esch_2

E S C H A T O L O G Y

 
By: 
Dr. Richard M. Nies - 1975

Transcribed (with permission), Edited, and Presented By:
 Haydn k. Piper - 1985

* * STUDY #6 - Part III * *

- - - - - - - What Is Our Message Today - - - - - - - First of all I would like to review some of the things that we have studied before. Remember that the Great Controversy began back in Heaven when God was missunderstood. Accuisations were made against Him as to His character, as to His purpose in creation, that He was bringing into existence creature in the universe who really had no freedom. Satan accused God of ver base motives; and he announced that: "No- one really serves you because they love you; they're afraid!" And he announced a better system of government in which there was no law. It seems very strange if you think about it, but in many of the references that are given to us in Ellen Whites' writings of these events, that he claimed that Angels need no law. These high order of beings are perfectly capable of doing their own thing. God was some kind of a tyrant for requiring them to be loving. All of these accusations were made against God; and it was at this time that our earth was created, and this became very significant at this time becasue now God could have a new order of beings which Satan could not claim were biased. You'll remember that he said all of the angelic world would defect if they weren't afraid. It was at this time that our world was created; in fact God created creators. He gave a capacity to the human race something that no other creation in the universe had. The capacity to bring into existence beings made after their image. They could be creators; they could understand Gods' motives in creating through the process they entered into themselves. You remember the first step? We've talked about it before; these two trees. Satan had an opportunity to preach his message only at a certain local, and God required that they eat of one of these two trees every day. So they had to be exposed to Satan, and they were to trust Him. "Well, why do I have to eat of this tree only." "I want you to trust me, I don't want you to experience the problems associated with the other tree." Now we see that the highest act of morality is to trust someone just for their sake. Do you have to get something out of them or is the person enough? This is the basis sense of morality. God had been accused that no one would love Him for His own sake, and God has to answer that challenge. The issue was really confused when man, who was designed to be part of the answer, became part of the problem. Thus the plan of Atonement became more complicated as to how God was going to vindicate His name. But you see, God is looking for quality of character. Of those willing to love simply for the worth of the person that they are loving, not for something that they have to get out of them. This has been the issue throughout the ages: "Will there be a people who will so reflect the character of God, that they can love just for the worth of the person. They don't have to gain advantages from the person, they can enjoy them just for their own sake." This is the kind of universe that God wishes to develope and all through the ages God has been looking for a people that He can demonstrate this through." And all through the ages Satan has sneered: "You can only find a few individuals here and there. But look at my people, I have Babylon, where are your people?" Even though Christ demonstrated the possibilities of this kind of life, Satan can still say: "But, who else can do this? Who else can ever get to the state where he can fully reflect your character? Everyone else reflects my image." So all through prophetic history the prophets have enquired: "How long God? When are you going to vindicate your name? When is it going to be seen that you can have a people, who will worship you and love you for your own sake?" We see in the first Angels message that there will come a time when God will be vindicated. Really God is being judged at this time. I think we have become somewhat arrogant if we think that it only involves us. God and His people are at stake; can He really develope His people? If you really understand God's motives you'll see that He is really not trying to weed people out. He wants to establish them; He made some fantastic claims at the Cross that the world belongs to Him. But the claim only becomes legitimate when these people demonstrate that they really want Him, when they are willing to live by Him. What if we come at a time when heridity has done its worst work, and what if at this time that the inviornmental structure is so bad, that never before have things been so caotic. If God could have a people at this time, maybe God is right? It has never really been clarified in mass. Paul says that the earth groans until the revelation of the sons of God. But the time is here (now) when the last message of the love of God is to be given, in which there will be opportunity to clarify what the Great Controversy is all about; what God has really been looking for. God is going to stand-forth and He is going to be in judgment in which His character is going to be reflected in His people. And in this last call there is to be a revelation of the character of God through the quality of the people who reflect His image, that at a time in earth's history when everything is caotic, here is a people who do not falter, the church does not fail. God will be judged through His people; through the quality of their lives, because it is nolonger a matter of abstract doctrine but is a matter of living a certain kind of life and they can point to their creator that " this is how it is possible for me to do this." When people are falling apart and nations are angry and raising up against each other. and all of the social problems that will exist; here are a people that stand un-moved, and the world is going to ask: "What do you know that we don't know?" This will be a tremendous time