that they are being blessed with a marvelous outpouring of God's Holy Spirit, these rejectors will in reality be gathered together for the great battle against God Himself. Although the lost have been rebellious against the principles of God's truth, they have not previously dared to try actually to fight against God. They have known such a battle would be hopeless for them. But now these "spirits of demons ... gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty, ... to the place which in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon [Armageddon]" (Rev. 16:14, 16).

Israel fought a memorable battle (described in Judges 5:19-21) on the plain of Megiddo in the land of Canaan. God Himself went to battle for His people. The Battle of Armageddon is the Bible way of speaking of the final fruit of an active rejection of grace.

"The work begun in 1844, at the end of the 2300 years, is unique in the universe and brings Christ and the remnant into a new kind of union. There will be a mutual understanding which makes His remnant go with Him into the Most Holy Place. (See Ellen G. White, Early Writings, pp. 55, 251, 255, 261.) ... They will have the faith of Jesus which keeps mortals from sinning. ... This experience awaits the remnant whenever they choose to accept the eyesalve of heavenly insight from the True Witness. And when her blindness is gone and at last she can 'see,' then the Bride will sit down with the King on His throne, as He has promised, for both have overcome by the blood of the Lamb." [2]

--Arlene Hill

Endnotes:
[1] Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 623.
[2] Donald K. Short, "Then Shall the Sanctuary Be Cleansed," 1991, p. 92.

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

Pastor Paul Penno's video of this lesson is on the Internet at:
https://youtu.be/p8Hgp_Tl9vE

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

RR

Raul Diaz

https://about.me/raul.diaz

Lesson 10. America and Babylon

Sabbath School Today
With the 1888 Message Dynamic

Preparation for the End Time
Lesson 10. America and Babylon

 

Before we begin our discussion of "America and Babylon," please note a typographical error in Monday's lesson, second paragraph. The Quarterly states: "This prophetic time period (using the day-year principle) began with the supremacy of the papacy, A.D. 38, and terminated in 1798 ..." You may notice that there appears to be an extra blank space before the 38. The date should read A.D. 538, which is when the political power of the last of the three Arian tribes that were in opposition to the papal position on the nature of Christ, was destroyed in Italy.

The Heruli, who accepted the Arian position controlled the city of Rome until A.D. 475, when the Ostrogoth king, Theodoric, destroyed their power in Italy, and assumed the kingdom. Theodoric was a benevolent and tolerant king who did not persecute persons of divergent religions. Under his rule, peace reigned throughout Italy, except in the city of Rome. There papal intrigue and religious strife continued. Appeal was made to the emperor of the eastern division of the old Roman Empire for political support of the pope's claim to absolute authority over civil and religious affairs.

Emperor Justinian entered the fray, sending a letter of support to the pope at Rome that rendered all honor and authority to the "apostolic chair," and recognized the bishop of Rome as the head of all churches in the empire. In June of 533 the Arian kingdom of the Vandals in North Africa was attacked by Justinian's General Belisarius. Within a year, the Vandals were destroyed, and Belisarius turned his army toward Italy and the Arian Ostrogoths. A large army of the Ostrogothic nation assembled at Rome to defend against the invasion. They withstood the siege for over a year, but finally Rome was lost to Belisarius in March of 538.

The last of the Arian kings was destroyed, and the political and religious power of the bishop of Rome was firmly established through the union of church and state, supported by the army of the empire. The bishop of Rome became the corrector of heretics and the maker of kings. "The system [pagan Rome] which had been conquered [by Christianity] was that in which the State recognizes and makes use of religion only for its political value, and only as the servant of the State. This was paganism ... The system which was established by the perversion of Christianity ... was a system in which the State is made the servant of the church. This was the papacy." [1]

"Christ had set Himself before His disciples as the one possessing all power in heaven and in earth. ... This put Jesus Christ above the State, and put allegiance to Him above allegiance to the State; this denied the supremacy of Rome." [2] "Babylon the Great, mother of harlots and abominations of the earth" (Rev. 17:3-6) came to full power in A.D. 538, riding the beast of the civil government, through which she controlled the consciences of men. In fulfillment of the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation, control of civil and religious affairs remained under papal power for 1260 years, until 1798 when a "deadly wound" was inflicted as a result of the French Revolution's rejection of all things concerning the God of heaven--including the seven day weekly cycle established at creation.

