Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Sabbath School Insights No. 10, Qtr 2-06

Special Insights No. 10

Second Quarter 2006 Adult Sabbath School Lessons

“The Holy Spirit”

(Produced by the Editorial Board of the 1888 Message Study Committee)

“Life Through the Holy Spirit”

 

 

Are you so foolish? Having begun with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh?

(Galatians 3:3).

 

How many of you helped your mother give birth to you? Well, you don’t remember. Fair enough. How many of your mothers thanked you for your help while she was laboring to give you birth? Silly questions, that has never happened. Sometimes we say things like “the baby just isn’t ready to come out yet,” but we really mean the marvelous chemistry that sets up the forces of labor with the mother’s help isn’t ready. Babies are the focus during the birthing process, but they don’t really help much. The one thing that can be said of babies is that they don’t resist the process. This is the point Paul is trying to make with the Galatians. We continue living in Christ, the same way we were born into Christ, by the Holy Spirit.

 

A heart appreciation of this wonderful gift of the Holy Spirit starts with understanding why this life is possible. The legal acquittal Christ accomplished for the human race is real and ethical. His death was “substitutionary” in the sense that you and I did not physically go to the cross. But, the same as you and I were not physically present in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve chose to sin, our legacy from them is a sinful nature. When Christ assumed the “likeness of sinful flesh,” He became the second Adam from Whom we receive His legacy by virtue of His having taken the human race in Himself. Therefore, in Him the human race paid the penalty for sin, the second death, and met the demands of the law by living His sinless life. Thus, the cross is real and ethical, and is what allowed the human race to be born. Otherwise, God’s prophecy in Genesis 2:17, “... for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die” (NASB) would have been fulfilled. Sometimes we explain that text by saying the human race began to die, which is true, but there is more to it. The reason Adam and Eve didn’t die that day is because the Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world, stepped in and began pleading His blood for the human race.

 

The quotation at the beginning of the lesson from The Desire of Ages (p. 671) echoes the objective aspect of the gospel as well as the subjective. The objective gospel happened on the cross though the world barely noticed let alone understood what was happening, with the possible exception of Mary Magdalene. But, like the Hebrew Day of Atonement, the subjective aspect of the gospel requires attentive, intentional involvement by the repentant sinner. Our early pioneer, William Miller, recognized this aspect of the concept of “atonement.”

 

“In Miller’s view there is clearly an atoning act of God objective to man which makes reconciliation available. Atonement does not seem to be complete for an individual, however, until there has been a personal response” (“William Miller’s Use of the Word ‘Atonement,’” Dalton D. Baldwin, Appendix A, DARCOM 5, 164; emphasis added).

 

The Desire of Ages quotation states how this wonderful “rebirth” occurs. “It is the Spirit that makes effectual what has been wrought out by the world’s Redeemer. It is by the Spirit that the heart is made pure. Through the Spirit the believer becomes a partaker of the divine nature. Christ has given His Spirit as a divine power to overcome all hereditary and cultivated tendencies to evil, and to impress His own character upon His church.

 

Although not discussed in the lesson, this is the process of the cleansing of the great antitypical Day of Atonement, in which the world has been living since 1844. Throughout the year, the confessed sins of the children of Israel were transferred daily by the blood sacrifice performed by the priest. The blood was sprinkled on the veil, symbolically transferring the sins to the Most Holy Place. Unlike the daily, which was accomplished by the priest without the attentive involvement of the people, Yoma was to be a subjectively personal experience for each individual. This meant they were to pray that God would send His Spirit to reveal hidden sin, so they might confess that sin and transfer it to the Sin-Bearer symbolized by the Most Holy Place.