to explain of how they stand and what God means. Further-more, they will have a symbol that will make it possible to clarify the nature of the Great Controversy; What is this symbol? It is reflected more fully when it says worship Him who made the Heaven and earth and seas and the fountains of waters. That's part of the first Angels' mess- age. Well, what is that? It's a recognition of God for Gods sake, a recognition of the right that He has to be our God and our creator and redeemer. In what way, and at a time when all the religous leaders, in a panic decide to save their own necks and appease a God they don't understand, say: "Let's all get under the same roof, we have all got to worship together." It becomes a very strange type of worship and everyone is going to be coerced. At this time the Sabbath becomes a symbol, why should anyone worship on the seventh day rather than some other day? It's the same test that God gave in the garden of Eden. Because God said so; well what do think about God, is He the kind of person who has the right to ask that? At a time when there is no particular advantage to be gained except the companionship of Christ, can God have a people who would symbolize this relationship? You see now, how the Sabbath becomes very significant in this historical moment. That is why there is a call at this time for a Sabbath reform. It is not simply establishing that the Seventh-day is the Sabbath. We have been doing that for years, but we have never really clarified how this symbolizes a unique quality of righteous- ness. That there can come a time when God can have a people who would rather die than betray their Lord. And that there will come a time when all of the organizations of human beings will be arrayed against them, but they derive their security in trusting in Him. That is called justification by faith. As long as God is on my side, as long as He really loves me and I realize that fact, I can derive my security, my standing, my sense of worth from Him; this is what justification means, we stand justified, we stand vindicated, we stand righteous in His sight. He treats just like He treats His son. With that kind of God and that kind of security we could stand. Not only do we trust God and thus receive our security (Justification by Faith) but we also, through associating with Him, by loving Him, through modeling our lives after His we begin to partake of His integrity, and when we partake of His integrity and are actually becoming like Him, not just in terms of the way He looks at us, but when we get to the place where we fully reflect His image, where we would not sin (and we will talk about this in the next study), then we say that we have been Sanctified by Faith. The word security is another way of thinking of Justification, by trusting God. And the word integrity in which we actually become like Him, not only does He regard us as like Him but we actually become like Him, that's Sanctification by Faith. When put these two together, we get what we call Righteousness by Faith; both in terms of how God looks at us, and of what we actually become in Him. This quality of trust, this perception of the Sabbath that we see as a symbol of our relationship with Him; why would you keep such a day when you have all the world uniting under one roof? When your going to have economic boycott against you, when ultimately even you are going to have the death penality announced against you; Why would you do this? Because my Lord askes me to do this, and I can explain why, and I would rather die in Him than to live simply in trust in human organization. There is something significant in the quality of the sabbath that we have discussed before that represents this kind of integrity and loyality. The whole world can see the need for A day; if God is God we need to have some kind of companionship, we need to have a date with God, I can see the reason for A day. But why this particular day? There is no reason in nature that I could discover this, there is nothing unique in nature that happens on this day than any other day. The earth moves through its' orbit, rotates on its' axis, the sunshine and rain are no different than any other day. I cannot discover anything native to reality that would lead me to discover this day except that God says: "Would you do this for me? I'd like to have a date with you. I'll set the time, you arrange the space, and let's get together. You worship Me and recognize my worth as creator and I'll recognize your worth as created. You arrange the space, I'll arrange the time. We each have our freedom, we each respect each other." There is nothing in nature where we could discover that. But here is where we get back to that basic concept of morality; would you love a person for that persons' sake. If we could do that with God, we'd be safe to have around; we would certainly love all of God's children if we loved God, and that's the basic quality of trust that God wants, and that's why it is denoted as faith: Trusting God even at a time when we don't feel like it, even when our senses betray us. That kind of quality the world has never seen in mass. Seventh-day Adventists have a tremendous opportunity and do have and will have, to clarify these historical issues and what they mean and why the sabbath is so important. Not just as a naked day but as an experience with God. As a quality of righteousness and integrity that would lead one even to go against their feelings and their sense perceptions. Trust would transcend all of them. That's what we see in the first Angels' message; it is a vertical message, it points us to God. But it points us to God at time when we have a horizontal message in the world. And that's the second Angels' message; we see what is happeing on the human level, not just what is happening with God, but what is happening on the human scene; Babylon has fallen, all of man's religeous efforts have become corupt, ther is coersion, there is force, there is an attempt to even do the