Sabbath Afternoon - October 29
Memory Text:
“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” KJV — John 3:14, 15
“The resurrection and ascension of our Lord is a sure evidence of the triumph of the saints of God over death and the grave, and a pledge that heaven is open to those who wash their robes of character and make them white in the blood of the Lamb. Jesus ascended to the Father as a representative of the human race, and God will bring those who reflect His image to behold and share with Him His glory.” CCh 358.3
Sunday - October 30
From the Foundation of the World
Revelation 13:8, Acts 2:23, 1 Peter 1:19, 20
How could Christ be considered as slain from the foundation of the world?
“Before the Father He pleaded in the sinner's behalf, while the host of heaven awaited the result with an intensity of interest that words cannot express. Long continued was that mysterious communing—“the counsel of peace” (Zechariah 6:13) for the fallen sons of men. The plan of salvation had been laid before the creation of the earth; for Christ is “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8); yet it was a struggle, even with the King of the universe, to yield up His Son to die for the guilty race. But “God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16. Oh, the mystery of redemption! the love of God for a world that did not love Him! Who can know the depths of that love which “passeth knowledge”? Through endless ages immortal minds, seeking to comprehend the mystery of that incomprehensible love, will wonder and adore.” PP 63.3
It was during the 40 days of Christ’s personal presence with His disciples – from His resurrection to His ascension – that the firstfruits, the 120, were gathered in. His presence among them has a deep meaning, and it should be understood by every disciple of Christ. If these 40 days have no other significance, they certainly bear the thought of His personal care over the ingathering of the fruit. But shall we say this vigilance was true only during His short stay with His laborers in that particular time? Such thought would not entertain the truth of His being the only Savior from everlasting to everlasting. “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” (Matt. 28:20.) Is He not the same vigilant Savior of the Old Testament as well as the New? Indeed! Moreover, His personal care in gathering His people in those 40 days which we see to be a type of His supervision of the ingathering of the fruits in every generation (should therefore reveal that He is the Lamb slain from the foundation) of the world, and the good Shepherd in all ages.
Monday - October 31
A Preface to the Cross
Matthew 16:21-23; 17:22, 23; Mark 9:30-32; Luke 9:44, 45; Luke 18:31-34
What were the reactions of the disciples to Jesus’ prediction of His own sufferings and death and what should their reactions teach us about the dangers of misunderstanding Scripture?
“They had heard him declare that he had power to lay down his life and to take it up again; they remembered that he had said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up;” they put this and that together, and were afraid. When Judas had betrayed his Master to the priests, he had repeated to them the declaration which Jesus had privately made to his disciples while on their way to the city. He had said, “Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him; and the third day he shall rise again.” They remembered many things which he had said, that they now recognized as plain prophecies of the events which had taken place. They did not desire to think of these things, but they could not shut them from their understanding. Like their father, the devil, they believed and trembled.” 3SP 177.1
Accordingly, Jesus was arrested early Thursday morning; tried before Annas while it was yet dark (John 18:13); brought before Caiaphas in the assembly of the Sanhedrin (His legal trial) at daybreak (Matt. 26:57; 27:1); next before Pilate, Friday, before daybreak – about the sixth hour (John 19:14); then before Herod (Luke 23:7); then back to Pilate (Luke 23:11); and finally was crucified in the morning of the same day, about the third hour (Mark 15:25) – 9:00 A.M., modern time.
This time-record shows that His capture, His trials, and His crucifixion were carefully and cunningly prearranged to take place at night and early morning to prevent any uproar, for “they feared the people.” Luke 20:19.
That He remained in the tomb two nights and rose on Sunday; that the three days and three nights is the time from His first legal trial to the time of His resurrection; that the heart of the earth has been erroneously interpreted to mean the grave, when, instead, it is, as Jonah’s experience shows, symbolical of Christ’s imprisonment in the hands of sinners and in the tomb (Matt. 20:19; 16:21; 17:22, 23; 27:63; Luke 9:22; 24:21; 18:33; 24:7; – “Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day.” (Luke 24:46); that the sign of the “three days and three nights” literally is fulfilled from Thursday morning, the time of His legal trial, to Sunday morning when He arose…
Tuesday - November 1
It is Finished
John 19:1-30
What is the crucial message to us in Jesus’ statement, “it is finished”?
