Sacrificio de un negro Un oficial del ejército inglés que se dirigía a la India acompañado de su esposa y dos hijitas, fueron invitados a visitar el buque insignia del almirante. Durante la visita dejó las niñas al cuidado de un criado negro de 18 años, que les acompañaba en el viaje. Durante su ausencia, se levantó súbitamente una gran tempestad que puso en peligro el barco donde se hallaban las niñas. Mientras la embarcación estaba hundiéndose llegó un bote del buque insignia para salvar a los náufragos. La tripulación, se precipitó en él, y el muchacho negro al descubrir que no había lugar en el bote para él mismo y las niñas, por exceso de carga, puso a estas en el bote y se echó al mar, donde pereció engullido por el remolino que produjo el buque al hundirse. He aquí una ilustración del amor de Cristo que se sacrificó por las pobres criaturas desvalidas de este mundo incapaces de hallar salvación excepto por su sacrificio.

Un telegrama oportuno

Un joven telegrafista estaba oprimido desde hacía algún tiempo por el sentimiento de sus pecados y suspiraba por la gracia del perdón. Una mañana estando de servicio tuvo que recibir y transmitir un telegrama. Con gran sorpresa descifró estas palabras: "He aquí el Cordero de Dios que quita el pecado del mundo". Un cristiano que se hallaba de viaje telegrafiaba este texto en respuesta a la carta de un amigo que le pedía consejo sobre la salvación de su alma.

El mensaje estaba destinado para otro, pero el que lo transmitió recibió por su medio la vida eterna aprendiendo a poner su confianza en la obra redentora de quien, fue sacrificado como un cordero para nuestra salvación. - Spurgeon.

El sacrificio de la señorita millonaria

Una señorita cristiana americana vino a hallarse en posesión de una cuantiosa fortuna que quiso administrar ella misma para fines caritativos.

Con tal objeto se propuso acercarse a los pobres para conocerles, y sintiendo que sus riquezas le eran un impedimento, colocó toda su fortuna en el banco de tal modo que ella misma no pudiera sacar nada en el término de un año. Alquiló una vivienda en uno de los barrios más humildes y trabajó para ganar su sustento. Así trabó muchas relaciones y en ocasiones fue ayudada por sus propios vecinos que compadecían su aparente desamparo. De este modo llegó a conocer experimentalmente los apuros de la pobreza y aprendió a distinguir entre los menesterosos dignos y los vagos de profesión. Anhelosa esperaba el momento de poder manifestar su verdadera condición y así pudo levantar y ayudar a muchos cuando el tiempo se cumplió. Los mismos pobres sentían un respeto sagrado por aquella mujer que de tal modo se había sacrificado y trataban de evitar que nadie abusara de su bondad para que ella pudiese cumplir sus propósitos del modo más eficaz.

Nuestro Señor se hizo pobre siendo rico por amor a nosotros. ¿No trataremos de ser sus servidores y cooperadores del modo más leal?

