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The basic principle of today’s study is actually quite simple, and may be summed up in a single verse. We read, and this is Yahweh speaking, “I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth; I said not unto the seed of Jacob, ‘Seek ye Me in vain.’ I, Yahweh, speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.” (Isa 45:19)
Our Father has called on us to seek Him, and His righteousness. He has not given us a task that is impossible, or even “difficult” in the conventional sense of the word, because a diligent search is guaranteed success. The follow-up to this verse from Isaiah, the promise that completes it, is found here: “But if from thence thou shalt seek Yahweh thy God, thou shalt find Him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.” (Deu 4:29) And here: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” (Mat 7:7) This idea is quite straightforward.
What I would like to do in this study, however, is to expand the principle a bit, in a way that I have not seen or heard anywhere before. It involves reasoning from cause to effect. It involves thought processing. It involves sanctification as we progress through the final stages of readying for our eternal inheritance. In short, it involves precisely what the Church needs in order to maintain peace in the midst of spiritual storm, and to continue to joyfully evangelize the world in a time of a great famine of Biblical knowledge.
There is a temptation that is common to those who accept the call to righteousness. Satan seems to routinely press this “button” for the saints, to see if they will succumb. As we know, all that such efforts do is reveal weaknesses of understanding and education among those who are truly born again, causing them to repent and become even purer vessels of our Father’s Spirit. For those who fall away as a result of this or any other temptation, it is because the faith that they had, even if it was outwardly valid, was built on a foundation that would not last. John tells us, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us. But they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.” (1John 2:19)
In a sense, it is a mercy that the People of Yahweh are tempted early, and all along their spiritual journey. They get to discover, before probation closes, before death, what defects of character prevent the proper expression of the Spirit of Yahshua, and they are thereby refined. Those who endure temptation to the end reveal that they are “all” or entirely “of us,” and will stand together with us before the Throne in triumph. The demons, of course, do not accept this – they do not believe that the new birth is a true transformation, and say, as some humans do, that “Every man has his price.” In other words, they believe that every saint has a particular temptation that, when found, will cause him to fall away.
It is those who accept the 3 Angels’ Message that ultimately disprove this belief, and resolve The Great Controversy. Their testimony will be that they, like Yahshua, were “in all points tempted […] yet without sin.” (Heb 4:15) This does not mean that we will endure, or that Yahshua did endure, every single variation of temptation. There are more examples of sin than there are days in a human life; however, every kind of sin, every type of sin, is pressed upon the righteous by the Enemy of souls. Every potential defect of character is tried by what the demons believe to be the most effective means, and to their amazement, they will fail. The saints surprise the demons. Those who have been abused all their lives will forgive their abusers. Those who would seek revenge will put down their swords. Those who have been tempted with lust will reject the seduction of the beautiful but worldly. Those who have been tempted with greed will turn away from stealing when given the opportunity to do so. You get the idea. The most perfectly laid plans of mankind’s enemy will fail for the saints of the Most High, and they will overcome their characteristic weaknesses, witnessing death swallowed up in victory.
As I said, there is a certain temptation that is a common button for the demons to press when seeking whom they may devour. (cf. 1Pet 5:8) That temptation is “discouragement.” The feeling of discouragement is not a sin; let me make that clear. Seeing one’s efforts to do some great thing for Yahweh, or seeing a long-term attempt at winning a soul to righteousness, fail, can feel very discouraging. There are many examples in the Scriptures of the lamentations of the righteous. There is an entire book called Lamentations. As Adventists, one of the most formative events in our history is called “The Great Disappointment.” Yahshua experienced frustration and sorrow when dealing with the world, and even with His own disciples. However, when discouragement is cherished, when it is nurtured, when it is used as an excuse to draw back from the work to which one has been appointed, then it becomes sin. Agape leads us to reach out to those who are dying in trespasses and sins. This is the desire and labor of the heart that is turned to the Father, and seeks others who are willing to share that experience. What would work against that, except for sin?
