Bible Study Guides

Bible Study Guides – Many of His Disciples Turn Back

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March 13, 2005 – March 19, 2005

Memory Verse

“It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, [they] are spirit, and [they] are life.” John 6:63.

Suggested Reading: John 6; The Desire of Ages, 383–394.

Introduction

Three events have been documented that have their counterpart in the second advent movement. They are: (1) The first cleansing of the temple and the second angel’s message (Revelation 14:8) in 1844; (2) The Sanhedrin’s rejection of Jesus at the second Passover and the second advent church’s rejection of the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy; (3) The second cleansing of the temple and the loud cry of the third angel (Revelation 18:1, 2).

As it was necessary for Jesus to begin a ministry independent from the Sanhedrin in the first advent, so in the second advent movement, God found it necessary to begin a ministry independent from the organized church. He led E. A. Sutherland and P. T. Magan to open a school and a sanitarium for the people in the South.

Our study this week concerning “the trials of the children of Israel and their attitude” during the first advent of Christ will continue, as we look at the events connected with the ministry of Jesus in Galilee just a year following the Sanhedrin’s rejection of Christ’s message and His departure from Jerusalem.

1 What is the setting for the crisis in Galilee? John 6:1–13.

note: “The Passover was at hand, and, from far and near, bands of pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem gathered to see Jesus. Additions were made to their number, until there were assembled five thousand men besides women and children.” The Desire of Ages, 364.

2 What did the twelve disciples and the crowd plan to do after they were finished eating? John 6:14, 15.

note: “All day the conviction has strengthened. That crowning act is assurance that the long-looked-for Deliverer is among them. The hopes of the people rise higher and higher. This is He who will make Judea an earthly paradise, a land flowing with milk and honey. He can satisfy every desire. He can break the power of the hated Romans. He can deliver Judah and Jerusalem. He can heal the soldiers who are wounded in battle. He can supply whole armies with food. He can conquer the nations, and give to Israel the long-sought dominion.

“In their enthusiasm the people are ready at once to crown Him king. They see that He makes no effort to attract attention or secure honor to Himself. In this He is essentially different from the priests and rulers, and they fear that He will never urge His claim to David’s throne. Consulting together, they agree to take Him by force, and proclaim Him the king of Israel. The disciples unite with the multitude in declaring the throne of David the rightful inheritance of their Master. It is the modesty of Christ, they say, that causes Him to refuse such honor. Let the people exalt their Deliverer. Let the arrogant priests and rulers be forced to honor Him who comes clothed with the authority of God.” The Desire of Ages, 377, 378.

3 How did Jesus respond to this effort to make Him king? John 6:15, 16.

note: “But Jesus sees what is on foot, and understands, as they cannot, what would be the result of such a movement. Even now the priests and rulers are hunting His life. They accuse Him of drawing the people away from them. . . . Calling His disciples, Jesus bids them take the boat and return at once to Capernaum, leaving Him to dismiss the people.

“Never before had a command from Christ seemed so impossible of fulfillment. The disciples had long hoped for a popular movement to place Jesus on the throne; they could not endure the thought that all this enthusiasm should come to nothing. . . .

“Jesus now commands the multitude to disperse; and His manner is so decisive that they dare not disobey.” The Desire of Ages, 378.

comment: Here we have a clear description of a group of people who are followers of Jesus along with the twelve disciples. They plan to take Jesus by force to Jerusalem and, through popularity, proclaim Him King of Israel over the authority of “the arrogant priests and rulers.” It is evident that even though these people had left the organization to follow Jesus, they had no better understanding of the nature of Christ’s kingdom than had the priests and rulers in Jerusalem.

4 Because Jesus refused to let the people proclaim Him king, what great change now occurred in His ministry? John 6:66.

note: “When Christ forbade the people to declare Him king, He knew that a turning point in His history was reached. Multitudes who desired to exalt Him to the throne today would turn from Him tomorrow. The disappointment of their selfish ambition would turn their love to hatred, and their praise to curses. Yet knowing this, He took no measures to avert the crisis. From the first He held out to His followers no hope of earthly rewards. . . . Of those now connected with Him there were many who had been attracted by the hope of a worldly kingdom. These must be undeceived. The deep spiritual teaching in the miracle of the loaves had not been comprehended. This was to be made plain. And this new revelation would bring with it a closer test.” The Desire of Ages, 383.

comment: Although the crowd was dispersed by Jesus, the next day they gathered again at the synagogue in Capernaum. Before we join the meeting at the synagogue, it is important to understand the relationship of these people to the organized church in Jerusalem and the independent ministry of Jesus.

5 How does John identify the relationship of these people to Jesus three times in his gospel? John 6:60, 61, 66.

note: The Spirit of Prophecy calls them “His disciples” seven times:

“He knew the character of those who claimed to be His disciples, and His words tested their faith.” The Desire of Ages, 391.

“By the public rebuke of their unbelief these disciples were still further alienated from Jesus.” Ibid., 392.

“Many are still doing the same thing. Souls are tested today as were those disciples in the synagogue at Capernaum. . . . Therefore they are angry when their sins are discovered. They go away offended, even as the disciples left Jesus, murmuring, ‘This is an hard saying; who can hear it?’ [John 6:60.]” Ibid.

“As those disaffected disciples turned away from Christ, a different spirit took control of them.” Ibid.

“With a yearning heart, Jesus saw those who had been His disciples departing from Him, the Life and the Light of men.” Ibid., 393.

“When Jesus presented the testing truth that caused so many of His disciples to turn back, He knew what would be the result of His words; but He had a purpose of mercy to fulfill.” Ibid., 394.

comment: In looking back, the picture becomes quite clear. About the time of the second Passover, the Jewish church rejected Jesus and His ministry. Jesus then departed from them and went into Galilee to work. This resulted in large multitudes joining Him as “His disciples.” At the feeding of the 5,000, they planned to take Jesus to Jerusalem and proclaim Him their King, but by the end of the next day, the records say that most of “His disciples” turned away and left Him. Let us now take a look at the reasons for this amazing change in the attitude of “His disciples.”

6 What was the hope of this multitude of “His disciples” that attracted them to Jesus? John 6:14, 15. See The Desire of Ages quotation after Question 4.

7 According to the reference following Question 4, what did Jesus have to do for these people before they could understand the true nature of His kingdom? See John 18:36.

8 What would this new revelation bring to the people? John 6:61–64.

note: “Christ had spoken a sacred, eternal truth regarding the relation between Himself and His followers. He knew the character of those who claimed to be His disciples, and His words tested their faith.” The Desire of Ages, 391.

9 What did Jesus tell “these disciples” they would have to do to become His true disciples? John 6:53, 63.

note: “To eat the flesh and drink the blood of Christ is to receive Him as a personal Saviour, believing that He forgives our sins, and that we are complete in Him. It is by beholding His love, by dwelling upon it, by drinking it in, that we are to become partakers of His nature. What food is to the body, Christ must be to the soul. Food cannot benefit us unless we eat it, unless it becomes a part of our being. So Christ is of no value to us if we do not know Him as a personal Saviour. A theoretical knowledge will do us no good. We must feed upon Him, receive Him into the heart, so that His life becomes our life. His love, His grace, must be assimilated.” The Desire of Ages, 389.

10 What does this character change involve that Jesus requires? John 6:44–56.

note: “He [Jesus] declared that they were to believe and act upon His teaching. All who received Him would partake of His nature, and be conformed to His character. This involved the relinquishment of their cherished ambitions. It required the complete surrender of themselves to Jesus. They were called to become self-sacrificing, meek and lowly in heart. They must walk in the narrow path traveled by the Man of Calvary, if they would share in the gift of life and the glory of heaven.” The Desire of Ages, 391.

11 What was the attitude of “these disciples” after Jesus told them that they must believe and act upon His teaching? John 6:60, 66.

note: “The test was too great. The enthusiasm of those who had sought to take Him [Jesus] by force and make Him king grew cold. This discourse in the synagogue, they declared, had opened their eyes. Now they were undeceived. In their minds His words were a direct confession that He was not the Messiah, and that no earthly rewards were to be realized from connection with Him. . . .The insincere, the selfish, who had sought Him, no longer desired Him. If He would not devote His power and influence to obtaining their freedom from the Romans, they would have nothing to do with Him.” The Desire of Ages, 391.

12 When “these disciples” turned from following Jesus, what kind of spirit took control of them? John 6:60–64.

note: “As those disaffected disciples turned away from Christ, a different spirit took control of them. They could see nothing attractive in Him whom they had once found so interesting. They sought out His enemies, for they were in harmony with their spirit and work. They misinterpreted His words, falsified His statements, and impugned His motives. They sustained their course by gathering up every item that could be turned against Him; and such indignation was stirred up by these false reports that His life was in danger.” The Desire of Ages, 392, 393.

13 What fatal finality was involved in their decision to separate from Jesus? John 6:66.

note: “By the public rebuke of their unbelief these disciples were still further alienated from Jesus. They were greatly displeased, and wishing to wound the Saviour and gratify the malice of the Pharisees, they turned their backs on Him, and left Him with disdain. They had made their choice,—had taken the form without the spirit, the husk without the kernel. Their decision was never afterward reversed; for they walked no more with Jesus.” The Desire of Ages, 392.

14 What evidence is there of the number of “His disciples” that turned their backs on Jesus at this time? John 6:66–68.

note: “Without attempting to hinder those who were leaving Him, Jesus turned to the twelve and said, ‘Will ye also go away?’ [John 6:67.]” The Desire of Ages, 393.

15 How did Peter express the faith of the disciples at this time? John 6:68, 69.

note: “ ‘To whom shall we go?’ [John 6:68.] The teachers of Israel were slaves to formalism. The Pharisees and Sadducees were in constant contention. To leave Jesus was to fall among sticklers for rites and ceremonies, and ambitious men who sought their own glory. The disciples had found more peace and joy since they had accepted Christ than in all their previous lives. How could they go back to those who had scorned and persecuted the Friend of sinners? They had long been looking for the Messiah; now He had come, and they could not turn from His presence to those who were hunting His life, and had persecuted them for becoming His followers.” The Desire of Ages, 393.

 

Bible Study Guides – The Second Advent Church Rejects the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy, Part 11

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March 6, 2005 – March 12, 2005

Memory Verse

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” John 5:24.

Suggested Reading: Testimonies, vol. 8, 104–106; 247–251.

Introduction

In this lesson, we will conclude the study on the second advent church’s rejection of the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy.

The following quotation had reference to the 1901 General Conference session: “One day at noon I [Ellen White] was writing of the work that might have been done at the last General Conference if the men in positions of trust had followed the will and way of God. Those who have had great light have not walked in the light. The meeting was closed, and the break was not made. Men did not humble themselves before the Lord as they should have done, and the Holy Spirit was not imparted.

“I had written thus far when I lost consciousness, and I seemed to be witnessing a scene in Battle Creek.

“We were assembled in the auditorium of the Tabernacle. Prayer was offered, a hymn was sung, and prayer was again offered. Most earnest supplication was made to God. The meeting was marked by the presence of the Holy Spirit. The work went deep, and some present were weeping aloud. . . .

“The speaker turned to those who had been praying, and said: ‘We have something to do. We must confess our sins, and humble our hearts before God.’ He made heart-broken confessions and then stepped up to several of the brethren, one after another, and extended his hand, asking forgiveness. Those to whom he spoke sprang to their feet, making confession and asking forgiveness. . . . The spirit of confession spread through the entire congregation. . . .

“No one seemed to be too proud to make heartfelt confession, and those who led in this work were the ones who had influence, but had not before had courage to confess their sins.

“There was rejoicing such as never before had been heard in the Tabernacle.

“Then I aroused from my unconsciousness, and for a while could not think where I was. My pen was still in my hand. The words were spoken to me: ‘This might have been. All this the Lord was waiting to do for His people. All heaven was waiting to be gracious.’ [Emphasis in original.] I thought of where we might have been had thorough work been done at the last General Conference, and an agony of disappointment came over me as I realized that what I had witnessed was not a reality.” Testimonies, vol. 8, 104–106.

