Trying to get to it to fix them. Hopefully we will be back at full strength soon.

We have had a few technical difficulties for the last week or so. We should be back and ready now.

In 2 Corinthians 12:10, Paul writes: “When I am Weak, then I am strong.” Strength paradoxically is found in weakness. It is found in pain. It is found in persecutions.

Too often, we say we want victory, but don’t realize that victory comes at a price. We don’t realize that victory comes through weakness. We don’t realize that victory is necessarily connected to our own hurts and disappointments.

So the next time we face a challenge, let us come to the conclusion that this very thing is where weakness is shown. And if weakness is shown through that thing, then victory will come paradoxically through that very circumstance.

This is the Sabbath School Lesson Quarter 1, 2010 Lesson Number 2.

What is Love and How does it affect our understanding of the Christian life and the Great Controversy? And finally, what is its relation to the fruit of the Spirit? View and listen to this study here.

Here is the lesson from SSNET.

Download in MP3 Audio

Download in MP3 Audio

The first thing that God instructed the children of Israel to do to prepare them to leave bondage was to offer a “lamb” (Ex 12:3). The first article in the sanctuary was a bronze alter of sacrifice (Exodus 27:1-8) where animals were sacrificed. It was located in the courtyard just outside the entrance of the sanctuary. The lamb represented Jesus who died for our sins (John 1:29).

After the sacrifice of the lamb, then God led the children of Israel through “the midst of the sea upon the dry ground” (Ex 14:21,22 ). The children of Israel went through the red sea which was a symbol or type of baptism (1 Corinthians 10:1,2). In the sanctuary, the article of furniture found right after the bronze alter of sacrifice (Exodus 27:1-8) was the Laver. The laver (Exodus 30:17-21; 38:8) was a large wash basin of brass located between the entrance of the sanctuary and the altar of burnt offerings. The water represented baptism, cleansing from sin, and the new birth.

Immediately after crossing the red sea, God tested the Israelites with “manna” (Ex. 16:15). This symbolized the table of shew bread (Exodus 25:23-30) signifying that Israelites were to be wholly dependent upon God for both temporal and spiritual food.

Then God called the Israelites a royal priesthood in Ex 19:5,6. Jesus said, “Ye are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14) and the Israelites were to represent his light. God was declaring that Israelites are to be the light of the world represented by the seven branch candlesticks. The lamps in the earthly sanctuary were to burn continually (Lev. 24:2). So his people are ever to let the Spirit of God rule in their life, and thus shed its light abroad.

Then the children of Israel were asked to be “ready” (Exodus 19:10,11) to meet the Lord on the third day. They were to spend the next three days in preparation for God’s coming. They were to be praying searching their souls. This was represented by the alter of incense. (Ex. 29: 38-40). The golden altar was an “altar of continual intercession”, representing the prayers of God’s people coming up before Him continually.

Then God details out the Law of self sacrificing love in Exodus 20:3-17. The law of God is symbolic of the Ark of the Covenant in the most Holy place. God Himself covered the broken law with a mercy-seat and God sat upon that seat, so that every sinner who comes confessing sins, may receive mercy and pardon.

Sin and rebellion drives us out of the presence of God, but God would have us come back and this process is seen in the sanctuary.

“Thy way, Oh God, is in the sanctuary.” Psalms 77:13

Do you facebook?  Tons of people are on there.  At any rate, I was looking and found a groups that might be of interest to you.

This group is by Sandra Entermann.  This is entitled Conflict of the Ages Readathon.   This piggybacks on Entermann’s “Great Controversy Readathon” of last year.  In it they are seeking to read a chapter from the Conflict of the Ages Series every day.  To those who do not know, the Conflict of the Ages is Ellen White’s devotional commentary on the Bible which includes Patriarchs and Prophets, Prophets and Kings, Desire of Ages, Acts of the Apostles, and Great Controversy.  Entermann’s group seeks to read both the Conflict of the Ages and the Bible texts that correspond to the chapters. The group is already commenting so join and check it out.