The testimony of discouragement may take many forms. We may hear, “What is the point? The world is too sinful anyway. It is probably too late for that person. I don’t want to waste my time. I’ve already been rejected.” There is a point at which common sense and principle will tell you to stop pressing the truth on unwilling ears, lest we become officious or oppressive. The Bible tells us, “And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them.” (Luke 9:5) It is almost as if you were trying to erase the very memory of walking through those streets. And again, “A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject, knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.” (Titus 3:10, 11) As a third witness, Paul recounts an incident of an open sinner, who, having taken up with his father’s wife, was not willing to submit to reasoning. As a result, Paul determined, “To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Yahshua.” (1Cor 5:5)
So yes, there are certainly times when it appears that the saint has given up, has been defeated, and in some cases it may be only the wisdom of the Spirit that determines the line between discouragement and the proper application of these principles. Nevertheless, the saints of Yahweh, the 144,000, will walk in the footsteps of Yahshua, and will judge the things of the world, and the things of everlasting consequence, in righteousness. They may draw back at times and let the sower reap his due harvest, but they do not cherish a sense of having been overcome. They do not let the experience, as painful as it has been, prevent them from trying with another soul, or perhaps the same if the opportunity does appear.
To submit to discouragement, to accept it as the reality of one’s experience, to accept the thought that we are serving Yahweh “in vain,” is sin, because it violates a commandment. Remember, all sins will, in one way or another, go back to a violation of a commandment of Yahweh. Some modern anti-Trinitarians will tell us that the first commandment, to have no other Gods before Yahweh, is violated by a misunderstanding of His nature. CSDAs, like many of our Adventist Pioneers, do not generally agree with that; it takes the judgment of the mislead victim too far. However, to have a God with a different character, who breaks His recorded promises, who neglects to defend His people, who allows unnecessary suffering, that would truly be a “different God,” and those who accept that cannot effectively worship the God of the Bible. It may seem subtler than accepting a false doctrine, this violation of the commandment, but it is central to us as a people to know who the Person of our Father truly is.
To submit to discouragement, to be defeated by it, is to accept – as true – the thought, “God’s promise to me has failed.” This is a false testimony that one bears toward the Almighty Himself – the violation of another commandment. Again, discouragement as a thought or feeling is not necessarily sin. We may feel let down that we have misunderstood, or gotten the timing wrong, or cannot witness immediate results of our labor, but we read this from the Book of Job, as the individual for whom the book was named receives a series of devastating reports, “Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, and said, ‘Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither; Yahweh gave, and Yahweh hath taken away; blessed be the name of Yahweh.’ In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.” (Job 1:20-22)
Rending the garment, shaving the head, falling down on the ground, these are all signs of great mourning, disappointment of the highest level. And yet, in feeling these things, in reacting to them, Job did not blame Yahweh for his sorrows. He did not accept, even in his great lamentation, that Yahweh had in any way failed him. This is holy disappointment, and godly sorrow. It may bring repentance, if repentance is necessary, (2Cor 7:10) and it will encourage the endurance of great trials, but it will not replace the God of the Mourner with a god who causes mourning. That would be a violation of the commandment, and verily sin.
The Evangelist will see many disappointments, and Satan will ensure that none of them escape his attention. The one who labors for Yahweh may give many studies, write many letters, and author doctrinal expositions, and testimonies, and books. He may make many trips to cities and countries far away. He may spend years of his life working in the Gospel, and yet see the apparent return of very few souls. The temptation will be, “You have wasted your time. You have served Yahweh in vain.” The sinner who becomes a saint may give up a life of carnal pleasure. He may discard cherished habits, and financially profitable activities. He may give up a tenth or more of his income, and a seventh or more of his time, and yet see little benefit to his health or future prospects. The demons will ensure that none of these things escape his attention. They will push on the button of “discouragement” and watch to see if there is a falling away.
There is a reason why this is a common temptation. It is true that lots of labor, and years of dedication to any pursuit, spiritual or not, may sometimes yield results that appear to be very small. This is what Satan wants us to focus on, because he knows that we are limited in vision by our humanity. Yahweh says this of Himself, not coincidentally in the very first and the very last chapter of the Book of Revelation: “‘I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the Ending,’ saith Yahweh, ‘which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.’” (Rev 1:8) “I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.” (Rev 22:13) Our Creator is not limited by time, as we are. He sees, and sometimes declares, the end from the beginning. He knows the final result of all that is done, but He does not always reveal this to everyone who labors in His vineyard.