From the conversion of Clovis, king of the Franks, in A.D. 508, to the crowning by the pope of Charlemagne as emperor of the Holy Roman Empire in A.D. 800, through all the French Catholic kings down to Louis XVI who was beheaded by the French revolutionaries, France had been the papacy's strongest political supporter. But France inflicted the "deadly wound" in 1798 when its General Berthier took Pope Pius VI captive, and the papacy was stripped of both its ecclesiastical and civil power. With the election of a new pope, March 14, 1800, partial ecclesiastical power was reestablished, but only over a restricted territory in Italy.

In an effort to reassert herself as sovereign over all nations and peoples, the papacy began a series of political maneuverings and ecclesiastical proclamations. On December 8, 1854, Pope Pius declared that Mary was herself immaculately conceived by her mother in order to provide a sinless womb through which the Son of God could be born in sinless human flesh, untouched by the infirmities of fallen humanity (contrary to the biblical teaching of Heb. 2:14-18). During the ecumenical council called Vatican I, a declaration of papal infallibility was made on July 18, 1870. The Lateran Treaty between the papacy and the National Fascist Party in Italy controlled by Benito Mussolini, was signed on February 11, 1929. This political treaty created the Vatican State and formed the sovereign territory of the Holy See. But, this was not the healing of the "deadly wound." That wound will not be healed until the papacy once again holds both civil and religious authority, controlling the consciences of men as it did for 1260 years.

In the years leading up to the 1888 General Conference Session in Minneapolis, there was much afoot in the United States that was leading toward union of church and state in this country. In 1861, a denomination in Pennsylvania known as the Covenanters, created a petition that complained that the U.S. Constitution made no reference to Jesus Christ and the law of God. Without considering that this was an intentional exclusion, designed by the founders of this nation to preserve full separation of church and state, this Presbyterian church group tried to draw a connection between the sin of slavery and the "religious deficiency" of the Constitution. They felt that if the name of God and a recognition of Him and His law were inserted somewhere into the Constitution, then we would become more Christ-like, and slavery, drunkenness, and debauchery would disappear from the nation. The Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) and the National Reform Association (NRA) were formed and made this argument a nation-wide movement. They sought to have Congress write an Amendment to the Constitution that would make America a "Christian nation," and "one nation under God."

In the January 13, 1887 issue of the Christian Statesman, the official magazine of the NRA, it was stated: "Our remedy for all these malefic influences, is to have the government simply set up the moral law and recognize God's authority behind it, and lay its hand on any religion that does not conform to it." What "religions" did not conform to the NRA's idea of proper religion? In a speech delivered at the 1873 National Reform convention by Jonathan Edwards, vice president of the Association, he said: "We use the word religion in its proper sense, as meaning a man's personal relation of faith and obedience to God." He went on to name those whom he thought did not have a "proper" relation of faith to God, and his list included the atheists, deists, Jews, and Seventh-day Baptists. "These all are, for the occasion, and as far as our Amendment is concerned, one class. They use the same arguments and the same tactics against us. They must be counted together." [3]

Over 200 Amendment proposals seeking to make America a "Christian nation" were introduced to Congress between 1894 and 1984. The National Reform movement morphed into the Christian right in the late 1970s, and has been a notable force in politics since then. It is associated with several institutions and universities including the Moral Majority, the Christian Coalition, Focus on the Family, and the Family Research Council.

