The word “atonement” may be the most important word in the Bible, because its real meaning is “atone-ment.” Something has gone tragically wrong in God’s universe. What was once in harmony and oneness has been ripped apart so completely that it seems totally impossible to put it together again, but that is exactly what the word “at-one-ment” means—to put together what has been torn apart.
If free choice has been and will always be the unalterable basis for a relationship between God and the beings He created, then the atoning process must be complicated and lengthy if it has any hope of restoring the unity which has been almost totally lost. If we do not understand how this at-one-ment is being accomplished and what it will take to complete it, we will never understand why we even exist or what lies ahead in our future. This may well be the most important Bible subject for us to understand as completely as humanly possible. If we have any hope of understanding how this drama will end, we must understand how it all started.
THE BEGINNING OF EVIL
The greatest trial in history was brewing. The most majestic created being was filing suit against his Creator God. Lucifer was the five-star general of the angelic host. “But when God said to His Son, ‘Let us make man in our image,’ Satan was jealous of Jesus. He wished to be consulted concerning the formation of man, and because he was not, he was filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred.” (EW 145) So we learn that the tearing apart of God’s harmonious universe began over God’s plan to create you and me, and the specific charge was that God was unfair in excluding Lucifer from the planning committee. Apparently the work that Christ and Lucifer did was so similar that Lucifer saw no real difference between him and Christ. To curb this brewing palace coup, the Father called an assembly of all the heavenly host, and explained that the Son had from all eternity been equal with Himself in omnipresence, in omniscience, in power and authority. Even in heaven, angels did not completely understand the precise relationship among the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, so God decided to make this relationship crystal clear.
Up to this point Lucifer was raising questions, some of which were legitimate, but it was at this point that rebellion began and the universe was being torn apart. “Satan unblushingly made known his dissatisfaction that Christ should be preferred before him. He stood up proudly and urged that he should be equal with God and should be taken into conference with the Father and understand His purposes. God informed Satan, that to His Son alone He would reveal His secret purposes, and He required all the family in heaven, even Satan, to yield Him implicit, unquestioned obedience…Then Satan exultingly pointed to his sympathizers, comprising nearly one-half of all the angels, and exclaimed, ‘These are with me! Will you expel these also, and make such a void in heaven?’” (SR 17, 18) Now we come to the point where Scripture begins its description of what was happening in heaven.
“For thou has said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds: I will be like the most High.” (Isa. 14: 13,14)
What happened next is extremely important to understand God’s plan of at-one-ment. “After Satan and those who fell with him were shut out of heaven, and he realized that he had forever lost all its purity and glory, he repented, and wished to be reinstated in heaven….Both he and his followers wept, and implored to be taken back into the favor of God.” (EW 146) Here we have repentance with weeping and imploring. Surely this would be enough.
“Satan trembled as he viewed his work….Where is he? Is it not all a horrible dream? Is he shut out of heaven?...The loss he had sustained of all the privileges of heaven seemed too much to be borne. He wished to regain these.” (SR 26, 25, 27) Notice what Satan wanted to regain—the privileges of heaven, its purity and glory.
“His mighty frame shook as with a tempest. An angel from heaven was passing. He called him and entreated an interview with Christ. This was granted him. He then related to the Son of God that he repented of his rebellion and wished again the favor of God. He was willing to take the place God had previously assigned him, and be under His wise command. Christ wept at Satan’s woe, but told him, as the mind of God, that…the seeds of rebellion were still within him.” (SR 26) Can we see why even angels had questions about God’s handling of Lucifer? They can’t read minds. Only Christ could read the inward thoughts and character of Satan. The character of Satan would need a lot of demonstration.
One key point would be the huge difference between outward repentance, even with tears, and heart surrender to God because He knows best.
“When Satan became fully convinced that there was no possibility of his being reinstated in the favor of God, he manifested his malice with increased hatred and fiery vehemence.” (SR 27) Very quickly, the true heart of Satan became very apparent.
THE CHALLENGE OF SATAN
If God is to restore at-one-ment to the universe, then He must set in motion a far-reaching plan to answer all of Satan’s legitimate charges against God’s system of government. Jan Paulsen summed up the issue very well. “In God’s final and ultimate answer to the sin problem there are issues to be taken into account that are wider and larger than my personal salvation….For the larger picture—namely, for the eternal security of…[all] creation.,…God will also have provided a far-reaching answer that deals with the roots as well as the consequences of rebellion.” (Adventist Review, Nov. 30, 2000) There is something far more important than your salvation or mine, or the salvation of all those who live on this tiny Planet Earth.
“As it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.” (Rom.3:4) “The plan of salvation had yet a broader and deeper purpose than the salvation of man. It was not for this alone that Christ came to the earth; it was not merely that the inhabitants of this little world might regard the law of God as it should be regarded; but it was to vindicate the character of God before the universe.” (PP 68,69)
One of Satan’s charges is very legitimate and demands a clear answer. “The people of God have been in many respects very faulty. Satan has an accurate knowledge of the sins which he has tempted them to commit, and he presents these in the most exaggerated light, declaring, ‘Will God banish me and my angels from His presence, and yet reward those who have been guilty of the same sins? Thou canst not do this, O Lord, in justice. Thy throne will not stand in righteousness and judgment.” (5T 474) “He pronounces them just as deserving as himself of exclusion from the favor of God. ‘Are these,’ he says, ‘the people who are to take my place in heaven?’ (PK 588,589) In other words, he says that justice demands that if I am excluded from heaven, then all sinners must also be excluded; but if you can forgive them and take them to heaven, then you must take me back also.
GOD’S RESPONSE – PHASE 1
If God is going to vindicate His character and plan of at-one-ment, He has to resolve this problem of justice vs. mercy. Ps. 85:10 puts this issue clearly. “Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.” God takes the initiative in this all-out war. “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” (Gen. 3:15) This is the first promise of at-one-ment. In Satan’s attempt to dethrone God, his own efforts will destroy him.
God’s counterattack is seen most clearly in Phil. 2:6-8. “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” God’s response to Satan would not be the exercise of arbitrary force, but instead humbling Himself to take the same human form as those who have to live under Satan’s stolen control of power, and to allow Satan to attack Him in the same way he attacks all human beings.
The supreme evidence of the difference between God’s way and Satan’s way is seen in John 12:31-32.
“Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” God’s way is drawing, nor driving or forcing. God humbles Himself to man’s level of functioning and thinking, allowing Satan to do whatever he can to discredit God.
“And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.” (Luke 10:18) After living a life of total obedience to God in spite of Satan’s all-out efforts to lead Christ to rebel just once, Satan then takes it upon himself to take the life of His Creator, and the universe watches it all. “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” (Heb. 4:15,16)
Christ’s life and death was unfolding the law of God as the law of self-sacrificing love. Calvary is the supreme unfolding of the law of God. “The law of Jehovah is the tree; the gospel is the fragrant blossoms and fruit which it bears.” (1SM 212) God’s justice and fairness are the basis of all He does, and the fruit is at-one-ment. God refutes Satan’s lie that justice and mercy cannot coexist in harmony.
Christ showed that sinners could be safely taken to heaven, not just by being forgiven, but by developing characters in harmony with God’s law. In contrast, Satan wanted forgiveness without character change.
This is the sacrificial phase of the atonement process, and it is the heart of the entire plan of God to restore the universe to harmony. Do we fully understand how important this part of the at-one-ment is?
“The death of Christ upon the cross made sure the destruction of him who has the power of death….There will be no danger of another rebellion in the universe of God….It is through the efficacy of the cross that the angels of heaven are guarded from apostasy. Without the cross they would be no more secure against evil than were the angels before the fall of Satan. Angelic perfection failed in heaven. Human perfection failed in Eden, the paradise of bliss. All who wish for security in earth or heaven must look to the Lamb of God. The plan of salvation, making manifest the justice and love of God, provides an eternal safeguard against defection in unfallen worlds….Oh, we do not comprehend the value of the atonement! If we did, we would talk more about it.” (ST Dec. 30, 1889) But if God guaranteed the destruction of sin and Satan by the sacrifice of Christ, why didn’t He end the atoning process and the agony of sin and suffering immediately after the cross? Why has God allowed two thousand more years of Satan’s rule?
GOD’S RESPONSE – PHASE 2
“Yet Satan was not then destroyed. The angels did not even then understand all that was involved in the great controversy. The principles at stake were to be more fully revealed. And for the sake of man, Satan’s existence must be continued. Man as well as angels must see the contrast between the Prince of Light and the prince of darkness. He must choose whom he will serve.” (DA 761) If there is one thing we need to continually remind ourselves of, it is that God’s actions are never haphazard. He is never caught by surprise. If there has been a two thousand year delay, there must be a very good reason for it. It has to be part of His plan to make sure sin will never raise its ugly head again throughout all eternity. At the cross not all of Satan’s lawyer-like charges had been answered.
The angels still had some questions, and human beings still did not understand completely the contrast between Christ’s ways and Satan’s ways. More evidence on God’s side would be needed.
So we come to the next step in the atonement plan. “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.” (Heb. 4:14) “Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest forever after the order of Melchisedec.” (Heb. 6:20) “But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.” (Heb. 8:6) “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” (Heb. 7:25)
Jesus begins a new phase of the atonement process as our High Priest, who is able to legally forgive any human being who is willing to ask Him for a second chance. He is applying the benefits of His sacrifice to guilty sinners.
GOD’S RESPONSE – PHASE 3
There is still one nagging charge of Satan against God’s atonement plan, a charge which rears its head in each new generation born under Satan’s rulership of this world.
“Satan, the fallen angel, had declared that no man could keep the law of God after the disobedience of Adam. He claimed the whole race under his control.” (3SM 136) “Satan declared that it was impossible for the sons and daughters of Adam to keep the law of God, and thus charged upon God a lack of wisdom and love. If they could not keep the law, then there was fault with the Lawgiver.” (ST Jan. 16, 1896) Satan’s charge was clearly leveled against fallen man’s ability to keep God’s law.
