Second Quarter 2004 Adult Sabbath School Lessons:
Isaiah "Comfort My People"

Insights to Lesson 11
Waging Love
June 5-11

(Produced by the Editorial Board of the 1888 Message Study Committee)

The opening call in this week’s lesson is for all: “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price” (Isa. 55:1).

It was to satisfy this soul hunger for spiritual food that the Lord in His great mercy sent to His people a “most precious message” over a century ago. This message of Christ and His righteousness, freely given to all, satisfies the deepest longings of the soul.

In our ignorance we have turned from this precious message, vainly seeking after the world (or false gospels) to satisfy this unmet, often-unrecognized need. Can we apply the counsel in these passages to ourselves, the spiritual descendents of Israel?

Yes! “Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come” (1 Cor. 10:11).

The verses which begin the second chapter of our study portray the incredible spiritual blindness of Israel. God’s servant is given a fearful message to deliver: “Cry aloud, spare not; Lift up your voice like a trumpet; Tell My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob theirs sins” (Isa. 58:1).

Together with our ancient spiritual forebears, we point to our good works of daily prayer and Bible study and frequent religious activities (Isa. 58:2), and wonder, “What sins?”

But the text reveals a sad lack in our spiritual experience. The Lord says, “Indeed you fast for strife and debate, and to strike with the fist of wickedness” (vs. 4). The self-serving motives that prompt our religious activities (“fasts”) are revealed. The righteousness of Christ does not lead us to strive for first place, win an argument, or speak sharply about someone behind their back. Yet all these things have taken place under the banner of Christ’s name.

How can we best “Cry aloud and spare not” today?

While long recitals of “sin in the camp” may produce change, there is a much more powerful tool at our disposal: “The goodness of God [which] leads you [us] to repentance” (Rom. 2:4).

The 1888 message proclaims the goodness of God as revealed in Christ. This message lays the glory of man in the dust and purifies the soul temple. There is no self (except a crucified one) in it. The preciousness of Jesus and His matchless agape love pervade this message and shine through Scripture.

In his commentary on Isaiah, E. J. Waggoner writes, “It will be noticed that in this lesson certain ones are addressed, and are exhorted to give a very definite message to the professed people of God. But a little way back the Lord has declared that His watchmen,—the regular ministers who are set to guard and feed the flock,—‘are shepherds that cannot understand;’ . . . Therefore He issues a call to whomsoever will hear it, to lift up his voice like a trumpet, to awaken the people from their dangerous slumber. This shows that in the last days God will have men to proclaim His warning message, who are not reckoned among ‘the clergy,’ but whose qualification is that they love the Lord, and know His voice, and follow Him” (Treasures in Isaiah, pp. 481, 482).

Together with Ellen White, the 1888 “messengers,” A. T. Jones and Waggoner, were among those whom the Lord raised up to proclaim this special message that makes Christ and Him crucified the central theme of every discourse. It reveals Christ and the great story of salvation on every page of the Bible and every verse in Scripture. The Bible becomes a new book. Jesus said, “These are they which testify of Me” (John 5:39).

Not only in Scripture, but in all of nature do we see Christ revealed: “It is not because of inherent power that year by year the earth produces her bounties and continues her motion around the sun. The hand of God guides the planets and keeps them in position in their orderly march through the heavens. . . . It is through His power that vegetation flourishes, that the leaves appear and the flowers bloom. . . . Every living creature, from the smallest insect up to man, is daily dependent upon His providential care” (Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 115).

Believers and unbelievers alike are totally dependent upon the Life-giver to sustain their every breath. Failing to realize our utter helplessness and complete need of a Savior sets us up to believe a fatal lie: that we are self-dependent and hence in some way able to save ourselves.

“Some who come to God by repentance and confession, and even believe that their sins are forgiven, still fail of claiming, as they should, the promises of God. They do not see that Jesus is an ever-present Saviour; and they are not ready to commit the keeping of their souls to Him, relying upon Him to perfect the work of grace begun in their hearts. While they think they are committing themselves to God, there is a great deal of self-dependence. There are conscientious souls that trust partly to God and partly to themselves. They do not look to God, to be kept by His power, but depend upon watchfulness against temptation and the performance of certain duties for acceptance with Him. There are no victories in this kind of faith. Such persons toil to no purpose; their souls are in continual bondage, and they find no rest until their burdens are laid at the feet of Jesus” (Faith and Works, p. 38).

It was this galling yoke of self-dependence, of self-inspired works and of religious observances that Jesus came to break. “Is not this the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke?” (Isa. 58:6).

