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

Insights to Lesson 6
Playing God
May 1-7

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

INTRODUCTION: ISAIAH AND
THE THREE ANGELS’ MESSAGES

The messages of the three angels found in Revelation 14:6-12 constitute the last, worldwide proclamation of the everlasting gospel. How blessed we are to live in the time in which this message is to be given! It is interesting to note that in the midst of the three angels’ messages we find a denunciation of Babylon, and an exposure of her loathsome deeds. In the third angel’s message we see the final fruit of Babylon’s harlotry—the beast and its image unite to force people to submit to their authority. All mankind are warned of the judgment to come upon those who refuse to believe the everlasting gospel and instead, embrace the Babylonian “gospel.”

The pattern and content of the three angels’ messages is evident in the book of Isaiah as well. Isaiah proclaims the everlasting gospel and warns against the theology of Babylon. The passages for this week’s lesson study denounce and pronounce judgment upon Babylon, and give us a clue that in the end, only those who refuse to adopt the principles of Babylon will be spared when “the LORD makes the earth empty and makes it waste” (Isa. 24:1). The reasons given for the impending judgment upon the earth are found in these words--“because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant” (Isa.24:5). These are the very issues which are brought to view in the messages of the three angels. Therefore, because the 1888 message is the message of the three angels proclaimed with a loud cry (Rev. 18:1), then it must also be the message of Isaiah.

BABYLON’S “GOSPEL”

So what is Babylon’s “gospel”? The core of it is manifested in Lucifer’s desire to exalt himself, which is revealed in Isaiah 14:13,14:

“For you have said in your heart:
‘I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north;
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High.’”

These words are most ironic! Observe—Lucifer was already exalted by God, but he chose to reject that exalted position of covering cherub in favor of a new status which he hoped to obtain by his own efforts. The 1888 message presents humanity with a position that God has already given them, in Christ, a most exalted position as sons and daughters—joint heirs with Christ! The 1888 messengers did not preach the limited atonement of either Calvinism or Arminianism, but presented the pure biblical truth “that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them” (2 Cor. 5:19). The question that comes to every person who hears this Good News is the very same question as that which came to Lucifer in heaven—“Will you receive this gift that you have been given with a thankful heart, or will you reject it in favor of your own plan to exalt yourself?” The first option is righteousness by faith, whereas the second is righteousness by works.

It is also ironic to note Lucifer’s claim that he wanted to “be like the Most High.” If that is really what he wanted, then all he had to do was behold Him. Had Lucifer continued to behold the self-sacrificing love of God, he would have been like God in character, for that very love would have been manifested in him. Lucifer decided that he wanted to be like God in power and position, and in so doing forfeited his privilege to be like Him in character. So also will the 1888 message bring the world to decide whether they really want to be like God (in character) or whether they (like Lucifer) want to be god. The 1888 messengers presented the biblical Christ, who is “able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them” (Heb. 7:25). They rejoiced with Paul, saying, “how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Heb. 9:14). Listen to A. T. Jones:

“In His coming in the flesh—having been made in all things like unto us and having been tempted in all points like as we are—He has identified Himself with every human soul just where that soul is. And from the place where every human soul is, He has consecrated for that soul a new and living way through all the vicissitudes and experiences of a whole lifetime, and even through death and the tomb, into the holiest of all, at the right hand of God for evermore.

“O that consecrated way! consecrated by His temptations and sufferings, by His prayers and tears, by His holy living and sacrificial dying, by His triumphant resurrection and glorious ascension, and by His triumphal entry into the holiest of all, at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens!

“And this ‘way’ He has consecrated for us. He, having become one of us, has made this way our way; it belongs to us. He has endowed every soul with divine right to walk in this consecrated way, and by His having done it Himself in the flesh--in our flesh—He has made it possible, yea, He has given actual assurance, that every human soul can walk in that way, in all that that way is; and by it enter fully and freely into the holiest of all.