sort of thing that they were attempting to do at the tower of Babel. To be their own Gods', to organize their own lives, not in trust to God but in trust to man. But to announce at this time that their efforts have failed, that Babylon has fallen, will enfuriate them. This is one of the reasons that this group would announce such a message are going to be the object of universal hate and scorn. The time will come that for the well being of the rest of the world that they will have to get rid of them. This message will ultimately swell to a loud cry, it will be buttressed by the Holy Spirit, by the latter rain; it received a partial application in the 30's and 40's (of the 1800's), particularily the summer of 1844 when all of these people who were opening up to the coming of Christ were thrown out of the churches. When it shall come to a time when it shall be world wide, when all of mans' religeous efforts shall be culminated under one roof, one head, when the Papal system shall receive the support of the Protestants the scientists and of all of the world, so that even the nations shall be drunk with the intoxication of this religeous conglomerate. Then the dividing line will be made between those who serve God and those who don't, and another day of worship will be proscribed, not from Biblical evidence, but from human panic. Then the announcement will be made of a world wide stature, that Babylon has fallen plus the excesses that have developed plus the tragic defections have grown since the summer of 1844 will be announced. Revelation 18 tells us of this greater loud cry. During this time a warning will be given to tell people of the danger of being seduced by human organization. There will be one humanly organized conglomerate and all the rest will be led by the Holy Spirit. There will be no otherorganizing factor, it will all be God. But the time will come when there will be time for us to clarify to the world these events in history, in which the mark of the beast becomes a symbol of a rebellion against God, and at that time (not now) in which man will seek to save his own hide, build his own tower of Babel, organize himself religeously in an effort to live forever. It is at this time that will be proclaimed the peace and safety cry, and the claim will be made that we will usher in a mellinium of peace; we don't need Christ to come we'll do it right here on the earth. Then there are these dissidents with this re- fractory message, saying to come out of Babylon, do not worship the religeous systems that are attempting to get everyone under the same roof. We receive the seal of God. The Seventh-day message in this context becomes a clarification of history, and to understand and preach this we must see the whole sweep of history, we must see what God has been doing in His Sanctuaury, it must be seen what He is doing in the world and what He is looking for. Basically He is looking to develop this people. After this issue has been clarified, after everyone has an opportunity to see; What will you choose, what will you worship? Will you worship the creator or will you worship the creature. Will Jesus Christ be our God or will you be your own Gods. Which symbol will you take. At a time when it is a matter of life and death, individuals will be required to think very deeply. Wouldn't it be a tragedy if there was no one around to represent what all this meant? That's the significance of the Seventh-day Adventist message. That we are to so live receiving the early rain, that when our small buckets are filled with the HOly Spirit, that our buckets will be enlarged, and when there are enough people then God will pour out the Latter Rain to give His people special power, to proclaim with a loud voice, the voice of the Holy Spirit. People will be impressed by our characters, and through our characters will be explained what all this means. What is the significance of the Sabbath, what does it mean with respect to loyality to God, and what Sunday means in terms of rebelling. We do not say that people today that keep Sunday are receiving the Mark of the Beast. But we do say that the time will come when this issue will be clarrified. This is when God will be seen in His people; and what a glorious opportunity we have to spear-head this clarrification. We have not done our part, we have been here too long. We have been told that as early as 1883 that had we done our part: "we could have, 'ere this been in the kingdom." But we are still preaching this; perhaps it has been watered down. I hope that you have seen a new significance in this message today. To those of you who are not Seventh-day Adventists this may seem like very strange doctrine, and I admit that it does. If you have not had a chance to get the feel of the sweep of history as we understand it, we hope that you do not get mad at us for telling what we believe, but we hope that you tuck it away in the back of your thinking and if you see the enevts take place as we predict that they will. If you see that there is going to be a great climax and if you hear that Sunday is going to be required for your allegience, even to government, and that it will be proscribed that you will not be allowed to keep another day (sounds very fanciful at this time), but you see that if this does take place, and this Seventh-day Adventism on the line, we hope that we can live the kind of lives that you would trust us enough to ask us for an explanation. I think that it is important that we not try and push this on people, that we become arrogant and say or think that we are any better than they are. Because it doesn't matter what church you belong to, if you are Christs' you are His people. But there will come a time when all of these religious organizations, those that are still entact, will have fallen, and from this will come the issues, and we hope that we would live the sort of lives that you would ask us: "What does this mean?" * * * * * * *

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