“Today,Today, & Today, Until He Comes”

Thoughts on the Sabbath School lesson for 9.1.12

I have a theory that the followers of God have always had a job to do – a mission to accomplish – and, following my tendency to oversimplify things, I have concluded that we can narrow all the possibilities down to three specific tasks.

From my perspective, the way the Bible tells God’s story fits pretty neatly into this framework.

The first role I believe God wants us to fill is that of Companion. God created us to be His friends and companions. In Eden, before sin, God spent time every day with Adam and Eve and they learned about Him. In the same way, Jesus and His disciples lived and worked together for three and a half years, while He was here on earth.  And, I believe Jesus calls us to spend that same kind of daily and prolonged time with Him.

The second role I believe we are called to is to be a Warrior. By that I mean someone whose task is to expand and protect God’s territory.  In Old Testament times, that was a much more physical task – David and other warriors of that time literally fought wars and battles to guard the edges of God’s territory. In the book of Acts we see the apostles and the early Christian church fighting the same battle with the help of the Holy Spirit. The war they fought may not have looked much like the ones David fought, but the result was just as deadly for some of God’s warriors.

I believe that we’re also called to be warriors for God – expanding the spiritual territory of God and defending His truth. Warrior is not a job for cowards, and it can’t be done correctly without first having spent considerable time as God’s companion and friend.

The third role I believe that God asks us to fill is the role of Prophet. By that I mean someone who point people to the coming of Jesus. The Old Testament prophets spent their time pointing the Jews to the coming of the Messiah. Almost all of the New Testament writings point to the Second Coming of Jesus. And for those of us living right now, we have to keep encouraging our brothers and sisters in Jesus to hang on until Jesus comes.

I don’t mean to say that these three jobs are separate and distinct. In actual practice, we need to do all three jobs all the time. They should overlap and intertwine with everything we do in our everyday lives.

I believe that maintaining the roles of Companion, Warrior and Prophet as we go about our daily lives will help us stay focused and ready for the final events that lead to Jesus’ Second Coming.

Paul wrote to the Thessalonians to urge them to not let their readiness slip.

“But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, ‘Peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.” I Thessalonians 5:1-11

It is really difficult to maintain the appropriate level of readiness. It is so easy to “sleep” as Paul says when we should “watch and be sober.” It’d be a whole lot easier if we just had a date, wouldn’t it? Then we could make sure we were ready, right?

“The times and the seasons God has put in His own power. And why has not God given us this knowledge? Because we would not make a right use of it if He did. A condition of things would result from this knowledge among our people that would greatly retard the work of God in preparing a people to stand in the great day that is to come. We are not to live upon time excitement. We are not to be engrossed with speculations in regard to the times and the seasons which God has not revealed. Jesus has told His disciples to ‘watch,’ but not for a definite time. His followers are to be in the position of those who are listening for the orders of their Captain; they are to watch, wait, pray, and work, as they approach the time for the coming of the Lord; but no one will be able to predict just when that time will come; for ‘of that day and hour knoweth no man.’ You will not be able to say that He will come in one, two, or five years, neither are you to put off His coming by stating that it may not be for ten or twenty years.” (E.G. White, The Review and Herald, March 22, 1892)

I think the key to being ready is to keep working! We have to maintain our relationship with Jesus by spending time with Him as His companion. We have to let ourselves be led by the Holy Spirit to tell others about Jesus – expand God’s spiritual territory as a Warrior. And we have to point others to and help them be ready for Jesus’ Second Coming as a Prophet. If we do all those things, we won’t have time to get complacent.

You probably know the story of The Great Disappointment and William Miller who thought he’d figured out when Jesus was coming. When the date he had set came and went without Jesus return, many of us might have given up on God. Many of us might have moved away and become a recluse. William Miller didn’t do either of those things. He kept studying and believing that even though he didn’t understand, God was in control of the situation.

“After the passing of Oct. 22, 1844 - a date that Miller did not set, but accepted at the last moment - Miller wrote to Joshua Himes: ‘Although I have been twice disappointed, I am not yet cast down or discouraged….My hope in the coming of Christ is as strong as ever. I have done only what after years of sober consideration I felt to be my solemn duty to do….I have fixed my mind upon another time, and here I mean to stand until God gives me more light. - And that is Today, TODAY, and TODAY, until He comes, and I see HIM for whom my soul yearns’ (letter, Nov. 10, 1844, in The Midnight Cry, Dec. 5, 1844, pp. 179, 180).”[1]

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[1] Town of Hampton, New York, “William Miller: Herald of the Second Advent,”  http://hamptonny.org/William_Miller_Chapel.html

Warrior Spirit

Do you know anyone who could be described as a warrior?  Would you know a warrior if you met one?  How would you describe a warrior?

