Pine Knoll Sabbath School Study Notes Fourth Quarter 2018: Oneness in Christ Lesson 1 Creation and Fall

Read for this week’s study Genesis 1:26, 27; 1 John 4:7, 8, 16; Genesis 3:16–19; Genesis 11:1–9; Galatians. 3:29; Deuteronomy 7:6–11. Memory Text “Then [God] brought [Abraham] outside and said, ‘Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.’ And He said to him, ‘So shall your descendants be.’ And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness” (Genesis 15:5, 6, NKJV).

Lesson Outline from Adult Sabbath School Study Guide I. Introduction II. Love as a Foundation of Unity III. The Consequences of the Fall IV. Further Disunity and Separation V. Abraham, Father of God’s People VI. God’s Chosen People VII. Further Study

Questions and Notes for Consideration Facilitator: Jon Paulien 1. What is the meaning of the word “church”? Seventh-day Adventist Fundamental, number 14, is entitled “Unity in the Body of Christ.” What does unity mean and how can the people of God achieve it? Is unity among different denominations possible or even desirable? (Sabbath Afternoon)? 2. Read Genesis 1:26-27. What do these verses teach about human uniqueness in contrast to the rest God’s creation? What does it mean to be made in the image of God? Read 1 John 4:7-8, 16. How can these verses help us understand the original creation? (Sunday’s lesson) 3. Read Genesis 3:16-19 and 4:1-15. How do these verses reveal the results of sin and its impact on the harmonious world that God originally created? What does the Cain story tell us about God? What can you do to restore harmony within your own sphere of influence? (Monday’s lesson)

Study Collection Prepared December, 2017 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 1 4. Read Genesis 11:1-9. What happened here that made the problem of separation and disunity even worse? Did God cause the diversity of languages and separation of peoples or did He merely allow it? Either way, what was His purpose and what does it tell us about Him? What are some practical things each of us can do to help heal the divisions of race, culture and language that are found even in the church? Which kind of church community is better, a homogenous grouping or an “all nations” church community? (Tuesday’s lesson) 5. Read Hebrews 11:8-19, Romans 4:1-3 and Galatians 3:29. What elements of Abraham’s faith does each of these texts mention? Is faith sometimes ignorant? How could we apply the lessons of Abraham’s life to the idea of Christian unity? (Wednesday’s lesson) 6. Read Deuteronomy 7:6-11. Why did God call Israel to be His people? When God looks for people to follow Him, what qualities is He looking for? Why does God submit to His own covenant? How can we fit verses 10 and 11 into a positive view of God? (Thursday’s lesson) 7. How does the Genesis account of the creation of the woman from the side of Adam reveal the closeness of the bond that should exist between husband and wife? How does the marriage relationship illustrate our relationship with God? (Friday’s lesson) 8. The Tower of Babel story tells us that ethnic and linguistic diversity were not part of God’s original plan for the human race. How can we transcend such natural divisions today? (Friday’s lesson)

Thoughts from Graham Maxwell But in the dramatic and significant setting of the great controversy, he chose this time to do it in six twenty-four hour days. On the first day, all he said was, “Let there be light.” That’s all. And then day two, three, four, five, as God in unhurried majesty and drama unfolded his plans for our earth. By the sixth day, what a beautiful place this was. Where now were Satan’s charges that God was selfish? Look at the freedom! He created us in his own image with power to think and to do. And we know from human history that he created us free to either love and trust him, or hate him and spit in his face. It has been done, and he created us able to do it! God even allowed Satan to approach our first parents at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And he didn’t hide that tree in some dark corner of the garden; he put it right in the middle near the tree of life, so that Adam and Eve would see it every time they came to that other tree. Look at Genesis 2:9: “In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” (NIV) Of course the God we know could be trusted not to allow our first inexperienced parents to be tested more than they were able to resist. And so Satan was only allowed to approach them at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam and Eve were warned not to risk a

Study Collection Prepared December, 2017 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 2 confrontation with their wily foe. Isn’t that the meaning of that famous key text in 1 Corinthians 10:13? “But God keeps his promise [or God can be trusted], and he will not allow you to be tested beyond your power to remain firm.” (GNB) You see, that tree was not put there as a test of obedience—an arbitrary test of obedience. That tree was put there to help them, to protect them. The tree of knowledge of good and evil was not placed there before sin, but after sin. If it was before sin, it was an arbitrary test. After sin, it was to help them and protect them like every other one of God’s gracious laws. Then God stunned the universe by sharing with us, as far as he possibly could with mere created human beings, some of his own marvelous creative power. God so designed it that when a man and a woman come together in love, they are able to share life with little people; create little people in their own image. Isn’t it interesting to watch our children and our grandchildren? They look so much like us. They behave like us, at our best points and our worst points. Truly, they do reflect our image and God designed it to be this way. {Graham Maxwell. Excerpt from the audio series, Conversations About God, #10, “The Reminder of the Evidence” recorded March, 1984, Loma Linda, California} To listen to the entire audio of the above reference, click on the following direct link: http://pkp.cc/10MMCAG

Imagine living in a community where everyone lives as described in the Ten Commandments! That means everybody loves God and everybody loves everybody else; which means that no one is ever rude or arrogant, or impatient. No one insists on having his own way. Can you imagine living in such a community? Would you be free? Then you go down to the details of the Decalogue. No one ever steals. No one ever kills. No one ever hates. No one ever lies. Everyone can be trusted. And even more than that, look at number ten. People not only never do anything wrong—no one ever wants to. That’s the meaning of number ten, the one that bothered Paul so much at first. He thought God was interfering too much when he got in that deep. And finally, Paul said that that is what really guarantees our freedom. We will live in a place where people not only never do anything wrong, they will never even want to. That means they have really been healed. And more than that, according to the first commandment, everyone loves and reveres the same God. What kind of a God do they worship and admire? Every member of God’s family will admire the God who values nothing higher than the freedom of his children and who has paid such a price to prove it. They will worship a God who asks for nothing more than mutual love and trust. That produces a unity that is inherent in our faith and the fact that we all love and worship the same God. When you have a group of people who live like that, you have real freedom, real peace, and real security. Seen in that light, the Decalogue is a guarantee of freedom. For God says, “I will always run my universe this way. I’d rather die than change it.”

Study Collection Prepared December, 2017 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 3 Some of us say, “God, please, do not change it. Please, always run your universe in harmony with the principles of the Ten Commandments, or we won’t be really safe and free.” The only difference is that when the emergency is over, there will be no need for God to tell us to love each other and tell us to be decent neighbors. The spirit of truth will have convinced us that it is only right and sensible to behave like that. That’s the meaning of the law being written in our hearts, where a man does his thinking. That means we have thought this through. We agree with God. That’s the best way to live. That’s the best way to run the universe. It is right. That means that our self-control has been restored. {Graham Maxwell. Excerpt from the audio series, Conversations About God, #12, “God’s Law is No Threat to Our Freedom” recorded April, 1984, Loma Linda, California} To listen to the entire audio of the above reference, click on the following direct link: http://pkp.cc/12MMCAG

Lou: An eleven year old asks, “Why are there so many views of who God is?” Graham: There are so many views. I think they come from many sources. One is from reading the Bible here a little and there a little and not taking it as a whole. Of course, we might view God a little differently, legitimately. But also there is the influence of the adversary behind the scenes. I think among people who really want to know God, one of the greatest sources of diversity here, is that we each have our collection of “littles.” I have my text. You have your text. If we take the Bible as a whole, there is more possibility we would come into that “unity that is inherent in our faith and our knowledge of the Son of God.” {Graham Maxwell. Excerpt from the audio series, Conversations About God, #5, “The Record of the Evidence” recorded February, 1984, Loma Linda, California} To listen to the entire audio of the above reference, click on the following direct link: http://pkp.cc/5MMCAG

So sin is a breach of integrity. It’s a failure to be trustworthy. And now we realize that sin is not some artificial, arbitrary thing, sin is a certain condition of the mind and the heart that makes one unsafe to have around. And God proposes to have this universe free and safe for eternity and he says, “I cannot save sinners, because they cannot be trusted.” And sin is being untrustworthy. Then you ask yourself, “Am I trustworthy?” And Paul, who used to look at the rules, now began to look inside himself, and he found he wasn’t doing very well at all. No, he said, “All the good that I would do I don’t do.” Oh, he didn’t break the Sabbath and all the rest, but he realized that he was violating the tenth commandment, which says you shouldn’t even want to do what’s wrong,. I think that we have been very superficial in our understanding of sin. And that is how so many can look over the Ten Commandments and say we are God’s chosen people. We keep all ten, especially the fourth. But that is exactly what the Jews could say who nailed Christ to the cross

Study Collection Prepared December, 2017 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 4 and went home to keep the seventh-day Sabbath. They had eaten nothing forbidden. They paid a double tithe. You name it, they had done it, and they were God’s enemies. They even had the inspired writings. Think how they read the scriptures. Jesus said, “You search the scriptures”, you search them all the time, you memorize them but you won’t come to me that you may have life.” {Graham Maxwell. Excerpt from the audio series, The Picture of God in all 66 – Revelation, recorded August, 1982, Riverside, California} To listen to the entire audio of the above reference, click on the following direct links: http://pkp.cc/79MMPOGIA66 (Part 1) http://pkp.cc/80MMPOGIA66 (Part 2)

Further Study with Ellen White In the creation it was His purpose that the earth be inhabited by beings whose existence should be a blessing to themselves and to one another, and an honor to their Creator. All who will may identify themselves with this purpose. {Ed 173.3} Created to be “the image and glory of God,” Adam and Eve had received endowments not unworthy of their high destiny. Graceful and symmetrical in form, regular and beautiful in feature, their countenances glowing with the tint of health and the light of joy and hope, they bore in outward resemblance the likeness of their Maker. {ML 126.7} All heaven took a deep and joyful interest in the creation of the world and of man. Human beings were a new and distinct order. They were made “in the image of God,” and it was the Creator’s design that they should populate the earth. They were to live in close communion with heaven, receiving power from the Source of all power. Upheld by God, they were to live sinless lives. {SD 7.2} The holy pair were not only children under the fatherly care of God, but students receiving instruction from the all-wise Creator. They were visited by angels, and were granted communion with their Maker, with no obscuring veil between. . . . The mysteries of the visible universe—”the wondrous works of him who is perfect in knowledge”—afforded them an exhaustless source of instruction and delight. The laws and operations of nature, which have engaged men’s study for six thousand years, were opened to their minds by the infinite Framer and Upholder of all. They held converse with leaf and flower and tree, gathering from each the secrets of its life. With every living creature, from the mighty leviathan that playeth among the waters, to the insect mote that floats in the sunbeam, Adam was familiar. He had given to each its name, and he was acquainted with the nature and habits of all. God’s glory in the heavens, the innumerable worlds in their orderly revolutions, “the balancings of the clouds,” the mysteries of light and sound, of day and night,—all were open to the study of our first parents. {SD 7.3}

Study Collection Prepared December, 2017 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 5 God created man a superior being; he alone is formed in the image of God, and is capable of partaking of the divine nature, of cooperating with his Creator and executing His plans. {SD 7.4} Infinite love—how great it is! God made the world to enlarge heaven. He desires a larger family of created intelligences (MS 78, 1901). {1BC 1081.2} In the creation of man was manifest the agency of a personal God. When God had made man in His image, the human form was perfect in all its arrangements, but it was without life. Then a personal, self-existing God breathed into that form the breath of life, and man became a living, intelligent being. All parts of the human organism were set in action. The heart, the arteries, the veins, the tongue, the hands, the feet, the senses, the faculties of the mind, all began their work, and all were placed under law. Man became a living soul. Through Christ the Word, a personal God created man and endowed him with intelligence and power. {MH 415.1} The law of love being the foundation of the government of God, the happiness of all created beings depended upon their perfect accord with its great principles of righteousness. God desires from all His creatures the service of love—homage that springs from an intelligent appreciation of His character. He takes no pleasure in a forced allegiance, and to all He grants freedom of will, that they may render Him voluntary service. {GC 493.2} Love, the basis of creation and of redemption, is the basis of true education. This is made plain in the law that God has given as the guide of life. The first and great commandment is, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind.” Luke 10:27. To love Him, the infinite, the omniscient One, with the whole strength, and mind, and heart, means the highest development of every power. It means that in the whole being—the body, the mind, as well as the soul—the image of God is to be restored. {Ed 16.1} Like the first is the second commandment—”Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” Matthew 22:39. The law of love calls for the devotion of body, mind, and soul to the service of God and our fellow men. And this service, while making us a blessing to others, brings the greatest blessing to ourselves. Unselfishness underlies all true development. Through unselfish service we receive the highest culture of every faculty. More and more fully do we become partakers of the divine nature. We are fitted for heaven, for we receive heaven into our hearts. {Ed 16.2} The law of God, from its very nature, is unchangeable. It is a revelation of the will and the character of its Author. God is love, and His law is love. Its two great principles are love to God and love to man. “Love is the fulfilling of the law.” Romans 13:10. The character of God is righteousness and truth; such is the nature of His law. Says the psalmist: “Thy law is the truth:” “all Thy commandments are righteousness.” Psalm 119:142, 172. And the apostle Paul declares: “The law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.” Romans 7:12. Such a law, being an expression of the mind and will of God, must be as enduring as its Author. {GC 467.1}

Study Collection Prepared December, 2017 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 6 “God is love” is written upon every opening bud, upon every spire of springing grass. The lovely birds making the air vocal with their happy songs, the delicately tinted flowers in their perfection perfuming the air, the lofty trees of the forest with their rich foliage of living green— all testify to the tender, fatherly care of our God and to His desire to make His children happy. {SC 10.1} God has bound our hearts to Him by unnumbered tokens in heaven and in earth. Through the things of nature, and the deepest and tenderest earthly ties that human hearts can know, He has sought to reveal Himself to us. Yet these but imperfectly represent His love. Though all these evidences have been given, the enemy of good blinded the minds of men, so that they looked upon God with fear; they thought of Him as severe and unforgiving. Satan led men to conceive of God as a being whose chief attribute is stern justice,—one who is a severe judge, a harsh, exacting creditor. He pictured the Creator as a being who is watching with jealous eye to discern the errors and mistakes of men, that He may visit judgments upon them. It was to remove this dark shadow, by revealing to the world the infinite love of God, that Jesus came to live among men. {SC 10.3} To love as Christ loved means to manifest unselfishness at all times and in all places, by kind words and pleasant looks. These cost those who give them nothing, but they leave behind a fragrance that surrounds the soul. Their effect can never be estimated. Not only are they a blessing to the receiver, but to the giver; for they react upon him. Genuine love is a precious attribute of heavenly origin, which increases in fragrance in proportion as it is dispensed to others. . . . {5BC 1140.4} Christ’s love is deep and earnest, flowing like an irrepressible stream to all who will accept it. There is no selfishness in His love. If this heaven-born love is an abiding principle in the heart, it will make itself known, not only to those we hold most dear in sacred relationship, but to all with whom we come in contact. It will lead us to bestow little acts of attention, to make concessions, to perform deeds of kindness, to speak tender, true, encouraging words. It will lead us to sympathize with those whose hearts hunger for sympathy (MS 17, 1899). {5BC 1140.5} True sanctification unites believers to Christ and to one another in the bonds of tender sympathy. This union causes to flow continually into the heart rich currents of Christlike love, which flows forth again in love for one another. {5BC 1141.2} When the heavenly principle of eternal love fills the heart, it will flow out to others, not merely because favors are received of them, but because love is the principle of action, and modifies the character, governs the impulses, controls the passions, subdues enmity, and elevates the affections. This love is not contracted, so as merely to include “me and mine,” but is as broad as the world and as high as heaven. It is in harmony with that of the angel workers. This love,

Study Collection Prepared December, 2017 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 7 cherished in the soul, sweetens the entire life, and sheds a refining influence on all around. Possessing it, we cannot but be happy, let fortune smile or frown. And if we love God with all the heart, we must love His children also. This love is the spirit of God. It is the heavenly adorning that gives true nobility and dignity to the soul. {OHC 175.2} God is love. The love of the Father and the Son is an attribute of every believer. The Word of God is the channel through which divine love is communicated to man. God’s truth is the medium by which the intellect is reached. The Holy Spirit is given to the human agent who works in cooperation with divine agencies. It transforms mind and character, enabling man to endure as seeing Him who is invisible. {UL 104.2} Sin not only shuts away from God, but destroys in the human soul both the desire and the capacity for knowing Him. Through sin, the whole human organism is deranged, the mind is perverted, the imagination corrupted; the faculties of the soul are degraded. There is an absence of pure religion, of heart holiness. The converting power of God has not wrought in transforming the character. The soul is weak, and for want of moral force to overcome, is polluted and debased. {PK 233.1} Man was originally endowed with noble powers and a well-balanced mind. He was perfect in his being, and in harmony with God. His thoughts were pure, his aims holy. But through disobedience, his powers were perverted, and selfishness took the place of love. His nature became so weakened through transgression that it was impossible for him, in his own strength, to resist the power of evil. He was made captive by Satan, and would have remained so forever had not God specially interposed. It was the tempter’s purpose to thwart the divine plan in man’s creation, and fill the earth with woe and desolation. And he would point to all this evil as the result of God’s work in creating man. {SC 17.1} In his sinless state, man held joyful communion with Him “in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Colossians 2:3. But after his sin, he could no longer find joy in holiness, and he sought to hide from the presence of God. Such is still the condition of the unrenewed heart. It is not in harmony with God, and finds no joy in communion with Him. The sinner could not be happy in God’s presence; he would shrink from the companionship of holy beings. Could he be permitted to enter heaven, it would have no joy for him. The spirit of unselfish love that reigns there—every heart responding to the heart of Infinite Love—would touch no answering chord in his soul. His thoughts, his interests, his motives, would be alien to those that actuate the sinless dwellers there. He would be a discordant note in the melody of heaven. Heaven would be to him a place of torture; he would long to be hidden from Him who is its light, and the center of its joy. It is no arbitrary decree on the part of God that excludes the wicked from heaven; they are shut out by their own unfitness for its companionship. The glory of God would be to them a consuming fire. They would welcome destruction, that they might be hidden from the face of Him who died to redeem them. {SC 17.2}

Study Collection Prepared December, 2017 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 8 Every promise that is in God’s book holds out to us the encouragement that we may be partakers of the divine nature. This is the possibility—to rely upon God, to believe His Word, to work His works, and this we can do when we lay hold of the divinity of Christ. This possibility is worth more to us than all the riches in the world. There is nothing on earth that can compare with it. As we lay hold of the power thus placed within our reach, we receive a hope so strong that we can rely wholly upon God’s promise; and laying hold of the possibilities there are in Christ, we become the sons and daughters of God. . . . {ML 274.2} He who truly believes in Christ is made partaker of the divine nature, and has power that he can appropriate under every temptation. He will not fall under temptation or be left to defeat. In time of trial he will claim the promises, and by these escape the corruptions that are in the world through lust. . . . {ML 274.3} The creative energy that called the worlds into existence is in the word of God. This word imparts power; it begets life. Every command is a promise; accepted by the will, received into the soul, it brings with it the life of the Infinite One. It transforms the nature and re-creates the soul in the image of God. {Ed 126.4} Promises are estimated by the truth of the one who makes them. Many men make promises only to break them, to mock the heart that trusted in them. Those who lean upon such men lean upon broken reeds. But God is behind the promises He makes. He is ever mindful of His covenant, and His truth endureth to all generations (MS 23, 1899). {7BC 942.12} Abundant provision has been made that those who will seek God with the whole heart may find Him a present help in every time of trouble. {OHC 107.4} To this people were committed the oracles of God. They were hedged about by the precepts of His law, the everlasting principles of truth, justice, and purity. Obedience to these principles was to be their protection, for it would save them from destroying themselves by sinful practices. {COL 287.2} All heaven is interested in the work going on in this world, which is to prepare men and women for the future, immortal life. It is God’s plan that human agencies shall have the high honor of acting as co-workers with Jesus Christ in the salvation of souls. {5T 573.3} And the effort to bless others will react in blessings upon ourselves. This was the purpose of God in giving us a part to act in the plan of redemption. He has granted men the privilege of becoming partakers of the divine nature and, in their turn, of diffusing blessings to their fellow men. This is the highest honor, the greatest joy, that it is possible for God to bestow upon men. Those who thus become participants in labors of love are brought nearest to their Creator. {SC 79.1}

Study Collection Prepared December, 2017 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 9 God takes men as they are, with the human elements in their character, and trains them for His service, if they will be disciplined and learn of Him. They are not chosen because they are perfect, but notwithstanding their imperfections, that through the knowledge and practice of the truth, through the grace of Christ, they may become transformed into His image. {DA 294.4} Through the ministration of angels, God sends light to His people, and through His people the light is to be given to the world. {ML 304.6} The value of man is estimated in heaven according to the capacity of the heart to know God. This knowledge is the spring from which flows all power. God created man that every faculty might be the faculty of the divine mind; and He is ever seeking to bring the human mind into association with the divine. He offers us the privilege of co-operation with Christ in revealing His grace to the world, that we may receive increased knowledge of heavenly things. {COL 354.3} Looking unto Jesus we obtain brighter and more distinct views of God, and by beholding we become changed. Goodness, love for our fellow men, becomes our natural instinct. We develop a character which is the counterpart of the divine character. Growing into His likeness, we enlarge our capacity for knowing God. More and more we enter into fellowship with the heavenly world, and we have continually increasing power to receive the riches of the knowledge and wisdom of eternity. {COL 355.1} One of the divine plans for growth is impartation. The Christian is to gain strength by strengthening others. “He that watereth shall be watered also himself.” This is not merely a promise; it is a divine law, a law by which God designs that the streams of benevolence, like the waters of the great deep, shall be kept in constant circulation, continually flowing back to their source. In the fulfilling of this law is the secret of spiritual growth (ST June 12, 1901). {7BC 947.3}

Recommended Reading: Patriarchs and Prophets Chapter 1 – “Why was Sin Permitted?” https://egwwritings.org/

Study Collection Prepared December, 2017 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 10 Pine Knoll Sabbath School Study Notes Fourth Quarter 2018: Oneness in Christ Lesson 2 Causes of Disunity

Read for this week’s study Deuteronomy 28:1–14; Jeremiah 3:14–18; Judges 17:6; 1 Kings 12:1–16; 1 Corinthians 1:10–17; Acts 20:25–31. Memory Text “ ‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding’ ” (Proverbs 9:10, NKJV).

Lesson Outline from Adult Sabbath School Study Guide I. Introduction II. “Return, O Backsliding Children” III. Right in His Own Eyes IV. The Division of the Hebrew Nation V. Schism in Corinth VI. “Wolves Will Come” VII. Further Study

Questions and Notes for Consideration Facilitator: Jon Paulien 1. What aspect of the English of Proverbs 9:10 is an accurate reflection of the rules of Hebrew poetry? What was God’s purpose in giving humanity His laws? What is the spiritual value and danger in the various human cultures? How should we relate to western secular culture or the cultures associated with the various world religions? (Sabbath Afternoon) 2. Read Deuteronomy 28:1-14. What blessings would have come to Israel if the people had been obedient to God’s will? Read Jeremiah 3:14-18. What do we learn from God’s call for repentance on the part of Israel? What does that call tell us about God? (Sunday’s lesson) 3. Read Judges 17:6 and 21:25. What do these verses teach about problems that arose within Israel after the conquest of Canaan? How do you get people to give up collective selfishness? What do Judges 2:11-13 and 3:5-7 tell us about the spiritual and social conditions of Israel during the time of the Judges? What are some

Study Collection Prepared December, 2017 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 1 contemporary equivalents to “serving other gods.” When people look at Christian churches today what picture of God do they normally see? (Monday’s lesson) 4. Read 1 Kings 12:1-16. What actions by King Rehoboam caused this terrible division among God’s people? According to verses 15 and 24, how would you understand God’s role in the division of Israel? What do the following statements say about the need for wisdom in making the right decisions? (Tuesday’s lesson) 5. According to 1 Corinthians 1:10-17, what seems to have been the cause of disunity in the Corinthian church? Is there any way a church can avoid those kinds of divisions? (Wednesday’s lesson) 6. Read Acts 20:25-31. What did Paul warn the Ephesian elders about? What were they to do to prevent this from happening? Do “false teachers” always know that they are false teachers? Read 2 Timothy 2:14-19 and 3:12-17. According to Paul, how can false teachers be countered and the unity of the church be preserved? (Thursday’s lesson) 7. In the time of the Judges Israel experienced the confusion of anarchy. That led them to desire the tyranny of a king. When it comes to the church, what is the proper center point between these extremes? Where is your church on this scale right now? (Friday’s lesson) 8. What can local church leaders and members do to help prevent strife and cliques in the local church? How does Proverbs 6:16-19 help us to answer this question? (Friday’s lesson)

Thoughts from Graham Maxwell This long debate between faith, works and obedience has troubled saints through the years, but it could be so readily resolved if we looked at the biblical word for obedience. This word obedience is hupakoe. The first part “hupa” means under. And the second part “akoe” means hearing. The word means literally, “listening under.” A humble willingness to listen, and of course if we love and trust God we’ll be willing to listen. It wouldn’t make sense for us to not listen to one we love, trust and admire. Now could God’s expectation of our willingness to listen be one hundred percent? Our performance may be weak. We may stumble as we leave our doctor’s office. But a willingness to listen? Is it too much to say, “Don’t cheat there. Let that be one hundred percent!” If it should seem that God is too demanding in asking for such a relationship, that he expects too much of us, it surely is encouraging to read about the heroes and heroines of faith celebrated in the same chapter of the same book that tells us what faith is. Look at Hebrews 11:31 and following: By faith the prostitute Rahab escaped the doom of the unbelievers, because she had given the spies a kindly welcome. Time is too short for me to tell the stories of Gideon

Study Collection Prepared December, 2017 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 2 [who needed a wet fleece, and a dry one,], Barak, Samson, and Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets. . . . These also, one and all are commemorated for their faith. (NEB) Is God too demanding? He even holds those people with all their weaknesses, with all their faults and sins; he holds them out to us as people, evidently, who were willing to listen, loved and trusted God and were waiting for him to heal the damage done. And he puts them in Hebrews 11 for our encouragement. But surely no story is more encouraging than the story of the thief on the cross. What did he do, for Jesus to say those wonderful words in Luke 23:42- 43: “And he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ And Jesus said to him, . . . ‘You will be with me in Paradise.’” (RSV) There was the thief hanging on the cross with a thief hanging on the other side and Jesus in the middle. And the two robbers were cursing and swearing and mocking Jesus, as were the crowds. Something happened to the thief. He listened to Jesus saying, “Father, forgive them.” And he listened to Jesus say, “John, please look after Mother when I’m gone.” But then that saying “Father forgive them.” Because over the head of Christ it said “The King of the Jews.” And the thief thought to himself, “If Jesus ever really has a kingdom, and rules over a kingdom where the king says, “I forgive you,” I’m a thief, I need to be forgiven. I wouldn’t be safe in any other kingdom than a kingdom where the king says, “I forgive you.” And he said, “Jesus, if that’s the kind of kingdom you’re going to reign over, I’d like to live in it. Please, could you remember me?” And I think that was a little tentative. He didn’t know how Jesus was going to respond. And then there came back the words that confirmed his trust. “Yes, I’d be pleased to remember you.” And the thief died—with his tithe unpaid, and all kinds of things in his stomach. He never made restitution to anybody, wasn’t baptized, never kept a Sabbath. But he’ll be in the kingdom! Because after he died, the next moment of consciousness in the resurrection, the thief will come face to face with that same person in the middle. And Jesus will say to him, “You have a lot to learn.” And the thief will say, “If you say so. That’s alright with me.” I hope that if anything should happen to any of us on the way home tonight, that we would die God’s trusting friend, because if we do, we will arise the next moment of consciousness face to face with God. And we will not be afraid—because we know the truth. We trust him, know him, love him, and all those other things. We’ve been set right. And if when we see him face to face, and he should say to us, “You know, there’s a great deal for you to learn,” we would say, “We would be pleased to listen because we trust you. We admire you. We want to be your friend.” You see, faith is just a word we use to describe a relationship with God as with a person well- known. And the better he is known, the better this relationship may be. Faith implies an attitude toward God of love, of trust, and deepest admiration. It means having enough confidence in God based upon the more than adequate evidence revealed, to be willing to

Study Collection Prepared December, 2017 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 3 believe what he says, to accept what he offers, and to do what he wishes—without reservation—no cheating, for the rest of eternity. Anyone who has such faith would be perfectly safe to save. This is why faith is the only requirement for Heaven, and for salvation. {Graham Maxwell. Excerpt from the audio series, Conversations About God, #3, “All God Asks Is Trust” recorded January, 1984, Loma Linda, California} To listen to the entire audio of the above reference, click on the following direct link: http://pkp.cc/3MMCAG

But there was a third question that needed to be answered. Why is it so important that we understand that God does not execute his sinful children? This had to be answered, too. And so an angel came to strengthen Jesus to go out to Calvary. And there, once again, he answered the first two questions. But this time he was tortured and crucified. By whom? By the Father? Or by most devout group of Sabbath-keeping, tithe-paying, health-reforming, Bible-quoting Adventists the world has ever known? Before they tortured him to death, they even said he had a devil. You see, they obeyed God from fear. Because, as the prophet had said so many times before, they did not really know God. Look at John 19:31: Then the Jewish authorities asked Pilate to allow them to break the legs of the men who had been crucified, and to take the bodies down from the crosses. They requested this because it was Friday, and they did not want the bodies to stay on the crosses on the Sabbath, since the coming Sabbath was especially holy. (GNB) They nailed their Savior to the cross and then rushed home to keep that Sabbath holy, to prove they were God’s true people. That’s the awful result of serving God from fear because you do not know the truth about God. The three questions were answered. Does sin result in death? Indeed, it does! But is it torture and execution at the hands of our gracious God? Indeed, it is not! But what’s so dangerous about misunderstanding this and serving God from fear? The service of fear produces the character of a rebel, and can even turn people who are dedicated to obedience into harsh rebels, and God’s worst enemies! {Graham Maxwell. Excerpt from the audio series, Conversations About God, #8, “The Most Costly and Convincing Evidence” recorded March, 1984, Loma Linda, California} To listen to the entire audio of the above reference, click on the following direct link: http://pkp.cc/8MMCAG

Further Study with Ellen White It is no part of Christ’s mission to compel men to receive Him. It is Satan, and men actuated by his spirit, who seek to compel the conscience. Under a pretense of zeal for righteousness, men who are confederated with evil angels sometimes bring suffering upon their fellow men in

Study Collection Prepared December, 2017 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 4 order to convert them to their ideas of religion; but Christ is ever showing mercy, ever seeking to win by the revealing of His love. He can admit no rival in the soul, nor accept of partial service; but He desires only voluntary service, the willing surrender of the heart under the constraint of love. {AA 541.1} With intense interest the unfallen worlds had watched to see Jehovah arise, and sweep away the inhabitants of the earth. And if God should do this, Satan was ready to carry out his plan for securing to himself the allegiance of heavenly beings. He had declared that the principles of God’s government make forgiveness impossible. Had the world been destroyed, he would have claimed that his accusations were proved true. He was ready to cast blame upon God, and to spread his rebellion to the worlds above. But instead of destroying the world, God sent His Son to save it. Though corruption and defiance might be seen in every part of the alien province, a way for its recovery was provided. At the very crisis, when Satan seemed about to triumph, the Son of God came with the embassage of divine grace. Through every age, through every hour, the love of God had been exercised toward the fallen race. Notwithstanding the perversity of men, the signals of mercy had been continually exhibited. And when the fullness of the time had come, the Deity was glorified by pouring upon the world a flood of healing grace that was never to be obstructed or withdrawn till the plan of salvation should be fulfilled. {DA 37.2} Satan was exulting that he had succeeded in debasing the image of God in humanity. Then Jesus came to restore in man the image of his Maker. None but Christ can fashion anew the character that has been ruined by sin. He came to expel the demons that had controlled the will. He came to lift us up from the dust, to reshape the marred character after the pattern of His divine character, and to make it beautiful with His own glory. {DA 37.3} We are not to regard God as waiting to punish the sinner for his sin. The sinner brings punishment upon himself. His own actions start a train of circumstances that bring the sure result. Every act of transgression reacts upon the sinner, works in him a change of character, and makes it more easy for him to transgress again. By choosing to sin, men separate themselves from God, cut themselves off from the channel of blessing, and the sure result is ruin and death. {FLB 84.7} Wherever there is life, there is increase and growth; in God’s kingdom there is a constant interchange—taking in, and giving out; receiving, and returning to the Lord His own. God works with every true believer, and the light and blessings received are given out again in the work which the believer does. Thus the capacity for receiving is increased. As one imparts of the heavenly gifts, he makes room for fresh currents of grace and truth to flow into the soul from the living fountain. Greater light, increased knowledge and blessing, are his. {6T 448.2} In the work of redemption there is no compulsion. No external force is employed. Under the influence of the Spirit of God, man is left free to choose whom he will serve. In the change that