Under the "one nation under God" proposal, the First Amendment guarantee of both freedom of religion and freedom of speech would be annihilated. All persons, whether they wanted to or not, would be compelled to adopt the "religion" sanctioned by the State and prevented from speaking against it. At this point, the "deadly wound" will be healed, and the prophecy will come to fulfillment. The second beast that came up "out of the earth" (an uncivilized area of the world) at the "time of the end" (beginning in 1798 when the "deadly wound" was inflicted upon the papacy) will "speak as a dragon," and then the "image of the beast" will be made and the prophecy will be fulfilled. Then will, "all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her [Babylon] fornication" (Rev. 18:3).

The Scripture tells us, "he exercises all the authority of the first beast [papal Rome] on his behalf and compels the earth and those who live on it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed" (Rev. 13:12, Holman Christian Standard Bible [HCSB]). When "Babylon the Great, mother of harlots and abominations of the earth" again "rides the beast" (Rev. 17:3-6), America will become the right arm of the papacy. "By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near." [4]

But the good news is that when this comes to pass, the third angel's message--the "most precious message" brought by A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner in 1888--will have also come to full realization. The proclamation of Christ and His righteousness will be going forth around the world under Latter Rain power, calling all who will listen to "come out of her My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues" (Rev. 18:4).

"The Lord God of heaven will not send upon the world His judgments for disobedience and transgression until He has sent His watchmen to give the warning. He will not close up the period of probation until the message shall be more distinctly proclaimed. ... The message of Christ's righteousness is to sound from one end of the earth to the other to prepare the way of the Lord. This is the glory of God, which closes the work of the third angel." [5] The proclamation of the 1888 message in all its glory is what will hasten the second coming of Christ. By our delay, "our careless, indifferent attitude" and hesitance regarding this message, we are compromising truth, and placing "the character of God and His throne ... into jeopardy." [6]

Jones asked the congregation in 1893, "Are you living day by day, and hour by hour, in the presence of that terrible fact that it is time for God Himself to work, if His integrity is going to be maintained to all the world? It is a terrible fact; it is a fearful position. It brings us to the point of such consecration as not a soul of us ever dreamed of before; unto the place of such consecration, of such devotion, as will hold ourselves in the presence of God, with that fearful thought that 'It is time for Thee, Lord, to work, for they have made void Thy law.'" [7]

--Ann Walper

Endnotes:
[1] A. T. Jones, The Great Empires of Prophecy, p. 372, 1898.
[2] Ibid., p. 350.
[3] See A. T. Jones, The Two Republics, or Rome and the United States of America, pp. 723-725 (emphasis in original), 1891.
[4] Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, p. 451.
[5] Ibid., vol. 6, p. 19.
[6] See 1893 General Conference Bulletin, p. 73.
[7] Ibid.

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

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

RR

Raul Diaz

https://about.me/raul.diaz

Lesson 9. End-Time Deceptions

Sabbath School Today
With the 1888 Message Dynamic

Preparation for the End Time
Lesson 9. End-Time Deceptions

 

One of the great "end-time deceptions" brought out in Tuesday's lesson is the immortality of the soul. If Christ did not die on His cross to pay the penalty of the sinner's debt, then we have no atonement to unite us with God, no forgiveness of our sins, and divine agape is obscured.

Agape means ultimate selflessness. It makes all consideration for personal well-being entirely secondary. Agape chooses complete self-emptying, eternal loss, eternal death. Agape describes the character of God. "God is agape (love)" (1 John 4:8).

Could this explain what really happened on the cross? For Christ to redeem a lost world required that He pay the price for sin completely. He must stand before God in the sinner's place, and be a condemned sinner--no longer a beloved Son. He must bear, from His standpoint as the sinner's substitute, the Father's frown for disobedience and wrath against sin. This meant that He must truly die, be deprived of life and consciousness, not just for three days and three nights, but for all eternity. This meant that all hope of a glad resurrection and reunion with His Father in heaven must be abandoned. Any hope of ever again enjoying heaven must be forsaken. To take the sinner's place meant that He must endure the agony of eternal separation from the Father. The penalty for transgression of the holy and just law must involve all this.

