Stephen Terry, Director

 

Still Waters Ministry

 

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The Impending Conflict

Commentary for the June 15, 2024, Sabbath School Lesson

 

"For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve." 2 Corinthians 11:13-15

For centuries, Christians have done evangelism, motivated by the words of Jesus recorded in the Gospel According to Matthew: "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." (Matthew 28:19) Like the picture that accompanies this commentary, thousands have come forward during altar calls to what is called the Penitent Form, the kneeling bench found in some churches in front of the altar where those coming forward publicly renounce their former life and commit to living for Jesus. Methodists and Baptists were both major evangelizers in North America since before the United States came into existence. Circuit riding preachers on horseback would travel the colonies and into the wilderness, performing frontier weddings and calling together the people to preach the word of the Lord. Depending on the denomination of the preacher, those coming forward would be led through the Sinner's Prayer of repentance or baptized in a nearby lake or stream. In some cases, the prayer and baptism might both be required on the model of the Apostle Peter's preaching at Pentecost, where he stated that all must "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:38) Where possible, these circuit riders would organize churches, leaving their administration in the hands of capable lay leaders so the preacher could continue to ride circuit.

With the isolation of frontier families and little opportunity for social interaction, these evangelistic meetings were major events. Not everyone was there to hear the preacher. While the adults were in the meeting, the younger folks would find the opportunity to join with their peers in the trees and bushes on the periphery. The result was often a wave of "camp meeting baby" births nine months later, ensuring when the circuit preacher returned, he would have a new round of frontier weddings awaiting his blessing. Therefore, those denominations doing evangelism grew through altar calls and the opportunity to come together to bring about the next generation of believers born to the faith and raised from the cradle on. From this long-established evangelistic momentum sprung William Miller and the many thousands that were drawn in by his preaching of imminent apocalypse. From that ecclesiastical heritage our own Seventh-day Adventist denomination arose almost two centuries ago.

Originally beset with the idea that the door of probation had closed, they saw no point in evangelism. Once they overcome that hurdle, their evangelistic DNA asserted itself, and they began to present a message of repentance and baptism centered around three ideas: 1)that Jesus' return remained imminent; 2)Adventists are a special remnant people for the End Times, identified as those who "keep God's commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus." (Revelation 12:17); and 3)keeping God's commands includes the Fourth Commandment regarding Sabbath observance. This alone makes Adventists a peculiar people for almost the entire Christian world believes that all the Ten Commandments still define normal Christian behavior except for the Sabbath Commandment. When it is mentioned to them, they assert that we are under grace not law, a grace that strangely only does away with one law, the Sabbath. It is little wonder then that Adventists see this as a front for impending conflict before Jesus returns. There has been an extensive list of legislative attempts by local, state, and federal governments, some of which have been successful, to substitute Sunday as the Sabbath as an attempt to reinforce the idea that all Sunday worshipers are legally compliant with the will of God. It is hard to understand why that would even be necessary if the law no longer applies as some so eagerly assert over this very issue.

When we consider the reason for the Sabbath, the conflict becomes even clearer when we understand the implications of Sabbath observance. As the Fourth Commandment points out, "in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy." (Exodus 20:11) Observing the Sabbath is recognizing God as Creator. The Sabbath is just as much a memorial of Creation as the cross is of Jesus' crucifixion. The latter did not do away with the former. Instead, Creation will be a key issue in the final days of history before Jesus returns. The Apostle John says as much when he shares the messages of the three angels of Revelation 14. The first angel cries out, "Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water." (Revelation 14:7) See God as Creator, the one who brings life into existence ex nihilo. God is greater than what we could ever imagine him to be. Our strawman god we create in order to tear down, rejoicing in our wit and genius in overcoming such a pitiable foe, is not God. By definition, it is only an effigy created within the limits of our own ideas. Of course, it follows that there is no such god, for such a god would only be us with a mask on. Why would anyone in their right mind ever wish to serve such a god?

Before I go on, I want to deal with another strawman regarding the issue of Creation. There is no assertion of the age of the Earth in the Bible. Young Earth Creationists have simply gone with a strawman created by an Archbishop centuries ago who felt that by stringing together biblical genealogies he could derive how old the Earth is. This is theological humanism, attempting to define God and the Bible with man as the only relevant measure of everything. We are not. There are mysteries that go far beyond the idea of a six-thousand-year-old creation. Much of that mystery is hidden in metaphor, lost to the literalist. For example, John tells us that Jesus is the Word of God, and "He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made." (John 1:1-3) Further, in the Epistle to the Hebrews, we read "in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe." (Hebrews 1:2) When God spoke Creation into being as we read in Genesis, chapter one, the word he spoke was Jesus. This is what the Bible is trying to tell us, not something about six literal days, but a revelation of the mystery of God, Jesus, and Creation. There is no limitation to the creative power of God through his Word, Jesus.

Now let us return from this slight segway to the matter at hand. What is the nature of the impending conflict of Revelation? There are fault lines both within and without Christianity over several issues. This is so much so that it creates massive confusion over dogma and derides the character of God through the intolerance of humankind, one to another. The second and third angels of Revelation, chapter 14 call us to leave the confusion behind and become the loving, caring, empathetic people God created us to be when He created us in his image. He will not force us to do so. That's not how love works. Only those who are convinced that God is love and wish to love him in return will ever be happy with God.

Whenever I have been involved with evangelism, the same question comes up every time. Many do not want to hear about Jesus, the love of God, or anything that would change their path in life. Instead, they want to know what the Mark of the Beast is in Revelation, chapter 13. They want another strawman they can assail to prove that God is nothing in the face of their humanism. Once again, they lose the metaphor in straining at their literalism. In Revelation, the Seal of God is in the forehead, but the Mark of the Beast is in the forehead or the hand. If we allow the forehead to represent the mind, and the hand to represent one's actions, those who truly follow God will be those who fully believe in him as Creator and Redeemer. But those who are opposed and who have the "Mark of the Beast," will be those fully convinced against God, and along with them, those who, while not fully convinced, nonetheless, go along with much of humanity in opposing God because it is convenient to do so. As sychophants, they wish to enjoy life without persecution from those opposed to God and his kingdom. In either case, whether fully convinced against God or just going along for the ride, they will have made their choice through words, action, or lifestyle. Throughout its pages, the Bible tells us there are no choices without consequences. The consequence here is not a choice about receiving a mark. It is a matter of eternal life or death. The silence of the grave, or the paradise of Eden restored. Some place little value on these things, but all the wealth of the world cannot buy one's way into paradise, and all the wealth of the world cannot bring one back from the grave once the course of this life has run. Choose wisely.

 

 

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