“He (Christ) came to this world to…prove to the universe that in this world of sin human beings can live lives that God will approve….Satan declared that human beings could not live without sin.” (RH March 9, 1905) Note again that Satan’s charge relates to human beings in this world of sin. Part of Christ’s mission consisted in “revealing to the heavenly universe, to Satan, and to all the fallen sons and daughters of Adam that through His grace humanity can keep the law of God.” (MLT 323) Satan’s charge goes like this. Yes, Christ was totally obedient, as were a few rare human beings like Enoch, but what about 99.99% of those who have been forgiven? Are they totally obedient? They can’t obey 100% of the time because they have fallen natures, which make them incapable of keeping Your law. My influence over them is stronger than any grace You give them. All You can do is to keep on forgiving their continual sinning. No matter what You do, Jer. 50:20 will never be fulfilled. “In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found.” Neither will Ezek. 36:27,23 be fulfilled. “And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them….And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.” As long as forgiveness is all Your atonement plan can offer, my charge stands, and You will never be fully vindicated, because Your grace is insufficient to protect Your people from my power over them. Just show me any generation that have accepted Your forgiving grace and are covered with Your robe of righteousness who have stopped yielding to my deceptions. Where are any people who are keeping Your law 100% of the time? You just keep covering up their sins under the cloak of mercy and forgiveness. You haven’t defeated me yet.
The reality is that God has put Himself at great risk by forgiving sinners, because when we do the same things over and over again, and God has to forgive us countless times, it looks very much like obedience to God’s law really is impossible. But if it can ever be demonstrated, not by angels in a perfect environment, and not just by Enoch or Jesus or John or Paul, but by a host of garden variety sinners who must live in Satan’s world, harassed by a fallen nature and a lifetime of sinful habits, that forgiving grace leads directly to enabling grace, then God will have proved Satan wrong.
God’s plan of salvation really works. The only way it can be clearly seen what happens when God’s enabling grace has taken total control of God’s people is by setting aside a period of time after the close of probation in which the rules change. No longer is forgiving grace available. The whole universe will watch as our High Priest steps out of His role as Forgiver. Then they will see what will happen when only enabling grace will be offered from heaven.
Today we are still living during the time when forgiving grace and enabling grace work together, with some successes and some failures. But this epoch must come to an end. A demonstration must be made, and that is what the final atonement is all about. Satan’s most powerful attacks must be matched up against God’s enabling grace at a time when forgiveness is not an option. Is God’s grace more powerful than Satan’s deceptions? Will the future be safe from another rebellion?
The matter of greatest importance in the universe is not the salvation of men, important as that may seem. The most important thing is the clearing of God’s name from the false accusations made by Satan. The final atonement is Christ ministering His blood, no longer in forgiveness, but in enabling power—power for victory over sin—and it will be seen in our lives.
All of this was foreshadowed by the events during the Day of Atonement in the Old Testament. “For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the Lord.” (Lev. 16:30) Do we understand the full meaning of this day? It is called “making an atonement.” There had been sacrifices of atonement—forgiveness—all year long. This is something different. It is a cleansing atonement, with the end result being “clean from all your sins before the Lord.”
What does this Old Testament day teach us about our lives today? “We are in the great day of atonement and the sacred work of Christ for the people of God that is going on at the present time in the heavenly sanctuary, should be our constant study.” (5T 520)
Christ virtually says to Satan, “I will produce a people, through my grace, in the most degenerate age of earth’s history. I will separate them from sin completely. They will reflect the image of Jesus fully. I will step out of the sanctuary and they will live in the sight of a holy God without an Intercessor.” Such a people will be produced that will be the wonder of the whole universe. Through them Satan will be forever defeated, and every question that could be raised against the law of God, such as whether humanity could keep it, will be forever answered in that special people which Scripture calls the 144,000.
“And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat: And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness>” (Lev. 16:20,21)
After completing the work of cleansing the lives of the people, in type, the high priest then went into the first apartment, took up the sins, and went out and placed them upon the head of the scapegoat. Then a fit man, someone who was able, someone who was prepared, had to lead that scapegoat out into the wilderness. It is very doubtful that the fit man represented Christ. The high priest, representing Christ, completed the cleansing. After that a fit man was chosen out of the congregation to do one thing—to remove the scapegoat from the camp of Israel. No atonement was involved. It is much more plausible to understand that the fit man represents the 144,000.
In 1852 Ellen White recorded what she was shown about this dramatic scene. “I saw that Jesus’ work in the sanctuary will soon be finished. And after His work there is finished, He will come to the door of the first apartment, and confess the sins of Israel upon the head of the scapegoat….Then while the plagues are falling, the scapegoat is being led away. He makes a mighty struggle to escape, but he is held fast by the hand that leads him. If he should effect his escape, Israel would lose their lives. I saw that it would take time to lead away the scapegoat into the land of forgetfulness after the sins were put on his head.” (Spalding-Magan, p. 2)
The struggle to escape is Satan’s last attempt to prove that God’s plan doesn’t work. If he can get God’s sealed people to sin after Christ’s forgiving work has ended, then Israel would lose their lives, and Israel represents God’s faithful people, who are now called the 144,000. Notice that it takes some time to prove God’s case after the close of probation. The purpose of the time period after the close of probation is to give time for a final demonstration about who is telling the truth. God claims that His grace and power will enable a whole generation to live without sinning when Satan brings his greatest deceptions and persecutions to bear against the ones whom God has sealed. Satan claims that even God cannot keep all of this final generation from yielding just once to his influence and persuasion. Who is telling the truth? The universe needs to know.
Satan has full charge of the world and all the legions of darkness, and all the wicked join with him, which means that a whole vanguard comes against God’s people to overthrow them. But Satan is held fast. If Satan could lead just one of the 144,000 into sin—if he could lead one of them to choose to transgress the law of God in the least particular—he would triumph. Here is a people who, for the first time in earth’s history, have had all their sins blotted out, and have been sealed for eternity. God can say, in the hearing of the whole universe, “Here is a people who have been completely separated from sin, and I promise that they will never go back into sin again.”
It is a desperate struggle between Jesus and Satan. Once it was a struggle between Jesus and Satan personally. During the time of the plagues it is again a struggle between Jesus and Satan, but this time it is Jesus fully lived out in the lives of the 144,000. By the mere fact that they do not fall into sin, Satan is defeated, his cause is lost, and he is held fast.
WHAT IS AT STAKE
Throughout the Bible, God makes it very clear that nothing is more important in all the universe than to have His reputation cleared and His name honored. And that is exactly what John is telling us in Revelation 7. Jesus will not return until God has a people who make guarding the name of God the most important purpose of their lives.
Revelation 7 opens with these words: “And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.” (Rev. 7:1-3)
Why is God holding back these last-day winds of terror and destruction? Why? Because God’s people are not ready. Hold back the east wind of human madness. Why? God’s people haven’t caught on yet about the purpose of the gospel. Hold back the west wind of satanic fury until God’s people are ready to carry out their last assignment. Hold the winds until God’s people are ready to be sealed.
Down here in the days of the held winds God is telling the universe when He writes His name in the foreheads of His faithful ones, “Listen to them. You can trust what they say. I can give them my seal of approval. The quality goes in before my name goes on.” So what is this seal that makes Satan so angry?
“Just as soon as the people of God are sealed in their foreheads—it is not any seal or mark that can be seen, but a settling into the truth, both intellectually and spiritually, so they cannot be moved—just as soon as God’s people are sealed and ready for the shaking, it will come.” (LDE 219) There is a remarkable statement in Heb. 11:39,40. “And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.” This chapter enumerates the heroes of faith all down through earth’s history, and it says that they will not receive the promise of immortality until something dramatic happens in the generation who will be alive when Christ comes. The amazing truth is that there could be no resurrection of the righteous dead without the development of the 144,000. Not until that is done can the work be finished, and that work, simply put, is to finish with sin.
During the past thirty years we have heard much about Christ’s work in the heavenly sanctuary since 1844. We have reviewed the prophetic evidence upon which the confidence of our Adventist pioneers was based, and we have found it to be sound. But there has been a deafening silence about the cleansing work in our hearts corresponding to the cleansing work in heaven. The heavenly sanctuary cannot be cleansed from sin until our hearts are cleansed from sin. The great cleansing in God’s heavenly sanctuary cannot be completed until the work of final atonement is completed in my heart and yours. It is only when the final atonement shows that God can stop the flow of sins from our hearts that God can justly remove our sins from the sanctuary above. The blotting out of sins in my life will be followed by the blotting out of sins in the heavenly sanctuary. Only in that way can Satan’s charges be effectively answered.
Ellen White puts it very succinctly: “There must be a purifying of the soul here upon the earth, in harmony with Christ’s cleansing of the sanctuary in heaven.” (Mar 249} This is the time for us to make sure that all sin is really cleansed from our hearts. This is the time for us to show the world how God’s government really operates.
The Day of Atonement and the Final Atonement is the reason for our existence as Seventh-day Adventists. God’s name is in jeopardy until He can demonstrate that His grace can produce people who will love Him completely, all of the time, with no questions or reservations, and no quibbling or rationalizing. They just love Him, because He first loved them. And they will prove, once and for all, that love always produces obedience, and for once, this love and obedience will be continuous.
Satan is fighting very hard to remove this concept from the minds of every Seventh-day Adventist, because if he can destroy this concept, he can nullify God’s calling of this people one hundred fifty years ago, and he can delay the coming of Christ much longer. Will you defy him and make the final atonement the focus of your study, and the unifying core of everything you do from now until the second coming of Christ?
We will conclude this study with the thoughts of one whom God called to help Him complete the final atonement over one hundred years ago—A. T. Jones. “The finishing of the mystery of God is the ending of the work of the gospel,…the taking away of all vestige of sin and the bringing in of everlasting righteousness—Christ fully formed—within each believer, God alone manifest in the flesh of each believer in Jesus.” (The Consecrated Way, p. 117)
Only in this way can Gen. 3:15 be completely fulfilled. The chosen Seed will bruise the serpent’s head.