Study Collection Prepared December, 2017 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 5 takes place when the soul surrenders to Christ, there is the highest sense of freedom. The expulsion of sin is the act of the soul itself. True, we have no power to free ourselves from Satan’s control; but when we desire to be set free from sin, and in our great need cry out for a power out of and above ourselves, the powers of the soul are imbued with the divine energy of the Holy Spirit, and they obey the dictates of the will in fulfilling the will of God. {DA 466.4} The only condition upon which the freedom of man is possible is that of becoming one with Christ. “The truth shall make you free;” and Christ is the truth. Sin can triumph only by enfeebling the mind, and destroying the liberty of the soul. Subjection to God is restoration to one’s self,—to the true glory and dignity of man. The divine law, to which we are brought into subjection, is “the law of liberty.” James 2:12. {DA 466.5} The law of love being the foundation of the government of God, the happiness of all intelligent beings depends upon their perfect accord with its great principles of righteousness. God desires from all His creatures the service of love—service that springs from an appreciation of His character. He takes no pleasure in a forced obedience; and to all He grants freedom of will, that they may render Him voluntary service. {PP 34.3} The government of God is not, as Satan would make it appear, founded upon a blind submission, an unreasoning control. It appeals to the intellect and the conscience. “Come now, and let us reason together” is the Creator’s invitation to the beings He has made. Isaiah 1:18. God does not force the will of His creatures. He cannot accept an homage that is not willingly and intelligently given. A mere forced submission would prevent all real development of mind or character; it would make man a mere automaton. Such is not the purpose of the Creator. He desires that man, the crowning work of His creative power, shall reach the highest possible development. He sets before us the height of blessing to which He desires to bring us through His grace. He invites us to give ourselves to Him, that He may work His will in us. It remains for us to choose whether we will be set free from the bondage of sin, to share the glorious liberty of the sons of God. {SC 43.4} In calling them to His service, God offers them freedom. Obedience to God is liberty from the thralldom of sin, deliverance from human passion and impulse. {TM 247.1} Prayer is heaven’s ordained means of success in the conflict with sin and the development of Christian character. The divine influences that come in answer to the prayer of faith will accomplish in the soul of the suppliant all for which he pleads. For the pardon of sin, for the Holy Spirit, for a Christlike temper, for wisdom and strength to do His work, for any gift He has promised, we may ask; and the promise is, “Ye shall receive.” {AA 564.1} The law of ten commandments is not to be looked upon as much from the prohibitory side, as from the mercy side. Its prohibitions are the sure guarantee of happiness in obedience. As received in Christ, it works in us the purity of character that will bring joy to us through eternal

Study Collection Prepared December, 2017 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 6 ages. To the obedient it is a wall of protection. We behold in it the goodness of God, who by revealing to men the immutable principles of righteousness, seeks to shield them from the evils that result from transgression. {1SM 235.1} We are not to regard God as waiting to punish the sinner for his sin. The sinner brings the punishment upon himself. His own actions start a train of circumstances that bring the sure result. Every act of transgression reacts upon the sinner, works in him a change of character, and makes it more easy for him to transgress again. By choosing to sin, men separate themselves from God, cut themselves off from the channel of blessing, and the sure result is ruin and death. {1SM 235.2} A sullen submission to the will of the Father will develop the character of a rebel. By such a one service is looked upon as drudgery. It is not rendered cheerfully, and in the love of God. It is a mere mechanical performance. If he dared, such a one would disobey. His rebellion is smothered, ready to break out at any time in bitter murmurings and complaints. Such service brings no peace or quietude to the soul. {ST, July 22, 1897 par. 11} Jesus declares that the Father is more willing to give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him than parents are to give good gifts to their children. The Holy Spirit understands man’s every necessity. He will bestow upon the earnest seeker that for which he hungers and thirsts. The blessings that God has to bestow are unlimited. We cannot comprehend their height and depth and breadth. All heaven is at the command of those who, realizing their lack of wisdom, come directly to the source of wisdom. To such ones God gives liberally and upbraids not. {HP 294.4} God is able and willing to bestow upon His servants all the strength they need and to give them the wisdom that their varied necessities demand. He will more than fulfill the highest expectations of those who put their trust in Him. {AA 242.1} During every hour of Christ’s sojourn upon the earth, the love of God was flowing from Him in irrepressible streams. All who are imbued with His Spirit will love as He loved. The very principle that actuated Christ will actuate them in all their dealing one with another. {DA 677.2} This love is the evidence of their discipleship. “By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples,” said Jesus, “if ye have love one to another.” When men are bound together, not by force or self-interest, but by love, they show the working of an influence that is above every human influence. Where this oneness exists, it is evidence that the image of God is being restored in humanity, that a new principle of life has been implanted. It shows that there is power in the divine nature to withstand the supernatural agencies of evil, and that the grace of God subdues the selfishness inherent in the natural heart. {DA 678.1} The unity that exists between Christ and His disciples does not destroy the personality of either. In mind, in purpose, in character, they are one, but not in person. By partaking of the Spirit of God, conforming to the law of God, man becomes a partaker of the divine nature. Christ brings

Study Collection Prepared December, 2017 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 7 His disciples into a living union with Himself and with the Father. Through the working of the Holy Spirit upon the human mind, man is made complete in Christ Jesus. Unity with Christ establishes a bond of unity with one another. This unity is the most convincing proof to the world of the majesty and virtue of Christ, and of His power to take away sin (MS 111, 1903). {5BC 1148.3} Unity in diversity is God’s plan. Among the followers of Christ there is to be the blending of diverse elements, one adapted to the other, and each to do its special work for God. {OHC 169.2} We are not all fitted to do the same kind of work, but each man’s work is designed by God to help make up His plan (RH July 4, 1899). {6BC 1083.4} The Creator of all ideas may impress different minds with the same thought, but each may express it in a different way, yet without contradiction. The fact that this difference exists should not perplex or confuse us. It is seldom that two persons will view and express truth in the very same way. Each dwells on particular points which his constitution and education have fitted him to appreciate. The sunlight falling upon the different objects gives those objects a different hue. {1SM 22.1} Through the inspiration of His Spirit the Lord gave His apostles truth, to be expressed according to the development of their minds by the Holy Spirit. But the mind is not cramped, as if forced into a certain mold.—Letter 53, 1900. {1SM 22.2} God takes men as they are, and educates them for His service, if they will yield themselves to Him. The Spirit of God, received into the soul, will quicken all its faculties. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the mind that is devoted unreservedly to God develops harmoniously, and is strengthened to comprehend and fulfill the requirements of God. The weak, vacillating character becomes changed to one of strength and steadfastness. Continual devotion establishes so close a relation between Jesus and His disciple that the Christian becomes like Him in mind and character. Through a connection with Christ he will have clearer and broader views. His discernment will be more penetrative, his judgment better balanced. He who longs to be of service to Christ is so quickened by the life-giving power of the Sun of Righteousness that he is enabled to bear much fruit to the glory of God. {DA 251.1} As we near the time when principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in high places will be brought into warfare against the truth, when the deceiving power of Satan will be so great that if it were possible he will deceive the very elect, we must have our discernment sharpened by divine enlightenment, that we may know the Spirit that is of God, that we may not be ignorant of Satan’s devices. {MR311 49.1}

Study Collection Prepared December, 2017 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 8 Pine Knoll Sabbath School Study Notes Fourth Quarter 2018: Oneness in Christ Lesson 3 “That They All May Be One”

Read for this week’s study John 17:1–26; 1 John 5:19; John 13:18–30; John 5:20–23; Mark 9:38–41; Revelation 18:4; 1 John 2:3–6. Memory Text “ ‘I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me’ ” (John 17:20, 21, NKJV).

Lesson Outline from Adult Sabbath School Study Guide I. Introduction II. Jesus Prays for Himself III. Jesus Prays for His Disciples IV. “For Those Who Will Believe in Me” V. Unity Among Christians VI. One Faith Shared in Love VII. Further Study

Questions and Notes for Consideration Facilitator: Jon Paulien 1. Read John 17:20-21. In many translations the two groups here are addressed as “these” and “those.” Identify the two groups Jesus is praying for and consider the implications of this finding. What was Jesus praying for the second group, and what does this mean for us today? (Sabbath Afternoon) 2. Read John 17:1-5. Describe the prayer position that Jesus adopts in this scene. What is the essence of what Jesus is praying for here, and what might it mean for us today? What is the meaning of “glory” in this passage? According to verse 3, how is eternal life obtained? What does it mean to “know God”? What is the difference between knowing about God and truly knowing God? (Sunday’s lesson) 3. Read John 17:6-19. What is Jesus praying about as His prayer continues? What challenges are they about to face? What does Jesus mean when He says that He is being glorified “in the disciples”? How do we glorify Him in return? See also Revelation 14:7. What does it mean to be “not of this world?” (Monday’s lesson)

Study Collection Prepared December, 2017 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 1 4. Read John 17:20-26. What was Jesus’ greatest wish for those who would later believe in the gospel message? What role would unity play in the proclamation of the gospel to the world? Does “death to self” play any role in the development of Christian unity? (Tuesday’s lesson) 5. Read Mark 9:38-41 and John 10:16. What does Jesus’ response to John teach us about exclusivism and quick judgments about the wrongness of others? What does this imply about how Seventh-day Adventists should relate to other denominations or even other religions? (Wednesday’s lesson) 6. Read 1 John 2:3-6. What does this passage add to John 17:3 with regard to knowing God? How does a personal knowledge of God reveal itself to others in the course of our daily lives? Read John 13:34-35. What new commandment did Jesus give His disciples? What relationship does that have to the idea of unity among Jesus’ followers? How does one come to exhibit the self-sacrificing love for others that Jesus revealed? (Thursday’s lesson) 7. How can one apply the concepts of “visible” and “invisible” church to Christianity as a whole? How would they apply to specific denominations within Christianity? How do they apply to the concept of unity in the church today? (Friday’s lesson) 8. Has your local church worked with other Christians or even other religions on certain issues? How well did that go? How can people of differing beliefs work together without compromising what they believe is God’s truth? (Friday’s lesson) 9. What are the implications of the following statement? “If God’s professed people would receive the light as it shines upon them from His word, they would reach that unity for which Christ prayed.” The Great Controversy, 379.

Thoughts from Graham Maxwell I think when he’s saying God’s thoughts are so far above ours, that is a reverent recognition that God is infinite. Think of all he knows! We’ll never fully understand God; we’re mere creatures. And at times we need to be reminded of his infinite superiority. But then it’s marvelous that the infinite one would want to be known. All through the Bible he says, “Israel is destroyed because they don’t know me.” And “I’ve come to this earth that you may know me.” So it’s pretty clear God wants to be known. But we shouldn’t pretend we’re gods who could know everything that he knows. Lou: So we ought not to use that idea of God’s sovereignty, as an excuse to not think about him. Graham: Yes, and I think where that really comes from is Romans 9, where you have the verse, “Who are you to question God? Who are you to answer back to God?”

Study Collection Prepared December, 2017 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 2 And Romans 9, I believe, has been misunderstood by some very saintly people including a notable theologian in reformation days. One needs to really put Romans 9 in the whole context of Romans —certainly in the context of chapters one through nine. In Romans 1-8, Paul has been saying to his audience (which is made up of both Jews and Gentiles,) “I have great good news for you. God will save all who trust him—whether you are Jew or Gentile, bond or free, male or female. He’ll save everybody who trusts him.” And as Paul was developing chapters one through eight, he could sense that certain members of his audience (descended from Abraham) were not taking this too kindly, because they thought that they had a special relationship with God. You know, God almost had made a deal with their ancestor. And that’s why they were so concerned with their genealogy and other matters. And when Paul got to the end of chapter eight, he sensed that some in his audience were quite offended. So he turned to them and said, “I sense that some of you don’t like what I’ve said, that God is the kind of God that would save all who trust him. You people who object to this, are you suggesting you would run the universe better than God? Are you saying God cannot save all who trust him? Let me tell you something: God is going to run this universe precisely as he wishes. Just as the potter takes a lump of clay, and makes of the same clay a vessel for honor, and a vessel for dishonor, so God has the right to run his universe any way he likes!” {Graham Maxwell. Excerpt from the audio series, Conversations About God, #1 with Lou Venden, “The Conflict In God's Family” recorded January, 1984, Loma Linda, California} To listen to the entire audio of the above reference, click on the following direct link: http://pkp.cc/1MMCAG

Now this raises the significant point, how could it be said that Israel does not know God? Who else knew God so well? Look at all the prophets, and all their marvelous pictures of God. Jeremiah said, “I’m glad to know God as I do.” But the way many people knew God those days was not knowing God in the special, biblical sense. That is, to know God as a friend; to even know God intimately as a husband and a wife know each other. The Bible says: “Adam knew Eve his wife.” And as a result, they didn’t learn each other’s names. They had a baby. Elsewhere, God says of Israel, “Thee only have I known.” He knew all the rest. But he knew them in a special way. And when those disappointed saints find that they are not acceptable in the kingdom, and they plead, “Lord, Lord. Open unto us.” He says, “Go away. I never knew you.” Why, he knew the hairs on their head, but he did not know them as friends. And friendship is the very essence of the relationship God wishes to have with his people. If Israel had really known God, they would have been better friends. They would have been jealous for his reputation. And they would have been better people themselves, as were the wonderful prophets in the Old Testament who wrote so well of God. {Graham Maxwell. Excerpt from the audio series, Conversations About God, #2, “What Went Wrong In God’s Universe?” recorded

Study Collection Prepared December, 2017 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 3 January, 1984, Loma Linda, California} To listen to the entire audio of the above reference, click on the following direct link: http://pkp.cc/2MMCAG

You don’t find claims in there. You find demonstration, over many centuries of time and certainly under a great variety of circumstances. The very length of the sixty-six books speaks well of our God. The very existence of the Bible says that God is not trying to lead us to trust him without evidence. If God offered us only claims, the Bible could be only a paragraph long. How moving it is to us to realize that the infinite one has chosen to win his family by being a humble teacher. By stooping to meet us where we are, speaking a language we can understand, leading us no faster than we are able to follow, and running grave risks of being misunderstood—especially when we are so noisy that he has to raise his voice to get our attention, and then tell us that he does not like to raise his voice at all! A teacher like that could be trusted. {Graham Maxwell. Excerpt from the audio series, Conversations About God, #4, “God’s Way Of Restoring Trust” recorded February, 1984, Loma Linda, California} To listen to the entire audio of the above reference, click on the following direct link: http://pkp.cc/4MMCAG

Further Study with Ellen White But the work of human redemption is not all that is accomplished by the cross. The love of God is manifested to the universe. The prince of this world is cast out. The accusations which Satan has brought against God are refuted. The reproach which he has cast upon heaven is forever removed. Angels as well as men are drawn to the Redeemer. “I, if I be lifted up from the earth,” He said, “will draw all unto Me.” {DA 626.1} To the angels and the unfallen worlds the cry, “It is finished,” had a deep significance. It was for them as well as for us that the great work of redemption had been accomplished. They with us share the fruits of Christ’s victory. {DA 758.2} Not until the death of Christ was the character of Satan clearly revealed to the angels or to the unfallen worlds. The archapostate had so clothed himself with deception that even holy beings had not understood his principles. They had not clearly seen the nature of his rebellion. {DA 758.3} It was a being of wonderful power and glory that had set himself against God. Of Lucifer the Lord says, “Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.” Ezekiel 28:12. Lucifer had been the covering cherub. He had stood in the light of God’s presence. He had been the highest of all created beings, and had been foremost in revealing God’s purposes to the universe. After he had sinned, his power to deceive was the more deceptive, and the unveiling

Study Collection Prepared December, 2017 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 4 of his character was the more difficult, because of the exalted position he had held with the Father. {DA 758.4} God could have destroyed Satan and his sympathizers as easily as one can cast a pebble to the earth; but He did not do this. Rebellion was not to be overcome by force. Compelling power is found only under Satan’s government. The Lord’s principles are not of this order. His authority rests upon goodness, mercy, and love; and the presentation of these principles is the means to be used. God’s government is moral, and truth and love are to be the prevailing power. {DA 759.1} Christ had been sent to earth to represent God in character. Jesus was the Life giver, the Teacher sent of God to provide salvation for a lost world, and to save men in spite of all Satan’s temptations and lying deceptions. He himself was the gospel. In his teachings he clearly presented the great plan devised for the redemption of the race. Divinity had united with humanity for the purpose of uniting humanity with divinity, that through Christ man might become a partaker of the divine nature. “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” {RH, July 7, 1896 par. 5} Christ’s favorite theme was the paternal character and abundant love of God. This knowledge of God was Christ’s own gift to men, and this gift He has committed to His people to be communicated by them to the world. {6T 55.1} From the beginning it has been Satan’s studied plan to cause men to forget God, that he might secure them to himself. Therefore he has sought to misrepresent the character of God, to lead men to cherish a false conception of Him. The Creator has been presented to their minds as clothed with the attributes of the prince of evil himself—as arbitrary, severe, and unforgiving— that He might be feared, shunned, and even hated by men. . . . {HP 8.2} Christ came to reveal God to the world as a God of love, a God of mercy, tenderness, and compassion. By the world’s Redeemer the thick darkness with which Satan had enshrouded the throne of the Deity was swept away, and the Father was again manifest to men as the Light of life. . . . {HP 8.3} The purpose and plan of grace existed from all eternity. Before the foundation of the world it was according to the determinate counsel of God that man should be created and endowed with power to do the divine will. The fall of man, with all its consequences, was not hidden from the Omnipotent. Redemption was not an after thought, a plan formulated after the fall of Adam, but an eternal purpose, suffered to be wrought out for the blessing, not only of this atom of a world, but for the good of all the worlds that God had created. {ST, February 13, 1893 par. 3}

Study Collection Prepared December, 2017 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 5 Satan led men to conceive of God as a being whose chief attribute is stern justice—one who is a severe judge, a harsh, exacting creditor. He pictured the Creator as a being who is watching with jealous eye to discern the errors and mistakes of men that He may visit judgments upon them. It was to remove this dark shadow, by revealing to the world the infinite love of God, that Jesus came to live among men.—SC 11 (1892). {1MCP 250.1} There was but one hope for the human race—that into this mass of discordant and corrupting elements might be cast a new leaven; that there might be brought to mankind the power of a new life; that the knowledge of God might be restored to the world. {Ed 76.1} Christ came to restore this knowledge. He came to set aside the false teaching by which those who claimed to know God had misrepresented Him. He came to manifest the nature of His law, to reveal in His own character the beauty of holiness. {Ed 76.2} Christ came to the world with the accumulated love of eternity. Sweeping away the exactions which had encumbered the law of God, He showed that the law is a law of love, an expression of the Divine Goodness. He showed that in obedience to its principles is involved the happiness of mankind, and with it the stability, the very foundation and framework, of human society. {Ed 76.3} So far from making arbitrary requirements, God’s law is given to men as a hedge, a shield. Whoever accepts its principles is preserved from evil. Fidelity to God involves fidelity to man. Thus the law guards the rights, the individuality, of every human being. It restrains the superior from oppression, and the subordinate from disobedience. It ensures man’s well-being, both for this world and for the world to come. To the obedient it is the pledge of eternal life, for it expresses the principles that endure forever. {Ed 76.4} Christ came to demonstrate the value of the divine principles by revealing their power for the regeneration of humanity. He came to teach how these principles are to be developed and applied. {Ed 77.1} Taking humanity upon Him, Christ came to be one with humanity and at the same time to reveal our heavenly Father to sinful human beings. He was in all things made like unto His brethren. He became flesh, even as we are. He was hungry and thirsty and weary. He was sustained by food and refreshed by sleep. He shared the lot of men, and yet He was the blameless Son of God. He was a stranger and sojourner on the earth—in the world, but not of the world; tempted and tried as men and women today are tempted and tried, yet living a life free from sin. {8T 286.3} Tender, compassionate, sympathetic, ever considerate of others, He represented the character of God, and was constantly engaged in service for God and man. {8T 286.4}

Study Collection Prepared December, 2017 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 6 In Christ the character of the Father was revealed. As children looked upon His countenance, they saw purity and goodness shining forth from His eyes. In His countenance gentleness, meekness, love, and conscious power were combined. But though every word, every gesture, every expression of His face, betokened His divine supremacy, humility marked His deportment and bearing. He came but for one purpose, and that was the salvation of the lost. {ML 300.4} Christ, the Light of the world, veiled the dazzling splendor of His divinity and came to live as a man among men, that they might, without being consumed, become acquainted with their Creator. Since sin brought separation between man and his Maker, no man has seen God at any time, except as He is manifested through Christ. {MH 419.1} Christ came to teach human beings what God desires them to know. In the heavens above, in the earth, in the broad waters of the ocean, we see the handiwork of God. All created things testify to His power, His wisdom, His love. Yet not from the stars or the ocean or the cataract can we learn of the personality of God as it was revealed in Christ. {MH 419.3} God saw that a clearer revelation than nature was needed to portray both His personality and His character. He sent His Son into the world to manifest, so far as could be endured by human sight, the nature and the attributes of the invisible God. {MH 419.4} The reason why it seems so difficult to win souls for Christ, is that Satan is continually engaged in misrepresenting the character of God to the human mind. Christ came to reveal the Father to the world in his true character, that the false conceptions which men entertained of the divine character might be swept away. {RH, May 31, 1892 par. 9} We are not to think of God only as a judge, and to forget him as our loving Father. Nothing can do our souls greater harm than this; for our whole spiritual life will be molded by our conceptions of God’s character. {RH, April 5, 1887 par. 10} It is a law both of the intellectual and the spiritual nature, that by beholding, we become changed. The mind gradually adapts itself to the subjects upon which it is allowed to dwell. It becomes assimilated to that which it is accustomed to love and reverence. {GC88 555.2} Sanctification is not the work of a moment, an hour, or a day. It is a continual growth in grace. We know not one day how strong will be our conflict the next. Satan lives, and is active, and every day we need to cry earnestly to God for help and strength to resist him. As long as Satan reigns we shall have self to subdue, besetments to overcome, and there is no stopping place, there is no point to which we can come and say we have fully attained. {1T 340.2} The leaven of truth works secretly, silently, steadily, to transform the soul. The natural inclinations are softened and subdued. New thoughts, new feelings, new motives, are implanted. A new standard of character is set up—the life of Christ. The mind is changed; the

Study Collection Prepared December, 2017 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 7 faculties are aroused to action in new lines. Man is not endowed with new faculties, but the faculties he has are sanctified. The conscience is awakened. {HP 21.4} Christ came to this world for no other purpose than to manifest the glory of God, that man might be uplifted by its restoring power. All power and grace were given to Him. His heart was a wellspring of living water, a never-failing fountain, ever ready to flow forth in a rich, clear stream to those around Him. His whole life was spent in pure disinterested benevolence. His purposes were full of love and sympathy. He rejoiced that He could do more for His followers than they could ask or think. {TMK 37.2} By beholding we are to become changed; and as we meditate upon the perfections of the divine Model, we shall desire to become wholly transformed, and renewed in the image of His purity. It is by faith in the Son of God that transformation takes place in the character, and the child of wrath becomes the child of God. {AG 302.5} As we partake of the divine nature, hereditary and cultivated tendencies to wrong are cut away from the character, and we are made a living power for good. Ever learning of the divine Teacher, daily partaking of His nature, we cooperate with God in overcoming Satan’s temptations. God works, and man works, that man may be one with Christ as Christ is one with God. Then we sit together with Christ in heavenly places. The mind rests with peace and assurance in Jesus (RH April 24, 1900). {7BC 943.2} The unity that exists between Christ and His disciples does not destroy the personality of either. In mind, in purpose, in character, they are one, but not in person. By partaking of the Spirit of God, conforming to the law of God, man becomes a partaker of the divine nature. Christ brings His disciples into a living union with Himself and with the Father. Through the working of the Holy Spirit upon the human mind, man is made complete in Christ Jesus. Unity with Christ establishes a bond of unity with one another. This unity is the most convincing proof to the world of the majesty and virtue of Christ, and of His power to take away sin. {SD 286.3} There is no caste with God. He ignores everything of the kind. All souls are of value with Him. Laboring for the salvation of the soul is employment worthy of the highest honor. It matters not what may be the form of our labor, or among what class, whether high or low. In God’s sight these distinctions will not affect its true worth. The sincere, earnest, contrite soul, however ignorant, is precious in the sight of the Lord. He places His own signet upon men, judging, not by their rank, not by their wealth, not by their intellectual greatness, but by their oneness with Christ. The unlearned, the outcast, the slave, if he has made the most of his opportunities and privileges, if he has cherished the light given him of God, has done all that is required. The world may call him ignorant, but God calls him wise and good, and thus his name stands registered in the books of heaven. God will fit him up to do Him honor, not only in heaven, but on the earth.—Gospel Workers, p. 332. (1915) {Ev 566.1}

Study Collection Prepared December, 2017 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 8 Love is the basis of godliness. Whatever the profession, no man has pure love to God unless he has unselfish love for his brother. But we can never come into possession of this spirit by trying to love others. What is needed is the love of Christ in the heart. When self is merged in Christ, love springs forth spontaneously. The completeness of Christian character is attained when the impulse to help and bless others springs constantly from within—when the sunshine of heaven fills the heart and is revealed in the countenance. {COL 384.2} The Saviour longed to unfold to His disciples the truth regarding the breaking down of the “middle wall of partition” between Israel and the other nations—the truth that “the Gentiles should be fellow heirs” with the Jews and “partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel.” Ephesians 2:14; 3:6. This truth was revealed in part at the time when He rewarded the faith of the centurion at Capernaum, and also when He preached the gospel to the inhabitants of Sychar. Still more plainly was it revealed on the occasion of His visit to Phoenicia, when He healed the daughter of the Canaanite woman. These experiences helped the disciples to understand that among those whom many regarded as unworthy of salvation, there were souls hungering for the light of truth. {AA 19.3} The opinion is held by many that God placed a separating wall between the Hebrews and the outside world; that His care and love, withdrawn to a great extent from the rest of mankind, were centered upon Israel. But God did not design that His people should build up a wall of partition between themselves and their fellow men. The heart of Infinite Love was reaching out toward all the inhabitants of the earth. Though they had rejected Him, He was constantly seeking to reveal Himself to them and make them partakers of His love and grace. His blessing was granted to the chosen people, that they might bless others. {PP 368.1} The life of Christ established a religion in which there is no caste, a religion by which Jew and Gentile, free and bond, are linked in a common brotherhood, equal before God. No question of policy influenced His movements. He made no difference between neighbors and strangers, friends and enemies. That which appealed to His heart was a soul thirsting for the waters of life. {9T 191.1} He passed no human being by as worthless, but sought to apply the healing remedy to every soul. In whatever company He found Himself, He presented a lesson appropriate to the time and the circumstances. Every neglect or insult shown by men to their fellow men only made Him more conscious of their need of His divine-human sympathy. He sought to inspire with hope the roughest and most unpromising, setting before them the assurance that they might become blameless and harmless, attaining such a character as would make them the children of God. {9T 191.2}

Study Collection Prepared December, 2017 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 9 Notwithstanding the spiritual darkness, and alienation from God, that exist in the churches which constitute Babylon, the great body of Christ’s true followers are still to be found in their communion. {GC88 390.1} A tender spirit, a gentle, winning deportment, may save the erring and hide a multitude of sins. The revelation of Christ in your own character will have a transforming power upon all with whom you come in contact. Let Christ be daily made manifest in you, and He will reveal through you the creative energy of His word—a gentle, persuasive, yet mighty influence to re-create other souls in the beauty of the Lord our God. {MB 128.3} To take people right where they are, whatever their position, whatever their condition, and help them in every way possible—this is gospel ministry. . . . {MM 238.1} Holiness is wholeness to God. The soul is surrendered to God. The will, and even the thoughts, are brought into subjection to the will of Christ. The love of Jesus fills the soul, and is constantly going out in a clear, refreshing stream, to make glad the hearts of others (MS 33, 1911). {6BC 1076.2} Christ brings all true believers into complete oneness with Himself, even the oneness which exists between Him and His Father. The true children of God are bound up with one another and with their Saviour. They are one with Christ in God. {SD 293.5} The love of God alone can open and expand the heart, and give to love and sympathy a breadth and height that is without measure. Those who love Jesus will love all the children of God. The sense of personal infirmities and imperfections will lead the human agent to look away from self to Christ; and the Saviour’s love will break down every cold, Pharisaical barrier, it will banish all harshness and selfishness, and there will be a blending of soul with soul, even with those who are opposite in temperament. {OHC 183.3}

Recommended Reading: “What Was Secured by the Death of Christ” – The Signs of the Times, December 30, 1889 “Surpassing Love Revealed in His Plan” – The Signs of the Times, December 15, 1914 https://egwwritings.org

Study Collection Prepared December, 2017 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 10 Pine Knoll Sabbath School Study Notes Fourth Quarter 2018: Oneness in Christ Lesson 4 The Key to Unity

Read for this week’s study Ephesians 1:3–14; Galatians 4:7; Ephesians 2:11–22; 4:1–6, 11; Matthew 20:25–28; Ephesians 5:15–6:9. Memory Text “Having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him” (Ephesians 1:9, 10, NKJV).