Agape is love so great that the Godhead was willing to have all this take place on the cross of Calvary in order to make redemption for lost souls possible. The Father suffered just as much as the Son did in the gut-wrenching agony of Gethsemane and the horror of Calvary.

Did this take place when Christ paid the price for man's redemption when He experienced the equivalent of eternal death, the penalty for sin?

In describing the agonies Christ endured on the cross Ellen White writes: "Satan with his fierce temptations wrung the heart of Jesus. The Saviour could not see through the portals of the tomb. Hope did not present to Him His coming forth from the grave a conqueror, or tell Him of the Father's acceptance of the sacrifice. He feared that sin was so offensive to God that Their separation was to be eternal. Christ felt the anguish which the sinner will feel when mercy shall no longer plead for the guilty race." [1]

Christ died the equivalent of the "second death" on the cross of Calvary. It is the death from which there is no resurrection (Rev. 20:6, 9, 14). Ellen White explains the agony of final separation from the Father which Christ endured: "The withdrawal of the divine countenance from the Saviour in this hour of supreme anguish pierced His heart with a sorrow that can never be fully understood by man. So great was this agony that His physical pain was hardly felt." [2]

There are many in the Christian world who do not begin to understand what happened on the cross. To them the atonement involves no more than the physical agonies of the crucifixion. Terrible as these are, they do not begin to equate with the mental and emotional agony which Christ endured. Many believe that Jesus and the penitent thief enjoyed a glad reunion in the realms of glory only minutes after the crucifixion itself.

The basis for this serious error is the doctrine of the natural immortality of the soul. This is why, in the matter of the atonement, this doctrine of immortality is the key deception. There is no way the atonement can be fully understood and thus effect a heart-reconciliation of the sinner with God by any who believe in the doctrine of the soul's natural immortality.

A beautiful, heaven-sent antidote for the terrible deceptions which have held captive so many minds in the Christian communion is the 1888 message of Christ our righteousness. With its emphasis upon the vital themes of salvation, the message of A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner presents the New Testament gospel in a light not seen since apostolic times. [3]

While neither Ellen White nor Jones and Waggoner ever used the word agape, their whole message is vibrant with the agape theme. To give this message to the peoples of earth, "the message that God commanded to be given to the world," [4] is to present the truths of the Bible in a setting which will appeal to hungering minds everywhere. It is in the light of this message that the deception of the immortal-soul idea, with all its related errors, will be seen for what it is. This will do much to prepare the way for the lightening of the earth with the glory of the fourth angel (Rev. 18:1-3).

--Paul E. Penno

Endnotes:
[1] Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 753.
[2] Ibid.
[3] See Ellen G. White, Fundamentals of Christian Education, p. 473.
[4] Ellen G. White, Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, pp. 91-92.

Notes:
Pastor Paul Penno's video of this lesson is on the Internet at:
https://youtu.be/34NiPgNMXS8

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

RR

Raul Diaz

https://about.me/raul.diaz

Lesson 8. Worship the Creator

Sabbath School Today
With the 1888 Message Dynamic

Preparation for the End Time
Lesson 8. Worship the Creator

Many Christians are suspicious of the idea of "present truth." The Seventh-day Adventist Church embraces the concept, since its most unique doctrine of the cleansing of the sanctuary is based on the book of Daniel, a book that was closed until the end time.