“He, as one of us, in our human nature, weak as we, laden with the sins of the world, in our sinful flesh, in this world, a whole lifetime, lived a life ‘holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners,’ and ‘was made’ and ascended ‘higher than the heavens.’ And by this He has made and consecrated a way by which, in Him, every believer can in this world, and for a whole lifetime, live a life holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and as a consequence be made with Him higher than the heavens.

“Perfection, perfection of character, is the Christian goal--perfection attained in human flesh in this world. Christ attained it in human flesh in this world, and thus made and consecrated a way by which, in Him, every believer can attain it. He, having attained it, has become our great High Priest, by His priestly ministry in the true sanctuary to enable us to attain.

“Perfection is the Christian’s goal, and the High Priesthood and ministry of Christ in the true sanctuary is the only way by which any soul can attain this true goal in this world. ‘Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary.’ Ps. 77:13.” (The Consecrated Way to Christian Perfection, chapter entitled “Perfection.”)

Thus the line of demarcation in the last days will be between those who are fully conformed by the blood of Christ to the character of Christ, and those who count “the blood of the covenant by which [they were] sanctified a common thing” (Heb. 10:29), and desire instead to take the power and position of God for themselves to rule their own lives the way they see fit.

IS SPIRITUAL BABYLON THE SOURCE OF THE 1888 MESSAGE?

In discussing Babylon, literal/local in Isaiah’s time and spiritual/global in the end time, we should ask the question—does God ever command His people to go to Babylon to learn truth? The answer, if one is honest with Scripture, is a flat “No.” How is it then that some have put forth the proposition that the 1888 message, which Ellen White so vigorously endorsed, was merely an echo of the “righteousness by faith” being taught in the popular Sunday-keeping churches? Our pioneers held firmly to the conviction that end-time, spiritual Babylon is constituted by religious groups that rejected the first angel’s message. Ellen White was very clear that the popular churches are the key players in spiritual Babylon. Listen to these words from The Spirit of Prophecy, Vol. 4, pages 421, 422:

“‘I saw another angel come down from Heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.’ ‘And I heard another voice from Heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.’ [Rev. 18:1, 2, 4].

“In this scripture the announcement of the fall of Babylon, as made by the second angel, [Rev. 14:8] is repeated, with the additional mention of the corruptions which have been entering the churches since 1844. A terrible condition of the religious world is here described. With every rejection of truth, the minds of the people have become darker, their hearts more stubborn, until they are entrenched in an infidel hardihood. In defiance of the warnings which God has given, they continue to trample upon one of the precepts of the decalogue, and they persecute those who hold it sacred. Christ is set at naught in the contempt placed upon his word and his people. As the teachings of Spiritualism are accepted by the churches, no real restraint is imposed upon the carnal heart, and the profession of religion becomes a cloak to conceal the basest iniquity. A belief in spiritual manifestations opens the door to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. The influence of evil angels is felt in the churches throughout the land.

“Of Babylon at this time it is declared, ‘Her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.’ [Rev. 18:5.] She has filled up the measure of her guilt, and destruction is about to fall upon her. But God still has a people in Babylon; and before the visitation of his judgments, these faithful ones must be called out, that they ‘partake not of her sins, and receive not of her plagues.’ Hence the movement symbolized by the angel coming down from Heaven, lightening the earth with his glory, and crying mightily with a strong voice, announcing the sins of Babylon. In connection with his message the call is heard, ‘Come out of her, my people.’ As these warnings join the third angel’s message, it swells to a loud cry.”

In view of this language, are we to believe that the message that Ellen White endorsed was a mere parroting of the corrupt theology of Babylon? Is this where God would have us go to understand righteousness by faith? On the contrary, the 1888 message was given in order to expose the falsehoods of Babylon and to give the last message of mercy in a loud cry in order that those “faithful ones” might be “called out!” It is my prayer that you, dear reader, will join in giving this loud cry message! May God bless your Sabbath School class this week.

Skip Dodson

Read the study notes for Lesson 7