Friday, August 31, 2018

“THE THIRD MISSIONARY JOURNEY”

THIRD QUARTER 2018

SABBATH SCHOOL INSIGHT #10

SEPTEMBER 8, 2018

"THE THIRD MISSIONARY JOURNEY"

 

Memory verse:

But I make account of none of these, neither do I count my life precious to myself, so that I finish my course with joy, and the ministration that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify fully the good news of the grace of God. Acts. 20:24    YLT

          The pathos in Paul's voice is nearly palpable even today.  This was Paul's final farewell to the elders in Ephesus, and in verse 25 he would inform them that it would be the last time they would see his face. He would not be swayed from going to Jerusalem and though he may be bound with cruel chains and calumny, he assured his brothers that he was also "bound in the Spirit" (vs. 22) and therefore fully prepared for whatever was to come. Whether imprisonment, beatings, or even the loss of life itself, his great joy was to finish the assigned mission given him by the Lord Himself, of thoroughly and earnestly bearing witness to the good news of the grace of God. Paul would reiterate this again (vs. 32) where he says, that he would "entrust them to God and to the Word of His grace."

          If you had one chance to say goodbye to the people you love before you died, what would you say to them? How would you represent the "good news of the gospel" to those you would never see again? I think it is instructive that Paul would use the term "grace" twice to describe the "Word" and the "good news of the gospel" in his parting speech.  Grace - it is definitely unmerited favor and it is definitely amazing! It is God in the Person of Christ freely giving Himself. It is God and Christ in their faithfulness agreeing upon the plan of salvation from the foundation of the world and accomplishing it in Christ's birth, life, death and resurrection. It is God saying to us what the angel said to Mary; "greetings favored one, the Lord is with you" (Luke 1:28). We too have been "accepted (favored) in the Beloved" by grace (Ephesians 1:6).

          But what exactly is grace? Is there a deeper meaning? It is grace by which we are saved and it precedes any work of man, but what happens when that grace is accepted as the reigning power in the life? In The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, September 1, 1896, A. T. Jones wrote this in an article called, "Shall It Be Grace Or Sin":

          "It can never be repeated too often, that under the reign of grace it is just as easy to do right, as under the reign of sin it is easy to do wrong. This must be so; for if there is not more power in grace than there is in sin, then there can be no salvation from sin. But there is salvation from sin; this no one who believes in Christianity can deny. Yet salvation from sin certainly depends upon there being more power in grace than there is in sin. Then, there being more power in grace than there is in sin, it cannot possibly be otherwise than that wherever the power of grace can have control, it will be just as easy to do right as without this it is easy to do wrong.

          No man ever yet naturally found it difficult to do wrong. His great difficulty has always been to do right. But this is because man naturally is enslaved to a power—the power of sin—that is absolute in its reign. And so long as that power has sway, it is not only difficult but impossible to do the good that he knows and that he would. But let a mightier power than that have sway, then is it not plain enough that it will be just as easy to serve the will of the mightier power, when it reigns, as it was to serve the will of the other power when it reigned?

          But grace is not simply more powerful than is sin. If this were indeed all, even then there would be fulness of hope and good cheer to every sinner in the world. But this, good as it would be, is not all; it is not nearly all. There is much more power in grace than there is in sin. For "where sin abounded, grace did much more abound." And just as much more power in grace than there is in sin, just so much more hope and good cheer there are for every sinner in the world. How much more power, then, is there in grace than there is in sin? Let me think a moment. Let me ask myself a question or two. Whence comes grace?—From God, to be sure.

          "Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ." Whence comes sin?—From the devil, of course. Sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. Well, then, how much more power is there in grace than there is in sin? It is as plain as A, B, C that there is just as much more power in grace than there is in sin, as there is more power in God than there is in the devil. It is therefore also perfectly plain that the reign of grace is the reign of God; and that the reign of sin is the reign of Satan. And is it not therefore perfectly plain also, that it is just as easy to serve God by the power of God as it is to serve Satan with the power of Satan?

          Where the difficulty comes in, in all this, is that so many people try to serve God with the power of Satan. But that can never be done. "Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt." Men cannot gather grapes of thorns, nor figs of thistles. The tree must be made good, root and branch. It must be made new. "Ye must be born again." "In Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature." Let no one ever attempt to serve God with anything but the present, living power of God, that makes him a new creature; with nothing but the much more abundant grace that condemns sin in the flesh, and reigns through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Then the service of God will indeed be in "newness of life;" then it will be found that his yoke is indeed "easy" and his burden "light;" then his service will be found indeed to be with "joy unspeakable and full of glory."

