ISAIAH 8:20 "TO THE LAW AND TO THE TESTIMONY: IF THEY SPEAK NOT ACCORDING TO THIS WORD, IT IS BECAUSE THERE IS NO LIGHT IN THEM." Applications and Testimonies TO Share with your friends of SABBATH SCHOOL ANNEX: Commentaries and/or Summaries of the Sabbath School lesson. All the different versions. Go to www.ssnet.org and CLICK ON ADULT SS AND SCROLL DOWN FOR VERSIONS IN OTHER LANGUAGES. VERSES from www.biblegateway.com AND www.biblia.com. BE BLESSED!!!
The Sabbath School Lesson
REV. 14: 12"THIS CALLS FOR PATIENT ENDURANCEON THE PART OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD WHO KEEP HIS COMMANDS AND REMAIN FAITHFUL TOJESUS."Click on the links for the SABBATH SCHOOL LESSON OF THE ONGOING WEEK AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS MESSAGE TO THE RIGHT. And Read THE INTRODUCTION, THE SUBTITLES AND THE CONCLUSION first, then if you just want to have a general idea of the text, read the beginning and the end of each paragraph. ALWAYS KEEP IN MIND AND RELATE TO THE SPECIFIC SUBJECT YOU ARE STUDYING, REMEMBER THE BIG TITLE AND THE SUBTITLES. Always be aware of the context. WHAT IS THE QUESTION AT STAKE? This is what's important...BE BLESSED!!!
"And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart” " (Jeremiah 29:13, NKJV).
The Greek word for truth, aletheia, has two meanings. One is objective truth (actual facts, verity, or principle), and the other is subjective truth (truth as a personal excellence—a candor of mind that is free from affectation, pretense, dissimulation, falsehood, and deceit). Truth, then, is what we know, the objective “facts on the ground,” as it were. But there’s the subjective element of truth, as well, which entails how we individually respond to what we learn. When both of these are real in our lives, we will manifest truth as a fruit of the Spirit.
That’s why both elements are crucial to the Christian walk. We need to know the basic objective truth as it is found in Jesus, and then we need the personal subjective experience of having our lives changed by that truth.
Look at Judas. He was with Jesus for more than three and a half years. Judas had all sorts of truth revealed to him. He saw things the rest of us only can read about. And yet, in the end, look what good it did him.
May we all take heed.
*Study this week's lesson to prepare for Sabbath, March 20.
SUNDAY
March 14
“I Am . . . The Truth”
“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me’” (John 14:6, NKJV) Write out a short paragraph explaining what you think this text means.
On one level, this text radically challenges the relativism (the idea that truth is only subjective and personal) so current in much of the world today. Jesus’ words leave no ambiguity: There’s none of this “Each finds his own path to God,” and so forth. With these words, Jesus establishes the reality of objective truth. Here is Truth. Period. Few verses in the whole Bible are more contrary to the sentiment of relativism than these.
At the same time, there’s a whole other element, as well. The Truth is a Person. You come to truth through a relationship with a Person. This is a radically different idea from the notion of truth being only a group of facts. Jesus, a human being, is the Truth; thus, if you want to know truth, you have to know Jesus.
How does what’s written above help us understand Christ’s words in John 17:3?
We have to be careful, however, with this notion that all our religion means is having a relationship with God. Everyone lives in a relationship with God, one way or another. Folk who deny His existence live in relationship with God. Pilate had a relationship with Jesus; so did Caiaphas. Even the devil has a relationship with Jesus—he hates Him. The gospel is not a call to have a relationship with Jesus but to make a commitment to Him. Nicodemus, for instance, had a relationship with Jesus, one in which he eventually committed his life and all that he had to Christ. That’s the kind we all need!
No question, you have a relationship with Jesus. The question you need to ask yourself is, What kind do you have? And, How can you make it better?
MONDAY
March 15
The Spirit and Truth
“ ‘However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth’ ” (John 16:13, NJKV).
In view of what we learned yesterday, it is obvious that the work of the Holy Spirit is to point us to Christ and to help us abide in Him. “ ‘But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me’ " (John 15:26, NKJV).
Look at this powerful insight: “The preaching of the word will be of no avail without the continual presence and aid of the Holy Spirit. This is the only effectual teacher of divine truth. Only when the truth is accompanied to the heart by the Spirit will it quicken the conscience or transform the life. One might be able to present the letter of the word of God, he might be familiar with all its commands and promises; but unless the Holy Spirit sets home the truth, no souls will fall on the Rock and be broken.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages,pp. 671, 672.
What emphasis is Ellen G. White placing on the work of the Holy Spirit here?
What we see in the work of the Holy Spirit is both the objective and subjective aspect of Truth. The Spirit comes, and He testifies of Jesus and reproves “ ‘the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment’ ” (John 16:8). These are hard facts about the world, about God, about reality.
At the same time, the work of the Holy Spirit doesn’t end simply with teaching us these truths. Our lives need to be changed by our understanding of them. These objective and eternal truths will do us no good unless our lives are transformed by them, and part of that process (perhaps even the most important part) is for us, as she wrote, to be broken on the Rock (see Ps. 51:17).
How were you broken (or were you ever)? What happened? What changes came? What did you learn about life, about suffering, about God from that experience? What other lessons might you still need to learn?
TUESDAY
March 16
“With All Your Heart”
“And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart” (Jer. 29:13, NKJV).
“With all your heart” means “sincerely,” true in word and act. The word sincere comes from two Latin words—sine (without) and cera (wax). Apparently in the past, less-than- honest sculptors would secretly fix the flaws and cracks in their work by plugging them with wax, which, of course, doesn’t hold. Hence, sincerity means being real and genuine, not artificial. It means speaking or acting “from the heart” and meaning it.
Read 2 Chronicles 25:2. What is that text saying? What important point is being made about what’s inside us?
The Hebrew word translated in some versions as “perfect” comes from the root slm (from which shalom is derived). It means, basically, “full,” “complete,” or “at peace.” Thus, we have here a king who did the right thing but not with a heart that was in the right place. He wasn’t sincere in his actions. This raises the possibility that a person could be doing the right things for the wrong reasons. Though we may be able to fool some of the people some of the time, and ourselves all the time, we can't fool God any of the time. How interesting that when David prayed for his son, the first thing he wanted him to have was “a perfect heart” (1 Chron. 29:19, NASB).
Sincerity is important because the one who isn’t sincere, the one whose heart isn’t committed to what’s true and right, is someone with a divided heart. There is surely something else pulling on such a person, and as long as he or she doesn’t let go, as long as this person still allows those other allegiances a place, the heart cannot be slm, complete or perfect before God. The key, then, is complete surrender to the Lord, a complete letting go of self. It’s not easy; in a real sense, to have that happen you need to be, as we saw yesterday, broken on the Rock.
How sincere are you in your faith? We’re not talking about occasional doubts, or having deep unanswered questions (everyone at times has doubts, and all have deep unanswered questions), nor are we talking about struggling with sin. Instead, we’re talking about your heart. Is it fully committed to God, “complete” before Him, or is it divided between God and something of the world? If it is the latter, what choices must you make?
WEDNESDAY
March 17
A Conscience Seared
Last week we saw how Jesus had sharp words for the fake “righteousness” of the scribes and the Pharisees (see Matt. 23:27), calling them “hypocrites.” The word hypocrite in the original language (hupokrites) means “actor.” Jesus was letting them know that He could discern their inner feelings and secret sins. It was as though He were telling them, “You act one way but inside you are another, as though you were acting out in a play. Cannot you be real?” Another time Jesus said, “ ‘Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: “This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me” ’ ” (Mark 7:6, NKJV). His meaning is obvious.
Read 1 Timothy 4:2 and Titus 1:15. What important point is Paul talking about here? Our conscience is the place where the Holy Spirit makes contact with us. What can happen to us if we constantly are doing wrong?
No question, the more we continue in evil, and the more we do what we know is wrong, the more defiled our conscience becomes and the further from the Truth we get. Again, you can have more than enough head knowledge to be saved. The final fires will, unfortunately, have way too many folks who knew more than enough objective truths to be saved. But, as we are saying, objective truth alone is not a fruit of the Spirit. Truth lived out in our life, that’s the fruit we need to bear.
Read Hebrews 5:14 and John 7:16, 17. How do these texts help us better understand the idea of truth as a fruit of the Spirit?
