In this issue:
Correspondence on Christ Dying the second Death!
Delivered From The Law
David Clayton
There are certain verses in the
Bible, especially in the New Testament which most Seventh-day Adventists
find difficult to explain. My father who used to be a Seventh-day
Adventist minister told me that he had once overheard one of his fellow
ministers say that sometimes when he thought of some of the things which
Paul wrote, he wished that he was able to give him a beating. You see,
Paul says some things that seem to be very much against our concept of
the law, and as an Adventist minister he sometimes felt very frustrated
in dealing with some of these statements. Here are examples of some of
these statements:
For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. (Rom 6:14)
But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were
held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness
of the letter. (Rom 7:6)
But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. (Gal 5:18)
Most often when Seventh-day Adventists are called upon to explain
these verses they try to explain them by using a popular illustration.
The explanation has been that being, “under the law” simply means to be
under the condemnation of the law and the illustration used is, if a man
goes through a red-light, he comes under the condemnation of the law
because the law finds him guilty. If he does not go through the
red-light, he is not under the law but the moment he goes through the
red-light, he immediately comes under the law.
A difficult passage
But this is not at all what it really means to be under the law. The
idea of being under the law implies far more. Let us take a close look
at 2 Corinthians 3:7-13:
“But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was
glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the
face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be
done away: (8) How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather
glorious? (9) For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much
more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. (10) For
even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by
reason of the glory that excelleth. (11) For if that which is done away
was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious. (12) Seeing
then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech: (13) And
not as Moses, which put a veil over his face, that the children of
Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished:
(2 Cor 3:7-13)
There can be little doubt as to what Paul was talking about here. What
was it in the time of Moses that was engraven in stones? It was the 10
commandments. The rest of the law was written with the hand of Moses,
but that which was written and engraven in stones was specifically the
10 commandments.
He goes on to say, (‘if that was glorious,’)”how shall not the
ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?” In these verses Paul is
contrasting two things. He’s setting two things in opposition to one
another. One is the ministration of the law of the 10 commandments,
which he calls the ministration of death and he says that it was
glorious, but he says there is something else that is even more glorious
and he calls that the ministration of the spirit.
Again in verse 9 he refers to the 10 commandments as being the
ministration of condemnation and the ministration of the spirit as being
the ministration of righteousness. Finally he caps his argument by
saying,
”For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by
reason of the glory that excelleth. For if that which is done away was
glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious. (2 Cor 3:10,11)
When I was a young Christian some Jehovah Witnesses came to have
studies with me and we had this debate about the law back and forth.
Finally they took me to this passage and they asked, “is this talking
about the 10 commandments?” I said, “yes,” I could not deny it. Then
they took me to this verse, “that which is done away was glorious, much
more what remains is glorious…” and they asked the question, “what is
it that was done away?” I confess that at that stage of my Christianity I
didn’t have an answer. The passage seemed to be telling me that it was
the 10 commandments that were done away and for a while I just sat there
looking at these people. Finally I said something like, “well, I cant
explain it. I know the law is still binding, but I cant explain it.” And
I went home with my head bowed and ashamed.
But later I went back to the passage and read it over and over and
something jumped out at me that I had missed. There is a critical word
in the passage which had escaped my attention. This word is the word
“ministration.” Verse 7 says very clearly that what Paul is speaking
about is the ministration, which he calls “the ministration of death.”
What is the meaning of this term “ministration” as used in the
passage?’ Instead of saying “ministration” Paul could have said
“administration,” or, “government”. That is what the term means in this
passage. An ‘administration’ is a system of control or of government. It
determines the way people behave and operate.
Under My parents’ law
When I was a boy I did not control how my life was run. My mother and
my father made those decisions and they had some ideas that I didn’t
like. My mother for example believed in cornmeal porridge. She thought
cornmeal porridge would make us strong and healthy so every morning we
had to drink cornmeal porridge, and I grew to detest cornmeal porridge.
But my mother was a no-nonsense woman. She would put the porridge on the
table and it did not matter whether we liked it or not, my mother’s
word governed what we ate.
She had another rule which, as a small boy I found unreasonable. This
rule was that I should bathe everyday and most of the time I couldn’t
tell why, because when I looked at myself I seemed to be pretty clean.
But she said I had to bathe everyday and whether I liked it or not I had
to obey, because my mother’s word governed the way I behaved. Her word
was the law that governed my life.
But because it was her law and not mine, do you know what I did
sometimes? Sometimes when she wasn’t looking my brothers and I would
throw the porridge out to the dog. We did not obey properly because it
was not our desire, it was not our rule. I can even remember times when,
as a small boy I did not bathe properly. I just did enough to get by my
mother’s inspection!
There’s an important point that I’m trying to make. When we were under
my mother’s government, because it was not our wish, because it was
contrary to what we desired, we obeyed as much as we had to and no
further. We did not like some of the rules and those that we did not
like we would only obey as far as we had to. We did only what we had to
do to get by. Our obedience was not perfect, it was not from the heart.
Was there anything wrong with drinking cornmeal porridge? What about
bathing everyday? There is absolutely nothing wrong with these things,
and in fact they are very necessary things. At least regular bathing is.
But I prayed for the day when I would be grown up and could do as I
pleased. Well the day finally came when I was out from under my parents’
government. I started working and I was earning my own money and buying
my own clothes and at last I was free to stop bathing, I was free to
stop drinking cornmeal porridge! But the amazing thing is, in fact
sometimes I bathe twice in a day now, even though I am no longer under
my mother’s control!
As I grew older and I became mature in my understanding my attitude
changed, even my taste changed. As I came to understand about hygiene
and health I learned to appreciate a bath and now, everything that I
would not do as a boy I find myself doing as a man without my mother
having to keep watch on me. I am no longer under her government and the
truth is, I don’t need it anymore.
The real problem
This has helped me to understand what the Bible means when it says we
are not under the law. When I was a boy, there was a serious problem,
but where did the problem lie? Why is it that it was so difficult for
the law to work when I was under my mother’s administration, and so easy
now that I am free from her government?
Paul explains the problem in Hebrews 8:7-10.
For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place
have been sought for the second. (8) For finding fault with them, he
saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new
covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: (9) Not
according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when
I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because
they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the
Lord. (10) For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of
Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their
mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and
they shall be to me a people: (Heb 8:7-10)
He says clearly that there was a fault with the first covenant and
this is why there had to be a second covenant. That is what the verse
says but the person who says the law is abolished will say, “see!
Something was wrong, God had to do away with the law, He had to abolish
that covenant and He had to put something else in place.” But let us
notice exactly where the fault was. It says, “for finding fault with
them. . . .” Who was the “them” referred to? It was the people! The
problem with the covenant was not the law, the problem with the covenant
was the people. When I was a boy and my mother said, “drink porridge,”
this rule that my mother gave me brought such a conflict that I threw
the porridge to the dogs. What was wrong between me, the porridge, my
mother and the rule? What was wrong? Was the porridge bad? Was my
mother’s rule bad? What was bad? The fact is, my nature was out of
harmony with my mother’s law, something was wrong with my nature as it
related to porridge, as it related to bathing. Something needed to be
changed.
Now the Bible says this was the problem with the first covenant. God
found fault with the people. And so He promised that He would change the
system. He would make a new covenant in which the laws would be written
on their hearts and minds, rather than on tablets of stone.