Waggoner writes, “In the chapter before us, we find that the people are most active in what they are pleased to term their ‘religious duties.’ They go to meeting frequently, they love to listen to preaching, they fast and afflict their souls, and act, to all outward appearances, like a people that do righteousness; but God who looks on the heart and life, knows better. He judges men, not according to their profession, nor to their diligence in going to meeting, nor the length and frequency of their prayers, but ‘according to their works.’ Those who ‘profess that they know God, but in works they deny Him,’ are counted as the worst sinners. . . The ones to whom this chapter is specially addressed, make their religion consist in fasting on certain days, and in having special seasons of ‘self-denial,’ thus confessing that the rest of the time they live to please themselves. The less Christian vitality there is in a people, the more scrupulous will they be in the observance of set forms, and of special religious days. But that will not satisfy the Lord” (Treasures in Isaiah, pp. 483, 484).

He continues, “Instead of contending over forms, the true people of God will be revealing the righteousness of God in their lives. Strife and debate never yet converted a single soul; that is done only by the life of Christ; and since He is in the heavens, hidden from the sight of mortals, it must be manifested in mortal flesh. So the acceptable fast unto the Lord is that which looses the bands of wickedness, and lets those who are oppressed by the devil go free. That means, of course, first of all, that one’s own bands are unloosed, and he knows the freedom wherewith Christ makes men free. Fasting, therefore, is for the purpose of bringing the individual into closer relationship with Christ, and giving him a better understanding of His life; and this knowledge and companionship are to be lasting. . . .

“Men are to know that a fast has been held, not by any formal announcement of it, but by the results of it. A fast which leaves the faster still in the yoke of bondage, has been to no purpose” (ibid., pp. 484, 485).

The final point in this week’s lesson cannot be overlooked. True “fasting” produces a life of service and Sabbath observance from the heart. The grateful recipient of God’s grace cannot help but share this blessed gift with others.

Waggoner comments, “Christ said of whosoever should believe on Him, that out of him should flow rivers of living water. The life which the believers receive from the Lord, flows out in a stream of blessing to others. . . .

“He who has divided his last crust with the hungry, and still has found that the handful of meal did not fail, will not fear when famine comes over all the land, for he knows whom he trusts. His bones will be as fat in times of scarcity as in times of plenty, for the God who turns the flinty rock into streams of water, can give him abundant drink from the very sands of the desert. The knowledge of all this is indicated in the true fast, which means the distribution of bread to the needy; and such knowledge—the knowledge that he is in touch with the great Creator—cannot fail to make one joyful. Instead of famishing, he himself will be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters never fail” (ibid., p. 486).

And what has this to do with the Sabbath? The Sabbath is a perpetual reminder of His continual sustaining power exercised personally for us since “It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves.” (Psalm 100:3). The Sabbath reminds us to “forget not all His benefits.” It draws us to contemplate His even more profound work to “redeem [our lives] from destruction.” Tenderly, He “crowns [us] with lovingkindness and tender mercies,” and “satisfies [our] mouth with good things.” He is “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy” (Psalm 103:2-8, excerpts).

Praise God! Every breath we take is a gift from our loving Creator. Every morsel of food we eat, every drop of water we drink, He purchased for us at Calvary.

“The last proclamation of the Gospel makes the Sabbath of the Lord very prominent, because the Sabbath of the Lord means perfect rest and trust in the Lord, and that must be the condition of those who are prepared for His coming. Keeping the Sabbath of the fourth commandment does not mean salvation by works, but salvation by resting in the Lord. It is not a grievous thing, but a delight. He who finds the Sabbath a hardship has never kept it, and does not know what it is, for it is a delight. It is the holy of the Lord, and honourable. . . .

“It is not merely on that day that we are not to do our own pleasure, nor to speak vain words, but every day. At no time have we any right to find our own selfish pleasure, and to speak vanity. . . . True Sabbath-keeping means godliness all the week. To limit the prohibition from seeking our own pleasure and doing our own ways and speaking vain words to the day of the Sabbath, is to miss the meaning of this entire chapter, which teaches continual and not occasional service. . . . The blessing of rest, which the Sabbath brings, will extend throughout the week, and the soul will revel in the deliciousness of it. The true Sabbath-keeper will be a king, set over the highest places of the earth, and his whole life will be one bright glad day. O, accept this glorious message, and delight yourself in the Lord Himself” (ibid., pp. 487, 488).

Patricia L. Guthrie

Read the study notes for Lesson 12