What’s your own experience of a “seared conscience”? How long did it take until the act that had, at first, seared your conscience barely touched it at all? Why did that happen, and why is it so spiritually dangerous?
THURSDAY
March 18
Walking in the Truth
"I rejoiced greatly that I have found some of your children walking in truth, as we received commandment from the Father” (2 John 4, NKJV). “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth” (1 John 1:6, NKJV). What important point is being made in both these texts regarding what it means to have a saving relationship with Jesus?
Truth, as a fruit of the Spirit, isn’t just what we know—it’s what we do. Living in God’s light means more than just knowledge. Look at how John explains what walking in darkness is like: “He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes” (1 John 2:9–11).
Thus, walking in the light, walking in the truth, is more than just keeping the Ten Commandments, at least according to the letter of the law. In the end, when all is said and done, isn’t living in the truth basically manifested by how we deal with people and how we treat them? If we are sharp, cross, unforgiving, vengeful, hateful, unsympathetic; if we treat people as means rather than as ends, if we are trampling upon others in an attempt to advance ourselves, then we are walking in darkness, no matter how strictly we keep the Sabbath, no matter how faithfully we adhere to the health message, no matter how much we profess faith in Jesus, pay tithe, and go to church. In one sense, it’s often a lot easier to learn correct doctrine and theology than it is to be kind, selfless, and giving to others, is it not?
Think about your interactions with folk in the past twenty-four hours. How have you treated them? What kind of words did you use? How comfortable would you be if your attitudes and actions toward them were made public (don’t worry, one day they will; see Matt. 10:26). What does your answer tell you about what changes you need to see made in your life?
FRIDAY
March 19
Further Study:
“It is not the length of time we labor but our willingness and fidelity in the work that makes it acceptable to God. In all our service a full surrender of self is demanded. The smallest duty done in sincerity and self-forgetfulness is more pleasing to God than the greatest work when marred with self-seeking. He looks to see how much of the spirit of Christ we cherish, and how much of the likeness of Christ our work reveals. He regards more the love and faithfulness with which we work than the amount we do.”—Ellen G. White, Christ's Object Lessons,p. 402, emphasis supplied.
“The service rendered in sincerity of heart has great recompense. ‘Thy Father which seeth in secret Himself shall reward thee openly.’ By the life we live through the grace of Christ, the character is formed. The original loveliness begins to be restored to the soul. The attributes of the character of Christ are imparted, and the image of the Divine begins to shine forth. The faces of men and women who walk and work with God express the peace of heaven. They are surrounded with the atmosphere of heaven. For these souls the kingdom of God has begun. They have Christ's joy, the joy of being a blessing to humanity. They have the honor of being accepted for the Master's use; they are trusted to do His work in His name.”—Ellen G. White, The Adventist Home,p. 535.
Discussion Questions:
Is there any sense at all in which truth could be relative; that is, it may not apply all the time to every situation? If not, why not? Are there certain truths, perhaps, that could be relative while others aren’t?
Dwell more on this idea of what it means to be sincere in your faith. However crucial sincerity is, why is that not enough? After all, folk who strap bombs to themselves and blow themselves up are, it would seem, sincere. What else is needed?
Why is spending time in the Word so important if truth is more than head knowledge? What are ways in which we can learn to study our Bible so that the Truth in there can impact and change our lives for the better?
How can you help someone whose conscience has been so hardened in sin that they don’t feel their need of help?
In class, discuss this question: What’s better, to do the right thing for the wrong reason or the wrong thing for the right reason?
I N S I D E Story
In Difficult Times: Part 1
by RICHARD LASU
My partner and I arrived in Kajo Keji, a small town in southern Sudan, to plant a church. We knew no one and had no place to stay, so we prayed for God's leading.
We found a Protestant pastor's home, and he invited us to stay with him that night. The next day was Sabbath, and we spent time explaining to the pastor who we were and what we believe. He invited us to preach in his church the next day, which is a custom in our region. We gladly accepted.
We chose to speak on the Second Coming, for we knew the people would rejoice to be reminded that Jesus is coming again. After church many of the members stopped by the pastor's house where we were staying to visit with us. The next morning we thanked the pastor for his hospitality and went in search of a hut in which to live.
We met a woman in town who said that she had been at church on Sunday. When we told her that we were looking for a place to stay, she suggested that her husband had several huts he wasn't using and was will¬ing to introduce us to him. Her husband agreed to give us a hut at no cost because we were pastors. We thanked the couple and moved in.
That evening the woman gathered her neighbors at the hut to worship with us. For three days we worshiped with these neighbors in the morning and again in the evening. But the woman's husband lost interest and stopped coming.
The next evening as I sat in the hut, I heard feet running on the dirt path. Suddenly our landlord burst into the hut with a gun. "Why are you making my hut a place for worship?" he demanded.
Before I could answer the man, his wife, who had heard the shouting, ran to my hut. Then a soldier entered and pointed his gun at me. He thought I was robbing the man, and he tried to stab me. The landlord's wife cried out, and the soldier realized his mistake.
The landlord ordered us to leave his compound and threw our things outside. We picked up our things and wondered where to go. It was ten o'clock at night, and we had no place to go. Soldiers had imposed a curfew, and it was dangerous to be out. We didn't know what to do.
2 Chronicles 25:2 NKJV 2 And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, but not with a loyal heart.
Psalms 51:17 NKJV 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart-These, O God, You will not despise.
Jeremiah 29:13 NKJV 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
John 7:16-17 NKJV 16 Jesus answered them and said, "My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me. 17 "If anyone wants to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority.
John 14:6 NKJV 6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
John 17:3 NKJV 3 "And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
Hebrews 5:14 NKJV 14 But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
Sunday
“I Am . . . the Truth”
John 14:6 NKJV 6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
John 17:3 NKJV 3 "And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
Monday
The Spirit and Truth
John 16:13 NKJV 13 "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.
John 15:26 NKJV 26 "But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.
Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, pp. 671-672
The Comforter is called "the Spirit of truth." His work is to define and maintain the truth. He first dwells in the heart as the Spirit of truth, and thus He becomes the Comforter. There is comfort and peace in the truth, but no real peace or comfort can be found in falsehood. It is through false theories and traditions that Satan gains his power over the mind. By directing men to false standards, he misshapes the character. 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}
In describing to His disciples the office work of the Holy Spirit, Jesus sought to inspire them with the joy and hope that inspired His own heart. He rejoiced because of the abundant help He had provided for His church. The Holy Spirit was the highest of all gifts that He could solicit from His Father for the exaltation of His people. The Spirit was to be given as a regenerating agent, and without this the sacrifice of Christ would have been of no avail. The power of evil had been strengthening for centuries, and the submission of men to this satanic captivity was amazing. Sin could be resisted and overcome only through the mighty agency of the Third Person of the Godhead, who would come with no modified energy, but in the fullness of divine power. It is the Spirit that makes effectual what has been wrought out by the world's Redeemer. It is by the Spirit that the heart is made pure.
Through the Spirit the believer becomes a partaker of the divine nature. Christ has given His Spirit as a divine power to overcome all hereditary and cultivated tendencies to evil, and to impress His own character upon His church. {DA 671.2}
Of the Spirit Jesus said, "He shall glorify Me." The Saviour came to glorify the Father by the demonstration of His love; so the Spirit was to glorify Christ by revealing His grace to the world. The very image of God is to be reproduced in humanity. The honor of God, the honor of Christ, is involved in the perfection of the character of His people. {DA 671.3}
"When He [the Spirit of truth] is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment." The preaching of the word will be of no avail without the continual presence and aid of the Holy Spirit. This is the only effectual teacher of divine truth. Only (p. 672) when the truth is accompanied to the heart by the Spirit will it quicken the conscience or transform the life. One might be able to present the letter of the word of God, he might be familiar with all its commands and promises; but unless the Holy Spirit sets home the truth, no souls will fall on the Rock and be broken. No amount of education, no advantages, however great, can make one a channel of light without the co-operation of the Spirit of God. The sowing of the gospel seed will not be a success unless the seed is quickened into life by the dew of heaven. Before one book of the New Testament was written, before one gospel sermon had been preached after Christ's ascension, the Holy Spirit came upon the praying apostles. Then the testimony of their enemies was, "Ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine." Acts 5:28. {DA 671.4}
Christ has promised the gift of the Holy Spirit to His church, and the promise belongs to us as much as to the first disciples. But like every other promise, it is given on conditions. There are many who believe and profess to claim the Lord's promise; they talk about Christ and about the Holy Spirit, yet receive no benefit. They do not surrender the soul to be guided and controlled by the divine agencies. We cannot use the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is to use us. Through the Spirit God works in His people "to will and to do of His good pleasure." Philippians 2:13. But many will not submit to this. They want to manage themselves. This is why they do not receive the heavenly gift. Only to those who wait humbly upon God, who watch for His guidance and grace, is the Spirit given. The power of God awaits their demand and reception. This promised blessing, claimed by faith, brings all other blessings in its train. It is given according to the riches of the grace of Christ, and He is ready to supply every soul according to the capacity to receive. {DA 672.1}
In His discourse to the disciples, Jesus made no mournful allusion to His own sufferings and death. His last legacy to them was a legacy of peace. He said, "Peace I leave with you, 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." {DA 672.2}
Before leaving the upper chamber, the Saviour led His disciples in a song of praise. His voice was heard, not in the strains of some mournful lament, but in the joyful notes of the Passover hallel: "O praise the Lord, all ye nations: Praise Him, all ye people. For His merciful kindness is great toward us: And the truth of the Lord endureth forever. Praise ye the Lord." Psalm 117. {DA 672.3}
John 16:8 NKJV 8 "And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
Psalms 51:17 NKJV 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart-These, O God, You will not despise.