 

A. T. Jones, one of the 1888 “messengers,” describes the difference between the daily and the Day of Atonement:

 

“The sanctuary itself could not be cleansed so long as, by the confessions of the people and the intercessions of the priests, there was pouring into the sanctuary a stream of iniquities, transgressions, and sins. The cleansing of the sanctuary, as to the sanctuary itself, was the taking out of and away from the sanctuary all the transgressions of the people which, by the service of the priests, had been taken into the sanctuary during the service of the year. And this stream must be stopped at its fountain in the hearts and lives of the worshipers, before the sanctuary itself could possibly be cleansed. Therefore the very first work in the cleansing of the sanctuary was the cleansing of the people” (The Consecrated Way, p. 120; emphasis in original).

 

At the end of this process, the entire camp stood before the sanctuary with their sins confessed, and once taken away, for a brief moment in type, the censer could be “thrown down” and they stood before God without a mediator. Since they were symbolically cleansed from sin, a mediator was not necessary.

 

This is the condition that the people of God will have at the end of time when they will be sealed and Christ will return to bring them home. This group will constitute the bride of Revelation 19:7 who has clothed herself in fine linen, bright and clean. Is it this serious? Is living “the Christian life” that important? It is.

 

“The supreme interest of Jesus, our High Priest, is to win the heart of His Bride, which will make the atonement complete. Her reticence to accept her Divine Lover is the result of her immaturity. Her fickleness and her consorting with the princes of Babylon grow out of her childish appreciation of what her real Lover has given and gone through to win her hand..... He is waiting for His Bride to grow up and cease her playful infatuation with the human honor that comes one of another, but which destroys faith (John 5:44)..... She will understand what it means to have the assurance of the Spirit because she has received Christ by faith and His life has become her life. Her union with the Bridegroom provides much more than forgiveness of sin. Her sin is not only taken away but the vacuum is filled with the Holy Spirit. This means divine illumination, humanity joined to divinity. Here will be the wife committed to the marriage of the Lamb....”(Donald K. Short, Then Shall the Sanctuary be Cleansed, p. 91).

Arlene Hill
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Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Weekend Conference Reminder

Dear “Insights” Subscribers,

 

We would like to remind you of the “mini” 1888 message conference this coming weekend at the Meadow Vista, California, Seventh-day Adventist Church, and invite you to join us in our study of the Elijah message as it relates to the “most precious message” of 1888. We realize that most of you are too far away to attend, but if you are interested in tapes or CDs of the meetings, please let us know.

 

Sincerely,

 

The “Insights” Staff

 

 

 

“The Elijah Message and 1888”

 

May 25-27, 2006

(Thursday evening – Saturday night)

 

Meadow Vista Seventh-day Adventist Church

1461 Meadow Vista Road, Meadow Vista, California

 

Speakers: Paul Penno, Robert J. Wieland, Dan Peters, Arlene Hill, and others

 

Thursday, May 25

7:00 p.m., “Limping Between Two Opinions,” Paul Penno

 

Friday, May 26

9:30 a.m., “How I Discovered this ‘Most Precious Message,’” Mike Rich

10:30 a.m., “The 1888 Message and Elijah,” Robert J. Wieland

2:00 p.m., “The Hearts of the Fathers,” Dan Peters

3:00 p.m., “In the Spirit and Power of Elijah,” Paul Penno

7:00 p.m., “Coming! Elijah Is on the Agenda,” Robert J. Wieland

 

Sabbath, May 27

10:00 a.m., Sabbath School, “The Christian’s Guide,” Robert J. Wieland

11:00 a.m., “Where the Fire Falls,” Paul Penno

2:00 p.m., “The Outcast Women and 1888,” Dan Peters

3:00 p.m., “The Triumph of the 1888 Message,” Robert J. Wieland

4:00 p.m., “Why Did God Send the 1888 Message?,” Arlene Hill

7:00 p.m., Roundtable discussion: “‘Bread’ for a Famishing Church:
Answers to Tough Questions”

 

Q & A Sessions, Book Sales; Some Meals will be Provided

For more information: (530) 477-0390; e-mail: kawamoto@1888message.org

 

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Directions to the Meadow Vista SDA Church:

From Sacramento: Take I-80 east past Auburn. Exit at Meadow Vista/Clipper Gap. Turn left at the stop sign, and go over the freeway overpass. You will be on Placer Hills Rd.  Go 2 mi., and turn left on Meadow Vista Rd. (at the gas station).  Go 0.4 mi., and turn left at the Meadow Vista Church sign(s).