Stop The Music

by Richard O'Ffill

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If it can be said that religion is a personal thing, it cannot be said that corporate worship is a personal thing. Corporate worship is just that. Something that we do together. In recent years there has been a movement at every level of the church from the top down and from the bottom up to try to bring vitality to the worship that we do together. We are talking about what we usually do when we go to church on Sabbath morning. Not only has this movement been in our own denomination but it has pretty well spread over the Christian world. But particularly in North America, Australia and Western Europe. This revolution in worship style was largely initiated by the segment that we call the charasmatics. I use the word revolution because it is an overthrowing of the existing forms of worship and replacing them with other forms. It would have been appropriate to have a reform of our worship in as much as a reform is not the same as a revolution, but as one young minister told me, "We are in charge now." I have entitled this sermon. "Stop the Music". I am not saying that we should stop the music permanently, but only until we have sat down together and found answers to some questions which must be addressed. Remember, corporate worship is just that. It is something that we do together. It is unimaginable that we have come to the state of affairs in some places and in more and more places in which worship is something that is dividing us rather than uniting us. We should not be surprised. There is after all the old saying, "divide and conquer." It seems to me that we should see what is happening and say, "Wait a minute, something is wrong here. Whatever we are doing must not be the right thing to do because what is going on is causing divisions and confusion in the very place where Jesus prayed that there would be unity." I know that something is fundamentally wrong. When the young minister told me, "We are in charge now," his words illustrated that what is going on is a true revolution in every sense of the word. Friends, this must not be. The Apostle Paul tells us that Jesus is the head of the church. An attitude that sees the church as being dominated by one race, culture, gender, or generation is not the church that Jesus established when He was here on earth. This is why I think there is a basic fallacy in the argument that worship is a cultural phenomena. If that were true, it would mean that you and I ought to be able to worship God any way that our particular culture is inclined to do. If Christ is really the head of the church then it would seem to me that instead of debating among ourselves as to whether we should worship according to my culture or yours, we might do well to set down together and discover what are the Biblical principles of worship. In Jeremiah 9 we read: "Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise loving kindness, judgment and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight." In the context of what is presently going on in some places that text might say: "Thus saith the Lord, Let not the young people demand a change for change sake, let not the older people defend the status quo, let not anyone think that you can worship God any old way you please, but let the young and the old, let those from your culture and those from my culture, let all cultures sit down together and study to understand and know me that I am the Lord which exercise loving kindness, judgment and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight." I am increasingly convinced that as things seem to be going now, that we are not gathering together to worship God, rather we are increasingly gathering together to please ourselves. This is why we are insisting on doing it your way or my way. What this seems to be saying is that as far as God is concerned, anything goes. The aspect of worship that is the focus of our problem is music. Of all the arts as we understand them the Bible tells us that music is the only one that will continue into heaven. Music began in heaven as a vehicle of praise to the Holy God and it will continue throughout eternity in the same role. The angels sing, the elect saints sing, and someday, we will hear the Lord Jesus Himself sing praise in the midst of the assembly. Heb. 2:12: "Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee." In Rev. 15: 3-4 "And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb,saying great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God almighty; just and true are thy ways thou King of saints. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name: for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee, for thy judgments are made manifest." On the other hand the Bible tells us that one day the music of the world will cease. Rev. 18:22 says that the sound of the harpist, musicians, flutists and trumpeters, shall not be heard in you anymore. Inasmuch as music was provided by God to his creation to be used to be something to praise and worship Him then it would seem to me that the music that we use to worship Him should be based on what we might call his culture not our own. Do you see what I mean? I cannot help but think that the problem that is manifesting itself in music these days is due to what I hope is a misunderstanding. If worship is something that we are doing that is directed to us, to ours and to theirs, then surely we must give a little here and take a little there. But if music is about God, then it would see to me that we must (as I mentioned earlier) sit down, put aside our differences, and discover together who God is. I don't need to tell you that our worship and therefore our music reveals who we think that God is. Unless we discover from the Scripture who God is, we could actually be worshiping another God or just, as they say, "whistling in the dark". In this case it would be the darkness of our own misunderstanding. God talks to us in Ps. 50:21. He says, "These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee and set them in order before thine eyes." Just because we are not being struck by lightening, or the ground is not opening to swallow us up we must not necessarily come to the conclusion that whatever we choose to offer the Lord in worship is pleasing to Him. He tells us not to see Him as one of the boys --" thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself". In Heb. 11:6 we read,"But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." A number of years ago I read that we can rise no higher than our concept of God. This is why it is imperative, not only for his glory but for our salvation, that we understand who has made us and how He expects to be worshiped. All of our worship, both in music and in the spoken word, must produce a high view of God. Our chief aim must be to glorify God and worship Him forever. Ps. 29:1,2, "Give unto the LORD, O ye mighty, give unto the LORD glory and strength. Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness." Ps 96:9 ," O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth." Worship is not about us. It is about God. If worship is to be acceptable it must be consistent with who God is. Worship is not about us. It is about God. More and more we are hearing that worship is to meet our needs. Though it is true that we have a need to worship God, it is unthinkable that we can worship Him as we see fit. Even in God's redemptive plan for man salvation never begins with man and his need but with God and His glory. We seem to be trying to make worship attractive to more and more people. I have already said that this is not valid unless we are in fact not directing our worship to God but to each other. God is not pleased when just anyone pretends to worship him. It is even possible to worship God in vain. That means under certain circumstances that worship can even be a waste of time. In one place it says "Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men" Matt 15:7-9 The point is God cannot be worshiped and glorified where sin is accepted and entertained. This plainly means that a person who is living in known and open sin, a person who is resisting the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit in their lives cannot worship inasmuch as the Scripture is clear that true worship must be from the heart. You may disagree with me 100% but this means that worship is not for everyone. Excuse me if I use a plain illustration, but just as physical intimacy between a man and a woman is only legitimate in the context of the marriage covenant, so worshiping a Holy God is only for those who have made a covenant to serve Him as their Maker and Lord. Some have decided that they would craft the worship service for the unconverted, but in doing so they run the risk of profaning the name of our Holy God. In our worship we must obey God, rather than seek to please each other and especially the lost. Paul wrote in Gal 1:9 ff. "As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I yet pleased men, I should not be servant of Christ. But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man." You remember when Elijah challenged the children of Israel? He said, " If God be God worship Him, if Baal be god then worship him. We cannot serve both God and the world. These days some are trying to create an environment where the sinner feels as comfortable as the person who is committed to Jesus. When we do this we run the risk of three things. 1. Insulting the Holy One. 2. Misrepresenting God to the lost 3. Deeply grieving those who have made a commitment to Jesus and whose consciences are defiled by forms of worship that are closely patterned after the things of the world. The unchurched or unbelieving person comes to us with ideologies that Scripture calls "darkness." Jesus makes it clear in John 3:19 that the world "loved darkness" (NIV). The biblical way to deal with darkness is to confront it lovingly with light. Creating a church environment that makes ideologies of darkness feel comfortable is to confront, as it were, darkness with darkness. There is a real danger that, in trying to reach the "lost," we find ourselves incorporating into the church concepts and perspectives incompatible with the truth and purity that the gospel represents. We often hear that the church is a hospital for sinners, but it must be borne in mind that a hospital is where the sick go to get well. According to the metaphor, the church is a place where one goes as part of the getting-well process. Persons satisfied with themselves the way they are may not feel comfortable with the gospel call to repent (to change, to get well). Also, much is said these days about the church being an accepting place, but there is a real danger that the word "accepting" may be confused with "status quo." A person who loves "the world" and "the things that are in the world" (1 John 2:15) may not feel comfortable in the church. It is even likely that many of the unconverted's felt needs are diametrically opposed to what salvation is all about. I am impressed that the Old Testament fundamentally teaches two basic concepts. One is that God is Holy. The word in Hebrew for Holy means separate. That means that He is not like us. This means that the more we try to make him like us the further away from the truth we find ourselves. Another concept that is clear from the Old Testament is that the Holiness of God and the corruption of the world are incompatible. You will remember when God told Moses to take off his shoes because where God was the ground was holy. In the sanctuary service there were a host of ceremonies that had to do with purification. The point is clear. We are not to bring the profane into the presence of the Holy: to do so is to blaspheme our Holy God. There were occasions in the Old Testament where when this was done the result was the death of those who did it. But because this did not happen every time and because it doesn't seem to be happening now we have come to believe that good and evil can co-exist and that light and darkness, truth and error can somehow be harmonized. This concept that truth and error, light and darkness can exist together has been institutionalized in the Asian concept of the "ying" and the "yang". You may have seen the symbol. It is a circle with black and white flowing together side by side inside. We must not allow ourselves to deceive ourselves. God's Spirit will not always strive with men. There will come a day in which all that is profane will be purged away and only that which is holy will remain. The problem is that for the time being it seems that we can make an accommodation with evil. It seems that evil and good can co-exist. But when good and