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The Touch of Faith
Gary Hullquist
One of the Rulers
The story takes place on the other side of the lake, opposite Decapolis. Jesus had left there a disappointed man. The man came out of the tombs dragging the broken chains that had failed to hold him. From a wretched life of crying day and night in the mountains and cutting himself with stones, he was now delivered from the demons that had possessed him.
Overjoyed with his newfound freedom, the man (now clothed and in his right mind), fell down at the feet of Jesus and begged for the privilege to follow Him. But Jesus said, "Go home and tell your friends what the Lord has done for you!" So, he did just that. And everyone in the city was amazed at the change they saw in his life.
When Jesus and the disciples arrived by ship on the other side of the lake, a large crown of people gathered around Him. And in the crowd was another desperate man by the name of Jairus, one of the rulers of the synagogue. He, too, fell down at the feet of Jesus pleading for help.
"My little daughter, the only one I have, my only-begotten is dying! Right now, she is at the point of death. She's only twelve years old. Please, I beg you, come and lay your hands on her, heal her, and she will live!"
Jesus immediately followed Jairus as he led the way to his house. But the crowds surrounded them, pressing in. Slowly, O so slowly, they tried to move forward.
A Certain Woman
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In the mass of people, a certain woman was also desperate with her own serious problem. She had been bleeding for twelve years. She had been under the care of many physicians. She had spent her entire life savings, hoping for a cure, but was not any better. In fact, she was getting weaker, bleeding more and more. Now, weak and seeing her last chance to reach the Healer, she reached out in one last effort to touch the border of the Master's robe.
Immediately, she felt the fountain of blood dry up. She knew she was healed! The plague was gone!
And immediately Jesus felt the flow of healing virtue depart from him. He turned about and called out, "Who touched my clothes?"
The woman, who had hoped to quietly slip away and return home to privately rejoice, realized that she was discovered. Trembling and afraid, she also fell down at the feet of Jesus and poured out her miserable story of bleeding for twelve long years.
Father in Panic
Jairus must have been alarmed with this interruption. What is happening here? Time is wasting! My house is right over there! My daughter is acutely ill, in extremis! Let's triage these cases by urgent priorities! Sequence the acute cases first!
Peter also agrees. "What do you mean, 'Who touched me?' Everyone is touching you, pushing, shoving, clamoring for your attention. What kind of a question is that?"
But Jesus is indeed thinking of Jairus. Listen to what this woman is saying, Jairus. This is for you! Listen to her faith. You must have faith, too!
Jesus looks tenderly into the frightened woman's face and says, "Fear not, Daughter, your faith has made you whole. Go in peace."
And just as Jesus said these words, a messenger came from Jairus' house and told him, "Your daughter is dead. There is no need to trouble the Healer any further."
But immediately, Jesus turned to Jairus and said, "Fear not, only believe, and your daughter will be made whole as well." Jairus, there is no fear in love. This woman believed and now is filled with love and joy. You must believe and love; then fear will vanish for you as well.
Two Bleeding Women
The moment the woman who had been bleeding for twelve years touched Jesus, her bleeding stopped. That same moment a much younger woman who had lived in the bloom of life for twelve years stopped living. Linked in time, they were also linked in life.
The woman began bleeding when the young girl began living.
The woman stopped bleeding when the young girl stopped living.
"The life is in the blood." Leviticus 17:11.
For four long millennia the blood of animals had been pouring out, teaching the believers in a coming Lamb of God that one day the bleeding would stop. The Son of God would lay down His life that we might live. "In this is manifested the love of God because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him." 1John 4:9.
But the grave could not hold him. "Whom God has raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be held by it." Acts 2:24. And "when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: they that hear shall live." John 5:25.
Don't Fear Sleep
Jesus arrives at the home of Jairus, his wife and his sleeping twelve-year-old daughter. Yes, sleeping. That's what Jesus said. And the mourners, who were hired to wail and cry, stopped their weeping and began to laugh. They saw the girl breath her last, they knew she was dead. Look how long she has been lying there, silent, still, motionless, now cold and without question lifeless. What do you mean, "Asleep?" We know death when we see it.
But Jesus simply shows them the door and then closes it. The Giver of life is present. Fear not, Jairus. And then tenderly, Jesus picks up the little hand. He holds it in His own, and gives the gentle command, "Talitha, cumi," Damsel, arise.
And she does. "If a man die, shall he live again?" Job 14:14. For that matter, 'If a Damsel dies, shall she live again?' Yes, indeed! "All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. You will call, and I will answer."
What a story! Fear not! Only believe, and Jesus will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4.