Lesson Outline from Adult Sabbath School Study Guide I. Introduction II. Blessings in Christ III. Breaking Down the Wall IV. Unity in One Body V. Church Leaders and Unity VI. Human Relationships in Christ VII. Further Study

Questions and Notes for Consideration Facilitator: Jon Paulien 1. What is the central issue in the universe? What implications does Ephesians 1:9-10 have for your answer? (Sabbath Afternoon) 2. Read Ephesians 1:3-14. What does the oft-repeated phrase “in Christ” actually mean? According to this passage (a single sentence in the original language), what do we receive in Christ? Why is this comprehensive, cosmic passage never mentioned in Great Controversy studies? What does the text mean when it says that God “chose” or “predestined” us before the foundation of the world? (Sunday’s lesson) 3. Read Ephesians 2:11-22. How does our unity in Christ affect our differences? What was broken down by Jesus’ death on the cross? In what ways can you see your own religious community in the reality of what Paul has written here? (Monday’s lesson)

Study Collection Prepared December, 2017 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 1 4. Read Ephesians 4:1-3. In what way are Christians to walk worthy of their calling in Christ? Why is unity so hard to come by? Read Ephesians 4:4-6. What is the crucial, central theme in these three verses? (Tuesday’s lesson) 5. Read Ephesians 4:11-12. What gifts of leadership does God give to the church? What is God’s purpose for these gifts? How do the gifts relate to each other? What spiritual gifts do you have personally and how can they be used for the unity of your local church? (Wednesday’s lesson) 6. Read Ephesians 5:15-21. What is Paul saying in verse 21? What is the relationship between submission and unity? Read Ephesians 5:22 – 6:9. What impact on human relationships does the concept of mutual submission have in the home and the workplace of the believer in Christ? What kinds of actions exhibit submission? (Thursday’s lesson) 7. Reflect on the following statement: “In the fourth chapter of Ephesians the plan of God is so plainly and simply revealed that all His children may lay hold upon the truth. Here the means which He has appointed to keep unity in His church, that its members may reveal to the world a healthy religious experience, is plainly declared.” SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 6, page 1117. What in Ephesians 4 do you think she was referring to? (Friday’s lesson) 8. If humility and submission are central to the unity of the church, how can these qualities be learned? How can we have unity when we don’t always agree on everything? (Friday’s lesson)

Thoughts from Graham Maxwell “The angels looked for God to punish the inhabitants of the earth. But the heavenly universe was amazed at what God chose to do.” And what follows is John 3:16. Instead, he sent his Son to bring us the truth, and particularly at the cross, he answered the great questions about God. One of the things he answered was something he answered on the cross that was not answered in Gethsemane. In Gethsemane, yes, death is the result of sin, but not at the hands of a vengeful God. God did not lay a hand on his Son. But on the cross, people did lay hands on him—people who pictured God as powerful and authoritarian and exacting and severe. And they were Sabbath-keepers, tithe payers, health reformers, Bible believers. Why? Because God had said it and they believed it, and that was all there was to it; and they saw nothing wrong with the use of force. When disunity came into Judaism and Christians began, Paul went out to restore unity in Judaism. And how did he do it, in Acts 26? He arrested these Christians. He punished them. He put them in prison, and he consented to their death. When Stephen said words before the Sanhedrin that seemed to be a threat to unity, how did those Sabbath-keeping saints seek to

Study Collection Prepared December, 2017 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 2 keep unity? They stoned him to death. They saw nothing wrong with that use of force. To them, it was justice. In the name of God, Paul went out to keep unity in the church. That’s been very popular through the years. Hundreds of thousands have been tortured to death at the stake to keep unity in the Christian church. Has it worked? You cannot force trust and love. It just can’t be done. It’s the very antithesis of freedom. Jesus cleared that up, and the angels realized that is the truth. And that’s the greatest protection against hostility and disunity and apostasy and defection in the hereafter. There is not one streak of arbitrariness in our God. He is not exacting, vengeful, and severe. He would rather give his life than give up freedom. Remember, Paul says that even if an angel should disagree with me on this, he’s wrong; if even an angel from heaven should come, he’s wrong. God says, “That’s right. I absolutely will never budge on this. I will run my universe in this manner. Therefore I can only save people who can be entrusted with this kind of freedom—people who love, trust and admire this kind of God.” That’s “the unity inherent in our faith and our knowledge of the Son of God.” So I believe that God’s people, wherever they are on this planet, in whatever church, or no church, or wherever they are in the universe, God’s church, his true people, are those individuals who, in the highest sense of freedom have decided that they love, trust, and admire that kind of God. And then there is a unity among them, no matter what happens. And that unity will last forever, because it wasn’t contrived. It wasn’t forced. Are you willing to let God run his universe this way? {Graham Maxwell. Excerpt from the audio series, The Picture of God in all 66 – Ephesians and Colossians, recorded May, 1982, Riverside, California} To listen to the entire audio of the above reference, click on the following direct links: http://pkp.cc/67MMPOGIA66 (Part 1) http://pkp.cc/68MMPOGIA66 (Part 2)

You see, when he tried to be so gracious and winsome, he wasn’t having to straighten them out on their diet. They all ate kosher. Or on their tithe paying. They all paid tithe. Or on their health reform. They strained gnats out of their goat’s milk. Or on which day was the Sabbath. Or that they should believe the Bible, the Ten Commandments, creation—you name it. They believed the whole lot. And yet they had no respect for his form of government. If he had thundered a little more, if he had said, “Yes, take that woman in adultery out and stone her,” they would have said, “Now you’re talking. That’s good leadership.” And it wasn’t. But the angels had to learn that, too. The question is, in all our concern to do the right and proper thing, are we really people who have unreserved respect for this kind of government? Or could we even be trusted in this kind of government? That’s why I like to make the statement that I believe that God is an infinitely powerful but equally gracious person, who values nothing higher than the freedom and the dignity and the

Study Collection Prepared December, 2017 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 3 individuality of his intelligent creatures; that their love, their faith, their worship, their willingness to listen and obey may be freely given. {Graham Maxwell. Excerpt from the audio series, The Picture of God in all 66 – Ephesians and Colossians, recorded May, 1982, Riverside, California} To listen to the entire audio of the above reference, click on the following direct links: http://pkp.cc/67MMPOGIA66 (Part 1) http://pkp.cc/68MMPOGIA66 (Part 2)

Further Study with Ellen White The enemy can never take out of the hand of Christ the one who is simply trusting in His promises. If the soul is trusting and working obediently, the mind is susceptible to divine impressions, and the light of God shines in, enlightening the understanding. What privileges we have in Christ Jesus! {SD 351.4} The most powerful evidence a man can give that he has been born again and is a new man in Christ Jesus, is the manifestation of love for his brethren, the doing of Christlike deeds. This is the most wonderful witness that can be borne in favor of Christianity, and will win souls to the truth. . . . {SD 293.4} Those who accept Christ as their personal Saviour are not left as orphans, to bear the trials of life alone. He receives them as members of the heavenly family; He bids them call His Father their Father. They are His “little ones,” dear to the heart of God, bound to Him by the most tender and abiding ties. He has toward them an exceeding tenderness, as far surpassing what our father or mother has felt toward us in our helplessness as the divine is above the human. {DA 327.2} All who choose Christ’s kingdom of love and righteousness and peace, making its interest paramount to all other, are linked to the world above, and every blessing needed for this life is theirs. {DA 313.3} God regards us as His children. He has redeemed us out of the careless world and has chosen us to become members of the royal family, sons and daughters of the heavenly King. He invites us to trust in Him with a trust deeper and stronger than that of a child in his earthly father. Parents love their children, but the love of God is larger, broader, deeper, than human love can possibly be. It is immeasurable. Then if earthly parents know how to give good gifts to their children, how much more shall our Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him? {COL 142.1} All who consecrate soul, body, and spirit to God will be constantly receiving a new endowment of physical and mental power. The inexhaustible supplies of heaven are at their command. Christ gives them the breath of His own spirit, the life of His own life. The Holy Spirit puts forth its highest energies to work in heart and mind. The grace of God enlarges and multiplies their

Study Collection Prepared December, 2017 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 4 faculties, and every perfection of the divine nature comes to their assistance in the work of saving souls. Through co-operation with Christ they are complete in Him, and in their human weakness they are enabled to do the deeds of Omnipotence. {DA 827.3} God’s ideal for His children is higher than the highest human thought can reach. “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” This command is a promise. The plan of redemption contemplates our complete recovery from the power of Satan. Christ always separates the contrite soul from sin. He came to destroy the works of the devil, and He has made provision that the Holy Spirit shall be imparted to every repentant soul, to keep him from sinning. {DA 311.2} Wherever there is union with Christ there is love. Whatever other fruits we may bear, if love be missing, they profit nothing. Love to God and our neighbor is the very essence of our religion. No one can love Christ and not love His children. When we are united to Christ, we have the mind of Christ. Purity and love shine forth in the character, meekness and truth control the life. The very expression of the countenance is changed. Christ abiding in the soul exerts a transforming power, and the outward aspect bears witness to the peace and joy that reign within. We drink in the love of Christ, as the branch draws nourishment from the vine. If we are grafted in Christ, if fiber by fiber we have been united with the Living Vine, we shall give evidence of the fact by bearing rich clusters of living fruit. If we are connected with the Light, we shall be channels of light, and in our words and works we shall reflect light to the world. Those who are truly Christians are bound with the chain of love which links earth to heaven, which binds finite man to the infinite God. The light that shines in the face of Jesus Christ shines in the hearts of His followers, to the glory of God. {1SM 337.2} He who places himself unreservedly under the guidance of the Spirit of God, will find that his mind expands and develops. He obtains an education in the service of God which is not one- sided and deficient, developing a one-sided character, but one which results in symmetry and completeness. {1SM 338.2} Sanctification means habitual communion with God. There is nothing so great and powerful as God’s love for those who are His children. {HP 129.5} To be sanctified is to become a partaker of the divine nature, catching the spirit and mind of Jesus, ever learning in the school of Christ. “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” It is impossible for any of us by our own power or our own efforts to work this change in ourselves. It is the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, which Jesus said He would send into the world, that changes our character into the image of Christ; and when this is accomplished, we reflect, as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord. That is, the character of the one who thus beholds Christ is so like His, that one looking at him sees Christ’s own character shining out as from a

Study Collection Prepared December, 2017 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 5 mirror. Imperceptibly to ourselves, we are changed day by day from our ways and will into the ways and will of Christ, into the loveliness of His character. Thus we grow up into Christ, and unconsciously reflect His image. {RC 20.3} God’s ideal for His children is higher than the highest human thought can reach. The living God has given in His holy law a transcript of His character. The greatest Teacher the world has ever known is Jesus Christ; and what is the standard He has given for all who believe in Him? “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Matthew 5:48. As God is perfect in His high sphere of action, so man may be perfect in his human sphere. {CT 365.2} The work of transformation from unholiness to holiness is a continuous one. Day by day God labors for man’s sanctification, and man is to co-operate with Him, putting forth persevering efforts in the cultivation of right habits. He is to add grace to grace; and as he thus works on the plan of addition, God works for him on the plan of multiplication. Our Saviour is always ready to hear and answer the prayer of the contrite heart, and grace and peace are multiplied to His faithful ones. Gladly He grants them the blessings they need in their struggle against the evils that beset them. {AA 532.2} True sanctification unites believers to Christ and to one another in bonds of tender sympathy. This union causes to flow continually into the heart rich currents of Christlike love, which flows forth again in love for one another. {SD 102.2} He passed by no human being as worthless, but sought to apply the healing remedy to every soul. In whatever company He found Himself He presented a lesson appropriate to the time and the circumstances. Every neglect or insult shown by men to their fellow men only made Him more conscious of their need of His divine-human sympathy. He sought to inspire with hope the roughest and most unpromising, setting before them the assurance that they might become blameless and harmless, attaining such a character as would make them manifest as the children of God. {MH 25.5} There is no other ground of peace than this. The grace of Christ received into the heart, subdues enmity; it allays strife and fills the soul with love. He who is at peace with God and his fellow men cannot be made miserable. Envy will not be in his heart; evil surmisings will find no room there; hatred cannot exist. The heart that is in harmony with God is a partaker of the peace of heaven and will diffuse its blessed influence on all around. The spirit of peace will rest like dew upon hearts weary and troubled with worldly strife. {MB 27.3} While the wind is itself invisible, it produces effects that are seen and felt. So the work of the Spirit upon the soul will reveal itself in every act of him who has felt its saving power. When the Spirit of God takes possession of the heart, it transforms the life. Sinful thoughts are put away, evil deeds are renounced; love, humility, and peace take the place of anger, envy, and strife. Joy takes the place of sadness, and the countenance reflects the light of heaven. No one sees the

Study Collection Prepared December, 2017 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 6 hand that lifts the burden, or beholds the light descend from the courts above. The blessing comes when by faith the soul surrenders itself to God. Then that power which no human eye can see creates a new being in the image of God. {DA 173.1} It is impossible for finite minds to comprehend the work of redemption. Its mystery exceeds human knowledge; yet he who passes from death to life realizes that it is a divine reality. The beginning of redemption we may know here through a personal experience. Its results reach through the eternal ages. {DA 173.2} In the heart renewed by divine grace, love is the principle of action. It modifies the character, governs the impulses, controls the passions, subdues enmity, and ennobles the affections. This love, cherished in the soul, sweetens the life and sheds a refining influence on all around. {SC 59.3}

Study Collection Prepared December, 2017 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 7 Pine Knoll Sabbath School Study Notes Fourth Quarter 2018: Oneness in Christ Lesson 5 The Experience of Unity in the Early Church

Read for this week’s study Acts 1:12–14; Acts 2:5–13; Revelation 14:12; Acts 2:42–47; Acts 4:32–37; Acts 5:1–11; 2 Corinthians 9:8–15. Memory Text “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers” (Acts 2:42, NKJV).

Lesson Outline from Adult Sabbath School Study Guide I. Introduction II. Days of Preparation III. From Babel to Pentecost IV. Unity of Fellowship V. Generosity and Greed VI. Remember the Poor VII. Further Study

Questions and Notes for Consideration Facilitator: Jon Paulien 1. Read the features which promoted early church unity in Acts 2:42. What do these four activities really mean in today’s terms? How do they foster unity? What is the key ingredient in spiritual unity? How do you know when it is OK to disagree within a spiritual community? (Sabbath Afternoon) 2. Read Acts 1:12-14. What did the disciples do during this period of ten days? What things must they have been doing that are not explicitly described in the text? What kind of activities would be contemporary equivalents? What would the Holy Spirit’s role in these activities be in our world today? How can we have the kind of experience with Jesus that they had, not having been with him face to face? (Sunday’s lesson) 3. Read Acts 2:1-15. What is the significance of this amazing event? Why did the Holy Spirit arrive in such a dramatic way? Why does the Bible story give a voice to those who were disputing the genuineness of the experience? Since the text doesn’t tell us directly, what is the likely location of this event? (Monday’s lesson)

Study Collection Prepared January, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 1 4. Read Acts 2:42-47. What activities did these early believers do as a community? How did they handle their financial and social affairs? Why didn’t the early church continue the practice of holding all things in common? To what degree is the Pine Knoll community like the early church and how is it different? How would one try to reproduce the Pentecost experience today? (Tuesday’s lesson) 5. Read Acts 4:32-37 along with 5:1-11. Compare the behavior and attitude of Barnabas with those of Ananias and Sapphira. What do you think went wrong with this couple? What were their motivations to do what they did? What does their fate tell us about God? What is the “great fear” that came over the church all about? Do we need more of that today? What was God’s purpose in causing or allowing it? How can one uproot covetousness and pride from our own lives today? (Wednesday’s lesson) 6. Read 2 Corinthians 9:8-15. What does Paul say would be the results of the Corinthian Church’s generosity? In what ways have you and your church experienced the benefits of generosity? What blessings come to those who give to others? In what ways could we duplicate the kind of project Paul was promoting to the Corinthians today? (Thursday’s lesson) 7. Why do people love money so much? What does money represent that makes it so hard to let go of? (Friday’s lesson)

Thoughts from Graham Maxwell Jesus said, “I do not leave you orphans”—in the Greek— “You are not alone. The Spirit will come and guide you.” After Jesus left, for the very first time they sat down and opened their Bibles and went to work. They actually began to think things through. But why do that, when you have the Lord visibly present? I mean, if the Lord were here tonight, and we should have a question, why should you go and get the books out? Why not ask him directly? And Jesus says, “It would be better that I go, because you’ll never grow up if you don’t start thinking it through for yourselves.” And so he says, “It’s better that I go now. And you can’t see the Spirit. If you want to consult the Spirit, you’d better open the books that ke has inspired. You’d better read those.” And as Ellen White says, “Even the work of the Holy Spirit upon the heart must be judged by the Scriptures.” So he doesn’t come as just a voice of authority. He comes with the authority of truth, which you will find in the Scriptures. And the men began to grow up, in the upper room. And when finally they realized that the authority of their message lay in the truth, which they found as the two men on the way to Emmaus did, by comparing the teachings of the Old Testament with the life and the teachings and the sufferings and the death of Christ. When they put that all together, at last they were ready to go. And then the Spirit showed himself. He’d been there all along. Who’d inspired the scriptures they were reading? Who was guiding them in the interpretation

Study Collection Prepared January, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 2 of these scriptures? But when finally they put it all together and they were ready to go, then the Spirit appeared. Some say, “The Spirit came.” No, they wouldn’t have been where they were if the Spirit hadn’t worked all along. Now the Spirit gave them visible endorsement. “Now you’re ready to go. Now you take the truth. And you’re going to take it just as you found it. You’re going to take the Bible.” Look how Paul did that. “You’re going to take the Scriptures out, and you’re going to tie in with that the culminating revelation, based on the Old Testament, to be found in the way Jesus lived, the way he treated people, the way he suffered, and the way he died. And then they really had authority and power, but not a visible leader. And that’s the authority we have. So I think there were many ways, perhaps, in which it was better that Jesus go. And the one that appeals to me most is that they never would have grown up so long as he was there, and they could run to him and say “Is it this? Is it that?” And then, of course, they were preoccupied with being with him in the kingdom. “What position will I hold in the kingdom?” He said, “There are much more important things than that. I think I’d better go, and leave you to think this thing through.” And they grew up. They still had some growing to do, as you recall. Peter had some growing to do. But in the end, he really grew up, didn’t he. {Graham Maxwell. Excerpt from the audio series, The Picture of God in all 66 – Acts, recorded April, 1982, Riverside, California} To listen to the entire audio of the above reference, click on the following direct links: http://pkp.cc/59MMPOGIA66 (Part 1) http://pkp.cc/60MMPOGIA66 (Part 2)

Further Study with Ellen White It is the privilege of every earnest seeker for truth and righteousness, to rely upon the sure promises of God. The Lord Jesus makes manifest the fact that the treasures of divine grace are placed entirely at our disposal, in order that we may become channels of light. We cannot receive the riches of the grace of Christ without desiring to impart them to others. When we have the love of Christ in our hearts, we shall feel that it is our duty and privilege to communicate it. {RC 304.2} The promise of the Holy Spirit is not limited to any age or to any race. Christ declared that the divine influence of His Spirit was to be with His followers unto the end. From the Day of Pentecost to the present time, the Comforter has been sent to all who have yielded themselves fully to the Lord and to His service. To all who have accepted Christ as a personal Saviour, the Holy Spirit has come as a counselor, sanctifier, guide, and witness. {AA 49.2} When Christ ascended to the Father, He did not leave His followers without help. The Holy Spirit, as His representative, and the heavenly angels, as ministering spirits, are sent forth to aid

Study Collection Prepared January, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 3 those who against great odds are fighting the good fight of faith. Ever remember that Jesus is your helper. No one understands as well as He your peculiarities of character. He is watching over you, and if you are willing to be guided by Him, He will throw around you influences for good that will enable you to accomplish all His will for you. {MYP 17.1} God takes men as they are, and educates them for His service, if they will yield themselves to Him. The Spirit of God, received into the soul, quickens all its faculties. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the mind that is devoted unreservedly to God, develops harmoniously, and is strengthened to comprehend and fulfil the requirements of God. The weak, vacillating character becomes changed to one of strength and steadfastness. Continual devotion establishes so close a relation between Jesus and His disciples that the Christian becomes like his Master in character. He has clearer, broader views. His discernment is more penetrative, his judgment better balanced. So quickened is he by the life-giving power of the Sun of Righteousness, that he is enabled to bear much fruit to the glory of God. {GW 285.3} In the secret place of prayer, where no eye but God’s can see, no ear but His can hear, we may pour out our most hidden desires and longings to the Father of infinite pity, and in the hush and silence of the soul that voice which never fails to answer the cry of human need will speak to our hearts. {Pr 182.6} Prayer is the opening of the heart to God as to a friend. Not that it is necessary in order to make known to God what we are, but in order to enable us to receive Him. Prayer does not bring God down to us, but brings us up to Him. {Pr 8.4} When Jesus was upon the earth, He taught His disciples how to pray. He directed them to present their daily needs before God, and to cast all their care upon Him. And the assurance He gave them that their petitions should be heard, is assurance also to us.—(Steps to Christ, 93.) {Pr 8.5} Keep your wants, your joys, your sorrows, your cares, and your fears before God. You cannot burden Him; you cannot weary Him. He who numbers the hairs of your head is not indifferent to the wants of His children. “The Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.” James 5:11. His heart of love is touched by our sorrows and even by our utterances of them. Take to Him everything that perplexes the mind. Nothing is too great for Him to bear, for He holds up worlds, He rules over all the affairs of the universe. Nothing that in any way concerns our peace is too small for Him to notice. There is no chapter in our experience too dark for Him to read; there is no perplexity too difficult for Him to unravel. No calamity can befall the least of His children, no anxiety harass the soul, no joy cheer, no sincere prayer escape the lips, of which our heavenly Father is unobservant, or in which He takes no immediate interest. “He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.” Psalm 147:3. The relations between God

Study Collection Prepared January, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 4 and each soul are as distinct and full as though there were not another soul upon the earth to share His watchcare, not another soul for whom He gave His beloved Son. {SC 100.1} Jesus said, “Ye shall ask in My name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you: for the Father Himself loveth you.” “I have chosen you: . . . that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in My name, He may give it you.” John 16:26, 27; 15:16. But to pray in the name of Jesus is something more than a mere mention of that name at the beginning and the ending of a prayer. It is to pray in the mind and spirit of Jesus, while we believe His promises, rely upon His grace, and work His works. {SC 100.2} By imparting to others the love and tenderness which God has so abundantly bestowed on us, we are to let our light shine. We should put every gift of God to the best possible use, making it a producer of good. {RC 198.5} When we are faithful in making God known, our impulses will be under divine supervision, and we shall make steady growth, spiritually and intellectually. {UL 81.4}

Study Collection Prepared January, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 5 Pine Knoll Sabbath School Study Notes Fourth Quarter 2018: Oneness in Christ Lesson 6 Images of Unity

Read for this week’s study 1 Peter 2:9; Exodus 19:5, 6; Ephesians 2:19–22; 1 Corinthians 3:16, 17; 1 Corinthians 12:12–26; John 10:1–11; Psalm 23. Memory Text “For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ” (1 Corinthians 12:12, NKJV).

Lesson Outline from Adult Sabbath School Study Guide I. Introduction II. The People of God III. The Household of God IV. The Temple of the Holy Spirit V. The Body of Christ VI. Sheep and Shepherd VII. Further Study

Questions and Notes for Consideration Facilitator: Jon Paulien 1. What are the strengths and weaknesses of metaphor in describing spiritual things? Are all spiritual metaphors equally useful? Read 1 Corinthians 12:12. What are the two main ingredients in a spiritual community? (Sabbath Afternoon) 2. Read 1 Peter 2:9; Exodus 19:5-6, Deuteronomy 4:20 and 7:6. What metaphors do these texts use to describe the special status of the people of God? How do these images relate to the biblical concept of the remnant? In what way is that term an appropriate description of the Seventh-day Adventist Church today? Read Deuteronomy 7:6-8. What prompted God to select the descendants of Abraham as His special people? What does this choice tell us about God? What implications does God’s choice have for us today? (Sunday’s lesson) 3. Read Ephesians 2:19-22. What key metaphors of the church does Paul emphasize in this passage? What implications do they have for the unity of the church? One New Testament image of the church is that of a family. How big is God’s family and how should godly family members treat each other when they disagree? What do you do when your local church is a dysfunctional family? (Monday’s lesson)

Study Collection Prepared January, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 1 4. Read 1 Corinthians 3:16-17. What does it mean that the church is the temple of the Holy Spirit? What is Paul warning about in verse 17? (Tuesday’s lesson) 5. Read 1 Corinthians 12:12-26. How does the image of one body with many parts apply to the local church? How does it apply to a worldwide organization like the Seventh-day Adventist Church? (Wednesday’s lesson) 6. Read John 10:1-15. How does the metaphor of the church as a sheepfold instruct us with regard to unity? How do we access the “one shepherd” in today’s world? When sheep get lost does the shepherd spank them? If not, why not? People don’t generally like being depicted as sheep. In what way are sheep an appropriate metaphor for the members of a church? (Thursday’s lesson) 7. Which of the images for the church in this lesson did you like the most? Notice some other metaphors for the church that can be found in 1 Timothy 3:15, 2 Timothy 2:3- 5 and 1 Peter 2:9. What do these metaphors teach us about unity in the church? (Friday’s lesson) 8. “Confidence in our brethren is essential to the prosperity of the church. . . One imprudent step, one careless action, may plunge the church into difficulties and trials from which it may not recover for years.” Ellen White, Testimonies, volume 6, page 446. Is disunity in a church more likely to arise from the top (church leadership) or from the bottom (membership)? (Friday’s lesson)

Thoughts from Graham Maxwell I will treat them as though they had always been my loyal children. That’s all God has ever wanted. But he’s had to add a lot of things, hasn’t he? And that’s Galatians 3. The law was added because of transgression, to be our guardian, our custodian, to bring us to Christ, to bring us back to the place where we say, “You be our God; and we’ll be your people. We’re willing to listen. We trust you.” And God can save and heal all who trust him. If only we could understand that, we wouldn’t need so many other aids. But God’s a good teacher. If we don’t trust him, he’ll lay hands on us; he’ll discipline us; he’ll raise his voice; he’ll give us a thousand rules to protect us in our ignorance and immaturity. But all he wants in the end is that we trust him. The whole plan of salvation, the cross, everything, if it does not lead us back to trust him, it will do us no good whatsoever. God can only save those who trust him. The only people who are safe to save are those whom he can trust, and who will behave as described earlier in Jeremiah and all the other prophets. There’s nothing legalistic about that. It isn’t even a legal problem. It’s a problem of trust, of honesty, integrity, humility, willingness to listen. And God, the Infinite One, has all the power needed to heal the damage done. He’s not so concerned with forgiveness as with healing the damage done and restoring us to the condition we were in before sin ever came into the

Study Collection Prepared January, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 2 universe, when there was no need to mention law. It was written on the hearts of the angels. There’s a magnificent description here of what God really wants. Are we emphasizing this at this present time? Are we known for this? Well, here’s a way to test it. Look at Jeremiah 9:23 in the light of all this: Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches; but let him who glories glory in this” [be proud of it], “that he understands and knows me,” “My people perish because they don’t know and understand me.” Remember how many times that’s come up? This is the thing to be proud of. And this is not unspecific. What do we know about God? “That I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth; for in these things I delight, says the LORD.” Can you name some people in the Bible who were very proud that they knew this? It’s being proud of God, rather than of ourselves. Name somebody who was very proud that he knew the truth about God’s righteousness. And he wasn’t ashamed of it. He says, “I’m proud of it.” Look at Romans 1:16. Paul says, “I am not ashamed of the gospel”. Well, what is the gospel? “It is the power of God for salvation to everyone who trusts, who has faith; to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” To everybody. {Graham Maxwell. Excerpt from the audio series, The Picture of God in All 66 – Jeremiah & Lamentations, recorded February, 1982, Riverside, California} To listen to the entire audio of the above reference, click on the following direct links: *Audio links to the West Covina series recorded in 1984: http://pkp.cc/35MMPOGIA66 (Part 1) http://pkp.cc/36MMPOGIA66 (Part 2)

It is most significant to know that the word salvation means, essentially, healing. To be saved is to be healed. In one very legal understanding of the plan of salvation, to be saved is more to be forgiven; almost to have your fire insurance paid up, so you can be admitted. In the trust-healing model, salvation means healing the damage done. This is made plain in many places in scripture. Look at the next two examples on the list, of Luke 18:42, in two different versions. Jesus said to the blind man: “Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee.” That’s the King James Version. But the New International Version, right underneath: “Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.” {Graham Maxwell. Excerpt from the audio series, Conversations About God, #14, “God Can Completely Heal the Damage Done” recorded May, 1984, Loma Linda, California} To listen to the entire audio of the above reference, click on the following direct link: http://pkp.cc/14MMCAG

Study Collection Prepared January, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 3 One view sees the plan of salvation and God’s gracious provisions, such as the death of Christ on the cross, as being primarily offered to adjust our legal standing in the sight of God, because as sinners, we are guilty. And guilty as we are, justice and law demand that we be executed. And the only way to avoid being executed—and there are many, various explanations of execution; these are the various views of hell. We all have views of hell, the longer view, the medium view and the shorter view; there are many views of hell. But if God is the executioner, then we do well to be preoccupied with our legal standing. And unless we be forgiven, he will go ahead and do this to us; he must. Law and justice require it. And if he doesn’t go through with this, the universe will conclude he is unjust. And if he’s unjust, you wouldn’t trust him, and now you’re getting over into the other view, which always amuses me, that if you pursue even the legal view logically to its conclusions you wind up with the other one. But now in the larger view, which uses all sixty-six books and has no problems with Ellen White at all, it sees sin not as a legal problem. It sees sin as a very real problem that has had devastating consequences on us physically, mentally, spiritually, socially. Sin is a breach of trust, as Romans 14 says. Sin is treachery. Sin is what Lucifer did in the beginning, for which you could not have called him in before church counsel. What had he done? Nothing! Except the most devastating thing that can ever be done. Nearly destroyed the universe, that’s what he did. That’s how bad it was. And because of this distrust, and the consequential unwillingness to listen and allow God to look after us and heal the damage done, enormous damage has been done to sinners. We’re not in legal trouble, we’re in trouble. We’re not in danger of being executed, we’re dying. That’s the difference. And I believe it makes all the difference in the world. I would not go to a doctor who would kill his patients for not cooperating. But if I’m dying, I need a doctor. And if I go and don’t cooperate, I still may die. But my understanding is, that in this larger view, this great controversy view, this sixty-six book view, we’re all dying. And if God were to leave us alone, that’s it. But he hasn’t. He’s pursued us through the years, trying to win us back to trust. And of course, you don’t expect people to trust without evidence. You don’t make claims; you offer demonstrations; that’s the content of the sixty-six books, God’s demonstration of the kind of person he is. And the way he’s handled this emergency is the greatest demonstration of all. As to, not how he treats his friends, but how he treats his enemies. How he treats the sick and the dying; how does he seek to win them back to trust? And some of us find that very wonderful. So the purpose of the plan of salvation is not to adjust our legal standing, but the purpose of the plan of salvation is to win us back to trust so he can heal us, which he can readily do, and it is to confirm the trust of the onlooking universe. {Graham Maxwell. Excerpt from the audio presentation, Questions People Are Asking About the Plan of Salvation, recorded April, 1983, Redlands, California} To listen to the entire audio of the above reference, click on the following direct links: http://pkp.cc/1MMQUESTP (Part 1) http://pkp.cc/2MMQUESTP (Part 2)

Study Collection Prepared January, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 4 Lou: You mentioned as a reference, Ephesians 3:9, 10. In Ephesians 3 are those words, “that through the church, the manifold wisdom of God might be made manifest.” This questioner would like you to elaborate on how you’re using the word church here. Are you talking about a denomination—church as an official organization? Graham: Ah, that’s a fair question. It reminds me of our discussion last time, about all being in the family. Church has many meanings, doesn’t it? Like this building is church, or the organization is church. “Does the church permit thus and so”, we say. And then we have the interesting custom of speaking of Sabbath school and church, or Sunday school and church, church as the 11 o’clock hour. Church has many meanings. What would it mean here? We would have to go back to the original word. And the original word suggests those who respond to God’s invitation. It’s almost like congregation; we gather together. Or synagogue; they gather together. These are all God’s people everywhere, who respond to the invitation and at least profess they are his friends. And God works through these people. Now, he works and reveals himself through his treatment of everybody. But through certain people, like Abraham, and hence his descendants, God has especially worked. And they call it the church in the wilderness. Paul was a member of this church. And Jeremiah was a member of this church. We can all be members of this group of individuals who say “yes” to God, who respond to his call. We still need lots of work, lots of discipline, lots of correction, lots of healing. But at the same time, we have the privilege of joining with him in spreading this good news as to what he is like. And so God, through his church, his treatment of the church, through the cooperation of the church (which is a great privilege), has revealed his purposes and plans. Now, this isn’t any “denomination,” that’s for sure. Lou: Is this what you’re talking about then, when you talk about being witnesses? And Jesus says, “Ye are my witnesses.” Graham: Those would all be members of the church, that’s for sure, the church of those who have come to trust in God again. And they enjoy the unity that is inherent in this trust, in Ephesians 4. {Graham Maxwell. Excerpt from the audio series, Conversations About God, #2 with Lou Venden, “What Went Wrong in God’s Universe?” recorded January, 1984, Loma Linda, California} To listen to the entire audio of the above reference, click on the following direct link: http://pkp.cc/2MMCAG

Study Collection Prepared January, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 5 His gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, for the equipment of the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ [that’s the church, the whole church], until we all attain to the unity [now, isn’t that the subject of Ephesians and Colossians, and other places? He wants to bring unity in the family. He wants to make for peace and an end to hostility. All right, until we all attain to the unity that is made possible by the tightly cinched baling wire of rules and regulations and a fear of final judgment and torment. But that’s no unity at all, is it? It says] until we all attain [now the versions vary. Mine, the Revised Standard, says,], to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God. The “unity of the faith.” What’s that? Now, some would say, “Until they all believe the same thing. They have the creed, and they all subscribe to it. We had to tie a few to the stake, and burn a few, but now we have unity.” That’s no good either, is it? So I love, the New English Bible has, “The unity inherent in our faith.” That would be my preference. “The unity inherent in our faith, and our knowledge of the Son of God.” That is, we now know the truth about our God as revealed by his Son, and we like it. And it has won us back to trust and faith. In other words, we all love, trust, admire, and worship the same God. Why, that makes for unity! Doesn’t it? Because, what is it about God that has won us? Isn’t it that he values nothing higher than our freedom? And all the laws that he’s given were just for our protection. And he almost apologizes every time he gives us a law. It is fraught with hazard that we’ll misunderstand, and do these things for the wrong reason. I mean, God isn’t pleased when I abstain from murdering my mother-in-law because every day I check that law, and it says, “Thou shalt not do it, and if thou doest it, thou shalt be seriously punished in the end.” And so I don’t murder my mother-in-law. My mother-in-law is not that secure under those circumstances, because one day I might forget to read the rules that morning. The Lord’s goal is that some time, some day, we come to the place where we’d never think of murdering our mothers-in-law. God does not want the citizens of the hereafter to be safe because we read the rules, and we take the Rule Giver very seriously. That’s not real unity. That’s not the tenth commandment, which says, “Thou shalt not even want to murder thy mother-in-law.” And that’s the law written in the heart, where a man does his thinking, as well as his feeling. So this is not a contrived, enforced unity. Here are people who, in the highest sense of freedom, have agreed that God is not the kind of person his enemies have made him out to be. He is, instead, precisely as Jesus revealed him to be. And we accept his testimony that if we’ve seen Jesus, we’ve seen the Father. He does value nothing higher than our freedom. He hates to add law upon law. He’d rather we’d do what’s right because it is right, and his highest goal for us is the recovery of self-control. Why, that adds dignity to life. That’s what we all want. Wouldn’t you love to live under that kind of government? A government that does not like to add laws, or