evil are mixed together it is the evil that washes out the good, or should I say that corrupts the good. Remember the Scripture tells us that a little yeast affects the whole lump of dough and so it is also in worship. It seems more and more clear that in our enthusiasm to call the sinners out of the world, the effect seems more and more to be that we are bringing the world and evil into the church. This would not be the first time that this has happened and if you wonder what the result will be, find a good history book. In 1 Kings 12:28, 29 we discover that Jeroboam was only trying to make worship more relevant and accessible to the people when he set up the golden calves in Dan and Bethel. The consequence of this sin ultimately brought about the destruction of Israel as a nation. In the Christian Era Constantine took the lead in making Christian worship relevant to the people of the Roman Empire, Christians and non-Christians alike. Of course, he had to change the day of worship to do it. This is why I insist that what we are doing is not making history but repeating it. I think if this is the course that we are bent on, we should sit down and study history to see if the results of the past are what we want for our present, and if they are not we must do a serious mid-course correction. I greatly fear that our change in worship styles is largely only a reflection of our change in lifestyles. In the past the call to the young people was to come out of the world and live a holy life. That call now seems to be, "Hey we don't care what you do, just come to church and we will do our best to make you feel comfortable." Often I hear quoted as a justification for the new music and ways of playing it, that the scripture calls us to sing a new song and that the new music is just doing what the Bible is telling us to do. But what we are calling new songs in many places are simply trying to fit new words into old music. New and old in this respect are not about time. They are about lifestyles. God is surely not telling us to do new music as compared to old music or that would mean that we couldn't put the Psalms to music. The Psalms are the oldest religious songs that there are. When the Scripture calls on us to sing a new song, it is calling us to a new and different life. A new song is to be about a new life. Not a blending of the old and the new or a recycled old life but a life in which forgetting the things which are behind we are pressing forward toward the mark of the high-calling of God in Christ Jesus. The Psalms call on us to sing unto him a new song. It is to be a song of a redeemed people of God. This new song is to be different and distinctive. It is to be a more glorious song, a purer, truer and more beautiful song than the world can ever sing. " Praise ye the Lord. Sing unto the Lord a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints" Ps 149:1. In the book of Revelation it speaks of the saved: Rev 5:9,10."And they sung a new song, saying, thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue and people and nation." A new song, by the way is not just new words. When Scripture is calling on us to sing a new song in the first place it is calling on us to reject the world and to abandon it's sinful ways and then our song will not be just a song of new experience but it will be sung to a new melody and played in a different way that the way of the world. Christian music must be just that--Christ-centered in its every aspect. Even the style and the melody must be to the glory of God. By the way, there are those who say that style and melody are neutral and all that matters are the words. This is simply not so. First, why do platinum-selling secular artists not believe that? Paul McCartney, originally of the Beatles and a solo artist since the 1970s, told the Washington Post: "The message is not in the lyrics, but in the music." Few people have had the kind of influence that McCartney has had on contemporary music, and if he is right, then music is hardly amoral. It's little wonder, then, that philosopher Allan Bloom, in his best-seller The Closing of the American Mind, wrote that rock is characterized by "antinomianism" (without law) and that "young people know that rock is the beat of sexual intercourse." To be fair, the kind of raucous music that McCartney and Bloom are describing isn't yet being advocated in most Adventist churches, but there are disturbing trends in that direction. Promoting the gospel message of our holy God through an unholy medium can only be called profanity. Second, should music that reminds the listener and participator of the secular songs of the day be introduced into the church? It's time to put to rest the tired apocryphal story that Martin Luther used the "tavern tunes" of his day. Of the melodies in Luther's 37 chorales, 15 were composed by him, 13 came from Latin hymns, four were from German religious folk songs, two had originally been religious pilgrim songs, two were from unknown origin, and only one came directly from a secular folk song) This one song appeared in Luther's first hymnal in 1535, but was replaced by an original tune in his 1539 hymnal. Historians believe that Luther discarded the secular tune because people associated it with its previous lyrics). Luther's goal was to replace the world's music, not duplicate it. He used four-part harmony because he wanted to attract the worshiper away from secular songs. If we are going to use music to honor God then the music must honor him in every way. We cannot justify taking styles and rhythms that are used create an atmosphere of sex, drug abuse, violence and the like and by changing the words think that we now have something that is to the glory of God. If we are to be honest we must admit that music without words is used to create atmosphere. I don't need to prove that to you. In the world of business and entertainment music is carefully chosen so that it will create just the atmosphere that is desired. I greatly fear that when Christian artists take an old song of the world, dress it up, modify it and say it now represents the person of Jesus Christ, a Christian message or describes the character of God, they are assaulting the gospel and diminishing the gift that has been entrusted to them. This is inappropriate at best and sacrilegious at worst. We cannot pour new wine into old wineskins. Jesus