Hello All,
(Just a general disclaimer that I must insert here at the beginning. I am but a lay person, like most of you. And these weekly “thoughts” are but my own. Not the definitive word on this or any topic. Just my own conclusions derived from my own study and faith in God. The greatest hope I have for these weekly “thoughts” is to have them be a springboard for further study on your part. Not to be a weekly treatise to be blindly accepted. So, please read them with this intent, this motive in mind).
This week’s lesson from the “Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide”, is titled “Receiving an Unshakeable Kingdom.”. We Adventists have talked about “the shaking time” for a while. “We are in the shaking time, the time when everything that can be shaken will be shaken” Review and Herald 1/22/1901). The so-called “shaking time”, the “coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 2:1) is really now. It is happening now… and has been for over 100 years, according to EGW. But what is it that will be shaken? Is it not you and me? All of us? Paul asks the Thessalonians, and by extension all of us, “not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter… as though the day of Christ had come” (2 Thessalonians 2:2). The shaking time (NOW) is for our benefit. For the benefit of all of us.
God tells us that He “will shake heaven and earth” (Haggai 2:6) so people will “come to the Desire of All Nations” (verse 7). The shaking, which all experience, is for our good… all of us. The shaking is really for the “gathering together to Him” (2 Thessalonians 2:2). But even that “gathering together to Him” needs to be explained and understood. For us Adventists, we have heard that this shaking time is a time when the false will be shaken out of the church. As if being listed in the church records is tantamount to being “gather[ed] together to Him” (ibid). But the two are not synonymous. Can you not be enrolled in the church records and still be far from Christ? Can you not be far from an organized denomination and still be “one” with Christ? We must be careful to not equate church membership with being “saved”. For the two may not be the same thing.
EGW gives us a terse qualifying definition for those who will not be shaken. “I see that the time has come when everything that can be shaken will be shaken. We are in the shaking time. Be assured that only those who live the prayer of Christ, working it out in the practical life, will stand the test” (21 Manuscript Release page 346). “The prayer of Christ”? What does she mean by this? She tells us in the sentence just before the one just quoted. “If all would live the prayer offered by the Savior to His Father just before His betrayal and crucifixion, the unity and love represented in that prayer would be an impregnable wall which would withstand the assaults of the enemy. But when there is dissension, when each seeks the highest place, the prayer of Christ is not answered and there is weakness instead of strength”. And that prayer is recorded in John 17 (please pause a moment and read all of chapter 17. Christ is praying for you in that prayer).
Dissension. Between Adventists only? Or between all the children of mankind? We are to be “working (unity and love) in the practical life” (ibid). I posit that this references all mankind, not just the few in our denomination.
To close, here is an extended quote from EGW (Review and Herald 1/22/1901). It shows us that our “working (unity and love) in the practical life” (ibid) is to especially be for those who do not know Him. The “shaking time” is to “make a mortal more rare than fine gold, a man more than the golden wedge of Ophir. Therefore, I will shake the heavens, and the earth will move out of her place...” (Isaiah 13: 12-13). I hope this following quote is beneficial as we all contemplate this shaking time and our role for this time…
We are in the shaking time, the time when everything that can be shaken will be shaken. The Lord will not excuse those who know the truth if they do not in word and deed obey His commands. If we make no effort to win souls to Christ, we shall be held responsible for the work we might have done, but did not do because of our spiritual indolence. Those who belong to the Lord's kingdom must work earnestly for the saving of souls. They must do their part to bind up the law and seal it among the disciples. {RH, January 22, 1901 par. 9}
Some flatter themselves that the Lord will give them another chance, that there will be a second probation. Fatal delusion! Just now, day by day, hour by hour, we are building for the last great day. We are trading on our Lord's money, and at His coming He will reckon with us, and we shall have to give an account of what we have done with His goods. As responsible beings we are working for time and for eternity, making our records in the books of heaven, and preparing our reward or punishment. Our reward will be proportionate to our work. "My reward is with me," Christ declares, "to give to every man according as His work shall be." He will expect results from every one. Let those who are seeking an easy time arise and shine, for their light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon them. {RH, January 22, 1901 par. 10}
The Lord desires that the light which He has given on the Scriptures shall shine forth in clear, bright rays, and it is the work of our canvassers to put forth a strong, united effort that God's desire may be accomplished. A great and important work is before us. The enemy of souls realizes this, and is using every means within his power to lead the canvasser to take up some other line of work. This order of things should be changed. God calls the canvassers back to their work. He calls for volunteers for the canvassing work, those who will put all their energies and enlightenment into the work, helping wherever there is an opportunity. The Master calls for every one to do the work given him according to his several ability. Who will respond to the call? Who will go forth to work in wisdom and grace and the love of Christ for those nigh and those afar off? Who will sacrifice ease and pleasure, to enter the places of error, superstition, and darkness, working earnestly and perseveringly, speaking the truth in simplicity, praying in faith, doing house-to-house labor? Who at this time will go forth without the camp, imbued with the power of the Holy Spirit, bearing reproach for Christ's sake, opening the Scriptures to men and women, and calling them to repentance? {RH, January 22, 1901 par. 11}
God has His workmen in every age. The call of the hour is answered by human agencies. Thus, when the divine voice cries, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" the response will come, "Here am I; send me." Let all who work effectually in these lines feel in their hearts that they are doing the work of the Lord in ministering to souls who know not the truth for this time. They are sounding the note of warning in the highways and byways to prepare a people for the great day of the Lord, which is to break upon the world. We have no time to lose. We must encourage this work. Who will go forth now with our publications? To every man and woman who will co-operate with divine power, the Lord imparts a fitness for the work. All the requisite talent, courage, perseverance, faith, and tact will come as they put the armor on. A great work is to be done in our world, and human agencies will surely respond to the demand. The world must hear the warning. When the call comes, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" send back the answer, clear and distinct, "Here am I; send me."
With brotherly love,
Jim