Which laws would He write into their minds and hearts? The same laws
that they would not keep. God says that something had been wrong with
the system, it was not working, they were not doing what they were
supposed to do. But there was only one possible way for God to deal with
the problem and that was to work on the people. Could God have dealt
with the problem in any other way? What about simply changing the law,
since obviously, keeping it was such a trial and a burden to the people.
Well, you know, that would have been like my mother saying, “I’ve
tried with these children to get them to bathe everyday and it wont
work, you know what, from now on nobody in this house will have to bathe
anymore and that will solve the problem.” That would have solved the
conflict between my mother and me. Then I would not have had to bathe
and she would not have had a problem with me being disobedient. However
she would have done the wrong thing. In taking such a step she would
have encouraged a state of uncleanness. She would have destroyed a
perfect principle. In attempting to solve the problem in that way, she
would have created a greater problem.
What had to change
No, it would not have been right for my mother to change her rules,
the thing that needed changing was my mind. Something had to happen to
me before I could come into harmony with that bath rule and that
porridge rule. I needed to grow up. This is exactly what God said He was
going to do, He was going to bring about a change where His people
would find themselves in harmony with what they used to hate, with what
used to be contrary to them. He would give them a new mind and a new
heart, He would write the law in their minds and in their hearts.
So the Bible says that sin shall not have dominion over you because
you are not under the law but under grace (Rom. 6:14). To be under the
law means to be under a system where your motivation for doing something
is law. Why do I do this? Because the law says so, why do I do that?
Because the law says so.
The law vs the new nature
Jesus said we should love our neighbours as ourselves, He goes even
further to say we should love our enemies. So a Christian starts out by
saying, “I will love my enemy.” But why will he love his enemy? Is it
because the word says so, because the rule says so? Is that the reason
why Jesus loved His enemies? Was it because the law commanded it or was
it because His nature led Him to do it? And why does God love His
enemies? Is it because there is a rule that tells God to love His
enemies? The answer that I’m looking for and that I’d like you to
consider is that God loves His enemies because He cannot do otherwise,
because it is what He is. You cannot be other than what you are.
One of the things that I detest most of all is homosexuality. The very
thought of it makes me shiver. If somebody ever suggested that one day I
would commit a homosexual act I would think of that person as an enemy,
because I so much despise the idea. This is in my nature, I’m like that
and I cannot be otherwise. I don’t need a rule to tell me, “you must
not be intimate with another man.” You would almost insult me to give me
a rule like that because it is so abhorrent to my nature. Similarly,
God does not need a rule to tell Him to love anybody, He cannot do
otherwise, it is what He is.
Now is it God’s plan that Christians should produce righteous
behaviour because there are rules hanging over our heads? Because there
are penalties waiting to slap us? Absolutely not. Christians will walk
in harmony with the law, Christians will obey the law and they will do
it perfectly when they are under the right government. The Lord says He
will give us a new heart and this is what will produce righteousness.
But as long as our motivation is law, as long as we obey because the
rules say so it means that our nature has not been changed. We are
operating from external motivations and the history of God’s people has
demonstrated that this will not work.
Pigs are not very popular among people who come from a Seventh-day
Adventist background, but pigs have their place, they have their duty to
scavenge and clean up the place. One of the things a pig likes best of
all is a good roll in the mud. It’s his nature, he was born that way.
You can’t blame him for what he is. But let us say you were to get a pig
from he was very young and you sent him to school where everyday he was
taught “thou shalt not roll in the mud.” You send him to school for ten
years and everyday he learns “thou shalt not roll in the mud.” Then
after ten years, now educated, and graduated, the pig comes out and he
is walking down the road. He has been taught for ten years not to roll
in the mud and he comes upon a puddle of mud. What will he do? Why does
he cast off his jacket and tie, throw all his education to the wind and
take a good roll? Because from the day he was born there was something
inside his little piggy heart that was saying, “mud is the best thing in
the world.” That was built into him, it was bred into him and you
cannot educate that out of a pig.
In the same way, sin cannot be educated out of the sinner. A sinner
may be told over and over, “you must stop drinking alcohol, you must
stop beating your wife, you must stop fornicating or you will go to
hell,” He can be rebuked, educated and beaten with that law and do you
know what will happen? He will feel more and more and more guilty but he
will not stop, because law cannot change a person’s nature! All law can
do is tell you, “you are condemned, you are going to die” the law can
only say, “you shall not steal,” and when you steal it condemns you:
“thief! You’re going to die!” It says, “thou shalt not kill,” so you
kill, “murderer! You’re going to die!” It cannot help you one bit, it
can only tell you where you are wrong. The law can define sin, it can
condemn the sinner, but it cannot help him.
So for a carnal person, being under the law means being under the
government of something outside of you, something which is compelling
you to behave in a certain way which is contrary to your nature. But the
Bible says that we Christians are not under the law, we are not
governed by law, we are not ruled by law. What is it that controls the
Christian and determines how he behaves? It is the spirit of God. We
have a new mind, we have the mind of Christ. Jesus did not need a rule
to tell Him how to do good, how to love people. He simply lived His
normal life according to the love in His heart, and lo and behold,
righteousness appeared everywhere He went. He could not do otherwise and
he promises, “I will give you my heart and my mind, so that the things
that you could not do, you will be able to do naturally (Romans 8:4).”
Perhaps with the rapid advancement of technology it might one day be
possible to get hold of a cat, take out its brain and transplant it into
the head of the pig. And so without a single day of education, this pig
with the cat’s brain goes walking down the road and he comes upon a
puddle of mud. He walks like a pig, looks like a pig, he might even have
the tone in his voice of a pig though he might try to say “meow.” He
comes to this puddle of mud and what does he do? Very carefully he
avoids the mud because although he has a pig’s body he has a cat’s mind.
He has had a brain transplant or a mind transplant. The body looks the
same but because the mind is different and the mind controls the body
the pig avoids the mud, you don’t have to tell him anymore, “thou shalt
not roll in the mud.” He has no desire to do it and if you throw him
towards the mud, to your amazement he will do all kinds of acrobatics in
an attempt to avoid it.
So the Bible emphasizes that the critical thing is the kind of nature
that we have. Many, many Adventists have made the mistake of trying to
obey the law, of trying to obey the rules, of trying to be governed by
what the law says and the rules say and they concentrate more on doing
this, doing that, than upon developing a relationship with God and His
Son which would result in their natures being transformed. They put the
wrong thing first. All that the law can do is educate us and help us to
understand a little better what pleases God or does not please God but
it cannot help us and should not be the governing force in our lives.
We have seen it with our children, we tell them to do something that
pleases them, something that is in harmony with what they want to do and
we have no problem, but when we tell them to do something that they
don’t want to do they will grumble and they will drag their feet because
they are being governed by a rule that is contrary to their will. The
law of God is contrary to the carnal human heart and the Bible says that
God knew that this kind of program would not produce what was truly
good. It did not bring the right results, although it brought cosmetic
obedience. When Moses or one of the prophets was around or they felt
that God was watching, they tried to obey but when they felt that they
could get away with it they went back to being their natural selves.
Perhaps a man starts coming to church who has been an alcoholic and
you know, these church members get on at him about drinking alcohol and
insist that he must do better. They mention the suffering his wife and
children have been going through, and he thinks, “you know, I’m going to
do better, I’m going to try, I’m going to work hard.” So he joins
Alcoholics Anonymous or something. By dint of willpower, he might stop
using the liquor but when he passes by the bar it’s almost like a magnet
is dragging him that way because his nature has not been changed. That
is not the kind of victory God wants us to have.