himself said in Mark 2:22: "And no man putteth new wine into old bottles: else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred, but new wine must be put into new bottles." Friends, I think you can see that what is involved in worship is not simply a matter of personal preferences, age or cultural background. I am more and more persuaded that worship is merely an indication of the different concepts of God among the membership. There is a Latin saying that goes, "Lex orandi, lex credendi," it means "As the man worships, that is how he believes." Yes it is true, how we worship God is how we see Him and how we see God dictates the way we live. You may be thinking to yourself, "Pastor O'Ffill, you are trying to divide us. What you are saying is divisive." No, friend, what I am doing is merely describing what is happening and as I mentioned earlier this is not something that is just happening in our own denomination. The issue of worship is causing concern in many quarters outside our own church. What shall we do then? Personally I think one thing that we could do to resolve this at least for the moment would be to simply use Christian courtesy. The apostle Paul is clear that we must not do something that knowingly offends the conscience of a weaker brother. In 1 Cor 8:12,13 it says, "But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ. Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend." Though this is talking specifically about eating meat offered to idols the principle is the same. We are not to intentionally offend each other. In the matter of the contemporary worship styles I definitely consider myself among the weak. We who are weak in this respect not only have a sensitive conscience about rock rhythms in worship but we have the same standard for our lives when we are not in church. In the same respect those of us who have a sensitive conscience about doing theater in the worship service don't go to the theater and a growing number are deep sixing the TV. Betty and I don't have a TV. We raised our children without one. Somehow we have survived. We are up-to date on the news without having to watch the evening news. So to answer the question is it possible to live without TV the answer is "yes". In fact life without the TV is a fuller, richer, cleaner and more peaceful life. It is difficult if not impossible for the Holy Spirit to put into us the mind of Christ when we are needlessly exposing ourselves to the things that are watched by the average Christian. I believe we can make our worship services meaningful to those who are serious about worshiping a holy God and pleasing to Him without having the congregation go to sleep. I must warn you though that inasmuch as spiritual things are spiritually discerned, a person who is used to the life of the world could find church at times uninteresting and even boring. I think that is something that a person must solve between them and God and bringing a band or a puppet show to church is not the way to go about it. Let me speak for a moment about puppet shows and drama. Our life in the nineties tends to be largely fantasy, from sports to videos and virtual reality. I am sad to tell you on one hand but happy to tell you on the other, that the Christian life and its worship of a Holy God is not a fantasy, we don't need to simulate it in some kind of drama, we can actually share with each other what God is doing in our lives and we can do that without having a rap rhythm in the background. God is calling His people everywhere to separate themselves from the pleasures of the world. Job 14:4 "Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one." And in 2 Cor 6:17, "Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you." I visit churches in many places. I often see worship services that are vibrant and alive. They are full enthusiasm and spirit and yet there is nothing there that would offend the weak. On the other hand, I was in one church not long ago and for the children's story they had a hand puppet show. It was done by the children themselves. The children provided the arms and the voices but the ones that were acting out the story of Daniel were grotesque Sesame Street characters. You may not find any problem with that. I do. In the first place it was more fantasy. My wife was reading to me from an article in which it was saying that our children in this generation have a hard time distinguishing between reality and fantasy. It is no wonder that when they grow up they will treat a basketball game as reality and their marriages as fantasy. I cannot see how we are honoring our Holy God in whose presence angels viel their faces when we represent his workings in the life of the men and women of scripture through the medium of lesser life forms. For many young people Lion King has more meaning than Jesus who will come to this world one day soon as King of kings and Lord of lords. My brother, My sister, we must not simply sit back and think that whatever gets a good laugh must be to the glory of God. Isaiah saw God and he didn't laugh or give Him a round of applause. Listen to this from Isaiah the sixth chapter. " In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphim: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts." Just in case you may think, "but Pastor O'Ffill, that is just an Old Testament concept," listen to this from Heb. 12:28, 29, "Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire." I greatly fear that our trend in the nineties to mix the sacred with the profane is indeed playing with fire. We sing that our God is an awesome God, and indeed He is, but that word is now used to describe most anything from a touchdown to a horse race. It is no wonder we worship a cheap god. May God have mercy on our generation that has mixed the sacred with the profane until we are often no longer able to discern the holiness of God from a clown in a polka-dotted suit with frizzy green hair and a red ball for a nose who is telling us that Jesus loves us. I have not told you anything new. I have merely described what is going on. I plead, before it is too late. let us as individuals and as congregations seek the Lord while he still may be found. Let us call upon Him while he is nigh. Let us forsake our wicked ways and let us return unto the Lord. And the promise that gives us hope is that when we do, He will abundantly pardon.