Consider a man who feels called to go to a foreign land in service of the Gospel. In preparation for this work, he decides to learn the local language, and so he spends months and months doing so. He gets his affairs in order, financially, socially, and so on… and then some disaster strikes, and he is no longer able to make his journey. He may feel that he has wasted his time learning that language. He may feel that he could have been doing something more productive. One day, right in his homeland, he meets someone who was born in the country he wished to visit. They strike up a conversation, and the man says, “I was planning to visit your country to share the Gospel, but unfortunately I wasn’t able to go.” They then start to exchange a few words in the native language that he learned, maybe less than a hundred words, a tiny fraction of what he learned. As they part, the foreigner is impressed that this man expended so much effort to try and teach his countrymen the Gospel, and decides to investigate the message that inspired such loyalty.
Would we say that the attempted evangelist wasted that time? Certainly not. To him, he spend months and months to use that language for a 5 minute conversation. How disappointing! And yet, there is a principle that Satan seeks to obscure when such examples are raised. It is true that very often, much labor goes into creating a tiny result; however, the reverse is also often true… a small thing, a tiny cause, can often result in a very large effect. The hymn says, “It only takes a spark to get the fire going.” James gives us three examples of this principle, writing, “Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body. Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth. Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!” (James 3:3-5) The effect of just a few words, or a short sentence, can be immense. It is not legalistic, then, for Yahshua to say that “every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.” (Mat 12:36) The judgment is just, as it is weighed according to its effect, and demonstrates how ready we are to become creators by our words like our Father in Heaven. It demonstrates how ready we are to receive the powers of the age to come.
What seems like great effort may result in a very small effect. What seems like a very small cause, though, may go on to produce a very great result. This is especially true when it comes to evangelism. Each human soul is a pearl of great price, an eternity of praise for our Father. What effort, however arduous, could ever compare to the glory of leading a lost sheep home? It is worth it, no matter what the price, it is worth it and even if we, in our humanity, cannot see it on this side of Heaven. Our Father in His divinity sees it, and we, who share that divine nature with Him, see it by faith and reject the temptation of discouragement.
We cannot always see the end from the beginning. We may reason from cause to effect, but the effect that we can see may not be the final result of that initial cause. What we often think of as “the effect” may, in fact, be only the midpoint. I call this the “Bowtie effect.” If you look at the way that a bowtie is shaped, it starts off large on one end, but as you move toward the middle, it get small, tight, and knotted. If we ended our analysis there, we would not get the full picture. As we keep going, following the shape, we find that after we pass through the tight space, that central knot, the tie opens up again, and becomes must as large as the initial side. We see the alpha and the omega of the tie, the beginning and the end, and so we see a symmetrical shape, a balanced one. Satan would have us focus on the knot in the middle, all that cloth compressed down to a small point, a bottleneck that, if misunderstood as the ending, might suggest feelings of discouragement.
As our starting verse tells us, Yahweh did not instruct us to seek Him in vain. There is a purpose. There is a plan. There is justice, a balanced scale, to all that happens in this universe. Yahweh says, “A false balance is abomination to Yahweh, but a just weight is His delight.” (Pro 11:1) This primarily refers to fairness in business, for people who sold goods by their weight. Those who wished to be dishonest would use weights that gave a false reading, and would therefore be able to charge more money for less grain, or cloth, or whatever it was they sold. The principle, though, is much broader in scope than this. In all things, Yahweh will have perfect balance, symmetry, evenness. This is why we teach that exaggeration and hyperbole are not sanctified ways of speaking; they are idle words, and examples of unbalanced perception. They often indicate a desire to manipulate others by saying, “This is the worst problem in the world,” when it is some routine event that may be easily handled. Like our Father, the saints rejoice in fairness, even-ness, and balance in all things.
As the verse says, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked, for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” (Gal 6:7) As I said, the basic idea here is very simple; however, the Enemy will seek to manipulate our perception, so that we are tempted to doubt this principle, and think that some work we have done, some effort we have expended for our Father, or a sinful soul, has been wasted. This is a false thought, for Yahweh hates unbalanced judgments, and false scales are an abomination to Him. He will not permit an act of love, ever so small in size, to fall to the earth unnoticed. Our Father may allow us to see the knot in the middle between cause and effect. He may prevent us from seeing, or consent to having us prevented from seeing, the final result of what we are doing. In our humanity, our perception may go no further than the little midpoint, and Satan will use this in every way that he is permitted. In all this, though, we shall not charge Yahweh foolishly. We accept the work set before us, and we accept the promise that whatsoever we sow, that also shall we reap. We shall not fail, nor shall we be discouraged. We will not grow weary in well doing. We will endure to the end, and thus overcome even this most common temptation, even this most frequent trial, as we walk in the steady footsteps of our Redeemer.