The plan of at-one-ment will be completed. God’s people will be completely at-one with God for the rest of eternity. Every phase of the atonement is vital, from the sacrificial lamb in the Garden of Eden to the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, to the development of the fit man for the close of human probation. Lord Jesus, may it be soon.
Jesus is talking to the seventy disciples who had just come back from their missionary tour. "And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven." (Luke 10:18) When did this happen? Of course we answer quickly, When he sinned and got kicked out of heaven.
Here's the passage we usually think of. "And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him." (Revelation 12:7-9) But notice that when we make this connection, we are actually equating two different phrases. Jesus said that Satan "fell," but in Revelation 12 it says he was "cast out." So perhaps these verses are referring to different events.
Notice what Jesus said in this verse. "Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out." (John 12:31) This was just before the crucifixion, when Satan would again be "cast out." Does that mean that Revelation 12 is really talking about the crucifixion as well as Satan being cast out of heaven in the beginning?
Here is how Ellen White uses Revelation 12. "Christ bowed His head and died....'And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.'" (DA 761) Why is Ellen White quoting that verse when she's talking about the crucifixion? Is it because the second casting down is more important than the first casting out? The first casting out was just an exile from heaven. The second casting out was a loss of Satan's credibility, which is what the great controversy is all about.
We need some more clarification. "After the crucifixion, [Satan] saw that he had overreached himself....Satan saw that his disguise was torn away, that the character he had tried to fasten on Christ was fastened on himself. It was as if he had the second time fallen from heaven." (12 MR 411) This is definitely at the cross. It's like there is something about these two events—the fall of Satan from heaven and the death of Christ on the cross—that is so similar that inspired writers seem to put them all together.
Actually, Ellen White sometimes make the linkage even stronger. "God...looked upon the victim expiring on the cross, and said, 'It is finished. The human race shall have another trial.' The redemption price was paid, and Satan fell like lightning from heaven." (YI June 21, 1900) So there we have stages one and two in Satan's fall.
Let's move on to stage three. "The accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time." (Revelation 12:10-12) This does look familiar, doesn't it? And it really is stage three.
Let's focus on a few details. The accuser of the brethren was "cast down" at the death of Christ. Now a new group is introduced. There is a group of people who have beaten the devil, placing their lives at risk in the process. Because they overcame, the heavens and everyone who lives there can rejoice. But these events appear to be bad news for all those who live in the wrong place—the earth—because the devil is running out of time and he's really angry.
When does all this come together? Of course, at the end of time. "'Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.' Fearful are the scenes which call forth this exclamation from the heavenly voice. The wrath of Satan increases as his time grows short, and his work of deceit and destruction will reach its culmination in the time of trouble." (GC 623)
So this passage in Revelation 12 is really talking about three different episodes. We've got the fall of Satan, about 6,000 years ago; the crucifixion, about 2,000 years ago; and the time of trouble, in our near future. What do these three events have in common?
"Satan...is an accuser of the brethren, and his accusing power is employed against those who work righteousness. The Lord desires through His people to answer Satan's charges by showing the results of obedience to right principles." (COL 296) These three events are all based on Satan's accusations against Christ.
So how will Satan's accusations be answered? "The completeness of Christian character is attained when the impulse to help and bless others springs constantly from within. It is the atmosphere of this love surrounding the soul of the believer that makes him a savor of life unto life." (AA 551) Answering Satan's charges involves more than pure doctrine. Far more important are the lives God's people live.
In Desire of Ages, page 490, four stages are put together in one passage. "Like the apostles, the seventy had received supernatural endowments as a seal of their mission. When their work was completed, they returned with joy, saying, 'Lord, even the devils are subject to us through thy name.' Jesus answered, 'I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.' (Obviously, we are reviewing stage two) The scenes of the past and the future were presented to the mind of Jesus. He beheld Lucifer as he was first cast out from the heavenly places. (This is stage one) He looked forward to the scenes of His own agony, when before all the worlds the character of the deceiver should be unveiled. He heard the cry, 'It is finished,' announcing that the redemption of the lost race was forever made certain, that heaven was made eternally secure against the accusations, the deceptions, the pretensions, that Satan would instigate. (This is the near future for Jesus, which is stage two) Beyond the cross of Calvary, with its agony and shame, Jesus looked forward to the great final day, when the prince of the power of the air will meet his destruction in the earth so long marred by his rebellion. Jesus beheld the work of evil forever ended, and the peace of God filling heaven and earth. (This is stage four, the final destruction of sin and Satan, his last fall from heaven) Henceforward Christ's followers were to look upon Satan as a conquered foe. Upon the cross, Jesus was to gain the victory for them; that victory He desired them to accept as their own." (This is stage three, not as detailed as the others, but still there)
Stage one (6,000 years ago) – The members of the Godhead understood Satan's plans and arguments, and rejected them.
Stage two (2,000 years ago) – Angels and unfallen worlds understood Satan's plans and arguments, and rejected them.
Stage three (near future) – The 144,000 will understand Satan's plans and arguments, and will reject them.
Stage four (1,000 years later) – The wicked will understand Satan's plans and arguments, and will reject them.
So there's the fall of Satan. Naturally it's easier to understand the first two stages, since they've already happened. But it's stage three that should most interest us, since we actually have a chance to do something about that one. At the very least we should be working on it. ( In passing, notice that the righteous dead are missing from the list above. We'll come back to them shortly.)
Stage Three
We will start with a familiar verse. "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." (Matthew 24:14) Everyone is familiar with this sequence. But is there a reason for this order of events? It is a common assumption that the gospel must go to all the world before the end can come. This assumption is correct, but why? It isn't so everyone will have a chance to be saved. Billions of people have already died without hearing the gospel. A number of inspired passages tell us that even the "unenlightened heathen" can be saved. (Zechariah 13:6; Romans 2:13-15; DA 638; SD 364; COL 385) It looks like God has a way of dealing with that problem.
So why does "this gospel" need to go to all the world? More importantly, which gospel is "this gospel"? If the pope could preach an evangelistic series that was broadcast to every person on earth, would the end come? How about Benny Hinn, or Pat Robertson, or James Dobson, or Joel Osteen? What about Ted Wilson, or Dwight Nelson, or Doug Batchelor, or Mark Finley? The point is, "this gospel" must be the true gospel. It has to be complete, mature, and powerful enough to bring on the end. That is the "gospel of the kingdom." To whatever extent my gospel falls short of that, I will fall short of ever finishing God's work, no matter how much I do. In the Lord's service, quality is always more significant than quantity. Our failure to master the science of salvation is the greatest cause for the delay of the end of time.
Scripture talks about that delay in the Lord's plans. "And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel." (Revelation 7:1-4) So what is holding things up? It is the sealing that is holding up God's plans. By the way, it is also holding Satan up. He started falling a long time ago, and he should have hit the rocks by now. It's only because we aren't ready for the sealing, that he's still sort of floating around in mid-air.
But why can't God's plans go forward without the sealing? What makes it necessary? What does it accomplish? Let us look at another verse. "To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God." (Ephesians 3:10) Notice that it says "by the church." Somehow the church will provide a demonstration of "the manifold wisdom of God" that is so different from anything else that has ever been seen, that "the principalities and powers in heavenly places" will learn something new. And that demonstration is to be made through the sealing. So now we can say that it is the need for the demonstration of the wisdom of God that comes through the sealing of the 144,000 that is holding things up.
So what is this wisdom of God? We will ask four questions about this specific part of God's wisdom that is to be demonstrated to the principalities and powers in heavenly places by the church. 1. What plans are being held up? 2. What wisdom of God could possibly require demonstration? 3. What specifics need to be demonstrated? 4. Can the sealing demonstrate what is needed?
What plans are being held up? Obviously it is God's plans for the end of time that is to come after the gospel goes to all the world. In other words, everything from the sealing on. This includes the close of probation, the time of Jacob's trouble, the second coming, the reward of the righteous, and the destruction of the wicked.
What wisdom of God could possibly require demonstration? Remember, this is for the benefit of the principalities and powers in heavenly places. That's a loyal audience. Don't they trust Him? It is the last two items that need clarification—the reward of the righteous and the destruction of the wicked. Satan has been complaining about God's plans on these two issues for several thousand years. And the unfallen inhabitants of the heavenly places have a stake here as well. Angels have good reasons to make sure that God's plans don't endanger heaven and don't execute the wicked unfairly.
What specifics need to be demonstrated? Suppose a teacher gave a math test and everyone flunked. But suppose the teacher announced later that seven students would get passing grades anyway. You would want to know what made those seven different, wouldn't you? And if the teacher said, "It's because they have blue eyes," you wouldn't think it was fair, especially if you didn't have blue eyes! The problem is that blue eyes have nothing to do with math tests. That's just not a good reason. Well, what would be a good reason? Maybe if the class studied the lesson again, and then took another test. If the seven students showed that they had learned how to do the math, it would make more sense. But does that second test guarantee that they will never again mess up another math question? Is that reason really any better than blue eyes? So, does it sound like a good idea to take people to heaven. Even people who have passed a second test? What a risk! And what about those who failed twice? What if the teacher gave them another chance? How many chances should someone get before the teacher says, "I give up. This student is hopeless."? The situation is much more serious when the consequence isn't just a failing grade—it's eternal death.
So we must look at our question more carefully. What specifics need to be demonstrated? To justify His government's rulings on the reward of the righteous and the destruction of the wicked, God needs to do three things. 1. He must show that there is a good reason some are lost and some are saved. This is necessary to counter Satan's claim that because God's people have sinned, they are no more entitled to salvation than he is. Or better yet, he deserves salvation just as much as they do. 2. He must show that the people He wants to take to heaven are safe to have there. This allays the concern of the unfallen inhabitants of the universe about taking people like you and me to heaven. The righteous need to be completely safe to save. 3. He must show that there is nothing more that even God could do to help the wicked. This establishes God's love and justice as being entirely compatible. The wicked need to be completely irredeemable.
