Sabbath School Today, Lesson 13, Quarter 3-19 - raul.diaz@gmail.com - Gmail

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Sabbath School Today
With the 1888 Message Dynamic

The Least of These:
Ministering to Those in Need
Lesson 13: A Community of Servants

 

Our final lesson in this series, "The Least of These," is suggestive of some important themes highlighted by the 1888 message.

For example, in Monday's lesson entitled, "A Servant Remnant," we find an encouraging example of self-emptying love. God's agape love is a possibility for sinful man through Christ. Christ can dwell in human hearts by faith, and we can learn to serve Him from love and not from selfish motives. But has anyone ever done so?

One was Moses. Israel had "committed a great sin" in that they had made and worshipped a golden calf. The Lord proposed to Moses that he step aside. "Let Me alone," He said, "that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven; and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they" (Deut. 9:14). To take the place of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as the progenitor of the "chosen people"! What a great honor! This proposal would guarantee Moses' salvation and his everlasting honor.

Naturally, it was a severe temptation to him. So far as Israel was concerned, he could reason that he had no obligation toward them, for they had sinned and deserved to perish. But Moses did something totally contrary to our natural human nature.

He proposed that someone else's name be blotted out from under heaven--his own, if Israel could not be forgiven: "If You will forgive their sin--but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written" (Ex. 32:32). Moses' love was stronger than his desire for personal security in heaven, or for eternal life and honor. Can you imagine?

Another man who knew that same self-emptying love was Paul: "I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen [relatives] according to the flesh, who are Israelites" (Rom. 9:3, 4).

So long as our predominant motive for following Christ is our own desire for personal security, we will fail of receiving the "mind of Christ" and thus come short of bearing the cross. Christ was no "opportunist;" neither were Moses nor Paul. Neither are His people who "follow the Lamb wherever He goes."

Millions of Christians are encouraged in Sunday's lesson to review Paul's brilliant chapter on the church and its members being united with Christ, the church is "the body of Christ," "not one member but many." "As the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ." (1 Cor. 12:12-14)

There is no English word to describe the idea of "body." There is the Latin idea of corporate, which comes from corpus, "body." It is impossible to appreciate what mature union with Christ or reconciliation with Him means (the "final atonement," in other words) without grasping Paul's idea. "All the members ... being many, are one body" means they bear a corporate relationship to one another. "We were all baptized into one body" describes the corporate unity of the church.

But there is more than unity: "the foot, ... the ear, ... an eye, ... God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased." Here is corporate diversity. "The eye cannot say to the hand. 'I have no need of you.'" Here is corporate need. No one member can despise another.

God has built something else into the body: "God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, that there should be no schism in the body." Here is corporate balance. The purpose? "That the members should have the same care for one another" as the parts of a human body have a corporate concern. "If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it." Here is corporate pain. "If one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it." Here is corporate joy (1 Cor. 12:15-26).

The whole functions as "the body of Christ," He being the head. A paralyzed body does not obey the impulses of the head, for it is sick. If the corporate body of Christ does not carry out the will of its Head, its sickness is what the Bible calls sin. It is both an individual and a corporate guilt. The remedy has to be both individual and corporate repentance. Christ's call to Laodicea to repent is the last in the Bible; it is the focal point of Revelation. All the victories that follow assume an overcoming, repentant, reconciled remnant church at-one-with Him in a heart and life commitment that is complete. It is a growing up into Christ that is symbolized by the Bride making herself "ready," no longer content to remain the self-centered child she was (Rev. 19:6-9). It is no secret that Satan would like to sabotage such a vindication of Christ.

The human body illustrates this inspired corporate relationship. If you stub your toe on a sharp rock, your whole body feels the pain and sympathizes with the injured member. If it could speak, the leg would share the guilt of projecting the toe against the stone; the other leg wishes it had taken more of the weight so as to lessen the injury; the eye wishes it had been more observant; the hands cooperate by rubbing the wounded toe; the whole body halts to care for its injured member.

A disease-carrying mosquito bites the finger. The resultant disease of malaria affects more than the finger, because the blood stream carries the parasites throughout the body. One comes down with a corporate disease.The medicine prescribed provides a corporate healing. Sin is a corporate disease of the human race which is represented in Scripture as "one man" infected by it, for "in Adam all die" (1 Cor. 15:22). "By the one man's offense death reigned" (Rom. 5:17). Apart from Christ, no human being is intrinsically better than another for "all alike have sinned" (Rom. 3:23, The Revised English Bible).

We need the imputed and imparted righteousness of Christ 100%. But we instinctively recoil against this, for we feel that surely we have something good in us. But Scripture is emphatic: "In me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells" (Rom 7:18). This means that the sin that another human has committed, anyone could commit if Christ had not saved us from it. The righteousness of Christ cannot be a mere add-on to our own good works, a slight push to get us over the top. Our righteousness is all of Him, or it is nothing. This was the stumbling-block in 1888 and still scandalizes many today. Apart from the grace of a Savior, the sins of the whole world could be mine if I had the "opportunity" to be in the shoes of other people, to be tempted as they in their circumstances.

We are thankful for such practical Christianity brought to our attention by this quarter's Sabbath School lessons. Next quarter we turn our attention to the Old Testament books of Ezra and Nehemiah.