          Did Jesus ever find it difficult to do right? Everyone will instantly say, No. But why? He was just as human as we are. He took flesh and blood the same as ours. "The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us." And the kind of flesh that He was made in this world, was precisely such as was in this world. "In all things it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren." "In all things"! It does not say, In all things but one. There is no exception. He was made in all things like as we are. He was of Himself as weak as we are; for He said, "I can of Mine own self do nothing."

          Why, then, being in all things like as we are, did He find it always easy to do right?—Because He never trusted to Himself, but His trust was always in God alone. All His dependence was upon the grace of God. He always sought to serve God, only with the power of God. And therefore, the Father dwelt in Him, and did the works of righteousness. Therefore, it was always easy for Him to do right. But as He is, so are we in this world. He has left us an example, that we should follow His steps.

          "It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure," as well as in Him. All power in heaven and in earth is given unto Him; and He desires that you may be strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power. "In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily;" and He strengthens you with might by His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your heart by faith, that you may be "filled with all the fulness of God."

          True, Christ partook of the divine nature, and so do you if you are a child of promise, and not of the flesh; for by the promises ye are partakers of the divine nature. There was nothing given to Him in this world, and He had nothing in this world, that is not freely given to you, or that you may not have. All this is in order that you may walk in newness of life; that henceforth you may not serve sin; that you may be the servant of righteousness only; that you may be freed from sin; that sin may not have dominion over you; that you may glorify God on the earth; and that you may be like Jesus. And therefore "unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. . . . Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." And I "beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain."

          Grace is given according to the measure of the gift of Christ! Now that is a lot of grace! So, receive it, not in the measure in which you think you deserve it but in the measure in which it was given. Receive it in all its saving fulness today! The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all, Amen!  2 Cor. 13:14

~ Rob Benardo


Friday, August 24, 2018

1888 Message Study : The Jerusalem Council

THIRD QUARTER 2018

SABBATH SCHOOL INSIGHT #8

AUGUST 25, 2018

"THE JERUSALEM COUNCIL"

 

The Jerusalem Council was the first General Conference of the Christian Church. It was called on, by a delegation from the church in Antioch, to settle a theological debate over salvation (Acts 15:1-5). Paul and Barnabas had been preaching the great doctrine of justification by faith in Christ alone for salvation to Gentiles, as well as to Hellenistic Jews, especially during their first missionary journey into the nation of Galatia as well as in the city of Antioch. However, there were "Pharisees who believed", or claimed to believe, who fiercely opposed the gospel. And later on, after the Council decided in favor of the gospel, these Pharisees continued to actively put it down.

 

Before the time of the Council, Peter had his thinking rearranged regarding Gentiles and salvation when he shared the gospel with Cornelius, a Roman military officer. This led to Peter's statement in the Jerusalem Council (you can read this in Acts 15:7-11). He spoke and came to the defense of Paul and Barnabas regarding the gospel in that meeting in Jerusalem. The memory text for this week is taken from Peter's testimony.

 

Paul and Barnabas were accused of tearing down the law by the "Pharisees who believed." They claimed that law keeping (in this case, the ceremonial law) was essential to salvation (Acts 15:1). After much debating during the Council, Peter said "We believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ WE [Jews] shall be saved in the same manner as THEY [the Gentiles]" (Acts 15:11). He did not say Gentiles shall be saved in the same manner as the Jews, but rather the Jews were to be saved in the same manner as the Gentiles. More on this later. First some background.

 

Antioch was the capital of the Roman province of Syria. The city was an important intersecting point for a number of roads. It is about 300 miles north of Jerusalem. If travelers averaged 20 miles a day it would take about fifteen days of walking from Jerusalem. If donkeys, the preferred "beasts of burden," were employed, it would take seven to ten days of travel from Jerusalem to Antioch.

 

In Antioch a new center for the gospel was established. Jerusalem was the original headquarters for "Christians." But after it was destroyed, Antioch became the Church's new headquarters and remained as such for some time. It was in Antioch that believers in Christ were first called "Christian" (Acts 11:26). The Christian Church was not in a church building, but in congregations that met in homes and outside in the open air. Congregations were established when people accepted the gospel. It was one to two hundred years later when Christians settled into church buildings.