Can the sealing demonstrate what is needed? This is our fourth and most important question. We all know some basic information about the sealing. The seal of God is contrasted with the mark of the beast. A seal—an official sign of authority—gives the essential information (usually the name, title, and jurisdiction) of the individual, organization, or government which it represents. This information is found in the Sabbath commandment: Name—Lord; Title—Creator; Jurisdiction—Heaven and earth. The mark of the beast is readily identified as the claim to have changed the Sabbath to Sunday. The sealing is "a settling into the truth...so they cannot be moved." (The Faith I Live By, p. 287)
So we know that the Sabbath is the seal of God's government, and that determined opposition to God's authority by the exaltation of Sunday is the mark of the beast. When God's people settle into the truth intellectually and spiritually so that nothing can move them, they will receive the seal of God. We also know that the seal of God is placed in the foreheads of the 144,000 before the close of probation, and the close of probation marks the end of Christ's work in the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary. Sometimes we think of the seal of God as some sort of heavenly diploma after we pass the final test. But the reality is that the seal is given before the final test. Teachers don't do that. You don't hand out diplomas before you know whether or not the student has passed the final test. So what's going on here?
We also know that the conflict between the observance of the Sabbath and the mark of the beast reaches its peak during the time of Jacob's trouble, when those resisting the combined religious/political authority of the world are condemned to death. This is clearly after the close of probation. Perhaps we need to look more closely at Jacob and this "trouble." "For thus saith the Lord; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness? Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it." (Jeremiah 30:5-7) Jeremiah is clearly referring to the story of Jacob's night of wrestling by the Jabbok.
We know the story. Jacob is returning home after his twenty year absence when he gets word that his brother Esau is coming with 400 armed men. Realizing that his only hope is God, he spends the night praying. At midnight someone attacks him. "And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. And he said,...as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed." (Genesis 32:24-28)
Please note that the One Jacob has been praying to is the same One he has been fighting. What does Jacob believe? That God loves him and wishes him well, or that God hates him and wants him dead? It's faith versus sight (and feeling and hearing and smelling and the taste of blood). Which is stronger? This is the basic test of the time of Jacob's trouble.
Jacob is not the only illustration of this test? Under extraordinarily difficult circumstances, when to Job it seemed that God was out to kill him, still he maintained his trust and loyalty, when he said, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him." (Job 13:15) It is important to note that this whole test was Satan's idea, and God went along with it. Lest anyone think that this was an insignificant event, remember that it cost the lives of about 100 people to set up this test for Job.
But the ultimate example is Jesus. "And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying,...My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Mark 15:34) Jesus was willing to complete the plan of redemption even when it seemed that His Father had deserted him completely.
What makes the test of the 144,000 after the close of probation special? Millions have faced death for their faith. What is the difference here? This is not the normal test of martyrdom, because at this time—with no High Priest to intercede in the heavenly sanctuary—the 144,000 feel no sense of God's abiding presence. Every sensory input tells them that God is their enemy. "Those who live in the last days must pass through an experience similar to that of Jacob. Foes will be all around them, ready to condemn and destroy. Alarm and despair will seize them, for it appears to them as to Jacob in his distress, that God Himself has become an avenging enemy." (Signs of the Times, Nov. 27, 1879)
After making every sacrifice imaginable to remain true to God's government, facing imminent death because they refuse to disobey His commandment, with no possible hope in anything but God, that's when God seems more like an enemy than a helper. DO THEY STILL TRUST HIM? Why such a test? Because it has to be the absolute most difficult test of faith possible ever, under any circumstances. Nothing less can show that they trust God so much that they will do His will even when it doesn't make sense to them. Nothing less can show that they are "saved enough" to be safe in heaven.
Before we continue, we must digress to look at the end of this test. "Dangers thicken on every side, and it is difficult to fix the eye of faith upon the promises amidst the certain evidences of immediate destruction. But in the midst of revelry and violence, there falls upon the ear peal upon peal of the loudest thunder....God utters His voice from His holy habitation. The captivity of His people is turned. With sweet and subdued voices they say to one another, 'God is our friend.'" (Signs of the Times, Nov. 27, 1879) The hardest test of all time can be passed by anyone who has learned that "Jesus loves me, this I know."
So, what does this test show? By placing His seal on the 144,000 before this most difficult of all tests, God provides convincing evidence that He can correctly identify those who are safe to let into heaven. The seal is not a diploma! It is a demonstration of God's wisdom that helps His loyal subjects feel more comfortable with people like you and me. But it does more.
Because everyone on earth at this time is familiar with "this gospel," and only those who have faith pass the test, and all those who have faith pass the test, this test shows that faith is necessary for salvation, and faith plus a knowledge of "this gospel" is sufficient for complete obedience. This is why the gospel has to go to all the world. This test can't be carried out properly without simplifying the situation down to a single variable. Only when the question of knowledge is standardized can the role of faith be clearly seen. It's a little like working on a car. You don't do a major engine overhaul and switch gasoline brands at the same time. You wouldn't know which change solved the problem. You must stick with one variable.
And why is all this important? Aside from proving that the 144,000 are safe to let into heaven, this demonstration just happens to be exactly what is needed to take care of the one group of people who got left out of the four stages of Satan's fall—the righteous dead. Let's use a great hero to illustrate this. Martin Luther didn't keep the Sabbath. He was all confused on infant baptism. He lived on roast beast, sauerkraut, and beer. He was not the most patient of individuals. But he had faith. Now Jesus says, "I can teach Martin Luther the details of 'this gospel' when I get him to heaven. But the investigative judgment has already found that he had true faith. Is it alright with everyone if I take him home with Me?" And there won't be a single voice raised in objection, because righteousness really is by faith. Martin Luther's faith allows him to be saved with an incomplete knowledge of God and His plan of redemption, but something more is necessary before Satan's arguments can be cast down.
What is the final test really for? "All heaven is waiting to hear us vindicate God's law." (Review and Herald, April 16, 1901) "If there was ever a people in need of constantly increasing light from heaven, it is the people that, in this time of peril, God has called...to vindicate His character before the world." (Testimonies, vol. 5, p. 746) "The honor of the law of God is to be vindicated before the unfallen worlds, before the heavenly universe, and before the fallen world." (Ye Shall Receive Power, p. 338)
The final test is not about my salvation, but about the vindication of God's law and His character (which are exactly the same). It is God Who is really being examined here. Is God's way really a foolproof way to preserve the universe? Notice the future direction of these statements. This is not about Stage 2 and what happened at the cross. This is about "us" and "the people" that live at the end of time. Notice also that this vindication demands "increasing light from heaven" because God can only be vindicated by pure truth, never by honest untruths about His law and character. Martin Luther lived in a time of limited light and thus could not vindicate God. Martin Luther's faith was sufficient to save him, but insufficient for the final vindication of God and the defeat of Satan.
This last test is not really about our salvation, although that is involved. It is to answer all remaining questions on all levels, fallen and unfallen. The remnant of Revelation 12 was not called into existence to repeat the mission of Martin Luther or John Wesley or Billy Graham. It was called to vindicate God's way of accepting and rejecting sinful men and women. Is God's way fair to all and will it protect the universe from repeating the whole sorry mess?
The test shows that God is fair in saving people with limited "light" on the basis of their faith. The sealed final generation shows that true faith will lead to obedience to complete "light" when it is available. Therefore, those who died with limited "light" will not jeopardize the safety of the universe, because their genuine faith will always respond in obedience to "new light."
The ultimate mission of the last prophetic church is not to be saved or even to lead others to salvation, although both of these goals will be accomplished by them, but to annihilate Satan's last remaining arguments against God, His character, His law, and His method of saving sinners. We are here as God's final piece of evidence necessary to end the experiment of sin and preserve the universe from any similar experiments in the future.
Stage Four
After a thorough examination of the books of record to answer every question about why this one or that one is not among the redeemed, the time has come to finish sin and sinners forever. We know the story. After 1000 years Jesus descends on the Mount of Olives. The earth splits to create a great plain, and the New Jerusalem comes to rest. Soon the wicked are raised to life. After a period of unknown duration during which they
prepare their weapons and organize their forces, they are ready to attack the city.
"At last the order to advance is given, and the countless host moves on—an army such as was never summoned by earthly conquerors, such as the combined forces of all ages since war began on earth could never equal. Satan, the mightiest of warriors, leads the van, and his angels unite the forces for this final struggle. Kings and warriors are in his train, and the multitudes follow in vast companies, each under its appointed leader. With military precision the serried ranks advance over the earth's broken and uneven surface to the City of God. By command of Jesus, the gates of the New Jerusalem are closed, and the armies of Satan surround the city and make ready for the onset." (GC 664)
Up to this point, I don't know of any means by which God has shown the universe that it is absolutely impossible to reclaim those who have rejected faith. What about the little old lady down the street who grew pretty roses, and gave cookies to the neighborhood children, but never accepted Christ? Isn't there some way to reach her? Just on more chance? Wouldn't you ask? Wouldn't Jesus—the One who is "the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Heb. 13:8); the One who said, "[whoever] comes to Me I will by no means cast out" (John 6:37); the One who has "no pleasure in the death of the wicked" (Ezek. 33:11) — wouldn't Jesus let a repentant and trusting sinner in?