Not made for the Righteous
There is an interesting verse in 1 Tim. 1:8,9 which reads as follows:
But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; (9)
Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the
lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and
profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for
manslayers, (10) For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with
mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there
be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine; (1 Tim 1:8-10)
People who reject the Sabbath often use this verse, and they say, “you
see, here this says the Sabbath is not made for the righteous man, so
if you are a Christian, the law is not for you.” For a time I did not
understand what the verse was saying, but I would resist that idea that
the law was not made for Christians. But you know, properly understood
what they are saying is right, because the Bible says so, “the law is
not made for a righteous man.” But the question is, what does that
really mean? Well here is another illustration that I believe will bring
out the idea clearly.
In Jamaica, where I live, in Manchester, the dirt is red and when it
gets on to your clothes you have a hard time getting it off. There is
aluminum in the soil and aluminum soil is usually very red. When it
rains and it gets muddy, if you walk outside and get this dirt on the
floor it almost stains, and it is difficult to get it off. The wives
detest getting red dirt on the floor and sometimes if there are visitors
around and it rains, my wife will put a sign on the door that says,
“Remember to wipe your feet.’
Now I’ve noticed that it is only when certain people are around that
she puts up the sign. the rest of the time she doesn’t bother to put it
up. Why is that so? The reason is that there are some people who are not
accustomed to wiping their feet. The sign, or the law became necessary
because there were some people why, by nature were contrary to the law.
Their attitude made the rule necessary in order to prevent the place
from getting dirty.
However there are some people who always wipe their feet or, they take
off their shoes before entering, especially whenever there is mud
about. These people do not need a sign. It is when the others come who
will not do it that she puts up the sign. So I saw that the law is not
made for the righteous person, he does not need the law to tell him how
to behave because he has the changed nature. It is not law that rules
him. He doesn’t need somebody to walk behind him with a big stick and
say “you must bathe, you must drink your porridge, you must wipe your
feet etc.” Because he already has the nature which makes him do the
things that are right.
But the person who does not have the changed nature needs rules.
Society has to be kept in some kind of order and discipline, otherwise
anarchy would take over the world, and so God has made law, first of all
to make us know what sin is, and secondly, to establish a standard of
behavior so that even in this ungodly system some kind of order and
discipline can be maintained. But God’s ideal for His people, and that
which will save us is not that kind of obedience. It is not the kind of
obedience where your body does one thing and your heart does something
else. Does God expect us to compel our bodies to behave in a way that is
contrary to the desires of our hearts while frustration eats out our
souls In order that we may make it to golden streets and ivory palaces?
What kind of deliverance would that be? Is that what God means when He
talks about victory? Absolutely not.
Under Grace
So Paul says we have been delivered from the law, he says we are not
under law but under grace and what is grace? We have said that grace is
God’s undeserved favor, but most of the time we have limited this grace
to just an attitude of goodwill. However, the grace of God includes
every gift that comes from God doesn’t it? Which of God’s gifts is it
that we deserve? Is the gift of God’s Son a part of the grace of God? Is
God’s attitude of goodwill a part of His grace? What about His Holy
Spirit? All these and everything else which God has provided are
included in the grace of God. Under grace we have the life of God, we
have the power of God, we have the mind of God. Under grace sin will not
have dominion over us. When we are controlled by the spirit of God, it
will be more difficult for us to sin than it would be for me to become a
homosexual. Sin is so abhorrent to Christ that when His mind is really
your mind, sin becomes by nature, your enemy, your heart does not desire
it. The Bible said of Jesus, “He loved righteousness and hated
iniquity.” When His mind is our mind, we also will love righteousness
and hate iniquity. In one stroke, what two thousand years of education
has not been able to do for the church, God will do for those of us who
will allow Him to come and live inside.
Being under the law leads many Christians to believe that the way to
victory is to imitate Christ. They say, look at what Jesus did and if
you can imitate it, if you can do it, if you can do everything in the
same way, then you will overcome sin. But this ignores one vital element
and this is the fact that our heart is different from what Christ’s
heart was, and is. What we need is not to imitate Christ, what we need
is to have Christ substituted in our hearts. Christ says, “you can’t do
it but I will do it in you. If you let me I will come into your heart
and I will do for you what you cannot do.” We don’t need imitation, we
need to have a substitution made. His life for our life, His mind for
our mind. No matter how perfectly we understand the law and no matter
how the law is preached at us, and no matter how guilty we feel and how
much our conscience beats us, we will never do better unless we receive
the new heart, the gift of God. And so the Bible says, “if any man is in
Christ he is a new creation. Old things are passed away and all things
are become new.”
The Age of The Earth
Several hundred years ago Bishop
James Ussher did a study on the age of the earth (1650 – 1659) and
concluded that the world was (at that time) nearly 6000 years old.
According to his calculations the world was created in 4004 B.C. and the
end of the sixth thousand year from creation would have been the year
1997. Some time ago I also did my own study of the age of the earth and
ended up with numbers which indicated that the world was 6127 years old!
The cycles of seven in the Bible have suggested to many Christians
that the world may last in its present state for 6000 years, with the
next 1000 years being spent in heaven. The Bible does not say this, but
seems to suggest it and of course, Ellen White makes several statements
which support the idea of the world being 6000 years old at the time of
the return of Jesus.
The Bible has revealed God to be a Person of precision, One whose
timing is always accurate to the very day. If the 6000 year theory is
valid, then we may expect that God will act precisely at the end of the
6000 years. But according to James Ussher, we are now eight years past
the 6000 mark, and according to my early calculations we are more than a
hundred years past 6000!
Of course, the best we can do is come to an approximation of the end
of the 6000 years because even as we trace through Bible chronologies we
will lose or gain several months which may add up to a few years. For
example, we may be told, “David reigned over Israel for forty years.”
This does not necessarily mean that he reigned for exactly forty years.
He probably reigned for forty years, plus or minus a few months. Forty
years is a rounded off number, so as we go through many numbers like
this in the Bible we will probably get thrown off by a few years.
However, we can still get a fairly good idea of how close we are to the
end of the six thousand years.
I recently discovered that there were some problems with my earlier
calculations. Actually, there was some information which I did not have
at the time. So I recalculated and came up with a number much more in
keeping with the 6000 year theory. I have outlined my new calculations
below. Please bear in mind that these findings, even if they are
faultless will probably be out by a few years, and that God has never
said specifically in the Bible that the world will come to an end after
6000 years.
Adam to the flood
Genesis chapter five gives us Adam’s genealogy and tells us the age of
each father at the point when each son was born. This leads to the
conclusion that the flood took place 1656 years from creation.
The flood to Terah
Again this is easy to follow. Genesis chapter 11 takes us from
Arphaxad who was born two years after the flood, to Terah, the father of
Abraham. This period was 222 years in length.
Abram to Isaac
There is a problem with this period. Genesis 11:26 says that Terah was
seventy years old when he had Abram, Nahor and Haran. Does this mean
that they were triplets? No, but the writer of Genesis tells the age of
the father when the first Son was born and adds all the others who were
born to that parent. In a similar way we are told that Noah was five
hundred years old when he had Shem, Ham and Japheth, but Genesis 11:10
shows us that Shem was 98 years old at the flood while Noah was 600
years old (Genesis 7:6). So Shem must have been born when Noah was 502
years old and not 500.
