I am willing to venture a guess that most Seventh-day Adventists are at least familiar with the following passage from the book “Early Writings”, page 270:
“I asked the meaning of the shaking I had seen and was shown that it would be caused by the straight testimony called forth by the counsel of the True Witness to the Laodiceans. This will have its effect upon the heart of the receiver, and will lead him to exalt the standard and pour forth the straight truth. Some will not bear this straight testimony. They will rise up against it, and this is what will cause a shaking among God's people.” I like to analyze things--to take machines, gadgets and even sentences apart and “see how it works”. Letʼs take that passage apart a little: 1)The shaking is CAUSED by the straight testimony. 2) The “straight testimony” is called forth by the counsel of the True Witness to the Laodiceans. (Rev 3:14-21) (Did you know that this straight testimony includes the health message? See: Counsels for the Church 235) 3) When received, the receiver will exalt the standard and pour forth the straight truth. 4) This will result in some people rising up against this truth. 5) And, back full circle, this is what will CAUSE the shaking. Of course the counsel of the True Witness is found in Revelation 3:14-21, and is what we know as the Laodicean message. This counsel essentially says, “You think youʼre this, but youʼre really that, and hereʼs what you need to fix it.” What Iʼd like to analyze now is what I believe was Peterʼs experience with “the Laodicean message”. Jesus knew what was coming--His own personal great tribulation! The disciples were blind to this reality, though Jesus had been trying to teach them about it for some time. Mark 14:29-31. Jesus had also warned them to watch and pray, but we know the results! The disciples had been given a “straight testimony” back in John 6:53-58, when the Lord presented the true standard of Christianity. They had apparently accepted it fully. But when Jesus put the finger directly on them in Matthew 26:31, “...all ye shall be offended because of Me this night...”, “In their self-confidence they denied the repeated statement of Him who knew”, especially Peter! Desire of Ages 673. Tragically as a result, when Jesus most needed them they not only fell asleep, they abandoned Him. Peter denied even knowing Him--with swearing! Poor Jesus! How would you have felt? What will it be like to be abandoned by all your friends, and perhaps even have your best friend deny knowing you? And this, just when you most needed support! Watch how Peter set himself up for this fall: “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." Matthew 14:30. Then the hand of Christ was outstretched 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.” Desire of Ages 673 And so, Peter-the stone-was shaken out. He was shaken out because he rose up against the straight testimony! Peter, one of Jesusʼ closest friends, who had been used by God to cast out demons, heal the sick, preach “present truth”. Are we stronger than Peter? Thank God there was time for him to be let back in by repentance. We may not have that luxury should we choose to follow his example. He didnʼt know himself, ”faithful” as he was! Sound familiar? “Thou knowest not...” Can we not learn from Peter about what will come next in this parade if we keep marching? We must learn from his mistake to listen to the counsel of the True Witness and cry to Jesus to save us from ourselves. May we learn to plead for Jesus to search us! Psalm 139:23,24 I encourage a careful study of John 6, along with the chapter “The Crisis at Galilee” in the book Desire of Ages This will reveal, as mentioned earlier, that Jesus caused a shaking among his disciples well before Calvary. He did this, we are told, to strengthen His disciples for the crisis of Calvary. Consider: “When Jesus presented the testing truth that caused so many of His disciples to turn back, He knew what would be the result of His words; but He had a purpose of mercy to fulfill. He foresaw that in the hour of temptation every one of His beloved disciples would be severely tested. His agony in Gethsemane, His betrayal and crucifixion, would be to them a most trying ordeal. Had no previous test been given, many who were actuated by merely selfish motives would have been connected with them. When their Lord was condemned in the judgment hall; when the multitude who had hailed Him as their king hissed at Him and reviled Him; when the jeering crowd cried, "Crucify Him!"--when their worldly ambitions were disappointed, these self-seeking ones would, by renouncing their allegiance to Jesus, have brought upon the disciples a bitter, heart-burdening sorrow, in addition to their grief and disappointment in the ruin of their fondest hopes. In that hour of darkness, the example of those who turned from Him might have carried others with them. But Jesus brought about this crisis while by His personal presence He could still strengthen the faith of His true followers.” Desire of Ages 394 The purpose of the present shaking is the same as what Jesus did in John 6! And really, the straight testimony back then is the same as now. We must take the standard and life of Christ as our own. He is the essential ingredient to successful navigation through the experience of the shaking. I believe we need to learn to pray like this: “Lord, I am blind and I donʼt know it--open my eyes. Lord, Iʼm wretched and I donʼt know it! Help me understand my wretchedness! Lord, I am poor. Please give me Your riches. Jesus, I am naked. Please clothe me!” You know what will happen if we will learn to pray this way? Iʼll tell you what will happen! We will switch places in this story! We will no longer be identified with Peter, but with Jesus. We can then be among those who fill up the measure of His sufferings! (Colossians 1:24) And while to all appearances JESUS was shaken out, He was the only one whose faith survived that great tribulation, a type of that faithful remnant who will learn from the True Witness how to survive what lies ahead. And why did Jesus make it? Because He was God? NO! He laid that aside. Why did He stand His ground when the crowd came after him? Why did He remain faithful when His friends abandoned Him? Why did His faith hold when God hid His face from Him? Go back to Gethsemane and watch Him agonize. “The humanity of the Son of God trembled in that trying hour. He prayed not now for His disciples that their faith might not fail, but for His own tempted, agonized soul.” Desire of Ages 690. Jesus understood the weakness of humanity, which He had taken. Jesus understood the need to watch and pray. Jesus understood His own weakness and He riveted Himself by faith through prayer and surrender to the Source of His strength. It was because of this that He was Himself not shaken out!! “...Lord, teach us to pray...!” (Luke 11:1). I can hear the crowds coming, friends. Indeed, I can see the whites of their eyes! The crowd of false doctrine. The crowd of worldliness. The crowd of ease. The crowd of the cares of this life. The crowd of self, rising against reproof. The crowd of self- deception. Everyone who is not riveted to Christ will be shaken out--like the stone! I believe Peter would echo the words of Jesus: “Watch and pray!”