1 According to the above reference, what was the Lord’s assessment of the attitudes of the leading men following the 1901 General Conference session? What similar experience did Jesus have with the Jewish church? John 5:39, 40.

2 What was not received because of the attitude of these men? See the Jewish similar experience in John 3:3–12.

3 What work needed to be done that was not done at the 1901 General Conference? Compare the experience of the Jews in John 12:40–43.

4 What great disaster occurred in 1902 because the leading men did not forsake their sins and humble their hearts at the 1901 General Conference? What did Jesus say would happen to the Jews because they refused to repent? Luke 19:41–44.

note: “Today I [Ellen White] received a letter from Elder Daniells regarding the destruction of the Review office by fire. . . . I was not surprised by the sad news, for in the visions of the night I have seen an angel standing with a sword as of fire stretched over Battle Creek. Once, in the daytime, while my pen was in my hand, I lost consciousness, and it seemed as if this sword of flame were turning first in one direction and then in another. Disaster seemed to follow disaster because God was dishonored by the devising of men to exalt and glorify themselves.” Testimonies, vol. 8, 97.

“At the General Conference, held in Battle Creek in 1901, the Lord gave His people evidence that He was calling for reformation. Minds were convicted, and hearts were touched; but thorough work was not done. If stubborn hearts had then broken in penitence before God, there would have been seen one of the greatest manifestations of the power of God that has ever been seen. But God was not honored. The testimonies of His Spirit were not heeded. Men did not separate from the practices that were in decided opposition to the principles of truth and righteousness, which should ever be maintained in the Lord’s work.” Ibid., 97, 98.

5 What was God’s purpose or desire in the burning of the two institutions in Battle Creek in 1902? What similar appeals to the Jews did the Lord make? Isaiah 55:5, 7; Malachi 3:7; Acts 3:19, 20.

note: “When the Battle Creek Sanitarium was destroyed, Christ gave Himself to defend the lives of men and women. In this destruction God was appealing to His people to return to Him. And in the destruction of the Review and Herald office, and the saving of life, He makes a second appeal to them. He desires them to see that the miracle-working power of the Infinite has been exercised to save life, that every worker may have opportunity to repent and be converted.” Testimonies, vol. 8, 102.

6 Why did Ellen White repeat, at the 1903 General Conference, the same vision that she presented at the 1901 General Conference? Why does God give repeated calls to repentance? 11 Corinthians 13:1–5.

comment: At the 1903 General Conference, in March and April, Ellen White repeated the theme of this vision, which revealed what might have been done. Here are a few of the words that she wrote: “In every institution among us there needs to be a reformation. This is the message that at the last General Conference I bore as the word of the Lord. At that meeting I carried a very heavy burden, and I have carried it ever since. We did not gain the victory that we might have gained at that meeting. Why?—. . . There were those at that meeting who did not see the work that needed to be done. If they had confessed their sins, if they had made a break, if they had taken their stand on vantage ground, the power of God would have gone through the meeting and we should have had a Pentecostal season.” The General Conference Bulletin, April 1, 1903.

7 What is the standard of character development that God requires of His people? Revelation 14:4, 5, 14; 11 Timothy 2:22; 1 Peter 1:22.

note: “God is in earnest with us. If the heart is pure, there will be purity of action and nobility of purpose in all the work done. Every mind is to be cleansed, every heart purified.” The General Conference Bulletin, April 1, 1903.

comment: The statements written between 1879 and 1903, in last week’s and this week’s lessons, reveal a trend in the leaders to reject the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy and to mold the work of the church according to their own ideas. By 1888, Ellen White refers to this attitude of rejection as “satanic,” and after the 1901 General Conference the observation is that no change was made. At the 1903 General Conference, on April 1, Ellen White referred to the January 3, 1903, vision and said that there was still no change in the attitudes of the leaders and ministers, even after the Review building was burned.

We see that as the Jews rejected Jesus and His word in the first advent movement, the leaders, ministers, and people rejected the testimonies of God’s spirit in the second advent movement.

8 Who does God say the people of our day are like? To see the similar development in the Jews, see Acts 7:51–54.

note: “When the Jews took the first step in the rejection of Christ, they took a dangerous step. When afterward evidence accumulated that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah, they were too proud to acknowledge that they had erred. So with the people of our day who reject the truth. They do not take time to investigate candidly, with earnest prayer, the evidences of the truth, and they oppose that which they do not understand. Just like the Jews, they take it for granted they have all the truth, and feel a sort of contempt for anyone who should suppose they had more correct ideas than themselves of what is truth.” The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, vol. 1, 169, 170.

comment: As Jesus began an independent work among another class of people in Galilee, so in the second advent movement, God used Edward A. Sutherland and Percy T. Magan to begin an independent ministry in the South that was not to come under the control of the conference.

note: In writing about this, Ellen White stated: “When my advice was asked in reference to the Madison school, I said, Remain as you are. There is danger in binding every working agency under the dictation of the conference. The Lord did not design that this should be. The circumstances were such that the burden bearers in the Madison school could not bind up their work with the conference. I knew their situation, and when many of the leading men in our conferences ignored them, because they did not place their school under conference dictation, I was shown that they would not be helped by making themselves amenable to the conference. They had better remain as led by God, amenable to Him, to work out His plans.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 8, 202, 203.

9 In the above reference, to whom was the Madison school to be amenable? For the biblical principle, see Proverbs 3:6; James 1:5–8.

comment: It is clear from this statement that Sutherland and Magan could not work under the direction of the conference and still be amenable to God. In both the Old and New Testaments, God instructs His people to seek their counsel and instruction from Him.

10 What prophecy did Ellen White make concerning the church in 1904? What counsel given in Galatians 6:7, 8 would we do well to heed? See a similar experience that developed in the Jewish church in Matthew 23:37-39.

note: “Unless the church, which is now being leavened with her own backsliding, shall repent and be converted, she will eat of the fruit of her own doing, until she shall abhor herself.” Testimonies, vol. 8, 250.

11 Who, like the Jews, are in danger of rejecting the truth at the present time? For the example of the Jewish experience in rejecting the truth, see John 5:40; 12:37–41.

note: “Unless there is less of self, and far more of the Holy Spirit to take control of the minds and hearts of men who have stood in the foremost rank, there will be a failure on their part to walk out in harmony with the opening providences of God; they will question and quibble over any light that the Lord may send, and will turn away from the teachings of Christ, confiding in themselves, and trusting in their supposed knowledge of what is truth. As the Jews refused the light of the world, so many of those who claim to believe the present truth will refuse light which the Lord will send to His people.” The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, vol. 1, 174.

comment: The Jews had the Light of life in their midst but rejected it. (John 3:19–21; 8:12.) As Jesus lived among the people during the first advent and was not accepted, so the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy live among God’s professed people today, and are not accepted.

Bible Study Guides – The Second Advent Church Rejects the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy, Part 1

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February 27, 2005 – March 5, 2005

Memory Verse

“Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.” John 5:39, 40.

Suggested Reading: John 5; Testimonies, vol. 5, 62–84; vol. 8, 104–106.

Introduction

Before beginning this lesson, let us take time for a little review. In The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, vol. 2, 725, 726 and the Review and Herald, December 16, 1892, we are told that there were two events during the first advent that had their counterpart in the second advent movement—the first cleansing of the temple with the second angel’s message (Revelation 14:8) and the second cleansing of the temple with the loud cry of the third angel (Revelation 18:1, 2).

The similarity of the trials and attitudes between the people at the time of the first cleansing of the temple and the time of the second angel’s message were studied in previous lessons. Last week we studied the trials and attitudes of the Sanhedrin—the priests and rulers—toward the ministry of Jesus. Because of their hatred of Jesus and His Word, Jesus left them to begin an independent work among another class of people. In this week’s lesson we will study the trials and attitudes of the second advent church toward the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy. It is the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy that stand as the audible voice of God in the second advent movement.

Let us keep in mind the purpose of our study. “The trials of the children of Israel, and their attitude just before the first coming of Christ, have been presented before me again and again to illustrate the position of the people of God in their experience before the second coming of Christ—how the enemy sought every occasion to take control of the minds of the Jews, and today he is seeking to blind the minds of God’s servants, that they may not be able to discern the precious truth.” Selected Messages, Book 1, 406.

Some Bible texts may identify trials and attitudes of ancient Israel that have their counterpart in the Spirit of Prophecy reference cited with the question.

1 What is true of the second advent movement that was also true of the first advent movement? See Luke 19:41–44.

note: “Sufficient light was given to the Jewish people so that they might have known ‘the time of their visitation.’ [Luke 19:44.] . . . From Christ, the Light of the world, shone forth the clear, bright beams of His Father’s glory. Yet the Jews comprehended it not.

“Thus it is in our day. The light of truth is shining upon us as clearly as it shone upon the Jewish people, but the hearts of men are as hard and unimpressible as in the days of Christ. . . . Many who claim to be standing in the light are in darkness and know it not. They have so enshrouded themselves in unbelief that they call darkness light, and light darkness. They are ignorant of that which they condemn and oppose. But their ignorance is not such as God will excuse, for He has given them light, and they reject it.” The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, vol. 1, 408.

2 What similar attitude of the Jews during the first advent was manifest at the General Conference held at Minneapolis? See John 5:39, 40.

note: “A woe is pronounced upon all such unbelief and criticism as was revealed in Minneapolis and as was revealed in Battle Creek. By their fruits ye shall know them. Evidence at every step that God was at work has not changed the manifest attitude of those who in the very beginning pursued a course of unbelief which was an offense to God. With this barrier they themselves had erected, they—like the Jews—were seeking something to strengthen their unbelief and make it appear they were right. Therefore they could not drink in the great salvation that the Lord proffered them. The riches of divine grace they refused.” The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, vol. 1, 369, 370.

comment: The Jews were diligent students of the Scriptures, but when Christ came among them, they did not accept Him because of their unbelief. When they rejected Christ, they rejected the foundation of their faith. The Christian world of today, who claim faith in Christ yet reject the Law of God, the Bible, and the Spirit of Prophecy, are making a similar mistake as did the deceived Jews.

3 When was this attitude of unbelief and rejection of the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy instruction first recognized as a serious problem in the church of the second advent movement? What type of rejection occurred in Israel? Jeremiah 36:20–26.

note: “For years the Lord has been presenting the situation of the church before you. Again and again reproofs and warnings have been given. October 23, 1879, the Lord gave me a most impressive testimony in regard to the church in Battle Creek. . . . I [Ellen White] had no confidence in the course which many were pursuing, for they were doing the very things which the Lord had warned them not to do.

“That God who knows their spiritual condition declares: They have cherished evil and separated from Me. They have gone astray, every one of them. Not one is guiltless. They have forsaken Me, the Fountain of living waters. . . .

“Many excused their disregard of the testimonies by saying: ‘Sister White is influenced by her husband; the testimonies are molded by his spirit and judgment.’ . . . Have I not a knowledge of the state of the church, when the Lord has presented their case before me again and again for years? Repeated warnings have been given, yet there has been no decided change.

“I saw that the frown of God was upon His people for their assimilation to the world. . . .

“Yet now when I send you a testimony of warning and reproof, many of you declare it to be merely the opinion of Sister White. You have thereby insulted the Spirit of God.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 63, 64.

4 List three things from the note above that God had identified as serious problems that caused His professed people to be separated from Him. What did God’s people do in Jeremiah’s time? Jeremiah 2:11–13, 17–25.

comment: In the first advent we saw that it was the rejection of Jesus that separated the leaders and people from Him. In the second advent movement, it is the rejection of the instruction given in the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy that separated the ministers and the people from God by 1879. Three years later the following warning was written concerning the second advent church.