From Reno: When you exit at Meadow Vista/Clipper Gap, continue on Placer Hills Rd., and follow the directions above.



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Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Sabbath School Insights No. 9, Qtr 2-06

Special Insights No. 9

Second Quarter 2006 Adult Sabbath School Lessons

“The Holy Spirit”

(Produced by the Editorial Board of the 1888 Message Study Committee)

“The Christian’s Guide”

 

 

Question: Who is the Holy Spirit?

 

Answer: We have learned throughout these Lessons that the Holy Spirit is not an impersonal “it,” but is a “He” with a capital H. He is God, a Person of the Godhead.

 

Question: The Father is the Father and the Son is the Son; but what is the function of the Holy Spirit?

 

Answer: Jesus introduces Him to the disciples as “another Comforter” (John 14:16). “Another” links the Holy Spirit with Himself. He has just told the disciples that He, Jesus, must “go” and leave them. He has been to them a “Comforter” these years He has been with them, but now in His going away He will “send” this “Another.” So this new Comforter will be to them all that Jesus has been to them. Therefore they must not feel like “orphans. I will come to you,” He says (vs. 18). The Holy Spirit is not identical with Jesus for He is “Another,” they are two Persons of the Godhead—the Son and the Holy Spirit, but still they are One, for it is “I who will come to you.”

 

Question: But how can that be? The disciples were with Jesus; they ate with Him, walked with Him, bought groceries for Him (John 4:8), etc. How can He “come to” them as He says, and yet they won’t be with Him in the same way as they were?

 

Answer: The “Comforter” is an awkward (but best possible) translation of the Greek word Jesus used: “parakletos.” It’s from two words, “para,” which we have in “parallel” (like two railroad tracks that are always together); and “kletos,” which means “called.” So the Holy Spirit is the One who is called to sit down beside you and never, never leave you. (Believe that with your whole heart, and you can never fall into “depression” as so many do!)

 

Question: Does this mean that we are actually closer to Christ today, by faith, than the disciples were 2000 years ago?

 

Answer: Precisely. Yes—through the Holy Spirit.

 

Question: What did Jesus mean, that “the Father will send [the Holy Spirit] in My name”?

 

Answer: He is the true Vicegerent of Christ, His only true Representative on earth. Any man who claims that position is self-deceived; but Revelation declares that before the Loud Cry is ended and probation closes, some who uphold that position will be converted in the Loud Cry message (Rev. 15:2).

 

Question: Does the Holy Spirit always whisper sweet cuddly, soft things to us?

 

Answer: No, that would not be true love. “Faithful are the wounds of a friend” (Proverbs 27:6), and the Comforter is above all, a Friend. The Father has specified what His first work for us must be: “And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin” (John 16:8).

 

Question: How could a sharp, painful conviction of my sin be a “comfort” to me? Isn’t it fun to deaden the sharp pain of a lethal cancer?

 

Answer: Yes, but such is never Good News, for the cancer will kill you unless it is removed stat. To sense the conviction of sin is the evidence that you have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit! It is not necessarily a sense of euphoria. The “you” that Jesus speaks of is not only us as individuals; it is the body of Christ, His church in a corporate sense.

 

Question: Does the Holy Spirit teach us especially in this final Day of Atonement?

 

Answer: Yes. If “Babylon” is fallen, there must be truth beyond what “Babylon” can see that He will “teach” the church. His message must prepare a people for the solemn close of probation. That is “present truth” now (cf. 2 Peter 1:12). The Holy Spirit has guided the Seventh-day Adventist Church into truths that the popular Sunday-keeping churches have not discerned. This is fulfillment of prophecy (Rev. 12:17; 14:6-12).