So one more thing needs to be revealed. "As soon as the books of record are opened, and the eye of Jesus looks upon the wicked, they are conscious of every sin which they have ever committed. They see just where their feet diverged from the path of purity and holiness, just how far pride and rebellion have carried them in the violation of the law of God. The seductive temptations which they encouraged by indulgence in sin, the blessings perverted, the messengers of God despised, the warnings rejected, the waves of mercy beaten back by the stubborn, unrepentant heart—all appear as if written in letters of fire. Above the throne is revealed the cross; and like a panoramic view appear the scenes of Adam's temptation and fall, and the successive steps in the great plan of redemption." (GC 666)
In this great panorama in the sky, every individual will see what God did to save them and what they did to reject His love. "It is now evident to all that the wages of sin is not noble independence and eternal life, but slavery, ruin, and death....All see that their exclusion from heaven is just....Those who have united with [Satan] see the total failure of his cause....Satan sees that his voluntary rebellion has unfitted him for heaven....His accusations against the mercy and justice of God are now silenced....And now Satan bows down and confesses the justice of his sentence....Every question of truth and error in the long-standing controversy has now been made plain....God's wisdom, His justice, and His goodness stand fully vindicated." (GC 668-670)
In all that multitude outside the city, not one can be found who has faith in God's love. As the faithful 144,000 pass the hardest of all tests and show the power of faith, so the faithless wicked fail the test and show their total depravity. Now the entire unfallen universe knows that there is nothing more that even God Himself can do to save them. More time will not help. Miracles will not help. Additional demonstrations of love and patience will not help.
"Notwithstanding that Satan has been constrained to acknowledge God's justice and to bow to the supremacy of Christ, his character remains unchanged. The spirit of rebellion, like a mighty torrent, again bursts forth....He rushes into the midst of his subjects and endeavors to inspire them with his own fury and arouse them to instant battle. But of all the countless millions whom he has allured into rebellion, there are none now to acknowledge his supremacy. His power is at an end." (GC 671)
With this evidence before them, every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess the justice and righteousness of God. Now, finally, all that must be demonstrated has been shown. It is time to end the conflict forever. With the storyline clearly laid out before us, the only thing left is for us to make a choice. "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. Surely, shall one say, in the Lord have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed." (Isaiah 45:22-24)
God has told us what to expect. It shouldn't be a mystery for anyone who reads the Bible. The only real question is, Do we have faith enough to obey? Do we trust God without questioning? Will we be on the inside of that city?
[Much thanks is due to Dave Fiedler, who put this presentation together, and graciously allowed others to use and adapt it. It is his hope and mine that this story will motivate and unite those who are waiting for Christ's return to take a proactive role in causing that return to be sooner rather than later.]
The greatest trial in history was brewing. The most majestic created being was filing suit against his perfect Creator-God. Lucifer, son of the morning, allowed his mind to become filled with pride because of his superior beauty, ability, and position. After all, Lucifer was the five-star general of the angelic host.
We are going to look through some inspired windows to understand what actually transpired before sin ever came down to this earth.
But when God said to His Son, "Let us make man in our image," Satan was jealous of Jesus. He wished to be consulted concerning the formation of man, and because he was not, he was filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred. (EW 145-146)
The first thing we learn about this challenge to God's authority is that the tipping point came over God's plan to create the human family. Thus our existence and Satan's rebellion were tied closely together.
He complained of the supposed defects in the management of heavenly things, and sought to fill the minds of the angels with his disaffection....Thus the seeds of alienation were planted, afterward to be drawn out and presented before the heavenly courts as originating, not with Satan, but with the angels....In secret he whispered his disaffection to the angels…A word here and a word there opened the way for a long list of suppositions. In his artful way he drew expressions of doubt from them. Then, when he was interviewed, he accused those whom he had educated. He laid all the disaffection on the ones he had led....The Lord saw the use Satan was making of his powers, and he set before him truth in contrast with falsehood. Time and time again during the controversy, Satan was ready to be convinced, ready to admit that he was wrong. But those he had deceived were also ready to accuse him of leaving them. What should he do? --submit to God, or continue in a course of deception? (RH Sept. 7, 1897)
This process had to take a fair amount of time to develop, and so we learn that nothing was done in haste as Satan and God moved ever closer to a showdown.
To curb this brewing palace-coup, the Father called an assembly of all the heavenly host, and explained that the Son had from all eternity been equal with Himself in omnipresence, in omniscience, in power and authority. Although Lucifer was convinced, and almost surrendered to Christ, his growing pride prevented him. In turn he assembled the angels and described how unjust it was for God to bar him from their secret councils. "As one aggrieved, he related the preference God had given Jesus to the neglect of himself." (SR 14) Lucifer finally declared that he would take the throne of Christ by force. With this threatening news, loyal angels rushed to inform Christ of Lucifer's plans.
They found the Father in conference with His beloved Son to determine the means by which, for the best good of the loyal angels, the assumed authority of Satan could be forever put down. The great God could at once have hurled this archdeceiver from heaven; but this was not His purpose. He would give the rebellious an equal chance to measure strength and might with His own Son and His loyal angels. In this battle every angel would choose his own side and be manifest to all....All the heavenly host were summoned to appear before the Father, to have each case determined. Satan unblushingly made known his dissatisfaction that Christ should be preferred before him. He stood up proudly and urged that he should be equal with God and should be taken into conference with the Father and understand His purposes....Then Satan exultingly pointed to his sympathizers, comprising nearly one-half of all the angels, and exclaimed, "These are with me! Will you expel these also, and make such a void in heaven?" He then declared that he was prepared to resist the authority of Christ and to defend his place in heaven by force of might, strength against strength. (SR 17-18)
This brings us to the first record of this challenge in the Scriptural record. "For thou has said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds: I will be like the most High." (Isa. 14: 13,14)
Then we read the distressing outcome of this rebellion. "And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angel fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him." (Rev. 12: 7-9)
What happened shortly after this is most significant, since it revealed the true character of Lucifer and that of Christ.
After Satan and those who fell with him were shut out of heaven, and he realized that he had forever lost all its purity and glory, he repented, and wished to be reinstated in heaven. He was willing to take his proper place, or any position that might be assigned him. But no; heaven must not be placed in jeopardy. All heaven might be marred should he be taken back; for sin originated with him, and the seeds of rebellion were within him. Both he and his followers wept, and implored to be taken back into the favor of God. (EW 146)
Here we have Satan repenting with weeping, and imploring God for mercy. Surely this should be enough for God to give him another chance.
Satan trembled as he viewed his work....Where is he? Is it not all a horrible dream? Is he shut out of heaven?...The loss he had sustained of all the privileges of heaven seemed too much to be borne. He wished to regain these....His mighty frame shook as with a tempest. An angel from heaven was passing. He called him and entreated an interview with Christ. This was granted him. He then related to the Son of God that he repented of his rebellion and wished again the favor of God. He was willing to take the place God had previously assigned him and be under His wise command. Christ wept at Satan's woe, but told him...that...the seeds of rebellion were still within him....When Satan became fully convinced that there was no possibility of his being reinstated in the favor of God, he manifested his malice with increased hatred and fiery vehemence. (SR 25-27)
What a dramatic demonstration of the difference between outward repentance even with weeping, and heart surrender with faith that God knows best. Satan was sorry because he had lost his privileges and his future, and he showed that his spirit had not changed as he expressed his hatred against God. If Satan was truly repentant, would he not have acknowledged to Christ that his I-centered spirit was completely contrary to Christ's others-centered spirit?
The Scene Shifts to Earth
Why did Satan next focus on getting Adam and Eve to sin? "If...God would make some provision whereby they might be pardoned,...then himself and all the fallen angels would be in a fair way to share with them of God's mercy." (SR 27) We must remember that Satan's desire to return to heaven is an important key to understanding the ensuing great controversy. With malice he anticipated the creation and seduction of Adam and Eve. He wanted to take advantage of any mercy God would give to them as sinners, for his own reinstatement back into heaven.
As we follow the drama, now played out on earth, we need to understand what the controversy is really all about.
Jan Paulsen said it well. "In God's final and ultimate answer to the sin problem there are issues to be taken into account that are wider and larger than my personal salvation....For the larger picture--namely, for the eternal security of...(all) creation,...God will also have provided a far-reaching answer that deals with the roots as well as the consequences of rebellion." (Adventist Review, Nov. 30, 2000)
The student...should gain a knowledge of its (the Bible's) grand central theme, of God's original purpose for the world, of the rise of the great controversy, and of the work of redemption. He should understand the nature of the two principles that are contending for supremacy, and should learn to trace their working through the records of history and prophecy, to the great consummation. He should see how this controversy enters into every phase of human experience; how in every act of life he himself reveals the one or the other of the two antagonistic motives; and how, whether he will or not, he is even now deciding upon which side of the controversy he will be found. (Ed 190)
You see, in a very real sense, God is on trial. For more than six thousand years He has been facing accusations, and the whole universe is watching to see how the drama will terminate. Will love, the foundation of His law and government, prove stronger than pride, self-exaltation, and competition against others? Romans 3:4 says, "You must win Your case when you are being tried." (Today's English Version)
Satan's charges against God are not easily resolved, because of his knowledge of God's fairness.
Satan has an accurate knowledge of the sins which he has tempted them to commit, and he presents these in the most exaggerated light, declaring, "Will God banish me and my angels from His presence, and yet reward those who have been guilty of the same sins? Thou canst not do this, O Lord, in justice. Thy throne will not stand in righteousness and judgment. Justice demands that sentence be pronounced against them." (5T 474)
Speaking cosmically, there is something far more important than your salvation or mine, or the salvation of all those who live in this tiny planet. From Romans 3:4 again, "So that you may be proved right in Your words and prevail in Your judging." (New International Version)
The plan of salvation had a broader and deeper purpose than the salvation of man. It was not for this alone that Christ came to the earth; it was not merely that the inhabitants of this little world might regard the law of God as it should be regarded; but it was to vindicate the character of God before the universe....The act of Christ in dying for the salvation of man would not only make heaven accessible to men, but before the universe it would justify God and His Son in their dealing with the rebellion of Satan. (PP 68,69)
Only in this way can Satan's plea for restoration to heaven be silenced.
How Will God Vindicate His Character?
The cross is a revelation to our dull senses of the pain that, from its very inception, sin has brought to the heart of God. Every departure from the right, every deed of cruelty, every failure of humanity to reach His ideal, brings grief to Him. (Ed 263)
Looking ahead to His coming death, Jesus said, "Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." (John 12: 31,32) The whole universe would be able to see the supreme example of the contrast between God's love and Satan's hatred.