Only Jesus
Ellen White wrote a "Letter to my brethren in America" dated February 6, 1896 in which she wrote:
“Evil had been accumulating for centuries, and could only be restrained and resisted by the mighty power of the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Godhead, who would come with no modified energy, but in the fullness of divine power.” First published in 2MR p. 34 1987 as Letter 8, 1896, pp. 1, 5.
This was the first time in which the expression “third person of the Godhead” appeared in Ellen's writings. It was later to appear in the 1898 Desire of Ages on page 671 as:
“Sin could be resisted and overcome only through the mighty agency of the third person of the Godhead, who would come with no modified energy, but in the fullness of divine power.”
Though differing slightly ("evil" is now "sin", "restrained and resisted" has become "resisted
and overcome", and "power" is now "agency"), our focus is on the word "only." This superlative
excludes all others; no other power or agency can restrain, resist and overcome sin and evil.
In light of this information, it is interesting to discover Who else shares this same exclusive
status.
“There is but one power that can break the hold of evil from the hearts of men, and that is the
power of God in Jesus Christ. Only through the blood of the Crucified One is there cleansing from sin.
His grace alone can enable us to resist and subdue the tendencies of our fallen nature.”
Testimonies vol. 8 p. 291 1903
“There is only one power that can turn the sinner from sin to holiness—the power of Christ.
Our Redeemer is the only one who can take away sin.” Review & Herald, June 2, 1903
“The power of Christ alone can work the transformation in heart and mind that all must experience
who would partake with Him of the new life in the kingdom of heaven.”
Review & Herald, March 19, 1908; Testimonies vol. 9 p. 156 May 31, 1909
“The only defense against evil is the indwelling of Christ in the heart through faith in His
righteousness.” Desire of Ages p. 324
“Christ is the source of every right impulse. He is the only one that can implant in the heart
enmity against sin.” Steps to Christ p. 26 1893
“Union with Christ is our only means for overcoming sin.” That I May Know Him p. 318.4
“Only He who reads the heart knows how to bring men to repentance.” Ministry of Healing p. 163
“None but the Son of God could accomplish our redemption.” Steps to Christ p. 14
“He alone could place their feet in the right path.” Manuscript 18, 1898
“He alone could respond to the poor suffering thief.” Our Father Cares p. 240
“He alone could be a mediator between God and man” RH April 3, 1894
“He alone could give them the oil which they must have” RH June 13, 1899
“Christ knew that he alone could break the enemy's power...A counter-working influence, coming from the highest authority, was to hold the enemy in check,
and resist his power.” RH Jan. 21, 1909
“he alone could conquer the powers of darkness.” Signs of the Times, Apr. 18, 1892
“he is able to succor (help) them that are tempted” Heb 2:18
“He here referred to the divine grace which he alone could bestow” Spirit of Prophecy vol. 2 p. 140
“He alone could bridge the gulf that sin had made.” The Home Missionary, Oct. 1, 1897
“Through Christ, God has made every provision that fallen humanity may be restored” HM 10-97
“He alone could rebuke the cruel power of the enemy” RH Dec. 11, 1883
“He alone could give peace and comfort and hope” RH Dec 11, 1883
Why? “for He possessed divinity and humanity.” RH April 3, 1894 in 7BC p. 914.7
Thus, he is the “one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus” 1Tim 2:5
In heaven “we have an Advocate (parakletos) with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” 1John 2:1
But “God sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts” Gal 4:6
So that here on earth we have a “Comforter (parakletos), even the Spirit of truth” John 14:16
Jesus is the only one who can give us the power to resist sin because
he is the only one who has “condemned sin in the likeness of sinful flesh” Rom 8:3.
His humanity is in heaven; his divinity (divested of the personality of humanity) dwells in us on earth.
“Christ the Word, the only begotten of God, was one with the eternal Father,—one in nature, in character, and in purpose,—the only being in all the universe that could enter into all the counsels and purposes of God.” GC p. 493
“The Father gave his Spirit without measure to his Son, and we also may partake of its fullness. Jesus says: ‘If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?’ [Luke 11:13.]” GC p. 477 1888
Only Jesus, the word, was made flesh and dwelt among us;
Only Jesus was touched by the feelings of our infirmities;
Only Jesus was acquainted with grief and carried our sorrows;
Only Jesus was tempted in all points like as we are;
Only Jesus learned obedience by the things which he suffered;
Only Jesus was both the Son of God and the Son of man.
Now we can understand the last sentence of this paragraph on page 671 of Desire of Ages:
“Christ has given His Spirit as a divine power to overcome all hereditary and cultivated tendencies to evil, and to impress His own character upon His church.”