 

Question: In the constant battle between the Holy Spirit and our “flesh,” who is the stronger?

 

Answer: It is an unpopular truth—but the Holy Spirit is stronger than our fallen, sinful flesh! Thus there is no excuse for us to continue living in sin! In fact, we cannot do so, unless we reject His guidance (cf. Gal. 5:16, 17, where we read that we cannot do the evil things that our flesh would prompt us to do—IF we simply “walk in the [Holy] Spirit” (vs. 16), that is, let Him hold us by the hand (Isa. 41:13).

 

Question: Is it possible that the corporate body of the church can resist the leading of the Holy Spirit as He seeks to “guide [the church] into all truth”?

 

Answer: It was through the Holy Spirit that “the Lord in His great mercy sent a most precious message to His people through Brethren Waggoner and Jones” in 1888 (Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, p. 91), and Ellen White declares over a hundred times that “we” rejected His leading as the Jews rejected Christ. She even said that “we” insulted the Holy Spirit. Repentance is our only possible response! And that precisely is the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:29-31).

Robert J. Wieland


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Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Sabbath School Insights No. 8, Qtr2-06

Special Insights No. 8

Second Quarter 2006 Adult Sabbath School Lessons

“The Holy Spirit”

(Produced by the Editorial Board of the 1888 Message Study Committee)

“The Fruit of the Holy Spirit”

 

 

Galatians 5:22, 23 says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.” As we read this we are transported back to Mount Sinai, to God’s friend Moses of whom it is written, “But since then there has not arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses whom the Lord knew face to face” (Deut 34:10). Israel had a bad series of days and when it was all over God called them “stiff-necked people,” and told Moses that He would destroy Israel and start over with him. Moses, knowing God, “pleaded” with God and He relented. Israel was to journey to Canaan, but Moses wanted assurances of God’s presence with them. He asked God to show him His glory. God said, I will let all my goodness pass before you.... graciousness.... compassion. Later on the Mount the Lord descended in the cloud and declared the name of the Lord “... merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth” (Ex. 34:6). The church is God’s temple (Eph. 2:21, 22). As His glory filled the Jerusalem temple, so today Jesus Christ who is the glory of God wants the church to be filled by His Spirit.

 

As we read Galatians 5:22, 23 and realize that this is a call for the character/glory of Christ to be manifest in us, we are overwhelmed and wonder how this will be. The answer is in Galatians 5:16: “I say then: Walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” So what does it mean to “walk in the Spirit”? Walking in the flesh produces the works of the flesh outlined in verses 19-21, but in contrast there is walking in the Spirit, which produces the fruit of the Spirit. So how do we “walk in the Spirit”?

 

John 14:16, 17, 26 says, “ And I will pray the Father and He will give you another Helper,.... the Spirit of truth.” “He will.... bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” John 15:26: “But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth.... He will testify of Me.” Lastly, John 16:13 says, “However when He, the Spirit of truth has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak.” The Holy Spirit brings us the truth—the truth about Jesus Christ, who came to reveal the Father. So ultimately the Holy Spirit is revealing the truth about the Father—that He is our Friend as much as Jesus is.

 

As we go back to Galatians to understand how to walk in the Spirit we look at some of the context. Galatians 5:7 says, “You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?” Galatians 3:1: “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified?” Paul refers to this heart-response to the cross as “obeying the truth.” There is only one truth and that is the truth of the gospel. Paul goes on in Galatians 3:2 about the truth about God the Father: “This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?” The question is, what does Paul mean by the expression “the hearing of faith”? At first glance it appears that Paul’s intent is to juxtapose one type of human activity (works) with another (hearing-believing). What if on the other hand Paul’s intent was to juxtapose human activity with God’s activity, as revealed in the proclamation of the gospel message. What is the relationship?