This is how the dictionary defines a warrior:  “person engaged or experienced in warfare; soldier.” warrior. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Retrieved July 09, 2008, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/warrior  What do you think?  Does that sound about right to you?  Does that mean that every person who is a soldier is automatically a warrior?  Does it mean that everyone who is a warrior is automatically a soldier?   Hmmmm…

What would you think if I told you I believe that a person doesn’t even have to be part of an army or a war to be considered a warrior, doesn’t have to hold or use a weapon? Can you picture anybody who could be a warrior then?

What about John the Baptist?  Wait, don’t laugh yet; think about it.  John the Baptist…no he never wielded a sword, but he fought everyday of his adult life to get people ready to meet the Messiah.  John knew his mission and he met it head on.  He didn’t stop to think about whether or not people would like what he had to say.  He didn’t worry that he wasn’t dressed in the latest fashions.  He called the Pharisees and the Sadducees who came to check him out a “pit of vipers”.  He told Herod exactly what he (Herod) was up to and that it was wrong and that he needed to stop it.  John didn’t stop to think of a polite way to say what he needed to say; he just said it flat out and let the people who heard him make their own decisions of what to do next.  If they agreed with him great; if not, too bad.  But this was the message he had been given and he went with it.

“But when the Baptist saw the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he was stirred to give them a decided message. These men held themselves as a power among the people. Though they held different theories regarding some Bible subjects they were united in their desire to hear the words of the wilderness prophet. Some who came from curiosity, arrested by his words, became interested in the message he was giving, and were moved to be baptized. To them John said, "Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance." Christ was about to appear as the revealer of the character of God. His very presence would make known to men their sin. Only as they were willing to be purged from sin, could they enter into fellowship with him. Those who were corrupt in heart could not abide in his presence.” E.G.White, Review and Herald, November 28, 1907

Can you imagine what the news media would have had to say about John the Baptist?  It would certainly not have been sympathetic.  But John didn’t pay any attention to what was being reported about him.  He stayed right on topic and never wavered.

And then Jesus showed up and, would you believe it, John’s disciples and followers took off after Jesus, for the most part.  And John was okay with that.  He had led the way the whole time and then he got left behind and thrown in prison.  What kind of thank you is that?

I would venture the opinion that John the Baptist was a warrior spirit.  He fought his battle everyday and never worried about public opinion and making people comfortable.  He fought to make sure that everyone who could possible hear his voice would know that the Messiah was coming and each person needed to be ready.

We’ve got to be warrior spirits too.  We have a mission—to tell people that Jesus is coming again and they need to be ready.  We can’t worry about what people think of us or if we make them uncomfortable; we have a message that must be delivered!

“The work of John the Baptist represents the work for these times. His work, and the work of those who go forth in the spirit and power of Elijah to arouse the people from their apathy, are the same in many respects. Christ is to come the second time to judge the world in righteousness. The messengers of God who bear the last message of warning to be given to the world are to prepare the way for Christ's second advent as John prepared the way for his first advent. If the kingdom of heaven suffered violence in the days of John, it suffers violence now; today the blessings of the gospel must be secured in the same way. If form and ceremony were of no avail then, a form of godliness without the power can be of no avail now.”  E.G.White, Youth’s Instructor, May 17, 1900

Well?  We have a mission; let’s get on it!

Fool Me Twice…

Have you ever thought about what you would have done?  From here it looks so easy!  I mean, how could the Jews of Jesus’ time have missed it?  They had all the prophecies, like 450 of them, pointing straight to Jesus as the Messiah, right?   So, how could they have made such a huge mistake?  I mean, not only did they not recognize Jesus as the Messiah; they killed Him for saying so.

We like to look back and feel kind of smug.  We would have picked up on the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies right away, right?  I did a little research this week to see if I could find out what things might have looked like to the Jews of Jesus’ day, to see if maybe I could figure out what was going on in their minds that made things a bit foggier for them than for us with our 20/20 hindsight.  Because I don’t know if you’ve heard or not, but Jesus is coming again and I’d really hate to miss Him!  Amen?

OK, so why did so many people miss the signs of the first coming of Jesus?  Well, one of the reasons seems to be that most of the folks were just living.  They were going to work and coming home, raising their kids, going to school, getting married, all that kind of day-to-day stuff that just happens.  Well, we don’t have any problems with that, because we’re focused!  We know what’s going to happen so we won’t forget to look for it.

Another thing that seems to have confused a lot of people was that there were tons of interpretations of the prophecies, not to mention lots of branch off prophecies from questionable sources.  There were even some folks that said that it was all made up and there were no prophecies to interpret!  Another puzzle was that there were disagreements about exactly what kind of Messiah they were looking for.  Some said He would be a King, some said a prophet and some said a priest…hmmm.  Some folks felt the prophecies pointed to an immortal and some said it would be a mortal man.  So, who were the Jews looking for—did they know?

