Sabbath Afternoon - April 15
Memory Text:
“Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” KJV — Revelation 14:12
The Seventh-day Adventist Movement was appointed to declare the sanctuary work: “Fear God, and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment [the harvest] is come" (Rev. 14:7) to remove from the Lamb's Book of Life, the names of those who had not filled their vessels with extra oil (Matt. 25:3), and those who had not put on the wedding garment (Matt. 22:11), also those who had not doubled their talents (Matt. 25:14-30); and also to remove the tares from among the wheat (Matt. 13:30).
This proclamation concerning the dead was to prepare the living for their impending judgment. For this reason, Satan has employed his every device to lull Adventists into being merely hearers and preachers but not doers of the Word; into tithing mint and anise and cumin, as it were, but omitting the weightier matters of the law. In short, he has caused them to become wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked by failing on the one hand to be faithful themselves in doing what they teach others to do, and by failing on the other hand to keep themselves free from doing what they teach others not to do. And to prevent them from awakening to this "terrible deception" (Testimonies, Vol. 3, p. 254), he keeps them lukewarm, complacently dreaming of being rich in truth and of having need of nothing, though in fact they are in misery and in need of everything.
Clearly, then, lukewarmness and the hallucination of being rich are the faults peculiar to the Laodiceans, and are the dangers which if not recognized and removed are finally to result in God's spuing them out of His mouth (Rev. 3:16).
Sunday - April 16
Fear God
Read the apostle John’s urgent end-time appeal in Revelation 14:7. What specific instruction does he give us?
Almost every Christian denomination admits in some way that it is living in the time of the last of the seven churches of Revelation 2 and 3, the church "in the latter days," yet not one wants to accept her name "Laodicea"!
The reason is evident: in the sacred annals of church history, she carries the heaviest condemnation…
The name Laodicea is compounded from the two Greek words lao and decia, which mean the people declare judgment. The church, therefore, which declares, "Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come" (Rev. 14:7), is evidently the one called Laodicea. And it is almost as well known outside of Seventh-day Adventist circles as within it, that the Seventh-day Adventist church is endeavoring to carry the judgment message of Revelation 14:7 and is therefore unchallenged in her claim to the title of Laodicea
Describing her condition in present-day language, Inspiration declares:
"The message to the church of the Laodiceans is a startling denunciation and is applicable to the people of God at the present time.
"...The people of God are represented in the message to the Laodiceans as in a position of carnal security. They are at ease, believing themselves to be in an exalted condition of spiritual attainments....
"What greater deception can come upon human minds than a confidence that they are right, when they are all wrong! The message of the True Witness finds the people of God in a sad deception, yet honest in that deception. They know not that their condition is deplorable in the sight of God. While those addressed are flattering themselves that they are in an exalted spiritual condition, the message of the True Witness breaks their security, by the startling denunciation of their true condition of spiritual blindness, poverty, and wretchedness. The testimony, so cutting and severe, cannot be a mistake, for it is the True Witness who speaks, and his testimony must be correct."--Tmonies, Vol. 3, pp. 252, 253.
"l asked the meaning of the shaking I had seen, anestid was shown that it would be caused by the straight testimony called forth by the counsel of the True Witness to the Laodiceans. This will have its effect upon the heart of the receiver, and will lead him to exalt the standard and pour forth the straight truth. Some will not bear this straight testimony. They will rise up against it, and this is what will cause a shaking among God's people.
"I saw that the testimony of the True Witness has not been half heeded. The solemn testimony upon which the destiny of the church hangs has been lightly esteemed, if not entirely disregarded."--Early Writings, p. 270.
"... our own course of continual backsliding has separated us from God. Pride, covetousness, and love of the world have lived in the heart without fear of banishment or condemnation. Grievous and presumptuous sins have dwelt among us. And yet the general opinion is that the church is flourishing, and that peace and spiritual prosperity are in all her borders.