5 Describe the warning that was sent to the second advent church in 1882. What is the type of this prophecy about being weighed in the balance? Daniel 5:27.

note: “The church will be weighed in the balances of the sanctuary. If her moral character and spiritual state do not correspond with the benefits and blessings God has conferred upon her, she will be found wanting. The light has been shining clear and definite upon her pathway, and the light of 1882 calls her to an account. If her talents are unimproved, if her fruit is not perfect before God, if her light has become darkness, she is indeed found wanting. . . . We profess to know God, and to believe the truth, but in works deny Him. Our deeds are directly adverse to the principles of truth and righteousness, by which we profess to be governed.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 83, 84.

comment: If a tree does not bear good fruit, it will be cut down and thrown into the fire. (Matthew 7:17–23.)

6 What did God say concerning the condition of the church by 1885 that was similar to the spiritual condition in ancient Israel? See Nehemiah 9:32–35.

note: “Like ancient Israel, the church has dishonored her God by departing from the light, neglecting her duties, and abusing her high and exalted privilege of being peculiar and holy in character. Her members have violated their covenant to live for God and him only. They have joined with the selfish and world-loving. Pride, the love of pleasure, and sin have been cherished, and Christ has departed. His Spirit has been quenched in the church.” Review and Herald, May 5, 1885.

7 In the reference above, what is said of the relationship of Christ and the Holy Spirit to the church? What is the promise given to the followers of Christ? John 14:15–18.

8 What is the only hope that remains for the church? How does the Bible make it clear that this was the same standard in the apostolic church? Matthew 5:48; Colossians 1:28; 1 Thessalonians 3:13; Hebrews 12:14.

note: “Their only hope of salvation is to separate from the world, and zealously maintain their separate, holy, and peculiar character. . . .

“Perfection, holiness, nothing short of this, would give them success in carrying out the principles he has given them.” Review and Herald, May 5, 1885.

9 Describe the attitude of the men who were holding positions of trust and molding the work after their own similitude in 1888. How were the Jews cultivating hatred against Jesus and working with Satan? John 5:16–18; 8:42–47.

note: “The perils of the last days are upon us. Satan takes the control of every mind that is not decidedly under the control of the Spirit of God. Some have been cultivating hatred against the men whom God has commissioned to bear a special message to the world. They began this Satanic work at Minneapolis [1888]. Afterward, when they saw and felt the demonstration of the Holy Spirit testifying that the message was of God, they hated it the more, because it was a testimony against them. . . . They went on in their own spirit, filled with envy, jealousy, and evil surmisings, as did the Jews. . . . Yet these men have been holding positions of trust, and have been molding the work after their own similitude, as far as they possibly could.” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 79, 80. [Emphasis in original.]

10 How did God describe these ministers who would not enthrone truth in their hearts? For a biblical type, see Matthew 15:1–9.

note: “Unless the truth is enthroned in the heart, and a thorough transition takes place from darkness to light, those who handle sacred responsibilities are ministers of darkness, blind leaders of the blind. ‘Clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots.’ [Jude 1:12.] God requires that every soul that names His name shall have the truth enthroned in the heart.” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 81.

comment: Jesus used similar phraseology in Matthew 15:14 and 23:16, first part, to describe the religious leaders. These attitudes are not presented to criticize the leaders or ministers, but to reveal how God views the condition of the church and the direction it is taking. We need to understand the similarities in the attitudes of the people in the two advent movements, so we do not reject the truth.

11 What did the Lord reveal to John the Revelator and to Ellen White concerning the attitude of the people toward the Spirit of Prophecy? For a biblical type, see John 5:47; 11 Chronicles 36:14–16.

note: “I [Ellen White] have been shown that unbelief in the testimonies has been steadily increasing as the people backslide from God. It is all through our ranks, all over the field. But few know what our churches are to experience. I saw that at present we are under divine forbearance, but no one can say how long this will continue. No one knows how great the mercy that has been exercised toward us. But few are heartily devoted to God. There are only a few who, like the stars in a tempestuous night, shine here and there among the clouds.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 76.

12 What will happen to those who have yielded to worldly demands and conformed to worldly customs when the test will come to every soul? For a biblical type, see John 6:60–66; 11 Thessalonians 2:10–12.

note: “The time is not far distant when the test will come to every soul. The mark of the beast will be urged upon us. Those who have step by step yielded to worldly demands and conformed to worldly customs will not find it a hard matter to yield to the powers that be, rather than subject themselves to derision, insult, threatened imprisonment, and death. The contest is between the commandments of God and the commandments of men. In this time the gold will be separated from the dross in the church. True godliness will be clearly distinguished from the appearance and tinsel of it. Many a star that we have admired for its brilliancy will then go out in darkness.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 81.

13 What is the only safety for God’s faithful people? Ephesians 6:12–17; 1 John 2:15–17.

note: “Our only safety is to stand as God’s peculiar people. We must not yield one inch to the customs and fashions of this degenerate age, but stand in moral independence, making no compromise with its corrupt and idolatrous practices.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 78.

Bible Study Guides – The Jewish Church Rejects Jesus

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February 20, 2005 – February 26, 2005

Memory Verse

“The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness’ sake; he will magnify the law, and make [it] honourable.” “He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.” Isaiah 42:21, 4.

Suggested Reading: John 5; The Desire of Ages, 201–213.

Introduction

From the lesson on the first cleansing of the temple, we found that the priests, rulers, and most of the people rejected the work of Jesus to cleanse their hearts from sin. They decided to challenge His work and mission. In this lesson, we are going to study the effect that this attitude had on the relationship between the mission of Jesus and the organized church, its leaders, and people.

1 What is the subject of John chapter five? John 5:1–9.

note: “Jesus was again at Jerusalem. Walking alone, in apparent meditation and prayer, He came to the pool. He saw the wretched sufferers watching for that which they supposed to be their only chance of cure. He longed to exercise His healing power, and make every sufferer whole. But it was the Sabbath day. Multitudes were going to the temple for worship, and He knew that such an act of healing would so excite the prejudice of the Jews as to cut short His work.

“But the Saviour saw one case of supreme wretchedness. It was that of a man who had been a helpless cripple for thirty-eight years. His disease was in a great degree the result of his own sin, and was looked upon as a judgment from God.” The Desire of Ages, 201, 202.

2 What two things did Jesus tell the man to do? John 5:8.

note: “Jesus does not ask this sufferer to exercise faith in Him. He simply says, ‘Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.’ But the man’s faith takes hold upon that word. Every nerve and muscle thrills with new life, and healthful action comes to his crippled limbs. Without question he sets his will to obey the command of Christ, and all his muscles respond to his will. Springing to his feet, he finds himself an active man.” The Desire of Ages, 202, 203.

“At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.” John 5:9, NIV.

3 How did the Jews respond to the miraculous healing of this invalid of 38 years? John 5:16, 18.

note: “These rulers knew well that only One had shown Himself able to perform this miracle; but they wished for direct proof that it was Jesus, that they might condemn Him as a Sabbath-breaker. In their judgment He had not only broken the law in healing the sick man on the Sabbath, but had committed sacrilege in bidding him bear away his bed. . . .

“Jesus was brought before the Sanhedrin to answer the charge of Sabbathbreaking. Had the Jews at this time been an independent nation, such a charge would have served their purpose for putting Him to death.” The Desire of Ages, 204.

4 What instruction did Jesus give to the man He had healed when He met him later in the temple? John 5:14.

note: “In the temple Jesus met the man who had been healed. He had come to bring a sin offering and also a thank offering for the great mercy he had received. Finding him among the worshipers, Jesus made Himself known, with the warning words, ‘Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.’ [John 5:14.]” The Desire of Ages, 204.

comment: All through His ministry we find Jesus doing the work the Father had sent Him to this earth to do, to remove sin from the hearts of the people. But Jesus had another work to do also.

5 What other work did Jesus come to this earth to do? Isaiah 42:21, 4.

note: “Jesus had come to ‘magnify the law, and make it honorable.’ He was not to lessen its dignity, but to exalt it. The scripture says, ‘He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till He have set judgment in the earth.’ Isaiah 42:21, 4. He had come to free the Sabbath from those burdensome requirements that had made it a curse instead of a blessing.

“For this reason He had chosen the Sabbath upon which to perform the act of healing at Bethesda. He could have healed the sick man as well on any other day of the week; or He might simply have cured him, without bidding him bear away his bed. But this would not have given Him the opportunity He desired.” The Desire of Ages, 206.

6 What was the opportunity Jesus desired to bring about by healing the man on the Sabbath day and instructing him to carry his bed through the streets?

note: “Among the afflicted ones at the pool He selected the worst case upon whom to exercise His healing power, and bade the man carry his bed through the city in order to publish the great work that had been wrought upon him. This would raise the question of what it was lawful to do on the Sabbath, and would open the way for Him to denounce the restrictions of the Jews in regard to the Lord’s day, and to declare their traditions void.” The Desire of Ages, 206.

comment: Jesus came, not only to remove sin from the hearts of men, but also to remove the rubbish of men’s writings and traditions that hid the truth from the eyes of the people.

7 Jesus acknowledged that the Jews were diligent students of the Scripture, but what did He say about their relationship to Him? John 5:39, 40.

note: “And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.

“I do not accept praise from men, but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God?” John 5:37–44, NIV.

8 If the Jews had not interposed in the ministry of Jesus, what would have resulted from His work?

note: “If the priests and rabbis had not interposed, His teaching would have wrought such a reformation as this world has never witnessed.” The Desire of Ages, 305.

9 How did the priests and rabbis try to misrepresent Jesus and His mission?

note: “But in order to maintain their own power, these leaders determined to break down the influence of Jesus. His arraignment before the Sanhedrin, and an open condemnation of His teachings, would aid in effecting this; for the people still had great reverence for their religious leaders. Whoever dared to condemn the rabbinical requirements, or attempt to lighten the burdens they had brought upon the people, was regarded as guilty, not only of blasphemy, but of treason. On this ground the rabbis hoped to excite suspicion of Christ. They represented Him as trying to overthrow the established customs, thus causing division among the people, and preparing the way for complete subjugation by the Romans.” The Desire of Ages, 205.

10 How bitter and agitated did the Sanhedrin become over the issue of Jesus’ healing the man on the Sabbath, thus breaking their traditions?

note: “These adversaries of Christ had no arguments with which to meet the truths He brought home to their consciences. They could only cite their customs and traditions, and these seemed weak and vapid when compared with the arguments Jesus had drawn from the word of God and the unceasing round of nature. Had the rabbis felt any desire to receive light, they would have been convinced that Jesus spoke the truth. But they evaded the points He made concerning the Sabbath, and sought to stir up anger against Him because He claimed to be equal with God. The fury of the rulers knew no bounds. Had they not feared the people, the priests and rabbis would have slain Jesus on the spot.” The Desire of Ages, 208.

“He [Satan] planned to work through his human agencies in the religious world, by imbuing them with his own enmity against the champion of truth. He would lead them to reject Christ and to make His life as bitter as possible, hoping to discourage Him in His mission. And the leaders in Israel became instruments of Satan in warring against the Saviour.” Ibid., 206.

11 What happened to the relationship between the Jewish church and God when they took the Son of God to task?

note: “The priests and rabbis were taking the Son of God to task for the very work He had been sent into the world to do. By their sins they had separated themselves from God, and in their pride were moving independently of Him. They felt sufficient in themselves for all things, and realized no need of a higher wisdom to direct their acts.” The Desire of Ages, 208.

12 When the Jewish church rejected Christ in His Word, what else did they reject?

note: “The Jews had the Scriptures in their possession, and supposed that in their mere outward knowledge of the word they had eternal life. But Jesus said, ‘Ye have not His word abiding in you.’ Having rejected Christ in His word, they rejected Him in person. ‘Ye will not come to Me,’ He said, ‘that ye might have life.’ ” The Desire of Ages, 212.

“They were not acquainted with God, and to them His voice through Christ was the voice of a stranger.” Ibid., 213.

13 What do the words of Christ teach about our relationship to God the Father?

note: “The words of Christ teach that we should regard ourselves as inseparably bound to our Father in heaven. Whatever our position, we are dependent upon God, who holds all destinies in His hands. He has appointed us our work, and has endowed us with faculties and means for that work. So long as we surrender the will to God, and trust in His strength and wisdom, we shall be guided in safe paths, to fulfill our appointed part in His great plan. But the one who depends upon his own wisdom and power is separating himself from God. Instead of working in unison with Christ, he is fulfilling the purpose of the enemy of God and man.” The Desire of Ages, 209.