Study Collection Prepared January, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 6 rule by law at all? Of course it does mean that God can only admit to his kingdom those who respect this quality of life, so he says, “I cannot save you if you do not like this. Besides, if you want to go some other way, the consequences are serious; even in this life, the results are very damaging.” {Graham Maxwell. Excerpt from the audio series, The Picture of God in all 66 – Ephesians & Colossians, recorded May, 1982, Riverside, California} To listen to the entire audio of the above reference, click on the following direct links: http://pkp.cc/67MMPOGIA66 (Part 1) http://pkp.cc/68MMPOGIA66 (Part 2)

Further Study with Ellen White The entrance of God’s word is the application of divine truth to the heart, purifying and refining the soul through the agency of the Holy Spirit. The faculties devoted unreservedly to God, under the guidance of the divine Spirit, develop steadily and harmoniously. Devotion and piety establish so close a relation between Jesus and His disciples that the Christian becomes like Him. Through the power of God, his weak, vacillating character becomes changed to one of strength and steadfastness. He becomes a person of sound principle, clear perception, and reliable, well-balanced judgment. Having a connection with God, the source of light and understanding, his views, unbiased by his own preconceived opinions, become broader, his discernment more penetrative and farseeing. The knowledge of God, the understanding of His revealed will, as far as human minds can grasp it, will, when received into the character, make efficient men. {CT 37.3} When the soul surrenders itself to Christ, a new power takes possession of the new heart. A change is wrought which man can never accomplish for himself. It is a supernatural work, bringing a supernatural element into human nature. The soul that is yielded to Christ becomes His own fortress, which He holds in a revolted world, and He intends that no authority shall be known in it but His own. A soul thus kept in possession by the heavenly agencies is impregnable to the assaults of Satan. {SD 23.2} Christ is ready to impart all heavenly influences. He knows every temptation that comes to man, and the capabilities of every human agent. He weighs his strength. He sees the present and the future, and presents before the mind the obligations that should be met, and urges that common, earthly things shall not be permitted to be so absorbing that eternal things shall be lost out of reckoning. {SD 23.3} Through the transforming grace of Christ, the fruits of the Spirit are made manifest in the life of those who were once dead in trespasses and sins. In disposition, in words, and in actions, they are seen to be partakers of the divine nature. This wonderful grace was revealed to Paul, and

Study Collection Prepared January, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 7 he worked constantly that others might be brought to a knowledge of these saving truths. {UL 309.4} Fallen man is Satan’s lawful captive. The mission of Christ was to rescue him from the power of his great adversary. Man is naturally inclined to follow Satan’s suggestions, and he cannot successfully resist so terrible a foe unless Christ, the mighty Conqueror, dwells in him, guiding his desires, and giving him strength. God alone can limit the power of Satan. . . . Satan knows better than God’s people the power that they can have over him when their strength is in Christ. When they humbly entreat the mighty Conqueror for help, the weakest believer in the truth, relying firmly upon Christ, can successfully repulse Satan and all his host. . . . {AG 257.2} The gifts of Jesus are ever fresh and new. . . . Each new gift increases the capacity of the receiver to appreciate and enjoy the blessings of the Lord. He gives grace for grace. There can be no failure of supply. If you abide in Him, the fact that you receive a rich gift today insures the reception of a richer gift tomorrow. . . . {AG 104.2} In the place where sin abounded, God’s grace much more abounds. The earth itself, the very field that Satan claims as his, is to be not only ransomed but exalted. Our little world, under the curse of sin the one dark blot in His glorious creation, will be honored above all other worlds in the universe of God. Here, where the Son of God tabernacled in humanity; where the King of glory lived and suffered and died,—here, when He shall make all things new, the tabernacle of God shall be with men, “and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God.” And through endless ages as the redeemed walk in the light of the Lord, they will praise Him for His unspeakable Gift,—Immanuel, “God with us.” {DA 26.3} In every human being He discerned infinite possibilities. He saw men as they might be, transfigured by His grace—in “the beauty of the Lord our God.” Psalm 90:17. Looking upon them with hope, He inspired hope. Meeting them with confidence, He inspired trust. Revealing in Himself man’s true ideal, He awakened, for its attainment, both desire and faith. In His presence souls despised and fallen realized that they still were men, and they longed to prove themselves worthy of His regard. In many a heart that seemed dead to all things holy, were awakened new impulses. To many a despairing one there opened the possibility of a new life. {Ed 80.1} Christ bound them to His heart by the ties of love and devotion; and by the same ties He bound them to their fellow men. With Him love was life, and life was service. “Freely ye have received,” He said, “freely give.” Matthew 10:8. {Ed 80.2} Christ came into the world to represent the Father to man; for Satan had presented Him before the world in a false light. Because God is a God of justice, of terrible majesty, who has power to destroy as well as to preserve man, Satan caused men to regard Him with fear, to look upon

Study Collection Prepared January, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 8 Him as a tyrant. Jesus had been with the Father from the everlasting ages, before the creation of man, and He came to reveal the Father, declaring, “God is love.” Jesus represented God as a kind Father, who careth for the subjects of His kingdom. He declared that not a sparrow falls to the ground without the notice of the Father, and that the children of men are of more value in His sight than many sparrows, that the very hairs of their head are all numbered. {LHU 36.2} Satan had clothed the Father in his own attributes, but Christ represented Him in His true character of benevolence and love. In the character in which Christ presented Him to the world it was as if He gave a new gift to man. . . . {LHU 36.4} The salvation of the human race has ever been the object of the councils of heaven. The covenant of mercy was made before the foundation of the world. It has existed from all eternity, and is called the everlasting covenant. So surely as there never was a time when God was not, so surely there never was a moment when it was not the delight of the eternal mind to manifest His grace to humanity. {FLB 76.4} Jesus came to restore in man the image of his Maker. None but Christ can fashion anew the character that has been ruined by sin. He came to expel the demons that had controlled the will. {FLB 142.2} The strength of God’s people lies in their union with Him through His only-begotten Son, and their union with one another. There are no two leaves of a tree precisely alike; neither do all minds run in the same direction. But while this is so, there may be unity in diversity. Christ is our root, and all who are grafted into this root will bear the fruit which Christ bore. They will reveal the fragrance of His character in the talent of speech, in the cultivation of hospitality, of kindness, of Christian courtesy and heavenly politeness. {6BC 1083.3} Look at the flowers in a carpet, and notice the different colored threads. All are not pink, all are not green, all are not blue. A variety of colors are woven together to perfect the pattern. So it is in the design of God. He has a purpose in placing us where we must learn to live as individuals. We are not all fitted to do the same kind of work, but each man’s work is designed by God to help make up His plan (RH July 4, 1899). {6BC 1083.4} Communion with God gives a daily experience that does indeed make our joy full. {UL 295.2} The church is the object of God’s tenderest love and care. If the members will allow Him, He will reveal His character through them. He says to them, “Ye are the light of the world.” Those who walk and talk with God practice the gentleness of Christ. In their lives, forbearance, meekness, and self-restraint are united with holy earnestness and diligence. As they advance heavenward, the sharp, rough edges of character are worn off, and godliness is seen. The Holy Spirit, full of grace and power, works upon mind and heart. {HP 283.5}

Study Collection Prepared January, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 9 Christ has made provision that His church shall be a transformed body illumined with the light of heaven, possessing the glory of Immanuel. It is His purpose that every Christian shall be surrounded with a spiritual atmosphere of light and peace. {HP 283.6} Having undertaken the work of man’s redemption, the Father would spare nothing, however dear, which was essential for the completion of His work. He would make opportunities for men; He would pour upon them His blessings; He would heap favor upon favor, gift upon gift, until the whole treasury of heaven was open to those whom He came to save. Having collected all the riches of the universe, and laid open all the resources of His divine nature, God gave them all for the use of man. They were His free gift. What an ocean of love is circulating, like a divine atmosphere, around the world! What manner of love is this, that the eternal God should adopt human nature in the person of His Son, and carry the same into the highest heaven! {TMK 19.2} All the heavenly intelligences were watching with intense interest the warfare that was going on upon the earth—the earth that Satan claimed as his dominion. Every moment was big with eternal realities. How would the conflict end? The angels looked for the justice of God to be revealed, His anger to be aroused against the prince of darkness and his sympathizers. But lo, mercy prevailed. When the Son of God might have come to the world to condemn, He came as righteousness and peace, to save not merely the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but all the world—every son and daughter of Adam who would believe on Him, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. What an exhibition of the love of Jehovah! This is love without a parallel. {TMK 19.3} Jesus says, “My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” The peace spoken of by the great Teacher is larger and fuller than we have imagined. Christ is ready to do large things for us, to restore our natures by making us partakers of His divine nature. He waits to link our hearts with His heart of infinite love, in order that we may be fully reconciled to God; but it is our privilege to understand that God loves us as He loves His Son. When we believe in Christ as our personal Saviour, the peace of Christ is ours. . . . Entering into communion with our Saviour, we enter the region of peace. {LHU 332.2} But though the conflict is a ceaseless one, none are left to struggle alone. Angels help and protect those who walk humbly before God. Never will our Lord betray one who trusts in Him. As His children draw near to Him for protection from evil, in pity and love He lifts up for them a standard against the enemy. Touch them not, He says; for they are Mine. I have graven them upon the palms of My hands. {PK 570.4} Every soul is as fully known to Jesus as if he were the only one for whom the Saviour died. The distress of every one touches His heart. The cry for aid reaches His ear. He came to draw all

Study Collection Prepared January, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 10 men unto Himself. He bids them, “Follow Me,” and His Spirit moves upon their hearts to draw them to come to Him. Many refuse to be drawn. Jesus knows who they are. He also knows who gladly hear His call, and are ready to come under His pastoral care. He says, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” He cares for each one as if there were not another on the face of the earth. {DA 480.1} It is not the fear of punishment, or the hope of everlasting reward, that leads the disciples of Christ to follow Him. They behold the Saviour’s matchless love, revealed throughout His pilgrimage on earth, from the manger of Bethlehem to Calvary’s cross, and the sight of Him attracts, it softens and subdues the soul. Love awakens in the heart of the beholders. They hear His voice, and they follow Him. {DA 480.3}

Recommended Reading: Desire of Ages Chapter 52 – “The Divine Shepherd” https://egwwritings.org

Study Collection Prepared January, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 11 Pine Knoll Sabbath School Study Notes Fourth Quarter 2018: Oneness in Christ Lesson 7 When Conflicts Arise

Read for this week’s study Acts 6:1–6; Acts 10:1–23; Matthew 5:17–20; Acts 11:3–24; Acts 15:1–22; Amos 9:11, 12. Memory Text “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:27, 28, NKJV).

Lesson Outline from Adult Sabbath School Study Guide I. Introduction II. Ethnic Prejudices III. The Conversion of Gentiles IV. The Spirit Is Leading V. The Jerusalem Council VI. A Difficult Solution VII. Further Study

Questions and Notes for Consideration Facilitator: Jon Paulien 1. Read Galatians 3:27-28. What are some different aspects of the “many” that become “one” in Jesus Christ? (Sabbath Afternoon) 2. Read Acts 6:1. What issue in the early church caused people to complain about the fair and equitable distribution of food to widows? Was the complaint of the widows legitimate or was the unfairness only perceived? Read Acts 6:2-6. What steps did the early church take to resolve this issue? What was the role of the deacons in relation to the apostles? Do you see significance in the fact that the apostles called many believers together to work out a solution to the problem? (Sunday’s lesson) 3. Read Acts 10:1-23. What elements in this passage indicate that the Holy Spirit was at work in a number of places to prepare the way so that the Gentiles could receive the gospel and be included in the church? Read Acts 10:28-35. How did Peter understand the meaning of the vision he received in Joppa? What led him to this interpretation? (Monday’s lesson)

Study Collection Prepared January, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 1 4. Read Acts 11:4-18. What did Peter say to explain the work of the Holy Spirit in the Cornelius event? What was the main point he was trying to make? Read Acts 11:19- 24. What happened next in the life of the early church? How might we ourselves be holding on to narrow views of the church and its message that could hamper our witness to the world? (Tuesday’s lesson) 5. Read Acts 15:1-2 and Galatians 2:11-14. What were the two issues that caused serious conflict in the early church? Read Acts 15:3-22. What were some issues presented during the Jerusalem Council? How did the apostles come to change their minds about the meaning of Scripture? Was there ever a time when you changed your mind about how you understood a deeply held belief? (Wednesday’s lesson) 6. Read Amos 9:11-12 and Jeremiah 12:14-16. What predictions did these Old Testament prophets make regarding Israel’s neighboring nations? On what basis did James draw the conclusion he did from these texts? What implications does James’ reading have for the way we look at familiar texts today? (Thursday’s lesson) 7. What steps for the resolution of church conflicts today can we draw from the texts we explored in this lesson? How can we distinguish whether the real issue dividing a church is theological, cultural, political or ethnic? (Friday’s lesson) 8. Regarding the decision at the Jerusalem Council, Ellen White wrote: “Not all, however, were pleased with the decision; there was a faction of ambitious and self- confident brethren who disagreed with it.” Ellen G. White, Acts of the Apostles, pages 196-197. What lesson for today should we take away from this historical reality? (Friday’s lesson)

Thoughts from Graham Maxwell When he was on the roof and he had the dream, and the sheet came down, and the voice from heaven said, “Rise Peter. Kill and eat.” What should a man of faith do, when heaven tells him to do something? Should he not check his bumper sticker, “God has said it. I believe it. That’s all there is to it!” And should Peter have said, “I don’t understand it, but I don’t have to understand. Who am I to question God’s inscrutable ways? Hand me a knife and fork!” But he didn’t. Now, on what authority could he say, “God, I can’t do it.” Didn’t he cite scripture, and say, “What you’ve once said; I don’t make sense out of this.” Does God say, “I don’t have to make sense; I’m the Potter; I can do whatever I like”?—coming up in Romans next time. And so the sheet came down again, and again Peter says no. And the third time. Can you imagine the quiver in Peter’s voice when he said, “No, I won’t do it”? “And I’m puzzled. I don’t know what’s going on here.” A knock came on the door. And he went downstairs, and here were some contaminating people. Just a moment before he was about to be contaminated by the creeping things in the

Study Collection Prepared January, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 2 sheet, and now he’s about to be contaminated by these Gentiles. You see, they treated them about the same. And I think he got the message. “Peter, you’re right about the things in the sheet, but you’re wrong to treat people created in my image like the things in the sheets.” And he got the message, and he went with them. He was right in saying no. As he thought that through, he was prepared to meet those folk at the door. “Oh! When I think what I’ve been doing! I’ve been treating you as if you could contaminate me, just like those things in the sheets.” {Graham Maxwell. Excerpt from the audio series, The Picture of God in all 66 – Acts, recorded April, 1982, Riverside, California} To listen to the entire audio of the above reference, click on the following direct links: http://pkp.cc/59MMPOGIA66 (Part 1) http://pkp.cc/60MMPOGIA66 (Part 2)

In fact, from whom did the strongest opposition come? Hasn’t that always been the history? Yes, God’s professed people opposed this picture. In fact, in [Acts] chapter 13:50, did you notice that even the devout women opposed. Not all of them, but some. “But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men [they were together], of the city, and stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district.” So even the devout women were opposed. But look who incited them. The Jews! God’s own family had rejected his Son, and now they were making sure that nobody would accept the truth that Jesus had come to reveal. Why do you think again, at this stage, the Jews did not like what they had heard? And now as the disciples went out to explain it the best they could, and they did learn to do it better and better as time went on. You remember Peter had much to learn yet. And the brethren in Jerusalem had much to learn yet. They still thought they should hang on to the ceremonies, you remember. The commission was given to the early Christian church when it still had a lot of theological progress to make. You see, just because we are commissioned, it doesn’t mean our theology is perfect! Because certainly the early Christian leaders did not have a perfect theology, but they had the essence of it, and they went out to give the good news. {Graham Maxwell. Excerpt from the audio series, The Picture of God in all 66 – Acts, recorded April, 1982, Riverside, California} To listen to the entire audio of the above reference, click on the following direct links: http://pkp.cc/59MMPOGIA66 (Part 1) http://pkp.cc/60MMPOGIA66 (Part 2)

Further Study with Ellen White In His wisdom the Lord brings those who are seeking for truth into touch with fellow beings who know the truth. It is the plan of Heaven that those who have received light shall impart it to those in darkness. Humanity, drawing its efficiency from the great Source of wisdom, is made

Study Collection Prepared January, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 3 the instrumentality, the working agency, through which the gospel exercises its transforming power on mind and heart. {AA 134.3} In every place, in regions afar as well as nearer home, there are God-fearing men and women searching for truth. They know that there is a God; they offer their prayers to Him; they trust Him; they act just as Christians act. From the story of Cornelius [Acts 10] we learn that God will lead every one who is willing to be led. He led Cornelius. He drew out His servant’s heart in prayer. He prepared him to receive the light of His truth, and He chose to enlighten the mind of Cornelius through the agency of one who had already received light from above. . . . The Lord noticed every act of Cornelius. All heaven observed the giving of alms and the praying of this devout centurion. . . . {HP 322.2} The sanctification of the soul by the working of the Holy Spirit is the implanting of Christ’s nature in humanity. Gospel religion is Christ in the life—a living, active principle. It is the grace of Christ revealed in character and wrought out in good works. The principles of the gospel cannot be disconnected from any department of practical life. Every line of Christian experience and labor is to be a representation of the life of Christ. {COL 384.1} The angels of heaven are sent forth to minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation. We know not now who they are; it is not yet made manifest who shall overcome, and share the inheritance of the saints in light; but angels of heaven are passing throughout the length and breadth of the earth, seeking to comfort the sorrowing, to protect the imperiled, to win the hearts of men to Christ. Not one is neglected or passed by. God is no respecter of persons, and He has an equal care for all the souls He has created. {DA 639.1} No distinction on account of nationality, race, or caste, is recognized by God. He is the Maker of all mankind. All men are of one family by creation, and all are one through redemption. Christ came to demolish every wall of partition, to throw open every compartment of the temple courts, that every soul may have free access to God. His love is so broad, so deep, so full, that it penetrates everywhere. It lifts out of Satan’s influence those who have been deluded by his deceptions, and places them within reach of the throne of God, the throne encircled by the rainbow of promise. In Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free. {PK 369.3} Though He was a Jew, Christ mingled with the Samaritans, setting at naught the Pharisaic customs of His nation. In face of their prejudices, He accepted the hospitality of this despised people. He slept under their roofs, ate with them at their tables, partaking of the food prepared and served by their hands—and taught in their streets, and treated them with the utmost kindness and courtesy. {3SM 238.2} Jesus sat as an honored guest at the table of the publicans, by His sympathy and social kindliness showing that He recognized the dignity of humanity; and men longed to become worthy of His confidence. Upon their thirsty souls His words fell with blessed, life-giving power.

Study Collection Prepared January, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 4 New impulses were awakened, and the possibility of a new life opened to these outcasts of society. {3SM 238.3} The blessings of salvation are for every soul. Nothing but his own choice can prevent any man from becoming a partaker of the promise in Christ by the gospel. {DA 403.2} The Saviour is still carrying forward the same work as when He proffered the water of life to the woman of Samaria. Those who call themselves His followers may despise and shun the outcast ones; but no circumstance of birth or nationality, no condition of life, can turn away His love from the children of men. To every soul, however sinful, Jesus says, If thou hadst asked of Me, I would have given thee living water. {DA 194.1} The gospel invitation is not to be narrowed down, and presented only to a select few, who, we suppose, will do us honor if they accept it. The message is to be given to all. Wherever hearts are open to receive the truth, Christ is ready to instruct them. He reveals to them the Father, and the worship acceptable to Him who reads the heart. For such He uses no parables. To them, as to the woman at the well, He says, “I that speak unto thee am He.” {DA 194.2} Christ did not tell His disciples that their work would be easy. He showed them the vast confederacy of evil arrayed against them. They would have to fight “against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Ephesians 6:12. But they would not be left to fight alone. He assured them that He would be with them; and that if they would go forth in faith, they should move under the shield of Omnipotence. He bade them be brave and strong; for One mightier than angels would be in their ranks—the General of the armies of heaven. He made full provision for the prosecution of their work and took upon Himself the responsibility of its success. So long as they obeyed His word, and worked in connection with Him, they could not fail. Go to all nations, He bade them. Go to the farthest part of the habitable globe and be assured that My presence will be with you even there. Labor in faith and confidence; for the time will never come when I will forsake you. I will be with you always, helping you to perform your duty, guiding, comforting, sanctifying, sustaining you, giving you success in speaking words that shall draw the attention of others to heaven. {AA 29.1}

Recommended Reading: Desire of Ages Chapter 19 – “At Jacob’s Well” Desire of Ages chapter 43 – “Barriers Broken Down” https://egwwritings.org

Study Collection Prepared January, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 5 Pine Knoll Sabbath School Study Notes Fourth Quarter 2018: Oneness in Christ Lesson 8 Unity in Faith

Read for this week’s study Acts 4:8-12; Acts 1:11; Matthew 25:1-13; Hebrews 9:11, 12; Exodus 20:8-11; 1 Corinthians 15:51-54. Memory Text “ ‘Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved’ ” (Acts 4:12, NKJV).

Lesson Outline from Adult Sabbath School Study Guide I. Introduction II. Salvation in Jesus III. Second Coming of Christ IV. Jesus’ Ministry in the Heavenly Sanctuary V. The Sabbath VI. Death and Resurrection VII. Further Study

Questions and Notes for Consideration Facilitator: Daniel Duda 1. What is your understanding of “unity in faith”? In what ways do you see this unity concept relevant and demonstrated as we look at our lives and community today? What are the dangers of misunderstanding the goal? 2. “This week we look at some essential biblical teachings that make us Adventists and that shape our unity in faith.” (Sabbath Afternoon) 3. “Although as Seventh-day Adventists we have much in common with other Christian bodies, our set of beliefs form a unique system of biblical truth that no one else in the Christian world is proclaiming. These truths help define us as God’s end-time remnant.” (Sunday’s lesson) Is the uniqueness of Adventism inherent in the doctrines that we preach? If the doctrines are so important in the process of salvation, why did the Bible come to us as a story and not as a set of cerebral, propositional doctrines?

Study Collection Prepared March, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 1 4. What does ‘Salvation in Christ’ mean? How was our memory text understood throughout the centuries? Does it mean that if people do not pronounce the anglicized version of ‘Jesus’, they cannot be saved? 5. What is the significance of the Second Coming of Christ in: a) the early Church; b) 19th century Christianity; c) today? Can you see and explain the difference it makes in everyday life? 6. What is the significance of Jesus’ Ministry in the Heavenly Sanctuary in: a) the early Church; b) 19th century Adventism; c) today? 7. The early church taught that before Jesus can reign as a King, he must function as a Priest. How does that bring together some important and sometimes neglected aspects of the Old Testament understanding of what God is doing to restore what went wrong? 8. “The ministry of cleansing the sanctuary is also based on Jesus’ shed blood. The atonement performed on the Day of Atonement foreshadowed the final application of the merits of Christ to remove the presence of sin and to accomplish the complete reconciliation of the universe into one harmonious government under God.” (Tuesday’s lesson) What is this all about? Can we explain it without the ‘dark speech’? 9. The lesson for Wednesday is about “Sabbath”. Sigve Tonstad in his book The Lost Meaning of the Seventh Day shows that traditionally Adventists anchored their teaching of Sabbath in the Decalogue, but that we have a much stronger case, if we anchor it in Creation. Why is it so? 10. “The apostle Paul makes it clear that God bestows immortality upon people, not at the moment of death, but rather at the resurrection, when the last trumpet will sound. While believers receive the promise of eternal life at the moment they accept Jesus as their Savior, immortality is given only at the resurrection.” (Thursday’s lesson) What is the significance of this? How would you answer the perennial question of the contemporary young generation: So what?

Thoughts from Graham Maxwell Suppose you had to keep rat poison (we’re having a lot of trouble with rats now). So you had to keep rat poison in your house, and you have a young son. And if he touches it and then eats it, he could be very sick, even die. So you say, “Son, don’t touch that rat poison.” I’m going to put it on the highest shelf, the high and locked cupboard. A little later you hear a crash in the garage, and you run out, and there’s your son lying on the floor. He’s taken the rat poison and he’s dying. Would it do any good to say, “Son, I forgive you, I forgive you!” He would just die forgiven, that’s all. It wouldn’t keep him from dying. Nor would it do any good to say, “Son, I

Study Collection Prepared March, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 2 don’t want you to die, so let me drink the rat poison.” And you both die. The boy doesn’t need forgiveness. He needs an antidote. He needs healing. But God didn’t wait for that. God has said, “You really don’t take me seriously, do you, that sin is like a poison and will lead to your death? Let me take the poison.” And Jesus dies. And we, like the son, say, “Dad, it’s real, isn’t it! And nobody’s killing you. Sin is really a poison, and you are dying. I will take you seriously from here on.” The beauty is that God then was able to take his life back and come out living. I’ve made my point. There’s still no legal requirement in that. There’s an awesome truth to be revealed. There’s nothing arbitrary in this thing. God does not want us to poison ourselves. We need healing. Better heed the warning. The results of sin is death, and don’t do this thing. {Graham Maxwell. Excerpt from the audio series, Conversations About God, #12, “God's Law Is No Threat To Our Freedom” recorded April, 1984, Loma Linda, California} To listen to the entire audio of the above reference, click on the following direct link: http://pkp.cc/12MMCAG

For hundreds of years, justification, and propitiation, and sanctification, and atonement, and imputed and imparted righteousness, and all these complex terms (many of them heavy with Latin etymology), have only served to make the plan of healing and salvation more and more complicated. In fact, the plan of salvation can be spelled out in such complex detail that only a few initiates who understand this terminology really seem to have a grasp of what’s going on. I think that’s a gross perversion of the truth. Now—I should take that back a little. Grammarians do that with language; you know how they can spin it out. I have a grammar of the New Testament that must be five inches thick and it’s only one of scores of grammars, very complex. And the Greeks have been talking Greek without reading that volume all these years. It’s the same way with salvation. Children have been won back to faith and trust in God. And he’s forgiven them. And they’ve had peace with God. And they’ve grown up to be trusting boys and girls, and men and women. And they’ll be saved in his kingdom, and they’ve never heard the words justification, sanctification, propitiation, expiation, dispensation, glorification, and they don’t know the difference between imputed and imparted righteousness, none of those terms. You see, some of them only listened to Jesus and they’ve never heard Paul. Did you ever stop to think that Jesus never used those words? Do you mean that Jesus didn’t understand the plan of salvation? No one was saved under the ministry of Christ? Jesus would say, “Come unto me, and let me save you and heal you. Trust my Father.” He said a lot about repentance, a lot about trust, a lot about forgiveness and being healed. He never talked about justification, sanctification, propitiation, expiation. He never used those words. Don’t tell me Jesus had to read Paul later on to learn about the plan of salvation!—and this isn’t minimizing Paul. I think it’s just to warn us that Paul’s description is not the only description of

Study Collection Prepared March, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 3 the plan of salvation. Paul under inspiration described the plan of salvation magnificently, to a special audience who would understand these terms. Jesus talked to another audience. He talked about vines, he talked about agricultural things. He didn’t talk about law courts and law terminology. So now we are in Romans, and we’re going to use these terms, but let’s remind ourselves constantly that one can be won back to faith in God without ever hearing one of these words. And I love to teach a class in righteousness by faith without using one of them, for weeks on end. And then when we’ve agreed that the everlasting good news about God shows that he’s worthy of our trust and faith—he stands ready to forgive, accept, and heal us; he wants us to have peace and be comfortable in his presence, and it only makes sense to listen to such a God and obey his advice and commands on every subject! Only when that’s all over do we say, “Now, let’s see if we can sprinkle these terms along through here.” You could have the experience without ever using them. Let us not be tyrannized by theological terminology, especially terminology that Jesus never used. But then let’s be grateful (to be sure) that inspiration brought us Romans. To me, it’s the greatest book to explain all of this. But I don’t want to be tyrannized by the terms. {Graham Maxwell. Excerpt from the audio series Romans, chapter 3, recorded October, 1977, Loma Linda, California} To listen to the entire audio of the above reference, click on the following direct links: http://pkp.cc/5MMROMANS66 (Part 1) http://pkp.cc/6MMROMANS66 (Part 2)

But if we really want to know about God, what God is really like, then it would mean everything in the world to believe and understand that the one who came to this earth and walked among us was that God. And so, when Jesus was here, and we realize it’s God, and you watch him treat sinners so graciously, did anybody intercede with Jesus to forgive somebody? No. Nobody had to plead with him to forgive, ever. It was in his heart to forgive. No one had to plead with him. But somebody has to plead with the Father, right? If Jesus is fully God, as emphasized in all these passages, and nobody had to intercede with him, then we know no one has to intercede with God. “In that day you will ask in my name; and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you” (RSV) “You know, if you’ve seen me you’ve seen the Father. And you realize the implications to this? There’s no need for me to intercede with the Father when I get up there, for the Father’s just like me. In fact, I am God.” And Jesus said in John 12:45 and 14:9, both, “if you have seen me, you have seen the Father. If you trust me, you trust the Father.” And the incredible thing is that that gentle person who walked around Palestine the way he did, and was so incredibly gracious, even to the one who would betray him in the end; he was fully God. And that’s the way God treats people. So don’t wonder if the one up there is still learning how to behave as graciously as the Son. That’s a terrible thing to think about! {Graham Maxwell. Excerpt from the audio series, The Picture of God in all 66 – Ephesians and Colossians, recorded

Study Collection Prepared March, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 4 May, 1982, Riverside, California} To listen to the entire audio of the above reference, click on the following direct links: http://pkp.cc/67MMPOGIA66 (Part 1) http://pkp.cc/68MMPOGIA66 (Part 2)

As friends of a friendly God, the disciples were encouraged to present their own requests directly to the Father. It was not necessary for Jesus to do this for them. They were, however, to “ask in my name,” Jesus said. This was not to suggest that if God did not hear the name of his Son, he would be less willing to grant requests. The mention of the name of Jesus expresses grateful recognition that if the Son of God had not shown us the truth about his Father, we would not know how we could approach him. We might not even want to. In this sense, we have indeed needed someone to “mediate,” to “intercede,” to “intervene,” all Latin-based words meaning respectively “to be in the middle,” “to go between,” “to come between.” Every time we pray in Jesus’ name, we thank God for Christ our Mediator, who came to bridge the gap between us and God and bring us the truth about our loving heavenly Father. Because of Jesus, we know that we can talk with our heavenly Father “as one speaks with a friend.” There is no need for some other friend between, for God himself is our Friend. {Maxwell, Graham. Servants or Friends, 76-77. Redlands, California: Pine Knoll Publications, 1992.} http://www.pineknoll.org/graham/sof/chapter6.html

It indicates in scripture that one of his functions, standing there before this heavenly scene in such brilliance and glory, is intercession. He is our advocate, our intercessor. Now with whom would he be interceding? Commonly we have ventured to suggest that he’s interceding with the Father. Does that mean that the Son has to plead with the Father to forgive us? In that case, does it mean that the Son loves us more than the Father? Didn’t Jesus very specifically state that would not have to pray the Father for us? You remember in John 16:26 he said, “In that day you will ask in my name [and we should, not as the final phrase of every prayer, because that’s the way to stop a prayer. To pray in Jesus name is to pray in recognition that if Jesus had not done what he has done, we wouldn’t even know the Father. We wouldn’t even want to approach him. So he says,] In that day you will ask in my name, but I say not unto you that I will pray the Father for you [why not?]. For the Father himself loves you.” Now, nothing can violate that. Besides, he said that “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father.” The Father is just as loving as the Son. COMMENT: The devil’s the one that’s condemning us.