--Paul E. Penno

Notes:
Pastor Paul Penno's video of this lesson is on the Internet at: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmpD3j5xBL0

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

Lesson 12: To Love Mercy

Sabbath School Today

Lesson 12: To Love Mercy

 

There are many Scripture texts regarding mercy. Our lesson quotes Micah 6:8: "He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice; to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God." The word "kindness" is used for "mercy." James has this to say: "For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy, mercy triumphs over judgment" (James 2:13, New American Standard Bible). "But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy" (James 3:17, NASB).

There are many attributes that comprise mercy. Our lesson this week describes many ways to show that one loves mercy. We should be open and receptive to any circumstance God brings into our lives to care for others, but there is an irony to all this activity. Like the condition of Israel during the reign of King Ahab, all this "religious" activity can become infected with pride and legalism.

Most Christians know that we can't earn our way to heaven, but the counterfeit of Baal worship, like with Israel, is exceedingly clever. Whenever a church is fighting about howto worship, rather than the spirituality of worship, they probably have a pride problem. There are churches that have split over the color of the carpet. That's not a spiritual issue.

A simple definition of Baal-worship, both ancient and contemporary, is this: the worship of self disguised as the worship of Christ. It's the assimilation of the thinking of "nations" around us in modern "Babylon," thus Baal worship is subtly combined with the true worship of the Lord. This problem is unwittingly promoted in churches by calling for constant activity. The apostasy is unconscious. Like a frog in warm water that gradually gets hot until he is boiled, we are unconscious of the falling away (see 2 Thess. 2:3, 4). Laodicea is described as being so blind they don't see they are naked (Rev. 3:17). How can a people in this condition be expected to love and show mercy?

This was ancient Israel's condition when Elijah was sent to King Ahab to announce that God was sending a three-year famine. Like the loving but wise parent of a stubborn child, God sent the famine in His great mercy in order to get Israel to wake up to its true condition.

It is important to understand that "Elijah" did come as a real person, but he is also a symbol. God honored the faith of the honest Jews of Christ's day and sent them "Elijah" in fulfillment of Malachi's promise because they sincerely expected that the coming of their Messiah would be "the great and dreadful day of the Lord" (Mal. 4:3). Even the disciples of Jesus wondered "who" and "where" their "Elijah" was. Jesus told them not to look into the future, but that "Elijah" for their day had already come in the person of John the Baptist (see Matt. 11:7-14).

But John's day was not "the great and dreadful day of the Lord." That day is now, in the time of Laodicea. Therefore we may expect "Elijah" to come as a message in the same way that John's message was the fulfillment of Malachi's promise. This message was to come as a shaking message that will "slay" the modern prophets of Baal.

"I asked the meaning of the shaking I had seen, and was shown that it would be caused by the straight testimony called forth by the counsel of the True Witness to the Laodiceans [Rev. 3:14-21]. This will have its effect upon the heart of the receiver, and will lead him to exalt the standard and pour forth the straight truth. Some will not bear this straight testimony. They will rise up against it, and this will cause a shaking among God's people." [1]

Is it possible that when "Elijah" is sent via a "most precious message," the church will be so involved in "do good" works that she does not recognize what God is trying to tell us? The last two verses of the Old Testament tell us of the only hope this strife-torn human race has: the coming of Elijah. God says, "I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers" (Mal. 4:5, 6).

These are not idle words, God said this promise. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ on His cross is the only reconciling agency in existence; therefore it follows that the coming of Elijah must be proclaiming the message of Jesus Christ in all His reconciling power. It will be what unbelieving hearts find almost inconceivable: a proclamation of what the Bible calls "the atonement" that will work miracles of grace worldwide. The mention of "fathers" and "children" means the entire human race in all our multi-ethnic, multi-cultural alienations. A blessed unity will be realized as people kneel together at the cross of the Son of God, at last "beholding" or perceiving its full significance.

Reconciliation is the same as "atonement." The prophecy of Daniel 8:14 tells us we are living in the great antitypical Day of Atonement which precedes the "great and dreadful day of the Lord." Therefore it becomes clear that Elijah's work and message will be found in the unique remnant church truth of the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary.

That raises the question: has our neglect of that truth (as a people) forced "Elijah's" message to take refuge with what we call "outsiders" like the "widow of Zarephath"? Or hidden as Obadiah hid some prophets of the Lord from Jezebel? We know that the bulk of God's true people are still in "Babylon."

"Infidelity has been making its inroads into our ranks; for it is the fashion to depart from Christ, and give place to skepticism. With many the cry of the heart has been 'We will not have this Man to reign over us' [Luke 19:14]. Baal, Baal, is the choice. The religion of many among us will be the religion of apostate Israel, because they love their own way and forsake the way of the Lord. The true religion, the only religion of the Bible, that teaches forgiveness only through the merits of a crucified and risen Saviour, that advocates righteousness by the faith of the Son of God, has been slighted, spoken against, ridiculed, and rejected." [2]

If we call ourselves lovers of mercy, it means more than feeding the homeless, and all the other good things that are needed in the world. Lovers of mercy love the message God sent to His church in His "great mercy."