 

The church in Antioch was an exceptional missionary church. It was from here missionaries were sent westward, northward and eastward. Benjamin Wilkinson in his book Truth Triumphant wrote about the spread of the gospel from the Syrian Church of Antioch. He wrote about the Waldensians in Europe, of Paul and Barnabas in Asia Minor and Europe, and of Thomas who was sent to India from Antioch. Chapter 19 of his book is full of sources regarding Thomas in India. Wilkinson wrote, "Libraries are full of literature telling of his founding churches in India." Truth Triumphant p. 293. He presents a valuable history of the early church onward into the dark ages.

 

Returning to the problems in Antioch and Galatia over the gospel—Christian Jewish believers who continued their ceremonial practices, such as circumcision, were shocked to see Gentiles coming into Christianity through justification by faith in Christ alone. To the Jews these converts must first become proselytes to Judaism; then they were to enter into the new faith of Christianity. They depended on circumcision as a major practice in order to become a Jewish convert and also to be saved. Let's consider the biblical evidence by which these people were motivated.

 

Circumcision was commanded to be performed on males as the sign of the covenant God made with Abraham (Genesis 17:10). It was first given because of Abraham's unbelief. He lost faith in the promise of God and depended on his flesh to fulfill God's promise of a son. But this did not produce the promised offspring. His union with Hagar was the production of an old covenant experience which depended on the activity of the flesh.

 

However, God turned circumcision into a sign of the new covenant experience. It became a sign of righteousness by faith with total dependence on God. Abraham, of course, was accounted righteous before he was circumcised. Thus, his circumcision became the sign of righteousness by faith which he received before the operation was performed on him (Romans 4:9-11). From the beginning circumcision of the flesh was an illustration of God's work in the heart producing love to God (Deuteronomy 30:6, 8) and to man which is authentic commandment keeping.

 

The Jews missed the spiritual lesson of circumcision and provided "proof-texting" as evidence for their ritual performance of the ceremony. Consider the method used in their attempt to force Gentiles into this ceremonial custom. When God gave the command to Abraham He said, "The uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people" (Genesis 17:14). This was a death penalty—to be cut off from life and thus from his people. This argument was augmented in the experience of Moses when he headed back to Egypt to deliver his people from Egyptian bondage.

 

On his way to Egypt, with his family, Moses was struck down by a sickness that was death threatening. It is written that "Moses took his wife and his sons and set them on a donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt…. And it came to pass on the way, at the encampment, that the LORD met him and sought to kill him" (Exodus 4:20, 24).

 

Immediately Zipporah, his wife, circumcised their uncircumcised son. She "took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son and cast it at Moses' feet (made it touch his feet, margin), and said, 'Surely you are a husband of blood to me!' So, He let him go" (Exodus 4: 25-26).

 

Evidently the first son had been previously circumcised, but this tenderhearted mother set her mind against surgery on their second son—that is until Moses was about to die on the way to Egypt. Zipporah knew exactly what the problem was and she performed the operation on their son and Moses was restored to health.

 

So here are two compelling and persuasive Scripture passages (Genesis 17:14 and Exodus 4:24-26) doubtless used by the "Pharisees who believed" as proof that Gentiles must be circumcised in order to be saved. To those Jews, faith in Christ alone was not enough. To them it was faith in Christ plus works of the law which brings salvation.

 

Consider what they missed, but what Paul knew: When Christ was "cut off" or crucified, He fulfilled the ceremonial type of circumcision. Paul wrote of this to the Colossians: "you are complete in Him…in Him, you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ" (Colossians 2:10–11).

 

From Daniel we further learn of the direct connection between Christ's crucifixion and circumcision. Christ, the Messiah was to be "cut off, but not for Himself" (suffer the death penalty, margin, Daniel 9:26). The term "cut off" is the identical word used in Genesis 17:4 and Exodus 4:25 regarding the death penalty because of the rejection of the word of God. Christ was "cut off, but not for Himself." He was "cut off" for us. He was "cut off" from life because of our uncircumcised hearts.

 

This point was completely missed by the "Pharisees who believed" insisting on an old covenant circumcision of the flesh and refusing to believe in Christ crucified as the antitype of circumcision. Consequently, they resisted and fought against the "good news" of salvation by forcing their false gospel upon the Gentiles. Because of their activity of determined opposition to the gospel in that great missionary church of Antioch, the church sent representatives, including Paul and Barnabas, to Jerusalem for a decision on this theological debate.

