Counting the Cost

Luke 14:26-33  If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.  And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.  For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?  Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him,  Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.  Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?  Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace.  So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.

Mission Statement of the Seventh Day Adventist Church

The mission of the Seventh Day Adventist Church is to make disciples of all people, communicating the everlasting gospel in the context of the three angels messages of  Revelation 14:6-12, leading them to accept Jesus as personal Saviour and unite with His remnant church, discipling them to serve Him as Lord and preparing them for His soon return.

A Father’s Love

2 Cor. 6:17  Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
18  And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

Unless one is born again, he is not a child of God. We are born into the kingdom of Satan, and to a more or less degree, we are children of wrath because of sin. And as far as children go, we are far from ordinary. We are extraordinarily rebellious, selfish, disobedient, lawless little brats who fully deserve the punishment that sin brings to the unrepentant. Yet God still calls us to Him. Knowing our craziness, the chaos that our lives consist of, and the lies and deceit and the manipulation our habits and addictions bring as baggage, God still loves us with that unconditional quality that defies logic and reason. God’s love for man, even in his present state, is a complete mystery.

Heavens Point of View

“Surely, this was not the way it was intended to be”. These sentiments were echoed back and forth across heaven. Wonder, consternation, and astonishment was written almost indelibly upon the faces of every angel and every creature that graced God’s universe. How could anyone have been prepared for that? I know I wasn’t, and looking at the expressions on the faces of those around me, I could see they weren’t expecting anything like what we were witnessing either. Sure, we knew the prophecies, even Jesus Himself had warned us a long time ago of what to expect, but all the foreknowledge in the universe could not have prepared us adequately. The unbounded joy and excitement we all experienced and expressed at the announcement of His birth (yes, I was there, among many thousand others, and all of heaven was singing that day, not just those the shepherds could see) was now, in light of recent events and what was transpiring before us, a fast fading memory.

Godly Patience

Biblical patience is far far deeper and more profound than the modern understanding of the concept. Yes, there is of course , as Strongs would indicate, the idea of waiting constantly and quietly without complaint. But look at the following scriptures. 

Hebrews 10:32 But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions;
33 Partly, whilst ye were made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst ye became companions of them that were so used.
34 For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance.
35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward.
36 For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.

Paul was writing here to the Hebrews; how much they were indeed following the path previously trod by their Saviour!!! Think of how so much of the above could have been written of Jesus Himself.

Romans 5:3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope:

Romans 8:24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

Romans 15:3 For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.
4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

2 Cor 6:4 But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses,
5 In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings;

Col 1:11 Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;

2Th 1:4 So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure:

Re 1:9 I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

As can be seen from the above verses, patience is nearly in all cases when it is mentioned at all, to be associated with affliction, anguish, trial and persecution. It is almost synonymous with suffering.

The Ten Commandments: too tough?

Inherent in the Ten Commandments is the gospel. The first commandment has been edited by most but if we read the entire passage of scripture, we can readily see that God is not commanding us to do the impossible. The Ten Commandments begin:
Exodus 20:2 ” I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.You shall have no other gods before Me.”

In this small portion of the scripture is found the key to understanding our relationship to God’s laws, and how to find the power to obey them. Here is the gospel.
You may be thinking, “Hey, that first part isn’t a part of the law, because it doesn’t tell us something we must do or not do! Instead, it tells us of something God has done!!!”
Yes, exactly! And that’s the point. The entire Ten Commandments start with something God has done, and not with something we must do.

A Challenge

I have a challenge. Please read carefully the following, and then answer the concluding questions using Scripture only as the basis for your answers.

1 Peter 1:18,19 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

2:24,25 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls
3:18 ¶ For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.

1 Cor. 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures

In light of the above scriptures, and many more such besides,(Rom. 3:25,26. 5:8,9. 6:10. Colossians 1:20-22. Heb. 9:15,16,22.) my question is…..
When Jesus died upon the cross of Calvary, was this act a full and final settlement of the debt we owe due to our sin? In other words, has the full redemption price been paid, and what was that price?