Freedom at Night
By Alexandra Wiebe Hullquist
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It was 9:00 PM on that December 31, 2012. The midwinter night was still, the full moon and stars shown brightly on the crusty snow, as I walked down the winding, steep mountainous gravel road. Though there was no light, as my eyes adjusted to the darkness, the moon was sufficient to keep me on the right track. I was all alone with my thoughts which jumbled around in my head. Where I’d spend the night was no question. The house still stood empty in the little country village below the mountain, and I knew I could stay the night there. The phone was still there, too. But where would I go tomorrow? How would I contact anybody? What would I do when I got there? What would the future hold?
The only sound was the crunch, crunch, crunch of my knee-high, fleece-lined leather boots on the crusty and gravelly road. Though the many wild boars who roamed the area posed a very potential danger, somehow I didn’t feel scared of being out alone at that time of night. Nothing could be as threatening as what I had left behind.
In each hand I held onto the straps of a zippered, vinyl shopping bag stuffed with bare necessities to last me for. . . only-God-knew how long. I had a couple changes of clothing, passports, address book, a few toiletries, a diary, my Bible, and a coin purse containing about the equivalent of $100.00. That was really all I needed to get where I planned to go. In order to reduce what I needed to carry, I was wearing many layers. Earlier as I’d methodically chosen each article and put them on, my thoughts had drifted to Heidi, wearing all the clothes she owned on her way to her grandfather’s house on the mountain. I had ruefully and silently chuckled to myself.
But how was I going to get to my sons when I didn’t know exactly where they lived, didn’t have their phone number, or even the names of their hosts? It would be a solitary two kilometer walk down to the village, so I’d have time to think about what to do and pray for guidance to do the right thing. With each step and breath of the fresh, chilly night air, my nerves calmed more and more while a plan formed in my mind. Somehow I had the assurance that God would take care of me. He would see me through.
As soon as I arrived at the vacated house in the little farming village, I turned on the electric heater fan that remained there, attempting to cut the chill of the unheated house. I quickly located the phone number of our pastor and dialed, hoping he could provide me with the number I needed. As soon as I explained my situation, he promised to see what he could do to help. Very shortly the phone rang and my heart warmed to hear my eldest son’s voice, on the other end. First of all, I got his phone number and how to find the house where they were staying. As we were talking a little more about my situation, my husband suddenly opened the sliding door, immediately to my right, which opened into the room where I was sitting talking on the phone. With a dark, foreboding tone, he demanded I give him the the phone.
I complied, as if in a daze, picked up my two bags, calmly walked out, shutting the door behind me, and dashed out of the yard. I knew I would have a little time to hide, while he talked to our son.
“God, save me and help me find a place to hide from him!”, I cried out as I frantically ran down the village road. Not too far from the house, but to the left off the main road and far enough to be unnoticed, I ran into the farthest corner of a huge greenhouse owned by a neighboring farmer. It had been vacated for the winter time, and I hoped my husband would not think to look there. As I stood in the shadows, my heart pounded like it would explode. Into my mind flashed all the stories I’d read about the Waldenses, or other Christians, running from their pursuers. God, help him not to look here! Protect me, please!! I screamed inside my head.
Soon I heard footsteps coming in my direction. My palms got sweaty, and my heart beat even faster. Surely he can hear me breathing, and my heart pounding inside my chest. Oh Lord, hide me! To my great relief, instead of veering to the left off from the village road to the greenhouses as I had done, his footsteps continued on down the road, and got quieter and quieter, until I knew he was gone. Before demanding the phone, my husband had told me he’d walked down from the mountain, just as I had. This knowledge gave me the calming assurance that once he walked away, he’d not come back. At least not tonight.
When I was sure all was safe, I returned to the house to catch a little sleep before the morning. The electric heating fan offered just enough heat to supplement my long down coat and warm boots so I would not freeze to death during the cold winter night. I pulled together the two chairs in the room for a makeshift bed and positioned myself in the most comfortable way possible. Then before dozing off to sleep, I formulated my next move. There was a bus stop just outside of the village, but I didn’t plan on using it since I didn’t know how early the first bus would come. I would walk the few kilometers into the next town instead, and catch one from there.
I awoke to the phone ringing, and quickly answered it. The lady of the house, where my two sons were staying and working, was on the other end, telling me I was welcome to come. Since it was 7:00, I knew I best be going right away. After washing my face, I grabbed my two bags and headed out the door, walking briskly towards the bigger town. I hadn’t gotten very far when I saw a gentleman striding in my direction. I wondered who he was, since I hadn’t met him before. When he got close enough, he told me he was the uncle of a little girl I’d tutored for a few months during the past summer, and said he walked this way every morning. Of course he wanted to know where I was going, so I just told him I was walking into town to catch the bus. “Why don’t you ride the bus that stops here?” he asked. “It’ll be at the village bus stop in just a few minutes and will save you some walking.”