 

The debate was decided in favor of the gospel as taught by Paul and Barnabas. A letter was sent from the Jerusalem Council that caused much rejoining in the church in Antioch. The letter is recorded in Acts 15:22–29. It reads:

 

22"Then it pleased the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, namely, Judas who was also named Barsabas, and Silas, leading men among the brethren. 23They wrote this letter by them: The apostles, the elders, and the brethren, To the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: Greetings. 24Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, "You must be circumcised and keep the law"—to whom we gave no such commandment—25it seemed good to us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will also report the same things by word of mouth. 28For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: 29that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell."

 

Let's return to Peter's statement: "We believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ WE [Jews] shall be saved in the same manner as THEY [the Gentiles]" (Acts 15:11). A.T. Jones wrote the following:

 

Peter himself had made in his statement of the truth of the gospel in his own experience, in the council at Jerusalem…. "We believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, EVEN as THEY." Note again: not they shall be saved even as WE; but WE shall be saved, even as THEY. And "THEY" were justified by FAITH without the deeds of any law—they must be; for they did not have any; and "WE" the Jews, being saved even as THEY, must be justified by faith without the deeds of any law, even though "WE" had all the laws that ever were" (A. T. Jones RH, October 3, 1899).

 

In closing, the gospel of salvation was triumphant in the days of the early church. Jesus said, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" ( Mark 16:15). This happened by missionaries sent out from the church in Antioch (Colossians 1:23). And it will be repeated by the Remnant before the return of Christ "the Lord Our Righteousness" (Revelation 14:6).

~ Jerry Finnemanfinn



https://www.1888msc.org/resources/ssi/2018-q3/the-jerusalem-council

Friday, August 17, 2018

“PAUL’S FIRST MISSIONARY JOURNEY”

THIRD QUARTER 2018

SABBATH SCHOOL INSIGHT #7

AUGUST 18, 2018

"PAUL'S FIRST MISSIONARY JOURNEY"

 

Remission

Throughout my life, I have met several individuals who have had cancer. Some of them had surgery, chemo and radiation, while others utilized natural methods or treatments to get rid of the cancerous tissue. On more than one occasion, the cocktailing of treatments was successful. Despite this however, the physician never stated that the patient was cured. Instead, the pronouncement was that the patient was in remission. Upon hearing this medical phrase, I was initially quite puzzled, and wondered what it meant. What I later discovered was that this idea of remission from disease could give us a window into how God deals with Sin. Let us talk briefly about cancer and remission in its medical context, and afterward, we will make the parallels between Sin, cancer, being in remission and its spiritual application.

Cancer refers to a class of diseases. Therefore, it is unlikely that there will ever be a single "cure for cancer" any more than there will be a single treatment for all infectious diseases. Treatments for cancer include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, immunotherapy, and monoclonal antibody therapy. There are also natural homeopathic methods as well. The choice of treatment depends upon the location and grade of the tumor, the stage of the disease, as well as the general state of the patient (performance status). There are challenges inherent in some of the treatments that can limit their effectiveness. For example, the effectiveness of chemotherapy is often limited by toxicity to other tissues in the body. Radiation can also damage healthy tissue which can cause other medical issues. Simply stated, complete removal of the cancer without damage to the rest of the body is the goal of treatment. Sometimes this can be accomplished by surgery, but the propensity of tumors to invade adjacent tissues or to spread to distant sites by microscopic metastasis often limits its effectiveness.

This is why physicians say that cancer is in remission and not that a patient no longer has cancer. Remission is a temporary end to the medical signs in all tests, scans, physical exams, and symptoms of an incurable disease. It is the state of absence of disease activity although cancer still may be in the body and may manifest again in the future.

Sin, this side of eternity, is like cancer in that it can be treated, but it does not disappear. As long as we live on this earth, those who live by faith can stop committing Sin; however, their sinful nature is still alive. As long as we live on this Earth, Sin is always a threat. Just as cancer can show its ugly face when and where you least expect it, so can Sin when not held in check. It is always present and always fighting for the mastery. However, as long as we subject ourselves to the treatment of Jesus by His Holy Spirit, Sin will be in remission. This 'remission' is what Peter spoke of in Acts 10:43,

"To Him give all the prophets witness, that through His name whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of Sins."