Okay, that the full and final redemption price has been paid on behalf of a lost race would  be disputed by few who know their Bibles. That Jesus paid the price, taking upon Himself the full punishment that was rightly due sinful man, is the great central theme of the gospel, in fact, all of scripture. It is called by many names. Redemption. Atonement. Salvation. Vicarius sacrifice. Propitiation. They all mean one and the same thing. That the just died for the unust. The sinless for the sinner. Christ died in our place. The punishment and full penalty that belonged justly and rightly to us, was laid upon Christ. He died that we might live. Very few would dare to argue with this most profound and fundamental of Biblical truths. And there are scores of scriptures that verify and support this most wonderful doctrine.
Romans 3:25,26; 5:8,9; 6:10.
Colossians 1:20-22.
Hebrews 9:15,22.
1 Peter 1:18,19; 2:24; 3:18.
Revelation 5:9

These are but a small selection but enough to deduce the following basic principles inherent in the atonement.

1 Because death is the due and just penalty for sin (Rom. 6:23), death therefore was the redemptive price.
2 Jesus, through the shedding of His own blood and His vicarius death upon the cross, paid that price in full.
3 Those who for whatever reason reject the offer of forgiveness inherent in the atonement, and thus are not included in the number of the redeemed, must pay the price themselves.

If the above be true, I have a number of questions.
a Why is it that the majority of Christian churches today teach that men who die in their sins do not die, but live for all eternity being tortured in hell?

b If it be true that eternal torment is the just penalty for sin, then why did Jesus not pay it?

c If the reward for those who do accept the gospel is eternal life (John 3:16,36; Rom. 6:23) and no churches deny this, why do those same churches insist that the wicked also receive eternal life, which is denied by the very same scriptures?(John 3:16,36; Rom. 6:23)

d And finally, if eternal torment is the just penalty for sin as most contend, we must logically conclude that because Jesus did not pay that price, then the gospel is a sham and we all, both Christian and pagan alike, are doomed to spend eternity suffering together.

Close, very, very close.

Matthew 24:6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled:for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:
There is a great escalation in verse 7 from the previous verse where war was simply rumour and hearsay. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries the world was full of confidence and great expectation of a coming millennium of peace and safety brought about by very recent remarkable advances in scientific knowledge in industry and medicine. Christianity was held dear by the vast majority of those living in the world, before communism took over in Russia, before the Chinese shut out the missionaries from the west, before Japan turned away the church from their doors.

The Curse of the Law and the Gospel.

In Galatians 3:24 we are told that the law is a schoolmaster bringing us to Christ. Both the moral law of ten commandments and the ceremonial law do this. The ceremonial law revealed to Israel the provision made by God for their redemption, and the means by which Israel might avail themselves of that provision.
The moral law is a transcript of God’s perfect character,revealing how far we have fallen,and is the image of Christ as reflected in Adam and Eve before the fall (Gen. 1:26,27). It is God’s purpose to recreate that image in us (Rom. 8:29), but He had to deal with the effects of sin first.
One, the curse of the law. We are under the curse because of transgression. The curse is the penalty for sin. The scriptures say that Christ became a curse for us (Gal. 3:13); His death took away the penalty and the curse which was upon us because of sin, which is transgression of that law. Christ’s death enables God to impute to us His righteousness. God looks upon us now as if we had never sinned. We are now as acceptable to the Father just as Jesus Himself is. This is ‘at-one-ment’.
Two, this atonement continues by His resurrected life which enables us to receive the power necessary to keep the law in future. This is possible however only as we abide in Him, as the branch to the vine. Separated, we can by no means accomplish anything for Him and we invariably fall, “for without Me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5). Eternal life is guaranteed only as we maintain our connection to Christ through faith, for the “just shall live by faith”. The moral law is still holy just and good, (Rom.7:12) it has not been done away with in any particular (Matt. 5:17,18) but rather it has been written upon our hearts and minds (Heb. 8:10): In other words  God’s very own righteousness or character of love is developed in us by His Spirit, (for love is the fulfilling of the law) and we are recreated in Christ’s image as Adam and Eve were before the fall.
It is God’s part to accomplish this (grace) but it is our part to desire it. God will not do anything without our cooperation and agreement,for “they that hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled” (Matt. 5:6). This takes a lifetime of warfare against the old nature, but as we continue to faithfully trust God to accomplish all He has promised, and submit wholly to Him, He will mould us and shape us like the Master Potter with the clay, and our characters may be perfected.

Harmony of the Trinitarian God

Isn’t there such a wonderful harmony in the way God portrays Himself to us, and what He expects of us.
Jesus came to bear witness of the Father.

John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
John 1:18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

God’s glory is the divine light that surrounds Him, but that light’s source is God’s character. When Moses asked to see God’s glory, God revealed to Moses His character, and declared to Moses His name. “The Lord God, gracious and merciful, longsuffering, and full of goodness and truth….” (Exodus 34:6) Jesus came to declare that glory to man.