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Finishing the Mystery of God

Larry Kirkpatrick,  Fairplain Seventh-day Adventist Church

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Introduction

The end of all things is very near. Here we stand in the closing moments of the year 1997. The world in which we live is characterized by change, tragedy, change, immorality, change, apostasy, change, murderous destruction. Debt increases, killings increase; in fact, most things the most evil increase. And this tired and wired world keeps on spinning. It careens madly through space, round and round the sun, and a confused planet broadcasts to itself a myriad of competing and conflicting ideologies, religions, and causes. A passing spaceship, stopping to listen in, might well be excused for thinking we were a pretty mixed-up bunch. And all in all, we are. A race living onthe outer boundaries of the last of the last of days, experiences a great deepening darkness. And we realize that this darkness is enfolding our world. But in the utter end, something is to happen that will change all of this. Something is to happen among God's people that illuminates not only our world, but a universe. We see a glimmer of this in Isaiah 60:1-3...

Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

Yes, darkness shall cover the earth, a darkness that the Bible calls a "gross darkness." We come to a time of polarity; of sharp contrast; a time when "many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall be increased" (Daniel 12:4), yet a time as well when God "Will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: and they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it" (Amos 8:11,12). So today we will consider what is on God's agenda for us in His appeal to us to "arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee." Turn with me to Revelation 10:7. There we find these words, indicating that God does indeed have a supreme agenda. If there were no other words in the Bible, still this passage would confirm the existence of a great controversy between Christ and Satan, good and evil; for God has begun something, and He is bent upon finishing it! Listen:

But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as He hath declared to His servants the prophets.

This is what we will look at today, namely, (1)what is the mystery of God here spoken of, (2)when shall it be finished, and (3)what would God have us each do individually to be personally prepared and to hasten its completion?

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What is the Mystery of God ?

We will look at two aspects of this mystery: its experiential and its revelatory. That is, what does it mean for us to live out the experience of God's mystery, and what is God's mystery meant to reveal about Him? But first, can we even talk of understanding divine mysteries? Our God does not drop mysteries on us and then say "Ha ha. Not going to tell you what it is!" Rather, that which is revealed is revealed for us (Deuteronomy 29:29). But Ephesians shows that the mystery is made known so that it can be presented to the world. (Ephesians 3:2-5). God is in the business of revealing. He wants eyes to see and ears to hear, so that we can be healed. There is no impertinence in us when we earnestly seek to understand God and His will for us.

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The Experiential

So what does it mean to live out the mystery? Colossians 1:27-29 gives us the answer:

To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: Whereunto I also labour, striving according to His working, which worketh in me mightily.

The mystery is Christ living in Me. His being in me--His mind being in me--is the needful element bringing the realization of God's character lived out within me. And that can happen only through my submission to God's will. Why did Paul say that he taught and warned every man? So that they could be presented perfect in Christ! Let me share a very meaningful quotation with you from the book Great Controversy, by Ellen G. White. And by the way, she is not just a favorite author. Seventh-day Adventists have compared her life and ministry with the Bible tests for prophets, and we understand her to have fully met those tests, and that she has shown herself to be every bit as prophetic as any Bible prophet. She is not part of the Bible, but I present this quotation to you as I understand it: an authoritative Word from God to us. I present it without apology. This is found on page 623:

Now, while our great High Priest is making the atonement for us, we should seek to become perfect in Christ. Not even by a thought could our Saviour be brought to yield to the power of temptation. Satan finds in human hearts some point where he can gain a foothold; some sinful desire is cherished, by means of which his temptations assert their power. But Christ declared of Himself: 'the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in Me.' John 14:30. Satan could find nothing in the Son of God that would enable Him to gain the victory. He had kept His Father's commandments, and there was no sin in Him that Satan could use to His advantage. This is the condition in which those must be found who shall stand in the time of trouble.

1997 - A year has gone by. Are we, through the grace of God drawing nearer to this condition? With His help, I believe that many of us have, and with the new year coming up before us now, we all have opportunity to become more serious about becoming like Jesus in the year to come. Can Satan come to you and find nothing--no foothold, no place of advantage--no place to stand close enough to you to turn your darkest temptations into weapons to destroy you? He is seeking to devour you. The statement just presented defines what it means to become perfect in Christ. God is signaling us and warning us that now is the time for us to grow spiritually. Our danger is very great, but our Lord is greater. He presents to us to precious opportunity to know Him and live the mystery of His closeness. Only since its prophetic arrival in 1844 have we been in a time when the bright light of heaven has openned the way for this unique experience. But you may ask, are you saying that we are to be saved in a different way than Christians of the past? And I answer, no. But there is more light shining upon us than any other generation of humankind has ever had. To us God offers no unique salvation, but He does present to us--because of the intensity of the end-time--the opportunity to be Lamb-Followers. Turn with me to Revelation14:4,5 for their description: These are they which were not defiled with women [they removed themselves from false religious systems and bodies] for they are virgins [wherever they were when God got through to them, they have since then sought out personal purity] These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth [They have such a close personal connection with Christ that they know the intimacy of the mystery of being in Him and His word dwelling within them] These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God. Yes. When their names come up in the judgment, heaven investigates each life minutely, heaven exhaustively evaluates every soul. And they pass the bar. Through His grace actively applied in their lives they have become so like Him that they are walking echoes of His perfection. They fully retain their own personality and individuality, but they are also perfected reflectors of their Redeemer. They have purified themselves, even as He is pure, and when they see Him, they will be like Him in character. See 1 John 2:28-3:3. No, never could they equal Jesus in character, but they are enabled through faith connected to God's power to live here and now in this darkened world without sinning. Their experience is unique. They are singled-out in Revelation 14 as "these are they who...:" a distinct group. They sing "a new song, before the throne, and before the four beasts, and before the elders." Before God and before the angels and before the onlooking universe, they live-out an experience that no other group of beings have ever had. They have been tempted, not by Satan as a crafty but immature intellect firing off his first pyrotechnics of deception, but by a Satan having perfected all the mind sciences he has watched and developed over 6000 years, using his own unsurpassed intellect--a mind second only to that of God Himself. They are a group who have been assaulted by more sensory stimuli than any other generation ever have. They are a group who have had more carefully crafted, theologically finessed error thrown at them than any other. No other group has had such relativistic principles pressed upon them, such subjectivism presented for their acceptance as they. No other group has needed to so carefully cultivate the spiritual discernment that would enable them to know which impressions are self-generated, and what are the true movings of the Holy Spirit. No other generation has so needed the help of the Bible, and the protection of the Spirit of Prophecy. And they have taken the fullest advantage of the resources God has offered them. And they are... ...us... ...We hope. To you God offers the intense fellowship of living His mystery, of partaking of His nature and His presence richly and transformingly. You and I can be and must ultimately be those who have "washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." Revelation 7:14.