“The scenes of the past and the future were presented to the mind of Jesus. He beheld Lucifer as he was first cast out from the heavenly places. He looked forward to the scenes of His own agony, when before all the worlds the character of the deceiver should be unveiled. He heard the cry, “It is finished” (John 19:30), announcing that the redemption of the lost race was forever made certain, that heaven was made eternally secure against the accusations, the deceptions, the pretensions, that Satan would instigate. DA 490.2
“Beyond the cross of Calvary, with its agony and shame, Jesus looked forward to the great final day, when the prince of the power of the air will meet his destruction in the earth so long marred by his rebellion. Jesus beheld the work of evil forever ended, and the peace of God filling heaven and earth. DA 490.3
“Henceforward Christ's followers were to look upon Satan as a conquered foe. Upon the cross, Jesus was to gain the victory for them; that victory He desired them to accept as their own. “Behold,” He said, “I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” DA 490.4
And though Jesus' work at His first advent was not so extensive as our work now, yet it was of even greater importance and of shorter duration than ours. Seemingly, however, it made no progress whatsoever when we consider that all forsook Him at His trial, and that Peter, the most zealous of the apostles even cursed and swore that he was not Christ's disciple. But, contrary to all appearances of seeming defeat, Jesus declared while hanging on the cross, that His work was finished.
Then, too, after His resurrection, He took His journey upward, leaving but a few half-converted followers to carry on the work. Such were the results of John the Baptist's and Jesus' untiring efforts. Hence, out of the multitudes that were baptized by John and Jesus, there were, on the day of Pentecost, but a hundred and twenty disciples of one accord to receive the outpouring of God's Spirit.
Indeed, not only small and insignificant did the work then appear to be, but also impossible to carry forward. Nevertheless, as the doubting ones among the multitude saw an excuse in the seemingly utter defeat in Jesus' crucifixion, they separated themselves from among the faithful. And as the remaining ones of His followers lost confidence in themselves, renounced self, and sought the Lord earnestly at a time when there was not in themselves even the least hope of continuing the work, they gave the Lord an opportunity to manifest His great power and to advance His cause with such rapidity that with one sermon there were converted three thousand souls in one day. Then daily after that were added only "such as should be saved"--such as were thoroughly converted. Thus did the work of the gospel begin to grow rapidly, once the Lord got a group of people that He could trust and use.
Wednesday - November 2
He died for us
John 3:14-18, Romans 6:23
What do these verses teach that Christ's death has accomplished for us?
“We look to self, as though we had power to save ourselves; but Jesus died for us because we are helpless to do this. In Him is our hope, our justification, our righteousness. We should not despond and fear that we have no Saviour or that He has no thoughts of mercy toward us. At this very time He is carrying on His work in our behalf, inviting us to come to Him in our helplessness and be saved. We dishonor Him by our unbelief. It is astonishing how we treat our very best Friend, how little confidence we repose in Him who is able to save to the uttermost and who has given us every evidence of His great love.” CCh 47.5
And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, [because He died for their sins] and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.” (Zech. 12:10, 11.) What a wonderful experience it will be when we fully comprehend the love of God and the price paid for our redemption!
Thursday - November 3
The meaning of the Cross
1 Corinthians 1:18-24
What is Paul saying about the cross and why does he contrast it with the “wisdom of the world”?
“They could speak the name of Jesus with assurance; for was He not their Friend and Elder Brother? Brought into close communion with Christ, they sat with Him in heavenly places. With what burning language they clothed their ideas as they bore witness for Him! Their hearts were surcharged with a benevolence so full, so deep, so far-reaching, that it impelled them to go to the ends of the earth, testifying to the power of Christ. They were filled with an intense longing to carry forward the work He had begun. They realized the greatness of their debt to heaven and the responsibility of their work. Strengthened by the endowment of the Holy Spirit, they went forth filled with zeal to extend the triumphs of the cross. The Spirit animated them and spoke through them. The peace of Christ shone from their faces. They had consecrated their lives to Him for service, and their very features bore evidence to the surrender they had made.” AA 46.1
“‘The preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.” “God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are.’ 1 Corinthians 1:18, 19, 27, 28. Many of the greatest scholars and statesmen, the world's most eminent men, will in these last days turn from the light because the world by wisdom knows not God. Yet God's servants are to improve every opportunity to communicate the truth to these men. Some will acknowledge their ignorance of the things of God and will take their place as humble learners at the feet of Jesus, the Master Teacher.” AA 241.3
Friday - November 4
Further Study
“And today God is still using His church to make known His purpose in the earth. Today the heralds of the cross are going from city to city, and from land to land, preparing the way for the second advent of Christ. The standard of God's law is being exalted. The Spirit of the Almighty is moving upon men's hearts, and those who respond to its influence become witnesses for God and His truth. In many places consecrated men and women may be seen communicating to others the light that has made plain to them the way of salvation through Christ. And as they continue to let their light shine, as did those who were baptized with the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, they receive more and still more of the Spirit's power. Thus the earth is to be lightened with the glory of God.” AA 53.2