Sabbath Afternoon - November 12
Memory Text:
“And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.” KJV — 1 John 5:11, 12
“Immortality, promised to man on condition of obedience, had been forfeited by transgression. Adam could not transmit to his posterity that which he did not possess; and there could have been no hope for the fallen race had not God, by the sacrifice of His Son, brought immortality within their reach. While “death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned,” Christ “hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” Romans 5:12; 2 Timothy 1:10. And only through Christ can immortality be obtained. Said Jesus: “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life.” John 3:36. Every man may come into possession of this priceless blessing if he will comply with the conditions. All ‘who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality,’ will receive ‘eternal life.’ Romans 2:7.” DD 14.3
Sunday - November 13
Hope Beyond this Life
1 Corinthians 15:12-19
What is Paul saying here about how closely related Christ’s resurrection is to the hope of our own resurrection?
“With convincing power the apostle set forth the great truth of the resurrection. “If there be no resurrection of the dead,” he argued, “then is Christ not risen: and if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ: whom He raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept.” AA 320.1
“The apostle carried the minds of the Corinthian brethren forward to the triumphs of the resurrection morn, when all the sleeping saints are to be raised, henceforth to live forever with their Lord. “Behold,” the apostle declared, ‘I show you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? ... Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.’” AA 320.2
A religion that leaves the dead without resurrection and the living without translation, is as useless to the soul for the hereafter, as is the theory of the doctrines of Christ when divorced from practice. There are many who, though they zealously study the doctrines, never allow them to correct their sinful lives. Again, there are others who, for fear that they may have to depart from their evil practices, will not study the doctrines.
Monday - November 14
“I will Come Again”
John 14:1-3
How can we help others see the promise of Christ's return is relevant to our time despite the great length of time that has passed?
“Thus will be fulfilled Christ's promise to His disciples, “I will come again, and receive you unto Myself.” John 14:3. Those who have loved Him and waited for Him, He will crown with glory and honor and immortality. The righteous dead will come forth from their graves, and those who are alive will be caught up with them to meet the Lord in the air. They will hear the voice of Jesus, sweeter than any music that ever fell on mortal ear, saying to them, Your warfare is accomplished. “Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Matthew 25:34.” AA 34.1
Well might the disciples rejoice in the hope of their Lord's return. AA 34.2
The millennial age of peace is…plainly, to be spent, not on the earth, but in the “mansions” above, for the Lord’s promise is: “I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14:2, 3.
Thus, at Christ’s second appearing, both all the righteous and all the wicked receive their rewards: the righteous dead are raised to life everlasting, and the righteous living are changed to immortality in the twinkling of an eye, and are then with the resurrected taken to heaven (1 Cor. 15:52, 53; 1 Thess. 4:15-17) while the wicked living go into their graves (2 Thess. 2:8; Isa. 11:4; Heb. 10:27; Luke 19:27). And since from the resurrection of all the righteous to the resurrection of all the wicked (Rev. 20:5), there stretch a thousand years (the millennium), this period, obviously, then, cannot be a time of receiving rewards, but rather must be a time in which the righteous enjoy in heaven the rewards already received, and in which the wicked rest in their graves.
Tuesday - November 15
“I will Raise Him up”
John 6:26-51
How did Jesus associate the gift of everlasting life with the final resurrection of the righteous?
“As a preparation for Christian work many think it essential to acquire an extensive knowledge of historical and theological writings. They suppose that this knowledge will be an aid to them in teaching the gospel. But their laborious study of the opinions of men tends to the enfeebling of their ministry rather than to its strengthening. As I see libraries filled with ponderous volumes of historical and theological lore, I think, Why spend money for that which is not bread? The sixth chapter of John tells us more than can be found in such works. Christ says: “I am the bread of life: he that cometh to Me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst.” “I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever.” “He that believeth on Me hath everlasting life.” “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” John 6:35, 51, 47, 63.” CT 379.2
“Ransomed by the sacrifice of Christ, washed from sin in His blood, and clothed in His righteousness, Paul has the witness in himself that his soul is precious in the sight of his Redeemer. His life is hid with Christ in God, and he is persuaded that He who has conquered death is able to keep that which is committed to His trust. His mind grasps the Saviour's promise, “I will raise him up at the last day.” John 6:40. His thoughts and hopes are centered on the second coming of his Lord. And as the sword of the executioner descends and the shadows of death gather about the martyr, his latest thought springs forward, as will his earliest in the great awakening, to meet the Life-giver, who shall welcome him to the joy of the blest.” AA 512.2
Would not the Lord’s people realize that God is not a man? “The words that I speak unto you they are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:63). “Every word of God is pure.” (Prov. 30:5). “He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life.” (John 5:24). “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away.” (Matt.24:35). “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.” (Luke 4:4). “If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book,…it shall come to pass, that as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to naught.” (Deut. 28:58, 63).