When Ellen White came to her 60s she eagerly welcomed the message brought by two young men to the General Conference Session in 1888 that conveyed a more clear understanding of justification by faith, the beginning of the Loud Cry of Revelation 18. She exclaimed with enthusiasm, it's initial "showers from heaven of the latter rain" (her words). [3] She wrote:

"The Lord in His great mercy sent a most precious message to His people through Elders [E. J.] Waggoner and [A. T.] Jones. This message was to bring more prominently before the world the uplifted Saviour, the sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. ... For years the church has been looking to man, and expecting much from man, but not looking to Jesus, in whom our hopes of eternal life are centered. Therefore God gave to His servants a testimony that presented the truth as it is in Jesus, which is the third angel's message, in clear, distinct lines." [4]

Activities of mercy to others are important, but our mission as a people is to give the third angel's message clearly as no other church has. Are we hiding this precious message by ignoring it, or have we perverted it with subtle concepts of works woven into our truth? Fortunately, God is merciful and patient. He will bring His church through to the end.

--Arlene Hill

Endnotes:
[1] Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. one, p. 181.
[2] Ellen G. White, Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, pp. 467, 468.
[3] The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, p. 1478.
[4] Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, pp. 91-93.

Notes:
Pastor Paul Penno's video of this lesson is on the Internet at: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbhMncI2w9M

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

RR

Raul Diaz

https://about.me/raul.diaz

Lesson 11: Living the Advent Hope

Sabbath School Today
With the 1888 Message Dynamic

The Least of These:
Ministering to Those in Need
Lesson 11: Living the Advent Hope

 

The "Advent Hope" is centered on the second coming of Christ. That "hope" has its foundation in the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary message found in Daniel 8:14 that motivated our pioneers to self-sacrificing zeal in preaching the three angels' messages. They were certain that before Christ could come again, His ministry as our High Priest must be brought to an end.

We have frequently referred to the statement from The Consecrated Way to Christian Perfection in which A. T. Jones stated that "the very first work in the cleansing of the sanctuary was the cleansing of the people." Referring to Daniel 9:24, Jones went on, "It is plain that the transgression must be finished, and the end of sins and reconciliation for all iniquity must be made, and everlasting righteousness must be brought in, in the heart's experience of every believer in Jesus, before the cleansing of the true sanctuary can be accomplished." [1]

The cleansing of the sanctuary depends on the "finishing of transgression" or the "finishing of sin" in the lives of God's people. As long as we continue to sin and continue to pray for our sins to be forgiven, we keep Jesus "employed" in his "job" as our High Priest. He cannot finish His work there in the heavenly sanctuary until He has finished His work here in the hearts of His people, to purify unto Himself a living witness of the power of God over Satan and sin.

From this we see that we must learn what "living the Advent hope" really means. We cannot enter the kingdom of God without the faith of Jesus Christ. They go hand in hand, and are the summation of the third angel's message that will result in God's declaration: "Here are they that keep the Commandments of God and the faith of Jesus" (Rev. 14:12). In this verse we learn what is essential to our Advent hope. We find two elements in this verse: Commandment keeping and the faith of Jesus. We cannot keep the Commandments of God without the faith of Jesus.

There is much discussion concerning the apostle Paul's use of the phrase "faith ofJesus" in Galatians 2:16, 21; Ephesians 4:13; and the "beloved" apostle John's use in Revelation 14:12. What does "faith of Jesus" mean? Is it literally His faith? Does the faith of Jesus mean His actual faith that He exercised while living on earth in fallen human flesh, or is it our faith in Jesus? Is the "gift of faith" in Romans 12:3 literally the faith of Christ given to "every man," or is it our "believing" in Jesus that constitutes "faith"? Is this even very important for us to grasp, or are we merely creating argument for argument's sake?

"It is commonly said that theological harmony is impossible in the church until after the second coming of Christ. Theologians just must squabble, we think; teachers must disagree; pastors must preach against each other; you're not smart unless you demonstrate where you differ with everyone else. Paul says no; this 'one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one Spirit' means what it says. We are to 'grow up' out of our pitiful childishness into 'the unity of the faith.' Christ is not divided.

"That means a development of character that brings God's people unto the enormously high standard of the Son of God Himself--'a perfect man, … the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.'" [2]

Was the "faith of Jesus" important to the two men who first preached the "1888" message? Was it even a part of the message at that time?

"When the Lord had given to my brethren [A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner] the burden to proclaim this message I felt inexpressibly grateful to God, for I knew it was the message for this time. The third angel's message is the proclamation of the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus Christ. The commandments of God have been proclaimed, but the faith of Jesus Christ has not been proclaimed by Seventh-day Adventists as of equal importance, the law and the gospel going hand in hand. I cannot find language to express this subject in its fullness."
[3]

Here we read that the message brought to us through Waggoner and Jones was unique, focusing on both Commandment-keeping and the faith of Christ. It had not been preached in its fullness prior to this time.


"'The faith of Jesus.' It is talked of, but not understood. What constitutes the faith of Jesus, that belongs to the third angel's message? Jesus becoming our sin-bearer that He might become our sin-pardoning Saviour. He was treated as we deserve to be treated. He came to our world and took our sins that we might take His righteousness. Faith in the ability of Christ to save us amply and fully and entirely is the faith of Jesus." [4]

"In chapter one of Ephesians our apostle/author almost loses himself in his efforts to do justice to the grand dimensions of what Christ did. No language, his or ours, has words adequate to portray it. The quality of our Christian experience, our happiness in Christian living, and our fruitfulness, depend on how adequately we grasp this reality of truth. Grasp only a smattering and we are mired in spiritual frustrations. Learn to 'glory' in it all, to appreciate it, then 'the world has been crucified to [us] and [we] to the world' (Gal. 6:14). A thousand weary ups and downs in following Jesus become one unending triumph." [5]

But when you attempt to teach "perfection" of character through the "faith of Jesus" you immediately face opposition. You are accused of preaching "perfectionism" which is legalism, and not the gospel. "Someone may ask, 'Is that the heresy of perfectionism?' No. 'Perfectionism' is indeed a heresy, but this is not it; the heresy part is the idea of perfection of the flesh. The flesh never becomes perfect until Jesus comes." [6] Teaching "perfection" of our characters so that Jesus may finish His work in the heavenly sanctuary is not the same as teaching the heresy of "perfectionism."

