âAnd grieve not the Holy Spirit of God,
whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.â Ephesians 4:30
It is much easier to wear a uniform than it is to âget alongâ
with everyone wearing a uniform.
Many of Christâs disciples were easily recognized by their speech,
the âformâ of their communication. Just fresh from arguing with the 11 others
over who would be the greatest in âthe kingdomâ, Peter was thus recognized,
even as he denied Jesus 3 times.
As long as the more difficult issues that divide the hearts, the souls,
of SDAs remain unresolved, even beautiful standardized SDA forms cannot but
grieve that Holy Spirit that waited for all differences to be put away among Christâs
disciples at Pentecost. Only when they were of âone accordâ, of âone heartâ,
âhomothymadonâ â âto rush along in unisonâ â did that Heavenly Wind âfill the sailsâ
of that church âcircleâ. At least now we SDAs have a beautiful âsailâ in place and waiting.
And, when we all agree to pull our âoarsâ in the same direction, that sail can âcatch the Windâ.
Hereâs an excerpt from Ellenâs Christâs Object Lessons, chapter 7, Like Unto Leaven :
âMany educated and influential men had come to hear the Prophet of Galilee.
Some of these looked with curious interest upon the multitude that had gathered about
Christ as He taught by the sea. In this great throng all classes of society were represented.
There were the poor, the illiterate, the ragged beggar, the robber with the seal of guilt
upon his face, the maimed, the dissipated, the merchant and the man of leisure,
high and low, rich and poor, all crowding upon one another for a place to stand and
hear the words of Christ. As these cultured men gazed upon the strange assembly,
they asked themselves, Is the kingdom of God composed of such material as this?
Again the Saviour replied by a parable: {COL 95.1}
âThe kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three
measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.â {COL 95.2}
"Among the Jews leaven was sometimes used as an emblem of sin.
At the time of the Passover the people were directed to remove all the leaven from their
houses as they were to put away sin from their hearts. Christ warned His disciples,
âBeware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.â Luke 12:1. And the apostle
Paul speaks of the âleaven of malice and wickedness.â 1 Corinthians 5:8.
But in the Saviourâs parable, leaven is used to represent the kingdom of heaven.
It illustrates the quickening, assimilating power of the grace of God. {COL 95.3}
None are so vile, none have fallen so low, as to be beyond the working of this power.
In all who will submit themselves to the Holy Spirit a new principle of life is to be
implanted; the lost image of God is to be restored in humanity. {COL 96.1}
But man cannot transform himself by the exercise of his will. He possesses no power
by which this change can be effected. The leavenâsomething wholly from withoutâ
must be put into the meal before the desired change can be wrought in it.
So the grace of God must be received by the sinner before he can be fitted for the
kingdom of glory. All the culture and education which the world can give will fail of making
a degraded child of sin a child of heaven. The renewing energy must come from God.
The change can be made only by the Holy Spirit. All who would be saved, high or low,
rich or poor, must submit to the working of this power. {COL 96.2}
As the leaven, when mingled with the meal, works from within outward, so it is by
the renewing of the heart that the grace of God works to transform the life. No mere
external change is sufficient to bring us into harmony with God. There are many who
try to reform by correcting this or that bad habit, and they hope in this way to become
Christians, but they are beginning in the wrong place. Our first work is with the heart.
{COL 97.1}
A profession of faith and the possession of truth in the soul are two different things.
The mere knowledge of truth is not enough. We may possess this, but the tenor of our
thoughts may not be changed. The heart must be converted and sanctified. {COL 97.2}
The man who attempts to keep the commandments of God from a sense of
obligation merelyâbecause he is required to do soâwill never enter into the joy of obedience.
He does not obey. When the requirements of God are accounted a burden because they
cut across human inclination, we may know that the life is not a Christian life.
True obedience is the outworking of a principle within. It springs from the love of righteousness,
the love of the law of God. The essence of all righteousness is loyalty to our Redeemer.
This will lead us to do right because it is rightâbecause right doing is pleasing to God. {COL 97.3}
The great truth of the conversion of the heart by the Holy Spirit is presented in Christâs words
to Nicodemus: âVerily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born from above,
he can not see the kingdom of God. . . . That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is
born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth
where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh
and whither it goeth. So is every one that is born of the Spirit.â John 3:3-8, margin. {COL 98.1}
Before the Second Advent of Jesus, comes the Second Advent of the Holy Spirit Who
impresses the âcorporate logoâ of Heaven into our minds and hearts â
working from within, toward without, not vice versa â and that logo is not at all a âcopyrightedâ,
or âownedâ âformatâ. It is a âcharacterâ free to all.
This is the yearly time of the âPassoverâ and âunleavened breadâ, when proud sin is symbolically removed.
Soon will come the time of Pentecost, when the good âleavenâ of Christâs Humble Righteousness goes to work .
Letâs pray that the GC receives that good âleavenâ, ASAP, drops the law suit against the Lillards
and stops seeking the assistance of the âStateâ in handling âChurchâ business.
Let the power of the Creators â not the power of the âStateâ â defend the SDA church âlogoâ,
if it truly reflects the Creatorsâ âcharacterâ.
Let the GC pray to âthe Stone cut out without handsâ for such âimageâ protection,
not to the âfeet of iron and clayâ, not to âironâ âstate-craftâ mingled with âclayâ âpriest-craftâ.