When the disciples reported that they were able to cast out demons in the name of Jesus, He said, "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven." (Luke 10:18) This new fall of Satan from power and the sympathy of heavenly beings was far more important than his original fall described in Revelation 12. Now he was losing credibility in his accusations against God and Christ.
However, an inordinate preoccupation with the cross is a distortion of the gospel. The true Christian cross is not a crucifix on which Jesus still hangs. The true Christian cross is empty. He is not there; He is risen. The empty cross is a symbol of the risen Lord. Faith takes us not only to the cross but through the cross to the living Lord, to whom all power in heaven and on earth has been given, and against whom the gates of hell shall not prevail.
"Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession." (Heb. 4:14) "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Heb. 12:2)
Christ lives today and is seated at the right hand of God. This is good news! This is also the gospel. Without the resurrection the cross would only memorialize a wasteful martyrdom.
Although by crucifying the perfect Son of God, Satan had signed his own death warrant, and had uprooted himself from the sympathies of the heavenly beings, "yet Satan was not then destroyed. The angels did not even then understand all that was involved in the great controversy. The principles at stake were to be more fully revealed. And for the sake of man, Satan's existence must be continued. Man as well as angels must see the contrast between the Prince of Light and the prince of darkness. He must choose whom he will serve." (DA 761)
The Final Generation
Throughout the Bible, God makes it very clear that nothing is more important for all the universe than to have His reputation cleared and His name honored. And that is exactly what John is telling us in Revelation 7. Jesus will not return until God has a people who make guarding the name of God the most important purpose of their lives.
John saw four angels holding back the winds of destruction for a very specific purpose. "And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads." (Rev. 7: 2,3)
Why is God holding back these last-day winds of terror and destruction? God's people are not yet ready! God is saying, "Hold back the east wind of human madness. My people haven't caught on yet as to the purpose of the gospel. Hold back the west wind of satanic fury until my people are ready to carry out their last assignment. Hold the winds until my people are ready to be sealed. Hold the winds until my people are ready for me to use them in my final message to earth's last generation."
Down here in the days of the held winds, God is telling the universe when He writes His name in the foreheads of His faithful ones, "Listen to them. You can trust what they say. I can give them my seal of approval. The quality goes in before my name goes on." What could be more wonderful than to have our heavenly Father write His name across our foreheads? By that signature God is saying, "Here are people who have let my Holy Spirit do His work; people who indeed reflect my glory. I am not embarrassed by how they represent me, and they have my seal of approval."
What is this seal of God that makes Satan angry? "Just as soon as the people of God are sealed in their foreheads--it is not any seal or mark that can be seen, but a settling into the truth, both intellectually and spiritually, so they cannot be moved--just as soon as God's people are sealed and ready for the shaking, it will come." (Mar 200)
This is the time when angels and all the unfallen universe are judging whether God is fair in His judgments about the men and women that He is sealing. He will seal them through a gospel of unlimited grace--grace that is powerful enough to overcome all inherited and cultivated tendencies to sin.
To prevent this sealing work, Satan offers some very attractive gospels of his own. He says, "Exalt the law as being so high above human attainment that no man or woman could ever hope to keep it, but don't worry, you don't have to keep the commandments, because Jesus kept the law for you."
He says, "You can't keep the commandments because you were born a sinner; you live in sinful flesh and you will always be falling short. But don't worry, as long as you are sorry for your sins, that is all the Lord requires. God looks at Jesus' record in the judgment and not yours."
He says, "You shouldn't try to keep the commandments, because if you do, you will be a legalist. The main thing is to have a relationship with Jesus."
Of course, you recognize some half-truths in these attractive deceptions. But when you are told that it is either unnecessary or impossible to be overcomers, remember that somebody called Satan is redefining and confusing the plan of salvation. And John calls this deception the wine of Babylon.
Satan hates the everlasting gospel because the purpose of the gospel is to reproduce the character of Jesus, which just drives Satan furious. He is furious when people see through his false gospels, which are really a new legalism. When men and women think they can be saved by believing in a legal adjustment on the books of heaven without a character adjustment on earth, and then calling this righteousness by faith, then you know you are listening to the new legalism.
Can anyone imagine what it will be like when men and women wake up in the second resurrection screaming at their pastors and teachers, "You told me that grace covered my sins and that character did not count." Or, "You told me that my assurance of salvation was in believing that Jesus died for me and that I could not add anything to what He did." Or, "You told me that faith plus nothing was the way to avoid legalism." Or, "You told me that any attempt to add obedience to faith would be legalism." Or, "You told me that Ellen White had no theological authority."
Let us not be distracted with limited gospels straight out of Babylon. Limit not the Holy One of Israel. Give Him a chance. The good news is that Jesus changes people so that they can be sealed with His Father's approval. The faith of Jesus is the same kind of faith that kept Jesus from sinning. And all heaven is waiting to seal that kind of person in these last days before the wind blows, before this world becomes a madhouse.
How Does This Apply to Us?
If we are to be a sealable people, we must have an attitude adjustment. "The Lord has no place in His work for those who have a greater desire to win the crown than to bear the cross. He wants men who are more intent upon doing their duty than upon receiving their reward--men who are more solicitous for principle than for promotion." (MH 476,477)
Ellen White characterizes the popular gospel as "a way of escape from suffering rather than as a deliverance from sin." (COL 47) Lucifer wanted to be reinstated to the privileges of heaven without the character of heaven. Are we looking at heaven as an escape from a difficult world or as final freedom from our own selfishness?
A prisoner looks out of his cell window upon a beautiful park where his family and Jesus are waiting. The prisoner merely wishes to escape his restraints and have fun with his family. But Jesus and His family are hoping that we prisoners will desire godly fellowship enough to separate ourselves from the sins which hurt and imprisoned us in the first place. Christ wishes not merely to rescue us from the strife and suffering which our sins bring, but to rescue us from the selfish, impatient and deceptive dispositions which cause our bondage.
It is true that we need to be concerned about our character development. We do need to be concerned about our need for Christ's righteous lifestyle in order to be saved. But do we not also need to define Christ's gospel unselfishly, in the light of how our loving, cheerful obedience brings happiness and honor to God and to others? We tend to look at salvation focusing only on our own happiness and salvation. What we need is to see the broader and long-range picture--from eternity past to eternity future.
The great controversy between Christ and Satan puts those of us who are living in these last days on center stage as God's star witnesses, defending His justice for giving us mercy and an opportunity to learn and live like Christ. Should not the perfect inhabitants of heaven be given an opportunity to declare whom they would feel comfortable having as their neighbors throughout eternity? The underlying question which God places before the entire universe is this: "Is there sufficient power in Christ's gospel of the kingdom to cleanse teams of people from all unrighteousness?"
The nagging question remains--will Jeremiah 50: 20 ever be fulfilled? "In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found."
Just how important is God's last remnant to His eternal purpose? "In order to destroy sin and its results, He gave His best Beloved, and He has put it in our power, through co-operation with Him, to bring this scene of misery to an end." (Ed 264) What an incredible promise, and a revelation of how important we are to the fulfillment of God's plans.
Satan knows how much is riding on the success of the final generation, and he will not go quietly into the night. "While the plagues are falling, the scapegoat is being led away. He makes a mighty struggle to escape, but he is held fast by the hand that leads him. If he should effect his escape, Israel would lose their lives. I saw that it would take time to lead away the scapegoat into the land of forgetfulness after the sins were put on his head." (Spalding-Magan, p. 2)
The Last Chapter
The wicked are brought back to life. Seeing the vast multitude of his followers, Satan recovers from the hopelessness that he suffered during the millennium.
At the critical moment, high above the city, appears the throne of God, and like a panoramic view, all will see in detail the history of Satan's rebellion in heaven and the whole sad six thousand years of human misery. Each one, human and demonic, will see his or her own part in the great drama. Each one will see the infinite mercy and justice of God.
Lucifer and his angels resisted every effort of God and the loyal angels as they urged them to change their minds. The rebels knowingly chose the side of rebellion and decided to brave the consequences. At the end of the thousand years, of those within or outside the city, not even one would choose to change sides. The ones outside covet the wealth and splendor of the city of God, but they could not endure the atmosphere of holiness and love found inside. Heaven would be hell to them.
It is now that "Satan bows down and confesses the justice of his sentence." (Mar 345) In full view of the panoramic evidence, he is compelled to proclaim that God has given him every advantage. God has given him all the talented humans he could deceive--all the healthy, wealthy, wise, powerful, skilled, handsome and beautiful he could employ--and they have all turned against him. Furthermore, Satan will be compelled to acknowledge that God maintained the very slimmest army possible--the weak, the ignorant, the unaccredited, the untitled and unknown, the poor, the unattractive--and with these leftover scraps He overcame all the hosts of evil.
Paul sums it up. "But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are." (1 Cor. 1:27,28)
"Satan sees that his voluntary rebellion has unfitted him for heaven." (Mar 345) He is self-condemned, thus fulfilling the prediction of Paul, "That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,...and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Phil. 2: 10,11)
For more than seven thousand years Satan has been plugged into a life-support system to which he had no right. Now of his own volition he acknowledges God's justice. God is absolved from all Satan's charges. The at-one-ment is complete. "Every mouth will be stopped, and all the hosts of rebellion will be speechless....The whole universe will have become witnesses to the nature and results of sin. And its utter extermination, which in the beginning would have brought fear to angels and dishonor to God, will now vindicate His love and establish His honor before the universe." (FLB 71)
And how has God been able to accomplish this great victory and protect His universe from sin's entry ever again? "The honor of God, the honor of Christ, is involved in the perfection of the character of His people." (DA 671) "The honor of Christ must stand complete in the perfection of the character of His chosen people....Your character is His glory revealed in you." (ST Nov. 25, 1897)
Let us determine to be that final generation through whom God can reveal His grace and His power. May He not have to search for another remnant because we were too careless and lazy to respond to His call. This is His hour and we can be His remnant.