Jesus admonished us, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." (Matt. 6:33). And He said, "Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein." (Mark 10:15). We must learn to "keep the faith of Jesus" as a little child, not continually questioning and debating. Faith and truth can easily become lost in "vain philosophy" when we doubt previously cherished beliefs and church doctrines in an effort to accommodate the world's view.

"The kingdom of God is that realm and dominion, that place and order of authority and government, in which God is king. Where God is king the rule, the authority, the power, the law--the whole order of things--is His alone; else it is not the kingdom of God in truth. In the kingdom of God, God is king of all and in all that is there. Where God is king there is no room for any other authority or law or order of things. He is not king in a divided kingdom; no one can serve two masters. In this it is always God manifest in Christ by the Holy Spirit--the Godhead--that is meant." [7]

If we hope to reach the "high calling" that God has put before us, we must learn our lessons concerning faith and that includes overcoming all sin in this life, before the second coming of Jesus. "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived" (1 Cor. 6:9, 10), and then Paul wrote a list of grievous sins that are common in our world today, and ends with "but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." Both our justification and sanctification are found in the "faith of Jesus" given to us by the Holy Spirit.

Paul also wrote that "the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power." (1 Cor. 4:20). Salvation from sin is not words only, but a reality in the life of each and every one who will allow the Holy Spirit to accomplish His cleansing work in the perfection of our characters so that we may worship God in "spirit and in truth," and be ready for translation to the kingdom of God at the second coming of Jesus. We must learn now to submit our whole life, heart and mind, to the power of the Holy Spirit. In this way we are freed from the fear of judgment and death, and can live now in the kingdom of God while still on this earth. The sorrows, pains, evils, and injustices of this world will have no effect on us because we "look for a city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God" (Heb. 11:10).

The apostle Paul wrote that the true gospel, which is the message of Christ's work in His human flesh while on earth, and in His High Priestly ministry in heaven is "for the perfecting of the saints." It is the message that will bring "unity of the faith, and of knowledge of the Son of God, unto the perfect Man, unto the measure of the statute of the fullness of Christ" (Eph. 4:12, 13). "This is Christlike perfection of character. The Bible does not even claim perfection of Christ's flesh. As a Carpenter, He was a careful workman, and faithful; but must we say that He never bent a nail or hit His thumb? Hebrews says He learned 'perfection' by the 'things which He suffered' (5:8, 9). … It takes your breath away … forever, as it were. That is love (agape), says Paul! How can you ever hold back an ounce of devotion from Him?" [8]

"When you're perplexed about whether a message you hear or read comes from God or is a counterfeit from the Enemy, just watch and see: does it build up the church? … But let us beware of ridiculing the idea of overcoming sin, because it's what Christ died to accomplish in His people! It's the final fruit of His work as High Priest in the second apartment of His heavenly sanctuary, the time of its ultimate cleansing on this antitypical Day of Atonement. It's His work going forward just now. It's His ministry of the 'growing up' of His people that they may no longer be immature, 'tossed about' by confusion, but may 'grow up' before His coming." [9]

This is what it means to experience and "live the Advent hope" in this present evil world!


--Ann Walper

Endnotes:
[1] A. T. Jones, The Consecrated Way to Christian Perfection, pp. 120, 121; Glad Tidings ed. (2003).
[2] Robert J. Wieland, Ephesians: You've Been "Adopted," p. 73; Glad Tidings ed. (2005).
[3] The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, p. 217; cf. Selected Messages, vol. 3, p. 172.
[4] The 1888 Materials, ibid.
[5] Wieland, Ephesians: You've Been "Adopted," p. 20.
[6] Ibid., p. 73.
[7] A. T. Jones, The Medical Missionary, vol. 18; April 14, 1909.
[8] Wieland, Ephesians: You've Been "Adopted," pp. 73, 72.
[9] Ibid., pp. 73, 74.

Notes:
Pastor Paul Penno's video of this lesson is on the Internet at: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WGqDWBapcU

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

RR

Raul Diaz

https://about.me/raul.diaz

Living the Gospel

Lesson 10: Living the Gospel

 

After nearly two millennia since Paul wrote his letter to the Ephesians, there are still depths of truth in it that we all have yet to penetrate fully. In our memory text we read the exactly-right formula of salvation--we are saved "not of works" but "by grace ... through faith, and that not of [ourselves]; it is the gift of God" (2:8). When we say that we are "saved through faith" we don't want to give the impression (or have the idea) that our own exercise of faith is the cause or the means of our salvation. No one in the hereafter will boast, "Yes, the Lord saved me, but I did my part: I did the work required, I believed--that's why I'm here. I helped save myself." Utterly wholehearted thanks will pour out of our souls for all time and eternity. (To believe is not a work!)

"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; 
it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast" (Eph. 2:8-9).