Ellen White taught it clearly, and connects it with the message given to the "messengers" God raised up, specifically, E. J. Waggoner. "Questions were asked at that time. 'Sister White, do you think that the Lord has any new and increased light for us as a people?' I answered, 'Most assuredly. I do not only think so, I but can speak understandingly. I know that there is precious truth to be unfolded to us if we are the people that are to stand in the day of God's preparation.' Then the question was asked whether I thought the matter better drop where it was, after Brother Waggoner had stated his views of the law in Galatians. I said, 'By no means.'" [1]

"Elder E. J. Waggoner had the privilege granted him of speaking plainly and presenting his views upon justification by faith and the righteousness of Christ in relation to the law. This was no new light, but it was old light placed where it should be in the third angel's message. What is the burden of that message? John sees a people. He says, 'Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus' (Rev. 14:12). This people John beholds just before he sees the Son of man 'having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle' (verse 14)." [2]

God is the same yesterday and forever and His word tells us all we need to know about Him, but seeing what has always been in His word gives new meaning to "old" light. The message of the third angel of Revelation 14 has been here from centuries ago, but God found it necessary to make a clearer connection to the concept of righteousness by faith through the message given in 1888. "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.'" [3]

The fact that the messages of the angels in both Revelation 14 and 18 are in a loud voice, suggests the universality of their relevance to all humanity. That relevance is based on the fact that all humanity has sinned in our original ancestor, Adam. There are those who resist the idea that we are all in this sinful condition without having had any choice or say in the matter ourselves, forgetting that they not only inherited a self-centered nature, but have confirmed it by personal acts of sin.

Ellet J. Waggoner gives this perspective: "What would you think of a man drowning in the ocean, who, when someone throws him a rope, looks at it, and then says: 'I know that I am drowning, and that the only hope I have lies in my getting hold of that rope; but I will not take hold of it unless I know that it has really been my own fault that I fell into the water. If it was my own fault, then I will take it, because I am the only one who is to blame for my being in this condition. But if, on the other hand, someone pushed me into the water, and I could not help myself, then I will have nothing to do with that rope.' Such a man would be considered devoid of common sense. Then, acknowledging that we are sinners and in a lost condition, let us take hold of the salvation that is [given] to us." [4]

Since the sin problem is a universal one, the solution worked out by the Godhead needed to be universal. Even though with perfect foreknowledge they knew many would spurn the gift, Jesus was begotten of the Father in human flesh as the second Adam (Romans 5). On Him was laid "the iniquity of us all" (Isa. 53:6). When the books are opened in the final judgment, no one will be able to say that God did not pay for his or her sins.

Many people fear the judgment of God, and well they should if they believe it is done by an impassive, disinterested being who arbitrarily wants to see how many people He can keep out of heaven. They imagine Him like some evil Santa Claus who is keeping His "naughty or nice" list. Yet, we know that God is love, and the Bible describes love as "love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered" [some versions translate this as "it keeps no record of wrongs"] (1 Cor. 13:4-5, New American Standard Bible). If love does not keep a record of wrongs, why does the Bible speak of record books in heaven where God blots out our sin?

The seeming contradiction is easily resolved. God does keep a record, but not against us, but to explain His actions. The plan of salvation brought justification, or a "verdict of acquittal" for every human that has ever lived on this earth, but we are not forced to accept that verdict. When the "hour of His judgment" comes, God needs records to show that He provided a fair opportunity to every human being to make a choice. Throughout our lifetime, God has brought circumstances which cause us to come to a decision for or against the grace of God. The "evidence" for justification in our case is not our own obedience, but Christ's total identity with us as our second Adam and our sacrifice. He died for every one, accepts every one, and treats them generously as though they were forgiven. God is already reconciled to us (see, for example, Gal 2:16-21).

Only the work of the Creator God through the agency of His Holy Spirit can make this reconciliation a reality in out hearts and minds. The Bible presents a message that must lighten the earth with glory. It meets and complements the heart-longings of all who hunger and thirst after righteousness, who are now scattered throughout Babylon, awaiting the final call to come out of it. Righteousness by faith in this time of the cleansing of the sanctuary does more than prepare people to die "in the Lord." It makes possible a ripening of the harvest that prepares them for the sickle when the divine Farmer is told to "thrust in Thy sickle, and reap" (Rev. 14:13-16).