Tuesday
“With All Your Heart”
Jeremiah 29:13 NKJV 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
2 Chronicles 25:2 NKJV 2 And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, but not with a loyal heart.
1 Chronicles 29:19 NASB 19 "and give to my son Solomon a perfect heart to keep Thy commandments, Thy testimonies, and Thy statutes, and to do them all, and to build the temple, for which I have made provision."
1 Chronicles 29:19 NKJV 19 "And give my son Solomon a loyal heart to keep Your commandments and Your testimonies and Your statutes, to do all these things, and to build the temple for which I have made provision."
Wednesday
A Conscience Seared
Matthew 23:27 NKJV 27 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.
Mark 7:6 NKJV 6 He answered and said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: 'This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me.
1 Timothy 4:2 NKJV 2 speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron,
Titus 1:15 NKJV 15 To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled.
Hebrews 5:14 NKJV 14 But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
John 7:16-17 NKJV 16 Jesus answered them and said, "My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me. 17 "If anyone wants to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority.
Thursday
Walking in Truth
2 John 1:4 NKJV 4 I rejoiced greatly that I have found some of your children walking in truth, as we received commandment from the Father.
1 John 1:6 NKJV 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
1 John 2:9-11 NKJV 9 He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. 10 He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. 11 But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
Matthew 10:26 NKJV 26 "Therefore do not fear them. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known.
Friday
Ellen G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 402
The first and the last are to be sharers in the great, eternal reward, and the first should gladly welcome the last. He who grudges the reward to another forgets that he himself is saved by grace alone. The parable of the laborers rebukes all jealousy and suspicion. Love rejoices in the truth and institutes no envious comparisons. He who possesses love compares only the loveliness of Christ and his own imperfect character. {COL 402.1}
This parable is a warning to all laborers, however long their service, however abundant their labors, that without love to their brethren, without humility before God, they are nothing. There is no religion in the enthronement of self. He who makes self-glorification his aim will find himself destitute of that grace which alone can make him efficient in Christ's service. Whenever pride and self-complacency are indulged, the work is marred. {COL 402.2}
It is not the length of time we labor but our willingness and fidelity in the work that makes it acceptable to God. In all our service a full surrender of self is demanded.
The smallest duty done in sincerity and self-forgetfulness is more pleasing to God than the greatest work when marred with self-seeking. He looks to see how much of the spirit of Christ we cherish, and how much of the likeness of Christ our work reveals. He regards more the love and faithfulness with which we work than the amount we do. {COL 402.3}
Only when selfishness is dead, when strife for supremacy is banished, when gratitude fills the heart, and love makes fragrant the life--it is only then that Christ is abiding in the soul, and we are recognized as laborers together with God. {COL 402.4}
However trying their labor, the true workers do not regard it as drudgery. They are ready to spend and to be (p. 403) spent; but it is a cheerful work, done with a glad heart. Joy in God is expressed through Jesus Christ. Their joy is the joy set before Christ--"to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish His work." John 4:34. They are in co-operation with the Lord of glory. This thought sweetens all toil, it braces the will, it nerves the spirit for whatever may befall. Working with unselfish heart, ennobled by being partakers of Christ's sufferings, sharing His sympathies, and co-operating with Him in His labor, they help to swell the tide of His joy and bring honor and praise to His exalted name. {COL 402.5}
Ellen G. White, The Adventist Home, p. 535
The life on earth is the beginning of the life in heaven; education on earth is an initiation into the principles of heaven; the lifework here is a training for the lifework there. What we now are, in character and holy service is the sure foreshadowing of what we shall be. {AH 535.1}
The service rendered in sincerity of heart has great recompense. "Thy Father which seeth in secret Himself shall reward thee openly." By the life we live through the grace of Christ, the character is formed. The original loveliness begins to be restored to the soul. The attributes of the character of Christ are imparted, and the image of the Divine begins to shine forth. The faces of men and women who walk and work with God express the peace of heaven. They are surrounded with the atmosphere of heaven. For these souls the kingdom of God has begun. They have Christ's joy, the joy of being a blessing to humanity. They have the honor of being accepted for the Master's use; they are trusted to do His work in His name. {AH 535.2}
All to Be Fitted for the Society of Heaven.--God desires that heaven's plan shall be carried out, and heaven's divine order and harmony prevail, in every family, in every church, in every institution. Did this love leaven society, we should see the outworking of noble principles in Christian refinement and courtesy and in Christian charity toward the purchase of the blood of Christ. Spiritual transformation would be seen in all our families, in our institutions, in our churches. When this transformation takes place, these agencies will become instrumentalities by which God will impart heaven's light to the world and thus, through divine discipline and training, fit men and women for the society of heaven. (p. 536) {AH 535.3}
Jerry Giardina of Pecos, Texas, assisted by his wife, Cheryl, prepares a series of helps to accompany the Sabbath School lesson. He includes all related scripture and most EGW quotations. Jerry has chosen the "New King James Version" of the scriptures this quarter. It is used with permission.
http://www.whiteestate.org/
"Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled"
[This chapter is based on John 13:31-38; 14-17.]
Looking upon His disciples with divine love and with the tenderest sympathy, Christ said, "Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in Him." Judas had left the upper chamber, and Christ was alone with the eleven. He was about to speak of His approaching separation from them; but before doing this He pointed to the great object of His mission. It was this that He kept ever before Him. It was His joy that all His humiliation and suffering would glorify the Father's name. To this He first directs the thoughts of His disciples.
Then addressing them by the endearing term, "Little children," He said, "Yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek Me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you."
The disciples could not rejoice when they heard this. Fear fell upon them. They pressed close about the Saviour. Their Master and Lord, their beloved Teacher and Friend, He was dearer to them than life. To Him they had looked for help in all their difficulties, for comfort in their sorrows and disappointments. Now He was to leave them, a lonely, dependent company. Dark were the forebodings that filled their hearts.
But the Saviour's words to them were full of hope. He knew that they were to be assailed by the enemy, and that Satan's craft is most successful against those who are depressed by difficulties. Therefore He pointed them away from "the things which are seen," to "the things which are not seen." 2 Cor. 4:18. From earthly exile He turned their thoughts to the heavenly home.
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"Let not your heart be troubled," He said; "ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that were I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know." For your sake I came into the world. I am working in your behalf. When I go away, I shall still work earnestly for you. I came into the world to reveal Myself to you, that you might believe. I go to the Father to co-operate with Him in your behalf. The object of Christ's departure was the opposite of what the disciples feared. It did not mean a final separation. He was going to prepare a place for them, that He might come again, and receive them unto Himself. While He was building mansions for them, they were to build characters after the divine similitude.
Still the disciples were perplexed. Thomas, always troubled by doubts, said, "Lord, we know not whither Thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me. If ye had known Me, ye should have known My Father also: and from henceforth ye know Him, and have seen Him."
There are not many ways to heaven. Each one may not choose his own way. Christ says, "I am the way: . . . no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me." Since the first gospel sermon was preached, when in Eden it was declared that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head, Christ had been uplifted as the way, the truth, and the life. He was the way when Adam lived, when Abel presented to God the blood of the slain lamb, representing the blood of the Redeemer. Christ was the way by which patriarchs and prophets were saved. He is the way by which alone we can have access to God.