Here we have the classic, inspired formula that forever ends all controversy and confusion! Paul, no angel could have said it more plainly! You have cleared up all the controversy that has raged through the centuries about "faith and works."

It may be popular to say "we are saved by faith," but that is not the precisely accurate definition: rather, "by grace you have been saved." Faith is not far away: the grace operates "through faith." The latter is only the appreciation of the former.

When and where was the saving grace revealed?At the cross.This means, of course, that the blessed truth of the pure Good News of Ephesians says that it is easier to be saved at last, than to be lost--if only we appreciate how that grace is revealed--in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ

"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, 
which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them" (Eph. 2:10).

The more we read, the more obvious the truth becomes: the "good works" are not inventions of our own; God "prepared" them "beforehand." They are "prepared" in the same way that ripe, delicious peaches were "prepared beforehand" before you even planted your peach tree. In the vast creation of God, the spiritual fruit of a converted heart is grander than the Lord's most magnificent physical creations. The Greek word rendered "prepared" is poiema,from which we derive our word "poem." Think of a beautiful poem--how was it "created"? From someone's gifted mind, or heart.

One of the gospel truths of the 1888 message is that it is actually easy to be saved and hard to be lost if one understands and believes how good the Good News is. The only difficult thing is learning how to believe the gospel. Jesus taught this truth.

Eternal life is promised to everyone who "believes" in Jesus: "If anyone keeps My word He shall never see death," He said (John 8:51). "He who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life" (5:24).

But what does it mean to "believe" in Him? The Bible warns us of a massive counterfeit of "believing" in these last days (Matt. 24:23, 24, for example):

Genuine believing has to do with the Father givingHis Son for the world: "God so loved the world that He gave..." (John 3:16). He gave, not lentHim. That means a totality of giving and an eternity in its duration. It also means an appreciation of His dying for us because the only way we can "believe" is by seeing Him "lifted up" as Moses "lifted up" a snake on a pole "in the wilderness" (vss. 14, 15). That directs us to the kind of death that Jesus died--on a cross (12:32, 33).

Therefore, "believing" in Jesus means a heart-appreciation of the Father's giving Him and of Christ's giving Himself in dying for us our "second death" which we had earned for ourselves (cf. Heb. 2:9, Rev. 2:11). Such "believing" transforms the believer. It is a genuine new birth because the love of self is "crucified with Christ" (Gal. 2:20).

Genuine believing in Jesus means therefore that there is a well of "rivers of living water" springing up from within the depths of the heart of every true "believer" in Him (John 7:37, 38). That's what it means to believe in Jesus! You are a channel through which that "water of life" flows to thirsty people. We must ask seriously, Do I truly "believe" in Him? Lord, help my unbelief!

The last book of the Bible is clear: the only news God has for anyone at any time is Good News. The final message in Revelation 14 is "the everlasting gospel," which never means Bad News.

In the final proclamation, "the everlasting gospel" in the three angels' messages of Revelation 14:6-12, the Holy Spirit will be poured out in such fullness that He will convict people in the highest echelons of world leadership. Some are motivated to step out fearlessly and identify with the despised "remnant" who "keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ" (cf. Rev. 15:2, 3; 12:17). The gospel commission will not be finished with a whimper but with a blaze of glory.

The "everlasting gospel" is such Good News that we sinful human beings have a difficult time believing how good it is. In fact, when Jesus tells us that His "yoke is easy and [His] burden is light" (Matt. 11:28-30), He is trying to tell us that our main problem is learning how to believe.

Ancient Israel could not enter their Promised Land because of unbelief (Heb. 3:18, 19; 4:6, 7). And Jesus speaks to all of us when He told the distraught father of the devil-possessed child, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes" (Mark 9:23). A few minutes later, He had to tell the disciples why they couldn't cast out the devil in the child: "Because of your unbelief" (Matt. 17:20). He had already told the multitude that had gathered to watch that they were "faithless," and then He added that their unbelief was associated with "perversity," meaning that unbelief is serious business (vs. 17).

This is a dangerous subject, for fanaticism lurks just around the corner. We so easily think that if we had proper "faith," we could work miracles, speak with the tongues of angels, pick up poisonous snakes and let them bite us (Mark 16:17, 18), and "move mountains" (1 Cor. 13:2). But to be content to live in a humble home, and endure pain and poverty, is not necessarily "unbelief." Genuine, healthy faith is willing and happy to share with Christ His humiliation and sufferings.

If you haven't succeeded in reducing Mount Everest to the level of the Sahara desert, that doesn't mean you necessarily lack "faith." If you do work miracles, cast out devils, "prophesy" in Christ's name, and move mountains and do all kinds of wonderful works (see Matt. 7:22), you may still be "faithless" in that you have no genuinefaith. Satan is a genius at deceiving the whole world with "signs and wonders" (Matt. 24:24; Rev. 13:3).

So, what is that genuine faith? It is "comprehending" the grand dimensions of the love that led Christ to His cross (Eph. 3:17-19), identifying with Him there (Gal 2:20), getting "married" to Him because you want nothing else (2 Cor. 11:2; Rev. 19:7, 8), and taking up your cross to "follow the Lamb wherever He goes" (Rev. 14:4, 5).

Our "bread" to share today is "the everlasting gospel" (Rev. 14:6, 7).