The process of coming out of Babylon involves putting away sin, which requires cooperation with the Holy Spirit. "The leaven hidden in the flour works invisibly to bring the whole mass under its leavening process; so the leaven of truth works secretly, silently, steadily, to transform the soul. The natural inclinations are softened and subdued. New thoughts, new feelings, new motives, are implanted. A new standard of character is set up--the life of Christ. The mind is changed; the faculties are roused to action in new lines. Man is not endowed with new faculties, but the faculties he has are sanctified. The conscience is awakened. We are endowed with traits of character that enable us to do service for God." [5]

Praise God for such a blessed promise!

--Arlene Hill

Endnotes:
[1] The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, p. 219.
[2] Ibid., p. 211, emphasis added.
[3] Ellen G. White, Review and Herald, "Repentance the Gift of God," April 1, 1890.
[4] Ellet J. Waggoner, General Conference Daily Bulletin, "Bible Study: Letter to the Romans--No. 9," March 17, 1891, p. 137.
[5] Ellen G. White, Christ's Object Lessons, pp. 98, 99.

Notes:
Pastor Paul Penno's video of this lesson is on the Internet at: https://youtu.be/MQfrnUDrn18

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

RR

Raul Diaz

https://about.me/raul.diaz

Lesson 6. The "Change" of the Law

Sabbath School Today
With the 1888 Message Dynamic

Preparation for the End Time
Lesson 6. The "Change" of the Law

On most calendars that are used worldwide, the seventh day is called Saturday. To make it doubly sure, we can check by reading Luke 23:54, which tells of the crucifixion of Jesus: "That day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew near." Millions observe Good Friday in honor of the death of Jesus; that pinpoints the true Sabbath, for the next day of the week is the regular weekly seventh-day Sabbath.

And again we can pinpoint the true Sabbath day by reading the next verses in Luke: "The women who had come with Him ... observed the tomb and how His body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment" (vss. 55, 56). The next verses tell of His resurrection on Sunday: "Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they ... came to the tomb ... But they found the stone rolled away" (Luke 24:1, 2). Christ had risen!

It is so clear a child sees it immediately: "the Sabbath according to the commandment" comes between Friday and Sunday. ("The Lord's Day" of Revelation 1:10 is the Sabbath, for God calls the Sabbath "My holy day," Isaiah 58:13). His presence is in the Sabbath. To the extent that we love Him, we also love His holy day.

But, there are many sincere people who do not see this truth. Has God changed His holy Sabbath day? We must examine some of the reasons why they are confused.

No, God says, He has not changed His law regarding the Sabbath. "I am the Lord, I do not change" (Mal. 3:6). There is nothing in the Bible to suggest that He made any change in His holy law. "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul" (Psalm 19:7). Why should He change anything that is "perfect"? He loves us too much to change such a blessed gift!

Jesus regularly kept the seventh-day Sabbath, for we read in Luke 4:16 that "He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day." Yes, when He said to the Jews, "I have kept My Father's commandments," He told the truth (John 15:10).

All of the apostles followed His example in keeping the Sabbath on the seventh day. For example, the Book of Acts tells of 84 sabbaths that the Apostle Paul kept, but not one Sunday!

"But," someone may ask, "doesn't it tell of one first day of the week that Paul kept?" No, Acts 20:7, 8 tells of one Saturday night farewell meeting that Paul held with the Christians in Troas, because he was planning to walk 16 miles next day (Sunday) to Miletus, and they would never see him again. (No apostle would have walked 16 miles on the holy Sabbath day).

Luke describes that night meeting as being on "the first day of the week" because the Bible says the Sabbath begins at sundown Friday evening and ends at sundown on Saturday evening (Lev. 23:32). Any night meeting on "the first day of the week" would therefore have to be on Saturday night. And Mark 1:32 tells how on one Saturday "at evening, when the sun had set," the Sabbath being over, the people brought many sick people to Jesus to be healed.