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What is the opposite of courage? Discourage! So, if I am discouraged, I have no courage. I looked these words up in the 1828 dictionary (back when words meant what they were supposed to!). Here’s what I found for courage: Bravery; intrepidity; that quality of mind which enables men to encounter danger and difficulties with firmness, or without fear or depression of spirits; valor; boldness; resolution. It is a constituent part of fortitude; but fortitude implies patience to bear continued suffering. And for discourage: To extinguish the courage of; to dishearten; to depress the spirits; to deject; to deprive of confidence.
As I considered these definitions, the story of Caleb, Joshua and the other 10 spies who were sent to Canaan ahead of the children of Israel came to mind. In Numbers 13:20, Moses tells them all,”And be ye of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land.” But what happened to the majority? Numbers 13:31-33 “We be not able to go up against the people; for they [are] stronger than we. And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, [is] a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it [are] men of a great stature. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, [which come] of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.” The years of doubt and murmuring had become habitual, hadn’t they? Let’s analyze this passage just a little. All of the spies apparently made a good start. However, the crisis revealed that there was a difference in these men. Ten of these men did some interesting things: they saw that the goal (Canaan) was good and to be desired and that the fruit there was awesome, but they said; 1) the people are huge, 2) we are grasshoppers, 3) they are stronger than we are. Where is God in their calculations? God is strangely absent, and so they were “deprived of confidence”—they were discouraged. Interesting, isn’t it? But what about the other two spies? What report did they bring? Numbers 13: 30 “Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.” We are well able? What!!!? Didn’t they see the giants? Didn’t they realize that they were grasshoppers? Immediately the other ten proceeded to persecute these two men who had “that quality of mind which enables men to encounter danger and difficulties with firmness, or without fear or depression of spirits.” This is very fascinating to me, and I found the reason for Caleb’s courage here: “It was Caleb's faith that gave him courage, that kept him from the fear of man, and enabled him to stand boldly and unflinchingly in the defense of the right.” Review and Herald, May 30, 1912. According to this passage, it is faith that brings true courage. Caleb and Joshua remembered Who they served and served Who they remembered! Why, then, did the other ten fail? Consider this: “Hope and courage gave place to cowardly despair, as the spies uttered the sentiments of their unbelieving hearts, which were filled with discouragement prompted by Satan. Their unbelief cast a gloomy shadow over the congregation, and the mighty power of God, so often manifested in behalf of the chosen nation, was forgotten. The people did not wait to reflect; they did not reason that He who had brought them thus far would certainly give them the land; they did not call to mind how wonderfully God had delivered them from their oppressors, cutting a path through the sea and destroying the pursuing hosts of Pharaoh. They left God out of the question, and acted as though they must depend solely on the power of arms. PP 388 That last sentence is so powerful, friends, and according to this, discouragement is “leaving God out of the question.” This illustration is basically a summary of the experiences of the children of Israel. Sometimes they remembered God but more often, they forgot Him. And these same choices, with their respective outcomes—are before us. What about you? Are you a grasshopper? Are your circumstances or failures giants? Is your God able to bring you into the heavenly Canaan? Are you magnifying something above God? If you are, you must realize the cause of your discouragement. We must remember the downward spiral (revealed in a time of crisis) of the ten spies in contrast with the steadfast faith of Caleb and Joshua, “for whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. “ Romans 15:4. We also have a choice: murmur or remember. |
AuthorDanna has traveled as a teacher/speaker for Closure for Jesus ministry and frequently holds Zoom meetings and online health counseling. Archives
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