I thanked him (and God) and retraced my steps to the shelter of the bus stop. About five minutes later it arrived, just like the man had said. I sank gratefully into a seat in the warm bus, thanking God for using the lady’s phone call at 7:00 to get me up and out in time, helping me meet this helpful man, and getting me safely on my way. Only then did I allow myself to relax and reflect on the fact that I was free, and there would be no going back.
Not until I’d been at the house where my sons were boarding, for some time, did I realize how close I had been to being prevented from escaping. Unbeknownst to me, not more than five, or maybe ten minutes, after I was safely in the bus did my husband drive down to the village looking for me. If the lady had not called when she did, and had I not met the gentleman on his morning walk, I would not have gotten away. God’s timing was perfect, He heard my cry for help, and provided for all my needs.
When I married, it was “till death do us part”, thinking that as long as we loved God and each other, everything could be worked out. Yet though initially unperceived by me, the first day of our marriage signaled a descent into a destructive, controlling relationship, which continued for 20 years. During that time, I desperately tried to make it work for my children, husband, self, and God.
As my sons arrived at the age of accountability and were ready to move out of the home for school and work, I began to subconsciously pray for deliverance from my hellish existence. I feared going through the time of trouble trapped in a volatile,destructive marriage. Finally on that December night the answer had come. There was a veritable volcanic explosion. The quantity and quality of verbal abuse was of such clarity and magnitude, I had no doubt as to whether or not this was the answer to my prayer. I was told, in no uncertain terms, to get out. So I did. I walked out to the beginning of freedom, never to go back.
My parents tell me that when I arrived on their doorstep, I was an emotional wreck. But thank God, from that day forward my healing began. Due primarily to the fact that I had been married to a pastor, I was left with some very deep spiritual scars from which I am still struggling to heal. Cynicism, depression, anger, sorrow, regret, loneliness, suspicion,repulsion, fear of rejection, and insecurity in doing things I was previously confident and competent in, are emotions that continue to pop up uninvited and unpredicted to this day. But in spite of all this, I know God and His word are good, and that He can heal the deepest wounds of heart and mind, as Jeremiah says:
Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed;
save me, and I shall be saved:
for thou art my praise. Jeremiah 17:14
He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds. Psalm 147:3
Rescue from Dollar Lake
By Gary Hullquist
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I was living with my parents in Oak Glen, California at the base of Mount San Gregonio, the tallest mountain in the Southern states topping 11,500 feet in elevation. My roommate at La Sierra College and our girl friends (sisters who later became our wives) were spending a 1967 Thanksgiving vacation with their parents at Camp Cedar Falls just a few miles from the San Gregonio trail head.
One sunny afternoon us four decided to hike up to Dollar Lake, just an easy 4 mile strole through the woods from the parking lot. There was snow on the ground but it was crusty and melting. Our light jackets and jeans provided plenty of comfort. When we reached the Dollar Lake sign, the snow was getting deeper and the trail, heading down toward the lake, was now icey. At first it was fun sliding down from tree to tree, but it wasn't long before we realized going back up would definitely not be a walk in the park!
Our tennis shoes just didn't have the gripping power. What we really needed were clamp-ons with steel teeth that could take a bite into the slippery mountain side. Yes, we could continue sliding down to the lake, but it was in a low spot with sides going up all around it. We decided to try and go back up from tree to tree. Only problem was, they were too far apart. We tried to form a human bridge, climbing up the back of each other, standing on the shoulders, but still couldn't reach anything. Besides, laying on the ground was sucking the warmth right out of us.
The sun was getting lower and the prospect of being trapped out there all night set in. We only had a single apple between us. That was soon devoured as we passed it around, each taking a bite, until only a spindly core was left. Now What? Well, what do you do when you're at the end of your rope and you don't even have one? What else is there to do but pray. And it was a serious prayer!
Just then, a voice from above, back up on the trail appeared two mountain climbers decked out with ropes, strings of carabiners, ice axes, red-orange parkas, helmets. They were amazing! We had never seen anyone on the trail outfitted to the gills like these guys. They asked us, "Do you need help?" Of course we needed help. We shouted back, "YES! We're stuck down here. Can't get up the trail!" Within a minute or two they hacked out footsteps in the ice, climbed down to us and helped us up the foot-holds. We scrambled up the hillside, helping the ones below until we were all up top. But our rescuers had already left...or disappeared? We had thanked them as they made the steps for us and got us started, but we wanted to thank them again and didn't even get a chance.
They were either angels or guided by them. They showed up just when we needed them; they had all the right tools, just what we needed. They were fast, efficient, professional. They didn't scold us for being so foolish. They just came, did their job, and left.
Thank you, Father, for saving us!