As you enter the new year, you can learn much more about the mighty power of God by reading both the Bible and the powerful Conflict of the Ages series.  visit the websites to find more information if you wish to join any of these groups.

In Romans 4:17, the great Apostle writes about a God that “quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.”   The apostle reminds us of a God that raises the dead, for that is what quickeneth means.  Death is not the final end for humanity.  We know that at Jesus’ resurrection that death, as the preachers reminds us, was turned from a period into a comma.  It is only a temporary rest on our onward journey to be with God. Yes, death, the great villian, has been defeated and the sting and victory has been ripped away from death.

This is good.  In addition, the Apostle continues by saying that God “calleth those things which be not as though they were.”  This is nothing but the creative power of God at work.  For in the beginning, God calleth forth light by simply saying “let there be.”  This very “calling” of that which was not (light) caused it to come forth.”  And today the calling has not stopped.  God still seeks to call the wicked to life.  God still calls for hope to come forth out of hoplessness.  God still calls forth strength out of weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9).  God still calls forth life out of death.

So today, as we look at the circumstances of our lives, just remember that God can work.  And the more mess we see, the more we must depend on that God to simply say, “let there be.”

In the March 1987 issue of Adventist Currents Walter Rea claimed that “chapter 27, “Caesar’s Household,” [in Ellen G. White’s Sketches from the Life of Paul] was taken entirely from a published sermon of the same title written by the English cleric Henry Melvill.” Melvill’s sermon can be found online at http://books.google.com/books?id=cqG2LY4XZzkC&pg=PA41q=Melvill+Sermons+%22Caesar%27s+household%22#PPA49,M1.

The evidence of the whole study obviously shows that Rea grossly erred in claiming that chapter 27 was “taken entirely” from Melvill’s sermon. Of the 3,203 words in the chapter we have 491 words that are exact or similar. This amounts to 15.3294%. Given that there is not even a single complete sentence that was copied, none of the leading writers of the day would have accused Ellen G. White of plagiarism.

He also erred in claiming in the next paragraph that there wasn’t a single “substantive point in the entire chapter that had not already come to Melvill before her.” Given the above factual error this is highly unlikely. Secondly, the claim seems to imply that if God had inspired both writers then He couldn’t, wouldn’t, or shouldn’t have used the same wording twice. This contradicts our knowledge of what happened in the Synoptic Gospels (90%, not 15%, of Mark can be found in Matthew and Luke.)

Comparing where there is a high degree of literary similarity it is obvious that Ellen G. White has interacted with what Melvill said so that she could put her own emphasis on the implications that could be drawn from the story. This makes her an original writer in that day and age.

The full chapter study can be purchased from David Conklin for $5. Email your request to dconklin58 AT yahoo DOT com.

E. J. Waggoner writes:

It is a full and complete salvation that God has provided; it awaits us as we come into the world; and we do not relieve God of any burden by rejecting it, nor do we add to His labor by accepting it. The Glad Tidings, pg 66.

Yes Christ has paid the price for our total salvation. The scriptures state that Jesus tasted death for everyone. Hebrews 2:9. He has given all of humanity this great gift of salvation…all of us. In another place the apostle writes that Jesus is the savior of all of people. 1 Timothy 4:10.

As Sister White wrote in The Desire of Ages on page 25:

Christ was treated as we deserve, that we might be treated as He deserves. He was condemned for our sins, in which He had no share, that we might be justified by His righteousness, in which we had no share. He suffered the death which was ours, that we might receive the life which was His.

Yes salvation full and complete has been given to all people as a gift. Don’t throw away this gift, for Christ has paid too much for it, yes it is yours.

This is the Sabbath School Lesson Quarter 1, 2010 Lesson Number 1.

God will change us as we abide with the vine that gives us the nutrients for growth. Fruit will come and glorify the father which is in heaven.

Here is the lesson from SSNET.

Download in MP3 Audio

Download in MP3 Audio