"The church has turned back from following Christ her Leader, and is steadily retreating toward Egypt. Yet few are alarmed or astonished at their want of spiritual power. Doubt and even disbelief of the testimonies of the Spirit of God, is leavening our churches everywhere. Satan would have it thus. Ministers who preach self instead of Christ would have it thus. The testimonies are unread and unappreciated. God has spoken to you. Light has been shining from his word and from the testimonies, and both have been slighted and disregarded. The result is apparent in the lack of purity and devotion and earnest faith among us."--Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 217.
That Laodicea is the typical name for the Seventh-day Adventist denomination, every Seventh-day Adventist knows, and yet no one cares to do anything about it! Instead, all are satisfied that they have all the truth to carry them clear through!
To prolong their lukewarm condition indefinitely, the Demon power has perfected a thermos-covering composed of an impervious layer of prejudice, self-confidence, and the fear that someone is trying his best to deceive them by word or by literature. Hence most of us, as Seventh-day Adventists, do not discuss or read Bible truths that are advocated by anyone not approved by the angel of Laodicea--the conference prelates. Consequently, such ones cannot be reached with a message from heaven today any easier than could the Jews in their day…
Monday - April 17
Fearing and Obeying God
Read 1 Corinthians 15:1–4, Romans 3:24–26, and Romans 5:6–8. How is the “everlasting gospel” presented in these texts? What great hope is presented here for us?
“Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come.” To clear the appointed time of this message, we must take into consideration the revelation of John, which, from the fourth chapter to the twenty-second, is continuous, without a break; that is, the conjunction “and” begins each chapter, showing that all these revelations were given to John at the time that the “Voice” said to him: “Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter” – things that were to transpire sometime after he had the vision of them. And John having had this vision about 96 A.D., the first angel’s message therefore could not possibly have been preached before that time, for, to repeat, he is not writing of the things of the past, but of the things of the future. Again: the fact that he says, “I saw another [the first] angel…having the everlasting gospel to preach,” further shows that this angel’s message had not been preached before he had the vision, but that it was to be preached in the future from that time. Moreover, there is neither scripture nor history to show that the judgment began in or before John’s time. Still further, as the first angel’s message was never preached before 1844, then when the judgment hour came, this angel’s message – the message concerning the judgment – went forth.
As the investigative judgment is in two sections (the first, devoted to the dead; the second, to the living), the fact is evidenced that though the first, the second, and the third, angels’ messages apply directly to the period of the judgment of the living, they must also, though indirectly, apply to the period of the judgment of the dead. Thus only, except as a warning of coming events, have they been preached since 1844. Hence, when the judgment of the living commences, and when the image of the beast is fully made up, then these messages are, with a loud cry, to be repeated as present truth concerning the living instead of the dead.
Tuesday -April 18
Living A God-centered Life
Read Matthew 6:33; Colossians3:1, 2 and Hebrews 12:1, 2. What do these passages tell us about making God the true center of our lives?
Take no thought for the morrow, for it will take care of itself – why cross bridges before you come to them? Why worry how you are to fill up your stomachs and with what you are to cover your bodies tomorrow if they are cared for this day? Why worry about your own needs, why not worry how to advance the Kingdom of God? Putting in overtime to make tents or cobble shoes for a living is all right if you do not say, “I will do this and the other and get money to buy and build this or that.” You should instead say, “If God permits, I will do this or that, so that I may get here or get there, do this and the other for the advancement of His cause.” Whatever the aim behind your act it must be for the advancement of His Kingdom.
Why not make your chief interest His business? Why not the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, so that “all these things be added unto you”? Why work to feed yourself? Why not work for God and let Him feed and clothe you? He is far more capable of providing for you than you will ever be. Why not let Him take charge of your work, of your home, of your body?
While you do His bidding, He will never fail you. Why not do this and be an altogether Christian? Why be a Christian in name, but a Gentile in heart and faith? Work no longer for self, work for God and be free of worry, free of having to make your own living in your own way. The fishermen of Galilee while fishing in their own way failed, but when they cast the net where Jesus said they should cast it, it was instantly filled with fish.