"If ye had known Me," Christ said, "ye should have known My Father also: and from henceforth ye know Him, and have seen Him." But not yet did the disciples understand. "Lord, show us the Father," exclaimed Philip, "and it sufficeth us."
Amazed at his dullness of comprehension, Christ asked with pained surprise, "Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known Me, Philip?" Is it possible that you do not see the Father in the works He does through Me? Do you not believe that I came to testify of the Father? "How sayest thou then, Show us the Father?" "He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father." Christ had not ceased to be
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God when He became man. Though He had humbled Himself to humanity, the Godhead was still His own. Christ alone could represent the Father to humanity, and this representation the disciples had been privileged to behold for over three years.
"Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me: or else believe Me for the very works' sake." Their faith might safely rest on the evidence given in Christ's works, works that no man, of himself, ever had done, or ever could do. Christ's work testified to His divinity. Through Him the Father had been revealed.
If the disciples believed this vital connection between the Father and the Son, their faith would not forsake them when they saw Christ's suffering and death to save a perishing world. Christ was seeking to lead them from their low condition of faith to the experience they might receive if they truly realized what He was,--God in human flesh. He desired them to see that their faith must lead up to God, and be anchored there. How earnestly and perseveringly our compassionate Saviour sought to prepare His disciples for the storm of temptation that was soon to beat upon them. He would have them hid with Him in God.
As Christ was speaking these words, the glory of God was shining from His countenance, and all present felt a sacred awe as they listened with rapt attention to His words. Their hearts were more decidedly drawn to Him; and as they were drawn to Christ in greater love, they were drawn to one another. They felt that heaven was very near, and that the words to which they listened were a message to them from their heavenly Father.
"Verily, verily, I say unto you," Christ continued, "He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also." The Saviour was deeply anxious for His disciples to understand for what purpose His divinity was united to humanity. He came to the world to display the glory of God, that man might be uplifted by its restoring power. God was manifested in Him that He might be manifested in them. Jesus revealed no qualities, and exercised no powers, that men may not have through faith in Him. His perfect humanity is that which all His followers may possess, if they will be in subjection to God as He was.
"And greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto My Father." By this Christ did not mean that the disciples' work would be of a more exalted character than His, but that it would have greater extent. He did not refer merely to miracle working, but to all that would take place under the working of the Holy Spirit.
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After the Lord's ascension, the disciples realized the fulfillment of His promise. The scenes of the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of Christ were a living reality to them. They saw that the prophecies had been literally fulfilled. They searched the Scriptures, and accepted their teaching with a faith and assurance unknown before. They knew that the divine Teacher was all that He had claimed to be. As they told their experience, and exalted the love of God, men's hearts were melted and subdued, and multitudes believed on Jesus.
The Saviour's promise to His disciples is a promise to His church to the end of time. God did not design that His wonderful plan to redeem men should achieve only insignificant results. All who will go to work, trusting not in what they themselves can do, but in what God can do for and through them, will certainly realize the fulfillment of His promise. "Greater works than these shall ye do," He declares; "because I go unto My Father."
As yet the disciples were unacquainted with the Saviour's unlimited resources and power. He said to them, "Hitherto have ye asked nothing in My name." John 16:24. He explained that the secret of their success would be in asking for strength and grace in His name. He would be present before the Father to make request for them. The prayer of the humble suppliant He presents as His own desire in that soul's behalf. Every sincere prayer is heard in heaven. It may not be fluently expressed; but if the heart is in it, it will ascend to the sanctuary where Jesus ministers, and He will present it to the Father without one awkward, stammering word, beautiful and fragrant with the incense of His own perfection.
The path of sincerity and integrity is not a path free from obstruction, but in every difficulty we are to see a call to prayer. There is no one living who has any power that he has not received from God, and the source whence it comes is open to the weakest human being. "Whatsoever ye shall ask in My name," said Jesus, "that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in My name, I will do it."
"In My name," Christ bade His disciples pray. In Christ's name His followers are to stand before God. Through the value of the sacrifice made for them, they are of value in the Lord's sight. Because of the imputed righteousness of Christ they are accounted precious. For Christ's sake the Lord pardons those that fear Him. He does not see in them the vileness of the sinner. He recognizes in them the likeness of His Son, in whom they believe.
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The Lord is disappointed when His people place a low estimate upon themselves. He desires His chosen heritage to value themselves according to the price He has placed upon them. God wanted them, else He would not have sent His Son on such an expensive errand to redeem them. He has a use for them, and He is well pleased when they make the very highest demands upon Him, that they may glorify His name. They may expect large things if they have faith in His promises.
But to pray in Christ's name means much. It means that we are to accept His character, manifest His spirit, and work His works. The Saviour's promise is given on condition. "If ye love Me," He says, "keep My commandments." He saves men, not in sin, but from sin; and those who love Him will show their love by obedience.
All true obedience comes from the heart. It was heart work with Christ. And if we consent, He will so identify Himself with our thoughts and aims, so blend our hearts and minds into conformity to His will, that when obeying Him we shall be but carrying out our own impulses. The will, refined and sanctified, will find its highest delight in doing His service. When we know God as it is our privilege to know Him, our life will be a life of continual obedience. Through an appreciation of the character of Christ, through communion with God, sin will become hateful to us.
As Christ lived the law in humanity, so we may do if we will take hold of the Strong for strength. But we are not to place the responsibility of our duty upon others, and wait for them to tell us what to do. We cannot depend for counsel upon humanity. The Lord will teach us our duty just as willingly as He will teach somebody else. If we come to Him in faith, He will speak His mysteries to us personally. Our hearts will often burn within us as One draws nigh to commune with us as He did with Enoch. Those who decide to do nothing in any line that will displease God, will know, after presenting their case before Him, just what course to pursue. And they will receive not only wisdom, but strength. Power for obedience, for service, will be imparted to them, as Christ has promised. Whatever was given to Christ--the "all things" to supply the need of fallen men--was given to Him as the head and representative of humanity. And "whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight." 1 John 3:22.
Before offering Himself as the sacrificial victim, Christ sought for the most essential and complete gift to bestow upon His followers, a gift that
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would bring within their reach the boundless resources of grace. "I will pray the Father," He said, "and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you orphans: I will come to you." John 14:16-18, margin.
Before this the Spirit had been in the world; from the very beginning of the work of redemption He had been moving upon men's hearts. But while Christ was on earth, the disciples had desired no other helper. Not until they were deprived of His presence would they feel their need of the Spirit, and then He would come.
The Holy Spirit is Christ's representative, but divested of the personality of humanity, and independent thereof. Cumbered with humanity, Christ could not be in every place personally. Therefore it was for their interest that He should go to the Father, and send the Spirit to be His successor on earth. No one could then have any advantage because of his location or his personal contact with Christ. By the Spirit the Saviour would be accessible to all. In this sense He would be nearer to them than if He had not ascended on high.
"He that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him." Jesus read the future of His disciples. He saw one brought to the scaffold, one to the cross, one to exile among the lonely rocks of the sea, others to persecution and death. He encouraged them with the promise that in every trial He would be with them. That promise has lost none of its force. The Lord knows all about His faithful servants who for His sake are lying in prison or who are banished to lonely islands. He comforts them with His own presence. When for the truth's sake the believer stands at the bar of unrighteous tribunals, Christ stands by his side. All the reproaches that fall upon him, fall upon Christ. Christ is condemned over again in the person of His disciple. When one is incarcerated in prison walls, Christ ravishes the heart with His love. When one suffers death for His sake, Christ says, "I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forevermore, . . . and have the keys of hell and of death." Rev. 1:18. The life that is sacrificed for Me is preserved unto eternal glory.
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
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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.
The disciples still failed to understand Christ's words in their spiritual sense, and again He explained His meaning. By the Spirit, He said, He would manifest Himself to them. "The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things." No more will you say, I cannot comprehend. No longer will you see through a glass, darkly. You shall "be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge." Eph. 3:18, 19.
The disciples were to bear witness to the life and work of Christ. Through their word He was to speak to all the people on the face of the earth. But in the humiliation and death of Christ they were to suffer great trial and disappointment. That after this experience their word might be accurate, Jesus promised that the Comforter should "bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."