14 What did the priests and rabbis understand? What did they sense when Jesus pressed their guilt upon them?

note: “Jesus knew that the priests and rabbis were determined to take His life; yet He clearly explained to them His unity with the Father, and His relation to the world. They saw that their opposition to Him was without excuse, yet their murderous hatred was not quenched. Fear seized them as they witnessed the convincing power that attended His ministry; but they resisted His appeals, and locked themselves in darkness.

“They had signally failed to subvert the authority of Jesus or to alienate the respect and attention of the people, many of whom were convicted by His words. The rulers themselves had felt deep condemnation as He had pressed their guilt home upon their consciences; yet this only made them the more bitter against Him. They were determined to take His life.” The Desire of Ages, 213.

comment: The healing of the man at Bethesda and the ensuing confrontation with the Sanhedrin occurred at the second Passover during the ministry of Jesus. It was just one year before this that Jesus cleansed the temple and announced His mission to cleanse the heart from sin.

15 What did Jesus do after the Sanhedrin rejected His message?

note: “The Sanhedrin had rejected Christ’s message and was bent upon His death; therefore Jesus departed from Jerusalem, from the priests, the temple, the religious leaders, the people who had been instructed in the law, and turned to another class to proclaim His message, and to gather out those who should carry the gospel to all nations.” The Desire of Ages, 232.

“If the leaders in Israel had received Christ, He would have honored them as His messengers to carry the gospel to the world. To them first was given the opportunity to become heralds of the kingdom and grace of God. But Israel knew not the time of her visitation. The jealousy and distrust of the Jewish leaders had ripened into open hatred, and the hearts of the people were turned away from Jesus.” Ibid., 231, 232.

comment: Let us keep in mind that although Jesus left these priests and leaders just one year after He began His ministry to work with another group of people, they still remained in charge of the church until Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 a.d.

Answer key available upon request.

Bible Study Guides – The First Cleansing of the Churches in the Second Advent Movement

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February 13, 2005 – February 19, 2005

Memory Verse

“Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.” 1 Corinthians 3:16, 17, NASB.

Suggested Reading: Daniel 7:9–13; 8:14; Revelation 14:6–8; The Great Controversy, 433, 434, 375–390.

Introduction

In the Sabbath School lesson for February 5, we were introduced to two quotations from the Spirit of Prophecy that revealed that as Christ cleansed the temple at the beginning and again at the end of His ministry, so there are to be two cleansings of the second advent movement. These two paragraphs are repeated below as a review. Last week’s lesson was a study of the trials and attitudes of the people at the first cleansing of the temple. In the lesson this week, we will study the similarities between the trials and attitudes of the people at the beginning of the second advent movement and those exhibited by the people in the first advent.

“[1] When Jesus began His public ministry, He cleansed the temple from its sacrilegious profanation. [2] Almost the last act of His ministry was to cleanse the temple again. So in the last work for the warning of the world, two distinct calls are made to the churches; [1] the second angel’s message [Revelation 14:8], and [2] the voice heard in heaven, ‘Come out of her, my people, . . . for her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.’ (Revelation 18:4, 5.)” The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, vol. 2, 725, 726. [Emphasis supplied.]

“[1] When Jesus began His public ministry, He cleansed the temple from its sacrilegious profanation. [2] Among the last acts of His ministry was the second cleansing of the temple. So in the last work for the warning of the world, two distinct calls are made to the churches. [1] The second angel’s message is, ‘Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.’ [Revelation 14:8.] [2] And in the loud cry of the third angel’s message, a voice is heard from heaven, ‘Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.’ [Revelation 18:4, 5.]” Review and Herald, December 6, 1892. [Emphasis supplied.]

1 When was the second angel’s message of Revelation 14:8 first proclaimed?

note: “The second angel’s message of Revelation 14 was first preached in the summer of 1844. . . . But the message of the second angel did not reach its complete fulfillment in 1844.” The Great Controversy, 389.

2 To whom did the second angel’s message apply?

note: “It then had a more direct application to the churches of the United States, where the warning of the judgment had been most widely proclaimed and most generally rejected, and where the declension in the churches had been most rapid. . . . The churches then experienced a moral fall, in consequence of their refusal of the light of the advent message; but that fall was not complete. As they have continued to reject the special truths for this time they have fallen lower and lower.” The Great Controversy, 389.

3 Whose example were the Protestant churches following?

note: “Many of the Protestant churches are following Rome’s example of iniquitous connection with ‘the kings of the earth’—the state churches, by their relation to secular governments; and other denominations, by seeking the favor of the world. And the term ‘Babylon’—confusion—may be appropriately applied to these bodies, all professing to derive their doctrines from the Bible, yet divided into almost innumerable sects, with widely conflicting creeds and theories.” The Great Controversy, 383.

4 The proclamation of the second angel’s message announced the rejection of what message?

note: “The first angel’s message of Revelation 14, announcing the hour of God’s judgment and calling upon men to fear and worship Him, was designed to separate the professed people of God from the corrupting influences of the world and to arouse them to see their true condition of worldliness and backsliding. In this message, God has sent to the church a warning, which, had it been accepted, would have corrected the evils that were shutting them away from Him. Had they received the message from heaven, humbling their hearts before the Lord and seeking in sincerity a preparation to stand in His presence, the Spirit and power of God would have been manifested among them.” The Great Controversy, 379.

5 Describe the attitude of the churches toward the first angel’s message.

note: “But the churches generally did not accept the warning. Their ministers, who, as watchmen ‘unto the house of Israel,’ should have been the first to discern the tokens of Jesus’ coming, had failed to learn the truth either from the testimony of the prophets or from the signs of the times. As worldly hopes and ambitions filled the heart, love for God and faith in His word had grown cold; and when the advent doctrine was presented, it only aroused their prejudice and unbelief. . . .

“In refusing the warning of the first angel, they rejected the means which Heaven had provided for their restoration. They spurned the gracious messenger that would have corrected the evils which separated them from God, and with greater eagerness they turned to seek the friendship of the world. Here was the cause of that fearful condition of worldliness, backsliding, and spiritual death which existed in the churches in 1844.” The Great Controversy, 380.

6 What special work were the people to do during the proclamation of the first angel’s message?

note: “The first angel’s message, ‘Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come,’ pointed to Christ’s ministration in the most holy place, to the investigative judgment.” The Great Controversy, 424.

“While the investigative judgment is going forward in heaven, while the sins of penitent believers are being removed from the sanctuary, there is to be a special work of purification, of putting away of sin, among God’s people upon earth.” Ibid., 425.

comment: As Jesus announced His mission to cleanse the heart by cleansing the temple in the first advent, so during the investigative judgment announced by the first angel, “there is to be a special work of purification, of putting away of sin, among God’s people.”

7 What verses from the Old Testament that were applied to the first cleansing of the temple are also applied to the opening of the second advent movement? See The Desire of Ages, 161; The Great Controversy, 424, 425.

note: “Those who are living upon the earth when the intercession of Christ shall cease in the sanctuary above are to stand in the sight of a holy God without a mediator. Their robes must be spotless, their characters must be purified from sin by the blood of sprinkling. Through the grace of God and their own diligent effort they must be conquerors in the battle with evil.” The Great Controversy, 425.

comment: The weight of evidence is that the first cleansing of the temple and the first angel’s message had the same purpose in the plan of Jesus. They were both provided so that the people would have the opportunity to remove sin from their hearts.

8 Describe the reaction of the ministers and religious leaders toward the first angel’s message.

note: “As his [William Miller’s] work tended to build up the churches, it was for a time regarded with favor. But as ministers and religious leaders decided against the advent doctrine and desired to suppress all agitation of the subject, they not only opposed it from the pulpit, but denied their members the privilege of attending preaching upon the second advent, or even of speaking of their hope in the social meetings of the church.” The Great Controversy, 376.

“It suits the policy of Satan that men should retain the forms of religion if but the spirit of vital godliness is lacking. After their rejection of the gospel, the Jews continued zealously to maintain their ancient rites, they rigorously preserved their national exclusiveness, while they themselves could not but admit that the presence of God was no longer manifest among them. The prophecy of Daniel pointed so unmistakably to the time of Messiah’s coming, and so directly foretold His death, that they discouraged its study, and finally the rabbis pronounced a curse on all who should attempt a computation of the time.” Ibid., 377, 378.

comment: These references reveal that the attitude of the ministers and leaders at the beginning of the second advent movement was identical to the attitude of the priests and rulers in the first advent movement.

note: “The spiritual darkness which falls upon nations, upon churches and individuals, is due, not to an arbitrary withdrawal of the succors of divine grace on the part of God, but to neglect or rejection of divine light on the part of men. A striking illustration of this truth is presented in the history of the Jewish people in the time of Christ. By their devotion to the world and forgetfulness of God and His word, their understanding had become darkened, their hearts earthly and sensual. Thus they were in ignorance concerning Messiah’s advent, and in their pride and unbelief they rejected the Redeemer.” Ibid.

9 How did the multitudes of people react to the first angel’s message, which called for them to put sin out of their lives?

note: “Multitudes, trusting implicitly to their pastors, refused to listen to the warning; and others, though convinced of the truth, dared not confess it, lest they should be ‘put out of the synagogue.’ The message which God had sent for the testing and purification of the church revealed all too surely how great was the number who had set their affections on this world rather than upon Christ.” The Great Controversy, 380.

comment: The weight of evidence is that the attitude of the large majority of the people was the same as the multitudes in the first advent.

10 How did the faithful believers react to this departure from the truth by the large group of ministers and people?

note: “Thus the believers found themselves in a position of great trial and perplexity. They loved their churches and were loath to separate from them; but as they saw the testimony of God’s word suppressed and their right to investigate the prophecies denied they felt that loyalty to God forbade them to submit. Those who sought to shut out the testimony of God’s word they could not regard as constituting the church of Christ, ‘the pillar and ground of the truth.’ ” The Great Controversy, 376.

comment: As in the first cleansing of the temple there was a small group of faithful who followed Jesus, so also, at the time of the proclamation of the first angel’s message, a small group of believers held to the truths that were being revealed to them.

11 What would happen today if God’s professed people would receive the light as it shines upon them?

note: “If God’s professed people would receive the light as it shines upon them from His word, they would reach that unity for which Christ prayed, that which the apostle describes, ‘the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.’ ‘There is,’ he says, ‘one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism.’ Ephesians 4:3–5.

“Such were the blessed results experienced by those who accepted the advent message. They came from different denominations, and their denominational barriers were hurled to the ground; conflicting creeds were shivered to atoms; the unscriptural hope of a temporal millennium was abandoned, false views of the second advent were corrected, pride and conformity to the world were swept away; wrongs were made right; hearts were united in the sweetest fellowship, and love and joy reigned supreme. If this doctrine did this for the few who did receive it, it would have done the same for all if all had received it.” The Great Controversy, 379, 380.

12 Summary question: Identify the four organizations and/or groups of people that had the same attitudes at the beginning of both the first and second advent movements.

note: “It suits the policy of Satan that men should retain the forms of religion if but the spirit of vital godliness is lacking. After their rejection of the gospel, the Jews continued zealously to maintain their ancient rites, they rigorously preserved their national exclusiveness, while they themselves could not but admit that the presence of God was no longer manifest among them. The prophecy of Daniel pointed so unmistakably to the time of Messiah’s coming, and so directly foretold His death, that they discouraged its study, and finally the rabbis pronounced a curse on all who should attempt a computation of the time. In blindness and impenitence the people of Israel during succeeding centuries have stood, indifferent to the gracious offers of salvation, unmindful of the blessings of the gospel, a solemn and fearful warning of the danger of rejecting light from heaven.” The Great Controversy, 378.

 

Bible Study Guides – The First Cleansing of the Temple

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February 6, 2005 – February 12, 2005

Memory Verse

“ ‘Behold, I send My messenger, And he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, Will suddenly come to His temple, Even the Messenger of the covenant, In whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,’ Says the Lord of hosts. ‘But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He [is] like a refiner’s fire And like launderers’ soap. He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, And purge them as gold and silver, That they may offer to the Lord An offering in righteousness.’ ” Malachi 3:1–3, NKJV.