That is a delightful way to keep the Sabbath, "from evening to evening," sunset to sunset. If you try to keep it from midnight to midnight, you're asleep and you can't consciously welcome God's holy day! How could you welcome some special visitor who came at midnight while you were asleep?

Why do many observe Sunday, and not the holy Sabbath day that the Lord "blessed and hallowed"? It is simple: someone without the authority of God changed it. He instructed His holy prophet Daniel to predict that this would happen. In chapter 7 the prophet described the rise of four world empires in history (Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome), after which there would arise another great power, the "little one [horn] ... speaking pompous words" (vs. 8) that would combine church and state and would "intend to change times and law" (vs. 25). Both Daniel and Revelation state that he would exercise his great power for 1260 years.

Paul described the same power in 2 Thessalonians 2:4 as one "who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God."

John's book of Revelation describes the same power: "And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, ... And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb" (13:5-8).

We have to decide then which "power" we will follow--the holy One who created the earth in six days and sanctified His holy Sabbath for us to keep, or the one who has dared to change God's law and direct people to observe Sunday instead.

The Unique Adventist Concept of the Everlasting Gospel

Ellen White was overjoyed when she heard what the two messengers (A.T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner) presented at and after the 1888 Conference. She was glad that the message went beyond what she called "the good old doctrines," for she said it was "fresh light." "Justification by faith" is "fresh" to us and to the Evangelical world for "it is the third angel's message in verity." [1]

"Every fiber of my heart said amen," she said, because here at last was the unique, distinct Seventh-day Adventist concept of the everlasting gospel "which is made manifest in obedience to all the commandments of God." [2] Thus it had to go beyond that of the popular Sunday-keeping churches.

In fact, the Sabbath truth comes to be implicit in a full and complete view of justification by faith because the Sabbath is the "sign" of true faith. [3] Where the Sabbath truth is denied, there has to be either a counterfeit or immature view of justification by faith. [4]

One wonders if Seventh-day Adventist evangelism has given these grand truths a fair trial. Rightly conceived, with no "mixture of poisonous error," justification by faith becomes the message that will raise up people all over the world who will "keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." The fruitage will be phenomenal, and believers will prepare for the coming of Christ in their generation. [5]

Just now the Holy Spirit is calling people worldwide to keep holy His Sabbath day; for that's the special day when He meets with them to teach them. And His great fourth commandment assures all who will believe, they will know the joy of Sabbath-keeping rest "in Christ."

--From the writings of Robert J. Wieland

Endnotes:
[1] Review and Herald, April 1, 1890.
[2] MS 5, 1889; Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, pp. 91, 92.
[3] See E. J. Waggoner, Christ and His Righteousness, pp. 37-45 (Glad Tidings ed., 1999); The Glad Tidings, pp. 140-144 (CFI ed., 2016).
[4] See A. T. Jones, 1893 General Conference Bulletin, pp. 243-245, 261, 262, 342-343, 358.
[5] See Ellen G. White, Review and Herald, Nov. 22, 29, 1892.

Notes:
Pastor Paul Penno's video of this lesson is on the Internet at:
https://youtu.be/gTwl1VFlRI4

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

RR

Raul Diaz

https://about.me/raul.diaz

Lesson 5. Christ in the Heavenly Sanctuary

Sabbath School Today
With the 1888 Message Dynamic

Preparation for the End Time
Lesson 5. Christ in the Heavenly Sanctuary

 

What is the truth of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary? How shall we present Him "standing toward the sinner"?

There are serious arguments that can be presented in support of the fear motivation to give up sin. Fear is not completely or necessarily negative. A perfectly healthy person with no hang-ups will look both ways before crossing a busy street. It's common sense. Nor can it be denied that throughout the millenniums of years of human history God's inspired servants have often employed fear as their motivation tool for inducing sinners to respond. The Old Testament prophets frequently speak of God destroying nations and people. There is no question that God sent the Flood to destroy sinners, also the fires of Sodom and Gomorrah, and destroyed the Egyptians at the Red Sea crossing.