So the question is, how old was Terah when Abram was born? In acts 7:4
Stephen tells us that Abram left Haran after the death of his father
Terah and Genesis 12:4 tells us that at that time, Abram was 75 years
old. We also know that Terah died when he was 205. So when Terah died at
age 205, Abram was 75. To find out how old Terah was when Abram was
born we subtract 75 from 205 which gives us 130.
Jacob to the Exodus
Jacob was born when Isaac was 60 years old, and he went into Egypt
when he was 130. So that period from Isaac to the Egyptian sojourn was
190 years. At that point, we would normally add 400, or 430 years,
because in Genesis 15:13, God had told Abraham that his seed would be
afflicted in a strange land for 400 years. Stephen also corroborated
this in Acts 7:6. However, in Exodus 12:40,41 it states that the
children of Israel had been in Egypt for 430 years and in Galatians 3:17
Paul corroborates this. It seems that they were to be strangers in a
foreign land for 430 years, but that the period of affliction would last
for 400 years of that 430.
However, there is still another problem. Four generations of
Israelites passed through the Egyptian captivity. In Exodus 6:16-20 we
are given Moses’ genealogy: Levi begat Kohath, Kohath begat Amram, Amram
begat Moses. Their ages were as follows:
Levi …………… 137
Kohath ………. 133
Amram ………. 137
Moses ……….. 120 (80 at the Exodus)
The total of their ages up until the Exodus is 487 years. However,
that time is drastically reduced when we remember that these men did not
become fathers in the final year of their lives. The probability is
that they fathered their sons before they were even fifty years old, but
let us say that each one had his son when he was 80 years old. How much
time does that give us between the four generations? Let us see:
Levi – Kohath ………… 80
Kohath – Amram …… 80
Amram – Moses …….. 80
Moses – Exodus ……… 80
Total…………………….. 320
In actual fact, as we can see, the children of Israel spent
considerably less than 400 years in Egypt. How do we explain this? It is
interesting to note that the Septuagint states in Exodus 12:40,41 that
the period of 430 years was spent in Canaan and Egypt. This is in
harmony with what Paul says in Galatians 3:8,17.
And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen
through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee
shall all nations be blessed. . . . And this I say, that the covenant,
that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four
hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the
promise of none effect. (Gal 3:8,17)
Notice Paul says that the law (which was given the year of the Exodus)
was given 430 years after the covenant was confirmed with Abraham. What
event is this referring to? There are several places in Genesis where
God made promises to Abraham of multiplying his seed and of blessing all
nations through him. However, the most striking of these occasions and
the one on which the covenant was ratified was in Genesis 17:1-15 where
Abraham’s and Sarah’s names were changed and God gave them the rite of
circumcision. Abraham was at that time 99 years old. Apparently, it is
from this time that we are to start counting the 430 years of the
sojourn of Israel in a strange land. The period of affliction apparently
started 30 years later, even before they went down into Egypt.
Exodus to Solomon
The next stage is an easy one. The Bible tells us simply in 1 Kings
6:1 that there were 480 years from the Exodus to the 4th year of
Solomon. Solomon reigned for 40 years, so from the Exodus to the end of
his reign was 516 years.
Rehoboam to Babylonian Captivity
After Solomon’s death the kingdom was divided into the northern
kingdom under Jeroboam and the Southern Kingdom (Judah) under Rehoboam.
The respective reigns of these kings is given in the book of Kings and
the total reign of the kings of Judah comes to 393.5 years. However,
when the reigns of the kings of Judah are compared to the reigns of the
kings of Israel (the Northern kingdom) there seems to be many
discrepancies. An Adventist scholar by the name of Edwin Thiele did a
very careful study into the chronology of these kings and discovered
what the problem was. Some of these kings had overlapping reigns where
in some cases a king ruled for several years co-jointly with his son.
When these overlapping reigns are taken into account, we end up with a
period of 344.5 years instead. This takes us to the final Babylonian
captivity.
Babylonian Captivity to AD 1
This final captivity took place in the year 586 B.C. and is a well
established historical date, so we know that from that time to the year 1
AD is 586 years, and of course, from then until today is a period of
2005 years. When all the sections are added up, it comes to 5988.5
years, which would suggest that there are still 11.5 years to go before
we get to the 6000 year mark. Let us remember however, that there is a
lot of room for error in these calculations. The end is nearer than we
think.
The Importance of Faith
Chris Walega
Lately, I’ve been deeply
impressed on the importance of faith, that is, why God puts such a high
premium on faith, that faith — that trust — that God is wholly and
always benevolent. And I know I’ve been blessed with a better
understanding, and yet one that is still maturing, and I think much of
this understanding was made available to me after having my own child. I
have experienced a lot of feelings, that, I believe with all my heart,
are very similar to the feelings that my heavenly Father has for me.
Jesus posed the question: “when the Son of man cometh, shall he find
faith on the earth?” And so, many would respond: “of course, He will
find at least 2.5 billions!” Some protestants, judging that the
protestant faith is more likely to be the faith spoken of here by Jesus,
would say: “of course, He’ll find at least 900 millions!” Some
Adventists, judging that theirs it actually that faith that Jesus would
be pleased to encounter, would say: “of course, He’ll find at least 13
millions!” On the other hand, some reform-movement Adventists would say;
“of course, He’ll find exactly 144,000!” But, who would, or could, say
that they are sure that Jesus will be pleased to encounter their faith
upon His return? Who could say it? Do you wonder if Enoch had this
wonderful confidence that God was pleased with His faith? or was he
forever second-guessing? When faced with adversities, was he always
remembering to trust God — only after other avenues had proven
themselves unfruitful?
You know, today I planned on changing the oil in my car — something I
always do myself, except during the winter, because it’s simply too
cold in Minneapolis! So this was the first time doing it myself after
having had it done by a shop a few months ago. And you know, These guys
put the bolt so tightly into the oil pan – there was simply no way to
get it loose — none. Dasha, who was standing by, cheerfully encouraged
me to pray, but I must admit, I felt like I would rather continue
struggling on my own, than to bother the Sovereign of the universe with
such petty trivialities — it would be the pettiest thing I’ve ever
prayed for. Finally I relented, however I was aware that there was an
element of faith lacking In my prayer — I was lacking the faith that
God, who is constantly inundated with supplications from countless
people who are suffering great and terrible things, would also see to it
that my bolt would turn loose. God, understandably, did not honor my
prayer, and it stung me later on when I considered the reason — His own
child had “limited the Holy One of Israel.” What a disappointing thing
it must be for God, when His own children cannot trust His benevolence
enough to find the ability to turn a bolt — let alone move mountains!
Where are the mountain-movers? will Jesus find any when He returns?
You know, the shameful thing is that I had long before made a mental
assent that God cares for even our smallest matters, but once again, my
heart has been slow in catching up to my mind. I so want to have a faith
that is comfortable with asking God to consider all my petty needs, and
not only approach Him with the big matters! I want my heart to be that
close, that genuinely unreservedly close to my Father! And that brings
to mind another important thing, and that is, that mental knowledge
alone will not avail us much, and it cannot do much to please God.
I thought on something a while back, about how I had, before I became a
Christian, devoted so much time and effort in learning evil. You know, I
learned how to be skillful at petty theft, how to play wicked music on
the guitar, how to hook up with women to fornicate. So much of my
precious life has been wasted on watching pornography and other wicked
movies, learning dirty jokes, memorizing vain and/or wicked things and
engaging in activities that are brutally destructive to the character.