“The angel of the Lord encampeth round about those that fear him and delivereth them.” Psalm 34:7
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Cuts Both Ways
1990: Gloria Estefan wrote and recorded the popular song “Cuts Both Ways”
Our love is like a knife that cuts both ways
It's driven deep into my heart each time (ouch!)
That I realize
How it cuts both ways
Can't be together, cannot live apart (both are painful)
We're heading straight into a broken heart
It cuts both ways
Cuts both ways
Human love cuts both ways: It hurts me and it hurts you.
Some kind of love! A love that hurts everyone?
But God's love is also like a knife that cuts both ways. Heb 4:12:
For the Word of God is alive, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword,
piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow,
and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
God’s twoedged sword that cuts both ways is His Word.
Depending on how we read it can be a BLESSING or a CURSE
Like the mirror of the Law that may reflect the image of the Lawgiver or our own image.
James 1:23 describes this principle.
The hearer of the word who stops there and doesn’t do what the word instructs us to do,
is like looking in a glass or mirror and then walking away and forgetting what you look like.
A real hearer of the word, who then actually does what the word tells us to do,
is like looking through the glass “into the perfect law of liberty” and continuing to look at it, not forgetting what it says but also doing what it says. What do we see when we look?
2Cor 3:18 It’s like beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, (not just seeing our own reflection, but into the glass, into the law and seeing the image of the Lawgiver) until we are changed into the same image, his glory is then reflected in our face (we become a mirror!) and like the face of Moses will shine with the Spirit of the Lord.
The twoedged sword of the Word “divides asunder...soul and spirit.” Separating them.
It was the Word of God who separated the light from the darkness, the waters above from the waters below, the land from the sea. And the Word still divides to both separate and unite.
Cut away from this world, the “third rock from the sun” and unto the Rock that begat us. (Deut 32:18)
His Words of comfort and promise to us, and our words of praise and adoration to Him.
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Psalm 149:1,5,6
1 Praise ye the Lord. Sing unto the Lord a new song,
and his praise in the congregation of saints.
2 Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.
3 Let them praise his name in the dance:
let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp.
4 For the Lord taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation.
5 Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds.
6 Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a twoedged sword in their hand;
But the scene changes, the words that cut away our chains and fetters to Satan’s slavery,
now cut the other way: a twoedged sword in the hand of the saints...
Psalm 149:7,8,9
7 To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people;
8 To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron;
9 To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the Lord.
How readest thou, saints? Shall we take up a sword and execute vengeance?
Yes, the sword of the Word—not the physical sword of Peter, or Simeon, or Levi, or Joab...
Revelation 1:16:
He had "in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword."
Eph 6:17 It’s the sword of the Spirit (breath), which is the word of...God.
Matt 4:4 Man shall not live by bread alone, but by evey word that proceedeth from the mouth of God."
This Word is life to those who let the sharp twoedged sword circumcise their hearts to cut away the darkness and deceitfulness buried in them; but the same word is “a savor of death unto death” (2Cor 2:16) to those who refuse to “go under the knife” and allow the Divine Surgeon to do His purging work of excision, ablation, and amputation—severing the cords that bind us to the world and the prince of darkness.
Revelation 19:11,12,13,14,15
And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood:and his name is called The Word of God.
14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations:
and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
The sword proceeds out of his mouth because the sword is the Word of God.
And because He is the Word of God, He says:
Matthew 10:34-35
Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.
The sword is twoedged; it cuts both ways.
A son is separated from his father; A daughter is separated from her mother.
One is cut away from the world—one is cut off from God.
Verse 39:
He that finds his life in this world, will lose it in the world to come;
He that loses his life in this world for Christ’s sake, will find it in His Father’s kingdom.
Accept the word or reject the word; Like James and John who forsook all and followed him,
Or like the rich young ruler who walked away saddened by the thought of giving everything away.
Deut 32:39-41
See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me:
I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal:
neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.
“You can’t have one without the other...”
the “brand plucked from the burning” (Zech 3) is separated, cut off from the burning.
But there are two kinds of burning: Psalm 39:1-3; Prov 26:23,20; Isa 9:18,19; 33:14,15.
40 For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever.
41 If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment;
I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me.
Prov 8:36 All they that hate me (wisdom) love death.
It cuts both ways: the sword cuts off the enemies of God, and the last enemy is death.
Those that turn to God and seek after His face are cut off from the world by “the great cleaver of truth” Letter 139, 1903
But those who cling to the world will be cut off from God—
same sword, it all depends on where you are when it cuts both ways.
God weeps when He smites with His sword.
Jeremiah 3:20,21
You have dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the Lord. (You have departed from your Husband).
A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel.
And the voice cries out, “Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings.”
Malachi 3:7
Even from the days of your fathers you are gone away from my ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts.
2 Corinthians 2:14-16
Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ,
and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.