 

This contrast is clearer in Galatians 3:5: “Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does he do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?” This text speaks of God’s action and how it is accomplished. God does work miracles “through hearing [with] faith.” This phrase “hearing [with] faith” is best understood as a designation for the hearing and believing of the gospel, which proclamation has power and thus becomes the instrument through which God gives the Spirit to us and transforms our lives into fruit-bearers. Galatians 3:5 could be translated as follows: “He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you—does He do it through works of the Law or through the proclamation of the gospel of the faith—the faith of Jesus Christ?”

 

There is power in the blood!

 

How do we walk in the Spirit? Only by understanding and being personally heart-touched by the truth about the self-renouncing love (agape) of God. Never has a message about the love of Christ been so heart-moving as was the “most precious message” which “the Lord in His great mercy sent” us in 1888. Ellen White says that this redeeming love is a mystery into which angels desire to look (The Desire of Ages, p. 19). May we take a long look and be transformed by it. This is my prayer.

 

Lyndi Schwartz

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Thursday, May 11, 2006

1888 Message Conferences & Seminars

Conferences and Seminars

Where the 1888 Message Will Be Presented

 

 

May 25-27 (note change of date)

(Thursday evening – Saturday night)

Meadow Vista Seventh-day Adventist Church

1461 Meadow Vista Road, Meadow Vista, California

 

“The Elijah Message and 1888”

 

Speakers: Paul Penno, Robert J. Wieland, Dan Peters, Arlene Hill, and others

 

Thursday, May 25

7:00 p.m., “How Elijah Is in Our Future,” Paul Penno

 

Friday, May 26

9:30 a.m., “How I Discovered this ‘Most Precious Message,’” Mike Rich

10:30 a.m., “The 1888 Message and Elijah,” Robert J. Wieland

2:00 p.m., “The Hearts of the Fathers,” Dan Peters

3:00 p.m., “Limping Between Two Opinions,” Paul Penno

7:00 p.m., “Coming! Elijah Is on the Agenda,” Robert J. Wieland

 

Sabbath, May 27

10:00 a.m., Sabbath School, “The Christian’s Guide,” Robert J. Wieland

11:00 a.m., “Elijah and the New Covenant,” Paul Penno

2:00 p.m., “The Outcast Women and 1888,” Dan Peters

3:00 p.m., “The Triumph of the 1888 Message,” Robert J. Wieland

4:00 p.m., “Why Did God Send the 1888 Message?,” Arlene Hill

7:00 p.m., Roundtable discussion: “‘Bread’ for a Famishing Church:
Answers to Tough Questions”

 

Q & A Sessions, Book Sales; Some Meals will be Provided

For more information: (530) 477-0390; e-mail: kawamoto@1888message.org

 

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July 23-27 (each afternoon)

Redwood Camp Meeting

2437 Dyerville Loop Road, Redcrest, California

Workshop on the 1888 Message

Speaker: Paul Penno

 

July 25-29 (Tuesday evening-Saturday night)

1888 Message National Conference

Columbia Union College

7600 Flower Ave., Takoma Park, Maryland

Theme: Lighten Your World With His Glory: Studies in the Book of Ephesians

Speakers: John W. Peters, Gerald L. Finneman, Robert J. Wieland, Joe Gresham, Edgar Vyhmeister, and others

Programs for Children and Youth

For information: (269) 473-1888

 

September 1-3 (Friday evening-Sunday noon)

Valley Center Seventh-day Adventist Church

14919 Fruitvale Road, Valley Center, California

Speaker: Robert J. Wieland

For information: (909) 824-5046

 

September 15-17 (Friday evening-Sunday noon)

Northstar Camp, Anoka, Brainerd, Minnesota

Speaker: Robert J. Wieland

For Information: (765) 506-0436
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