John 12:44 ¶  Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me.
45  And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me...

...49 For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.
50  And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.
John 17:6 ¶ I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.

John 14:9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? 10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

John 14:13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

Jesus came to glorify the Father. He did that by doing the works of the Father. The Father’s character was perfectly expressed through His Son. Jesus came to reveal God’s character to a race that had lost any true idea of what God was like, and Who He was. Lost in a maze of idolatry and pagan superstition, the world by and large placed upon their gods the attributes of men and women, and more importantly, fallen sinful wicked men and women. And the  immoral violent selfish pleasure loving gods were mere reflections of the characters of their creators. And even the Caesars who demanded the worship and fidelity of their subjects were no better. Man had no-one to look up to, no-one  who they could aspire to or emulate that could lift them above the sin-sick rotten culture that permeated the world of the Roman Empire. Until Jesus. Jesus came to correct the deceptions and lies that Satan had beguiled the world with and expose him for the fraud and murderer he was. Jesus came to proclaim that God is love. Jesus came to proclaim that God is not the wrathful vengeful god that the Romans had painted of their myriad false idols, nor was God the immoral profligate hedonist that the Greeks had drawn. The God of the Jews was holy. He was just. But most of all, He was love. Jesus declared that love, He showed that love, and He demonstrated that love everywhere to everyone. Jesus whole delight was to do His Father’s will, to keep His commandments, and to reveal to the world His Father’s true nature. To reveal how God really felt toward man, even in his fallen condition. Jesus demonstrated His own selflessness  and His own love for us and the Father by refusing even to death, to promote Himself in any way, to act in any way that glorified or exalted Himself. His whole mission and life call was to glorify the Father.

The Holy Spirit in turn comes to glorify and testify of Jesus.

John 16:7 ¶  Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
8  And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
9  Of sin, because they believe not on me;
10  Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;
11  Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.
12  I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.

13  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 shew you things to come.
14  He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
15  All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

As Jesus spoke the words of the Father, the Holy Spirit reminds us of the words of Jesus.

John 15:9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
John 15:10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father‘s commandments, and abide in his love.

It was by keeping God’s commandments that Jesus glorified the Father. His love for man gave glory to God.

John 15:8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

We glorify God also through our character. It is the image of Jesus being shown in us through the fruit of the Spirit that the Father is glorified. It is by our obedience to the commandments of God, by our love for Him and each other, that God is glorified.

So Jesus’ selfless expression of love glorified the Father.
The Holy Spirit’s selfless expression of love continues to glorify the Father, through Jesus.
Our selfless expression of love through the power of the Holy Spirit glorifies all three. There is absolutely no selfishness in God, and His Spirit and power in us transforms us into the same image from glory to glory. (2 Cor. 3:18) This is the essence and foundation of God’s government in the universe. And Jesus died for the sole purpose of restoring selfish and sinful mankind back to the place where he once was. Free from the dominion of sin, free to once again worship selflessly and love as He loved, free to glorify God. In Revelation 14:6 we can read the final message of the gospel to be preached immediately prior to the second coming. “Fear God and give glory to Him…” And in verse 12, we see that the people who preach this message are noted for keeping the commandments. Just like Jesus. They bear His image, the Holy Spirit has so sanctified them, that even their faith is the same faith as Jesus. In a nutshell, that is the purpose of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. To lead us to Jesus that He may give to us freely of His divine nature and become joint-heirs to the kingdom of God as adopted children with equal rights and privileges as the only Son. What grace! What love!!!

The Nature of Love.

There was a story told me long ago, which I have no reason to believe false, of twins, who shared a room in San Francisco in the early 1900’s. They had emigrated from China, and were making their way in the new world. One evening, one of the brothers was returning home and got involved in a fight. Knives were drawn and the ensuing battle ended with the brother running from the scene, soaked in blood, and leaving behind the body of his assailant lying in the street. Panic stricken, and knowing that the law would soon be in pursuit, he dashed home, cleaned himself up, stashed the bloody clothes in the corner of the closet and fled town.
Later,  his twin came home from work and after his evening supper, went to bed. It was not long however before a loud knock on the door disturbed him. Opening the door to the police he innocently ushered them inside, and after a quick search of the room and finding the incriminating evidence in the closet, the police had no hesitation in making an arrest.