15 For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ,
in them that are saved, and in them that perish: (this knowledge cuts both ways)
16 To the one we are the savour of death unto death; (death to an old life)
and to the other the savour of life unto life. (awakening to a new life)
Jesus looked at Peter and it caused him to repent with bitter weeping;
The same look seen by Judas caused him to go and hang himself.
Eze 21:3 And say to the land of Israel, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth my sword out of his sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked.
Eze 21:9 Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the LORD; Say, A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also furbished:
Eze 21:10 It is sharpened to make a sore slaughter; it is furbished that it may glitter:
Eze 21:11 And he hath given it to be furbished, that it may be handled: this sword is sharpened, and it is furbished, to give it into the hand of the slayer. (King of Babylon verse 19)
Abraham appealed to the “Judge of all the earth” that it would not be right for Him to destroy the righteous with the wicked. Genesis 18:23
“Be it far from thee to do after this manner” Abraham told the Lord (verse 25).
So, finally the Lord agreed to spare Sodom and Gomorrah for ten’s sake.
But, alas, there were only found four…and one of them was really still back in Sodom.
And when the time came for the sword to cut off the righteous and the wicked,
The righteous outside the city were separated from the wicked inside.
The twoedge sword cuts both ways, cutting them off from each other:
on one side there was the savour of life unto life; on the other death unto death.
Then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory and before him shall be gathered all nations:
And he shall separate them one from another: the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left. Matt 25:1-3
Why are some goats? Why are some sheep? All we like sheep have gone astray like goats.
But the true sheep hear the voice of the Good Shepherd. They are changed into the same image of the Lamb of God by beholding his character, his image, in the perfect law of liberty.
1888
This date still commands the attention of Adventists today. Seems like each generation takes a crack at it. Church historians spin their own version of what “really” happened in that far western state of Minnesota. It was in a Minneapolis school house where the 90 delegates of a 27 year old church with 27,000 members met, already divided over “The Law in Galatians.”
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1888. How can anything that old be of any value (let alone interest) to us today?
Aren’t there more important issues that deserve our time and attention? Like Sunday laws, Prophecy, Terrorism, pandemics, the Papacy, the economy...
The issues today are really no different than those 135 years ago, only the names and terms are different. The Blair Sunday law was being debated in Congress. The Eastern Question of Turkey and the King of the North was on everyone’s mind. The Vatican was publishing alarming Encyclicals. And today, sides are still divided over “The Law in Galatians”.
But there was one thing that all the delegates of that 1888 General Conference session were in total agreement: "There is one God, the Father, and one Lord Jesus Christ" 1Corinthians 8:6, who was His only-begotten divine Son, "whose goings forth was from the days of eternity" Micah 5:2. In this they were united. Five years before Minneapolis, W.H. Littlejohn, a co-editor of the Review and Herald, answered a reader’s question about the creation of Christ.
“You are mistaken in supposing that S.D. Adventists teach that Christ was ever created. They believe, on the contrary, that he was ‘begotten’ of the Father, and that he can properly be called God and worshiped as such... They believe, however, that somewhere in the eternal ages of the past there was a point at which Christ came into existence.” RH April 17, 1883
That same year, C.W. Stone, secretary of the General Conference, wrote in his book,
“The Word then is Christ. The text speaks of His origin. He is the only begotten of the Father. Just how he came into existence the Bible does not inform us any more definitely; but by this expression and several of a similar kind in the Scriptures we may believe that Christ came into existence in a manner different from that in which other beings first appeared; That He sprang from the Father’s being in a way not necessary for us to understand.” C. W. Stone, The Captain of our Salvation, p. 17, 1883
But side issues that were, in the opinion of Ellen White “not vital”, such as ‘the daily,’ ‘the law in Galatians,’ ‘the king of the north,’ were distracting the fledgling church from its central foundations. Sensing the division that was brewing within a growing series of Review and Signs articles, Ellen White counseled the west coast editors, Jones and Waggoner.
It is no small matter for you to come out in the Signs as you have done, and God has plainly revealed that such things should not be done. We must keep before the world a united front. Satan will triumph to see differences among Seventh-day Adventists.” “But how do you think I feel to see our two leading papers in contention?” “...we must have more of Jesus and less of self.” “We are one in faith in the fundamental truths of God’s word.“ 1888 Materials p. 22.2, 25.2, 26.1,2.
Then, suddenly, it was October 1888. As the young physician and Signs of the Times editor, Ellot J. Waggoner, presented the morning devotionals, there was indeed more of Jesus and a rich feeding in the one faith of God’s word. As he spoke, W.W. Prescott, Steven Haskell, Uriah Smith, R.A. Underwood, Ellen White, A.T. Jones, and even George Butler, the General Conference president back home in his sick bed, all took notes on the great theme of Christ and His Righteousness.