Suggested Reading: John 2:13–24; The Desire of Ages, 154–166.

Introduction

There were two references in last week’s lesson in which we learned that the first cleansing of the temple in the first advent has its counterpart in the proclamation of the second angel’s message in the summer of 1844. In this lesson, we will study the work and purpose of Jesus in cleansing the temple the first time.

1 What changes took place in the Jewish worship and temple services during the inter-testament period that prepared them to reject the Savior?

note: “As they departed from God, the Jews in a great degree lost sight of the teaching of the ritual service. That service had been instituted by Christ Himself. In every part it was a symbol of Him; and it had been full of vitality and spiritual beauty. But the Jews lost the spiritual life from their ceremonies, and clung to the dead forms. They trusted to the sacrifices and ordinances themselves, instead of resting upon Him to whom they pointed. In order to supply the place of that which they had lost, the priests and rabbis multiplied requirements of their own; and the more rigid they grew, the less of the love of God was manifested. They measured their holiness by the multitude of their ceremonies, while their hearts were filled with pride and hypocrisy. . . .

“While the Jews desired the advent of the Messiah, they had no true conception of His mission. They did not seek redemption from sin, but deliverance from the Romans. They looked for the Messiah to come as a conqueror, to break the oppressor’s power, and exalt Israel to universal dominion. Thus the way was prepared for them to reject the Saviour.” The Desire of Ages, 29, 30.

2 What two things did Jesus try to do as He traveled with the people going to Jerusalem for the Passover?

note: “In this journey, Jesus joined one of the large companies that were making their way to the capital. He had not yet publicly announced His mission, and He mingled unnoticed with the throng. Upon these occasions, the coming of the Messiah, to which such prominence had been given by the ministry of John, was often the theme of conversation. The hope of national greatness was dwelt upon with kindling enthusiasm. Jesus knew that this hope was to be disappointed, for it was founded on a misinterpretation of the Scriptures. With deep earnestness He explained the prophecies, and tried to arouse the people to a closer study of God’s word.” The Desire of Ages, 154.

3 What problem did Jesus find in the temple at the first Passover of His ministry? John 2:14–16.

note: “As Jesus came into the temple, He took in the whole scene. He saw the unfair transactions. He saw the distress of the poor, who thought that without shedding of blood there would be no forgiveness for their sins. He saw the outer court of His temple converted into a place of unholy traffic. The sacred enclosure had become one vast exchange.” The Desire of Ages, 157.

“The money changing gave opportunity for fraud and extortion, and it had grown into a disgraceful traffic, which was a source of revenue to the priests. . . .

“A great number of sacrifices were offered at the time of the Passover, and the sales at the temple were very large. The consequent confusion indicated a noisy cattle market rather than the sacred temple of God. There could be heard sharp bargaining . . . and angry disputation. So great was the confusion that the worshipers were disturbed, and the words addressed to the Most High were drowned in the uproar that invaded the temple.” Ibid., 155.

4 Because the temple services were now perverted and misunderstood, and no link remained to bind the priests and rulers to God, what work was it necessary for Jesus to do?

note: “Christ saw that something must be done. Numerous ceremonies were enjoined upon the people without the proper instruction as to their import. The worshipers offered their sacrifices without understanding that they were typical of the only perfect Sacrifice. And among them, unrecognized and unhonored, stood the One symbolized by all their service. He had given directions in regard to the offerings. He understood their symbolic value, and He saw that they were now perverted and misunderstood. Spiritual worship was fast disappearing. No link bound the priests and rulers to their God. Christ’s work was to establish an altogether different worship.” The Desire of Ages, 157.

5 Of what were the church leaders unaware and with what results?

note: “The Jews were exceedingly proud of their piety. They rejoiced over their temple, and regarded a word spoken in its disfavor as blasphemy; they were very rigorous in the performance of ceremonies connected with it; but the love of money had overruled their scruples. They were scarcely aware how far they had wandered from the original purpose of the service instituted by God Himself.” The Desire of Ages, 155.

6 In cleansing the temple, what was Jesus announcing?

note: “In the cleansing of the temple, Jesus was announcing His mission as the Messiah, and entering upon His work. That temple, erected for the abode of the divine Presence, was designed to be an object lesson for Israel and for the world. From eternal ages it was God’s purpose that every created being, from the bright and holy seraph to man, should be a temple for the indwelling of the Creator. Because of sin, humanity ceased to be a temple for God. Darkened and defiled by evil, the heart of man no longer revealed the glory of the Divine One. But by the incarnation of the Son of God, the purpose of Heaven is fulfilled. God dwells in humanity, and through saving grace the heart of man becomes again His temple. God designed that the temple at Jerusalem should be a continual witness to the high destiny open to every soul.” The Desire of Ages, 161.

7 What additional announcement did Jesus make at this time?

note: “In cleansing the temple from the world’s buyers and sellers, Jesus announced His mission to cleanse the heart from the defilement of sin,—from the earthly desires, the selfish lusts, the evil habits, that corrupt the soul.” The Desire of Ages, 161.

8 What work does Malachi say Jesus would do when He would come to the temple at the first Passover? Malachi 3:1–3.

note: “ ‘Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.’ 1 Corinthians 3:16, 17. No man can of himself cast out the evil throng that have taken possession of the heart. Only Christ can cleanse the soul temple. . . . ‘He will subdue our iniquities; and Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.’ 11 Corinthians 6:16; Micah 7:19. His presence will cleanse and sanctify the soul, so that it may be a holy temple unto the Lord, and ‘an habitation of God through the Spirit.’ Ephesians 2:21, 22.” The Desire of Ages, 161, 162.

9 How did the Jewish leaders (priests and rulers) respond to this work of Jesus? John 2:18.

note: “For a time they were convinced that Christ was a prophet; and many believed Him to be the Messiah. The Holy Spirit flashed into their minds the utterances of the prophets concerning Christ. Would they yield to this conviction?

“Repent they would not. They knew that Christ’s sympathy for the poor had been aroused. They knew that they had been guilty of extortion in their dealings with the people. Because Christ discerned their thoughts they hated Him. His public rebuke was humiliating to their pride, and they were jealous of His growing influence with the people. They determined to challenge Him as to the power by which He had driven them forth, and who gave Him this power.” The Desire of Ages, 162.

10 What two-fold meaning did Jesus have when He said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up”? John 2:19, 20.

note: “In these words His meaning was twofold. He referred not only to the destruction of the Jewish temple and worship, but to His own death,—the destruction of the temple of His body. This the Jews were already plotting. As the priests and rulers returned to the temple, they had proposed to kill Jesus, and thus rid themselves of the troubler. Yet when He set before them their purpose, they did not understand Him. They took His words as applying only to the temple at Jerusalem, and with indignation exclaimed, ‘Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt Thou rear it up in three days?’ [John 2:20.] Now they felt that Jesus had justified their unbelief, and they were confirmed in their rejection of Him.” The Desire of Ages, 164.

11 How did the large majority of the people react to the work of Jesus in cleansing the temple?

note: “The crowd that had fled from the temple court after a time slowly drifted back. They had partially recovered from the panic that had seized them, but their faces expressed irresolution and timidity. They looked with amazement on the works of Jesus, and were convicted that in Him the prophecies concerning the Messiah were fulfilled. The sin of the desecration of the temple rested, in a great degree, upon the priests. It was by their arrangement that the court had been turned into a market place. The people were comparatively innocent. They were impressed by the divine authority of Jesus; but with them the influence of the priests and rulers was paramount. They regarded Christ’s mission as an innovation, and questioned His right to interfere with what was permitted by the authorities of the temple. They were offended because the traffic had been interrupted, and they stifled the convictions of the Holy Spirit.” The Desire of Ages, 163, 164.

12 What was the attitude of the small group of poor people who remained behind when Jesus cleansed the temple?

note: “The poor remained behind; and these were now looking to Jesus, whose countenance expressed His love and sympathy. With tears in His eyes, He said to the trembling ones around Him: Fear not; I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me. For this cause came I into the world.

“The people pressed into Christ’s presence with urgent, pitiful appeals: Master, bless me. His ear heard every cry. With pity exceeding that of a tender mother He bent over the suffering little ones. All received attention. Everyone was healed of whatever disease he had. The dumb opened their lips in praise; the blind beheld the face of their Restorer. The hearts of the sufferers were made glad.” The Desire of Ages, 163.

13 How did these people react to the crucifixion of Jesus three years later?

note: “At the crucifixion of Christ, those who had thus been healed did not join with the rabble throng in crying, ‘Crucify Him, crucify Him.’ Their sympathies were with Jesus; for they had felt His great sympathy and wonderful power. They knew Him to be their Saviour; for He had given them health of body and soul. They listened to the preaching of the apostles, and the entrance of God’s word into their hearts gave them understanding. They became agents of God’s mercy, and instruments of His salvation.” The Desire of Ages, 163.

14 Why were a few priests and rulers not opposed to Christ when He cleansed the temple? John 3:1, 2.

note: “Christ’s exercise of authority in the cleansing of the temple had roused the determined hatred of the priests and rulers. They feared the power of this stranger. Such boldness on the part of an obscure Galilean was not to be tolerated. They were bent on putting an end to His work. But not all were agreed in this purpose. There were some that feared to oppose One who was so evidently moved upon by the Spirit of God. They remembered how prophets had been slain for rebuking the sins of the leaders in Israel. They knew that the bondage of the Jews to a heathen nation was the result of their stubbornness in rejecting reproofs from God. They feared that in plotting against Jesus the priests and rulers were following in the steps of their fathers, and would bring fresh calamities upon the nation. Nicodemus shared these feelings.” The Desire of Ages, 167.

 

Bible Study Guides – The Trials and Attitudes of the First and Second Advent Movements

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January 30, 2005 – February 5, 2005

Memory Verse

“Now these things happened to them as a warning, but they were written down for our instruction, upon whom the end of the ages has come. Therefore let any one who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.” 1 Corinthians 10:11, 12, RSV.

Suggested Reading: Testimonies, vol. 6, 14–22; Selected Messages, Book 1, 401–405.

Introduction

“The work of God in the earth presents, from age to age, a striking similarity in every great reformation or religious movement. The principles of God’s dealing with men are ever the same. The important movements of the present have their parallel in those of the past, and the experience of the church in former ages has lessons of great value for our own time.

“No truth is more clearly taught in the Bible than that God by His Holy Spirit especially directs His servants on earth in the great movements for the carrying forward of the work of salvation.” The Great Controversy, 343.

comment: We are nearing the time of the latter rain, the final warning, and the close of probation. These important movements of the present time and immediate future have their parallel in those of the past. In this next series of studies, we want to study the trials and attitudes of the first advent movement as they have a counterpart in the second advent movement. It is the objective of these studies to help God’s people to be prepared for the coming of the Holy Spirit in the latter rain and to stand faithful during the time of trouble.

1 What did Jesus say to the disciples in the upper room concerning their understanding of His life and ministry? John 16:12. See also Mark 4:33.

note: “Before His crucifixion the Saviour explained to His disciples that He was to be put to death and to rise again from the tomb [on the third day], and angels were present to impress His words on minds and hearts. But the disciples were looking for temporal deliverance from the Roman yoke, and they could not tolerate the thought that He in whom all their hopes centered should suffer an ignominious death. The words which they needed to remember were banished from their minds; and when the time of trial came, it found them unprepared. The death of Jesus as fully destroyed their hopes as if He had not forewarned them.” The Great Controversy, 594.

“Were Jesus with us today, He would say to us as He did to His disciples, ‘I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now’ (John 16:12). Jesus longed to open before the minds of His disciples deep and living truths, but their earthliness, their clouded, deficient comprehension made it impossible.” Selected Messages, Book 1, 403.

