SECOND QUARTER 2024
SABBATH SCHOOL INSIGHT #4
APRIL 27, 2024
“STANDING FOR THE TRUTH”

 

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:14, 15, NKJV).

Our lesson this week reviews more than a thousand years of Christian history and the trials that befell the faithful followers of Christ during the tortuous 1,260-year prophetic period beginning in 538 A.D., “when the last of [the] barbarian tribes, the Ostrogoths, were driven out of Rome” (Lesson Quarterly, page 31) and the pope used the power of church and state to persecute all who clung to the Word of God. This period continued until 1798 when Napoleon’s General Berthier captured the pope and removed him from Rome. The lesson notes that “countless Christians were martyred during this long period,” and that “even in death, they triumphed” —ibid., p. 31.

The fact that we have enjoyed the freedom to worship according to the dictates of our conscience for more than 200 years is nothing short of miraculous. It is also true that many people in the world today do not have religious liberty, but more countries respect this right today than at any time in the past 2,000 years.

For this we praise God. But prophetically speaking, we know that this unique window of opportunity to work “while it is day” will come to an end. Hard times are before us. Are we prepared?

The reformers faced enormous challenges. For hundreds of years the Scriptures were not readily available. John Wycliffe was the first to translate the Bible into middle English in 1382. “In the Scriptures [Wycliffe] found that which he had before sought in vain. Here he saw the plan of salvation revealed, and Christ set forth as the only advocate for man. He saw that Rome had forsaken the Biblical paths for human traditions. He gave himself to the service of Christ, and determined to proclaim the truths which he had discovered.

“The greatest work of his life was the translation of the Scriptures into the English language.  This was the first complete English translation ever made. . .. Thus, the light of God’s Word began to shed its bright beams athwart the darkness. A divine hand was preparing the way for the Great Reformation.”—Ellen G. White, The Story of Redemption, p. 336.

It was William Tyndale’s translation into modern English some 150 years later that formed the basis for the King James Bible.

As the centuries passed, light (truth) from God’s word gradually shone with increasing brilliance to each successive generation. Much had been lost by the falling away of which the Apostle Paul wrote. The man of sin must first be revealed (see 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4). The errors that had come into the church must be uprooted, but not all at once. The Lord in His mercy revealed only as much as each generation could bear.

The close of the 1,260 years coincided with the establishment of a new nation in which the principles of religious liberty would be inscribed in the founding documents and constitution. This gave rise to the open study of God’s word. In the early 1800s, William Miller was among many from around the world whose attention was drawn to the time prophecies of Daniel and Revelation. Hours of study led to a firm conviction that Christ was soon to come. The doors opened for soul-stirring messages to be shared. Jesus was coming again! The bright hope of our Savior’s return warmed hearts in a way that it is hard for us, living almost 200 years later, to comprehend. Books that tell the story of this Great Advent Movement are now dusty relics from a bygone era. That was then, this is now.

But the light that shone on the reformers was not to stop in 1750 or 1844. The light shining from God’s word was to grow brighter and brighter until the perfect day (Proverbs 4:18).

The Lord raised up a messenger through the ministry of Ellen White to shine more light on the truths in God’s word. Her writings were to be a sure guide for God’s people to the very close of time.

Past history teaches us that God is only able to impart light as people are willing and able to receive it. When Moses returned from communion with God on Mount Sinai, his face was shining so brightly that the people hid their faces from him. The children of Israel were unprepared to receive the light and precious truths that Moses had just witnessed in communion with God.

History repeats. “When new light is presented to the church, it is perilous to shut yourselves away from it.”—Ellen G. White, Counsels on Sabbath School Work, p. 32.

How does this happen?

“Many attend religious services, and are refreshed and comforted by the word of God; but through neglect of meditation, watchfulness, and prayer, they lose the blessing, and find themselves more destitute than before they received it. Often  they feel that God has dealt harshly with them. They do not see that the fault is their own. By separating themselves from Jesus, they have shut away the light of His presence.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 83.

Then follows the admonition to spend a thoughtful hour each day in contemplation of the life of Christ, taking each scene point by point and “letting the imagination grasp each scene, especially the closing ones”—ibid., p. 83.

A question comes to mind that can be applied to us individually and as a church. Have we (perhaps unwittingly) shut away the light of Jesus’ presence from our own hearts?

The Lord in His mercy sent a most precious, light-filled message of Jesus, the uplifted Savior, to stir our hearts with the depths of His love. This message (see Testimonies to Ministers, pp. 91, 92) was first presented by Brothers Jones and Waggoner at the Minneapolis General Conference session of 1888. In 1892, Ellen White identified this message as “the loud cry of the third angel [which had] already begun in the revelation of the righteousness of Christ, the sin-pardoning Redeemer. This is the beginning of the light of the angel whose glory shall fill the whole earth.”—Ellen G. White, Review and Herald, November 22, 1892.

However, this message was not welcomed by many. Sadly, “the light that is to lighten the whole earth with its glory was resisted, and by the action of our own brethren has been in a great degree kept away from the world.”—Ellen G. White, Letter 96, 1896; 1 Selected Messages, p. 235).

In the days of intense persecution, the reformers knew what it meant to stand for Christ though the heaven’s fall. In the troublous times ahead, we need a clear understanding of the light which heaven imparted well over a century ago.

“The message given us by A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner is the message of God to the Laodicean church.”—Ellen G. White, Letter S24, 1892).

If we have lost our way, if we have lost sight of Jesus, we need to retrace our steps to where we last saw the light, immerse ourselves in the most precious message, and pray for the Lord to heal our hearts and our church.

Jesus is longing to return, and the remedy for our Laodicean condition is found in this message.

 

~Patti Guthrie