 There is a similar expression in John 3:16, "…that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." The tense of the verb 'believeth' in the Greek is in the continual present tense. Consequently, the passage should read as such, "whosoever continually believes in Him.…" The Greek word here for 'believe' is the same as 'faith'. Thus, the meaning is rendered, "whosoever continually has faith – believes, trusts, and has confidence in…" Therefore, we can see that the remission of Sin comes through believing as does righteousness. Genesis 15:6 has this to say of righteousness and faith in regards to Abraham,

"And he believed in the LORD; and He counted it to him for righteousness."

Furthermore, the Spirit of Prophecy says that "The law demands righteousness, and this the sinner owes to the law; but he is incapable of rendering it. The only way in which he can attain righteousness is through faith" (Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, Book 1, p. 367). So, now we see that there is a relationship between remission of Sin, "not perishing, having everlasting life," and being righteous. Believing causes all three. This simply means that those who are righteous by continually believing, experience remission of Sin, and eventually receive incorrupt and immortal bodies (1 Corinthians 15:53).

In addition, the word righteous is a synonym for just. Therefore, the expression justification by faith means made righteous by continually believing. Paul reminded the Galatians,

"Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified" (Galatians 2:16).

Genuine justification by faith always produces law keeping Christians. Since the law is summed up by, and (fulfilled) in Agape-Love (Romans 10:13), justification by faith always produces people that love God above all things and their neighbor as themselves (Galatians 5:14).

The Lord longs to have a people who completely reflect His character. He has been waiting so long for us. Let's not prolong His agony. Now is the time, today is the day to allow His treatment for Sin to be effective in each of us and let Sin be declared 'in remission'. This will prove our Lord to be good, merciful, just, and victorious.

~Raul Diaz


Friday, August 10, 2018

Lesson 6. The Ministry of Peter

Sabbath School Today
With the 1888 Message Dynamic

The Book of Acts
Lesson 6. The Ministry of Peter

 

From the very beginning of the early days of Christianity, there have been conflicts about how good the Good News is. The letter to the Galatians is evidence. The early converts from the Jews had to wrestle against a deep mind-set idea that no one could be saved except Jews, that Gentiles were automatically excluded from the benefits of Christ"s sacrifice. Remember how Peter had to overcome that prejudice in Acts 10:28 when he was sent to Cornelius?

Deeply laid prejudices seemed almost ineradicable. The "faithful" Jewish Christians just felt in their bones that the gates of the New Jerusalem had to be shut against Gentiles, that Christ was Messiah and Savior only to themselves, that their work as apostles was to go to all the Jews in the Diaspora scattered around the world. But Paul's mind had been enlightened with a far brighter view of how good the Good News is! "God ... will have all men to be saved," the Messiah is already "the Savior of all men, especially of those that believe," He has "abolished death [the second!] and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel," and has become the new or second Adam for the entire human race and has given, not merely offered, the "gift" of salvation to "all men" just as Adam gave "condemnation" to them (see 1 Tim. 2:4, 1 Tim. 4:10, 2 Tim. 1:10, Rom. 5:15, 16).

These "big ideas" (all from Paul) stretched the minds and hearts of the early Jewish Christians, and they still challenge our thinking today. Does the Son of God merely "offer" justification to "all men" with the initiative in their hands, or has He on His own initiative given it freely by grace as a "gift" to "all men"? Does He open the gates of the New Jerusalem to "all men" so that in the end the only ones who are outside are those who themselves refuse by unbelief to enter? Could the Good News be that good?

Many people think that we don't really need to study the gospel because we already understand it. In fact, we have understood the gospel for about 150 years. All we really need is more money so that we can turn up the volume control and amplify our present understanding of the gospel so that more people can hear it around the world and then the work will be finished.

But the Lord surprised all of us in 1888 when he sent two young men (A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner) with a "most precious message" about the gospel. Ellen White said it was "new light." Now sometimes she said it was not new light but said it was old light that had been recovered. There were many times in fact when she said, Yes indeed it is new light, it is additional light, it is in fact, "the beginning of the light of the [fourth] angel whose glory shall fill the whole earth." [1] She said that God commanded that this message should be given to the world. Sad but true, many, in fact most of our dear brethren years ago, reacted against the message that has been kept away from the church and from the world.