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The Revelatory

Notice that Revelation speaks of seven angels sounding their trumpets in succession, one after another. This takes us back in thought to the book of Joshua, as God's people sought to take possession of the promised land. At the very outset of their conquest, they faced the mighty fortifications of the city of Jericho. Some forty years earlier, when Moses sent the spies into the land, and they brought back tales of walled cities they described as "very great" (Numbers 13:28), and "fenced up to heaven" (Deuteronomy 9:1), surely Jericho was one of those mentioned (PP 388,487). At the entrance to the promised land stood this mighty and proud fortified city, one said to have been the very center of the idolatrous and sensual religion of the Canaanites (PP 487). God made the conquest of this city an example. Every morning for six days the Israelite army marched around the city, a mighty host, followed by seven priests sounding seven trumpets, followed by the ark of God containing His Law. On the seventh day, you will recall that they marched around the city seven times, finally sounding trumpets and a shout, and at that mighty crescendo, God caused those towering battlements to come down in ruins. Those trumpets were the signal of judgment; they were God's means of showing to the inhabitants of Jericho their impending doom, and they sounded over a period of seven days. Day by day God's people were faithfully living out His directions, and day by day the city's ultimate doom was progressively ripening. Don't miss this: over time, God's judgment was being heralded, and over time, God's people were demonstrating their faithfulness in following His directions, in obeying their God. Friends, that week of time was an illustration to us of what our work stands for in these last days! Just as God has taken some 6000 years to allow the results of Satan's theory of government to show its fruits, so too He has commissioned His people throughout history to show the universe the fruits of following God's plan of government. Could God's condemnation of the city of Jericho have stood if He could not produce an obedient people? Wouldn't the onlooking universe have thought God arbitrary and fickle if He condemned a people for immorality, while not Himself producing a moral people? Remember, Satan has charged God with being unfair in patterning the universe's moral laws according to righteousness. Satan declared that His principles were as good as God's. He said "I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the farthest sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High" (Isaiah 14:13,14). Yet the universe has watched for six millenia while God's government produced righteous people, and Satan's produced murderers, liars, and sensualists. The fruit is now all but ripened. Under the time of the seventh trumpet (which we will consider shortly), God says He will finish His mystery! He will present to the universe not only a standard of judgment, but He will show the universe a people who have followed Him fully. In essence, He will vindicate His name, His character, His government of this universe through a people who show that His laws can be obeyed. Completely. The evidence for God's case is not only what Jesus lived and died, but what His people will live out. Brothers and sisters, our lives are the finishing of the mystery of God! Look at what God says in Ephesians 3:9,10:

And to make all [men] see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God.