"I have yet many things to say unto you," He continued, "but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will show you things to come. He shall glorify Me: for He shall receive of Mine, and shall show it unto you." Jesus had opened before His disciples a vast tract of truth. But it was most difficult for them to keep His lessons distinct from the traditions and maxims of the scribes and Pharisees. They had been educated to accept the teaching of the rabbis as the voice of God, and it still held a power over their minds, and molded their sentiments. Earthly ideas, temporal things, still had a large place in their thoughts. They did not understand the spiritual nature of Christ's kingdom, though He had so often explained it to them. Their minds had become confused. They did not comprehend the value of the scriptures Christ presented. Many of His lessons seemed almost lost upon them. Jesus saw that they did not lay hold of the real meaning of His words. He compassionately promised that the Holy Spirit should recall these sayings to their minds. And He had left unsaid many things that could not be comprehended by the disciples. These also would be opened to them by the Spirit. The Spirit was to quicken their
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understanding, that they might have an appreciation of heavenly things. "When He, the Spirit of truth, is come," said Jesus, "He will guide you into all truth."
The Comforter is called "the Spirit of truth." His work is to define and maintain the truth. He first dwells in the heart as the Spirit of truth, and thus He becomes the Comforter. There is comfort and peace in the truth, but no real peace or comfort can be found in falsehood. It is through false theories and traditions that Satan gains his power over the mind. By directing men to false standards, he misshapes the character. 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.
In describing to His disciples the office work of the Holy Spirit, Jesus sought to inspire them with the joy and hope that inspired His own heart. He rejoiced because of the abundant help He had provided for His church. The Holy Spirit was the highest of all gifts that He could solicit from His Father for the exaltation of His people. The Spirit was to be given as a regenerating agent, and without this the sacrifice of Christ would have been of no avail. The power of evil had been strengthening for centuries, and the submission of men to this satanic captivity was amazing. Sin could be resisted and overcome only through the mighty agency of the Third Person of the Godhead, who would come with no modified energy, but in the fullness of divine power. It is the Spirit that makes effectual what has been wrought out by the world's Redeemer. It is by the Spirit that the heart is made pure. Through the Spirit the believer becomes a partaker of the divine nature. Christ has given His Spirit as a divine power to overcome all hereditary and cultivated tendencies to evil, and to impress His own character upon His church.
Of the Spirit Jesus said, "He shall glorify Me." The Saviour came to glorify the Father by the demonstration of His love; so the Spirit was to glorify Christ by revealing His grace to the world. The very image of God is to be reproduced in humanity. The honor of God, the honor of Christ, is involved in the perfection of the character of His people.
"When He [the Spirit of truth] is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment." The preaching of the word will be of no avail without the continual presence and aid of the Holy Spirit. This is the only effectual teacher of divine truth. Only
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when the truth is accompanied to the heart by the Spirit will it quicken the conscience or transform the life. One might be able to present the letter of the word of God, he might be familiar with all its commands and promises; but unless the Holy Spirit sets home the truth, no souls will fall on the Rock and be broken. No amount of education, no advantages, however great, can make one a channel of light without the co-operation of the Spirit of God. The sowing of the gospel seed will not be a success unless the seed is quickened into life by the dew of heaven. Before one book of the New Testament was written, before one gospel sermon had been preached after Christ's ascension, the Holy Spirit came upon the praying apostles. Then the testimony of their enemies was, "Ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine." Acts 5:28.
Christ has promised the gift of the Holy Spirit to His church, and the promise belongs to us as much as to the first disciples. But like every other promise, it is given on conditions. There are many who believe and profess to claim the Lord's promise; they talk about Christ and about the Holy Spirit, yet receive no benefit. They do not surrender the soul to be guided and controlled by the divine agencies. We cannot use the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is to use us. Through the Spirit God works in His people "to will and to do of His good pleasure." Phil. 2:13. But many will not submit to this. They want to manage themselves. This is why they do not receive the heavenly gift. Only to those who wait humbly upon God, who watch for His guidance and grace, is the Spirit given. The power of God awaits their demand and reception. This promised blessing, claimed by faith, brings all other blessings in its train. It is given according to the riches of the grace of Christ, and He is ready to supply every soul according to the capacity to receive.
In His discourse to the disciples, Jesus made no mournful allusion to His own sufferings and death. His last legacy to them was a legacy of peace. He said, "Peace I leave with you, 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."
Before leaving the upper chamber, the Saviour led His disciples in a song of praise. His voice was heard, not in the strains of some mournful lament, but in the joyful notes of the Passover hallel:
"O praise the Lord, all ye nations: Praise Him, all ye people. For His merciful kindness is great toward us: And the truth of the Lord endureth forever. Praise ye the Lord." Psalm 117.
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After the hymn, they went out. Through the crowded streets they made their way, passing out of the city gate toward the Mount of Olives. Slowly they proceeded, each busy with his own thoughts. As they began to descend toward the mount, Jesus said, in a tone of deepest sadness, "All ye shall be offended because of Me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad." Matt. 26:31. The disciples listened in sorrow and amazement. They remembered how in the synagogue at Capernaum, when Christ spoke of Himself as the bread of life, many had been offended, and had turned away from Him. But the twelve had not shown themselves unfaithful. Peter, speaking for his brethren, had then declared his loyalty to Christ. Then the Saviour had said, "Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?" John 6:70. In the upper chamber Jesus said that one of the twelve would betray Him, and that Peter would deny Him. But now His words include them all.
Now Peter's voice is heard vehemently protesting, "Although all shall be offended, yet will not I." In the upper chamber he had declared, "I will lay down my life for Thy sake." Jesus had warned him that he would that very night deny his Saviour. Now Christ repeats the warning: "Verily I say unto thee, That this day, even in this night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny Me thrice." But Peter only "spake the more vehemently, If I should die with Thee, I will not deny Thee in anywise. Likewise also said they all." Mark 14:29, 30, 31. In their self-confidence they denied the repeated statement of Him who knew. They were unprepared for the test; when temptation should overtake them, they would understand their own weakness.
When Peter said he would follow his Lord to prison and to death, he meant it, every word of it; but he did not know himself. Hidden in his heart were elements of evil that circumstances would fan into life. Unless he was made conscious of his danger, these would prove his eternal ruin. The Saviour saw in him a self-love and assurance that would overbear even his love for Christ. Much of infirmity, of unmortified sin, carelessness of spirit, unsanctified temper, heedlessness in entering into temptation, had been revealed in his experience. Christ's solemn warning was a call to heart searching. Peter needed to distrust himself, and to have a deeper faith in Christ. Had he in humility received the warning, he would have appealed to the Shepherd of the flock to keep His sheep. When on the Sea of Galilee he was about to sink, he cried, "Lord, save me." Matt. 14:30. Then the hand of Christ was outstretched
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to grasp his hand. So now if he had cried to Jesus, Save me from myself, he would have been kept. But Peter felt that he was distrusted, and he thought it cruel. He was already offended, and he became more persistent in his self-confidence.
Jesus looks with compassion on His disciples. He cannot save them from the trial, but He does not leave them comfortless. He assures them that He is to break the fetters of the tomb, and that His love for them will not fail. "After I am risen again," He says, "I will go before you into Galilee." Matt. 26:32. Before the denial, they have the assurance of forgiveness. After His death and resurrection, they knew that they were forgiven, and were dear to the heart of Christ.
Jesus and the disciples were on the way to Gethsemane, at the foot of Mount Olivet, a retired spot which He had often visited for meditation and prayer. The Saviour had been explaining to His disciples His mission to the world, and the spiritual relation to Him which they were to sustain. Now He illustrates the lesson. The moon is shining bright, and reveals to Him a flourishing grapevine. Drawing the attention of the disciples to it, He employs it as a symbol.
"I am the true Vine," He says. Instead of choosing the graceful palm, the lofty cedar, or the strong oak, Jesus takes the vine with its clinging tendrils to represent Himself. The palm tree, the cedar, and the oak stand alone. They require no support. But the vine entwines about the trellis, and thus climbs heavenward. So Christ in His humanity was
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dependent upon divine power. "I can of Mine own self do nothing," He declared. John 5:30.
"I am the true Vine." The Jews had always regarded the vine as the most noble of plants, and a type of all that was powerful, excellent, and fruitful. Israel had been represented as a vine which God had planted in the Promised Land. The Jews based their hope of salvation on the fact of their connection with Israel. But Jesus says, I am the real Vine. Think not that through a connection with Israel you may become partakers of the life of God, and inheritors of His promise. Through Me alone is spiritual life received.