[I am indebted to the insights of David Lee and Herbert Douglass in their studies of the great controversy and its implications for us living in these momentous times]
A number of years ago the Seventh-day Adventist Church voted to have twenty-seven brief statements describing the beliefs held in common by members of the denomination. Anyone becoming a member of the Adventist Church must state that he or she is in agreement with these twenty-seven statements. Do these statements define the essence of Adventism? Have we gotten to the heart of Adventism by reading these statements?
I understand the twenty-seven statements to be like a picket fence that defines the property lines. It tells you where your property ends and where the adjacent property begins. It distinguishes Adventism from other Christian groups. It shows why we are Seventh-day Adventists and not Baptists or something else. But does the picket fence tell us very much about the house that lies inside? Do the twenty-seven statements get to the essence of what it means to be a Seventh-day Adventist?
Seventh-day Adventism is also a way of life. We prepare for the Sabbath on Friday, we go to church on Sabbath morning, and we close the Sabbath at sundown. Our dietary choices are somewhat different than the typical American diet. We have grown up with a cultural heritage, and we are used to the lifestyle of being Adventist. Is this what it means to be a Seventh-day Adventist? Or is there more we need to understand to get to the heart of Adventism?
The Beginning of Adventism
When Jesus died for all mankind, was personal salvation secured for all who chose to receive it? Could the disciples of Jesus have the assurance that they would be saved because of the cross? Absolutely. Were there any Seventh-day Adventists standing around the cross? No. That happened eighteen hundred years before Adventism appeared on the scene. Yet forgiveness of sins and the assurance of salvation was offered right then to all who believed. So Adventism was not called into existence to offer the people the assurance of salvation, was it? That was taken care of long before there was an Adventist.
When Jesus was inaugurated as our High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary, to intercede for mankind for the next eighteen hundred years, were there any Adventists around then? It seems that Adventism was not needed for that work either. The work of Jesus in sprinkling our prayers with the incense of His righteousness was initiated long before there was an Adventist. The ministry of the Holy Spirit in nurturing and caring for Christians in a church setting did not need the existence of Adventism at all.
Now all of these things are vital to Christianity, and we are to hold them as very important for us today, but Adventists have inherited these truths from others. These truths were established without any need for the existence of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Then why was Adventism needed?
Revelation 14:7 tells us to "Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come." Now the hour of God's judgment began in 1844, and with it began the final atonement, the cleansing of the sanctuary, and the blotting out of sin. Was this the time period when Adventism appeared on the scene? Could it be that the existence of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is directly and intimately related to the cleansing of the sanctuary? Is that the reason for its existence? But what does this all mean? What are the issues at stake?
The Great Controversy
Satan has challenged God's character and His right to rule the universe. Satan has said that God's unfitness to rule is proved by His giving a law that could not be kept. Satan has had great success in advancing his claims in the great controversy. He has even gotten God's chosen people in the Old Testament to think that God is unfair and harsh. In the great apostasy after New Testament times Satan convinced Christians that God wants certain rituals and human works to supplement Christ's work at the cross. Just by reading the Bible and church history, you might think that Satan is going to win this battle.
This fear is addressed in Daniel 8:13 by several questions. How long will this go on? How long will God's good name be trodden underfoot? How long will the sanctuary be trampled? Will Satan win, after all? The answer comes in verse 14. No, this will not go on forever. After 2300 days the sanctuary will be cleansed. There will be an end to the defaming of God's good name. God will be vindicated. Romans 3:4 says it well. "That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged." The word "justified" in this context means acquitted of charges, declared innocent, vindicated.
Now Jesus did vindicate God's law and His character in the most noble demonstration ever seen on earth. Jesus showed that God's law is good and His character is love. But one nagging question remained unanswered. Can sinful human beings who have spent half of their lives in rebellion really live without rebelling any more? Maybe Jesus could, but can they?
Some have expressed the thought that God's vindication was completed on the cross, and that nothing further is necessary to vindicate God and His government. But the evidence is clear that the vindication of God was not completed at the cross; that God is waiting for a final vindication before the end of sin on this planet. "All heaven is waiting to hear us vindicate God's law." (RH April 16, 1901) There is still a need to prove that God's law is good and right for sinners.
"Christ is waiting with longing desire for the manifestation of Himself in His church. When the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in His people, then He will come to claim them as His own." (COL 69) This famous quotation clearly says that the second coming must wait until Christ's character is seen in His professed people. The only possible reason for such a hold in God's plans for this earth is that something must yet be demonstrated about Satan's charges and God's character.
Revelation 14:5 describes the last generation who will live on earth before Jesus comes. "And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God." God has made an incredible promise here. He claims that He will produce a people who will be without deceit or fault of any kind. In DA 671 is this classic statement: "The honor of God, the honor of Christ, is involved in the perfection of the character of His people." It is not our honor or salvation that is involved here, but God's name and His character. He has promised that He will perfect His people. Can He really do it? If He cannot make us perfect, then His word is a lie and Satan wins the great controversy. It's that simple.
"The honor of His throne is staked for the fulfillment of His word unto us." (COL 148) Whenever God promises something, He puts His name behind His promise. His throne was at stake when Christ came to our earth, and His throne is at stake in what He will do through the last generation. "Every character will be fully developed; and all will show whether they have chosen the side of loyalty or that of rebellion. Then the end will come. God will vindicate His law and deliver His people." (DA 763) It is important to note that God does the vindicating of His own name, but it is also vital to understand that He will do the vindicating in the characters of His people. The full development of righteous and wicked characters is necessary for the final demonstration of God's character and law. The end of sin on this planet is clearly dependent on God's vindication as He brings the plan of redemption to completion.
It is significant that Ellen White calls all of this the final atonement. At the cross the sacrifice was completed but the atonement was not completed there. Right here we have the difference between Adventism and all other Christian religions. The final atonement is all about when and how God will win the great controversy and how soon Jesus can come. This means that the purpose of Adventism's existence is to prove that Satan is a liar and that God is telling the truth in the great controversy. It's that simple. That is the message and the essence of Adventism.
The only hope for eternal security from rebellion ever arising again in the universe is when no one will ever consider Satan's accusations any more because they have been proved false in the arena of demonstration. Of course this requires the involvement of God's people in this demonstration. Our role is to allow God to come into our lives and do what He said He could do--cleanse our hearts and make us totally obedient to Him.
Do you really want to end sin on this planet, my friend? Are you tired of hearing about child abuse? Are you tired of hearing about the senseless violence of wars of aggression? Are you tired of hearing about the abuse of animals over which man has been given dominion? Are you tired of hearing about injustice in the court system, where too often the abundance of wealth determines the outcome of a case? There is only one way to end these problems, and that is the second coming of Christ. These abuses cannot be solved by picketing or boycotts or rioting. These methods might alleviate some of our pain but they are not the solution. The only way the ugliness of sin can be stopped is by allowing Jesus to come back. Please note that I did not say waiting for Jesus to come back. He is waiting for us; we are not waiting for Him.
The mission of Adventism is different from the mission of any other Christian group that has ever existed. Adventism's mission is different from the mission of the early Christian church; it is different from the mission of the Waldenses; it is different from the mission of Martin Luther. Our mission is completely unique. It has never been given to any other group of people on the face of this earth. The reason is simply that we are living in the Day of Atonement when the cleansing of the sanctuary is in process, and there are unique issues involved with this Day.
When Can Christ Return?
The second coming of Christ is not possible just at any time, because it is dependent on God's victory in the great controversy. In the 1840's God led out a people, and they had a marvelous experience. But after the great disappointment things fell apart, and God's people didn't have the courage to move forward unitedly. They fragmented and only a few survived through this difficult period. Jesus wanted very much to return very soon after 1844 but He could not because His people were not united and moving together with Him. So Jesus put things on hold, much like space launch missions in Florida are put on hold when something is wrong with the equipment.
After forty years of wandering in the wilderness, Jesus came again to His people and asked them if they were willing to move forward with Him. But once again God's people balked. Instead of asking "What does God's Word say?" they were asking "What do our leaders say?" We have spent a good part of the last century denying that we really delayed Christ's coming for one hundred years. We have claimed that our forefathers' repentance was genuine and we have been teaching righteousness by faith ever since. In reality the denial of the 1888 message is just as real and strong today as it was in 1890. As a result of our failure in the 1890's Christ had to put His plans on hold once again, this time for over a century. Now He is making yet another appeal to the Seventh-day Adventist movement He is telling us that He is ready to take us home if we are ready to move unitedly with Him. The question for us is identical to the question of 1888. What will happen this time? Will we respond in such a way that God can finally carry out His plan, or will we continue to put our selfish interests above the vindication of God in the great controversy?
Lessons From Israel
When God called Israel to be His chosen people, it was not His purpose to qualify them alone as worthy of salvation. He wanted Israel to be His witness to the nations of the excellence of His character and His government. The purpose of Israel's existence was to enlighten the world so that all would welcome Jesus when He came to earth. Did Israel succeed or fail in its mission? We know that they did not prepare the world for the first coming of Christ. Please notice the approach of Christ in light of their failure. Have you noticed that Jesus spent very little time in outreach to the Gentiles--the world? Most of Jesus' time and energy was spent on efforts to restore Israel by bringing them to repentance. They were the people through whom God wanted to enlighten the world. So Jesus spent most of His time doing the most difficult work of all--breaking down the walls of apathy and prejudice to bring them back to obedience to God.
Now the purpose of Adventism is exactly the same as the task given to Israel. God is not qualifying Adventists alone as worthy of salvation, but He wants us to be His witness to the world of the excellence of His character and His government. Our mission is to prepare the world for the second coming of Christ. Now the question must be honestly addressed: Is Adventism succeeding in its mission?
Perhaps we can find an answer in an editorial by William Johnsson in the Adventist Review of July 3, 1986. A Gallup Poll was taken to determine the attitude of the public to the Seventh-day Adventist Church. "Although 70 percent of respondents say they have heard or read about the church, when asked what they like best about us, 52 percent can give no answer. Another 21 percent say 'Nothing in particular.' That is, fully 73 percent of the public can think of no attractive feature about the church. That figure is almost exactly paralleled by responses to the question 'What do you like least about Adventists?' Again 51 percent gave no answer, and another 20 percent say they don't dislike anything in particular. The church's failure to project a sharp image concerns me… I'm troubled that we are hiding our light under a bushel."