The question that is of concern in the 1888 message is, What appeal will God use in that final "lighting of the earth with glory"? A "voice" will sound from heaven with unprecedented power, "Come out of [Babylon], My people." Will the motivation be associated with a uniquely clear revelation of the cross, what the Son of God accomplished there, and what it cost Him to save the world? Or will it be the quintessential appeal of fear inspired by the most terrorism-sounding message of all time? "The third angel's message in verity" [1] appears on the surface to be the latter.

In seeking a "balance" between what appear to be contradictory views, we can ask, Does the cleansing of the sanctuary ministry of our High Priest include a clearer concept of the atonement than God's people as a body have perceived in the past? If so, will it result in a more complete reconciliation with God than has ever in the past been experienced by God's people as a body? And again, if so, will it be a clearer revelation of the agape of Christ? It must be true that nothing less can achieve such an unprecedented reconciliation!

Admittedly, this question reopens a contention that has boiled for half a century--was the 1888 message genuinely new light, or was it a mere re-emphasis of 16th century Reformationist and current Evangelical ideas? The 1888 message was far in advance of the Protestant Reformation message. The 1888message idea of justification by faith is one that is parallel to and consistent with that unique truth of Christ our High Priest cleansing His people and the heavenly sanctuary.

Correctly understood the 1888 message presents an appeal to the heart with a motivation imposed by agape. The reason must be that the cleansing of the sanctuary accomplishes a "final atonement," seen as an ultimate heart experience of reconciliation with God.

Wherein is the message "be ye reconciled to God" associated with comprehending the cross? The context of 2 Corinthians 5:14, 15 can help.

"The love [agape] of Christ [is what] constraineth us," that is, motivates us (Peterson in The Message, renders it, "moved me to such extremes"). But in this final day of atonement, it's not just an "extremist" apostle Paul so moved, but a corporate "body" of believers. Never before has this happened to such a "body."

Why this development? The church matures, to think and to appreciate that "love," more deeply. Because of clearer light, more cogent, meaningful concepts, "we" conclude from reasonable evidence--"we thus judge."

"Judge" what? The answer: how "One died for all." The equation probes why He died, and what He accomplished thereby. The cross has to become the focus of "the third angel's message in verity."

What does the resulting motivation accomplish? It accomplishes an unprecedented degree of consecration sensed by "all saints." "Those who live" can no longer "live unto themselves," which is the only solution to the problem of Laodicea's corporate lukewarmness. This would seem to be the motivation that "constrains" that corporate body of believers to "follow the Lamb (the crucified Christ) whithersoever He goeth." It is a new level development in Christian history deemed worthy of special mention in Revelation, where all references to the church are couched in corporate terms.

The context indicates that "be ye reconciled to God" experience depends on a clear comprehension of how "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself," how He took upon Himself "their trespasses." The last rays of light to shine upon this dark world, we are told, will therefore be "a revelation of God's character of love." Here is objective truth, not merely subjective emotion.

So the issue is evangelistic, not complex theology. What message can reconcile the alienated, world-loving, self-centered, "lukewarm" heart to God? Unless a clearer understanding of the gospel becomes involved, the result must inevitably be further lukewarmness of devotion perpetuated generation after generation for centuries more.

The present-day cleansing truth pleads with the sinner "in Christ's stead." That is, as soul-winners we are to enable the sinner to identify with Christ so fully that he experiences a first-hand encounter with Him as vivid as did the Samaritan woman at her well or Nicodemus in his night interview. This is soul-winning and soul-holding evangelism. Nothing else grips bored, world-loving Adventist youth.

--Paul E. Penno

Endnote:
[1] Ellen G. White, The Review and Herald, April 1, 1890; Selected Messages, book 1, p. 372.

Notes:
Pastor Paul Penno's video of this lesson is on the Internet at: https://youtu.be/ABKn5wCXJyg

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

RR

Raul Diaz

https://about.me/raul.diaz