"I am the true Vine, and My Father is the husbandman." On the hills of Palestine our heavenly Father had planted this goodly Vine, and He Himself was the husbandman. Many were attracted by the beauty of this Vine, and declared its heavenly origin. But to the leaders in Israel it appeared as a root out of a dry ground. They took the plant, and bruised it, and trampled it under their unholy feet. Their thought was to destroy it forever. But the heavenly Husbandman never lost sight of His plant. After men thought they had killed it, He took it, and replanted it on the other side of the wall. The vine stock was to be no longer visible. It was hidden from the rude assaults of men. But the branches of the Vine hung over the wall. They were to represent the Vine. Through them grafts might still be united to the Vine. From them fruit has been obtained. There has been a harvest which the passers-by have plucked.
"I am the Vine, ye are the branches," Christ said to His disciples. Though He was about to be removed from them, their spiritual union with Him was to be unchanged. The connection of the branch with the vine, He said, represents the relation you are to sustain to Me. The scion is engrafted into the living vine, and fiber by fiber, vein by vein, it grows into the vine stock. The life of the vine becomes the life of the branch. So the soul dead in trespasses and sins receives life through connection with Christ. By faith in Him as a personal Saviour the union is formed. The sinner unites his weakness to Christ's strength, his emptiness to Christ's fullness, his frailty to Christ's enduring might. Then he has the mind of Christ. The humanity of Christ has touched our humanity, and our humanity has touched divinity. Thus through the agency of the Holy Spirit man becomes a partaker of the divine nature. He is accepted in the Beloved.
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This union with Christ, once formed, must be maintained. Christ said, "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in Me." This is no casual touch, no off-and-on connection. The branch becomes a part of the living vine. The communication of life, strength, and fruitfulness from the root to the branches is unobstructed and constant. Separated from the vine, the branch cannot live. No more, said Jesus, can you live apart from Me. The life you have received from Me can be preserved only by continual communion. Without Me you cannot overcome one sin, or resist one temptation.
"Abide in Me, and I in you." Abiding in Christ means a constant receiving of His Spirit, a life of unreserved surrender to His service. The channel of communication must be open continually between man and his God. As the vine branch constantly draws the sap from the living vine, so are we to cling to Jesus, and receive from Him by faith the strength and perfection of His own character.
The root sends its nourishment through the branch to the outermost twig. So Christ communicates the current of spiritual strength to every believer. So long as the soul is united to Christ, there is no danger that it will wither or decay.
The life of the vine will be manifest in fragrant fruit on the branches. "He that abideth in Me," said Jesus, "and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing." When we live by faith on the Son of God, the fruits of the Spirit will be seen in our lives; not one will be missing.
"My Father is the husbandman. Every branch in Me that beareth not fruit He taketh away." While the graft is outwardly united with the vine, there may be no vital connection. Then there will be no growth or fruitfulness. So there may be an apparent connection with Christ without a real union with Him by faith. A profession of religion places men in the church, but the character and conduct show whether they are in connection with Christ. If they bear no fruit, they are false branches. Their separation from Christ involves a ruin as complete as that represented by the dead branch. "If a man abide not in Me," said Christ, "he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned."
"And every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth [pruneth] it, that it may bring forth more fruit." From the chosen twelve who had followed
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Jesus, one as a withered branch was about to be taken away; the rest were to pass under the pruning knife of bitter trial. Jesus with solemn tenderness explained the purpose of the husbandman. The pruning will cause pain, but it is the Father who applies the knife. He works with no wanton hand or indifferent heart. There are branches trailing upon the ground; these must be cut loose from the earthly supports to which their tendrils are fastening. They are to reach heavenward, and find their support in God. The excessive foliage that draws away the life current from the fruit must be pruned off. The overgrowth must be cut out, to give room for the healing beams of the Sun of Righteousness. The husbandman prunes away the harmful growth, that the fruit may be richer and more abundant.
"Herein is My Father glorified," said Jesus, "that ye bear much fruit." God desires to manifest through you the holiness, the benevolence, the compassion, of His own character. Yet the Saviour does not bid the disciples labor to bear fruit. He tells them to abide in Him. "If ye abide in Me," He says, "and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." It is through the word that Christ abides in His followers. This is the same vital union that is represented by eating His flesh and drinking His blood. The words of Christ are spirit and life. Receiving them, you receive the life of the Vine. You live "by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Matt. 4:4. The life of Christ in you produces the same fruits as in Him. Living in Christ, adhering to Christ, supported by Christ, drawing nourishment from Christ, you bear fruit after the similitude of Christ.
In this last meeting with His disciples, the great desire which Christ expressed for them was that they might love one another as He had loved them. Again and again He spoke of this. "These things I command you," He said repeatedly, "that ye love one another." His very first injunction when alone with them in the upper chamber was, "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another." To the disciples this commandment was new; for they had not loved one another as Christ had loved them. He saw that new ideas and impulses must control them; that new principles must be practiced by them; through His life and death they were to receive a new conception of love. The command to love one another had a new meaning in the light of His self-sacrifice. The whole
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work of grace is one continual service of love, of self-denying, self-sacrificing effort. 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.
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.
This love, manifested in the church, will surely stir the wrath of Satan. Christ did not mark out for His disciples an easy path. "If the world hate you," He said, "ye know that it hated Me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept My saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for My name's sake, because they know not Him that sent Me." The gospel is to be carried forward by aggressive warfare, in the midst of opposition, peril, loss, and suffering. But those who do this work are only following in their Master's steps.
As the world's Redeemer, Christ was constantly confronted with apparent failure. He, the messenger of mercy to our world, seemed to do little of the work He longed to do in uplifting and saving. Satanic influences were constantly working to oppose His way. But He would not be discouraged. Through the prophecy of Isaiah He declares, "I have labored in vain, I have spent My strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely My judgment is with the Lord, and My work with My God. . . . Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and My God shall be My strength." It is to Christ that the promise is given, "Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and His Holy One, to Him whom man despiseth, to Him whom the nation
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abhorreth; . . . thus saith the Lord: . . . I will preserve Thee, and give Thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; that Thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Show yourselves. . . . They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for He that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall He guide them." Isa. 49:4, 5, 7-10.
Upon this word Jesus rested, and He gave Satan no advantage. When the last steps of Christ's humiliation were to be taken, when the deepest sorrow was closing about His soul, He said to His disciples, "The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in Me." "The prince of this world is judged." Now shall he be cast out. John 14:30; 16:11; 12:31. With prophetic eye Christ traced the scenes to take place in His last great conflict. He knew that when He should exclaim, "It is finished," all heaven would triumph. His ear caught the distant music and the shouts of victory in the heavenly courts. He knew that the knell of Satan's empire would then be sounded, and the name of Christ would be heralded from world to world throughout the universe.
Christ rejoiced that He could do more for His followers than they could ask or think. He spoke with assurance, knowing that an almighty decree had been given before the world was made. He knew that truth, armed with the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit, would conquer in the contest with evil; and that the bloodstained banner would wave triumphantly over His followers. He knew that the life of His trusting disciples would be like His, a series of uninterrupted victories, not seen to be such here, but recognized as such in the great hereafter.
"These things I have spoken unto you," He said, "that in Me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." Christ did not fail, neither was He discouraged, and His followers are to manifest a faith of the same enduring nature. They are to live as He lived, and work as He worked, because they depend on Him as the great Master Worker. Courage, energy, and perseverance they must possess. Though apparent impossibilities obstruct their way, by His grace they are to go forward. Instead of deploring difficulties, they are called upon to surmount them. They are to despair of nothing, and to hope for everything. With the golden chain of His matchless love Christ has bound them to the throne of God. It is His purpose that the highest influence in the universe, emanating from the source of all power, shall be theirs. They are to have power
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to resist evil, power that neither earth, nor death, nor hell can master, power that will enable them to overcome as Christ overcame.
Christ designs that heaven's order, heaven's plan of government, heaven's divine harmony, shall be represented in His church on earth. Thus in His people He is glorified. Through them the Sun of Righteousness will shine in undimmed luster to the world. Christ has given to His church ample facilities, that He may receive a large revenue of glory from His redeemed, purchased possession. He has bestowed upon His people capabilities and blessings that they may represent His own sufficiency. The church, endowed with the righteousness of Christ, is His depositary, in which the riches of His mercy, His grace, and His love, are to appear in full and final display. Christ looks upon His people in their purity and perfection, as the reward of His humiliation, and the supplement of His glory,--Christ, the great Center, from whom radiates all glory.