Calvinism has failed to penetrate the heart of the gospel when it says that Christ died only to provide justification for the elect. Arminianism also failed to penetrate the heart of the gospel for it says that Christ died only to make a provision whereby it might be possible for all men to be justified only if they do something first. The 1888 message broke through the clouds into the sunlight above and said that Paul and the apostle John and the Lord Jesus himself mean exactly what they said, "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son." "And He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:2). Christ has tasted the second death for every man, he has died every man's second death (see Rev. 2:11, 20:14). There is no reason under heaven why any human being should go into the lake of fire except that he has resisted and rejected what Christ has already done for him.

This leads into another beautiful truth that it is easy to be saved and hard to be lost if you understand how good the Good News is. God's love is a seeking love. He is not waiting for us to find Him. The good shepherd is out looking for his lost sheep.

So the true answer to the question: What must I do to be saved? is not to study your Bible, witness more, pray more, etc. The true Bible answer to that question is just what the Bible says, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:31). And then people say, No, this can't be true because there is something besides believing that is required. 100 years ago our brethren did not like the message because they thought it degraded works or it did not give works proper attention. That is the fear today. The Bible does not teach that we are saved by faith and works. The Bible clearly teaches that we are saved by faith, but it is a faith which works.

And that leads us to the cross of Christ, to understand what faith is. Faith is a heart appreciation of the tremendous dimensions of the agape love revealed at the cross. Someone asks a question, "Is it really true that what the world church needs is a revelation of Christ and Him crucified? Shouldn't we be preaching against short skirts, TV, and this and that abomination? Shouldn't this be the burden of our message?" We learned this week that if we believe the Bible, the only answer to the sin problem is the cross where there is much more abounding grace.

We have learned about the two covenants, that we are not saved by making promises to God. We are not saved even by trying to keep our promises to God, but we are saved by believing His promises to us. We learned that Pentecost, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, came to Israel of old, the early church, when they understood the principle of corporate guilt and corporate repentance. They realized that they were the ones who crucified the Son of God. The Spirit of God fell upon the Gentiles in Cornelius" house when they understood that it wasn't only the Romans and the Jews who crucified Christ but it was they. They partook of that sin even though they were not present at Calvary. The sin of crucifying Christ is the sin of the world.

The apostles are said to have marveled that the Gentiles should experience the same phenomenal response to the cross that the believing Jews did, and thus receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:44-47). Peter and his followers evidently did not expect this response, because Peter was careful in his sermon in Cornelius's home to tell the Gentiles that it was the Jews who "slew and hanged [Christ] on a tree" (vs. 39). He said nothing about the Gentiles being guilty. The phenomenal reception of the Holy Spirit was due to the believing Jews" phenomenal repentance for the sin of the ages--crucifying the Son of God. How could the "innocent" Gentiles share in this experience?

The Holy Spirit sent His words closer home than Peter expected. His contrite hearers identified themselves with the Jews and recognized themselves as fully sharing in the guilt. Only thus could they have shared the depths of repentance which made possible their reception of the power of the Holy Spirit. In other words, they experienced corporate repentance.

The latter rain will come when we realize our true corporate guilt; that the guilt of others would be our guilt but for the grace of Christ. The guilt of others is our guilt because all of us have the same flesh and sinful nature. All of this beautiful truth imparts a motivation that cures lukewarmness. It is impossible for a world church to be lukewarm if that church understands the gospel.

--Paul E. Penno

Endnote:
[1] Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, book one, p. 363.

Notes:
Pastor Paul Penno"s video of this lesson is on the Internet at: https://youtu.be/QpP48RaKAOw 

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


Thursday, August 09, 2018

Lesson 6. The Ministry of Peter

Sabbath School Today
With the 1888 Message Dynamic

The Book of Acts
Lesson 6. The Ministry of Peter

 

From the very beginning of the early days of Christianity, there have been conflicts about how good the Good News is. The letter to the Galatians is evidence. The early converts from the Jews had to wrestle against a deep mind-set idea that no one could be saved except Jews, that Gentiles were automatically excluded from the benefits of Christ"s sacrifice. Remember how Peter had to overcome that prejudice in Acts 10:28 when he was sent to Cornelius?