And I wondered: “Have I yet partaken of the things of God to the same
extent?” The answer is: No, I haven’t. I haven’t been a Christian nearly
as long as I’ve been a sinner. And this was saddening to me — I wished
that now the years would just speed by so that the life of sin would be
the far smaller segment on my life’s time-line. I even realized that (at
least for me) knowing how to do good is not inherent in sinful man. We
have to be taught how to do the good that God would have us do!
“Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before
mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well [good]…” (Isaiah
1:16,17) “Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?
then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil?” (Jeremiah
13:23)
Thanks be to God, that He is willing to teach us, because the goodness
of God is infinitely greater than any goodness we have ever witnessed
in the world around us.! We are so pitifully deficient in the knowledge
of God – but I realized that it is not reason to fret, because
knowledge, even knowledge of good, is not what’s going to redeem us to
God. Consider the angels — these vastly superior beings that have
resided with the almighty God for thousands — or perhaps even millions —
of years, learning of God. What happened to a third of them? They
ceased to believe wholly in the benevolence of God, and it proved to be
their utter ruin. Do you not find it astonishing that beings created to
possess such an exalted level of mental excellency will be destroyed for
the same reason that lowly man will be destroyed?
Herein lies the mighty advantage of faith, it is that single virtue
that gives everybody the opportunity to be exactly what would totally
please God, With faith, the publican is not worse off than the scribe,
the woman is not worse off than the man, the child is not worse off than
the sage, the Gentile is not worse off than the Jew, the human is not
worse off than the angel! In fact, Jesus set forth a child as an example
of what kind of person could possibly enter into the kingdom of God.
You know what’s different about a child? A child would feel completely
comfortable about asking his father to help turn the bolt loose on the
oil pan! — there’s no hesitation from a child! Here is a verse we’re all
familiar with
“And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.” (Galatians 4:6)
I’ve learned that this word “abba” actually means something like
“papa” or “daddy” — I think there are a lot of people who could never
bring themselves to address the Almighty as “Papa” or “Daddy’ — they
would think it sacrilege. Obviously, there is a reason why this is in
the word of God. Lets earnestly pray that we might be there some day,
where we can freely and genuinely call Him “abba” “Papa,” or “Daddy”
because I truly believe this is where God really wants us to stand with
Him. When I look at my own child, I see that she trusts me — even at
this very young age, she trusts me — there is no apprehension, no
reserve, no doubt — not a trace. If only we were this way with God, what
kind of people He would raise us up to be! We could have that
experience with Him we’ve been longing for.
You know if my child trusts me, how much more reason do I have, to
trust God. Isn’t God infinitely more trustworthy and benevolent than I? 1
was born having a sinful nature, and in addition I have this mind and
heart, this character, that’s been so ravaged by years of sinful living,
and yet I love my child — I’ve purposed in my heart that I will do
everything in my power to see to it that this child will live knowing
God, delighting in God, trusting God, and finally be saved by God.
That’s my will — the will of an imperfect parent. How much more
determination, and better intentions rest in the heart of Him, with whom
is no variableness neither shadow of turning? God wants each and every
one of us saved more than the sum of all the desire for good that we
human parents have ever wanted for our children.
Every now and then, something happens that challenges our faith that
God really loves us. It may be that because of adversities, we wonder:
“Where is God?” Or sometimes we wonder if His pardon for us still
stands. Or it may be that we have suddenly found that we feel we have
wandered from His presence. Or it may be that we doubt that He takes any
pleasure in us any more, and has any purpose for us any longer. I
remember a period of my Christian life, during which I dreamt night,
after night, after night loathsome and agonizing recounts of my most
shameful sins. Man, it broke my spirit. I felt as if God was saying:
“Your wickedness is too great — depart from Me and drink your cup.” The
heaven above was as brass, and the earth beneath like iron — it felt
like His pardon had evaporated. That nearness I had been used to feeling
was gone. Then I was praying one day during this trial, and that
familiar nearness came back just for a moment. And I felt like God spoke
to my heart — no, I didn’t hear any voice — but I felt really sure that
He sent a message to my heart, and it was: “Remember My promises and
stand upon them.”
The remedy that healed my faith in this trial was remembering –
remembering what kind of God our heavenly Father had so often already
proven Himself to be. I think our faith is nourished by this alone. You
know what was that problem for the Israelites in the desert? They did
not remember what God had done for them. It seems like God would do such
amazing things for them – things that had never before been witnessed
or even dreamt about, and after a few days, or a few weeks, they would
lose their faith and be destroyed. Before I go on, I want to emphasize
that there is. a profound difference between remembering and not
forgetting Not forgetting who God is, is not enough! We have to remember
who He is! If we want our faith to grow and even flourish through the
adversities, we must sayour the memories of all He has done for us, of
all He has promised us, of all His mercies toward us. We must remember
and rejoice, because if we will but remember, we will rejoice! Look now
at a psalm that illustrates this truth:
“1 will extol thee, my God, O king;
and I will bless thy name for ever and ever. Every day will I bless
thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever. Great is the LORD,
and greatly to be praised: and his greatness is unsearchable. One
generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy
mighty acts. I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of
thy wondrous works. And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible
acts: and I will declare thy greatness. They shall abundantly utter the
memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness The
LORD is gracious) and full of Compassion; slow to anger, and of great
mercy. The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his
works,” (Psalm 145:1-9)
Every time I read this, I cannot help remember the great things God
has done for me, and my heart is encouraged. If we will but remember the
LORD, we will find it easy to praise the LORD. And when we praise the
LORD, our heart will be mightily strengthened with faith.
There is another psalm I want to mention — it’s Psalm 107. In this
psalm, we read about these people that are just like any one of us. God
has done great things for them, but as time goes on, they are beset by
trials and tribulations, and not a few are afflicted because of their
own mistakes. And in each of these scenarios, the people are brought to
despair, even to their “wit’s end” and they cry unto God as if He would
scarcely hear them. In each scenario, the psalmist sets forth the sure
remedy: “Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his
wonderful works to the children of men!” Oh! If only they would do It!
If they were ever praising the LORD, they could never enter into
despair. Hopefully we will all learn this and not be as those who died
in the desert because of unbelief — “whoso is wise, and will observe
these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the
LORD.” {Psalm 107:43) Let us be wise and observe it now and forever!
Let’s make it a point to devote our time not to, not-forgetting., but
remembering the LORD for all He has done for us, and praise Him — praise
him with our lips, in our hearts, with our minds. When you eat, savour
the taste of the food, and know that it is God that gave you taste buds,
it is our Father that opened His holy hand and put food on the table.
When you rise up in the morning, listen to His birds, His creatures that
delight in singing to Him, and remember that it is God who formed the
ear. He formed the eye that rejoices to see the many wonders He has
made. Don’t go to bed without looking for the stars — and remember, “He
telleth the number of the stars, and calleth them all by their names.”
And when you are beset by the weight of temptation, remember that your
Father has loved you so much, He has called you by your name and
promised to always be with you. Remember the measureless price He has
already paid for our redemption, and be encouraged that what cost so
much to God cannot be forgotten by Him.
Remembering the LORD and praising the LORD is our livelihood. If we
would do these things our faith would never falter nor fail.
“I will sing unto the LORD} as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.” (Psalm 104:33)
Correspondence on Christ Dying the Second Death
I am so shocked at what was
published that I have to ask that this no longer be sent to me. (The
main pillar of truth that the Bible teaches was denied ) Thank you….
