THIRD QUARTER 2020

SABBATH SCHOOL INSIGHT #2

JULY 11, 2020

“WINSOME WITNESSES: THE POWER OF PERSONAL TESTIMONY”

 

"For we cannot but speak the things we have seen and heard" Acts 4:20.

 

Everyone could share their testimony if only they knew they had one, "because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse" Romans 1:19, 20.

 

That means I have a testimony and so do you. Everyone does, because "unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ," "who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began" Ephesians 3:8; 2 Timothy 1:9.

 

Sharing our testimony is part of God's plan to complete the circle of beneficence. He gives in order to bless us. We, the recipients of His blessings, impart to others: ". . . to give is to live. The life that will be preserved is the life that is freely given in service to God and man. Those who for Christ's sake sacrifice their life in this world, will keep it unto life eternal" COL 86.3.

 

Have you ever shared your testimony of what God has done for you? 

 

As we review our lives, some events stand out unforgettably as times in which we saw Jesus more clearly and came to a deeper understanding and appreciation of His indescribable gift.

 

Such was the case for me when, at the invitation of a friend, we attended an all-day seminar on Romans by Pastor E. H. (Jack) Sequeira in the late 1980's. Beginning in Romans chapter one, Pastor Sequeira took us step by step through Paul's gospel. When we got to Romans chapter 5, we read how judgment and condemnation had come upon the human race because of Adam's sin, and how through Christ's death on the cross justification of life had come to all men (verse 18). As the reality of this good news penetrated my mind, I felt liberated and thrilled with amazement at what Christ had done for me (verses 12-18). The thought that Christ had already established the way of salvation for our race and had covenanted Himself to keep me in the way brought a deep sense of joy and hope. I wanted to tell everyone.

 

Christ's true followers in every generation since the world began have shared what Christ has done for them--"for by it the elders obtained a good testimony" (Hebrews 11:2). Abraham witnessed to God's faithfulness to his nephew Lot as well as his pagan neighbors. Joseph lived an unsullied life amidst tragedy and almost overwhelming temptation in Egypt. Daniel and his three Hebrew friends loyally lived out their faith in the face of persecution and death. 

 

More recently, one of the 1888 messengers, Dr. E. J. Waggoner, recounted his personal testimony in a document thought to be one of the last he wrote before his death. An excerpt follows:

 

"Christ is primarily the Word of God, the expression of God's thought; and the Scriptures are the Word of God primarily because they reveal Christ. It was with this belief that I began my real study of the Bible thirty-four years ago. At that time Christ was set forth before my eyes as 'evidently crucified' before me. I was sitting a little apart from the body of the congregation in a large tent at a camp-meeting in Healdsburg, one gloomy Sabbath afternoon. I have no idea what was the subject of the discourse. Not a text nor a word have I ever known. All that has remained with me is what I saw. Suddenly a light shone round me, and the tent was for more far more brilliantly lighted than if the noon-day sun had been shining, and I saw Christ hanging on the cross for me. In that moment I had my first positive knowledge, which came like an overwhelming flood, that God loved me, and that Christ died for me. God and I were the only beings I was conscious of in the universe. I knew then, by actual sight, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself; I was the whole world with all its sin. I am sure that Paul's experience on the road to Damascus was no more real than mine. I knew, and still know, that from the Bible the Gospel teacher is to set forth what no ear has ever heard or can hear, and what has never entered into the heart of man. I resolved at once that I would study the Bible in the light of that Revelation, in order that I might help others to see the same truth. I have always believed, that every part of the Bible must set forth, with more or less vividness, that glorious revelation; and when I did not see it, or some direct connection with it, in any portion of Scripture, I have known that I did not understand it, and have refrained from attempting to teach such portions until I could see the light shining from them" (Waggoner, E. J., Confession of Faith, pp. 5, 6).

 

Dr. Ellet J. Waggoner was one of two individuals identified by Sister Ellen G. White as being a messenger specially appointed by God to share the most precious message of Christ our righteousness. The existence of this Sabbath School Insights testifies to the blessing we continue to receive from the light that Brother Waggoner spoke of more than a century ago.

 

In a letter to Uriah Smith, Ellen White wrote, "The message given us by A.T. Jones, and E. J. Waggoner is the message of God to the Laodicean church, and woe be unto any who professes to believe the truth and yet does not reflect to others the God-given rays" (15 MR 92.2).

 

When God gives light, our testimony deepens as we come to know Him more fully. 

 

Sadly, "An unwillingness to yield up preconceived opinions, and to accept this truth [that the law in Galatians referred particularly to the moral law], lay at the foundation of a large share of the opposition manifested at Minneapolis against the Lord's message through Brethren [E. J] Waggoner and [A. T.] Jones. By exciting that opposition Satan succeeded in shutting away from our people, in a great measure, the special power of the Holy Spirit that God longed to impart to them. The enemy prevented them from obtaining that efficiency which might have been theirs in carrying the truth to the world, as the apostles proclaimed it after the day of Pentecost. The light that is to lighten the whole earth with its glory was resisted, and by the action of our own brethren has been kept away from the world" (1 SM 234.6).

 

 “If those who claimed to have a living experience in the things of God had done their appointed work as the Lord ordained, the whole world would have been warned ere this, and the Lord Jesus would have come in power and great glory. For God has appointed a day in the which He will judge the world. He tells us when that day shall come, – ‘‘This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come’” (Review and Herald, October 6, 1896).

 

One hundred and twenty years later, we are seeing the ominous results of the delay in proclaiming this most precious message. "We may have to remain here in this world because of insubordination many more years, as did the children of Israel, but for Christ's sake His people would not add sin to sin by charging God with the consequence of their own wrong course of action" (Evangelism, 695, 696).

 

The world still needs to see (as well as hear) the testimony of the most precious message of Jesus Christ our righteousness. "So, then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17).

 

Many years ago, we were vacationing with a larger group when the topic of what to do for entertainment that evening came up. The only thing we could think of was to go rent a movie and bring it back for all to watch. The Lord has mercifully removed from my mind all details concerning the movie itself. But as it unfolded, I do remember there were scenes that made me uncomfortable. I was convicted that it was wrong. But I sat there and watched along with everyone else. That night, I dreamed of Jesus hanging on the cross. He was looking right at me with sorrowing eyes, and I felt I had hurt Him personally by watching that production of the devil. I awakened from that dream and wept as I considered what my sin, my selfishness, had done to Him. From that time onward, I lost all interest in Hollywood productions. 

 

The devil has mesmerized our generation with distractions. We are only a click away from every vile and unimaginable evil. Because our senses have been dulled by the world, we are unprepared for what is soon to come upon the world as an overwhelming surprise, "because we [know] not the time of [our] visitation" (Luke 19:44).

 

To what could well be the last generation on earth, a message is to be given to our dying world. The dragon is "wroth" with the remnant who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus (Revelation 12:17). The times ahead will not be easy.

 

But if we are willing to open the door of our hearts to allow His love to shine in, then we will have a testimony to share.

 

"And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life" 1 John 5:11, 12.

 

May God bless as you share your testimony of the great things He has done for you. To God be the glory!

 

~Patti Guthrie