Wednesday - November 16
At the sound of the Trumpet
1Thessalonians 4:13-18
How did Paul correct the misconception the Thessalonians had about eternal life being granted exclusively to those who remain alive at the Second Coming?
“As Paul's epistle was opened and read, great joy and consolation was brought to the church by the words revealing the true state of the dead. Paul showed that those living when Christ should come would not go to meet their Lord in advance of those who had fallen asleep in Jesus. The voice of the Archangel and the trump of God would reach the sleeping ones, and the dead in Christ should rise first, before the touch of immortality should be given to the living. “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” AA 258.2
“The hope and joy that this assurance brought to the young church at Thessalonica can scarcely be appreciated by us. They believed and cherished the letter sent to them by their father in the gospel, and their hearts went out in love to him. He had told them these things before; but at that time their minds were striving to grasp doctrines that seemed new and strange, and it is not surprising that the force of some points had not been vividly impressed on their minds. But they were hungering for truth, and Paul's epistle gave them new hope and strength, and a firmer faith in, and a deeper affection for, the One who through His death had brought life and immortality to light.” AA 259.1
Having prepared a place for all the redeemed Jesus will return, not only for those who are alive, but also for those who are dead, as described in 1 Thess. 4:16-18: "For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."
He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of His people shall He take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it." (Isa. 25:8.)
Concerning our holy, happy state, we read: "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away." (Rev. 21:4.)
Thursday - November 17
The Everlasting Encounter
1 Corinthians 15:51-55
What mystery is Paul explaining in 1 Corinthians 15:51?
“At his coming the righteous dead will be raised, and the righteous living will be changed. “We shall not all sleep,” says Paul, “but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” [1 Corinthians 15:51-53.] And in his letter to the Thessalonians, after describing the coming of the Lord, he says: “The dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” [1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17.]” GC88 322.1
“Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.… Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in Victory.” (I Cor. 15:51-54.)
As the living saints witness the dead of all ages rising from their dusty beds, it will bring joy indescribable. Then to behold friends and loved ones as they meet each other, clothed in glorious incorruptible bodies, marching through space via sinless planets, and finally into the Heaven of heavens! What a glorious train of immortal beings – saints and angels, and the King of kings, the Lord of lords, “the everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace,” in the midst of them! Swiftly flying from the sin-cursed earth to the Center of centers in but “seven” days, while it would take “light” millions of years to make a trip of such incomprehensible distance! Can you perceive of an object moving with such tremendous velocity! God forbid that we should rob ourselves of glory like this. An hour’s time lived in heaven, without sin, pain or tears, fear or death, is worth more than a thousand years in tents of wickedness.
Friday - November 18
Further Study
“By faith Enoch “was translated that he should not see death; ... for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.” Hebrews 11:5. In the midst of a world by its iniquity doomed to destruction, Enoch lived a life of such close communion with God that he was not permitted to fall under the power of death. The godly character of this prophet represents the state of holiness which must be attained by those who shall be “redeemed from the earth” (Revelation 14:3) at the time of Christ's second advent. Then, as in the world before the Flood, iniquity will prevail. Following the promptings of their corrupt hearts and the teachings of a deceptive philosophy, men will rebel against the authority of Heaven. But like Enoch, God's people will seek for purity of heart and conformity to His will, until they shall reflect the likeness of Christ. Like Enoch, they will warn the world of the Lord's second coming and of the judgments to be visited upon transgression, and by their holy conversation and example they will condemn the sins of the ungodly. As Enoch was translated to heaven before the destruction of the world by water, so the living righteous will be translated from the earth before its destruction by fire. Says the apostle: “We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump.” “For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God;” “the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” ‘The dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.’” 1 Corinthians 15:51, 52; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18. PP 88.3