With strong, hopeful words the Saviour ended His instruction. Then He poured out the burden of His soul in prayer for His disciples. Lifting His eyes to heaven, He said, "Father, the hour is come; glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee: as Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him. And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent."
Christ had finished the work that was given Him to do. He had glorified God on the earth. He had manifested the Father's name. He had gathered out those who were to continue His work among men. And He said, "I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to Thee. Holy Father, keep through Thine own name those whom Thou hast given Me, that they may be one, as We are." "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on Me through their word; that they all may be one; . . . I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me."
Thus in the language of one who has divine authority, Christ gives His elect church into the Father's arms. As a consecrated high priest He intercedes for His people. As a faithful shepherd He gathers His flock under the shadow of the Almighty, in the strong and sure refuge. For Him there waits the last battle with Satan, and He goes forth to meet it.
Here's Pastor Doug Batchelor from www.amazingfacts.com CLICK ON THE LINK THAT FOLLOWS FOR A VIDEO OF THE SABBATH SCHOOL LESSON PRESENTED BY DR DEREK MORRIS OF THE LAKE FOREST CHURCH
“ ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled’ ” (Matt. 5:6, NKJV).
Beautiful From the Inside Katelyn Reed, Melbourne, Australia Sabbath Introduction Matt. 23:25−28
In many parts of the world, a great deal of emphasis is placed on self-improvement and personal appearances. Much of the desire to be youthful and beautiful is fueled by the advertising industry, whose message seems to be, “If you look good, you’ll feel good, and you’ll achieve more in your life.” Consequently, many people invest considerable effort and expense in dieting, cosmetic surgery, gym memberships, and a wide range of self-improvement techniques to ensure that they are always looking their youthful best.
To exhibit righteousness properly involves one’s interior as well as exterior life.
For two weeks in October 2008, I volunteered to participate in an overseas mission trip. We travelled to aore adventist academy in Vanuatu, where we assisted in the maintenance of several campus buildings. It was a tremendous experience to help restore the exterior of those buildings to their former glory. However, our group felt that we benefited far more than the recipients of our volunteer work. Sure, it was hot, hard work to scrub mold and flaky paint off the outside of the buildings before we could paint them. yet it was not the work that enriched our lives. It was the treasure we discovered on the inside of those buildings—the spiritually sincere and loving hearts of the aore students.
In Matthew 23:27, Jesus compares the teachers of the law and the Pharisees to “ ‘whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean’ ” (NIV). In other words, the exteriors of the buildings were brilliantly maintained, but the contents were dead and decaying. evidently, to exhibit righteousness properly involves one’s interior as well as exterior life.
We cannot hope to develop righteousness as a fruit of the Spirit by merely exercising our personal strengths, resources, and endeavors. at best, our finest efforts can only match the experience of those whom Jesus so pointedly criticized. We will achieve only an outward appearance of righteousness.
Righteousness is a fruit of the Spirit that is beautiful, externally and internally. Jesus is the author of that righteousness, and it is only as we allow the Holy Spirit to help us grow and nurture Christ’s righteousness within us that our lives can become the treasure we desire it to be for our God—beautiful on the outside and on the inside.
A Righteous Cause Lincoln Steed, Hagerstown, Maryland, U.S.A. Sunday Logos Matt. 23:25–28; Rom. 3:28; 8:1–4; 10:1–3; Gal. 3:6; 1 John 2:3–6; 5:1–3
Receiving Eternal Life(Mark 10:17–22) It’s one of the most urgent questions anyone can ask, “ ‘What must I do to inherit eternal life?’ ” (Mark 10:17, NIV). The rich young ruler, who asked the question of Jesus, thought he already knew the answer. He thought his careful to-do list of good deeds had already done the trick. and, yes, we read that he went away sorrowful when Jesus added one more item to the list—giving up all his possessions. The righteous cause we are about is not how good we have to be.
But unless that story is read correctly, it will only deepen the mystery of how we can inherit eternal life. logically, we must recognize that the rich young ruler would still be lacking in effective righteousness even if he had given away all that he had. He would then have been on the right track to “knowing Jesus”—shorthand for something theologians argue about and make obtuse, but yet the very essence of what the entire issue of salvation centers on.
Jesus spent well over three years with His disciples. But did they really know Him by the time the soldiers took Him by force in the garden? Yes, they recognized Him as a Great Teacher. On one occasion, after Jesus had scared many of His followers away with talk of His martyrdom, Peter actually confessed that he thought Jesus to be the Christ, the Son of the living God. How much he understood of his own statement is in Jesus’ comment that it came not from man, but an answer given to Him. Certainly Peter resorted rather easily to forbidden force in trying to save Jesus, and then fled the scene of His arrest to perjure his faith by repeated profanities. He knew Jesus well enough to be heartbroken at the loss of a friend; but not until Pentecost did he know what knowing Jesus really meant.
What Does Obedience Have to Do With It?(1 John 2:3) “Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments” (1 John 2:3, NKJV). Much of the Christian life is not easily self-perceived. In fact, as with the rich young ruler, it almost goes without saying that someone’s claim to be good or perfect only highlights his or her deficiency—revealing pride if nothing else, which was, after all, Lucifer’s original sin. Yet, a sign of knowing Jesus is in keeping His commandments.
I sometimes think that we have overexplained the dynamic of obedience, perfection, and righteousness. The legality of our salvation is clear. We lost all because of Adam’s sin and our continuing propensity to repeat it. By a life of obedience carried forward even to the Cross, the God-man Jesus Christ redeemed us from the consequences of sin and gave our Creator the moral right before His own creation to reclaim us from the state of disobedience. That much we had nothing to do with. It was unmerited favor from the Creator. It is in the practicality of how we were reclaimed that much of the confusion arises.
In 1 John 5:1, we read that “whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God” (NKJV). The believing here is more than mental assent. In verse 6, John speaks of water and blood. In this, there is talk of the Spirit. This is, of course, a repetition of Jesus’ counsel to Nicodemus that in order to be saved one must be born of water and the Spirit. In 1 John, we are reminded that for us, water means dying to the old life. However, for Jesus it was “blood”—His actual death—that has practical value for our transformation. and all of this is empowered by the Holy Spirit.
There is a wonderful triumphalism in John’s words. “Whatever is born of God overcomes the world,” he proclaims. “and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith” (verse 4, NKJV).
Faith without works is dead, James tells us in his epistle (James 2:17). John has shown us that faith is the actual dynamic of belief and action that proves the righteousness of God in our lives. Without this dynamic, we are not saved. Without it we show that we have never “seen” Jesus. Without it we can never begin to emulate our Lord and vindicate the trust He has placed in us. Put another way, the righteous cause we are about is not how good we have to be. We are all poor judges of our own actions. We are to be about having the mind of Christ. That is quite a tall character call. Thank God we have the power of the Holy Spirit to inspire and mold not only our actions, but our very state of mind.
REACT 1. Can we say, I am saved—present continuous? How else can we express it? 2. Are we saved because we obey? Or do we obey because we are saved? Can we “be saved” without obedience? explain your answers. 3. John seems to put much on the emotional relationship established by Jesus’ life and death. How is this central? 4. If we are under obligation to God, at what point do we meet His expectation?
Love Is a Doing Word Kate Hollingsworth, Coldstream, Victoria, Australia Monday Testimony 1 John 4:16
“Righteousness is holiness, likeness to God, and ‘God is love.’ 1 John 4:16. It is conformity to the law of God, for ‘all Thy commandments are righteousness’ (Psalm 119:172), and ‘love is the fulfilling of the law’ (romans 13:10). Righteousness is love, and love is the light and the life of God. The righteousness of God is embodied in Christ. We receive righteousness by receiving Him.
Jesus loves practically.
“Not by painful struggles or wearisome toil, not by gift or sacrifice, is righteousness obtained; but it is freely given to every soul who hungers and thirsts to receive it.”1
More than merely the absence of sin in our lives, righteousness is God’s love, which is His character and law. Because love is a doing word, righteousness is surrendering to God and allowing His love and goodness to be lived through us. It is trusting that the opportunities, wisdom, talents, resources, and power to love practically come from God. It is listening to the Spirit’s promptings and being a channel through which God can meet needs.
Jesus loves practically. He helped His tired friends catch fish, and He healed entire villages. He befriended outcasts and showed compassion to a woman caught in adultery. He died our death, so that His righteousness would cover us; and now He mixes His righteousness with our prayers and presents them to His Father.