Now, I have a few thoughts on which I would like to end this study. Ultimately, I want this to be an encouraging study. I want it to begin, and progress, and end, on an uplifting note. However, I do want to say that with the messages we are getting now, and will continue to receive, it should become apparent that these are messages designed for those who are right on the brink of translation. We are no longer talking about overcoming overt sins, or obvious defects of character. We are no longer talking about proving this or that doctrinal position, except where they are relevant to evangelizing those still in the world. What we are doing now is identifying the principles of Heaven in their plainest, most correct, and most applicable form, so that we may put away the remaining false thoughts that Satan and his fallen agents so often employ.
Realistically, therefore, if one has been in the presence of this message for a time, hearing it, reading the transcripts, going over the studies, and has not yet decided to devote one’s self entirely to Yahshua, there is reasonable cause for some anxiety. We cannot use the fear of judgment as a truly effective way of completing the work of EliYah, of turning the hearts of the sinner to Yahweh, and Yahweh to the sinner, but it can sometimes effectively awaken those who are sleeping in complacency. The time has always been short; it is truly short now, and when the season of mercy has passed, there are many who will say, “We did not have enough time to prepare.” I suggest that all such as this truly examine themselves, open their hearts to the voice of the Spirit, and pray for a true understanding of their condition.
Let those who have been undecided, let those who have fallen away, let those who are still counting the cost of being a genuine Christian, ask for the motivation and the will to finally choose righteousness. Let all fear of consequences be forgotten. Let all doubts vanish away. We have promises to receive, and we have promises to keep… that is what a Covenant is, and that is the thing to which the Church of Yahshua has been inviting all who hear. It may feel like losing something, giving something up, but remember what we have been talking about today. It is a great thing to give up all to Yahshua. It may seem, it may feel to the senses, that this means there is a great cost, for little gain… but keep reasoning. Go all the way through the narrow mid-point, that bottleneck, that knot, and all the way to the end. Understand that there is no greater effect than that of everlasting life, and the price for that – nothing at all, and everything you are – is “cheap enough” for what our Father has offered us through the life, and death, and resurrection, of His dear Son. Let the studies themselves, not just what they say, but the topics, and the trends, and the goal of finishing the work of refining the soul, instruct you regarding how urgent your choice must be, and how much you must be diligent, and consistent, and insistent, as you press toward the goal of full conversion: repentance, faith, and baptism. There is enough time, if the remaining time is valued, and held in hope and in righteousness.
David.
An Enduring Witness
“Shall we not brace ourselves against disappointments and temptations to be discouraged? God is merciful, and with the truth rejoicing, purifying, ennobling the life, we can do a sound and solid work for God. Prayer and faith will do wonderful things. The Word must be our weapon of warfare. Miracles can be wrought through the Word; for it is profitable for all things.” [Letter 75, 1896]
“Faith can travel through trials, endure temptations, bear and live under disappointments. Bear up under apparent forbidding providences, saying, Thou are my refuge, in Thee I trust implicitly believing His word because the eye of faith sees in Jesus the substitute and surety for men, and Jesus is the ever living witness that God is true. The promise is then to us, yea, and Amen in Christ Jesus.” [Letters and Manuscripts, Volume 8, Letter 80, 1893]
“‘The seed you are sowing may appear to you to fall upon soil where it will be trodden under foot and yield no fruit; but the sower will reap if he faint not. If we could only see how the Lord is working for us day by day, we should see that he loves us, and that often trial is better for us than prosperity. A little with Heaven's blessing is better than large gains with forgetfulness of God. In the end we shall know surely that well-doing will succeed, and ill-doing will bring sorrow and woe. God is a sure pay-master; equity and justice are the unfailing attributes of his throne.” [The Review and Herald, October 14, 1884]