--From the Writings of Robert J. Wieland

Notes:

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

 

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

RR

Raul Diaz

https://about.me/raul.diaz

Ministry in the New Testament Church

Ministry in the New Testament Church



Can the Good News be too good? This is a serious question! Conventional wisdom for thousands of years will tend to say yes. The masses have aIways considered the Good News to be impossible. This is evident in the fact that they generally take the broad way that leads to destruction and avoid the strait and narrow way (the way of faith) that leads to eternal life (Matt. 7:13, 14).

Jesus makes a fantastic promise, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. ... And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues [languages, Greek]; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover" (Mark 16:15, 17, 18).

The disciples were given authority, power, and a mandate to heal disease, bring life, offer restoration, overcome evil, and serve generously. The difference the disciples were called to make was practical, responding to the real, physical needs of the people to whom they would proclaim the kingdom of God. Theirs was a direct extension of the ministry of Jesus, responding to His compassion for people in need and His prayer that more would join in the work He had begun (Matt. 9:35, 36, 38).

Social action as a partner of evangelism--an equal element in the mission of God, were to be partners--the two belonging to each other and yet independent of each other. Neither is a means to the other, or even a manifestation of the other. For each is an end in itself. Both are expressions of unfeigned agape. Evangelism and compassionate service belong together in the mission of God.

Matthew gives another version of what Jesus said: "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations. ... And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matt. 28:19, 20). And John adds what he remembers hearing the Lord say, which is even more astounding: "He who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father" (John 14:12).

Are these promises too good to be true? The good news is that they will be fulfilled, without fanaticism and without extremism, in the glorious final message proclaimed by the fourth angel of Revelation 18:1-4. If the Bible is true, the whole world is to be "illuminated" with the glory of a powerful message. It would not be fair for Christ to return unless everyone has had a fair opportunity to hear it and to prepare for His coming.

The key to the fulfillment of these promises is in two significant phrases: a people must "preach the gospel," not legalism and not human philosophy; and, the fulfillment will come to him "who believesin Me." "The gospel of Christ ... is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes" (Rom. 1:16). "He who believes in Me" means "he who has true faith," the kind that worksin transforming the life. In other words, there is tremendous power in true righteousness by faith.

God's people must not be powerless in the face of the moral and spiritual plagues that afflict society today. The world faces no end of human disorders now known as addictions--drug abuse, alcoholism, marital infidelity, sexual immorality, corruption, compulsive eating disorders, and widespread psychological depression. A steady and increasing deterioration of the human spirit is bringing millions close to the place where they may be mentally unable even to comprehend the everlasting gospel.

The Bible promises adequate power to cope with these tragic needs. That power is in the gospel. The Holy Spirit has promised to bless with His presence its true proclamation; but if the message is adulterated with legalism or spiritualism so that in any way it is a distortion of the true gospel, to that extent the Holy Spirit's blessing is negated.

Meanwhile the Lord has instructed "four angels" to "hold" the "four winds" of human passion "till we have sealed the servants of our God" (Rev 7:1-4). The sealing described in Revelation is the final work to be accomplished by the gospel.

The loosing of those "four winds" is a very sad thing, the complete breakdown of social order, decency, morality, fidelity, economic and political security. The Bible says it will be "Babylon" dropping into the sea like a millstone, the end of weddings, Christmases, shopping, sports, materialists' orgies, vacations, sensuality (see Rev. 18). Already we see around us the beginning of this final break-up of order and morality. Criminal gangs are terrorizing large cities, and police are increasingly frustrated in their efforts to maintain even a minimum of security for law-abiding citizens.

Meanwhile, what we define as the 1888 message is the special message which the three angels of Revelation 14 proclaim is "the everlasting gospel" in the setting of the cosmic Day of Atonement and the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary. Christ and all heaven is concerned about very serious business--getting ready for the end and Jesus' coming.

If God's people will faithfully proclaim that pure gospel message, the Lord has promised that He will do His part to restrain the exploding evil in the world. But if they do not faithfully proclaim the message that alone can prepare a people for the return of Christ, He cannot hold in check those near-exploding global forces of evil. Merely to proclaim a message that prepares people for death is not good enough. That has been done in all past ages. The time must come when there is a message that prepares a people for His second coming.

God's plan is that His people will make a great impact on the world by proclaiming a unique message that Heaven can fully endorse. They must be like little David with five smooth stones facing Goliath, and they will be as successful. The gospel power to prevent those storms of human and national passion is to be in the message itself.

--Paul E. Penno

Notes:
Bible quotations are from the New King James Version.

Pastor Paul Penno's video of this lesson is on the Internet at: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhEFJF8wTH8

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

RR

Raul Diaz

https://about.me/raul.diaz

Lesson 8: "The Least of These"

Sabbath School Today
With the 1888 Message Dynamic

The Least of These:
Ministering to Those in Need
Lesson 8: "The Least of These"

 

The 1888 message was a discovery of a new kind of love which proclaimed and lived and turned the world upside-down. God's unconditional agapefor the world is demonstrated in the life of Jesus.

Considering that much of Jesus' teaching was addressed to crowds of mostly poor, rural peasants, fishermen, and farm workers who were regularly exploited by their political and religious leaders and oppressed and brutalized by their Roman occupiers, it is hardly surprising that He privileged the underprivileged, offering a different way to be in the world and a distinct method to resist those who would abuse and exploit them. What might seem surprising is that He would command them to do this with agape.