Yet He is not always permissive and softly spoken in His love. Jesus drove money-changers from His Father’s house when they did not honor God, and He spoke the truth in love when it was difficult to hear. Love needs to be clear to be kind, setting boundaries and protecting people from crossing them and hurting themselves. Love is saying “No” when it is not popular to say “No.” Love can be messy, difficult, and tiring. To love this way requires faith, which is also a fruit of the Spirit!
Jesus is our example and Substitute for righteousness. Let us continue to meditate on His life, and “as we discern the perfection of our Saviour’s character we shall desire to become wholly transformed and renewed in the image of His purity. The more we know of God, the higher will be our ideal of character and the more earnest our longing to reflect His likeness.”2 ____________ 1. Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, p. 18. 2. Ibid., p. 19.
More Than Appearances Larissa Gredig, Warburton, Victoria, Australia Tuesday Evidence Matt. 23:25−27; Rom. 3:28
During the time of Christ, the “letter of and spirit of legalism—of righteousness by one’s own works—which in NT times, came to be identified with Jewish religion, accurately reflected the spirit and teachings of the Pharisees.” They “tended to overlook the fact that the disposition of the heart was of greater importance than the outward act.”* They believed that keeping the innumerable laws they had created would prove one was a righteous Jew and would therefore secure one’s place in heaven. There are still those who believe that what they do is more important than what they believe.
Jesus had been talking with the people about doing what is right. The Pharisees, hearing that the Sadducees were unable to trick Jesus with their questions, decided they would give it a try. Jesus answered their questions in turn and then delivered a powerful rebuttal. “ ‘you are hypocrites! you wash the outside of your cups and dishes, but inside they are full of things you got by cheating others and pleasing only yourselves’ ” (Matt. 23:25, NCV). Throughout Matthew 23, Jesus shows these church leaders that they are more interested in appearing righteous, honest, and God-fearing than they are in actually fulfilling these actions.
Romans 3:28 takes the issue further, urging that salvation comes through having faith in God, not by obeying laws. Also read Romans 3:29, 30.
We see in our own churches and schools, and sometimes in our own homes, these same battles. There are still those who believe that what they do is more important than what they believe, and that if they act like a Christian on the outside, they can be what they like on the inside. However, the verses we’ve looked at today make it clear that we need to be “clean” on the inside and that no amount of work, displays of humility and charity, or acting the way we think a Christian should act will get us to heaven. All we need is faith and to accept the gift of salvation. Read Romans 5:16, 18.
REACT 1. How would you explain to a nonbeliever what Romans 3:28 means? 2. Doing good things is important, but how can we make sure that we don’t turn our faith into a works-based religion? _____________ *Seventh-dayAdventistBibleDictionary, s.v. “Pharisees.”
Getting It Right Braden Blyde, Adelaide, South Australia Wednesday How-to Rom. 10:3
Whenever a new electrical appliance or other piece of equipment arrived at home, it wasn’t long before my mother would become frustrated, because my father, brothers, and I would always try to put it together without reading the instruction manual. Sometimes we’d get it right. I guess it’s our human nature. Even regarding righteousness, people have a history of setting up their own procedures and experiments. The plethora of churches and denominations around the world testify to this. We leave God’s instruction manual in the box and then wonder why our lives and the church don’t look the way they’re supposed to. So just how are we supposed to grow the fruit of righteousness? Here are a few ideas from God’s Word: Getting it right isn’t about getting anything at all.
Start with yourself. When we think about “getting it right,” it’s easy to pick at others. But as Matthew 23:26 suggests, it isn’t even about getting what’s visible in our own lives right, let alone correcting others.
Stop trying. This is not a call to give up, but as the catch cry suggests, “let go and let God.” We can’t create righteousness under our own steam. We must let God do it for us (Rom. 3:28).
Be willing to sacrifice. Getting it right isn’t about getting anything at all. rather, it’s about giving. First John 2:6 encourages a life modeled on Christ, which at its very foundation was a life of sacrifice.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help. When it gets to be too much, we don’t have to resign ourselves to failure. ask for help. Seek answers through the Bible, the Holy Spirit, and people you can trust. Sure it’s humbling, but humility might just be the answer you’re looking for.
Despite being married for more than 25 years, my father still tackles new equipment without consulting the instruction manuals. and my mother—well, I think she’s stopped trying to make him do otherwise. When we come to understand the duality of righteousness—its imputed and imparted nature—it becomes obvious why our own efforts, like my father’s, are always going to come up short. There is, and always has been, a plan. We just have to be willing to be led.
REACT 1. In what aspects of life have you struggled to let God take control? 2. Why do we always think we have the best way? 3. In what specific ways can we learn from the life of Christ?
Creative accounting occurs when accounts are managed in such a way that the resources are reallocated to fit with their requirements, thus absorbing the differences and making the account appear to be balanced. Did you know that God has done some creative accounting? In His case, however, He added only value to the account.
Because God’s value of love was pitted against His value of righteousness, something had to give.
The account in question involves our righteousness. When sin entered the world, humanity deserved to die (Rom. 6:23). Sin unbalanced God’s divine justice, and a cost ensued. The problem was, and still is, that God not only values justice as part of His character and kingdom, but He also values love. Because God’s value of love was pitted against His value of righteousness, something had to give. In His mercy and love, He cried out, “ ‘How can I give you up? . . . all my compassion is aroused’ ” (Hosea 11:8, NIV). God’s love could not fathom losing humanity. So in order for Him to rectify the sin problem, His creative accounting came into being. Jesus—God incarnate—came to die in our place, living a perfect life and dying our death. Through this process, He absorbed the cost of sin, which is eternal death.
“The grace of Christ and the law are inseparable. In Jesus mercy and truth are met together, righteousness and peace have kissed each other.”* “The gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our lord” (rom. 6:23, NIV). This gift is for everyone who will accept Jesus’ death for their sins. We all have an opportunity to follow natural justice or divine justice. In natural justice, the wages of sin are payable by our eternal death. Divine justice came through Jesus’ sacrifice, enabling the divine ledger to be balanced. The cost of sin has and will be accounted for. There is, however, a limiting factor. The limitation is not with God (as the cost already has been paid), but with humanity. Provision has been made for everyone to be saved. But God, in order to be truly just, allows us to accept His gift or reject it.
Our righteousness has been paid for, but it will be verified when the accounts are finally audited and confirmed. Our righteousness in and of itself is totally inadequate. It is only as we live in Jesus and accept His righteousness that we can then be made right. God’s creative accounting will be the theme throughout all eternity. ____________ *Selected Messages, bk. 1, p. 349.
Righteousness comes not from obedience to the law but from submission to God. When Jesus lived on earth, He surrendered His life to God and followed His Father’s instructions. If we are to live lives of righteousness, we must do the same. each morning, we have a choice. We can sit on the throne of our heart, or we can step aside and let Jesus be our Master. “each morning consecrate yourself to God for that day. Surrender all your plans to Him, to be carried out or given up as His providence shall indicate. Thus day by day you may be giving your life into the hands of God, and thus your life will be molded more and more after the life of Christ.”*
CONSIDER •Designing a small poster with the words Christ Is My Righteousness or another similar saying. •Post it where you can see it daily. •Writing two headings on a piece of paper: “righteousness Is” and “righteousness Is Not.” review this week’s lesson. Then write down words or phrases that complete each of the lists. •Writing a definition of what it means to “know” Jesus. Singing or repeating the words to the song “Not I, but Christ,” which is no. 570 in The Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal. Try writing a fifth verse. •Asking a number of people to define what it means to be righteous, and then creating your own definition. •Meditating on what you could you do this week that would give you a clearer vision of Jesus and His righteousness.
CONNECT Joseph Stowell, Simply Jesus and You (Colorado Springs, Colo.: Multnomah Books, 2006), pp. 23–29; Ellet J. Waggoner, “The lord Our righteousness,”Christ and His Righteousness, pp. 58–69; Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Right (elgin, Ill.: David C. Cook, 2008), pp. 112–122. ____________ *Steps to Christ, p. 70.
Is there any sense at all in which truth could be relative; that is, it may not apply all the time to every situation? If not, why not? Are there certain truths, perhaps, that could be relative while others aren’t? 
Dwell more on this idea of what it means to be sincere in your faith. However crucial sincerity is, why is that not enough? After all, folk who strap bombs to themselves and blow themselves up are, it would seem, sincere. What else is needed? 