How do we know? Because each one echoed Waggoner’s theme in sermons and articles of their own in the following months and years.
When Waggoner said,
“The Word was “in the beginning.” The mind of man cannot grasp the ages that are spanned in this phrase. ...We know that Christ “proceeded forth and came from God” (John 8:42), but it was so far back in the ages of eternity as to be far beyond the grasp of the mind of man.”
R.A. Underwood wrote the following year,
“We are in ignorance of when this was done. We only know that it was in the eternity of the past; before the worlds and all that in them is, were created.” RH Aug 6, Sept 17, 1889
Ellen White wrote,
“The existence of Christ before His incarnation is not measured by figures.” Ellen White, Signs of the Times May 3, 1899
“Christ is declared in the Scriptures to be the Son of God. From all eternity He has sustained this relation to Jehovah. Before the foundations of the world were laid, He, the only begotten Son of God, pledged Himself to become the Redeemer of the human race should men sin.” {Ms22-1905 (March 7, 1904) par. 4}
Uriah Smith later wrote,
“At the earliest epoch when a beginning could be,a period so remote that to finite minds it is essentially eternity,—appeared the Word.” “His beginning was not like that of any other being in the universe. It is set forth in the mysterious expressions, ‘his [God’s] only begotten Son’ (John 3:16; 1 John 4:9), ‘the only begotten of the Father’ (John 1:14), and ‘I proceeded forth and came from God.’ John 8:42.” Looking Unto Jesus 1898
And Steven Haskell penned,
“Back in the ages, which finite mind cannot fathom, the Father and Son were alone in the universe. Christ was the first begotten of the Father, and to Him Jehovah made known the divine plan of Creation.” The Seer of Patmos 1905
When Waggoner said,
“A son always rightfully takes the name of the father; and Christ, as “the only begotten Son of God,” has rightfully the same name. A son, also, is, to a greater or less degree, a reproduction of the father; he has, to some extent, the features and personal characteristics of his father;... and so Christ is the “express image” of the Father’s person. Heb. 1:3. As the Son of the self-existent God, He has by nature all the attributes of Deity.”
Ellen White later wrote,
“Christ, the Word, the only begotten of God, was one with the eternal Father,--one in nature, in character, in purpose” Patriarchs and Prophets p. 34 1890
“...he and the Father were of one substance, possessing the same attributes.” Signs of the Times, Nov. 27, 1893
When Waggoner said,
He is begotten, not created. He is of the substance of the Father, so that in his very nature he is God;” “The angels are sons of God, as was Adam (Job 38:7; Luke 3:38), by creation; Christians are the sons of God by adoption (Rom. 8:14, 15); but Christ is the Son of God by birth.”
Ellen White later wrote,
“‘God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son,’—not a son by creation, as were the angels, nor a son by adoption, as is the forgiven sinner, but a Son begotten in the express image of the Father’s person, and in all the brightness of his majesty and glory...” Signs of the Times May 30, 1895
“God had promised to give the First-born of heaven to save the sinner.” Desire of Ages p. 51 1898
“In His incarnation He gained in a new sense the title of the Son of God... While the son of a human being, He became the Son of God in a new sense.” Signs of the Times Aug 2, 1905
And what was the old sense? His original existence as the divine and Eternal Son of God.
A.T. Jones wrote,
“He who was born in the form of God took the form of man.” General Conference Bulletin March 4, 1895
“In other words, Jesus Christ was born again. He came from heaven, God’s first-born, to the earth, and was born again.” “He whose goings forth have been from the days of eternity, the first-born of God, was born again, in order that we might be born again.” A.T. Jones RH Aug 1, 1899
W.W. Prescott wrote,
“As Christ was twice born—once in eternity, the only begotten of the Father, and again here in the flesh, thus uniting the divine with the human in that second birth—so we who have been born once already in the flesh, are to have the second birth, being born again of the Spirit” RH April 14, 1896
Uriah Smith wrote,
“Christ is the agent through whom God has created all things, but that the Son came into existence in a different manner, as he is called ‘the only begotten’ of the Father.” Uriah Smith, Daniel and the Revelation 1897 edition, p. 400.