Deeply laid prejudices seemed almost ineradicable. The "faithful" Jewish Christians just felt in their bones that the gates of the New Jerusalem had to be shut against Gentiles, that Christ was Messiah and Savior only to themselves, that their work as apostles was to go to all the Jews in the Diaspora scattered around the world. But Paul's mind had been enlightened with a far brighter view of how good the Good News is! "God ... will have all men to be saved," the Messiah is already "the Savior of all men, especially of those that believe," He has "abolished death [the second!] and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel," and has become the new or second Adam for the entire human race and has given, not merely offered, the "gift" of salvation to "all men" just as Adam gave "condemnation" to them (see 1 Tim. 2:4, 1 Tim. 4:10, 2 Tim. 1:10, Rom. 5:15, 16).

These "big ideas" (all from Paul) stretched the minds and hearts of the early Jewish Christians, and they still challenge our thinking today. Does the Son of God merely "offer" justification to "all men" with the initiative in their hands, or has He on His own initiative given it freely by grace as a "gift" to "all men"? Does He open the gates of the New Jerusalem to "all men" so that in the end the only ones who are outside are those who themselves refuse by unbelief to enter? Could the Good News be that good?

Many people think that we don't really need to study the gospel because we already understand it. In fact, we have understood the gospel for about 150 years. All we really need is more money so that we can turn up the volume control and amplify our present understanding of the gospel so that more people can hear it around the world and then the work will be finished.

But the Lord surprised all of us in 1888 when he sent two young men (A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner) with a "most precious message" about the gospel. Ellen White said it was "new light." Now sometimes she said it was not new light but said it was old light that had been recovered. There were many times in fact when she said, Yes indeed it is new light, it is additional light, it is in fact, "the beginning of the light of the [fourth] angel whose glory shall fill the whole earth." [1] She said that God commanded that this message should be given to the world. Sad but true, many, in fact most of our dear brethren years ago, reacted against the message that has been kept away from the church and from the world.

Calvinism has failed to penetrate the heart of the gospel when it says that Christ died only to provide justification for the elect. Arminianism also failed to penetrate the heart of the gospel for it says that Christ died only to make a provision whereby it might be possible for all men to be justified only if they do something first. The 1888 message broke through the clouds into the sunlight above and said that Paul and the apostle John and the Lord Jesus himself mean exactly what they said, "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son." "And He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:2). Christ has tasted the second death for every man, he has died every man's second death (see Rev. 2:11, 20:14). There is no reason under heaven why any human being should go into the lake of fire except that he has resisted and rejected what Christ has already done for him.

This leads into another beautiful truth that it is easy to be saved and hard to be lost if you understand how good the Good News is. God's love is a seeking love. He is not waiting for us to find Him. The good shepherd is out looking for his lost sheep.

So the true answer to the question: What must I do to be saved? is not to study your Bible, witness more, pray more, etc. The true Bible answer to that question is just what the Bible says, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:31). And then people say, No, this can't be true because there is something besides believing that is required. 100 years ago our brethren did not like the message because they thought it degraded works or it did not give works proper attention. That is the fear today. The Bible does not teach that we are saved by faith and works. The Bible clearly teaches that we are saved by faith, but it is a faith which works.

And that leads us to the cross of Christ, to understand what faith is. Faith is a heart appreciation of the tremendous dimensions of the agape love revealed at the cross. Someone asks a question, "Is it really true that what the world church needs is a revelation of Christ and Him crucified? Shouldn't we be preaching against short skirts, TV, and this and that abomination? Shouldn't this be the burden of our message?" We learned this week that if we believe the Bible, the only answer to the sin problem is the cross where there is much more abounding grace.

We have learned about the two covenants, that we are not saved by making promises to God. We are not saved even by trying to keep our promises to God, but we are saved by believing His promises to us. We learned that Pentecost, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, came to Israel of old, the early church, when they understood the principle of corporate guilt and corporate repentance. They realized that they were the ones who crucified the Son of God. The Spirit of God fell upon the Gentiles in Cornelius" house when they understood that it wasn't only the Romans and the Jews who crucified Christ but it was they. They partook of that sin even though they were not present at Calvary. The sin of crucifying Christ is the sin of the world.

The apostles are said to have marveled that the Gentiles should experience the same phenomenal response to the cross that the believing Jews did, and thus receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:44-47). Peter and his followers evidently did not expect this response, because Peter was careful in his sermon in Cornelius's home to tell the Gentiles that it was the Jews who "slew and hanged [Christ] on a tree" (vs. 39). He said nothing about the Gentiles being guilty. The phenomenal reception of the Holy Spirit was due to the believing Jews" phenomenal repentance for the sin of the ages--crucifying the Son of God. How could the "innocent" Gentiles share in this experience?