You clearly do not know your Bible, and you certainly do not
understand “death” in the Bible when it concerns Jesus. To state such
lies I have requested that I be dropped from all email, and mailing
lists. Thank you.
PS Shame, shame for not studying your Bible more carefully
United States
Please allow me to share my thoughts on the “which death” article:
The Trinity doctrine denies the death of the Son of God. The question is: Which death?
Christ is said to have been slain before the foundation of the earth
and I’ve often wondered what it really meant. When the divine Son of God
laid his divine form, I propose this is the death of the Testator
spoken of in Hebrews 9. The Testator was a divine being which we can
describe as divinity clothed with divinity.
What the Trinity doctrine fails to establish, referred to as
“subversive of the Atonement” by one of our pioneers, is that according
to the Covenant made by the Testator, something divine had to be laid
off permanently – forever. A divine life had to die forever.
The question is: Does the death of Christ on the cross satisfies the death of the Testator?
Yes and no. I submit that our understanding might be incomplete.
”The darkness rolled away from the Saviour and from the Cross. Christ
bowed His head and died. In His Incarnation He had reached the
prescribed limit as a sacrifice, but not as a redeemer.” E.G. White
Manuscript Releases Volume Twelve, p. 409.
Yes – the sacrifice but no – as redeemer. The death of the Testator –
the divine life – completes the picture – that of the Redeemer. By his
infinite divine life, man can be redeemed. This is the ‘second death’,
if we can apply it as such.
We only see the human Son of God but we might have ignored the divine
Son of God’s eternal death before the foundation of the world!
Hebrews 9:16,17
For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of
the testator. 17 For a testament is of force after men are dead:
otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.
The Son of God had to give up something permanently which is like the
second death where there is no resurrection. The Son of God, by giving
up his divine existence – the life that the Father gave as “original,
underived, unborrowed” makes it possible for him to be resurrected for
the value of the life of this divine being is infinite – more than the
value of ALL human life combined.
By giving this life forever, even if he died on the cross, the divine
life he gave up is more than enough to give life to any human being who
will receive this gift of life – including Christ himself – especially
when he didn’t sin.
I’m not sure I’ve made any sense but I just want to share these with you. I’d appreciate your thoughts and comments.
….. One of the reasons I share this is from an encounter with an
atheist in a message board. He said something like “Where is the
sacrifice if Jesus was only going to be dead for only a little over 24
hours?”
It seemed like a farce to this atheist the death of Christ on
the cross. My answer was that, contrary to what most Christians teach,
the sacrifice was more than the death of Christ (which he really died
when he became totally human) but that he will always be forever a human
being.
The Trinity doctrine teaches, of course, that this ‘sacrifice’ was
just a human ‘body’ where the 2nd person of the Trinity lived in. I
didn’t hear back from the atheist. I hope that seed that was planted
would bear fruit.
So, to recap:
The change I was referring to was not at Calvary but before
Christ becoming human. That is forever lost and given up. Eternal death,
you could say, as existing as a divine being.
And we can only thank God for sending his only begotten Son and for Jesus for humbling himself and be made of a woman!
Continued blessings,
My brother in Christ,
Thank you for sending me the latest Open Face. As much as it goes
against my feelings of friendship with you, I must very respectfully
disagree with your position on the second death in your article in Open
Face magazine.
Please don’t think I’m being critical in a destructive way. I am only
trying to express that I am not convinced that your position is
theologically correct. It is entirely possible that my own position is
not correct also, but I would like to present it, very respectfully to
you please.
My Bible study shows me that the second death is not the lake of Fire.
The lake of fire is simply the means by which the second death takes
place for the wicked at the end of time.
Christ died the death of sinners – the second death from which there
is no “waking up”, but He didn’t die that death in the fire. He died the
sinner’s death on the cross.
Rom 6:23. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The death was the same – eternal separation from the Father – but the
method of death occurring was different. Christ went through his own
“hell” on the cross. The Father separated Himself from His Son and this
was what resulted in the Son’s heart physically bursting, causing His
death.
The fact that unrepentant sinners will die this same death in the lake
of fire, and not on a cross, doesn’t alter the fact that it is the same
death.
Please investigate this further. If my understanding on this is incorrect, then I would like to find where my error is.
I often think of you and pray for you. Thank you so much for the
wonderful material you send and for your willingness to share your study
results with us. I am very grateful.
Kindest regards,
Australia
Hi David:
I have been reading your article on the type of death that Christ
died. There is yet another consideration that you could bring into
discussion. That is the fact that Christ could have died eternally as a
man and been resurrected as the son of God, a being that is of the
substance of God, not human. Thus he would have faced the eternal death
as a man without himself going into oblivion. The converse, is that he
could have ceased to exist as a being that was strictly of the substance
of God and be forever relegated to the realms of man after his death on
the cross.
I have no fixed opinion on this but feel that this perspective is
worth exploring as the real penalty for sin is the eternal death. If
this were not so, then Christ need not have died as we all could have
died and then be resurrected having paid the penalty for sin.
Jamaica
If Thou wouldest Believe
The following short article is a reproduction of a letter which was written to a brother encouraging him in a time of bereavement and grief. The author gives the following background:
“It was written from last year for a
church brother and good friend of mine who is from ………. His 19
year old son followed a friend to one of those violent areas in Spanish
Town and has never returned home since then. The father was very sad and
bitter towards others because no one offerred any answers and the
police did absolutely nothing to help. He said that the letter helped
him in ways that he cannot explain and ways that I may never understand.
Today, I was feeling a little down and reading it brought comfort to me
too. I have modified it somewhat but it is my prayer that it may be a
blessing to someone else in need.
Nothing is impossible with God! “… If thou wouldest believe, thou
shouldest see the glory of God.” (St. John 11: 40). At the moment when
Martha was overwhelmed with grief because the seemingly irreversible has
happened, she was reminded of the power of God. Lazarus has died. Her
heart was filled with sorrow and saturated with disappointment. Her
saviour who she has trusted so dearly was not present when she needed
Him most. In spite of all this, Christ asked her, “Said I not unto thee
that if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?”
Is Christ asking us this very same quesion today? Is Christ echoing
these words to you? Martha believed and, indeed, she did experience the
glory of God through the resurrection of Lazarus. This promise will no
doubt be fulfilled in our own lives if we claim it as Martha did. There
is just about no limit to what Christ would readily do on our behalf if
we would but only trust Him. If only we would surrender our desires, our
cares, our burdens, our entire life to Christ, what a splendid
opportunity that would be for the saviour to lavish His glory upon us.
After being sold into slavery by his very own brothers, Joseph spent
years in prison for a crime he did not commit. At the same time,
however, he never ceased to believe in the benevolence of God and in
return God was faithful in blessing him abundantly. At the end of it all
he exclaimed to his brothers, “But as for you, ye thought evil against
me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to
save much people alive.” (Genesis 50:3).
No evil can befall any of God’s children unless it is divinely
allowed. Neither will God allow us to endure unnecessary pain. If God
could have done the ultimate in sending His Son to die in order to
rescue us from sin, what could He possibly hesitate to do for us today?
Similarly, nothing is beyond the scope of our father’s infinite power.
No burden too heavy that He cannot bear. No heart is so broken that He
cannot mend; no life in such turmoil that He cannot reshape. “… With men
this is impossible; but with God, all things are possible.” (St.
Matthew 19:26). There is absolutely no situation, no problem that the
miraculous hand of our saviour cannot remedy.