2 Following His crucifixion, what did Jesus say about the disciples’ understanding of the events that had taken place? Luke 24:25–27, 44, 45.

note: “After the crucifixion and the resurrection of Christ, His disciples listened with wonder and amazement to His lessons of truth; for they seemed as new ideas to them; but He told them, ‘These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you. . . . Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures’ (Luke 24:44, 45). The truth is constantly unfolding and presenting new features to different minds. All who dig in the mines of truth, will constantly discover rich and precious gems. We are anxious that all who claim to believe the truth now open before us, and especially those who take the responsibility of teaching the truth to others, should have a clearer conception themselves of the all-important significance of the themes of the Bible.” Selected Messages, Book 1, 404.

3 What does God say about the understanding of the people in the second advent movement concerning the closing events of the great controversy between Christ and Satan? (See reference below.)

note: “So in the prophecies the future is opened before us as plainly as it was opened to the disciples by the words of Christ. The events connected with the close of probation and the work of preparation for the time of trouble, are clearly presented. But multitudes have no more understanding of these important truths than if they had never been revealed. Satan watches to catch away every impression that would make them wise unto salvation, and the time of trouble will find them unready.

“When God sends to men warnings so important that they are represented as proclaimed by holy angels flying in the midst of heaven, He requires every person endowed with reasoning powers to heed the message.” The Great Controversy, 594.

4 What does the Spirit of Prophecy say regarding the attitudes of the people at the time of Christ and those of the people just before His Second Coming?

note: “We want to understand the time in which we live. We do not half understand it. We do not half take it in. My heart trembles in me when I think of what a foe we have to meet, and how poorly we are prepared to meet him. The trials of the children of Israel, and their attitude just before the first coming of Christ have been presented before me again and again to illustrate the position of the people of God in their experience before the second coming of Christ—how the enemy sought every occasion to take control of the minds of the Jews, and today he is seeking to blind the minds of God’s servants, that they may not be able to discern the precious truth.” Selected Messages, Book 1, 406.

5 What does Paul say about the experiences of the past and their purpose? 1 Corinthians 10:11–13? See also Romans 15:4, 5.

note: “To a people in whose hearts His law is written, the favor of God is assured. They are one with Him. But the Jews had separated themselves from God. Because of their sins they were suffering under His judgments. This was the cause of their bondage to a heathen nation. Their minds were darkened by transgression, and because in times past the Lord had shown them so great favor, they excused their sins. They flattered themselves that they were better than other men, and entitled to His blessings.

“These things ‘are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.’ 1 Corinthians 10:11. How often we misinterpret God’s blessings, and flatter ourselves that we are favored on account of some goodness in us! God cannot do for us that which He longs to do. His gifts are used to increase our self-satisfaction, and to harden our hearts in unbelief and sin.” The Desire of Ages, 106.

6 What is an important standard that Jesus has set for His people? John 17:20–23. See also Acts 2:1.

note: “If we draw nigh to God, individually, then don’t you see what the result will be? Can’t you see that we will draw nigh to one another? We cannot draw nigh to God, and come to the same cross, without our hearts being blended together in perfect unity, answering the prayer of Christ ‘that they may be one’ as He is one with the Father. And therefore we should seek in spirit, in understanding, in faith, that we may be one, that God may be glorified in us as He is glorified in the Son; and that God shall love us as He loves the Son.” “Ellen G. White Comments,” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 7, 937.

7 For what purpose is this unity required? John 17:21, last part, 23.

note: “The disciples prayed with intense earnestness for a fitness to meet men and in their daily intercourse to speak words that would lead sinners to Christ. Putting away all differences, all desire for the supremacy, they came close together in Christian fellowship. They drew nearer and nearer to God, and as they did this they realized what a privilege had been theirs in being permitted to associate so closely with Christ. . . .

“These days of preparation were days of deep heart searching. The disciples felt their spiritual need and cried to the Lord for the holy unction that was to fit them for the work of soul saving. They did not ask for a blessing for themselves merely. They were weighted with the burden of the salvation of souls. They realized that the gospel was to be carried to the world, and they claimed the power that Christ had promised.” The Acts of the Apostles, 37.

8 What did Jesus do to announce the beginning of His ministry in the first advent? John 2:13–16.

note: “In the cleansing of the temple, Jesus was announcing His mission as the Messiah, and entering upon His work. . . . In cleansing the temple from the world’s buyers and sellers, Jesus announced His mission to cleanse the heart from the defilement of sin,—from the earthly desires, the selfish lusts, the evil habits, that corrupt the soul.” The Desire of Ages, 161.

9 What is the counterpart in the second advent movement to the first cleansing of the temple? (See reference below.)

note: “[1] When Jesus began His public ministry, He cleansed the temple from its sacrilegious profanation. [2] Almost the last act of His ministry was to cleanse the temple again. So in the last work for the warning of the world, two distinct calls are made to the churches; [1] the second angel’s message [Revelation 14:8], and [2] the voice heard in heaven, ‘Come out of her, my people, . . . for her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.’ (Revelation 18:4, 5).” The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, vol. 2, 725, 726. [Emphasis supplied.]

comment: In this reference, the Spirit of Prophecy states that the second angel’s message is a counterpart to the first cleansing of the temple by Jesus at the beginning of His ministry. The second angel’s message was proclaimed in the summer of 1844. Thus we see that there was a cleansing of the second advent movement at its very beginning.

10 What did Jesus do at the close of His ministry? Matthew 21:12–16. See also Mark 11:15–18; Luke 19:45, 46.

note: “At the beginning of His ministry, Christ had driven from the temple those who defiled it by their unholy traffic; and His stern and godlike demeanor had struck terror to the hearts of the scheming traders. At the close of His mission He came again to the temple, and found it still desecrated as before. The condition of things was even worse than before. . . . The dignitaries of the temple were themselves engaged in buying and selling and the exchange of money. So completely were they controlled by their greed of gain that in the sight God they were no better than thieves.” The Desire of Ages, 589.

11 What counterpart to the second cleansing of the temple do we see in the following reference?

note: “[1] When Jesus began His public ministry, He cleansed the temple from its sacrilegious profanation. [2] Among the last acts of His ministry was the second cleansing of the temple. So in the last work for the warning of the world, two distinct calls are made to the churches. [1] The second angel’s message is, ‘Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.’ [Revelation 14:8.] [2] And in the loud cry of the third angel’s message, a voice is heard from heaven, ‘Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.’ [Revelation 18:4, 5.]” Review and Herald, December 6, 1892. [Emphasis supplied.]

comment: In the above two references, we are told that the second cleansing of the temple has its counterpart in the second advent movement in connection with the loud cry of the third angel. We know that the loud cry of the third angel’s message [Revelation 18:1–5] is the last message given to the world just before the close of probation. In future lessons, we will study the trials and attitudes of the people involved in the first and second advent movements that will help us to know and understand the times in which we live and to make the proper preparation for the latter rain.

12 Who only will stand in the last great conflict? Revelation 14:12.

note: “The last great delusion is soon to open before us. Antichrist is to perform his marvelous works in our sight. So closely will the counterfeit resemble the true that it will be impossible to distinguish between them except by the Holy Scriptures. By their testimony every statement and every miracle must be tested.

“Those who endeavor to obey all the commandments of God will be opposed and derided. They can stand only in God. In order to endure the trial before them, they must understand the will of God as revealed in His word; they can honor Him only as they have a right conception of His character, government, and purposes, and act in accordance with them. None but those who have fortified the mind with the truths of the Bible will stand through the last great conflict.” The Great Controversy, 593, 594.

 

Bible Study Guides – God’s Judgments

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August 23, 2009 – August 29, 2009

Key Text

“I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it [him].” Ezekiel 21:27.

Study Help: Prophets and Kings, 452–463; The Publishing Ministry, 167–178.

Introduction

“The final overthrow of all earthly dominions is plainly foretold in the word of truth.” Education, 179.

1 Just as God had warned the Jews through Jeremiah, what crisis befell Jerusalem during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar? II Kings 25:1. How was this also revealed to Ezekiel? Ezekiel 21:1–7, 31.

Note: “Because Israel had been chosen to preserve the knowledge of God in the earth, they had been, from their first existence as a nation, the special objects of Satan’s enmity, and he had determined to cause their destruction. He could do them no harm while they were obedient to God; therefore he had bent all his power and cunning to enticing them into sin.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 468.

“The children of Israel were taken captive to Babylon because they separated from God, and no longer maintained the principles that had been given to keep them free from the methods and practices of the nations who dishonored God.” “Ellen G. White Comments,” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 2, 1040.

2 Because of Judah’s impenitence, how would they be chastised? Ezekiel 21:21–24.

Note: “This prophecy [Deuteronomy 4:26–28], fulfilled in part in the time of the judges, met a more complete and literal fulfillment in the captivity of Israel in Assyria and of Judah in Babylon.

“The apostasy of Israel had developed gradually. From generation to generation, Satan had made repeated attempts to cause the chosen nation to forget ‘the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments’ that they had promised to keep forever. Deuteronomy 6:1. He knew that if he could only lead Israel to forget God, and to ‘walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them,’ they would ‘surely perish.’ Deuteronomy 8:19.” Prophets and Kings, 296.

3 How and why did God proclaim the end of Judah as a monarchy? Ezekiel 21:25, 26. When and through whom should the throne be restored to the House of David?

Note: “To the ‘profane wicked prince’ had come the day of final reckoning. ‘Remove the diadem,’ the Lord decreed, ‘and take off the crown.’ [Ezekiel 21:25, 26.] Not until Christ Himself should set up His kingdom was Judah again to be permitted to have a king.” Prophets and Kings, 451.

“The final overthrow of all earthly dominions is plainly foretold in the word of truth.” Education, 179.

4 How did God proclaim the establishment of Christ’s kingdom? Ezekiel 21:27.

Note: “The crown removed from Israel passed successively to the kingdoms of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. God says, ‘It shall be no more, until He come whose right it is; and I will give it Him.’ [Ezekiel 21:27.]

“That time is at hand. Today the signs of the times declare that we are standing on the threshold of great and solemn events. Everything in our world is in agitation. Before our eyes is fulfilling the Saviour’s prophecy of the events to precede His coming.” Education, 179.

5 What reasons did God list for sending His wrath upon Judah? Ezekiel 22:6–12, 31; Ezekiel 23:37–39.

Note: “Why did the Lord permit Jerusalem to be destroyed by fire the first time? Why did He permit His people to be overcome by their enemies and carried into heathen lands?—It was because they had failed to be His missionaries, and had built walls of division between themselves and the people round them. The Lord scattered them, that the knowledge of His truth might be carried to the world. If they were loyal and true and submissive, God would bring them again into their own land.” “Ellen G. White Comments,” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 2, 1040.

“In calling the attention of Judah to the sins that finally brought upon them the Babylonian Captivity, the Lord declared: ‘Thou hast … profaned My Sabbaths.’ ‘Therefore have I poured out Mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads.’ Ezekiel 22:8, 31.” Prophets and Kings, 182.

6 Of what were the priests especially guilty in Ezekiel’s day? Ezekiel 22:26. What similar warnings echo down to us today?

Note: “Can we then be surprised to hear of ministers falling under temptation and sin, disgracing the cause they were professedly advocating? Can we wonder that there are apostasies when men who urge conversion upon others are not themselves converted?” Manuscript Releases, vol. 7, 184.

“Some have so long sacrificed principle that they cannot see the difference between the sacred and the common. Those who refuse to give heed to the Lord’s instruction will go steadily downward in the path of ruin. The day of test and trial is just before us. Let every man put on his true colors. Do you choose loyalty or rebellion? Show your colors to men and angels. We are safe only when we are committed to the right. Then the world knows where we shall be found in the day of trial and trouble.” Testimonies, vol. 8, 96.

7 What lesson did the Lord want to teach Judah, and especially Jerusalem, through the parable of the boiling pot? Ezekiel 24:3–14.

Note: “While Jeremiah continued to bear his testimony in the land of Judah, the prophet Ezekiel was raised up from among the captives in Babylon, to warn and to comfort the exiles, and also to confirm the word of the Lord that was being spoken through Jeremiah. During the years that remained of Zedekiah’s reign, Ezekiel made very plain the folly of trusting to the false predictions of those who were causing the captives to hope for an early return to Jerusalem. He was also instructed to foretell, by means of a variety of symbols and solemn messages, the siege and utter destruction of Jerusalem.” Prophets and Kings, 448.