Jesus' kingdom of heaven was markedly different from those proclaimed and sought by so many would-be revolutionaries and messiahs of His time and throughout history. For one, it was resolutely nonviolent, championing humility, kindness, and peacemaking. But this was not a recipe for passivity. Resistance would come in the form of integrity, determination, creativity, and sacrifice.

Living righteously by following Jesus in the ways He taught and lived would be countercultural in the truest and best sense. The kingdom of heaven was introduced by Jesus as a contrast to (and was sometimes in conflict with) the way the kingdoms of our world exercise power. By resisting the many forces, temptations, and ideas that default to the status quo, His followers were to live by different priorities and measure worth and goodness in transformative ways.

Coupled with the reality and power of Jesus Himself, his countercultural life also catalyzes our resistance to the injustice and oppression we see around us. People who believe that God will turn the world upside down with agape--people like Mary with her Magnificat, pulling down the mighty from their thrones and exalting the humble and meek (Luke 1:46-55)--are not going to be backward in getting on with some world-changing activities in the present. The kingdom of heaven is a revolutionary and present reality.

The word "beatitude" is a big word which in the Bible is rendered as "blessed," and that simply means "happy." It means that certain people enjoy a happiness that is the natural result of their faith and obedience; it can also mean that God in a supernatural way gives His love and happiness to such people. But we hasten to add that He does not show respect of persons, favoring one person over another (James 2:1).

Don't let Satan discourage you with his suggestion that you are not one of God's favored ones. You may feel that way, but that doesn't mean that his suggestion is true. Even Jesus as He hung on His cross cried out, "My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" No, because of Christ's sacrifice, you must believe that the Lord lovesyou and has chosen you to be His child. That's what the "believing" in John 3:16 means.

So, who are the "blessed" ones in the Bible? The answer has to be: those who believe God's gracious Good News. Their faith works, and that is why they obey, and the natural result is "blessedness."

There are well over 100 "beatitudes" in the Bible. But when Jesus came, He surprised the Jews of His day with "blessings" that seemed directly the opposite of their ideas: "Blessed are the poor in spirit," "Blessed are they that mourn," "Blessed are the meek," "Blessed are they who are hungry and thirsty," "Blessed are they which are persecuted," "Blessed are you when people revile you and say all manner of evil against you falsely," etc., etc.

Stunning! Those words awoke a class of people who had been educated to feel left out of the kingdom of God! Surely Jesus must have been impressed by that "beatitude" in Psalm 94:12 which says: "Blessed is the person whom you chasten, O Lord, and teach him out of Your law; that You may give him rest from the days of adversity." A happiness to be found in the most unexpected place! And Paul adds, "Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son [daughter] whom He receiveth" (Heb. 12:6). Do you really want some evidence that He loves and receives you?

The Lord Jesus Christ is generous in His thanks and even generous in His praise to those who have wanted to serve Him, but have felt very unworthy.

To some He says with great enthusiasm, "Well done, good and faithful servant!"

But they are surprised; they turn around to see if He is not talking past them to other people behind them; they themselves feel very unworthy of such genuine thanks and praise. He responds, No, it's you I mean.

They remonstrate with Him, "Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?" There must be some mistake here; we are not worthy!

Then they hear the sweetest words anyone can ever hear from the lips of the world's Savior, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me" (Matt. 25:35-40).

The generosity of the Lord Jesus shines brightly through all eternity. He speaks to us a positive word through a double negative: "God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love(yes, the word is agape, not phileo) which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister" (Heb. 6:10, New King James Version).

He remembers every effort you have made to reflect His agapeto others, weak and tremulous as it may be. That double negative is His assurance to you that He welcomes you as His co-laborer with Himself in His work for the world.

--Paul E. Penno

Notes:
Pastor Paul Penno's video of this lesson is on the Internet at: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnGCg2DxelQ

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

-- 

RR

Raul Diaz

https://about.me/raul.diaz

--

RR

Raul Diaz

https://about.me/raul.diaz

Lesson 7: Jesus and Those in Need

Sabbath School Today
With the 1888 Message Dynamic

The Least of These:
Ministering to Those in Need
Lesson 7: Jesus and Those in Need

 

God calls upon those who serve Him to minister to others in need. He told Abraham that his descendants would be a blessing to the world: "Thou shalt be a blessing, ... and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed" (Gen. 12:2, 3). Jesus saw that His mission was to help those in need: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me to preach the gospel [good news, glad tidings] to the poor [those who can't afford medical treatment]; He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised" (Luke 4:18). These "poor" may be in India, Africa, South America, Mexico, yes, in our inner cities, perhaps among our teens in high school, who knows, maybe your next-door neighbor whose tears you cannot understand.

Jesus' mother, Mary, was distinguished as quiet and thoughtful. She apparently loved beautiful literature, and was herself competent as a poetess. This is evident in her poem known as the "Song of Mary" (Luke 1:46-55). Her childlike faith was so mature that God could employ her as His agent in the greatest miracle of all time.

But probably more than any other woman, Mary had a capacity for sorrow. "Blessed" (happy) she was indeed, but her sensitive soul could also be rent with a pain that no other woman of all time could know. "A sword will pierce through your own soul also," said the discerning Simeon as a surge of inspiration thrilled his soul while he held her holy Child in his arms in the Temple (Luke 2:35). That sword was to pierce her soul many times during the next 33 years; then she had to watch her Son die on a cross. That was a pain infinitely beyond that of any ordinary mother who watches an ordinary son die in agony and abuse, for His death surpassed in magnitude all other deaths.