At the same time, there is undoubtably no problem so trivial to be
overlooked by our loving Father. He knows our veiled wounds. He feels
our pain and hurt that no one else cares to notice or understand. He
recognizes the anguish too bitter to be uttered and the tears that no
one sees. Whatever we are experiencing, whatever our needs are – God
knows. He knows and he understands. He can and he shall supply them. All
He requires is for us to trust Him.
Christ can slay the giants in our lives. He can calm the roaring tides
of sorrow and woe that threatens to engulf us. He can extinguish the
furnace of contempt and strife around us and kindle flames of brotherly
love in our hearts. Yes, Christ can do it all. If only we would trust
Him. He can convert our greatest obstacles into stepping stones, our
temptations into inspirations and our weaknesses into strengths. We can
overcome all sinful thoughts and deeds; but we can only do it through
Christ. Christ is anxious to make your impossibilities into
possibilities- if thou wouldest believe… If thou wouldest believe, thou
shouldest see the glory of God!
General Conference Report
The 58th General Conference
session of the Seventh-day Adventist Church has just concluded in St.
Louis, Missouri. It was the first GC session which I ever attended and I
would not be surprised if it turns out to be my last. Close to seventy
thousand Seventh-day Adventists descended on St. Louis for this stellar
event on the SDA timetable and I must admit that it was an impressive
sight to see and to hear the many many different races, nations and
cultures represented. They were there from almost every “nation,
kindred, tongue and people.” Like I said, it was an impressive sight,
however, I will remember this, my first GC session for a reason, very
different from the awesome display and fanfare that undoubtedly were
there.
In a move which had been carefully planned for months before, more
than thirty of us from Eight different countries also descended on the
General Conference on the first Friday, having traveled for more than 16
hours in the yellow, former school bus, now belonging to Smyrna Gospel
Ministries. Among those present were, Vlad and Andi Ardeias from
Romania, Erwin Zoor and Mirec Miroslaw from Germany, Slawek Platek from
Poland, Glenys and Jessica Walkom and Esther Walker from Australia,
Maurice Anyango from Kenya, Paul Osei Agyeman from Ghana, Howard
Williams, Neville Morris and I (David Clayton) from Jamaica, and in
addition, from the USA, Allen Stump, Lynnford Beachy, Leon and Onycha
Holt, Ken, Janine, Zachary and Jennifer Corklin, Terra, (sorry Terra, I
forgot your last name), Hans Stump, Chris Walega, Anna Ford, Rafael
Dittman.
One third of the bus was filled almost to the roof with thousands of
tracts and booklets, dealing with the subject of the godhead, which we
brought with us for the express purpose of handing them out at the
General Conference. We also took 2500 copies of the latest DVD produced
in the “Good News About God” series, which is entitled, “The Omega of
Deadly Heresies.” Thanks to some hard work on the part of Allen Stump,
we managed to get this DVD ready just days before the GC session.
Our plan was to remain for the full 9 days of the GC and this was made
possible by the outstanding commitment of Virgil and Mary Tow to the
truth. Virgil and Mary bought a Church (!) some years ago with nice
living quarters and a fellowship hall below the meeting room. They
bought this church with the specific hope that one day it would prove to
be a blessing to the cause of truth. They are presently living in the
apartment below the church and for the duration of our stay, they
accommodated us in their church home, cheerfully enduring the
inconvenience and upheaval, the late nights, the bathroom congestion,
the noise etc. Which an invasion of more than thirty people occasioned.
We took over the entire place and laid our sleeping bags everywhere. A
few were outside in tents, but most of us camped in the fellowship hall
or in the vestry, the foyer, and even the sanctity of the rostrum was
not spared! A few found the most comfortable spots there.
Heidi Stump, Leland, Oscar and his mother from Peurto Rico, Walter,
Alejandra and Axel Bishop from Argentina, were not able to be with us at
the beginning and the commitment of work kept them from being there
every day, but they came in from many miles away to spend a few days
with us in the work and they also made major contributions to the work.
Merritt and Anita Mills also chipped in on the final Sabbath.
On the first day that we arrived, we divided into groups of two or
more and positioned ourselves at strategic positions around the
building. People passed by at regular intervals and for the most part
they were fairly cheerful and receptive at first. Shortly after we began
distributing our materials, however, four security guards approached
those of us who were standing at one of the entrances and told us in no
uncertain terms that we were to leave immediately or face arrest. I told
them that I thought the sidewalk was public property, but the one who
seemed to be in charge informed us that every part of the sidewalk on
that block was the property of the dome and that if we did not leave
immediately we would certainly be arrested, so we went to the other side
of the street. This did not make much of a difference because nobody
could enter the dome unless they came from the other side of the street
anyway. Allen however, went down to the city hall and obtained a plan of
the layout of the streets and sidewalks which suggested that we should
be able to stand on the sidewalk for a distance of up to fifteen feet.
However, he then went to the people in charge of the security officers
and also spoke with representatives of the police force as well as
Seventh-day Adventist officials in charge of security. All of them
assured him that if we stood on that side of the sidewalk we would be
arrested and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Even though we
probably had a legal right to stand there, it would have involved a
court case which would not have ended until long after the General
Conference was over. We decided that it was not worth the harassment to
insist on standing on that side of the road. Besides, if we placed
ourselves strategically we would still be able to meet all the people
coming and going as they had to cross the street to get to the superdome
where the meetings were being held.
We actually had several encounters with the security and the police
force while we were there. On the second morning (Sabbath) we stopped
the bus a few yards away from the Holiday Inn hotel and unloaded our
materials. These consisted of several boxes of books which Slawek would
trundle to the various points where we would be stationed. He did this
by means of a yellow trolley bought for the occasion and which he
dubbed, “the yellow donkey.” Shortly after we had left the bus and taken
up our positions, we received a call from Howard on the radio to say
that the bus was surrounded by five police cars and that the
spokesperson for the police had told him that we had to pack up all our
people and all our materials and leave immediately. Allen and Lynnford,
of course were our official spokespersons and they got there as fast as
they could. They were informed by the police that an Adventist official
had called them, very upset that we were unloading our materials and as a
result, they were removing us from the street because we were “causing a
disturbance.” When we inquired how we were responsible for this person
being upset just because we were there, the policewoman in charge stated
that she was not going to argue, all she was telling us was that we had
to leave. Eventually however, she decided to call her supervisor. When
he arrived, he inquired as to exactly what we were doing there. After
listening he told us that we had a right to be there but that we were
not to stand in the way of people or obstruct their passage in any way.
He warned us that if we did anything which was in any way against the
law, they would be obliged to put a stop to what we were doing. We
thanked him (and thanked God even more) and continued what we were
doing.
Our third encounter with the police was one evening as Howard was
driving the bus from point to point picking up our people and materials.
At one point he went around a corner very close to the curb and the bus
almost touched a couple of young people who were standing right at the
edge of the curb. In fact, the man snatched at the girl and probably
prevented her from being touched by the bus by pulling her out of the
way. We all came out of the bus and apologized, but the group of them,
two men and two women, were furious and demanded with curses to be
handed Howard’s information and the bus papers, claiming that Howard had
hit the young lady. When there was a little delay as we tried to calm
them down, they beckoned to a police car which was parked nearby and the
policeman drove over to where we were. I had a sinking feeling in my
stomach because I did not expect to have any sympathy from the police,
especially in light of the encounters we had already had with them. As
we stood there, I prayed in my heart.