Study Collection Prepared March, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 5 Very much so. Besides, who so loved the world that he gave his only Son? Who was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself? Who sacrificed himself in the Son? Oh, that stunning statement, “Who was crucified with the Son?” How would we dare say that the Son has to beg the Father to forgive us? Is it that the Son understands us better than the Father? Because, by becoming a human he came to see our weaknesses first-hand, and how difficult it is to resist temptation? Do we want to limit the knowledge of God? Does not the Father understand us just as well as the Son? Well, if we should eliminate the need for Christ to intercede with the Father, would you recommend the Holy Spirit as needing to be interceded with? How about Romans 8:26, 27? Does not the Holy Spirit himself intercede for us with unspeakable yearning? The basis of the whole good news is that all three members of the Godhead are equally on our side. One does not have to persuade another member of the Godhead. And all three members of the Godhead are working for us in the judgment. If that’s true, then why does the Bible say that Christ is our intercessor, and intercedes for us? What specifically does, and a number of you have already mentioned how this does make sense. We have an enemy, but he is not a member of the Godhead. {Graham Maxwell. Excerpt from the audio series, Faith, Righteousness and Salvation, #15 “What is Christ Doing in the Heavenly Sanctuary—Especially Since 1844?”, recorded April, 1975, Lynwood, California} To listen to the entire audio of the above reference, click on the following direct links: http://pkp.cc/15MMFRS (Part 1) http://pkp.cc/16MMFRS (Part 2)

Recommended Listening:

Faith, Righteousness and Salvation, #15 “What is Christ Doing in the Heavenly Sanctuary— Especially Since 1844?” is available at: http://pkp.cc/15MMFRS (Part 1) http://pkp.cc/16MMFRS (Part 2)

Further Study with Ellen White The heart of God yearns over His earthly children with a love stronger than death. In giving up His Son, He has poured out to us all heaven in one gift. The Saviour’s life and death and intercession, the ministry of angels, the pleading of the Spirit, the Father working above and through all, the unceasing interest of heavenly beings,—all are enlisted in behalf of man’s redemption. {SC 21.2} Up to the time of Christ’s first advent, men worshiped cruel, despotic gods. Even the Jewish mind was reached through fear, and not love. Christ’s mission on the earth was to reveal to

Study Collection Prepared March, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 6 men that God was not a despot, but a heavenly Father, full of love and mercy for His children. {18MR 112.4} Looking upon man, God saw his desperate rebellion, and He devised a remedy. Christ was His gift to the world for man’s reconcilement. The Son of God was appointed to come to this earth to take humanity and by His own example to be a great educating power among men. His experience in man’s behalf was to enable men to resist Satan’s power. He came to mold character and to give mental power, to shed abroad the beams of true education, that the true aim of life might not be lost sight of. The sons of men had had a practical knowledge of evil; Christ came to the world to show them that He had planted for them the tree of life, the leaves of which are for the healing of the nations. {CT 33.3} The atonement of Christ is not a mere skillful way to have our sins pardoned; it is a divine remedy for the cure of transgression and the restoration of spiritual health. It is the Heaven- ordained means by which the righteousness of Christ may be not only upon us but in our hearts and characters (Letter 406, 1906). {6BC 1074.2} God’s forgiveness is not merely a judicial act by which He sets us free from condemnation. It is not only forgiveness for sin but reclaiming from sin. It is the outflow of redeeming love that transforms the heart. David had the true conception of forgiveness when he prayed, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10. {FLB 129.2} If you take even one step toward Him in repentance, He will hasten to enfold you in His arms of infinite love. His ear is open to the cry of the contrite soul. The very first reaching out of the heart after God is known to Him. Never a prayer is offered, however faltering, never a tear is shed, however secret, never a sincere desire after God is cherished, however feeble, but the Spirit of God goes forth to meet it. Even before the prayer is uttered or the yearning of the heart made known, grace from Christ goes forth to meet the grace that is working upon the human soul. {FLB 129.3} The earth was dark through misapprehension of God. That the gloomy shadows might be lightened, that the world might be brought back to God, Satan’s deceptive power was to be broken. This could not be done by force. The exercise of force is contrary to the principles of God’s government; He desires only the service of love; and love cannot be commanded; it cannot be won by force or authority. Only by love is love awakened. To know God is to love Him; His character must be manifested in contrast to the character of Satan. This work only one Being in all the universe could do. Only He who knew the height and depth of the love of God could make it known. Upon the world’s dark night the Sun of Righteousness must rise, “with healing in His wings.” Malachi 4:2. {DA 22.1} Christ is ready to set us free from sin, but He does not force the will; and if by persistent transgression the will itself is wholly bent on evil, and we do not desire to be set free, if we will

Study Collection Prepared March, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 7 not accept His grace, what more can He do? We have destroyed ourselves by our determined rejection of His love. “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” “Today if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts.” 2 Corinthians 6:2; Hebrews 3:7, 8. {SC 34.2} It is the glory of the gospel that it is founded upon the principle of restoring in the fallen race the divine image by a constant manifestation of benevolence. This work began in the heavenly courts. There God gave to human beings an unmistakable evidence of the love with which He regarded them. He “so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16. The gift of Christ reveals the Father’s heart. It testifies that, having undertaken our redemption, He will spare nothing, however dear, which is necessary to the completion of His work. {9T 254.1} The spirit of liberality is the spirit of heaven. Christ’s self-sacrificing love is revealed upon the cross. That man might be saved, He gave all that He had and then gave Himself. {9T 254.2} The meekness and humility that characterized the life of Christ will be made manifest in the life and character of those who “walk even as he walked.” {SD 81.5} Not until the death of Christ was the character of Satan clearly revealed to the angels or to the unfallen worlds. Then the prevarications and accusations of him who had once been an exalted angel were seen in their true light. It was seen that his professedly spotless character was deceptive. His deeply laid scheme to exalt himself to supremacy was fully discerned. His falsehoods were apparent to all. God’s authority was forever established. Truth triumphed over falsehood. {RC 60.3} The heavenly universe had witnessed the weapons that were chosen by the Prince of life—the words of Scripture, “It is written”; and the weapons used by the prince of the world—falsehood and deception. They had seen the Prince of life deal in straightforward lines of truth, honesty, and integrity, while the prince of the world exercised his power of cunning, artful secrecy, intrigue, enmity, and revenge. They had seen the One who bore the banner of truth sacrifice everything, even His life, to maintain truth, while the one who bore the banner of rebellion continued to strengthen his accusations against the God of truth. {RC 60.5} The death of Christ upon the cross made sure the destruction of him who has the power of death, who was the originator of sin. When Satan is destroyed, there will be none to tempt to evil; the atonement will never need to be repeated; and there will be no danger of another rebellion in the universe of God. That which alone can effectually restrain from sin in this world of darkness, will prevent sin in heaven. {TA 205.2} It was taught by the Jews that before God’s love is extended to the sinner, he must first repent. In their view, repentance is a work by which men earn the favor of Heaven. And it was this thought that led the Pharisees to exclaim in astonishment and anger. “This man receiveth

Study Collection Prepared March, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 8 sinners.” According to their ideas He should permit none to approach Him but those who had repented. But in the parable of the lost sheep, Christ teaches that salvation does not come through our seeking after God but through God’s seeking after us. “There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way.” Romans 3:11, 12. We do not repent in order that God may love us, but He reveals to us His love in order that we may repent. {COL 189.1} The fall of man, with all its consequences, was not hidden from the Omnipotent. Redemption was not an afterthought, a plan formulated after the fall of Adam, but an eternal purpose, suffered to be wrought out for the blessing not only of this atom of a world, but for the good of all the worlds that God had created. . . . {TMK 18.2} Had Christ come in His divine form, humanity could not have endured the sight. The contrast would have been too painful, the glory too overwhelming. Humanity could not have endured the presence of one of the pure, bright angels from glory; therefore Christ took not on Him the nature of angels; He came in the likeness of men. {5BC 1131.1} Heaven, looking down, and seeing the delusions into which men were led, knew that a divine Instructor must come to earth. Men in ignorance and moral darkness must have light, spiritual light; for the world knew not God, and he must be revealed to their understanding. Truth looked down from heaven, and saw not the reflection of her image; for dense clouds of moral darkness and gloom enveloped the world, and the Lord Jesus alone was able to roll back the clouds; for he was the light of the world. By his presence he could dissipate the gloomy shadow that Satan had cast between man and God. Darkness covered the earth, and gross darkness the people. Through the accumulated misrepresentations of the enemy, many were so deceived that they worshiped a false god, clothed with the attributes of the satanic character. {RH, November 17, 1891 par. 6} Christ exalted the character of God, attributing to him the praise, and giving to him the credit, of the whole purpose of his own mission on earth,—to set men right through the revelation of God. In Christ was arrayed before men the paternal grace and the matchless perfections of the Father. In his prayer just before his crucifixion, he declared, “I have manifested thy name.” “I have glorified thee on the earth; I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.” When the object of his mission was attained,—the revelation of God to the world,—the Son of God announced that his work was accomplished, and that the character of the Father was made manifest to men. {ST, January 20, 1890 par. 9} When Christ took human nature upon Him, He bound humanity to Himself by a tie of love that can never be broken by any power save the choice of man himself. Satan will constantly present allurements to induce us to break this tie—to choose to separate ourselves from Christ. Here is where we need to watch, to strive, to pray, that nothing may entice us to choose

Study Collection Prepared March, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 9 another master; for we are always free to do this. But let us keep our eyes fixed upon Christ, and He will preserve us. Looking unto Jesus, we are safe. Nothing can pluck us out of His hand. In constantly beholding Him, we “are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2 Corinthians 3:18. {SC 72.1} Had God the Father come to our world and dwelt among us, humbling Himself, veiling His glory, that humanity might look upon Him, the history that we have of the life of Christ would not have been changed. . . . In every act of Jesus, in every lesson of His instruction, we are to see and hear and recognize God. In sight, in hearing, in effect, it is the voice and movements of the Father. {TMK 338.4} Christ is coming with power and great glory. He is coming with His own glory, and with the glory of the Father. And the holy angels will attend Him on His way. While all the world is plunged in darkness, there will be light in every dwelling of the saints. They will catch the first light of His second appearing. The unsullied light will shine from His splendor, and Christ the Redeemer will be admired by all who have served Him. While the wicked flee, Christ’s followers will rejoice in His presence. {SD 357.3} 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 prepared for the shaking, it will come. Indeed, it has begun already; the judgments of God are now upon the land, to give us warning, that we may know what is coming. {Mar 200.2} The long night of gloom is trying, but the morning is deferred in mercy, because if the Master should come, so many would be found unready. God’s unwillingness to have His people perish, has been the reason of so long delay.—Testimonies, vol. 2, p. 194. (1868) {Ev 694.2} God’s forgiveness is not merely a judicial act by which He sets us free from condemnation. It is not only forgiveness for sin, but reclaiming from sin. It is the outflow of redeeming love that transforms the heart. David had the true conception of forgiveness when he prayed, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10. And again he says, “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us.” Psalm 103:12. {MB 114.1} Christ came to reveal God to the world as a God of love, a God of mercy, tenderness, and compassion. By the world’s Redeemer the thick darkness with which Satan had enshrouded the throne of the Deity was swept away, and the Father was again manifest to men as the Light of life. {RH, February 15, 1912 par. 4} In the plan of restoring in men the divine image, it was provided that the Holy Spirit should move upon human minds, and be as the presence of Christ, a molding agency upon human character. Receiving the truth, men become also recipients of the grace of Christ, and devote

Study Collection Prepared March, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 10 their sanctified human ability to the work in which Christ was engaged,—men become laborers together with God. It is to make men agents for God, that divine truth is brought home to their understanding. {RH, February 12, 1895 par. 5} God does not give us up because of our sins. We may make mistakes, and grieve His Spirit; but when we repent, and come to Him with contrite hearts, He will not turn us away. {1SM 350.3} It was in order that the heavenly universe might see the conditions of the covenant of redemption that Christ bore the penalty in behalf of the human race. The throne of Justice must be eternally and forever made secure, even tho the race be wiped out, and another creation populate the earth. By the sacrifice Christ was about to make, all doubts would be forever settled, and the human race would be saved if they would return to their allegiance. Christ alone could restore honor to God’s government. The cross of Calvary would be looked upon by the unfallen worlds, by the heavenly universe, by Satanic agencies, by the fallen race, and every mouth would be stopped. {ST, July 12, 1899 par. 2} But the plan of redemption had a yet 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. To this result of His great sacrifice—its influence upon the intelligences of other worlds, as well as upon man—the Saviour looked forward when just before His crucifixion He 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 unto Me.” John 12:31, 32. The act of Christ in dying for the salvation of man would not only make heaven accessible to men, but before all the universe it would justify God and His Son in their dealing with the rebellion of Satan. It would establish the perpetuity of the law of God and would reveal the nature and the results of sin. {PP 68.2} There every power will be developed, every capability increased. The grandest enterprises will be carried forward, the loftiest aspirations will be reached, the highest ambitions realized. And there will appear new heights to surmount, new wonders to admire, new truths to comprehend, fresh objects of study to call forth the powers of body and mind and soul. {ML 358.5} There certainly is and ever will be employment in heaven. The whole family of the redeemed will not live in a state of dreamy idleness. There remaineth a rest to the people of God. In heaven activity will not be wearing and burdensome; it will be rest. The whole family of the redeemed will find their delight in serving Him whose they are by creation and by redemption. {ML 358.6}

Study Collection Prepared March, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 11 To the weary and heavy laden, to those who have fought the good fight of faith, it will be a glorious rest; for the youth and vigor of immortality will be theirs, and against sin and Satan they will no longer have to contend. {ML 358.7} After He had created our world and man, He looked upon the work that He had done, and pronounced it very good. And when the foundation of the earth was laid, the foundation of the Sabbath was laid also. “When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy,” God saw that a Sabbath was essential for man, even in Paradise. In giving the Sabbath, God considered man’s spiritual and physical health. {TM 136.1} With untold love our God has loved us, and our love awakens toward Him as we comprehend something of the length and breadth and depth and height of this love that passeth knowledge. By the revelation of the attractive loveliness of Christ, by the knowledge of His love expressed to us while we were yet sinners, the stubborn heart is melted and subdued, and the sinner is transformed and becomes a child of heaven. God does not employ compulsory measures; love is the agent which He uses to expel sin from the heart. By it He changes pride into humility, and enmity and unbelief into love and faith. {MB 76.3} Our Lord Jesus Christ came to this world as the unwearied servant of man’s necessity. He “took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses,” that He might minister to every need of humanity. Matthew 8:17. The burden of disease and wretchedness and sin He came to remove. It was His mission to bring to men complete restoration; He came to give them health and peace and perfection of character. {MH 17.1} Through the gospel, souls that are degraded and enslaved by Satan are to be redeemed to share the glorious liberty of the sons of God. God’s purpose is not merely to deliver from the suffering that is the inevitable result of sin, but to save from sin itself. The soul, corrupted and deformed, is to be purified, transformed, that it may be clothed in “the beauty of the Lord our God,” “conformed to the image of His Son.” “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.” Psalm 90:17; Romans 8:29; 1 Corinthians 2:9. Eternity alone can reveal the glorious destiny to which man, restored to God’s image, may attain. {MB 60.3} God’s healing power runs all through nature. If a tree is cut, if a human being is wounded or breaks a bone, nature begins at once to repair the injury. Even before the need exists, the healing agencies are in readiness; and as soon as a part is wounded, every energy is bent to the work of restoration. So it is in the spiritual realm. Before sin created the need, God had provided the remedy. Every soul that yields to temptation is wounded, bruised, by the adversary; but whenever there is sin, there is the Saviour. It is Christ’s work “to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, . . . to set at liberty them that are bruised.” Luke 4:18. {Ed 113.1}

Study Collection Prepared March, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 12 Love’s agencies have wonderful power, for they are divine. The soft answer that “turneth away wrath,” the love that “suffereth long, and is kind,” the charity that “covereth a multitude of sins” (Proverbs 15:1; 1 Corinthians 13:4, R.V.; 1 Peter 4:8, R.V.)—would we learn the lesson, with what power for healing would our lives be gifted! How life would be transformed, and the earth become a very likeness and foretaste of heaven! {Ed 114.1} In striking contrast to the wrong and oppression so universally practised were the mission and work of Christ. . . . He planned a government which would use no force; His subjects would know no oppression. . . . Not as a fierce tyrant did He come, but as the Son of man; not to conquer the nations by His iron power, but “to preach good tidings unto the meek;” “to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;” “to comfort all that mourn” (Isaiah 61:1, 2). He came as the divine Restorer, bringing to oppressed and downtrodden humanity the rich and abundant grace of Heaven, that by the power of His righteousness, man, fallen and degraded though he was, might be a partaker of divinity. . . . {AG 14.3} The earth mightily shook as the voice of the Son of God called forth the sleeping saints. They responded to the call and came forth clothed with glorious immortality, crying, “Victory, victory, over death and the grave! O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” Then the living saints and the risen ones raised their voices in a long, transporting shout of victory. Those bodies that had gone down into the grave bearing the marks of disease and death came up in immortal health and vigor. The living saints are changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, and caught up with the risen ones, and together they meet their Lord in the air. Oh, what a glorious meeting! Friends whom death had separated were united, never more to part. {EW 287.1} All created beings live by the will and power of God. They are recipients of the life of the Son of God. However able and talented, however large their capacities, they are replenished with life from the source of all life. He is the spring, the fountain, of life. Only He who alone hath immortality, dwelling in light and life, could say, “I have power to lay down My life, and I have power to take it again.” . . . {ML 295.2} It is beyond the power of the human mind to estimate the evil which has been wrought by the heresy of eternal torment. The religion of the Bible, full of love and goodness, and abounding in compassion, is darkened by superstition and clothed with terror. When we consider in what false colors Satan has painted the character of God, can we wonder that our merciful Creator is feared, dreaded, and even hated? The appalling views of God which have spread over the world from the teachings of the pulpit have made thousands, yes, millions, of skeptics and infidels. {GC 536.2}

Study Collection Prepared March, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 13 Pine Knoll Sabbath School Study Notes Fourth Quarter 2018: Oneness in Christ Lesson 9 The Most Convincing Proof

Read for this week’s study John 11:51, 52; Ephesians 2:13-16; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21; Ephesians 4:25-5:2; Romans 14:1-6; Acts 1:14. Memory Text “Now this he did not say on his own authority; but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for that nation only, but also that He would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad” (John 11:51, 52, NKJV).

Lesson Outline from Adult Sabbath School Study Guide I. Introduction II. Under the Cross of Jesus III. Ministry of Reconciliation IV. Practical Unity V. Unity Amid Diversity VI. Unity in Mission VII. Further Study

Questions and Notes for Consideration Facilitator: Daniel Duda 1. “Last week we studied how unity is made visible through a common message, centered on Jesus as Savior and on the truths of Scripture to be emphasized in the time of the end. We are who we are because of the message that God has given us and the calling we have to spread it to the world. This week, we focus on the visible unity of the church in its expression in the day-to-day lives of Christians and the mission of the church.” (Sabbath afternoon) 2. What is the most convincing proof to the world that Christ is alive and has the power to deal with the problem of sin? How do we understand what God is doing in our world and with our world [and the wider universe]? 3. What is the significance of our memory text? Why did John use this cynical suggestion of Caiaphas as a kind of prophecy, the meaning and significance of which would not be lost on the followers of Jesus? Jesus indeed died for the nation, executed in the manner reserved for rebel subject; but his death would not just be

Study Collection Prepared March, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 1 for the Jewish nation, but (as Jesus already indicated in 10:16) for a much larger company: all of God’s children, wherever they might be in the world. 4. How does Paul broaden this perspective in Ephesians 1:7-10? There is no word in English that captures what Paul is saying here. The word he uses in Greek is pas anakephalaiossathai – to bring again together under one head all things – and Paul says that it brings God pleasure. [The word was used in ancient word in math, describing what happens when you sum up several numbers.] 5. It can also be translated as recapitulate or retell. A story has been told in a certain way, from a certain perspective, through a certain lens – but God wants to retell it, recapitulate it, or tell it in a different way. He does not remove the nasty bits or the unfortunate events – he includes them, but by retelling them they appear in a new light. They gain new meaning, weight and perspective. 6. Why is God retelling history, everything every human has ever done? And Paul intentionally uses the word pas – all things – to include heaven and earth? Because God is in the business of retelling, restoring, reconciling, renewing, putting everything back together as it should be. Could that include broken hearts, abuse, poverty, racism, fractured relationships? Pas – All things. Can your story be retold? Is it possible that the worst, most embarrassing parts can become the most powerful, poignant parts? 7. And if it can be done and is possible for your story, is it possible for the history of the world? Can it be eventually retold in such a way that the worst parts – even wars, oppression, disease, etc. are included and somehow brought to a unity, a different perspective? Is this happening right now? What would it look like? How would living like that change your life? 8. What is this ministry of reconciliation that God has given to us (2 Corinthians 5; Monday’s lesson)? How is this expressed as ‘Unity amid Diversity’ (Wednesday’s lesson)? How is uniformity a direct threat and the opposite of what God is doing? Why would people settle for this cheap counterfeit when God offers so much more? 9. What is this ‘Unity in Mission’ (Thursday’s lesson) all about? What did “being in one mind” look like in the New Testament church? What does it look like today? 10. The strongest argument in favor of Christianity are Christians – their joy, their certainty, their completeness, their wholesomeness, their aliveness. The strongest argument against Christianity are Christians – when they are somber, joyless, self- righteous, smug, narrow-minded, judgmental and vindictive – Christianity dies and has nothing to offer to a dying world. How many people today are radically and permanently repelled from Christianity by Christians who are insensitive, rigid, unapproachable, boring, lifeless, power-hungry, obsessive and dissatisfied? 11. “The simple program of Christ for winning the whole world is to make each person he touches magnetic enough with love to draw others.” (Frank Laubach) How can the picture of God we believe in transform who we are becoming?

Study Collection Prepared March, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 2 Thoughts from Graham Maxwell

Unfortunately, some have come to regard the blood as if it had some magical power. Blood simply represents the death of Christ. Unless you understand the meaning of his death, the blood has no power. Otherwise we could be accused of hematolatry (worship of the blood). So the power in the blood is only when we understand its meaning. This will keep the universe secure against apostasy for eternity. So even when we sing “There’s power in the blood” we must say to ourselves, because we understand its meaning. There is no power in merely repeating or singing those words. But understanding the meaning of the death of Christ has great power to change my life. {Graham Maxwell. Excerpt from the audio series, Conversations About God, #8, “The Most Costly and Convincing Evidence” recorded March, 1984, Loma Linda, California} To listen to the entire audio of the above reference, click on the following direct link: http://pkp.cc/8MMCAG

(Audience) Why was Christ’s death necessary to establish the relationship, to reestablish trust? Wasn’t there another way? (Graham) If there had been another way, you can be sure he would have done it. Now, in the trust model, in the great controversy model, the questions are over God’s government and character, which are really one and the same. He runs the universe the way he does because that’s the way he is. In that model, the issue is trust versus distrust and war. The distrust was caused by the adversary, who used to live in the presence of God, circulating insinuations, accusations, questions about God, his character and his government. If one starts out that way, with a war up in Heaven, and the division among the angels before you and I were ever involved in sin, then one becomes caught up in the questions that were presented so persuasively that one-third of the angels bought the devil’s picture of God and his government. And then one asks, if these are the questions, what are the answers? And, why should I believe the answers? God says, “How can I answer this on authoritative claims alone? No, I will show you.” And so he set out to demonstrate to the universe the truth about himself. Now I believe, if we could perceive and enunciate the right questions, then we could interpret the answers that were given. My understanding is that the most important questions of all were answered by the cross; there is absolutely no other way. {Graham Maxwell. Excerpt from the audio presentation, Questions People Are Asking About the Plan of Salvation, recorded April, 1983, Redlands, California} To listen to the entire audio of the above reference, click on the following direct links: http://pkp.cc/1MMQUESTP (Part 1) http://pkp.cc/2MMQUESTP (Part 2)

Study Collection Prepared March, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 3 The purpose of the plan of salvation is to restore that trust, to bring the rebellion to an end, and thus to establish at-one-ment once again in the whole universe. All of God’s children are unavoidably involved. Some seem to find it disappointing, even offensive, to learn that Christ did not die primarily for them. But unless God wins this war and reestablishes peace in his family, our salvation is meaningless. Who would want to live for eternity in a warring universe? Without this larger understanding of a conflict that has involved the universe, it’s hard to understand Paul’s explanation that Jesus shed his blood to bring peace, reconciliation, and unity to God’s children in heaven as well as on earth. But recognition of the war and its issues helps one to take a larger view of the cross and of the plan of salvation and atonement. The kind of unity God desires cannot be commanded or produced by force or fear. In the course of human history, many tyrants have tried to maintain unity by terror and brutality. But that kind of at-one-ment does not last. Look at what has happened in a number of countries just in recent years. The kind of at-one-ment God desires is described in the New Testament as a unity that is “inherent in our faith and in our knowledge of the Son of God.” (Ephesians 4:13, REB) People who love and trust the same Jesus and the same God are naturally attracted to each other. The same truth about God that sets them free from tyranny and fear binds them together in the firmest kind of unity. Friends of a friendly God enjoy at-one-ment with each other. This is where the meaning of the cross is so important. There can be no friendship and at-one- ment where there is fear. Calvary says there is no need to be afraid of God. When God says, “Be my friend,” he’s not saying, “Be my friend or I’ll punish you severely; I’ll even put you to death.” You don’t talk that way to friends—especially if you want to keep their friendship. And friendship is the whole purpose and meaning of atonement. {Maxwell, Graham. Servants or Friends, 164-65. Redlands, California: Pine Knoll Publications, 1992.} http://www.pineknoll.org/graham/sof/chapter12.html I do not find those legal concepts in the book of Romans, of all places. But that’s where they say you get propitiation. Ah, but what is propitiation? It’s been loaded in one direction. Justification’s been loaded. Sanctification’s been loaded. And Paul never used one of those words anyway. It would be very helpful, I think, for us to drop every one of these heavily, now prejudiced and biased and conditioned terms, since they weren’t used by the Bible anyway, and adopt some nice new simple ones. For justification I would nominate “set right”. For sanctification I’d nominate “keep right” and words like that. Ellen White loves those words. She says “the only way in which God could set and keep men right was to reveal the truth about his character.” Now that is not a passage oft quoted. In fact, it has never been excerpted, though she wrote it a hundred years ago, in any publication whatever, until Don John put it in Insight.

Study Collection Prepared March, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 4 This is a magnificent article, “God Made Manifest in Christ,” where all the way through she says what went wrong was a false picture of God. {Graham Maxwell. Excerpt from the audio presentation, Questions People Are Asking About the Plan of Salvation, recorded April, 1983, Redlands, California} To listen to the entire audio of the above reference, click on the following direct links: http://pkp.cc/1MMQUESTP (Part 1) http://pkp.cc/2MMQUESTP (Part 2)

Recommended Listening: Conversations About God #8 “The Most Costly and Convincing Evidence” is available at: http://pkp.cc/8MMCAG

Further Study with Ellen White The religion of Christ means more than the forgiveness of sin; it means that sin is taken away, and that the vacuum is filled with the Spirit. It means that the mind is divinely illumined, that the heart is emptied of self, and filled with the presence of Christ. {OHC 154.5} Love to man is the earthward manifestation of the love of God. It was to implant this love, to make us children of one family, that the King of glory became one with us. And when His parting words are fulfilled, “Love one another, as I have loved you” (John 15:12); when we love the world as He has loved it, then for us His mission is accomplished. We are fitted for heaven; for we have heaven in our hearts. {AG 54.6} The union between Christ and His people is to be living, true, and unfailing, resembling the union that exists between the Father and the Son. This union is the fruit of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. All true children of God will reveal to the world their union with Christ and with their brethren. Those in whose hearts Christ abides will bear the fruit of brotherly love. They will realize that as members of God’s family they are pledged to cultivate, cherish, and perpetuate Christian love and fellowship, in spirit, words, and action. {SD 293.2} We may address Him by the endearing name, “Our Father,” which is a sign of our affection for Him and a pledge of His tender regard and relationship to us. And the Son of God, beholding the heirs of grace, “is not ashamed to call them brethren.” They have even a more sacred relationship to God than have the angels who have never fallen. {ML 365.3} He passed by no human being as worthless, but sought to apply the healing remedy to every soul. In whatever company He found Himself, He presented a lesson appropriate to the time and the circumstances. Every neglect or insult shown by men to their fellow men only made Him more conscious of their need of His divine-human sympathy. He sought to inspire with hope the roughest and most unpromising, setting before them the assurance that they might become blameless and harmless, attaining such a character as would make them manifest as the children of God. {RC 27.4}

Study Collection Prepared March, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 5 Often He met those who had drifted under Satan’s control, and who had no power to break from his snare. To such a one, discouraged, sick, tempted, fallen, Jesus would speak words of tenderest pity, words that were needed and could be understood. Others He met who were fighting a hand-to-hand battle with the adversary of souls. These He encouraged to persevere, assuring them that they would win; for angels of God were on their side, and would give them the victory. {RC 27.5} At the table of the publicans He sat as an honored guest, by His sympathy and social kindliness showing that He recognized the dignity of humanity; and men longed to become worthy of His confidence. Upon their thirsty hearts His words fell with blessed, life-giving power. New impulses were awakened, and to these outcasts of society there opened the possibility of a new life. {RC 27.6} Though He was a Jew, Jesus mingled freely with the Samaritans. . . . And while He drew their hearts to Him by the tie of human sympathy, His divine grace brought to them the salvation which the Jews rejected.—The Ministry of Healing, pp. 25, 26. {RC 27.7} Christ came to this world to show that by receiving power from on high, man can live an unsullied life. With unwearying patience and sympathetic helpfulness He met men in their necessities. By the gentle touch of grace He banished from the soul unrest and doubt, changing enmity to love, and unbelief to confidence. {MH 25.1} By looking constantly to Jesus with the eye of faith, we shall be strengthened. God will make the most precious revelations to His hungering, thirsting people. They will find that Christ is a personal Saviour. As they feed upon His word, they find that it is spirit and life. The word destroys the natural, earthly nature, and imparts a new life in Christ Jesus. The Holy Spirit comes to the soul as a Comforter. By the transforming agency of His grace, the image of God is reproduced in the disciple; he becomes a new creature. {DA 391.1} When Christ abides in the heart, the whole nature is transformed. Christ’s Spirit, His love, softens the heart, subdues the soul, and raises the thoughts and desires toward God and heaven. {SC 73.1} When the Spirit of God takes possession of the heart, it transforms the life. Sinful thoughts are put away, evil deeds are renounced; love, humility, and peace take the place of anger, envy, and strife. Joy takes the place of sadness, and the countenance reflects the joy of heaven. No one sees the hand that lifts the burden or beholds the light descend from the courts above. The blessing comes when by faith the soul surrenders itself to God. Then that power which no human eye can see, creates a new being in the image of God. {ML 46.3} The truths of God’s word are not mere sentiments, but the utterances of the Most High. He who makes these truths a part of his life becomes in every sense a new creature. He is not given

Study Collection Prepared March, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 6 new mental powers, but the darkness that through ignorance and sin has clouded the understanding is removed. {CT 452.2} The words, “A new heart also will I give you” (Ezekiel 36:26), mean, A new mind will I give you. This change of heart is always attended by a clear conception of Christian duty, an understanding of truth. The clearness of our view of truth will be proportionate to our understanding of the word of God. He who gives the Scriptures close, prayerful attention will gain clear comprehension and sound judgment, as if in turning to God he had reached a higher plane of intelligence. {CT 452.3} And while Christ opens heaven to man, the life which He imparts opens the heart of man to heaven. Sin not only shuts us away from God, but destroys in the human soul both the desire and the capacity for knowing Him. All this work of evil it is Christ’s mission to undo. The faculties of the soul, paralyzed by sin, the darkened mind, the perverted will, He has power to invigorate and to restore. He opens to us the riches of the universe, and by Him the power to discern and to appropriate these treasures is imparted. {Ed 28.3} All heaven has been looking on with interest, and ready to do whatever God might appoint, to help fallen men and women to become what God would have them. God will work for His children, but not without their cooperation. They must have indomitable energy, and a constant desire to become all that it is possible for them to be. {RC 296.3} It is through the mighty agency of the Holy Spirit that the government of Satan is to be subdued and subjected. It is the Holy Spirit that convinces of sin, and expels it from the soul by the consent of the human agent. The mind is then brought under a new law, and that law is the royal law of liberty. Jesus came to break the shackles of sin-slavery from the soul; for sin can triumph only when the liberty of the soul is extinguished. Jesus reached to the very depth of human woe and misery, and His love attracts man to Himself. Through the agency of the Holy Spirit, He lifts the mind up from its degradation, and fastens it upon the eternal reality. Through the merits of Christ man may be able to exercise the noblest powers of his being, and expel sin from his soul. . . . {TDG 124.2} The love which Christ diffuses through the whole being is a vitalizing power. Every vital part— the brain, the heart, the nerves—it touches with healing. By it the highest energies of the being are roused to activity. It frees the soul from the guilt and sorrow, the anxiety and care, that crush the life forces. With it come serenity and composure. It implants in the soul, joy that nothing earthly can destroy,—joy in the Holy Spirit,—health-giving, life-giving joy. {MH 115.3} When the mind of man is brought into communion with the mind of God, the finite with the Infinite, the effect on body and mind and soul is beyond estimate. In such communion is found the highest education. It is God’s own method of development. “Acquaint now thyself with Him” (Job 22:21), is His message to mankind. {AA 126.1}