In another public survey reported in the Adventist Review of February, 1995, only 53 percent had heard about the Seventh—day Adventist Church. In addition, there was a marked increase in the number who misidentify us with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or Jehovah's Witnesses.
Now we must ask the question again: Are we succeeding or failing in our mission to prepare the world for the second coming of Christ? The truth which is very difficult for us to face is that we are in jeopardy of failing just as the Jews failed two thousand years ago.
Inspiration spells out God's plan for this church. "Christ designs that heaven's order, heaven's plan of government, heaven's divine harmony, shall be represented in His church on earth. Thus in His people He is glorified." (DA 680) Notice that God is glorified when His church reveals heaven's plan of government to the world. Is heaven's plan of government currently being seen in the Seventh-day Adventist Church? Do human plans too often dominate over God's expressed will for this church?
"God's people have a great work to do.. ..The world must see in the church of God true order, true discipline, true organization." (Ms. 30, 1900) This is when we will fulfill our mission and allow Jesus to return to this world "Through the church eventually will be made manifest the final and full display of the love of God to the world that is to be lightened with its glory." (TM 50) Notice that God's love will be seen through the church. It will not come through angels or the rocks, but through God's people. Thus the success of God's church in representing His character is very important to the finishing of the great controversy.
Since our church is currently not succeeding in its mission to prepare the world for Jesus' return, what are we to do? One approach that many are adopting today is to ignore the problems in the Adventist Church and to go out to the world to do outreach work. This approach is attractive because Jesus told us to take the gospel to every nation, and because many are receptive to the gospel, while the church seems to be very resistant to any major reformations in its midst. Further, if we just forget about the disobedience within the church and concentrate on soulwinning, we will receive much praise from the church itself for the good work we are doing. In addition, it is personally fulfilling to give Bible studies and lead people into readiness for baptism.
But is this approach the one Christ used when He came to His failing chosen people? For three and one-half years Jesus spent His time trying to restore His precious church that was in danger of self-destruction. He spent almost no time in outreach to the Gentile world, in spite of the fact that many Gentile souls were in need of the gospel. Jesus' first priority was trying to restore His people so that they could give the message of truth to the Gentile world.
The late Henry Baasch, who served as a conference president, shares with us a vital principle and an important warning. "Music is made up of three parts: melody, rhythm and accompaniment. All three are essential, but are not equal in importance. The melody should have the most prominent part and should not be overshadowed by the rhythm or the accompaniment. The evangelization of the world by means of extensive preaching, teaching, and printed propaganda, and the expenditure of large sums of money for campaigns, buildings, equipment, travel, et cetera--vital though all these are--do not, in and of themselves, fulfill the principal commission entrusted to the remnant church. These are not the melody. At the most, they are the accompaniment.
"The melody which is to ring forth, sketchily at first, but every more clearly, is the song of victory over sin, the song of Moses and the Lamb, soaring higher and higher, closer and ever closer to the heavenly Pattern, further and further away from the world, to the climactic height of a full and final display of His grace in vessels of clay, but divested of all earthliness and testified unto by the declaration of the angel: 'Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." Revelation 14:12. For the first time this testimony will be said of a whole community of saints.
"Let Laodicea be warned! At one time David fell victim to the magic influence of numbers (cf I Chronicles 21:1)--that Satan-inspired sport which so slyly leads to pride and self-complacency, which so trickishly substitutes quantity for quality, mediocrity for true merit, and pomp for paucity. The charm exerted by numbers, size, and quantity, if allowed to prevail, will fill Laodicea's pews with 'illegitimate children' and swell her ranks with a mixed multitude which, as of old, could bring her march to a standstill at another 'Kadeshbarnea.' God forbid that such a thing should happen!
"Let Laodicea ponder her way! Let her pause and take inventory, let her consider and define where she has strayed from the Pattern in her multiple activities: ministerial, educational, medical, social, etcetera. Let her frankly confess her shortcomings, plead for forgiveness and then chart her future course in harmony with the divine counsel. Let her shun the subtle art of rationalizing, which makes evil appear good and transgression a necessity, trying to 'update' what is eternally fresh and young--ever the head and never the tail.
"Unless Laodicea will submit to a candid self-examination and to an uncompromising self-discipline, there will descend upon her a tempest that will sift and shake her ranks and sweep to one side the whole of her household, with its elaborate furnishings and costly equipment, clearing the stage for the Lord Himself to take hold of the reins (cf Testimonies to Ministers, 300; Testimonies, vol. 5, 80; Romans 9:28) with an army of 'unidentified' ones whose names and pictures may not be found in any register, or church paper, or book, nor diffused from any desk or platform." (Our Firm Foundation March, 1989)
Remember that this strong warning does not come from a critic of the church, but from a leader in the church who saw clearly what constitutes success and failure in the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Priorities
The primary mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is the vindication of God. It will be accomplished though the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary. But before the sanctuary in heaven can be cleansed from all the records of sin, the sanctuary of our hearts must be cleansed from the pollution which continues to dishonor God's name. Adventism is all about God's victory in the great controversy, as He finishes His six thousand year struggle against the lies of Satan.
The secondary mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is world mission and outreach through Bible studies and soulwinning. When the primary mission is understood and addressed, the secondary mission will find abundant success. If we try to reverse these priorities, as we have been doing for many years, we will continue to fail. Outreach alone is not the solution to our sickness. We have been putting the cart before the horse, and it simply hasn't worked. If outreach is to be successful, it must flow from a consecrated and obedient heart.
Remember that Christ's efforts while on earth were to restore His people to obedience from the heart. Likewise our outreach must flow from total obedience and total love, with no more rationalizing so that we can do what our selfish hearts desire. We must abandon cultural values to determine what is right and wrong. Most of the problems in the Adventist Church today are the result of placing cultural values above a "thus saith the Lord." Will we decide once and for all to obey God, or will we continue to try to force Him to do it our way? The way we answer this question will determine the success or failure of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Ezekiel's Appeal
Ezekiel lived in a time of apostasy and backsliding, and God gave a special message to him for Israel. "So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me." (33:7) "Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?" (33:11) This is not just God's appeal to His rebellious chosen people in Ezekiel's time; it is His appeal to His rebellious chosen people today. God is saying, "Please turn back before it is forever too late. why do you insist on dying, O house of Adventism?" Can we really be faithful Adventists and ignore this question? Part of our responsibility as church members is to help heal our church so that it can fulfill both its primary and secondary missions. Sometimes the surgeon's knife is painful and the healing process is difficult, but our gracious God is the Master Physician.
Right now there are some carefully laid traps by which Satan is trying to subvert this process of healing. One trap is a compromised gospel, a gospel which says that since
Jesus did everything that was necessary, all we need to do is believe and the rest is taken care of. Then we have the absolute assurance of salvation. This gospel has been coming into Adventism for the past thirty years and has been gaining great strength in the past ten years. It is a gospel which gives false assurance of salvation, because it promises that we can be saved while still sinning. It teaches that we can ignore our little sins--our besetting sins--because Jesus loves us unconditionally. As long as we continue to believe in Him as our Saviour, we continue to be in a saving relationship with Him, regardless of our continued sinning. This trap may cause the loss of more sincere Adventists than any of Satan's other traps.
Another trap laid by Satan is the trap of humanism and cultural priorities. Here we determine what is right and wrong by the best human thinking available. We take surveys and determine what should be done based on these surveys. We ask for the best scholarly research and the best logic, while we set aside inspired counsel as outdated, in need of cultural reinterpretation.
Another trap is having a critical spirit. Some see clearly the problems in the church and spend their entire time exposing and delineating the sins of the church. Satan leads these individuals to become negative about everything they see.
Then there is the most subtle of all Satan's traps--the moderate trap. We all want to be balanced; we want to avoid the extremes on both sides. We realize that there are some problems in the church, but we hear about all the souls being won, and we conclude that things must probably be headed in the right way. With all our progress and growth, things can't be too bad, can they? The problems must be someone else's problems, so we can safely ignore them. Even though our schools and hospitals are having difficulties, we'll just keep our mouths shut--it's safer that way. When strange music and worship styles come into our churches, we will make the best of it. Yes, it is very tempting to stay out of the fire so that we will not get burned.
But is this silence in harmony with Ezekiel's appeal? Are we faithful watchmen if we remain silent while the enemy climbs over the walls? Or will we do what we can to save and heal our church? We cannot have a unique Adventist witness without a unique Adventist message. The gospel of Adventism is different from the gospel of contemporary Christianity. Will we let that gospel die? Our understanding of the great controversy between Christ and Satan is totally unique. Will we let it die by our silence? Our understanding of the relationship between law and grace is unique. Even our understanding of health reform is unique, because we do not live healthfully to avoid disease or to live longer, but to allow God to fully sanctify the soul. We need to uphold the highest lifestyle standards, so that God has a chance to win the battle for our minds.
We have a unique understanding of a modern-day prophet, in which God speaks with just as much authority as He did in Paul's day.
Are we willing to be Seventh-day Adventists today? Are we willing to prepare the way for the final vindication of the character of God? Are we willing to live in the house behind the picket fence? The price is high, but the reward is beyond anything we can imagine.
"If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? And if in the land of peace, wherein thou trusted, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?" (Jeremiah 12:5) Today we are in the land of peace and we are running with the footmen. Ahead of us are the horses and the swelling Jordan. This is our preparation time, the time to strengthen our characters. If the church militant is ever going to be the church triumphant, then we must get serious about the name Seventh-day Adventist. We must know who we are and why we exist. We must get our primary mission and our secondary mission straight, so that our efforts can be blessed by God. Let us pray together that the hard ground of our hearts may be broken up, so that the refreshing early rain may lead to the powerful latter rain. And above all, let us pray that this generation of Seventh-day Adventists will be the last generation to live on a sin-cursed earth.