8 What trying experience tested Ezekiel’s faith? Ezekiel 24:15–18. What prophecy did the death of Ezekiel’s wife contain for the rebellious nation? Ezekiel 24:19–24.

Note: “The Hebrew armies were beaten back in confusion. The nation was conquered. Zedekiah was taken prisoner, and his sons were slain before his eyes. The king was led away from Jerusalem a captive, his eyes were put out, and after arriving in Babylon he perished miserably. The beautiful temple that for more than four centuries had crowned the summit of Mount Zion was not spared by the Chaldeans. ‘They burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof.’ 11 Chronicles 36:19.

“At the time of the final overthrow of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, many had escaped the horrors of the long siege, only to perish by the sword. Of those who still remained, some, notably the chief of the priests and officers, and the princes of the realm, were taken to Babylon and there executed as traitors.” Prophets and Kings, 458–460.

9 What reasons did God give for punishing the Ammonites? Ezekiel 25:1–3, 7.

Note: “God keeps a reckoning with nations, as well as with individuals. He allows to nations a certain period of probation, and gives them evidences of his requirements, of his supremacy, and makes known to them his laws which are to be the rule of his kingdom in the government of nations. All this he does that heathen nations may not be given up to destruction unwarned and without light; but after he has given them evidence and light, and they still persist in insolence toward him, then, when iniquity is full … God takes the matter in hand, and his judgments are not longer withheld.” The Youth’s Instructor, February 1, 1894.

10 What punishment was God about to send upon Tyre? Why was this punishment necessary? Ezekiel 26:7, 8.

Note: “To every nation and to every individual God has assigned a place in His great plan. Today men and nations are being tested by the plummet in the hand of Him who makes no mistake. All are by their own choice deciding their destiny, and God is overruling all for the accomplishment of His purposes.

“The prophecies which the great I AM has given in His word, uniting link after link in the chain of events, from eternity in the past to eternity in the future, tell us where we are today in the procession of the ages and what may be expected in the time to come. All that prophecy has foretold as coming to pass, until the present time, has been traced on the pages of history, and we may be assured that all which is yet to come will be fulfilled in its order.” Prophets and Kings, 536.

“The present is a time of overwhelming interest to all living. Rulers and statesmen, men who occupy positions of trust and authority, thinking men and women of all classes, have their attention fixed upon the events taking place about us. They are watching the relations that exist among the nations. They observe the intensity that is taking possession of every earthly element, and they recognize that something great and decisive is about to take place—that the world is on the verge of a stupendous crisis.” Ibid., 537.

Additional Reading

“The crime that brought the judgments of God upon Israel was that of licentiousness. The forwardness of women to entrap souls did not end at Baal-peor. Notwithstanding the punishment that followed the sinners in Israel, the same crime was repeated many times. Satan was most active in seeking to make Israel’s overthrow complete. Balak by the advice of Balaam laid the snare. Israel would have bravely met their enemies in battle, and resisted them, and come off conquerors; but when women invited their attention and sought their company and beguiled them by their charms, they did not resist temptations. They were invited to idolatrous feasts, and their indulgence in wine further beclouded their dazed minds. The power of self-control, their allegiance to God’s law, was not preserved. Their senses were so beclouded with wine, and their unholy passions had such full sway, overpowering every barrier, that they invited temptation even to the attending of these idolatrous feasts. Those who had never flinched in battle, who were brave men, did not barricade their souls to resist temptation to indulge their basest passions. … They first defiled their conscience by lewdness, and then departed from God still farther by idolatry, thus showing contempt for the God of Israel.

“Near the close of this earth’s history Satan will work with all his powers in the same manner and with the same temptations wherewith he tempted ancient Israel just before their entering the land of promise. He will lay snares for those who claim to keep the commandments of God, and who are almost on the borders of the heavenly Canaan. He will use his powers to their utmost in order to entrap souls, and to take God’s professed people upon their weakest points. …

“It is now the duty of God’s commandment-keeping people to watch and pray, to search the Scriptures diligently, to hide the word of God in the heart, lest they sin against Him in idolatrous thoughts and debasing practices, and thus the church of God become demoralized.” Conflict and Courage, 115.

“The sinner views the spirituality of the law of God and its eternal obligations. He sees the love of God in providing a substitute and surety for guilty man, and that substitute is One equal with God. This display of grace in the gift of salvation to the world fills the sinner with amazement. This love of God to man breaks every barrier down. He comes to the cross, which has been placed midway between divinity and humanity, and repents of his sins of transgression, because Christ has been drawing him to Himself. He does not expect the law to cleanse him from sin, for there is no pardoning quality in the law to save the transgressors of the law. He looks to the atoning Sacrifice as his only hope, through repentance toward God—because the laws of His government have been broken—and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ as the One who can save and cleanse the sinner from every transgression.” Selected Messages, Book 3, 194.

©2005 Reformation Herald Publishing Association, Roanoke, Virginia. Reprinted by permission.

Bible Study Guides – Obedience and Sanctification

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August 16, 2009 – August 22, 2009

Key Text

“Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I [am] the Lord that sanctify them.” Ezekiel 20:12.

Study Help: Testimonies, vol. 5, 629–635; Ibid., vol. 6, 349–353.

Introduction

“The Sabbath given to the world as the sign of God as the Creator is also the sign of Him as the Sanctifier. The power that created all things is the power that re-creates the soul in His own likeness.” Testimonies, vol. 6, 350.

1 What basic truths must we understand for our soul’s salvation? Ezekiel 18:4, 20–24.

Note: “There is no such thing in the Word of God as unconditional election—once in grace, always in grace. …

“There is truth to be received if souls are saved. The keeping of the commandments of God is life eternal to the receiver. But the Scriptures make it plain that those who once knew the way of life and rejoiced in the truth are in danger of falling through apostasy, and being lost. Therefore there is need of a decided, daily conversion to God.

“All who seek to sustain the doctrine of election, once in grace, always in grace, do this against a plain, ‘Thus saith the Lord.’ ” “Ellen G. White Comments,” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 6, 1114, 1115.

2 What should we realize when tempted to question God’s fairness in dealing with our individual cases? Ezekiel 18:25.

Note: “The attitude which many assume in expressing doubts and unbelief as to whether the Lord will save them is a reflection upon the character of God. Those who complain of His severity are virtually saying: ‘The way of the Lord is not equal.’ But He distinctly throws back the imputation upon the sinner: ‘Are not your ways unequal?’ Can I pardon your transgressions when you do not repent and turn from your sins?’ … The Lord will receive the sinner when he repents and forsakes his sins so that God can work with his efforts in seeking perfection of character.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 631, 632.

3 What warning invites sinners to turn to God without delay? Ezekiel 18:26–30.

Note: “Let none venture into sin as he [Solomon] did, in the hope that they too may recover themselves. Sin can be indulged only at the peril of infinite loss. …

“But none who have fallen need give themselves up to despair. … There is still hope for them if they repent, forsake sin, and turn to God.” The Review and Herald, February 22, 1906.

“Satan is ready to steal away the blessed assurances of God. He desires to take every glimmer of hope and every ray of light from the soul; but you must not permit him to do this.” Steps to Christ, 53.

4 What is needed in preparing for Heaven? Ezekiel 18:31, 32.

Note: “Regeneration is the only path by which we can reach the holy city. It is narrow and the gate by which we enter is strait, but along it we are to lead men and women and children, teaching them that in order to be saved, they must have a new heart and a new spirit. The old hereditary traits of character are to be overcome. The natural desires of the soul must be changed. All deception, all falsifying, all evil-speaking must be put away. The new life, which makes men and women Christlike, is to be lived. We are, as it were, to swim against the current of evil.” This Day With God, 108.

5 For what purpose did God remind the Israelites of their sojourn in Egypt? Ezekiel 20:7–11.

Note: “Pharaoh boasted that he would like to see their [the Israelites’] God deliver them from his hands. These words destroyed the hopes of many of the children of Israel. It appeared to them very much as the king and his counselors had said. They knew that they were treated as slaves, and that they must endure just that degree of oppression their taskmasters and rulers might put upon them. Their male children had been hunted and slain. Their own lives were a burden, and they were believing in, and worshiping, the God of Heaven.

“Then they contrasted their condition with that of the Egyptians. They did not believe at all in a living God who had power to save or to destroy. Some of them worshiped idols, images of wood and stone, while others chose to worship the sun, moon, and stars; yet they were prospered and wealthy. And some of the Hebrews thought that if God was above all gods He would not thus leave them as slaves to an idolatrous nation.

“The faithful servants of God understood that it was because of their unfaithfulness to God as a people, and their disposition to intermarry with other nations, and thus being led into idolatry, that the Lord suffered them to go into Egypt. And they firmly declared to their brethren that God would soon bring them up from Egypt and break their oppressive yoke.” The Story of Redemption, 114, 115.

6 How serious of an offense is it to reject God’s law and His holy Sabbath? Ezekiel 20:13, 14, 23, 24.

Note: “Those who trample upon God’s authority, and show open contempt to the law given in such grandeur at Sinai, virtually despise the Lawgiver, the great Jehovah. …

“By transgressing the law which God had given in such majesty, and amid glory which was unapproachable, the people showed open contempt of the great Lawgiver, and death was the penalty.” “Ellen G. White Comments,” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 4, 1162.

7 What sign did God give to His people to set them apart as His own peculiar treasure? Ezekiel 20:12.

Note: “The Sabbath is a sign of the relationship existing between God and His people, a sign that they are His obedient subjects, that they keep holy His law. The observance of the Sabbath is the means ordained by God of preserving a knowledge of Himself and of distinguishing between His loyal subjects and the transgressors of His law. This is the faith once delivered to the saints, who stand in moral power before the world, firmly maintaining this faith.” Testimonies, vol. 8, 198.

“To those who keep holy the Sabbath day it is the sign of sanctification. True sanctification is harmony with God, oneness with Him in character. It is received through obedience to those principles that are the transcript of His character. And the Sabbath is the sign of obedience. He who from the heart obeys the fourth commandment will obey the whole law. He is sanctified through obedience.” Ibid., vol. 6, 350.

8 What did the Jews reveal by polluting the Lord’s Sabbath? Ezekiel 20:15, 16.

Note: “The Lord designed that by a faithful observance of the Sabbath command, Israel should continually be reminded of their accountability to Him as their Creator and their Redeemer.” Prophets and Kings, 182.

“So long as the fact that He [God] is our Creator continues to be a reason why we should worship Him, so long the Sabbath will continue as its sign and memorial. Had the Sabbath been universally kept, man’s thoughts and affections would have been led to the Creator as the object of reverence and worship, and there would never have been an idolater, an atheist, or an infidel.” The Great Controversy, 438.

9 What was and still is well understood by God’s faithful remnant in connection with the Sabbath? Ezekiel 20:19, 20.

Note: “Though sin has entered the world to mar His perfect work, God still gives to us the Sabbath as a witness that One omnipotent, infinite in goodness and mercy, created all things. Our heavenly Father desires through the observance of the Sabbath to preserve among men a knowledge of Himself. He desires that the Sabbath shall direct our minds to Him as the true and living God, and that through knowing Him we may have life and peace.” Testimonies, vol. 6, 349.

“The Sabbath was not for Israel merely, but for the world. It had been made known to man in Eden, and, like the other precepts of the Decalogue, it is of imperishable obligation. Of that law of which the fourth commandment forms a part, Christ declares, ‘Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in nowise pass from the law.’ [Matthew 5:18.] So long as the heavens and the earth endure, the Sabbath will continue as a sign of the Creator’s power. And when Eden shall bloom on earth again, God’s holy rest day will be honored by all beneath the sun.” The Desire of Ages, 283.

10 What promise was very precious to the faithful remnant in the days of Ezekiel? Ezekiel 20:36–42. What do we read about the remnant of Israel in these last days? Isaiah 10:20–22.