Well that’s no problem for us, right?  We know exactly who we’re looking for don’t we? Plus, we know exactly how He’s coming.  There isn’t any disagreement for people today about how Jesus will come back this time, is there?  Not like the Jews who couldn’t agree on how the Messiah would arrive.

And then there were the guys who claimed they were the Messiah, but weren’t.  That never happens these days does it?  We won’t have any problem at all with that part.

Think about this, what if some new inspiration tells us that we’ve been looking at this thing the all wrong.  Would we have the courage to stand out and admit that we had misinterpreted the signs?  Or would our pride hold us back—keep us from telling people about the additional truth we had found?  I think that was a big problem with the priests, the Sadducees and the Pharisees of Jesus’ time.  The Messiah didn’t make the impression they had hoped for and so they held onto their misinterpretations rather than admit the truth.

There was also the issue of political/ religious power.  One sect of Judaism quit preaching about the coming Messiah altogether, because they wanted people to believe that the prophecies were pointing to them, as kind of a master race. 

Unfortunately, when we compare the Jews of Jesus’ time with ourselves here at the end of time, we see all the same issues that plagued them.  We’re distracted by everyday life; we don’t always agree on what the prophecies are telling us; there are lots of prophecies floating around that have nothing to do with the truth (but look pretty convincing); there are folks who say it’s all made up (and can supposedly prove it); there’s the secret rapture, post-pre-mid tribulation theories, the earth will become heaven theories…

HOW DO WE KEEP FROM BEING FOOLED?

Excellent question!  Well, I did some more research, in sources I trust more than anonymous internet sites and came up with some helpful information.

First of all, the Bible:

“And they asked him, saying, Master, but when shall these things be? and what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass? And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them. But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by. Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven. …And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.”  (Luk 21:7-11,27-28 KJVR)

Then, I checked out Mrs. White.  Of course she has lots of details on what to watch out for and what the deceptions might look like when they come.  She also has some practical information about who the most likely to be deceived will be.  For example,

“Those who can so easily be led by a false spirit show that they have been following the wrong captain form some time,--so long that they do not discern that they are departing from the faith, or that they are not building upon the true foundation.  We need to urge all to put on their spiritual eye-glasses, to have their eyes anointed that they may see clearly and discern the tru pillars of the faith.  Then they will know that ‘the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his.’” The Southern Watchman/April 5, 1904 “Present Truth”

I love that – “spiritual eye-glasses” – wouldn’t it be great if we could buy those at Wal-Mart?

“So closely will the counterfeit resemble the true that it will be impossible to distinguish between them except by the Holy Scriptures.  By their testimony every statement and every miracle must be tested. … and the few who are aithful to God’s requirements are the only ones who can ever withstand him,… ” Last Day Events, Chapter 11—“Satan’s Last Day Deceptions” p.170

“The only safe position for any of us to take is to consider ourselves sinners, daily needing divine grace.  Mercy through the atoning blood of Christ is our only plea.  “…But [Satan] presents before men not the meekness and humily of the Christian religion, but their own good deeds and wonderful impressions.  We can meet his specious temptations only with the word of God.  Those who have the truth as it is revealed in that holy word, must stand fast on the platform, relying on, ‘It is written.’” The Signs of the Times/Feb.26,1885 “Sanctification—The True and the False”

Internal Consistency

“Internal consistency is the extent to which tests or procedures assess the same characteristic, skill or quality.”

“How well each item relates independently to the rest of the items on the scale and how they related overall.”

In the world of psychology, we would say that the Bible has excellent internal consistency – 100%, in fact.  Even if one person wrote it over a reasonable amount of time (20 to 50 years, maybe?), you couldn’t expect that kind of accuracy.  But the Bible was written over a period of about 1300 by nearly 40 authors and it has perfect internal consistency.  That, by itself, should, repeat should, convince everyone that it is inspired by God.

In case that’s not enough to convince you, an article called “Fulfilled Prophecy: Evidence of the Reliability of the Bible” by Hugh Ross, Ph.D. might help.  Dr. Ross states that there are about 2500 prophecies throughout the Bible and about 2000 of them have already been fulfilled…without even one mistake.  Do you know any psychics who can claim anything near that?  Check out Nostradamus.  He made literally thousands of predictions, but from what I could find, nobody is willing to come up with a percentage of right/wrong ones.  The ones that do seem to be right tend to be out and out hoaxes that someone wrote after the fact, or are counted as right because he used such vague language.  According to one writer, Barbara Mikkelson:

“A prediction that can only be interpreted after the events it supposedly foresees have occurred is not a 'prediction' at all. If I could spew out a thousand vague 'prophecies' and not have to explain what they meant until after the events they supposedly predicted had occurred, I'm sure I could manage a pretty impressive record for accuracy too.”

