Second Quarter 2004 Adult Sabbath School Lessons:
Isaiah "Comfort My People"

Insights to Lesson 5
Noble Prince of Peace
April 24-30

(Produced by the Editorial Board of the 1888 Message Study Committee)

On the bottom of Sunday’s lesson we’re asked to ponder this question: “If someone were to ask you, What has Jesus delivered you from, what would you answer?” Good question. How would you answer?

Would you begin reciting a litany of things you no longer do?—sins you think no longer affect your life? Could this understanding of the Gospel pave the way for other, more deceptive, sins?

How should we answer this most important question? Will our answer give others the comfort of assurance of salvation?

Yes. With confidence we can say that we have been delivered from the penalty, power, and ultimately from the very presence of sin. From the penalty for sin because Jesus died as us, being the Savior of the entire world (1 Timothy 4:10; Titus 2:11; 2 Corinthians 5:14, 15, 19; and 1 John 2:2). From the power of sin because He rose again from the dead, demonstrating that Satan is a defeated foe and we have nothing to fear from him (Hebrews 2:14).

How does this give us power to develop a righteous character? “For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if One died for all, then were all dead: and that He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them and rose again.” (2 Corinthians 5:14, 15). A sincere heart appreciation of the cost of salvation will produce an unshakable allegiance for the One willing to give up everything to save us from our sins (Philippians 2:5-8). This was something the nation of Israel failed time and time again to comprehend and it eventually led them into Babylonian captivity.

How can modern Israel escape the same pit? By dying to self through an appreciation for God’s magnificent love, grace, and mercy toward sinners.

“Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin . . . For he that is dead is freed from sin . . . reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin . . . For sin shall not have dominion over you.” (Romans 6:6, 7, 11, and 14). The Gospel formula is “not I, but Christ” (Galatians 2:20).

“Now, is your will submitted to God for Him to use as He pleases and you have no objection to raise at all; you have no thought or inclination to use it your way; you want Him to do His way, and that is all you care for? . . . Brethren, we every one need to do just that, here, each day. The Lord wants us to come in here in just the way that that will let Him in.

“But as long as I reserve some of my will, I will go my way in spite of myself, I can not have God use me fully:—He can not come in fully, Christ can not come in fully, unless there is a full submission to Him. Let there be some dying here. Let there be some actual dying to self. That is what it means; it means death: and of course people never struggle to die. They struggle to stay alive, if there are any struggles.

“Bear in mind that it is not enough to ‘want’ to die. Go ahead and die; that is what the Lord wants. Says one, How shall I do that? He tells how: Reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed. . . . and God will furnish the fact” (A. T. Jones, 1893 General Conference Bulletin, p. 299).

Dead men don’t struggle to live or to have a part in the things of this world. Only people who are interested in serving and saving self struggle to keep self alive. The 1888 message of Christ and His righteousness was intended to lay the glory of man in the dust at the foot of the cross, that God’s glory would shine through humanity revealing His true character to the world.

Be comforted, the Prince of Peace has delivered you and will deliver you! If you quit fighting against Him, He will keep you from falling and present you faultless before the throne of grace (Jude 24). Satan is a defeated foe and when you’re surrendered at the foot of the cross, he has absolutely no power to make you sin against your Saviour. “Surrender everything you know and everything you don’t know. Let everything go to Him, with no reservation now or evermore, then you are not afraid of anything; you do not care if you drop into the bottom of the sea the next minute. It is all surrendered, you are in His hands” (Ibid., p. 300). And what tender loving hands they are!

What ancient Israel failed to accomplish because of their unbelief is left for our generation of whom it will soon be said—“Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” (Revelation 14:12). His tested and proven faith is ours and it will accomplish His will in us as moment by moment we surrender ourselves to Him.

Ann Walper

Read the study notes for Lesson 6