When Waggoner said,
“And since He is the only-begotten Son of God, He is of the very substance and nature of God, and possesses by birth all the attributes of God.” [Philippians 2:6; Hebrews 1:4,6,8] “So He has ‘life in Himself;’ [John 1:4; 5:26] He possesses immortality in His own right, and can confer immortality upon others.” [John 5:21,25; 1John 5:11]
R.A. Underwood wrote,
“we will consider Christ and his work by viewing him as the only being delegated to represent the eternal Father in name, in creating the worlds, and in giving the law;” “For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself.” John 5:26. Whatever construction may be placed upon the first two texts quoted the last one shows clearly that the Son of God received his life, and all his mighty creative power as a gift from the Father.” RH Aug 6, Sept 17, 1889
Ellen White wrote,
“God has sent his Son to communicate his own life to humanity. Christ declares, “I live by the Father,” my life and his being one. “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him,” “For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;” Home Missionary June 1, 1897.11
When Waggoner said,
“While both are of the same nature, the Father is first in the point of time. He (the Father) is also greater in that he had no beginning, while Christ’s personality had a beginning” Signs of the Times Apr. 8, 1889
Ellen White wrote,
“Though sin had produced a gulf between man and his God, divine benevolence provided a plan to bridge that gulf and what material did he use? A part of himself, the brightness of the Father’s glory came to a world all seared and marred with the curse, and in his own divine character, in his own divine body, bridged the gulf, and opened a channel of communication between God and man.” Letter 36a, 1890 to J. S. Washburn
When Waggoner said,
“Christ ‘is in the bosom of the Father;’ being by nature of the very substance of God, and having life in Himself, He is properly called Jehovah, the self-existent One.”
Ellen White wote,
“He came forth from the bosom of the All-wise” {Lt47-1895 (March 21, 1895) par. 14}
“When in the fulness of time the eternal Son of the infinite God came forth from the bosom of His Father to this world” {Lt232-1903 (October 6, 1903) par. 19}
“The Son of God shared the Father’s throne, and the glory of the eternal, self-existent One encircled both.” Patriarchs and Prophets p. 38 1890
“Jehovah, the eternal, self-existent, uncreated One, Himself the source and sustainer of all, is alone entitled to supreme reverence and worship.” Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 305
“Jehovah is the name given to Christ.” Signs of the Times 1899Ma3.18
“God gave His only begotten Son to the world to reveal the Father as supreme in heaven and in earth” {Lt132-1910 (December 1, 1910) par. 6}
When Waggoner said,
“We are mindful of Paul’s words, that ‘to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by Him” 1 Cor. 8:6.
Ellen White explained,
Christ is the One through whom God has at all times revealed Himself to man. “But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by Him.” 1 Corinthians 8:6. “This is he [Moses], that was in the church in the wilderness with the Angel which spake to him in the Mount Sinai, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us.” Acts 7:38. This Angel was the Angel of God’s presence (Isaiah 63:9), the Angel in whom was the name of the great Jehovah (Exodus 23:20-23). The expression can refer to no other than the Son of God. Patriarchs and Prophets 761.4
Uriah Smith wrote in his 25 Fundamental Principals first printed in a SDA Year Book in 1889,
“There is one God, a personal, spiriual being...everywhere present by His personal representative, the Holy Spirit.” and “There is one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Eternal Father, the one by whom God created all things.”
H. J. Farman wrote,
“The Father bestowed upon the Son the power and honor of a creator, and made him the active agent in the creation of the worlds. Heb. 1:2; Col. 1:15-17; John 1:10. ...God spoke, and the Son performed the work. Compare Heb. 11: 3 with Heb. 1:2” Review and Herald, Jan. 20, 1891
When Waggoner said,
“All things proceed ultimately from God, the Father; even Christ Himself proceeded and came forth from the Father”
Ellen White wrote,
“The statement is made that the devil believed and trembled. He believed that Christ was the Son of God while he was in heaven” {Ms5-1886 (June 19, 1886) par. 10}
“He was not the Father but in Him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” Letter 8a, July 7, 1890, To M. J. Church, 20MR, MR1444
“The Son of God became the Son of man.” Ms45-1892, par. 2
George Butler wrote,
“Sustaining the relation they do as the Father and the only begotten Son, precedence in a certain sense must necessarily be conceded to the Father. This implies superiority in duration and rank.” 1888 Materials p. 1199.1 July 20, 1893
A.T. Jones wrote,
“Let us now consider further how the word was given. It is the word of God proceeding forth and coming from God, just as Jesus Christ, the living Word, proceeded forth and came from God.” General Conference Bulletin, February 24, 1895, ‘The Third Angel’s Message’ p. 318
After traveling the country with Jones and Waggoner, spreading the 1888 message, Ellen White was exiled to Australia where she wrote,
“The Lord in His great mercy sent a most precious message to His people through Elders Waggoner and Jones. This message was to bring more prominently before the world the upliftted Saviour, the sacrifice for the sins of the whole world... Many had lost sight of Jesus. They needed to have their eyes directed to His divine person, His merits, and His changeless love for the human family.” Testimonies to Ministers, p. 91, 92 1895
So, what is the lesson of 1888? Let us not be distracted by divisive side-issues that, while they may be interesting and instructive, are “not vital” unless they direct us to the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent (John 17:3).
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