The vows which we take upon ourselves in baptism embrace much. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit we are buried in the likeness of Christ's death and raised in the likeness of His resurrection, and we are to live a new life. Our life is to be bound up with the life of Christ. Henceforth the believer is to bear in mind that he is dedicated to God, to Christ, and to the Holy Spirit. He is to make all worldly considerations secondary to this new relation. Publicly he has declared that he will no longer live in pride and self-indulgence. He is no longer to live a careless, indifferent life. He has made a covenant with God. He has died to the world. He is to live to the Lord, to use for Him all his entrusted capabilities, never losing the realization that he bears God's signature, that he is a subject of Christ's kingdom, a partaker of the divine nature. He is to surrender to God all that he is and all that he has, employing all his gifts to His name's glory. 6T 98.3
Wednesday - April 19
Giving Glory to God
Read I Cor. 3:16, 17; 1 Cor. 6:19, 20; 1 Cor. 10:31. How do these passages help us understand one way that we can glorify God?
“In this letter to the Corinthians Paul endeavored to show them Christ's power to keep them from evil. He knew that if they would comply with the conditions laid down, they would be strong in the strength of the Mighty One. As a means of helping them to break away from the thralldom of sin and to perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord, Paul urged upon them the claims of Him to whom they had dedicated their lives at the time of their conversion. “Ye are Christ's,” he declared. “Ye are not your own.... Ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.” AA 306.2
“The apostle plainly outlined the result of turning from a life of purity and holiness to the corrupt practices of heathenism. “Be not deceived,” he wrote; “neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, ... nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.” He begged them to control the lower passions and appetites. ‘Know ye not,” he asked, “that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God?’” AA 306.3
Thursday - April 20
Revelation’s Overcomers
Read Hebrews 4:14-16 Hebrews 7:15. What is the means of overcoming and living lives that “fear God” and “give Him glory?
“The third angel's message is to lighten the earth with its glory; but only those who have withstood temptation in the strength of the Mighty One will be permitted to act a part in proclaiming it when it shall have swelled into the loud cry.” RH November 19, 1908, Art. A, par. 9
“Satan's accusations against those who seek the Lord are not prompted by displeasure at their sins. He exults in their defective characters; for he knows that only through their transgression of God's law can he obtain power over them...” PK 585.3
Satan, we see, encourages the sinner to unconsciously commit transgression, and thus to secure his condemnation, not necessarily on earth, but in heaven. Before the righteous Judge, Satan accuses the transgressor of “being clothed with the garments of blackness and the defilement of sin.” But when the Spirit of God prompts reproof, It reveals sin and rebukes the sinner through His church.
God’s people should ever be on the alert for the voice of the Spirit of Christ, as well as be on guard to discern the spirit of Satan. When the two clash, the one strives for obedience to God’s Word, while the other excuses the sin and sympathizes with the sinner. In this latter subtle way Satan often gains ground and wins the sinner to his ranks, for the sinner naturally loves his sin. The faithful, though, overcome him “by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony.” They love “not their lives unto the death.” Rev. 12:11.
Friday - April 21
Further Thought
“Not alone for men in positions of large responsibility is the lesson of Elijah's experience in learning anew how to trust God in the hour of trial. He who was Elijah's strength is strong to uphold every struggling child of His, no matter how weak. Of everyone He expects loyalty, and to everyone He grants power according to the need. In his own strength man is strengthless; but in the might of God he may be strong to overcome evil and to help others to overcome. Satan can never gain advantage of him who makes God his defense. “Surely, shall one say, in the Lord have I righteousness and strength.” Isaiah 45:24. PK 175.1
“Fellow Christian, Satan knows your weakness; therefore cling to Jesus. Abiding in God's love, you may stand every test. The righteousness of Christ alone can give you power to stem the tide of evil that is sweeping over the world. Bring faith into your experience. Faith lightens every burden, relieves every weariness. Providences that are now mysterious you may solve by continued trust in God. Walk by faith in the path He marks out. Trials will come, but go forward. This will strengthen your faith and fit you for service. The records of sacred history are written, not merely that we may read and wonder, but that the same faith which wrought in God's servants of old may work in us. In no less marked manner will the Lord work now, wherever there are hearts of faith to be channels of His power.” PK 175.2