By the grace of God we fell into the hands of a good policeman. He
immediately detected that the people were drunk. He listened and then
asked the woman whether or not she wanted him to call an ambulance. Of
course she said no, because she had not been touched by the bus. So he
asked them, “what do you want me to do? I have sober witnesses here who
say that she was not hit.” This made them upset with the policeman and
they asked if he was saying that they were drunk. Finally they went away
in a bad mood promising to speak to their lawyer. The policeman told us
not to worry about it and that he would file a report of what happened.
The bus wheel had left a mark on the edge of the curb which proved that
it had not mounted the sidewalk as they claimed (they said that it had
gone at least three feet onto the sidewalk). So our final encounter with
the police was a good one. Thank God we had no more run-ins with them
apart from one other occasion when Erwin stood on the wrong side of the
sidewalk handing out books and some of the security forces ordered him
to leave. The strange thing is that there were dozens of Shepherd Rods
and other people handing out literature on the dome sidewalk and as far
as we could see, nobody ever interfered with them!
The responses to our effort was mixed. Some of the people were honest
and open minded and received our materials cheerfully, even with
gratitude. A few even praised God for placing such materials in their
hands. All of us had encounters which encouraged us greatly. On one
occasion I was being chastised by a man who was telling me that I was
making a big hullabaloo about nothing, when two young ladies stopped to
look at my materials. “Oh look,” one of them exclaimed, “materials about
the Omega!” The man’s ears pricked up and he asked them what was the
Omega. The explained to him that Ellen White had prophesied of a great
apostasy in the church which she called the “Omega,” and they explained
how the majority of church members were apathetic and did not have a
clue what was happening. They concluded by saying, “these materials will
blow you away.” By the time they were finished the man’s interest was
thoroughly aroused and he took a copy of all our materials stating that
he would read and see if he got “blown away.” These kinds of encounters
were too many to recount.
One man who claimed to be a Conference official somewhere in the USA
returned after watching the DVD and spoke to Maurice from Kenya. He
stated, “I have watched your DVD and it is the truth. It is nothing but
the truth. I sat in my hotel room and watched it last night along with
four other people and all I can say is that it is the truth.” He then
asked if he could have eight more copies to distribute to others.
Unfortunately Maurice had no more at the time and when he returned the
next day armed with them, I am not sure that he was able to meet the man
again. Nevertheless, the contact information on the DVDs and all the
literature make it possible for those who need to get in touch to do so
without any difficulty.
Another day a young man stopped by and stood there looking at me in a
strange way. Then he asked slowly, “This is about the Trinity, isn’t
it?” When I told him yes, he continued, “it’s a false doctrine, isn’t
it?” Again I replied in the affirmative. “And now the whole church has
accepted it,” he went on. I could do no more than nod my head. “I knew
there was something wrong,” he said. “I read my Bible carefully and I
could see that the Trinity is a false doctrine.” Then he took my
materials and thanked us for being there.
The positive responses are too many to recount. Some argued and
questioned and went away resolving to study more. Others were thankful
for our willingness to face reproach in order to share what we believed
to be truth, even though they did not fully agree with what we were
presenting.
There were also the negative responses, however. These ranged from
scorn and verbal abuse, to appeals to “come inside,” or to “stay with
the ship.” Some spent long moments with us endeavouring to show us why
it was very wrong to work outside of the “church.” We appreciated those
who were willing to discuss and to appeal to us as brethren rather than
to curse and abuse us. Outstanding among these open-minded ones, in my
experience, were the young black people from England. On at least five
occasions that I can remember, different ones stopped by to discuss the
issues animatedly with us, but in a spirit of friendship and
brotherhood. Strangely, it seemed to me that the most aggressive and
negative were Jamaican women. They far outdid people from other places
in the scorn and abuse which they heaped upon us. We could see them
approaching and from the looks on their faces we could tell that they
were upset. We could usually prepare ourselves for some caustic remark
when they approached. On the final Sabbath I offered a booklet to one of
these ladies. She stepped close to me, gave me a venomous look and said
in a lowered voice, “shove it up your – – – !”
“Are you going to church?” I asked in surprise.
“Yes, I am going to church,” she replied.
“Well, I hope you get a blessing, because you surely need one,” I
responded. Strangely, incidents such as these did not bother me, but
rather seemed to give me courage. The more aggressive and ill-behaved
the people were, the more I found that we were cheerful and ready to
give them a gentle answer.
I already mentioned that the Shepherd Rods were there in droves. They
positioned themselves wherever we went and usually boxed us in on both
sides. They pushed their material aggressively, often blocking the
sidewalks so that the people had difficulty in passing. They were a
great trial to some of us because people sometimes identified us with
them. In addition to the Shepherd Rods, there were a couple of men with
white beards who were also there every day. Among the materials they
handed out was a paper in which they stated that there is a heavenly
father as well as a heavenly mother, and a heavenly son as well as a
heavenly daughter. The holy spirit being the mother and the holy ghost
being the daughter. We also met another man with a long white beard who
claimed to be Elijah and who told us contemptuously that he did not need
our materials as he already knew everything there was to know in the
Bible. Another brother was there handing out tracts which declared that
no man could be saved who continued to trim his beard! To be honest,
when I saw all the confusion of ideas that were being presented by these
people, I thought, “no wonder the Adventist Church is so opposed to
offshoots.”
Another man came from Vance Ferrell’s ministry armed with boxes of
books entitled, “The Godhead.” These books were prepared to counter our
message and to defend the Trinity. Though Vance Ferrell refuses to refer
to his concept as, “The Trinity,” and insists on calling it the
“Godhead,” yet his concept of a three-person godhead is just another
variation of the Trinity. These books were also being distributed free
and some of us took copies. On our way home brother Paul was reading
from this book when he burst out laughing and exclaimed, “oh this book
is so good. When you read it you just have to laugh and laugh and
laugh!” He read to us a part where Vance Ferrell declares that although
Lucifer and the angels had been in heaven for ages, yet Lucifer had
never known that there was a holy spirit and thought that the Father and
the Son were the only ones in the godhead, because of course the holy
spirit was invisible. According to him, if Lucifer had known that the
holy spirit was also in the council with the Father, he would have been
jealous of him as well!! Of course the rest of us had to laugh and laugh
and laugh as well. Brother Ferrell did not mention that Ellen White
must not have known that there was a holy spirit as well because she is
the one who declared that,
“Christ the Word, the only begotten of God, was one with the eternal
Father,—one in nature, in character, and in purpose,—the only being in
all the universe that could enter into all the counsels and purposes of
God. {GC 493}
Many pastors stopped to talk and to receive our materials. One or two
were upset with us, but generally speaking, the more informed people
were much more tolerant. We encountered most of the “big” names in
Adventism and with one exception, they all took a copy of our DVD and
promised to watch it.
This was probably the most fulfilling missionary venture I have ever
been involved in. We handed out more than twenty thousand booklets and
2500 DVDs. Perhaps when we come to the end of time and have the
privilege of looking back at the outstanding events in the history of
salvation we will find that this was one of the red-letter events. I
believe a significant work was done at the General Conference and I
expect that we will see much fruit borne in the coming days.
Open Face is published bi-monthly and is sent free to all who desire to receive it.
David Clayton: Editor and Publisher
P. O. Box 23 Knockpatrick
Manchester, Jamaica W.I.
Phone: (876) 904-7392
email: david@restorationministry.com