Study Collection Prepared March, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 7 God does not control our minds without our consent; but every man is free to choose what power he will have to rule over him. None have fallen so low, none are so vile, but that they may find deliverance in Christ. The demoniac, in place of prayer, could utter only the words of Satan; yet the heart’s unspoken appeal was heard. No cry from a soul in need, though it fail of utterance in words, will be unheeded. Those who consent to enter into covenant with God are not left to the power of Satan or to the infirmity of their own nature. . . . {MH 93.1} Marvelous will be the transformation wrought in him who by faith opens the door of the heart to the Saviour. {MH 93.3} The power of Christ alone can work the transformation in heart and mind that all must experience who would partake with Him of the new life in the kingdom of heaven. “Except a man be born again,” the Saviour has said, “he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3. The religion that comes from God is the only religion that can lead to God. In order to serve Him aright, we must be born of the divine Spirit. This will lead to watchfulness. It will purify the heart and renew the mind, and give us a new capacity for knowing and loving God. It will give us willing obedience to all His requirements. This is true worship. {9T 156.1} The church is God’s appointed agency for the salvation of men. It was organized for service, and its mission is to carry the gospel to the world. From the beginning it has been God’s plan that through His church shall be reflected to the world His fullness and His sufficiency. The members of the church, those whom He has called out of darkness into His marvelous light, are to show forth His glory. The church is the repository of the riches of the grace of Christ; and through the church will eventually be made manifest, even to “the principalities and powers in heavenly places” (Ephesians 3:10), the final and full display of the love of God. {RC 196.2} It is not possible for the heart in which Christ abides to be destitute of love. If we love God because He first loved us, we shall love all for whom Christ died. We cannot come in touch with divinity without coming in touch with humanity; for in Him who sits upon the throne of the universe, divinity and humanity are combined. Connected with Christ, we are connected with our fellow men by the golden links of the chain of love. Then the pity and compassion of Christ will be manifest in our life. We shall not wait to have the needy and unfortunate brought to us. We shall not need to be entreated to feel for the woes of others. It will be as natural for us to minister to the needy and suffering as it was for Christ to go about doing good. {COL 384.3} Wherever there is an impulse of love and sympathy, wherever the heart reaches out to bless and uplift others, there is revealed the working of God’s Holy Spirit. In the depths of heathenism, men who have had no knowledge of the written law of God, who have never even heard the name of Christ, have been kind to His servants, protecting them at the risk of their own lives. Their acts show the working of a divine power. The Holy Spirit has implanted the grace of Christ in the heart of the savage, quickening his sympathies contrary to his nature,

Study Collection Prepared March, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 8 contrary to his education. The “Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world” (John 1:9), is shining in his soul; and this light, if heeded, will guide his feet to the kingdom of God. {COL 385.1} The glory of heaven is in lifting up the fallen, comforting the distressed. And wherever Christ abides in human hearts, He will be revealed in the same way. Wherever it acts, the religion of Christ will bless. Wherever it works, there is brightness. {COL 386.1} Wherever there is union with Christ there is love. Whatever other fruits we may bear, if love be missing, they profit nothing. Love to God and our neighbor is the very essence of our religion. No one can love Christ and not love His children. When we are united to Christ, we have the mind of Christ. Purity and love shine forth in the character, meekness and truth control the life. The very expression of the countenance is changed. {RC 104.2} Christ abiding in the soul exerts a transforming power, and the outward aspect bears witness to the peace and joy that reign within. We drink in the love of Christ, as the branch draws nourishment from the vine. If we are grafted in Christ, if fiber by fiber we have been united with the Living Vine, we shall give evidence of the fact by bearing rich clusters of living fruit. If we are connected with the Light, we shall be channels of light, and in our words and works we shall reflect light to the world. {RC 104.3} Those who are truly Christians are bound with the chain of love which links earth to heaven, which binds finite man to the infinite God. The light that shines in the face of Jesus Christ shines in the hearts of His followers, to the glory of God. {RC 104.4} Jesus says, “Love one another, as I have loved you.” Love is not simply an impulse, a transitory emotion, dependent upon circumstances; it is a living principle, a permanent power. The soul is fed by the streams of pure love that flow from the heart of Christ, as a well-spring that never fails. O, how is the heart quickened, how are its motives ennobled, its affections deepened, by this communion! Under the education and discipline of the Holy Spirit, the children of God love one another, truly, sincerely, unaffectedly—”without partiality, and without hypocrisy.” And this because the heart is in love with Jesus. Our affection for one another springs from our common relation to God. We are one family, we love one another as He loved us. When compared with this true, sanctified, disciplined affection, the shallow courtesy of the world, the meaningless expressions of effusive friendship, are as chaff to the wheat (Letter 63, 1896). {5BC 1140.3} As His representatives among men, Christ does not choose angels who have never fallen, but human beings, men of like passions with those they seek to save. Christ took upon Himself humanity, that He might reach humanity. Divinity needed humanity; for it required both the divine and the human to bring salvation to the world. Divinity needed humanity, that humanity might afford a channel of communication between God and man. So with the servants and

Study Collection Prepared March, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 9 messengers of Christ. Man needs a power outside of and beyond himself, to restore him to the likeness of God, and enable him to do the work of God; but this does not make the human agency unessential. Humanity lays hold upon divine power, Christ dwells in the heart by faith; and through co-operation with the divine, the power of man becomes efficient for good. {DA 296.4} He who called the fisherman of Galilee is still calling men to His service. And He is just as willing to manifest His power through us as through the first disciples. However imperfect and sinful we may be, the Lord holds out to us the offer of partnership with Himself, of apprenticeship to Christ. He invites us to come under the divine instruction, that, uniting with Christ, we may work the works of God. {DA 297.1} God is the source of life and light and joy to the universe. Like rays of light from the sun, like the streams of water bursting from a living spring, blessings flow out from Him to all His creatures. And wherever the life of God is in the hearts of men, it will flow out to others in love and blessing. {SC 77.1} His [Christ’s] work gave character to His mission, showing that it was of divine appointment. In His every word and act were revealed tender compassion, love, and mercy. The poorest and humblest were not afraid to approach Him. He always noticed the little children, and they were attracted to Him. {UL 145.3} The voice and tongue are gifts from God, and if rightly used, they are a power for God. Words mean very much. They may express love, devotion, praise, melody to God, or hatred and revenge. Words reveal the sentiments of the heart. They may be a savor of life unto life or of death unto death. The tongue is a world of blessing, or a world of iniquity. {SD 180.5} Righteous words and deeds have a more powerful influence for good than all the sermons that can be preached.—ML 114. {VSS 52.1} Every word you speak, every action you perform, has an influence for good or evil upon those who associate with you; and, oh! how necessary it is that you have Christ dwelling in your heart by faith, that your words may be words of life, and your works, the works of love.—RH, June 12, 1888. {2MCP 433.3} Christ does not bid His followers strive to shine. He says, Let your light shine. If you have received the grace of God, the light is in you. Remove the obstructions, and the Lord’s glory will be revealed. The light will shine forth to penetrate and dispel the darkness. You cannot help shining within the range of your influence. {COL 420.1} The effort to earn salvation by one’s own works inevitably leads men to pile up human exactions as a barrier against sin. For, seeing that they fail to keep the law, they will devise rules and regulations of their own to force themselves to obey. All this turns the mind away from

Study Collection Prepared March, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 10 God to self. His love dies out of the heart, and with it perishes love for his fellow men. A system of human invention, with its multitudinous exactions, will lead its advocates to judge all who come short of the prescribed human standard. The atmosphere of selfish and narrow criticism stifles the noble and generous emotions, and causes men to become self-centered judges and petty spies. {MB 123.1} The Pharisees were of this class. They came forth from their religious services, not humbled with a sense of their own weakness, not grateful for the great privileges that God had given them. They came forth filled with spiritual pride, and their theme was, “Myself, my feelings, my knowledge, my ways.” Their own attainments became the standard by which they judged others. Putting on the robes of self-dignity, they mounted the judgment seat to criticize and condemn. {MB 123.2} The people partook largely of the same spirit, intruding upon the province of conscience and judging one another in matters that lay between the soul and God. It was in reference to this spirit and practice that Jesus said, “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” That is, do not set yourself up as a standard. Do not make your opinions, your views of duty, your interpretations of Scripture, a criterion for others and in your heart condemn them if they do not come up to your ideal. Do not criticize others, conjecturing as to their motives and passing judgment upon them. {MB 123.3} “Judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts.” 1 Corinthians 4:5. We cannot read the heart. Ourselves faulty, we are not qualified to sit in judgment upon others. Finite men can judge only from outward appearance. To Him alone who knows the secret springs of action, and who deals tenderly and compassionately, is it given to decide the case of every soul. {MB 124.1} God has given to every man an individual responsibility. “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” Man is not to work out any other man’s salvation. He is not to become the transcript of any man’s mind. He is required to act in his capacity according to the ability God has given him. No man, whatever his experience, whatever his position, is to feel that he accomplishes a wonderful work when he fashions and shapes the mind of any human being after his own mind and teaches him to voice the sentiments he may express. This has been done again and again to the detriment of human beings.—MS 116, 1898. {2MCP 427.3} Recommended Reading: The Signs of the Times, May 28, 1902 “The Will of God Concerning You.”

The Signs of the Times, December 15, 1914 “Surpassing Love Revealed in His Plan” https://egwwritings.org/

Study Collection Prepared March, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 11 Pine Knoll Sabbath School Study Notes Fourth Quarter 2018: Oneness in Christ Lesson 10 Unity and Broken Relationships

Read for this week’s study 2 Timothy 4:11; Philemon 1–25; 2 Corinthians 10:12–15; Romans 5:8–11; Ephesians 4:26; Matthew 18:15–17. Memory Text “For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life” (Romans 5:10, NKJV).

Lesson Outline from Adult Sabbath School Study Guide I. Introduction II. Restored Friendship III. From Slave to Son IV. Spiritual Gifts for Unity V. Forgiveness VI. Restoration and Unity VII. Further Study

Questions and Notes for Consideration Facilitator: Daniel Duda 1. “In this week’s lesson, we will focus on restored relationships and how our human relationships impact our oneness in Christ. The ministry of the Holy Spirit involves bringing people closer to God and to one another. It includes breaking down the barriers in our relationship with God and breaking down barriers in our relationships with one another. In short, the greatest demonstration of the power of the gospel is not necessarily what the church says but how the church lives.” (Sabbath afternoon) 2. This week we look at the stories of John Mark and Onesimus. What can we learn from their lives that would inspire us in our journey today? What are the similarities and what are the differences between them? 3. Why is investing in others a better way to live? Why are so many of us reluctant to do it? Are there some in our immediate sphere of influence who could benefit from our care?

Study Collection Prepared April, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 1 4. What is the role of spiritual gifts in: a) the New Testament; b) the work of ministry; c) as an agent of unity? How can we live our lives in a way that our Spiritual Gifts become a unifying agent in our local community of believers? 5. How can forgiveness be a game changer in relationships? How can forgiveness be abused and result in destroyed relationships? 6. “Our repentance and confession do not create reconciliation. Christ’s life and his death on the cross did; our part is to accept what was done for us. It is true that we cannot receive the blessings of forgiveness until we confess our sins. This does not mean that our confession creates forgiveness in God’s heart. Forgiveness was in His heart all the time. Confession, instead, enables us to receive it (1 John 1:9).” (Wednesday’s lesson) 7. If forgiveness was in God’s heart all the time, then what does the life and the death of Jesus on the cross accomplish? 8. Which part of Matthew 18:15-17 is the most difficult to put into practice and why? How can conflicts be used positively this side of eternity? What is the meaning of the words of Jesus, “if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector”? (Matthew 18:17) How did Jesus treat pagans and tax collectors? 9. What is the greatest thing holding us back from the kind of unity that Christ prayed for? What is the connection between the level of unity needed in order to reach the world and “finishing the work”? How was it in the early church? How do you imagine it to be at the end of ages? 10. If the gospel of Jesus is about the healing and transformation of relationships, what are the implications for how we “do” church?

Thoughts from Graham Maxwell Obviously Jesus did not die to win his Father. And how clear Paul is on this. Look quickly at the remaining verses. 2 Corinthians 5:19: “God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself.” (RSV) Nowhere ever does the Bible suggest that God had to be reconciled to us. Never once! But God paid the price to reconcile us to himself! Nor did Jesus die to pay some mere legal penalty. He died to reveal the truth about God and the falsity of Satan’s charges. And even the angels had to learn this. Look at Colossians 1:20: “. . . and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace [not war, but], making peace by the blood of his cross.” (RSV) As Jesus said in the next verse, John 12:32: “When I am lifted up from the earth I will draw everyone to me.” (GNB) Not all men, everyone in the whole family of the universe. You see, viewed in the larger setting of the great controversy, the way in which Jesus suffered and died is the greatest revelation of the truth about God and his government that the universe will ever

Study Collection Prepared April, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 2 see or ever need. Correctly understood, the message of the cross is final defeat for the adversary. No wonder Satan has worked so hard to obscure and misrepresent and even pervert the meaning of the cross. {Graham Maxwell. Excerpt from the audio series, Conversations About God, #8, “The Most Costly and Convincing Evidence” recorded March, 1984, Loma Linda, California} To listen to the entire audio of the above reference, click on the following direct link: http://pkp.cc/8MMCAG

Lou: I want to come to something that you touched on a bit as you came to the conclusion of your presentation. How could it be that Christians could allow the adversary to deceive us regarding the very truths that we hold? Graham: Particularly on the atonement, that Christ died to reconcile the Father to us. This is widely held by Christians. Or, he died to assuage the Father’s wrath. Here you have a God who is vengeful, unforgiving and severe. You don’t have the picture that Jesus brought. Who had to die to persuade Christ? And yet he’s God. Who had to die to win Christ to our side? Yet he said, “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father.” So a very widely held Christian view could be used to support the devil’s charges. {Graham Maxwell. Excerpt from the audio series, Conversations About God, #17 with Lou Venden, “Satan’s Final Effort to Deceive” recorded May, 1984, Loma Linda, California} To listen to the entire audio of the above reference, click on the following direct link: http://pkp.cc/17MMCAG

Then Tyndale, who was such an admirer of Luther, brought that over into English, and “gnad stul” became “mercy seat”, and from then on the Bible says, “God said to Moses, ‘Make a mercy seat’”, but up till then it was “make a cover.” Now how could Luther interpret that cover as being so important? When the Jews fled from Palestine during the Babylonian invasions, many of them fled to Egypt. And you remember, they took Jeremiah with them against his will. And after they had lived there awhile, the young people began to forget how to read the Old Testament in Hebrew. And so it was translated into Greek. That’s what produced the Old Testament in Greek known as the Septuagint, because there is a story that seventy scholars were sequestered in seventy cells, and all seventy of them translated the Old Testament, and all seventy translations were exactly the same. That gives authority, doesn’t it? All seventy versions exactly the same. That’s how it got its name. The Septuagint. “The Seventy.” And when those Jewish scholars came to “the cover”, to “the lid”, they didn’t translate it into the Greek word for “lid” or cover, they translated it into the Greek word that appears in Romans 3:25, and it’s translated “propitiation” in the King James, “expiation” in the Revised Standard, or what other translations have you found there? So what Luther called a mercy seat

Study Collection Prepared April, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 3 they called; well, what shall we call it? I’ll pronounce it in Greek, if that would help: “hilastērion,” which comes from a Greek verb “hilaskomai” that means “to reconcile.” And “to atone” is “to bring back to one.” Atonement is “at-one-ment”, meaning reconciliation has taken place. And isn’t that the meaning of the “lid” and the “cover”? If it represents Christ and all that he has done, including his death, is not that to make possible reconciliation between sinners who do not trust God and are not willing to do his will and obey his law? God being represented by the brilliant Shekinah above. So when Paul was looking for a word to explain why Jesus died, he used this one, the one that was used by the Hebrew scholars who translated the Bible into Greek for the younger generations who were in exile, he chose this word “hilastērion.” {Graham Maxwell. Excerpt from the audio series, The Picture of God in All 66 – Leviticus, recorded October, 1981, Riverside, California} To listen to the entire audio of the above reference, click on the following direct links: *Audio links to the West Covina series recorded in 1983: http://pkp.cc/5MMPOGIA66 (Part 1) http://pkp.cc/6MMPOGIA66 (Part 2)

So I chose rather, “How One’s Perception of God Affects One’s Understanding of the Atonement.” And I’d like to begin by clarifying something in the newsletter. On the backside it says, “The SDA Bible Commentary discussion on Romans is his contribution.” Although he notes that “editing changed the meaning of some of what was submitted for publication.” Not in the first edition; but later. I was allowed to read the galleys, and I agreed that what they had in the galleys was alright. It didn’t mean I had to agree with every point. I submitted to their plan that Elder Nichol worked out so carefully, that the Commentary would not reflect the thinking of any one person, but it would represent consensus at the time. And while we were allowed considerable freedom, nevertheless we were not to strike out in some new direction on our own. And so if you read something in the first edition of the SDA Bible Commentary, it was thought to represent consensus at the time. About twenty years later there came an urgent letter from Australia to the president of the General Conference, Neil Wilson. And it said, “How is it that the Commentary teaches that God had to be reconciled to man?” And Elder Wilson immediately consulted one of the editors of the Review. I’m sure he’d love to have gotten to talk to Elder Nichol, but he’s no longer with us, so he went to the person who’s actually had more to do with the Commentary than any other single person, and that’s Dr Raymond Cottrell. He wrote two thousand pages, plus editing the whole thing; a very extraordinary gentleman. He said, “What’s that you say? The Commentary’s supposed to say that God was reconciled to man? Yes, Romans 5:10. So Elder Cottrell said, “That’s not the way it read when we printed it.” So he said maybe I’d had something to do with

Study Collection Prepared April, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 4 it. He phoned me up at Loma Linda. He said, “What’s this change you made in the Commentary? That isn’t the way it read when we agreed on the consensus.” “Well,” I said, “it certainly didn’t enjoy such a change under my influence, I can tell you.” But I had to run down to the Adventist Book Center and buy the revised version. That’s what’s in this heavy case. Now there’s the original, and here is the revised. Now let’s see Romans 5:10. It is this reference to reconciliation in Romans 5. And the second paragraph under “reconciled” reads like this: “The Bible nowhere speaks of God being reconciled to man. It is true that the death of Christ made it possible for God to do for man what he otherwise could not have done.” And lower down: “But this does not mean that God needed to be reconciled. The alienation was entirely on man’s part.” And that was screened, and that was consensus at the time. But then I picked up the revised one. Romans 5:10. Well it fits exactly the same. If there’s a change, it’s a work of art. It’s exactly the same space. But instead of saying “the Bible nowhere speaks of…” it says: “the Bible elsewhere mentions God’s being reconciled to man. But the text is the same one, “God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself.” They came up with no text saying that God was reconciled to man, but that God was in Christ reconciling man to himself, and then it left out the fact that the alienation was on man’s part. Corinthians has this text, “God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself.” I wonder if that was changed too. I looked over here, in Corinthians. Dr. Ted Hepenstal wrote this. You know his theology. Here’s how he wrote it: Reconciliation involves no change on God’s part, for God never changes. It is not God who needs to be reconciled to man, but man who needs to be reconciled to God. There has never been enmity on God’s part. Men sometimes conceive of God as a stern judge, angry with sinners, hard to be placated, unmerciful, ready to condemn. This characterization misrepresents him and is an affront to him. Christ did not have to go to the cross in order to appease God, but as a demonstration of his love. God did not demand the death of his Son, but gave him out of a heart of infinite love. [And the end of that section is] reconciliation removes the enmity by means of a substitutionary fulfillment of the law’s requirements. I wondered if that was changed. So I looked over; here’s how it reads: Reconciled us to himself. Here the thought is expressed that it is man who needs to be reconciled to God. However, it is also true that God needed to be reconciled to man. Sin had brought a separation between God and man, and this gap was bridged by Christ, who reconciled not only man to God, but also God to man. So we immediately began a detective search, to find out if this had been authorized. And after years of investigation, nothing has ever been found. Nobody knows how this happened. And nobody has come forward to admit doing it. Certainly the editors had nothing to do with it.

Study Collection Prepared April, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 5 And if you know how things occur in a publishing house, things like that cannot happen without some editorial agreement that it should be done. It just cannot happen. It could only be if some soul with real conviction had somewhere in the printing process done a masterful work; it fits exactly the space. It’s just amazing. I told this story to the Pacific Press, and afterwards several came up and said, “We guessed who did it.” But so far I haven’t had the nerve to go see him. You see, it may be wrong; it may be quite wrong. It’s just nobody knows. But the search went on in some interesting ways. To make a long story short, I got a letter the other day recognizing that this was unauthorized change, and it will be corrected, part way back at least, to the original. For there is no verse in the Bible that says God had to be reconciled to man; it doesn’t exist in the Bible. Along with the commentary on Romans and Corinthians, as far as is known, this is the only change in the text of the SDA Bible commentary. In the introductory chapters, yes, but not in the exposition of the rest of the seven volumes. No changes have been authorized of any kind whatever, and that’s a wonderful mystery as to how that got in. But if you look up atonement in the Bible Dictionary, which is volume 8 in the same set, there’s a wonderful article. Now I’m showing my colors when I say it’s a wonderful article. I haven’t said how it reads, but now you’ll know. First of all it explains the meaning of the word atonement, which I’ll say more about later, and I fully agree with the meaning of the word. “Understood in terms of its original meaning, “atonement” means a state of reconciliation that terminated a state of estrangement, and thus was reasonably close to the Biblical terms if was used to translate. However, the word “atonement” has acquired the special, technical, theological meaning of “propitiation” or “expiation,” and when so used implies the sacrifice of Christ on the cross constituted reparation to an offended God. This concept reflects the pagan idea of propitiating an offended deity in order to avert his anger and vengeance, and assumes that God must be reconciled to us. Thus, today, the word “atonement” does not properly convey either its own original meaning—the state of being “at one”— or the sense of the Hebrew and Greek terms thus translated.” [But the article continues], No change is necessary on [God’s] part in order to affect the reconciliation. It is the sinner who must be “covered,” [that’s the Hebrew word that’s translated atonement sometimes.] It is the sinner who must be “covered” or reconciled to God, not God with respect to the sinner.” And I wondered; the Bible Dictionary’s been revised. Here’s the revised edition, you can tell by the different binding. And so you look it up, and you’d think that since it’s volume 8 of the Bible Commentary series, the individual who showed really great skill in making the change in the other two places would surely do the same here. The dictionary…atonement…exactly the same. He forgot to change it in the Bible Dictionary. So the way it is now, volume 8 of the Bible

Study Collection Prepared April, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 6 Commentary series is in direct opposition to the volume 6, which contains the Commentary on Romans and Corinthians. Now which one is authentic? Well it’s an interesting dilemma for people to deal with. {Graham Maxwell. Excerpt from the audio series, Atonement and Your Picture of God, recorded May, 1993, San Diego, California} To listen to the entire audio of the above reference, click on the following direct links: http://pkp.cc/1MMAANDP (Part 1) http://pkp.cc/2MMAANDP (Part 2)

What appeals to you most for the inclusion of this little letter? Why would it be in there? Is this Paul, dealing with another very difficult and delicate problem, the problem of slavery? There were more slaves than free. What should the early church do? Did he turn society upside- down? Or did he sow the seeds of real revolution here by saying to Philemon, “Take Onesimus back and treat him like a brother. And Onesimus, when you get back, be the best servant Philemon ever had. That’ll do for now.” Because if they had started a revolution then, they never would have had time to talk about the gospel. Have you noticed? The Bible doesn’t start great wars of social change. But it sows seeds of real change from inside. And so that comes through in here, also. There’s another very lovely possibility in this. Do you know whether or not Philemon did what he was asked to do? Did he treat Onesimus well? Fifty years or so after Paul wrote the letter to Philemon, another great Christian letter writer, Ignatius, who was bishop of Antioch, sent a letter to the church in Ephesus, in which he speaks highly of the Bishop of the church at Ephesus. “A man of inexpressible love, Onesimus by name.” Is it possible that the slave became the Bishop of Ephesus? Why not? It just works out beautifully, because it fits the whole setting so well. And it would suggest that Philemon did the very brave thing. What do you think his neighbors thought of him, not punishing Onesimus? Wouldn’t this risk the stability of society at the time? No. Philemon decided on the contrary. To treat Onesimus like this would have an even greater effect for good. And in the end Onesimus became a leader of the church. I love to think it’s the same one, because it would be a magnificent ending to the story. {Graham Maxwell. Excerpt from the audio series, The Picture of God in all 66 – 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon, recorded May, 1982, Riverside, California} To listen to the entire audio of the above reference, click on the following direct links: http://pkp.cc/71MMPOGIA66 (Part 1) http://pkp.cc/72MMPOGIA66 (Part 2)

1 Selected Messages, 233-235: “We are not to regard God as waiting to punish the sinner for his sin.” Now she’s very strong on discipline, you know, whom the Lord loves he disciplines, no question. She’s talking here about final destruction:

Study Collection Prepared April, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 7 We are not to regard God as waiting to punish the sinner for his sin. The sinner brings the punishment upon himself. His own actions start a train of circumstances that bring the sure result. Every act of transgression reacts upon the sinner, works in him a change of character. And forgiveness doesn’t take care of that change. That’s why salvation is more than forgiveness, it means healing the damage done. Sin really changes us. The legalist thinks he can go and get it just covered or erased or forgiven or pardoned or forgotten. That’s legalism. But to recognize that sin damages us, we’re never the same. Adam and Eve were never the same. They were hurt by this thing. They could not pass on a perfect nature to their children. They were weakened by this thing. That’s why it’s suicide to sin. The reasons are not just that it upsets our righteous heavenly Father. It also is utterly destructive too and he does not wish us to destroy ourselves. There’s every reason for not sinning. {Graham Maxwell. Excerpt from the audio presentation, We’ve Camped Around This Mountain Long Enough, #1, recorded July, 1989, South Dakota Conference Ministers Meeting} To listen to the entire audio of the above reference, click on the following direct link: http://pkp.cc/1MMCAMPED

Is it possible that Adam reasoned, “I know God is so gracious, surely he won’t go through with that threatened penalty of death; he’ll forgive us”? But was that the problem? Did God forgive them? But does forgiveness heal the damage done? See, they were changed by sin and distrust. They had become vulnerable now, to the deceptions of the adversary. And so God forgave them, but now there was need for discipline and healing and all those other things. So I think Adam misunderstood that warning, “In the day you eat thereof you will die,” as a threat, as a penalty, “In the day you eat thereof—as a penalty—I will have to execute you.” And he thought, “Here is my lovely wife, and this is our first offense. Surely he’ll forgive.” Yes, he forgave, but that doesn’t heal the damage done. {Graham Maxwell. Excerpt from the audio series, The Picture of God in All 66 – Genesis, recorded October, 1981, Riverside, California} To listen to the entire audio of the above reference, click on the following direct links: *Audio links to the West Covina series recorded in 1983: http://pkp.cc/1MMPOGIA66 (Part 1) http://pkp.cc/2MMPOGIA66 (Part 2)

The point is that we are being considered by our future neighbors and friends. And they’re worried. Wouldn’t you be, if you were an angel? They’re going to let some of us in. They had a war once before, and Satan capitalizes on this. Ellen White says he has an exact knowledge of every sin he’s ever tempted us to commit. We sometimes think our sins are rather private, and when they’re forgiven nobody knows them anymore. No, they know them. They’re headlines throughout the universe. They’re not forgotten. It wouldn’t be fair to forget our sins and then

Study Collection Prepared April, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 8 put David’s in the Bible. We preach about David’s sins. Nobody’s sins are hidden; they’re all well known up there. And the devil arises and says, “Let me show you that God once more has made a mistake. He says Jones is safe to save.” And he lists all the things he’s tempted us to do. And Ellen White has a tremendous speech in his mouth. “Look at all the sins that have marked their disloyalty to God. Look at their selfishness”, et cetera, et cetera. How he dares make such a speech is almost unbelievable! And then he points to all the records and says, “Look at all the sins they have committed.” If you had just heard your life described, and it was put to the vote, would you vote for yourself? I mean would you hang your head and wonder what’s going to happen? But then Christ arises, as she describes it, and he does not excuse our sins. He says, “The devil has told the truth. Jones did everything he’s mentioned. In fact, due to the shortness of time, he left out a lot he could have mentioned.” And there comes a murmur in the crowd and it’s Jones’ guardian angel, and he says, “Look, I was there, do you want me to fill in?” And the Lord says, “No, we’ve heard quite enough. Jones, on the record looks simply frightful. But let me tell you; that record is irrelevant, and it’s out of date. It describes the kind of person Jones used to be. But Jones has a new heart and a right spirit within him. He was born as I told Nicodemus he had to be, of the spirit. This doesn’t describe Jones.” You see, God is not concerned about our sinful past, he’s only concerned about the kind of people we are now. And if I were an angel, I wouldn’t be concerned with whether or not God had forgiven Idi Amin; I’d want to know if it was safe to live next door to Idi Amin. When the prophet Isaiah meets King Manasseh in the hereafter, and he’s innocently carrying a pruning hook or something to prune his vines; the last time he held one in his hands he was sawing poor Isaiah in half in a hollow log. And will God say, “Well, don’t worry about him carrying that saw, I forgave him.” That wouldn’t reassure me at all; I’d want to know if he could be trusted with a sharp saw! And that’s why Jesus said to Nicodemus, “Not unless ye be forgiven.” No, he said “Not unless you be born again.” It’s a healing ministry; new hearts, right spirits. David finally got the message and said, “Sacrifices won’t do it, I need a new heart, I need a right spirit, I need truth in the inner man.” Now he didn’t say, “I’ll stop offering sacrifices” because Christ hadn’t yet come. But he says, “I’m going to start offering them for a different reason now.” As Hebrews says, all the sacrifices were a constant reminder of sin, and that sin leads to death. He says, “I’ll go on doing that.” But no more were they sacrifices “to propitiate the wrath of God”, and things like that. Well, I see this discussion going on in Heaven. What chance do we have? Has God proved his ability to judge the human heart? Job showed that. And many other places. The last generation may show that. No angel can read our hearts; no angel can read our thoughts. If they could, they could have read Lucifer’s thoughts and they would have known he was a deceiver. They couldn’t read what his plan was. Only God can read our innermost thoughts. And so they have

Study Collection Prepared April, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 9 to look to God to say, “Is Jones really changed; is he safe to save?” And when Jesus says, “Yes he is”, then they say, “Then we’ll welcome him at the gates.” And so, I think they have very legitimate questions. I mean, they should be afraid that we’re coming in. They have to hear Jesus say, “Don’t judge the man by the record. Let me tell you, he’s not that kind of person anymore; he’s been changed.” {Graham Maxwell. Excerpt from the audio series, Atonement and Your Picture of God, recorded May, 1993, San Diego, California} To listen to the entire audio of the above reference, click on the following direct links: http://pkp.cc/1MMAANDP (Part 1) http://pkp.cc/2MMAANDP (Part 2) But now at the rock, Moses shows no concern for God’s reputation. Instead, he’s angry, when God isn’t. And Moses stands at the rock and says, “You ungrateful rebels; must we bring forth water from this rock?” And he hits it twice. And I’d venture, before his rod hit the rock twice, he realized what he’d done, and he repented. But why would God take that so seriously? Isn’t this where the whole great controversy began? When a highly trusted person who came from the very presence of God, and reflected the brilliant glory of God, and therefore was regarded as speaking with almost unlimited authority. Lucifer, the Light-bearer, began to misrepresent God. He began to picture God to the angels as exacting, unforgiving and severe, a harsh God who laid arbitrary requirements on his people, just to show his authority and test their obedience. The whole disastrous controversy that has spread throughout this universe began when a highly trusted person began to obscure and pervert and twist the truth about God. And I doubt anybody in the audience in the wilderness gave that any consideration at all. But the angels knew. They knew how that whole thing began, and they could understand why God would take it so seriously. And God could turn to the angels and say, “Any questions about why I’m not letting Moses in? He’s always been my best friend, and he will remain my best friend. But he did something, and I’ve forgiven him. But I must go on record before my family in the universe that the most destructive thing you can ever do is to misrepresent me. That’s where it all began, and that’s why it’s costing me so much to clear up all these misunderstandings.” I believe that Moses’ sin is the most destructive sin a person can ever commit. And it’s not just disobedience. It’s not destroying a symbol. But it is misrepresenting God. Now how often have you ever prayed at night, “If today, to my children I left the impression Lord, that you are in any way arbitrary, vengeful, exacting, unforgiving and severe, then I’m sorry for that more than some other terrible things I may have done.” {Graham Maxwell. Excerpt from the audio series, The Picture of God in All 66 – Leviticus, recorded October, 1981, Riverside, California} To listen to the entire audio of the above reference, click on the following direct links: *Audio links to the West Covina series recorded in 1983: http://pkp.cc/5MMPOGIA66 (Part 1) http://pkp.cc/6MMPOGIA66 (Part 2)