The Holy Spirit sent His words closer home than Peter expected. His contrite hearers identified themselves with the Jews and recognized themselves as fully sharing in the guilt. Only thus could they have shared the depths of repentance which made possible their reception of the power of the Holy Spirit. In other words, they experienced corporate repentance.

The latter rain will come when we realize our true corporate guilt; that the guilt of others would be our guilt but for the grace of Christ. The guilt of others is our guilt because all of us have the same flesh and sinful nature. All of this beautiful truth imparts a motivation that cures lukewarmness. It is impossible for a world church to be lukewarm if that church understands the gospel.

--Paul E. Penno

Endnote:
[1] Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, book one, p. 363.

Notes:
Pastor Paul Penno"s video of this lesson is on the Internet at: https://youtu.be/QpP48RaKAOw 

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


Friday, August 03, 2018

“THE CONVERSION OF PAUL”

THIRD QUARTER 2018

SABBATH SCHOOL INSIGHT #5

AUGUST 4, 2018

"THE CONVERSION OF PAUL"

 

 

Paul Means the Little One

 

Luke 9:48 "…for he who is least among you all -- he shall be great."

 

The verse quoted above seems contradictory. However, such are things in the Kingdom of God.  A pearl is highly valued and desired. However, its origins are very humble. Something insignificantly small – and undesirable to the clam - causes a lesion within it. The clam, to self-protect, creates a substance with which it covers and isolates the irritant. The final result of this process is a precious pearl. It is in this light that we look at Paul's conversion.

 

What do we know of Paul before His conversion? We know that he was an old covenant believer of God, filled with religious bigotry, status and pride. Paul says of himself in Acts 22:3, "I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day." He proceeds in Philippians 3:5, I was, "Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee." He was born a Roman citizen according to Acts 22:25 – 28. According to Galatians 1:14, He "…profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers." He was present at Stephen's death and consenting of it according to Acts 7:58 and 8:1. After this, He persecuted the church as we read in Acts 8:3 and 22:4, 5:

 

Act 8:3 "As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison."

 

Act 22:4, 5 "And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women. As also the high priest doth bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders: from whom also I received letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them which were there bound unto Jerusalem, for to be punished."

 

Paul's original name was Saul (Acts 13:9). His parents gave him this name because they hoped he would be as great as King Saul (Saul means desired). It seemed Saul did not disappoint his parents. That was until his conversion, when he became a New Covenant believer. After Paul's conversion (Acts 9) Saul changed his name to Paul, which means little one; this was to contrast his name in his life without Christ. After conversion, he no longer pursued greatness but was content to consider Christ as the great and desirable One and he, Paul, was a small one. Indeed, he called himself the least of the Apostles and all saints (1Corinthians 15:9; Ephesians 3:8), the chief of sinners (1Timothy 1:15), and a wretched man (Romans 7:24).

 

Paul's view of himself is very paradoxical, as the things of God often are. From our human perspective, we consider the little one and least of all of the Apostles as the greatest apostle of all. He was the preeminent evangelist, highly successful at church planting, and the most prolific letter writer. Paul agreed that it looked as though he was great, but then he clarified in 1 Corinthians 15:9-11. Let us read in I Corinthians 15:9, 10 (ESV),

 

"For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me."

 

How did Paul do it?  We could argue that it was Paul's energetic personality, along with his educational attainments and excellent training that produced such a worker for Christ. But these things merely enhanced the tool that he was. Sister White has said it is not the abilities which the man possesses or will ever possess that give him success in the work, it is the mighty outworking of the Holy Spirit on the heart through the one who is surrendered. But naturally a man who is well prepared and pays attention to the little things can have a wider sphere of work, than one whose energies and talents are divided, undisciplined or untrained. (See COL, Chapter 25 on Talents). It was the Holy Spirit through Paul that accomplished all these things. Paul completely gave himself to the Holy Spirit's control, and trusted in God's promises and provisions. He was a man of prayer. There are approximately 32 references on prayer in Paul's epistles. These indicate that not only was he a man of prayer, but that he was filled with, and followed the directions of the Holy Spirit (Acts 13:9; Acts 16:6). Paul, who said he was the least of all the apostles, did not disappoint the Lord. Could the same be said of us?

 

~Raul Diaz