Even more modern psychics can only get about 60% accuracy, even with considerable fudging and vagueness.  God’s prophets have a stunning 100% accuracy record.  Amazing!

Dr. Ross states that

“the probability of any one of [the 2000 fulfilled prophecies] having been fulfilled by chance averages less than one in ten (figured very conservatively) and since the prophecies are or the most part independent of one another, the odds for all these prophecies having been fulfilled by chance without error is less than one in 10²⁰⁰⁰ (that is 1 with 2000 zeros written after it)”

Here are a few of the prophecies that Dr. Ross mentions as being the most spectacular – that is they are extremely specific, were predicted longest time before the event and/or have the most “supernatural” involvement.

Daniel predicted that the Messiah would begin his public ministry 483 years after the issue of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, as well as the crucifixion of Christ just before the 2^nd destruction of Jerusalem (Daniel 9:25-26).

Probability of chance fulfillment=1 in 10⁵.

Bethlehem named as the birthplace of the Messiah, 700 years before His birth (Micah 5:2).

Probability of chance fulfillment=1 in 10⁵

 Zechariah’s prediction that the Messiah would be betrayed for the price of a slave (30 pieces of silver) and that the money would be used to buy a burial ground for Jerusalem’s poor foreigners (Zechariah 11:12-13)

Probability of chance fulfillment=1 in 10¹¹.    

Both David and Zechariah describe Jesus’ death 400 years before crucifixion had been invented.  They also stated that His body would be pierced, but no bones would be broken (Psalm 22 and 34:20; Zechariah 12:10)

Probability of chance fulfillment=1 in 10¹³

 Isaiah named Cyrus as the destroyer of Babylon and the man who would release the Jews “150 years before Cyrus was born, 180 years before Cyrus performed any of these feats (and he did, eventually, perform them all), and 80 years before the Jews were taken into exile”

Probability of chance fulfillment=1 in 10¹⁵.

Dr. Ross ends by saying that the probability of just the prophecies he lists in his article (13 altogether) is about 1 in 10¹³⁸.  

“…this probability can be compared to the statistical chance that the second law of thermodynamics will be reversed in a given situation (for example, that a gasoline engine will refrigerate itself during its combustion cycle or that heat will flow from a cold body to a hot body) - that chance = 1 in 10⁸⁰.  …the Bible record may be said to be vastly more reliable than the second law of thermodynamics.”

By the way, my (or your) chances of winning the lottery are 1 in 10⁷.  Wow…maybe I should buy a ticket!  The odds are looking pretty good.  Ha!

Anyway, based on those statistics, I feel pretty comfortable in believing that the 500 prophecies that are left unfulfilled at this time, will be fulfilled with 100% accuracy.  What do you think?

If you’re interested, one website called Fulfilled Messianic Prophecies (http://members.citynet.net/morton/prophecies.htm) lists about 200 prophecies by text with the text that tells the fulfillment of that prophecy…check it out!

OK, so, how can anybody not see the truth here?  Isn’t it amazing that people still don’t believe that the Bible is inspired and true?

 

But you know those folks, right?  They will fight about absolutely everything!  If you say something is black he (or she) will say it’s white.  No matter what you say, he’ll say the opposite, just to argue.  My dad used to say that people like that would argue with a tree if they couldn’t find a live person to argue with.

 

Well, there are people who will refuse to be convinced of the truth and reliability of the Bible, no matter how often you or I show the proof: they won’t believe it.  Mrs. White talks about these guys.

“Some look at us gravely and say, ‘Don’t you think there might have been some mistake in the copyist or in the translators?’  This all probable, and the mind that is so narrow that it will hesitate and stumble over this possibility or probability would be just as ready to stumble over the mysteries of the Inspired Word, because their feeble minds cannot see through the purposes of God.  Yes, they would just as easily stumble over plain facts that the common mind will accept, and discern the Divine, and to which God’s utterance is plain and beautiful, full of marrow and fatness.  All the mistakes will not cause trouble to one soul, or cause any feet to stumble, that would not manufacture difficulties from the plainest revealed truth.”{Selected Messages, Vol. 1, p.16}

She goes on to remind us not to get all wrapped up in criticizing the Bible but to read it as it is.  If we start sorting through trying to figure out what’s inspired or not inspired then we “have stepped before Jesus to show Him a better way than He has led us.”{1SM17}

Well, I know I’m not qualified for that job!  Are you?  YIKES!

I think it all comes down to this:  The Bible is the only book that can lead you and me to Jesus and, through Him, salvation.  Is that something you’re willing to miss out on just to argue about who wrote what, who was inspired or not inspired, and where the punctuation ought to be?  I think we should follow Ellen White’s advice and “cling to your Bible, as it reads…obey the Word, and not one of you will be lost.”{1SM18}

AMEN!