Study Collection Prepared April, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 10 Further Study with Ellen White In God’s forgiveness the heart of the erring one is drawn close to the great heart of Infinite Love. The tide of divine compassion flows into the sinner’s soul, and from him to the souls of others. The tenderness and mercy that Christ has revealed in His own precious life will be seen in those who become sharers of His grace. {COL 251.1} The truth will have the same molding influence upon hearts whatever the nationalities. Every human heart that accepts the truth will bow to the majesty of its sway, and when Christ is abiding in the heart by faith they will be of one mind, for Christ is not divided. They will be strong in His strength, happy and united in His peace. The truth is the same in its subduing power upon all hearts. It will refine and ennoble the heart of the receiver. {OHC 171.5} The parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son, bring out in distinct lines God’s pitying love for those who are straying from Him. Although they have turned away from God, He does not leave them in their misery. He is full of kindness and tender pity toward all who are exposed to the temptations of the artful foe. {COL 198.1} In his restless youth the prodigal looked upon his father as stern and severe. How different his conception of him now! So those who are deceived by Satan look upon God as hard and exacting. They regard Him as watching to denounce and condemn, as unwilling to receive the sinner so long as there is a legal excuse for not helping him. His law they regard as a restriction upon men’s happiness, a burdensome yoke from which they are glad to escape. But he whose eyes have been opened by the love of Christ will behold God as full of compassion. He does not appear as a tyrannical, relentless being, but as a father longing to embrace his repenting son. {COL 204.2} In the parable there is no taunting, no casting up to the prodigal of his evil course. The son feels that the past is forgiven and forgotten, blotted out forever. {COL 204.3} The very first reaching out of the heart after God is known to Him. Never a prayer is offered, however faltering, never a tear is shed, however secret, never a sincere desire after God is cherished, however feeble, but the Spirit of God goes forth to meet it. Even before the prayer is uttered or the yearning of the heart made known, grace from Christ goes forth to meet the grace that is working upon the human soul. {COL 206.1} Christ came to this world as the expression of the very heart and mind and nature and character of God. He was the brightness of the Father’s glory, the express image of His person. But He laid aside His royal robe and kingly crown, and stepped down from His high command to take the place of a servant. He was rich, but for our sake, that we might have eternal riches, He became poor. He made the world, but so completely did He empty Himself that during His ministry He declared, “Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay His head.” {MM 19.1}

Study Collection Prepared April, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 11 The same divine mind that is working upon the things of nature is speaking to the hearts of men and creating an inexpressible craving for something they have not. The things of the world cannot satisfy their longing. The Spirit of God is pleading with them to seek for those things that alone can give peace and rest—the grace of Christ, the joy of holiness. Through influences seen and unseen, our Saviour is constantly at work to attract the minds of men from the unsatisfying pleasures of sin to the infinite blessings that may be theirs in Him. To all these souls, who are vainly seeking to drink from the broken cisterns of this world, the divine message is addressed, “Let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” Revelation 22:17. {SC 28.1} In the story of the good Samaritan, Jesus gave a picture of Himself and His mission. Man had been deceived, bruised, robbed, and ruined by Satan, and left to perish; but the Saviour had compassion on our helpless condition. He left His glory, to come to our rescue. He found us ready to die, and He undertook our case. He healed our wounds. He covered us with His robe of righteousness. He opened to us a refuge of safety, and made complete provision for us at His own charges. He died to redeem us. Pointing to His own example, He says to His followers, “These things I command you, that ye love one another.” “As I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” John 15:17; 13:34. {DA 503.6} In these first disciples was presented marked diversity. They were to be the world’s teachers, and they represented widely varied types of character. In order successfully to carry forward the work to which they had been called, these men, differing in natural characteristics and in habits of life, needed to come into unity of feeling, thought, and action. This unity it was Christ’s object to secure. To this end He sought to bring them into unity with Himself. The burden of His labor for them is expressed in His prayer to His Father, “That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us;” “that the world may know that Thou has sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me.” John 17:21, 23. His constant prayer for them was that they might be sanctified through the truth; and He prayed with assurance, knowing that an Almighty decree had been given before the world was made. He knew that the gospel of the kingdom would be preached to all nations for a witness; He knew that truth armed with the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit, would conquer in the battle with evil, and that the bloodstained banner would one day wave triumphantly over His followers. {AA 20.2} We seldom find two persons exactly alike. Among human beings as well as among the things of the natural world, there is diversity. Unity in diversity among God’s children—the manifestation of love and forbearance in spite of difference of disposition—this is the testimony that God sent His Son into the world to save sinners. {SD 286.2} God has different ways of working, and He has different workmen to whom He entrusts varied gifts. One worker may be a ready speaker; another a ready writer; another may have the gift of

Study Collection Prepared April, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 12 sincere, earnest, fervent prayer; another the gift of singing; another may have special power to explain the word of God with clearness. And each gift is to become a power for God, because He works with the laborer. To one God gives the word of wisdom, to another knowledge, to another faith; but all are to work under the same Head. The diversity of gifts leads to a diversity of operations; but “it is the same God which worketh all in all.” [1 Corinthians 12:6.] {GW 483.1} The Lord desires His chosen servants to learn how to unite in harmonious effort. It may seem to some that the contrast between their gifts and the gifts of a fellow-laborer is too great to allow them to unite in harmonious effort; but when they remember that there are varied minds to be reached, and that some will reject the truth as it is presented by one laborer, only to open their hearts to God’s truth as it is presented in a different manner by another laborer, they will hopefully endeavor to labor together in unity. Their talents, however diverse, may all be under the control of the same Spirit. In every word and act, kindness and love will be revealed; and as each worker fills his appointed place faithfully, the prayer of Christ for the unity of His followers will be answered, and the world will know that these are His disciples. {GW 483.2} The Lord has not qualified any one of us to bear the burden of the work alone. He has associated together men of different minds, that they may counsel with and assist one another. In this way the deficiency in the experience and the abilities of one is supplied by the experience and the abilities of another. {TDG 154.2} From the endless variety of plants and flowers, we may learn an important lesson. All blossoms are not the same in form or color. Some possess healing virtues. Some are always fragrant. There are professing Christians who think it their duty to make every Christian like themselves. This is man’s plan, not the plan of God. In the church of God there is room for characters as varied as are the flowers in a garden. In His spiritual garden there are many varieties of flowers.—Letter 95, 1902. {Ev 99.1} Supreme love for God and unselfish love for one another—this is the best gift that our heavenly Father can bestow. This love is not an impulse, but a divine principle, a permanent power. The unconsecrated heart cannot originate or produce it. Only in the heart where Jesus reigns is it found. “We love Him, because He first loved us.” In the heart renewed by divine grace, love is the ruling principle of action. It modifies the character, governs the impulses, controls the passions, and ennobles the affections. This love, cherished in the soul, sweetens the life and sheds a refining influence on all around. {AA 551.2}

Study Collection Prepared April, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 13 Pine Knoll Sabbath School Study Notes Fourth Quarter 2018: Oneness in Christ Lesson 11 Unity in Worship

Read for this week’s study Revelation 4:8, 11; Matthew 4:8, 9; Daniel 3:8–18; Revelation 14:9; Revelation 14:6, 7; Acts 4:23–31. Memory Text “Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people—saying with a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water’ ” (Revelation 14:6, 7, NKJV).

Lesson Outline from Adult Sabbath School Study Guide I. Introduction II. Worshiping our Creator and Redeemer III. False Worship IV. The First Angel’s Message V. Bible Study and Fellowship VI. Breaking of Bread and Prayer VII. Further Study

Questions and Notes for Consideration Facilitator: Daniel Duda 1. “The church of Jesus Christ is by definition a worshiping community, called into being by God to be “a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5, NKJV). Gratitude to God expressed in community worship transforms people’s hearts and minds into the character of God and prepares them for service. This week’s lesson focuses on the meaning of worship and how it preserves unity among believers in Jesus.” (Sabbath afternoon) 2. As created beings we ultimately end up worshiping and as fallen human beings, we can worship either God or things, positions, status or something else. Everybody will end up worshiping somebody or something. The question is: Does your worship lift you up or bring you down?

Study Collection Prepared April, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 1 3. What is worship and why is it important? What is the meaning and purpose behind it? 4. “Worship is a response of our faith in God for His mighty works: first, for creating us, and, second, for redeeming us. In worship we give to God the adoration, reverence, praise, love, and obedience we believe He is worthy to receive.” (Sunday’s lesson) Therefore, the way you worship depends on your picture of God. 5. Christian worship is the intentional turning to God and seeing all the greatness, goodness and glory that belongs to Him. Worship is giving God the place that rightfully belongs to Him. 6. “Satan seeks to establish a false system of worship, one that takes people away from the true God and, even if subtly, direct worship toward himself.“ (Monday’s lesson). In what ways can we be tempted into worshiping someone or something else other than God? How might false worship be a more subtle threat than we realize? 7. What is the significance of the first angel’s message, and what it says about God? Why is there a reference to worship in this message? (Tuesday’s lesson) 8. Why is it that worship, at the end of time, is identified as a key issue in the great controversy over the allegiance of the human race? 9. “From the earliest moments of the church, worship has been characterized by the centrality of the study of the Word of God given to us by the apostles. The first Christians were faithful in studying the Scriptures for what it said about Jesus the Messiah. They were in constant fellowship to share with one another the blessings God had given them and to encourage each other in their spiritual walk with God. In the Word they mined the sacred truths that became the foundation of their message to the world.” (Wednesday’s lesson) Why are fellowship and conversational study of the Bible important parts of worship? 10. “And they continued steadfastly . . . in the breaking of bread, and in prayers” (Acts 2:42, NKJV). How is this significant in the context of worship? Does it add another dimension in our understanding? 11. If “worship is responding to all that God is with all that we are”, what implications are there for us personally, and in our daily lives within our communities?

Thoughts from Graham Maxwell But this brilliant, most trusted, even revered angel, set out to undermine trust in God by circulating misinformation and lies about our heavenly Father. And thus he became—not a bearer of light and a teacher of truth, but a bearer of lies, even The Adversary. And the name that means adversary is Satan. You can see why we shouldn’t call him Lucifer any longer. He no longer bears light, but lies. His real name is Satan—the opponent, the adversary. And how this adversary worked among the angels! In his pretentiously pious manner he insinuated that God himself was an untrustworthy liar. And specifically he charged that God

Study Collection Prepared April, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 2 was arbitrary—not respectful of the freedom of his children; that God was exacting, vengeful, unforgiving, and severe. And thus he hoped to turn the angels away from God, and win them to worship him, himself. It seems unbelievable that a creature could presume to think of himself as God, and suggest that angels worship him. But that Satan is actually capable of such insanity, look at the scripture that’s second on this Bible Reference Sheet, in Isaiah 14:12-14. And this is mentioned other places in the Bible: How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star [your favorite version may read “Lucifer” there, perhaps. It’s exactly the same word. I chose a version that would have “Day Star” to remind us that this is one of the names of Christ—Lucifer, Morning Star, Day Star.] How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! You said in your heart, “I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far north [where the gods are pictured as gathering]; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will make myself like the Most High.” (RSV) He even asked his creator to get down on his knees in the wilderness of temptation and worship his own creature. Look in Matthew 4:8-11; the next one on the Reference Sheet: Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them; and he said to him [the devil speaking, a mere creature], “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me” [a created being asking his creator to worship him!]. Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’” Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and ministered to him. (RSV) The angels watched that whole experience. They must have been stunned to see one of themselves asking God to get down on His knees and worship. And then, as to the charges that God is selfish and an untrustworthy liar, Satan wasted no time in sharing those accusations that he presented to the angels, with our first parents. {Graham Maxwell. Excerpt from the audio series, Conversations About God, #1, “The Conflict In God's Family” recorded January, 1984, Loma Linda, California} To listen to the entire audio of the above reference, click on the following direct link: http://pkp.cc/1MMCAG

But now under pressure, Moses let God down. He misrepresented God as vengeful, unforgiving, and severe. And that was precisely Satan’s sin in the beginning, the sin that is the most devastating of all. God has honored his friend Moses ever since. He even personally buried him and resurrected him, and later sent him down to comfort his Son on the mount of transfiguration. But God had to go on record before the eyes of the onlooking universe as to the terrible seriousness of

Study Collection Prepared April, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 3 Moses’ sin. It wasn’t just that he disobeyed, or by smiting the rock he had “spoiled a symbol.” He had, to be sure. But Moses had broken faith with God. He hadn’t shown himself to be God’s trusted, trusting friend. And that’s the essence of sin. How many of us have committed the same sin? How many of us have hurt our own children, and others who trust us to tell the truth about our God? Have you apologized lately to God for ever putting him in a bad light and suggesting that he’s not the kind of person we know him to be? Moses repented (as we know) and became a better friend of God than ever before. But so many people have continued to mistrust. What happens—what are the results? Not “what are the penalties?” What are the results of centuries of rebellion and mistrust? Well, look at Romans 3 in the collection. Romans 3:10-18. What makes this quotation so significant is that it’s made up of six Old Testament passages. One from Isaiah, and five from the Psalms: As the Scriptures say: “There is no one who is righteous, no one who is wise or who worships God. All have turned away from God; they have all gone wrong; no one does what is right, not even one. Their words are full of deadly deceit; wicked lies roll off their tongues, and dangerous threats, like snake’s poison, from their lips; their speech is filled with bitter curses. They are quick to hurt and kill; they leave ruin and destruction wherever they go. They have not known the path of peace, nor have they learned reverence for God.” (GNB) And then going right on into Romans 1:21-24, and then 28-32. Paul says: They know God [he says there’s no excuse if you don’t know God—he’s revealed himself], but they do not give him the honor that belongs to him, nor do they thank him. Instead, their thoughts have become complete nonsense, and their empty minds are filled with darkness. They say they are wise, but they are fools; instead of worshipping the immortal God, they worship images made to look like mortal man or birds or animals or reptiles. . . . And Egyptians even worshipped crocodiles. They even worshipped beetles. And think what that does to a person. We’ll study this on a later evening. But Hosea says (in a text I didn’t include tonight) that it is a law that we become like the object of our worship. His exact words are, “When Israel came to Mt. Peor, they began to worship Baal, and soon became as disgusting as the god they loved.” That’s the devastating consequence of worshipping a false picture of God. {Graham Maxwell. Excerpt from the audio series, Conversations About God, #2, “What Went Wrong in God’s Universe?” recorded January, 1984, Loma Linda, California} To listen to the entire audio of the above reference, click on the following direct link: http://pkp.cc/2MMCAG

Study Collection Prepared April, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 4 To some of us, the most important information we have to share with our fellow human beings around this planet is this truth about the way God runs his universe and what he wants of his children. We need to share this more urgently than ever before as we humans, all together, face the closing events of human history. Because before Christ returns, the Bible describes—in fact Jesus describes—a time of confusion and deception such as the world has never seen. All of that will be leading up to Satan’s final attempt to win the whole world to worship him, to trust him. He even asked Jesus to get down on his knees and worship him in the wilderness of temptation. Revelation thirteen says that when Satan’s campaign is over, the whole world will be worshipping him, except those few who have not been deceived. So it should not surprise us, if we are as near the end as we believe we are, that we find ourselves surrounded on all sides by conflicting claims to religious authority. Certainly the development of modern media has made us more aware of this than ever before. As we see and listen to all these conflicting claims, how often they are supported by position, or power, or miracles, or claims of special communications from the Lord. How Satan would enjoy it if he could turn God’s friends on this planet against their heavenly Father! Or even more seriously, how he would love to deceive God’s friends even as they continue professing to be his commandment keeping people. That would be the most destructive. {Graham Maxwell. Excerpt from the audio series, Conversations About God, #7, “The Question Of Authority” recorded February, 1984, Loma Linda, California} To listen to the entire audio of the above reference, click on the following direct link: http://pkp.cc/7MMCAG

Lou: But what difference does it make what kind of person I believe God to be? Now that’s a bit of a different question, but it’s related. So long as I submit to his authority. If I just say, “God has said it; I believe it; that’s it.” Graham: Well, I think of two illustrations that come quickly to mind since we’ve talked of Saul. The conception of God that Saul had led him to conduct his evangelism the way he did before the Damascus road. In God’s name he imprisoned people and he had them stoned to death. When he got the true picture of God on the Damascus road so dramatically (and by the way, it suggests it didn’t have to take a lifetime), I think Saul proceeded from the foot of Sinai to the mouth of the cave in a few minutes. He really grew up in a hurry there. Paul changed his picture of God and he changed his whole method of evangelism. Lou: So you’re saying that the picture inevitably affects everything.

Study Collection Prepared April, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 5 Graham: Everything: the way we worship, the way we witness to others, the way we behave. {Graham Maxwell. Excerpt from the audio series, Conversations About God, #7 with Lou Venden, “The Question Of Authority” recorded February, 1984, Loma Linda, California} To listen to the entire audio of the above reference, click on the following direct link: http://pkp.cc/7MMCAG

When you consider Satan’s picture of God and his threats to his children, the adversary has made God look even more cruel than old King Nebuchadnezzar and his burning fiery furnace. You recall how in the book of Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar built that very large idol and he issued an order that everyone was to get down on his knees at the given signal and worship his god. Anyone who refused to worship the image was to be thrown into the burning fiery furnace. You remember what happened to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. We recoil in horror at such cruel tyranny. “You either submit to my god or I will throw you into the burning fiery furnace.” And yet somehow, many of us find it possible to accept a God who is described as doing the very same thing. Would that God say to us, “On your knees, worship me, or I’ll throw you into the burning fiery furnace”? But it is even worse than that. God does not want what Nebuchadnezzar was willing to settle for. Nebuchadnezzar simply demanded submission: “on your knees.” God asks for our love and our trust. Then he is caricatured as saying, “But if you will not love and trust me, then I will throw you into the burning fiery furnace. And I won’t burn you as briefly as Nebuchadnezzar did. I will burn you forever and forever.” Does it make sense? Is it acceptable? I love Ellen White’s words. “Such thoughts destroy human reason.” Of course, surely gentle Jesus would say no such thing, would he? Is it the Father who is the fearsome one who would issue such a threat? And if the Father is the fearsome member of the Trinity, is that why the Son came to die? Was it to assuage, and appease, and propitiate the wrath of the offended member of the Trinity? I hope no one is believing what I am saying! Is this why Jesus had to go up quickly on resurrection Sunday—to begin to intercede with the fearsome member of the Trinity, who could never find it in his own heart to forgive his unbelieving children, unless he were begged to by the most sympathetic member of the three? How one’s understanding of the death of the wicked affects one’s picture of God, and one’s understanding of the plan of salvation! {Graham Maxwell. Excerpt from the audio series, Conversations About God, #9, “There is No Need to be Afraid of God” recorded March, 1984, Loma Linda, California} To listen to the entire audio of the above reference, click on the following direct link: http://pkp.cc/9MMCAG

Study Collection Prepared April, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 6 For example, in the narrow view; and lest that sound disrespectful and unrealistic, by the narrow view I mean the view that is preoccupied with what God has done for you and me. And that might be perfectly understandable in the lives of some of us. We still even have our tents pitched at the foot of Sinai. We have no right to tell anybody where he should have his tent pitched. But in the narrower view that is preoccupied with our own salvation, consistently the seventh-day Sabbath is presented as a mere test of obedience. But in the larger view, in the setting of the great controversy over the character of God, the Sabbath is God’s gift to us, to remind us of the answers in the great controversy. To remind us of all the things he revealed about himself, and about freedom, and about his unselfishness in the Garden of Eden. How he even shared his creative power with us, and enabled us to create little people in our own image. Magnificent was the revelation given during creation week, and the Sabbath was given to remind us of those truths. But then when we lost our freedom, and God gave it back to us again, he says in the other version of the Ten Commandments, which has just as much authority as the Exodus one, the Sabbath was given to remind us of how God rescued us from Egyptian bondage. Sabbath is a monument to freedom. And then at the end of crucifixion week, when the ultimate questions about God were answered by the way Jesus suffered and died, the next day was a seventh-day Sabbath, and the whole universe paused, earth time, to think and to remember and to celebrate the answer that God gave. The Sabbath is even described in the Bible as a type and a foretaste of the final rest to come. Instead of the Sabbath being a mere test of obedience, it becomes a great aid to us, and a time of celebration of the truth that is the basis of our trust, and the basis of our freedom. {Graham Maxwell. Excerpt from the audio series, The Larger View, #1, recorded October, 1982, Monterey, California} To listen to the entire audio of the above reference, click on the following direct link: http://pkp.cc/1MMLVIEW

Yet Jesus said that the Sabbath was made for us; Mark 2:27. It was not to be a mere test of obedience, but rather to be a help. I believe that the great purpose of the Sabbath is to remind us of the truth that is the basis of our faith; the very truth that does set us free. In the first place, the Bible tells us in Exodus 20 and Exodus 31, that the Sabbath is designed to serve as a reminder that God created us; that we are his creatures. But to be more specific according to Colossians 1:16, the one who created us was none other than Christ himself. The seventh day Sabbath reminds us that the one who came to save us is also the one who made us in the beginning. The gentle Jesus who died on Calvary is also the supreme, all powerful creator of the universe. God did not send some subordinate person to die for us. The Creator came himself one who is equal with God, for he is God. By keeping holy the seventh day Sabbath, we acknowledge our faith in Jesus as not only our Savior, but also our Creator and our God.

Study Collection Prepared April, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 7 A second way in which the seventh-day Sabbath serves to strengthen faith is mentioned in Exodus 31:13 and Exodus 20:12, 20. There we’re told the Sabbath is designed to remind us that God is the one who sanctifies us. Our sanctification includes not just forgiveness, but the healing of the damage sin has done. It means the harmonious development of our physical, mental and spiritual powers, until the image of God, in which we were originally created, is perfectly restored. The observance of the seventh day Sabbath is an acknowledgement that only the Creator can perform such a marvelous work of healing and transformation. Just as he created us in the beginning, so he has the power to re-create us now. Surely it is no less a miracle of creation to restore fallen human beings than it was to create them perfect in the beginning. No wonder David prayed as he did after his sad experience with Bathsheba, “Create in me a clean heart, O God” Psalm 51:10. Now some seek to accomplish this transformation by themselves by rigorous obedience, self- discipline and self-denial. The Sabbath comes each week to remind us that only by faith in our Creator can the healing work be done. It’s strange that Sabbath keeping should be thought to be a legalistic act; a denial of true faith. Actually, Sabbath keeping done in the right spirit is a denial of legalism, a denial that we can save ourselves. It’s an acknowledgment that only by faith in the one who created us in the beginning can we possibly be healed and re-created now. And what a perversion it is to suggest that seventh day Sabbath keeping is legalism; except that we can turn it around that way, and it has been done. A third way in which the Sabbath serves to remind us of the truth and strengthen our faith in God is mentioned in Hebrews chapter four. There the Sabbath is described as a type and a foretaste of the final rest and restoration to come. Just as God rested from his labors at the end of creation week so there remains a Sabbath like rest; the Greek says a ‘sabbatismos’. You can almost hear the meaning of the word. “There remains there a Sabbath like rest for the people of God. When the children of Israel marched into the land of Canaan, they failed to enter into God’s rest,” the apostle says, “because of lack of faith. They possessed the Promised Land but they did not enjoy the Sabbath like rest that faith brings.” Just remember the book of Judges. Would you call that the Sabbath like rest? That is not God’s intention. “But those who maintain their faith in Christ may begin to enjoy this rest even in this life and they will enter into it fully when they are admitted to the heavenly Canaan and Eden is restored.” So by keeping holy the seventh day Sabbath, we acknowledge our anticipation of this Sabbath like rest to come. We acknowledge our faith in the second coming of Christ and the re-creation of all things. There are more of course, but these three focuses or purposes of the Sabbath answer the three great questions that have stood in the minds of thinking people—the three great quests of philosophy. Where have we come from? Why are we here? And where do we go after we die? But mankind has paid a heavy price for neglecting the Sabbath, or substituting another day. For without the Sabbath to provide the answers to the three great questions of life, other solutions

Study Collection Prepared April, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 8 have been substituted. Where have we come from? Without the seventh day Sabbath to remind us that in the beginning Christ created us, room has been left for the substitution of the theory of the evolutionary origin of the human race. Or as others say more scientifically, we don’t know where we’ve come from. Why are we here? How do we attain to the greatest good in life? Without the seventh day Sabbath to remind us that righteousness and salvation come by faith in Jesus Christ, room has been left for the substitution of the fundamental error of righteousness by works. Or as others have said more carelessly, we don’t know why we’re here. So let’s eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die! And where do we go after we die? Without the seventh day Sabbath to point forward to the second coming, to the rewards of faith and the results of sin, room has been left for the substitution of the belief in the natural immortality of the soul. Or as others prefer to say, we don’t know where we go after we die. So again, let’s eat, drink and be merry. Incidentally, those three substitute answers; aren’t they almost universally held? And not just in Christianity. Belief in the natural immortality of the soul is shared by almost everybody. The idea that salvation comes by works—Ellen White states that is the fundamental error of every false religious system, salvation by works. There are all kinds of substitute explanations as to where we came from that put God in a bad light, or that make of no effect the plan of salvation. But all three of these substitutions wipe out all the significance of the plan of salvation. This is why the seventh day Sabbath is so vital a part of God’s last message to the world. The main difference between the many religions in the world and true Christianity lies in the answers to these three great quests. We also speak of the seventh day Sabbath as being the seal of God and we all want to be sealed at the end. In what sense do you understand the seventh day Sabbath to be the seal of God? In what sense could it be? Would it be possible to be observing the seventh day Sabbath at the end and be on the wrong side in the great controversy? It’s happened before. Is the mere refraining from work from Friday sundown to Saturday sundown evidence that one has the seal of God? If to be “sealed” means to be so settled into the truth about God, both intellectually and spiritually, that one cannot be moved, then obviously there have been many people who appeared to observe the seventh day Sabbath who were not settled into the truth. In fact they had accepted the lie. The men who crucified Christ didn’t work from Friday sundown to Saturday sundown. Would you say they had the seal of God? So in what sense could the seventh day Sabbath be the seal, do you think? The Sabbath really does sum up this truth about God. It answers the questions about life, and the questions about God; they go right together in a package, don’t they? {Graham Maxwell. Excerpt from the audio series, Faith, Righteousness

Study Collection Prepared April, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 9 and Salvation, #13 “Faith and the seventh-day Sabbath”, recorded April, 1975, Lynwood, California} To listen to the entire audio of the above reference, click on the following direct links: http://pkp.cc/13MMFRS (Part 1) http://pkp.cc/14MMFRS (Part 2)

Further Study with Ellen White The omnipotent power of the Holy Spirit is the defense of every contrite soul. No one who in penitence and faith has claimed His protection will Christ permit to pass under the enemy’s power. It is true that Satan is a powerful being; but, thank God, we have a mighty Saviour, who cast out the evil one from heaven. {MH 94.3} The Bible shows us God in His high and holy place, not in a state of inactivity, not in silence and solitude, but surrounded by ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands of holy intelligences, all waiting to do His will. Through channels which we cannot discern He is in active communication with every part of His dominion. But it is in this speck of a world, in the souls that He gave His only-begotten Son to save, that His interest and the interest of all heaven is centered. God is bending from His throne to hear the cry of the oppressed. To every sincere prayer He answers, “Here am I.” He uplifts the distressed and downtrodden. In all our afflictions He is afflicted. In every temptation and every trial the angel of His presence is near to deliver. {DA 356.3} Christ undertook to redeem man and to rescue the world from the grasp of Satan. The great controversy begun in heaven was to be decided in the very world, on the very same field, that Satan claimed as his. {PP 69.2} It is for our own benefit to keep every gift of God fresh in our memory. Thus faith is strengthened to claim and to receive more and more. There is greater encouragement for us in the least blessing we ourselves receive from God than in all the accounts we can read of the faith and experience of others. The soul that responds to the grace of God shall be like a watered garden. His health shall spring forth speedily; his light shall rise in obscurity, and the glory of the Lord shall be seen upon him. Let us then remember the loving-kindness of the Lord, and the multitude of His tender mercies. {DA 348.2} It is a law both of the intellectual and the spiritual nature that by beholding we become changed. The mind gradually adapts itself to the subjects upon which it is allowed to dwell. It becomes assimilated to that which it is accustomed to love and reverence. Man will never rise higher than his standard of purity or goodness or truth. If self is his loftiest ideal, he will never attain to anything more exalted. Rather, he will constantly sink lower and lower. The grace of God alone has power to exalt man. Left to himself, his course must inevitably be downward. {GC 555.1}

Study Collection Prepared April, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 10 God does not ask us to do in our own strength the work before us. He has provided divine assistance for all the emergencies to which our human resources are unequal. He gives the Holy Spirit to help in every strait, to strengthen our hope and assurance, to illuminate our minds and purify our hearts. {8T 19.1} In the Bible the will of God is revealed. The truths of the Word of God are the utterances of the Most High. He who makes these truths a part of his life becomes in every sense a new creature. He is not given new mental powers, but the darkness that through ignorance and sin has clouded the understanding, is removed. The words, “A new heart also will I give you,” mean, “A new mind will I give you.” A change of heart is always attended by a clear conviction of Christian duty, an understanding of truth. He who gives the Scriptures close, prayerful attention will gain clear comprehension and sound judgment, as if in turning to God he had reached a higher plane of intelligence. {RH, December 18, 1913 par. 8} The Bible with its precious gems of truth was not written for the scholar alone. On the contrary, it was designed for the common people; and the interpretation given by the common people, when aided by the Holy Spirit, accords best with the truth as it is in Jesus. The great truths necessary for salvation are made clear as the noonday, and none will mistake and lose their way except those who follow their own judgment instead of the plainly revealed will of God. {5T 331.2} The Holy Spirit loves to address the youth, and to discover to them the treasures and beauties of God’s word. The promises spoken by the great Teacher will captivate the senses and animate the soul with spiritual power that is divine. There will grow in the fruitful mind a familiarity with divine things that will be as a barricade against temptation. {COL 132.3} The words of truth will grow in importance, and assume a breadth and fullness of meaning of which we have never dreamed. The beauty and riches of the word have a transforming influence on mind and character. The light of heavenly love will fall upon the heart as an inspiration. {COL 132.4} The appreciation of the Bible grows with its study. Whichever way the student may turn, he will find displayed the infinite wisdom and love of God. {COL 132.5} Through the Scriptures the Holy Spirit speaks to the mind, and impresses truth upon the heart. Thus He exposes error, and expels it from the soul. It is by the Spirit of truth, working through the word of God, that Christ subdues His chosen people to Himself. {DA 671.1} All whom God has blessed with reasoning powers are to become intellectual Christians. They are not requested to believe without evidence; therefore Jesus has enjoined upon all to search the Scriptures. Let the ingenious inquirer, and the one who would know for himself what is truth, exert his mental powers to search out the truth as it is in Jesus. Any neglect here is at the peril of the soul. We must know individually the prescribed conditions of entering into eternal