The word "men" is added; literally, the text reads, "To make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery. Everybody. A whole universe full! It is made known unto them "by the church." Ephesians 3:21 says that God's glory--His character--is to be made known to them "in the church." That's you and I, here and now! Here we see the revelatory aspect of God's mystery. The church is the arena where God displays what He can do. The proof in the pudding--the rubber meeting the road--the evidence, if you will, is displayed here. The universe will see whether it is fool's gold, or the real thing. Don't forget what Revelation 10:7 said, "as He hath declared to his servants the prophets." Turn now to the passage in 1 Peter 1:5. There we find assurance that we are born again to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, that we are kept by the power of God through faith unto what? "Salvation." What salvation? A salvation in verse nine "Ready to be revealed in the last time." It speaks of our receiving "the end" of our faith, that is, the goal or completion of it, that being "the salvation" of our souls. "Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you" What did the prophets enquire and search diligently about? Our "salvation." "Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow." They were trying to understand what this salvation meant. They knew it involved two elements here: (1)the sufferings of Christ, and (2)the glories that should follow. They knew it involved Christ living a life of unspotted obedience before His Father and the onlooking universe for 33 years as a man with the same flesh as we bear. But they also knew that linked to this incredible condescension was a glorious future for humankind. With intensity they sought to understand what this meant; what would be the outcome of God's grace actively applied in the lives of His followers? Verse 12 shows us that it was revealed to them that they did not minister the things of the gospel to themselves, but to us. They ministered primarily to us in their prophetic office--us, who live in the last days. But although they inquired and searched diligently, it is the angels who want to bend low and consider deeply all that is happening here. We are living "things the angels desire to look into." Our little world is the lesson-book of the universe. The unfallen worlds that we look up at in the night sky, twinkling stars and unnumbered planets circling them--believe you me--their eyes are on us. What will our lives reveal about God's government? We are on center stage; we who claim to follow Jesus. What do our lives say about God's claim that He will make man more valuable than the golden wedge of Ophir? The purest and most valuable gold found in the ancient world. What character will be revealed in us, God's last-day people? And who else will join in with us? How will others hear this message and receive its hope? Hear this from 6 Testimonies, pg. 19:

The word of truth, "It is written," is the gospel we are to preach. No flaming sword is placed before this tree of life. All who will may partake of it. There is no power that can prohibit any soul from taking of its fruit. All may eat, and live forever.Mysteries into which angels desire to look, which prophets and kings and righteous men desired to understand, the remnant church will carry in messages from God to the world. The prophets prophesied of these things, and they longed to understand that which they foretold; but to them this privilege was not given. They longed to see what we see, and to hear what we hear; but they could not.

Mighty privileges are ours. How will we treat them? Will we understand and carry these messages to a failing world; a world covered in "gross darkness?" Will "the glory of the Lord" be seen upon us? Is what Ellen G. White said in Lift Him Up, pg. 256 true? "When the gospel is received in its purity and power, it is a cure for the maladies that originated in sin. The Sun of Righteousness arises, 'with healing in his wings.'"

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When Shall the Mystery of God Be Finished?

When the seventh angel shall begin to sound. When is or was that? Some are today placing the time of these trumpets in the future. And there are some compelling reasons to look at that possibility. Yet it is also true that we have, as a people understood these trumpets as mostly past occurrences along the developing pathway of history. Revelation 11:15-19 shows that it was at the seventh trumpet that the ark of God's covenant was seen in heaven, and we have understood and presented to the world for a century and a half that the seventh trumpet began to sound in October of 1844. In other words, we believe that the time when God's mystery will be finished... ...is here. It began in 1844, and has been underway since then and to this day. We are now living in the time when God is ready to finish this 6000 year test-pattern. We live in a time which many prophets and righteous men desired to see, and have not seen. It is our privilege to drink so fully at the well of salvation that it is finished in our life-time, and we walk into eternity, having never seen death. We who are alive here and now have the opportunity to experience translation when Jesus comes. If we're ready.

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What Shall We Do To Become Ready, and Hasten the Mystery's Completion?

So. How shall we become ready? Not by buying another devotional book. Not that you can't buy a good one; but getting a new devotional won't substitute for rolling up our spiritual sleeves. No. I offer you seven tried and true suggestions:

• How is your understanding of the gospel? Do you understand how the Adventist gospel is different than others? Can you set apart the time to begin to learn it--not from uninspired authors writing second hand--but from the Bible and EGW writings themselves?
• Are you in the Bible every day--every morning--for at least some period of devotional time?
• Are you personally due for a re-reading, or even reading for the first time, the books Great Controversy, or Early Writings by Ellen G. White?
• Can you reinvest time that you spend with television or other things and carve out some time for personal Bible study?
• Can you afford not to carve out time to read through your Bible. Starting through it maybe even today?
• Are there church services that you can be present at, or ministries like the prayer ministry, etc. that you can be involved in?
• How is your prayer life? Are you asking God to forgive your sins and empower you to obey Him day by day?

The day of the Lord draws near. We live in the end-time. Let us each make a fresh start as we close out the year. Let us permit God to arise, and use us. I want to close again with those mighty texts we began with, Revelation 10:7:

But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as He hath declared to His servants the prophets.

And Isaiah 60:1-3:

Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.