Note: “From ‘every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people’ there will be some who will gladly respond to the message, ‘Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come.’ They will turn from every idol that binds them to earth, and will ‘worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.’ They will free themselves from every entanglement and will stand before the world as monuments of God’s mercy. Obedient to the divine requirements, they will be recognized by angels and by men as those that have kept ‘the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.’ Revelation 14:6, 7, 12.” Prophets and Kings, 299, 300.

Additional Reading

“The law of God is the one great standard that will measure every man’s character in the day of God. The prayer of Christ was, ‘Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.’ Therefore the sanctification of the Spirit of God upon the heart, leads men to walk in the way of God’s commandments. The very test that God brought upon Adam in Eden, will be brought upon every member of the human family. Obedience to God was required of Adam, and we stand in the same position that he did to have a second trial, to see whether we will listen to the voice of Satan and disobey God, or to the Word of God and obey.” The Review and Herald, June 10, 1890.

“The Bible is the standard by which to test the claims of all who profess sanctification. Jesus prayed that His disciples might be sanctified through the truth, and He says, ‘Thy word is truth;’ [John 17:17] while the psalmist declares, ‘Thy law is the truth.’ [Psalms 119:142.] All whom God is leading will manifest a high regard for the Scriptures in which His voice is heard. The Bible will be to them ‘profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.’ [II Timothy 3:16, 17.] ‘Ye shall know them by their fruits.’ [Matthew 7:16.] We need no other evidence in order to judge of men’s sanctification; if they are fearful lest they shall not obey the whole will of God, if they are listening diligently to His voice, trusting in His wisdom, and making His Word the man of their counsel, then, while they make no boasts of superior goodness, we may be sure that they are seeking to attain to perfection of Christian character. But if the claimants of holiness even intimate that they are no longer required to search the Scriptures, we need not hesitate to pronounce their sanctification spurious. They are leaning to their own understanding, instead of conforming to the will of God.” The Faith and Works, 51.

“The truth as it is in Jesus is obedience to every precept of Jehovah. It is heart work. Bible sanctification is not the spurious sanctification of today, which will not search the Scriptures, but trusts to good feelings and impulses rather than to the seeking for truth as for hidden treasure. Bible sanctification is to know the requirements of God and to obey them. There is a pure and holy heaven in store for those who keep God’s commandments. It is worth lifelong, persevering, untiring effort. Satan is on your right hand and on your left; he is before and behind; he has a dish of fables cooked up for every soul who is not cherishing the truth as it is in Jesus. The destroyer is upon you to palsy your every effort. But there is a crown of life to be won, a life that measures with the life of God.” “Ellen G. White Comments,” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 5, 1147.

©2005 Reformation Herald Publishing Association, Roanoke, Virginia. Reprinted by permission.

Bible Study Guides – Doom or Redemption: A Choice

by

August 9, 2009 – August 15, 2009

Key Text

“And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee [when thou wast] in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee [when thou wast] in thy blood, Live.” Ezekiel 16:6.

Study Help: Prophets and Kings, 450, 451; Steps to Christ, 23–36.

Introduction

“God’s mercy to those who sincerely repent and come to Him through Christ, knows no limit. He will pardon the most guilty, and purify the most polluted.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 7, 341.

1 Through what allegory did God depict the birth of the Jewish nation and His compassion on their pitiful state? Ezekiel 16:1–7.

2 What description portrays God’s covenant with His people? Ezekiel 16:8 (cf. Ruth 3:9); II Corinthians 11:2.

Note: “Christ left His heavenly home, and came to this world, to show that only by being connected with divinity can man keep the law of God. In itself humanity is tainted and corrupted; but Christ brought moral power to man, and those who live in communion with him overcome as he overcame. We are not left in this world as orphans; Christ has united fallen man to the infinite God. He has opened a way for our prayers to ascend to God, and the fragrance of his righteousness ascends with the prayer of every repentant sinner.” The Signs of the Times, December 10, 1896.

“In the Bible the sacred and enduring character of the relation that exists between Christ and His church is represented by the union of marriage. The Lord has joined His people to Himself by a solemn covenant, He promising to be their God, and they pledging themselves to be His and His alone.” The Great Controversy, 381.

3 Why did God become disappointed at the behavior of His people on many occasions? Ezekiel 16:13–15, 30, 32.

Note: “The unfaithfulness of the church to Christ in permitting her confidence and affection to be turned from Him, and allowing the love of worldly things to occupy the soul, is likened to the violation of the marriage vow.” The Great Controversy, 381.

4 How does Inspiration denounce the moral fall of the popular churches today? Revelation 17:1–5; 18:1–4.

Note: “It was by departure from the Lord, and alliance with the heathen, that the Jewish church became a harlot; and Rome, corrupting herself in like manner by seeking the support of worldly powers, receives a like condemnation. …

“The people of God are called upon to come out of Babylon. According to this scripture, many of God’s people must still be in Babylon. And in what religious bodies are the greater part of the followers of Christ now to be found? Without doubt, in the various churches professing the Protestant faith. At the time of their rise these churches took a noble stand for God and the truth, and His blessing was with them. Even the unbelieving world was constrained to acknowledge the beneficent results that followed an acceptance of the principles of the gospel. … But they fell by the same desire which was the curse and ruin of Israel—the desire of imitating the practices and courting the friendship of the ungodly.” The Great Controversy, 382, 383.

5 What practice had crept into Israel, provoking God’s wrath? Ezekiel 16:20, 21. How had He warned against this evil? Leviticus 18:21; 20:2, 3.

Note: “While the Israelites were in Egyptian bondage, they were surrounded by idolatry. The Egyptians had received traditions in regard to sacrificing. They did not acknowledge the existence of the God of heaven. They sacrificed to their idol gods. With great pomp and ceremony they performed their idol worship. They erected altars to the honor of their gods, and they required even their own children to pass through the fire. After they had erected their altars, they required their children to leap over the altars through the fire. If they could do this without their being burned, the idol priests and people received it as an evidence that their god accepted their offerings, and favored especially the person who passed through the fiery ordeal. He was loaded with benefits, and was ever afterward greatly esteemed by all the people. He was never allowed to be punished, however aggravating might be his crimes. If another person who leaped through the fire was so unfortunate as to be burned, then his fate was fixed; for they thought that their gods were angry, and would be appeased with nothing short of the unhappy victim’s life, and he was offered up as a sacrifice upon their idol altars.

“Even some of the children of Israel had so far degraded themselves as to practice these abominations, and God caused the fire to kindle upon their children, whom they made to pass through the fire. They did not go to all the lengths of the heathen nations; but God deprived them of their children by causing the fire to consume them in the act of passing through it.” “Ellen G. White Comments,” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 1, 1119.

6 In what ways may we be in danger of practicing similar abominations today? James 4:4; I John 2:15–17.

Note: “Fathers and mothers who should understand the responsibility which rests upon them relax their discipline to meet the inclinations of their growing sons and daughters. The will of the child is the law recognized. Mothers who have been firm, consistent, and unbending in their adherence to principle, maintaining simplicity and fidelity, become indulgent as their children merge into manhood and womanhood. In their love of display they give their children to Satan with their own hands, like the apostate Jews making them pass through the fire to Molech.” Child Guidance, 277.

“Children are not to be trained to be the devotees of society. They are not to be sacrificed to Molech, but they are to become members of the Lord’s family. Parents are to be filled with the compassion of Christ, that they may work for the salvation of the souls that are placed under their influence. They are not to have their minds all engrossed in the fashions and practices of the world. They are not to educate their children to attend parties and concerts and dances, to have and attend feasts, because after this manner the Gentiles walk.” Ibid., 181.

7 How can we protect our children from the evils of Sodom? Ezekiel 16:49, 50. Why should we remember God’s destruction of Sodom and Gomorrha? Jude 5–7.

Note: “Active hands and minds do not find time to heed every temptation which the enemy suggests, but idle hands and brains are all ready for Satan to control. The mind, when not properly occupied, dwells upon improper things. Parents should teach their children that idleness is sin.” Testimonies, vol. 1, 395.

“The reason the youth have so little strength of brain and muscle is because they do so little in the line of useful labor.” Ibid., vol. 4, 96.

“The misuse or nonuse of the physical powers is largely responsible for the tide of corruption that is overspreading the world. ‘Pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness,’ [Ezekiel 16:49] are as deadly foes to human progress in this generation as when they led to the destruction of Sodom.” Education, 209.

8 What was God constrained to declare about the rebellious nation that had betrayed His every sacred trust? Ezekiel 17:11–20.

Note: “The day of doom for the kingdom of Judah was fast approaching. No longer could the Lord set before them the hope of averting the severest of His judgments.” Prophets and Kings, 450.

9 How did God reveal His mercy toward those who would humble their souls in true contrition? Ezekiel 17:22–24.

Note: “It was still the Lord’s purpose, as it had been from the beginning, that His people should be a praise in the earth, to the glory of His name. During the long years of their exile He had given them many opportunities to return to their allegiance to Him. Some had chosen to listen and to learn; some had found salvation in the midst of affliction. Many of these were to be numbered among the remnant that should return. They were likened by Inspiration to ‘the highest branch of the high cedar,’ which was to be planted ‘upon an high mountain and eminent: in the mountain of the height of Israel.’ Ezekiel 17:22, 23.” Prophets and Kings, 599.

10 What future plan did God have for the faithful remnant? Ezekiel 16:60–63; Jeremiah 31:33; Galatians 3:29.

Note: “All who became the subjects of Christ’s kingdom, he said, would give evidence of faith and repentance. Kindness, honesty, and fidelity would be seen in their lives. They would minister to the needy, and bring their offerings to God. They would shield the defenseless, and give an example of virtue and compassion. So the followers of Christ will give evidence of the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. In the daily life, justice, mercy, and the love of God will be seen.” The Desire of Ages, 107.

Additional Reading

“Every soul has a heaven to win, and a hell to shun. And the angelic agencies are all ready to come to the help of the tried and tempted soul. He, the Son of the infinite God, endured the test and trial in our behalf. The cross of Calvary stands vividly before every soul. When the cases of all are judged, and they [the lost] are delivered to suffer for their contempt for God and their disregard of His honor in their disobedience, not one will have an excuse, not one will need to have perished. It was left to their own choice who should be their prince, Christ or Satan. All the help Christ received, every man may receive in the great trial. The cross stands as a pledge that not one need be lost, that abundant help is provided for every soul. We can conquer the satanic agencies, or we can join ourselves with the powers that seek to counterwork the work of God in our world. …

“We have an Advocate pleading in our behalf. The Holy Ghost is continually engaged in beholding our course of action. We need now keen perception, that by our own practical godliness the truth may be made to appear truth as it is in Jesus. The angelic agencies are messengers from heaven, actually ascending and descending, keeping earth in constant connection with the heaven above. These angel messengers are observing all our course of action. They are ready to help all in their weakness, guarding all from moral and physical danger according to the providence of God. And whenever souls yield to the softening, subduing influence of the Spirit of God under these angel ministrations, there is joy in heaven; the Lord Himself rejoices with singing.

“Men take altogether too much glory to themselves. It is the work of heavenly agencies cooperating with human agencies according to God’s plan that brings the result in the conversion and sanctification of the human character. We cannot see and could not endure the glory of angelic ministrations if their glory was not veiled in condescension to the weakness of our human nature. The blaze of the heavenly glory, as seen in the angels of light, would extinguish earthly mortals. Angels are working upon human minds just as these minds are given to their charge; they bring precious remembrances fresh before the mind as they did to the women about the sepulcher.

“A created instrumentality is used in heaven’s organized plan for the renewing of our nature, working in the children of disobedience obedience unto God. The guardianship of the heavenly host is granted to all who will work in God’s ways and follow His plans. We may in earnest, contrite prayer call the heavenly helpers to our side. Invisible armies of light and power will work with the humble, meek, and lowly one.” Selected Messages, Book 1, 96, 97.

©2005 Reformation Herald Publishing Association, Roanoke, Virginia. Reprinted by permission.