Study Collection Prepared April, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 11 life. . . . We cannot allow these questions to be settled for us by another’s mind, or another’s judgment. . . . We cannot trust the salvation of our souls to ministers, to idle traditions, to human authorities, or to pretensions. . . . The Lord positively demands of every Christian an intelligent knowledge of the Scriptures. {RH, March 8, 1887 par. 1} God never asks us to believe, without giving sufficient evidence upon which to base our faith. His existence, His character, the truthfulness of His word, are all established by testimony that appeals to our reason; and this testimony is abundant. Yet God has never removed the possibility of doubt. Our faith must rest upon evidence, not demonstration. Those who wish to doubt will have opportunity; while those who really desire to know the truth will find plenty of evidence on which to rest their faith. {SC 105.2} Satan has ability to suggest doubts and devise objections to the pointed testimony that God sends, and many think it a virtue and mark of intelligence in them to be unbelieving and questioning, and quibbling. Those who desire to doubt will have plenty of room. God does not propose to remove all occasion for unbelief. He gives evidence, which must be carefully investigated with a humble mind and teachable spirit. All should decide from the weight of evidence. {RH, September 16, 1873 par. 10} The fact that there is no controversy or agitation among God’s people should not be regarded as conclusive evidence that they are holding fast to sound doctrine. There is reason to fear that they may not be clearly discriminating between truth and error. When no new questions are started by investigation of the Scriptures, when no difference of opinion arises which will set men to searching the Bible for themselves to make sure that they have the truth, there will be many now, as in ancient times, who will hold to tradition and worship they know not what. {5T 707.1} There is no excuse for any one in taking the position that there is no more truth to be revealed, and that all our expositions of Scripture are without an error. The fact that certain doctrines have been held as truth for many years by our people, is not a proof that our ideas are infallible. Age will not make error into truth, and truth can afford to be fair. No true doctrine will lose anything by close investigation. {RH, December 20, 1892 par. 1} Faith in a lie will not have a sanctifying influence upon the life or character. No error is truth, or can be made truth by repetition, or by faith in it. Sincerity will never save a soul from the consequences of believing an error. Without sincerity there is no true religion, but sincerity in a false religion will never save a man. I may be perfectly sincere in following a wrong road, but that will not make it the right road, or bring me to the place I wished to reach. The Lord does not want us to have a blind credulity, and call that the faith that sanctifies. The truth is the principle that sanctifies, and therefore it becomes us to know what is truth. We must compare spiritual things with spiritual. We must prove all things, but hold fast only that which is good,

Study Collection Prepared April, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 12 that which bears the divine credentials, which lays before us the true motives and principles which should prompt us to action.—Letter 12, 1890. {2SM 56.1} We must study the truth for ourselves. No man should be relied upon to think for us. No matter who he is, or in what position he may be placed, we are not to look upon any man as a criterion for us. We are to counsel together, and to be subject one to another; but at the same time we are to exercise the ability God has given us, in order to learn what is truth. Each one of us must look to God for divine enlightenment. We must individually develop a character that will stand the test in the day of God. {TM 109.4} The Bible is its own expositor. Scripture is to be compared with scripture. The student should learn to view the word as a whole, and to see the relation of its parts. He should gain a knowledge of its 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 190.2} Those who seek God in secret telling the Lord their needs and pleading for help, will not plead in vain. “Thy Father which seeth in secret Himself shall reward thee openly.” As we make Christ our daily companion we shall feel that the powers of an unseen world are all around us; and by looking unto Jesus we shall become assimilated to His image. By beholding we become changed. The character is softened, refined, and ennobled for the heavenly kingdom. The sure result of our intercourse and fellowship with our Lord will be to increase piety, purity, and fervor. There will be a growing intelligence in prayer. We are receiving a divine education, and this is illustrated in a life of diligence and zeal. {Pr 183.2} We may commune with God in our hearts; we may walk in companionship with Christ. When engaged in our daily labor, we may breathe out our heart’s desire, inaudible to any human ear; but that word cannot die away into silence, nor can it be lost. Nothing can drown the soul’s desire. It rises above the din of the street, above the noise of machinery. It is God to whom we are speaking, and our prayer is heard. {Pr 188.1} At all times and in all places, in all sorrows and in all afflictions, when the outlook seems dark and the future perplexing, and we feel helpless and alone, the Comforter will be sent in answer to the prayer of faith. Circumstances may separate us from every earthly friend; but no circumstance, no distance, can separate us from the heavenly Comforter. Wherever we are, wherever we may go, He is always at our right hand to support, sustain, uphold, and cheer. {DA 669.4}

Study Collection Prepared April, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 13 We should contemplate God in nature—study His character in the work of His hands. The mind is strengthened by becoming acquainted with God, by reading His attributes in the things which He has made. As we behold the beauty and grandeur in the works of nature, our affections go out after God; and though our souls are awed and our spirit subdued, our souls are invigorated by coming in contact with the Infinite through His marvelous works. Communion with God through humble prayer develops and strengthens the mental and moral faculties, and spiritual powers increase by cultivating thoughts upon spiritual things.—YI, July 13, 1893. {2MCP 732.3} The way to the throne of God is always open. You cannot always be on your knees in prayer, but your silent petitions may constantly ascend to God for strength and guidance. When tempted, as you will be, you may flee to the secret place of the Most High. His everlasting arms will be underneath you.—(Counsels on Health, 362.) {Pr 179.4} Make your requests known to your Maker. Never is one repulsed who comes to Him with a contrite heart. Not one sincere prayer is lost. Amid the anthems of the celestial choir, God hears the cries of the weakest human being. We pour out our heart’s desire in our closets, we breathe a prayer as we walk by the way, and our words reach the throne of the Monarch of the universe. They may be inaudible to any human ear, but they cannot die away into silence, nor can they be lost through the activities of business that are going on. Nothing can drown the soul’s desire. It rises above the din of the street, above the confusion of the multitude, to the heavenly courts. It is God to whom we are speaking, and our prayer is heard. You who feel the most unworthy, fear not to commit your case to God. {HP 82.4} There is a mighty power in prayer. Our great adversary is constantly seeking to keep the troubled soul away from God. An appeal to Heaven by the humblest saint is more to be dreaded by Satan than the decrees of cabinets or the mandates of kings. {HP 82.5} It is a part of God’s plan to grant us, in answer to the prayer of faith, that which He would not bestow did we not thus ask. {ML 15.5}

Study Collection Prepared April, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 14 Pine Knoll Sabbath School Study Notes Fourth Quarter 2018: Oneness in Christ Lesson 12 Church Organization and Unity

Read for this week’s study Ephesians 5:23-27; Matthew 20:25-28; Titus 1:9; Matthew 16:19; Galatians 6:1, 2; Matthew 28:18-20. Memory Text “ ‘Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave’ ” (Matthew 20:26, 27, NKJV).

Lesson Outline from Adult Sabbath School Study Guide I. Introduction II. Christ, the Head of the Church III. Servant Leadership IV. Preserving Church Unity V. Church Discipline VI. Organizing for Mission VII. Further Study

Questions and Notes for Consideration Facilitator: Daniel Duda 1. “This week we study why church organization is crucial for mission and how it can foster church unity.” (Sabbath afternoon) 2. Are there any cultural influences that determine how organizations are shaped and achieve their purpose? What are some of the historical models of organizing society or church that have been developed and used throughout the centuries? What are the dangers in applying these models to church organization and achieving unity? 3. “We do not need a church or a church hierarchy in order to receive the benefits of what Christ has done for us. What we get from Christ we get directly from Him, as our Substitute on the cross and as our mediating High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary. 4. “Nevertheless, the church is God’s creation, and God placed it here for us, not as a means of salvation but as a vehicle to help us express and make manifest that salvation to the world. The church is an organization that Jesus created for the

Study Collection Prepared April, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 1 spreading of the gospel into the world. Organization is important insofar as it solidifies and enables the mission of the church. Without a church organization, Jesus’ saving message could not as effectively be communicated to others.” (Sabbath afternoon) 5. What are the implications of the New Testament use of the metaphor of a body to represent the church? In what sense is it helpful, and in what sense can it be abused? 6. “The church is built upon Christ as its foundation; it is to obey Christ as its head. It is not to depend upon man, or be controlled by man. Many claim that a position of trust in the church gives them authority to dictate what other men shall believe and what they shall do. This claim God does not sanction…” (DA 414; Sunday’s lesson) 7. What are some implications of the servant model of leadership that Jesus presents in passages like Matthew 20:25-28? 8. “Although Jesus did not wish to abolish all authority structures, what He wished to emphasize is that church leaders must first of all be servants and slaves of God’s people. Their positions are not to exercise authority over people or to dominate them or to give themselves prestige and reputation.” (Monday’s lesson) 9. What are the consequences of this for preserving church unity (Tuesday’s lesson) and church discipline (Wednesday’s lesson)? How do we relate models found in the letters to Timothy & Titus with the models found in Ephesians 4, Romans 12-14 and 1 Corinthians 12-14? 10. The lesson concludes with implications for mission: “As we have seen throughout this quarter (and which bears repeating), as a church we have been organized and unified for mission, for outreach. We are not just a social club for like-minded people to get together and affirm each other in what we believe (though that can be important, as well). We have been brought together to share with the world the truth that we, ourselves, have come to love.” (Thursday’s lesson) 11. How can we model who God is and how he runs his universe (His use of authority)? Are there ways to effectively communicate this within the times and cultures where we live today? Can this be varied depending on the structure of the society around us?

Thoughts from Graham Maxwell The way God has worked through his church, through his people, is the way he has demonstrated the truth about himself and won the war. And that God has worked through the church is explained in a dramatic way in the next text on the sheet, 1 Corinthians 4:9: “we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men.” (RSV)

Study Collection Prepared April, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 2 Do you know the Greek word for spectacle is theatron, from which we get “theater”? Some saints might be reluctant to attend the theater. We need to realize we live in a theater all the time—God’s stage. And on this stage he’s demonstrated the truth about himself by the way he has dealt with his church. {Graham Maxwell. Excerpt from the audio series, Conversations About God, #1, “The Conflict in God's Family” recorded January, 1984, Loma Linda, California} To listen to the entire audio of the above reference, click on the following direct link: http://pkp.cc/1MMCAG

Lou: In Ephesians 4, it suggests that the work of the church is to help people grow up. How does a church try to do that? How could our University Church here at Loma Linda really help people to grow? Graham: I really think it is to recognize that it would be growing up for one to go from the more legal, authoritarian view that’s more appropriate for a little child, to this larger understanding of freedom and truth, and that God does not ask us to believe anything for which he does not provide evidence. It is evidence that appeals to the reason. He urges us to inquire, to investigate. These are the things that a grown-up does. And I think we have to lead people; it’s the greatest service we can perform, to take trusting children and make independent but loving, trusting adults out of them, who can withstand what’s coming. I think one of the first ways is to invite our members to inquire, investigate; every sermon that you hear, go home and investigate. And then they’ll grow up. {Graham Maxwell. Excerpt from the audio series, Conversations About God, #18 with Lou Venden, “God Waits for His Children to Grow Up” recorded June, 1984, Loma Linda, California} To listen to the entire audio of the above reference, click on the following direct link: http://pkp.cc/18MMCAG

This universe will be run on the authority of truth alone and the truth spoken in love. And if we’re not susceptible to that, if we don’t respect the truth spoken softly in love we will not be safe to save because there’ll be no more Sinai, no more thundering. God will not hold the universe together with demonstration of power because that’s artificial, that’s a unity that’s produced with baling wire. You snip it and we all fall apart. Our church is not really united unless we voluntarily band together in the highest sense of freedom because we all love and worship the same God who speaks to us with the authority of truth spoken in love. That’s real unity which cannot be shaken and God will have that in his kingdom. {Graham Maxwell. Excerpt from the audio series, Understanding the Mission of the Church, #4, recorded September, 1983, Camp AuSable, Michigan} To listen to the entire audio of the above reference, click on the following direct link: http://pkp.cc/4MMUTMOTC

Study Collection Prepared April, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 3 But so often we are trying to settle people on all the other matters. If you settle people on the Sabbath, the sanctuary, the state of the dead, tithe, and health, without settling them on the truth about God they might keep the Sabbath as Jesus’ enemies did. They might pay tithe as his enemies did. They might read the Bible as his enemies did. We could be developing in this “campaign to win a million Adventists”, we could, forbid the thought, develop a million enemies who faithfully keep the Sabbath, practice health reform, pay tithe, and read their Bibles. Now that is a horrible thought. But if we are not clear on the picture of God we might do well not to be in such a hurry. Have you read Ellen White’s comment? “The Lord is not now working to bring many into the truth, because there are so many unconverted in the church.” It would seem to defeat the purpose of God if he were to empower us to go out and misrepresent him. He won’t do it. But as soon as we are settled into the truth, so the Holy Spirit could give us power of influence and persuasion to tell the truth about God it would make sense for him to do so. I do not believe the latter rain or the Holy Spirit will fall until God’s people are really settled into the truth. The same Spirit that will settle them into the truth will then give them persuasiveness and influence to spread this everlasting good news about God to the whole world and then the end will come. Which raises the question, “What is Christ waiting for now?” It’s nothing artificial. He is waiting for a group to be like Job, and to be able to pass through the time of trouble. Caused by whom? COMMENT: Satan. And the theologians? Think of all the people that caused Job trouble and nobody could shake him. And of course behind it all is the adversary. And of what is he trying to persuade these people?—of his age-old misrepresentation of God. In the end all theology goes back to the picture of God. And the good news is that he is like this, and that he is not like that. And that’s why I believe our whole mission as a church is to picture God as he really is. But if we just go and say he is like this, this and this, without evidence, why would anybody believe us? We have to go with the evidence which is where, but in the sixty-six? Remember the man who was reading in the chariot and he couldn’t understand Isaiah? We have to be like Philip who got in with him and explained. We need to be able to help people understand this. And I think one of the most helpful things is to help people keep reading on and not getting bogged down in details. . {Graham Maxwell. Excerpt from the audio series, The Picture of God in all 66 – Revelation, recorded August, 1982, Riverside, California} To listen to the entire audio of the above reference, click on the following direct links: http://pkp.cc/79MMPOGIA66 (Part 1) http://pkp.cc/80MMPOGIA66 (Part 2)

Study Collection Prepared April, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 4 Further Study with Ellen White When one surrenders to Christ, the mind is brought under the control of the law; but it is the royal law, which proclaims liberty to every captive. By becoming one with Christ, man is made free. Subjection to the will of Christ means restoration to perfect manhood. {MH 131.1} The character of God as revealed by Christ invites our faith and love, for we have a Father whose mercy and compassion fail not. At every step of our journey heavenward He will be with us to guide in every perplexity, to give us help in every temptation. {HP 16.4} The mind devoted unreservedly to God, under the guidance of the divine Spirit develops generally and harmoniously. The weak, vacillating character becomes changed through the power of God to one of strength and steadfastness. Continual devotion and piety establish so close a relation between Jesus and His disciple that the Christian becomes like Him in mind and character. After association with the Son of God the humble follower of Christ is found to be a person of sound principle, clear perception, and reliable judgment. He has a connection with God, the Source of light and understanding. {TMK 124.4} Those who believe in Christ and walk humbly with Him, . . . who watch to see what they can do to help and bless and strengthen the souls of others, cooperate with the angels who minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation. Jesus gives them grace, and wisdom, and righteousness, making them a blessing to all with whom they are brought in contact. The more humble they are in their own estimation, the more blessings they receive from God, because receiving does not exalt them. They make a right use of their blessings, for they receive to impart. {TDG 356.5} So long as he remains consecrated, the man whom God has endowed with discernment and ability will not manifest an eagerness for high position, neither will he seek to rule or control. Of necessity men must bear responsibilities; but instead of striving for the supremacy, he who is a true leader will pray for an understanding heart, to discern between good and evil. {PK 31.2} In this work we are to co-operate. “If a man be overtaken in a fault, . . . restore such an one.” Galatians 6:1. The word here translated “restore” means to put in joint, as a dislocated bone. How suggestive the figure! He who falls into error or sin is thrown out of relation to everything about him. He may realize his error, and be filled with remorse; but he cannot recover himself. He is in confusion and perplexity, worsted and helpless. He is to be reclaimed, healed, re- established. “Ye which are spiritual, restore such an one.” Only the love that flows from the heart of Christ can heal. Only he in whom that love flows, even as the sap in the tree or the blood in the body, can restore the wounded soul. {Ed 113.2} Our will is not to be forced into co-operation with divine agencies, but it must be voluntarily submitted. Were it possible to force upon you with a hundredfold greater intensity the influence of the Spirit of God, it would not make you a Christian, a fit subject for heaven. The stronghold of Satan would not be broken. {MB 142.1}

Study Collection Prepared April, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 5 But in heaven, service is not rendered in the spirit of legality. When Satan rebelled against the law of Jehovah, the thought that there was a law came to the angels almost as an awakening to something unthought of. In their ministry the angels are not as servants, but as sons. There is perfect unity between them and their Creator. Obedience is to them no drudgery. {MB 109.2} Christ made full provision for the prosecution of the work entrusted to the disciples, and took upon Himself the responsibility of its success. So long as they obeyed His word, and worked in connection with Him, they could not fail. Go to all nations, He bade them. Go to the farthest part of the habitable globe, but know that My presence will be there. Labor in faith and confidence, for the time will never come when I will forsake you. {8T 16.3} To us also the promise of Christ’s abiding presence is given. The lapse of time has wrought no change in His parting promise. He is with us today as truly as He was with the disciplines, and He will be with us “even unto the end.” {8T 17.1} The Lord Jesus is our efficiency in all things; His Spirit is to be our inspiration; and as we place ourselves in His hands to be channels of light, our means of doing good will never be exhausted, for the resources of the power of Jesus Christ are to be at our command. We may draw upon His fullness and receive of that grace which has no limit. The Captain of our salvation at every step would teach us that almighty power is at the demand of living faith. He says, “Without me ye can do nothing;” but again declares that “greater works than these shall ye do; because I go unto my Father.” {HP 319.4} God’s law is the law of love. He has surrounded you with beauty to teach you that you are not placed on earth merely to delve for self, to dig and build, to toil and spin, but to make life bright and joyous and beautiful with the love of Christ—like the flowers, to gladden other lives by the ministry of love. {MB 97.3}

Study Collection Prepared April, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 6 Pine Knoll Sabbath School Study Notes Fourth Quarter 2018: Oneness in Christ Lesson 13 Church Final Restoration of Unity

Read for this week’s study John 14:1–3, Isaiah 11:1–10, Revelation 21:1–5, 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18, Revelation 22:1–5, Isaiah 35:4–10. Memory Text “Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13, NKJV).

Lesson Outline from Adult Sabbath School Study Guide I. Introduction II. The Certainty of Christ’s Return III. The Promise of Restoration IV. Resurrection and Restored Relationships V. A New Earth for the Redeemed VI. Life on the New Earth VII. Further Study

Questions and Notes for Consideration Facilitator: Daniel Duda 1. “In this final lesson, we look at this promise and what it means for Christian unity. Our oneness in Christ is often challenged by our human limitations and weaknesses. But we will no longer need to seek for solutions to our fragmentation, because there will be no fragmentation. At the Second Advent, we will be one with the Lord, finally reunited and forming one restored family.” (Sabbath afternoon) 2. Wide diversity, models of authority, differing cultures, have made it nearly impossible in our society to achieve fairness to all, especially for those on the margins and for the oppressed. We are assured that in the new earth, “righteousness” will dwell. (2 Peter 3:13) What significance does that have for us today? 3. Sunday’s lesson emphasizes the certainty of Christ’s return. What is the significance of the Second Coming of Christ in: a) the early Church; b) 19th century Christianity; c) today? Can we see and explain the difference it makes in our everyday lives?

Study Collection Prepared April, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 1 4. Why are the promises of the restoration of the environment (Monday’s lesson) and restoration of relationships (Tuesday’s lesson) so important to what God is trying to accomplish throughout history? Why are both important? Why is keeping a balance between them so important? What happens when one is emphasized at the expense of the other? How can the individual and communal aspects of this restoration work together? 5. Why is focus on the new earth (Wednesday’s lesson) and life on the new earth (Thursday’s lesson) important for our understanding of who God is and how he runs his universe? 6. What kind of universe-wide unity will be achieved in the hereafter? How does the fact that Christ will surrender his use of authority (1 Corinthians 15:24-28) influence our understanding of how God operates? 7. What is it that makes “heaven” a desirable place for the redeemed? When this war is finally over and God has achieved the desired unity the sad story of sin and rebellion will never be repeated. How is this assured? 8. Isn’t the Second Coming the “blessed hope” which resolves everything? Why are the “leaves of the tree of life for the healing of the nations” (Revelation 22:2) needed after the second coming of Jesus [and the millennium]? 9. God ultimately wins, not because of his might, authority, or getting rid of his enemies, but because he wins the minds and hearts of his people and kills the lie about his character (Revelation 15:3, 4). Why is this significant? 10. This is how the Bible ends; what is the significance of all this for our mission and how we witness today?

Thoughts from Graham Maxwell The second coming seemed to be indefinitely delayed. They thought he would come around 50 A.D., and Paul had to tell them, “No, not yet”, in his letter to Thessalonica. There were still more things to happen. By the 90’s—what had gone wrong that Jesus had not yet returned? And besides this, there were heresies in the church. Some were even teaching that Christ had not really come in human form. He had not really suffered and really died. He had faked it all. They’re called the Docetists, who taught he just pretended to do it. And then there was great opposition, and serious persecution. The apostles were all dead, save one. And he was the elderly John, now a prisoner on the Isle of Patmos. What good news was there, to encourage the early Christians? And you could count on God when things were that bleak, to send a message of encouragement and enlightenment and explanation to his people. He surely wouldn’t send a book of mysteries and dates and schedules of events that they could not possibly understand.

Study Collection Prepared April, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 2 Rather, that sixty-sixth book that he did send, the book of Revelation (which means clarification, not mystification), that sixty-sixth book is an invitation to discouraged early Christians to look a little higher—to take the larger view of things. To see how they’ve all been caught up in a vast great controversy that affects the whole universe! And that it’s a controversy over God’s own character and government. And then to read on and see that God has already won this war and the angels all agree with him—to see that this is the good news. And then to read on and realize that God is inviting us to join in the celebration; and then to go out to the world and invite all others who are willing to listen, to join in God’s victory in the war. And then we Christians might not seem so much on the defensive all the time; we have good news to tell. There’s no way God and his side can lose. And should we not join the winning side? is the invitation in that sixty-sixth book. And the book also says that you can count on God to wait until this truth about him—this good news about his character and government—has been spread all over the world. Because God is the kind of person who will wait until his children have had an opportunity to understand the issues in the war; and to be ready for the awesome events the Bible describes as taking place before Jesus’ return. To see and to present the plan of salvation in the larger setting of the great controversy over the character and government of God is, I believe, the highest privilege of God’s friends on this planet today. {Graham Maxwell. Excerpt from the audio series, Conversations About God, #1, “The Conflict in God's Family” recorded January, 1984, Loma Linda, California} To listen to the entire audio of the above reference, click on the following direct link: http://pkp.cc/1MMCAG

Lou: Our question tonight, “How Soon Will the Conflict Be Over?” seems to be tied in very closely with the second coming of Christ. I’m wondering, is that really the end of the conflict? Is that what you’re saying this evening? Or aren’t there some other very important events such as the millennium, the destruction of the wicked, that are part of what we might call the conflict? Graham: That’s true. There are major events yet to come after. But the second coming really does mark the end of the essential conflict, because the conflict is not so much a great war in which the powers of Heaven are arrayed against the powers of earth and God will eventually move in and bring it to an end. The essential conflict is in the minds of his children, of angels and of men. And the second coming means it’s all over. The loyal are committed forever to loyalty and the disloyal are committed forever to their rebellious rejection. So this is the conflict that really counts. And that has many significant implications. This is the important conflict that takes place in our minds. We’ve talked about how the most essential thing is for God to demonstrate the truth about himself. And some will object, “Well, that doesn’t make us very important.” No, if his

Study Collection Prepared April, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 3 demonstration does not lead some of us to conviction in our minds, he’s failed. So we are not just pawns. He is trying to win us. We are very much involved in this conflict. This conflict is being fought in the minds of his own children. {Graham Maxwell. Excerpt from the audio series, Conversations About God, #19 with Lou Venden, “How Soon Will the Conflict be Over?” recorded June, 1984, Loma Linda, California} To listen to the entire audio of the above reference, click on the following direct link: http://pkp.cc/19MMCAG

But on the more serious level, Jesus made it plain, “I’ve come that you may know the Father, because to know him is life eternal. And if only you knew the truth about my Father it would set you free. And all these rules and regulations that deprive you of your freedom, and make life so burdensome, I didn’t give those to you. Away with them!” Wouldn’t you think they’d be pleased? Well, the closest parallel I can think of is the Minneapolis General Conference in 1888, when a marvelous explanation was given about the law being added as an emergency measure. Not the way God wants to run his family for eternity, but when there’s misbehavior in the family he will tell us, “Please, stop it! Don’t hurt yourselves by doing it any more. If you’re not concerned about hurting yourselves, then let me tell you I am displeased when you do this and I will punish you,” and so on.” God says, “I do not wish to run my family that way.” And that marvelous message in Minneapolis was rejected by many with such feeling that Ellen White said that if Jesus had appeared—as he has just now in the New Testament—if he had appeared before the delegates at that General Conference in Minneapolis in 1888, many of the delegates would have rejected him with the same stubbornness with which Jesus was rejected in the 1st Century. Then we’re still capable of doing it, and I sense even now, in some theological meetings, when you begin to talk about the fact that all God asks of us is trust, as Peter said to the jailer at Philippi and the whole Bible is a record of the evidence that God can be trusted, people don’t just oppose that. They become very active in their opposition. And it almost seems that history is repeating itself. And you wonder why we don’t like this. Understanding what God has asked of us in the plan of salvation, in the setting of this great controversy over the character of God, the whole substance of the good news is that God has shown himself to be infinitely worthy of our trust; and if we choose to trust him, God can and will save all who trust him. That’s all he asks of us. Abraham trusted God, and God said, “That’s good; you are my friend. You’ll be with me in my kingdom. All my friends will be there.” And then, when some are pictured by Jesus as saying at the end, “Lord, Lord, open unto us,” he says, “Go away. You never were my friends.”—which is the meaning of “I never knew you.” I know your name. I know how many hairs there are on your head. But we never were friends. And some feel that’s oversimplifying it. That’s the most demanding requirement you can come

Study Collection Prepared April, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 4 up with. Do we really trust God wholeheartedly? Are we willing to listen, and accept correction, and whatever needs to be done? Well, if so, like the thief on the cross, God could say to us, “Don’t give up that trust, that humble willingness to listen, because if you stay that way, I can heal you, and you will be with me in the kingdom.” {Graham Maxwell. Excerpt from the audio series, The Picture of God in all 66 – Acts, recorded April, 1982, Riverside, California} To listen to the entire audio of the above reference, click on the following direct links: http://pkp.cc/59MMPOGIA66 (Part 1) http://pkp.cc/60MMPOGIA66 (Part 2)

You remember 2 Peter says that in the end “the very elements of our planet will melt with fervent heat.” And so when it’s all over, and God’s people are there in the New Jerusalem, and God opens the gates and welcomes us back to Eden. Who wants to live on a planet where the very elements have melted with fervent heat? It’s going to need to be recreated. And I don’t know how God will do this, but, skillful teacher that he is, wouldn’t it be just like him to say, “Would you like to see how I did it the first time? You know, you’ve been debating this ever since day one, two, three, four, five, six.” Can’t you see it all over again, maybe? We don’t have a text for this. But then on Friday, Eden is restored; Ellen White’s insight into this is extraordinary. She says that Adam looks out and even sees the vines that he used to train with his own hands. Now why would God do such a thing? Or, as you know God, wouldn’t he do just such a thing? Adam would enjoy it, so he would do it. And so God looks on his schedule of creation events and says, “Well, now, next I must create a man and a woman. What shall we call them this time?” No, there’s no need. All he has to do now is open the gates and welcome his children home. And then, as we go out into our beautiful world, described in so many places in the Bible as beyond description, what if God were to say, “Tomorrow is the seventh day on this planet. Would you mind, would you feel it was at all arbitrary, would it be an infringement on your freedom, would I seem legalistic if I were to suggest that we spend the next 24 hours celebrating and remembering?” Can you imagine any Sabbath in the history of the universe like that one? It would be incredible. {Graham Maxwell. Excerpt from the audio series, The Picture of God in all 66 – Mark, recorded April, 1982, Riverside, California} To listen to the entire audio of the above reference, click on the following direct links: http://pkp.cc/53MMPOGIA66 (Part 1) http://pkp.cc/54MMPOGIA66 (Part 2)

Further Study with Ellen White The kingdom of God comes not with outward show. It comes through the gentleness of the inspiration of His word, through the inward working of His Spirit, the fellowship of the soul with

Study Collection Prepared April, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 5 Him who is its life. The greatest manifestation of its power is seen in human nature brought to the perfection of the character of Christ. {7T 143.2} In the earth made new, the redeemed will engage in the occupations and pleasures that brought happiness to Adam and Eve in the beginning. The Eden life will be lived, the life in garden and field. “They shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of My people, and Mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.” Isaiah 65:21, 22. {PK 730.2} God created the earth to be the abode of holy, happy beings. That purpose will be fulfilled when, renewed by the power of God and freed from sin and sorrow, it shall become the eternal home of the redeemed. {AH 540.3} There will be open to the student, history of infinite scope and of wealth inexpressible. Here, from the vantage ground of God’s word, the student is afforded a view of the vast field of history and may gain some knowledge of the principles that govern the course of human events. But his vision is still clouded, and his knowledge incomplete. Not until he stands in the light of eternity will he see all things clearly. {Ed 304.2} Then will be opened before him the course of the great conflict that had its birth before time began, and that ends only when time shall cease. The history of the inception of sin; of fatal falsehood in its crooked working; of truth that, swerving not from its own straight lines, has met and conquered error—all will be made manifest. The veil that interposes between the visible and the invisible world will be drawn aside, and wonderful things will be revealed. {Ed 304.3} There every power will be developed, every capability increased. The grandest enterprises will be carried forward, the loftiest aspirations will be reached, the highest ambitions realized. And still there will arise new heights to surmount, new wonders to admire, new truths to comprehend, fresh objects to call forth the powers of body and mind and soul. {Ed 307.4} All the treasures of the universe will be open to the study of God’s children. With unutterable delight we shall enter into the joy and the wisdom of unfallen beings. We shall share the treasures gained through ages upon ages spent in contemplation of God’s handiwork. And the years of eternity, as they roll, will continue to bring more glorious revelations. “Exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20) will be, forever and forever, the impartation of the gifts of God. {Ed 307.5} There, immortal minds will contemplate with never-failing delight the wonders of creative power, the mysteries of redeeming love. There will be no cruel, deceiving foe to tempt to forgetfulness of God. Every faculty will be developed, every capacity increased. The acquirement of knowledge will not weary the mind or exhaust the energies. There the grandest enterprises may be carried forward, the loftiest aspirations reached, the highest ambitions

Study Collection Prepared April, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 6 realized; and still there will arise new heights to surmount, new wonders to admire, new truths to comprehend, fresh objects to call forth the powers of mind and soul and body. {GC 677.2} The great controversy is ended. Sin and sinners are no more. The entire universe is clean. One pulse of harmony and gladness beats through the vast creation. From Him who created all, flow life and light and gladness, throughout the realms of illimitable space. From the minutest atom to the greatest world, all things, animate and inanimate, in their unshadowed beauty and perfect joy, declare that God is love. {GC 678.3} And the education begun in this life will be continued in the life to come. Day by day the wonderful works of God, the evidences of His wisdom and power in creating and sustaining the universe, the infinite mystery of love and wisdom in the plan of redemption, will open to the mind in new beauty. “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9. Even in this life we may catch glimpses of His presence and may taste the joy of communion with Heaven, but the fullness of its joy and blessing will be reached in the hereafter. Eternity alone can reveal the glorious destiny to which man, restored to God’s image, may attain. {PP 602.1} Our lifework here is a preparation for the life eternal. The education begun here will not be completed in this life; it will be going forward through all eternity—ever progressing, never completed. More and more fully will be revealed the wisdom and love of God in the plan of redemption. The Saviour, as He leads His children to the fountains of living waters, will impart rich stores of knowledge. And day by day the wonderful works of God, the evidences of His power in creating and sustaining the universe, will open before the mind in new beauty. In the light that shines from the throne, mysteries will disappear, and the soul will be filled with astonishment at the simplicity of the things that were never before comprehended. {MH 466.2} Now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face; now we know in part; but then we shall know even as also we are known. {MH 466.3} There Christ, the heavenly Teacher, will lead His people to the tree of life, and He will explain to them the truths they could not in this life understand. In that future life His people will gain the higher education in its completeness. {HP 216.5} It will take the whole of eternity for man to understand the plan of redemption. It will open to him line upon line; here a little and there a little (MS 21, 1895). {6BC 1115.15}

Recommended Reading: The Great Controversy, chapter 42 “The Controversy Ended” https://egwwritings.org/

Study Collection Prepared April, 2018 ©Pine Knoll Publications pineknoll.org Page 7