Jesus said in Mark 14:7 that as long as time lasts, there will be poor people all around us. In the final judgment day, we will be very much embarrassed if we have not helped them. In fact, Jesus' parable in Matthew 25 hinges our eternal destiny on how we have treated the poor. He says that He will tell each person, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me" (Luke 4:40). In other words, Jesus identified Himself with poor, needy people.

Jesus loved both rich and poor, but He had nicer things to say to the poor. For example, He says, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 5:3), and "Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth" (vs. 5). Or, "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (vs. 10).

The word "blessed" means "happy." Not happy in the sense of fun and games, but happy with that deep inward sense of peace, living in the sunshine of God's favor. The Father of our Lord Jesus is pledged to "bless" the poor who appreciate His love. The Bible is full of encouragement for poor people: "This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and delivered him out of all his troubles" (Psalm 34:6). "Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth. ... The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing [there is no promise that you'll never get sick, but there is the promise that the Lord will be your attending Physician and your special duty Nurse, for] Thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness" (41:1-3). If you are poor, be thankful for the special blessings the Lord has promised you, and rejoice. It may well be that the Lord is favoring you especially so that you will be that much more happy in the kingdom of heaven.

Psalm 41:1-3 has a very valuable promise: "Happy are those who are concerned for the poor; the Lord will help them when they are in trouble. The Lord will protect them and preserve their lives; He will make them happy in the land; He will not abandon them to the power of their enemies. The Lord will help them when they are sick and will restore them to health" (Good News Bible).

Note the word "concerned" does not mean flipping a coin to a poor person now and then, and responding grudgingly to an appeal for help. It means a constant state of the heart, a constant feeling of concern for the needs of others, a habitual desire to help. The Lord notices when that kind of concern fills our hearts and He responds by helping us when we are in need. And note verse 2: He will make us happy, and will not abandon us to those who would harm us. And verse 3: This is especially precious--the Lord will help us when we are sick and restore us to health. All because we have a habitual concern for poor people!

There are many poor people in the world today and one wonders what to do to help them. One doesn't like to pour water down the drain; some people are poor because they waste what they have. In the long run, what poor people need most of all is a true knowledge of the pure gospel of Christ. Only at the cross of Christ can they learn the secret of true self-respect. Let's remember that nothing that we possess is really our own--we are just managers of the Lord's wealth!

Each of us who realizes his or her debt to the "Saviour of the world" will want to be ready to "know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary" (Isa. 50:4), because the Lord has sent us to do the work that He would do if He were here in person. As Paul says, "How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, that bring glad tidings of good things!" (Rom. 10:15).

One of the great truths of the 1888 message is that In seeking us, Christ came all the way to where we are, taking upon Himself "the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh." Thus He is a Saviour "nigh at hand, not afar off." He "is the Saviour of all men," even "the chief of sinners." But sinners have the freedom to refuse Him and reject Him.

"The true faith--the faith of Jesus, is that He has come to us just where we are; that, infinitely pure and holy as He is, and sinful, degraded, and lost, as we are, ... by His Holy Spirit [He] will willingly dwell with us and in us, to save us, to purify us, and to make us holy." [1]

Ellen White wrote: "Many say that Jesus was not like us, that He was not as we are in the world, that He was divine, and therefore we cannot overcome as He overcame. But this is not true; 'for verily He took not on Him the nature of angels; but He took on Him the seed of Abraham. ... For in that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succour them that are tempted.' Christ knows the sinner's trials; He knows his temptations. He took upon Himself our nature. ... The Christian's ... strongest temptations will come from within; for he must battle against the inclinations of the natural heart. The Lord knows our weaknesses. ... Every struggle against sin, every effort to conform to the law of God, is Christ working through His appointed agencies upon the human heart. Oh, if we could comprehend what Jesus is to us!" [2]

The ministry of Christ in His Most Holy Apartment in the heavenly sanctuary reveals Him as being close to us; as a true High Priest in ancient Israel who was always "for the people," always concerned for them, always revealing to them his nearness and his love, so Christ in His second apartment in the heavenly sanctuary, the Most Holy Apartment, is ministering His presence and His blessing to us as one who is described in Proverbs 18:24--He is "closer than a brother."

He took on Himself the fallen, sinful nature of our father Adam so that He might reach us where we are; therefore He was "in all points tempted like as we are [tempted], yet without sin" (Heb. 4:15).

This is a revelation of Christ that millions don't as yet perceive: to be tempted is not sin: before temptation can be sin you must yieldto it, give into it, let the temptation become the sinful act. Christ has conquered sin, has trampled on it, defeated it, condemned sin in our fallen sinful flesh. "Wherefore in all things it behoved Him to be made likeunto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God" (2:17).

Sing Hallelujah, rejoice forever more!

--From the Writings of Robert J. Wieland

 

Endnotes:
[1] A. T. Jones, The Consecrated Way to Christian Perfection, pp. 45, 46, Glad Tidings ed., 2003
[2] Ellen G. White, Christ Tempted As We Are,The Bible Student's Library, pp. 3, 9; 1894; LMN ed.

Notes:
Pastor Paul Penno's video of this lesson is on the Internet at: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWeYvyP7Fro

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

RR

Raul Diaz

https://about.me/raul.diaz