Fear and Trembling of Salvation

Introduction
The steadfastness of the man of God in ages past was so great, as it appears impossible for us today to walk as they did. It is not because we have no knowledge of what is expected of us, nor lack a pure source from which to be refreshed, but because the fallen state of man is so imperfect that it requires an infinite effort to put right the wrong in us.

In the commission to His disciples, Christ not only outlined their work, but gave them their message. “Teach the people”, He said, “to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.” The disciples were to teach what Christ had taught. That which He had spoken, not only in person, but through all the prophets and teachers of the Old Testament.

There is no place for tradition, for man’s theories and conclusions, or for church legislation. No laws ordained by ecclesiastical authority are included in the commission. Christ’s servants are not to teach the traditions of man. “The law and the prophets,” with the record of His own words and deeds, are the treasure committed to the disciples to be given to the world. Christ’s name is their watchword, their badge of distinction, their bond of union, the authority for their course of action, and the source of their success. Nothing that does not bear His superscription is to be recognized in His kingdom. {DA 826.}

An Infinite System
God has employed varied means to reach man in varied generations to date, in communing with His people. The angels, prophets, Jesus [Emmanuel], favored human beings, the Spirit, God’s utterances in His law etc, have delivered God’s messages to effect an intended purpose with a view of harmonizing the earthly government with the heavenly. Noting that God’s government is founded on His holy law, it would be worthy to denote that among the agencies employed, it has been before creation and, ‘It is to be preserved through the eternal ages, immutable as the principles of His government.’ CT P. 248

“Adam and Eve persuaded themselves that in so small a matter as eating of the forbidden fruit, there could not result such terrible consequences as God had declared. But this small matter was sin, the transgression of God’s immutable and holy law, and it opened the flood-gates of death and untold woe upon our world. Age after age there has gone up from our earth a continual cry of mourning, and the whole creation groaneth and travaileth together in pain as a consequence of man’s disobedience. Heaven itself has felt the effects of his rebellion against God. Calvary stands as a memorial of the amazing sacrifice required as a propitiation for the transgression of the divine law.” {RH, March
27, 1888 par. 8}

Many have tried and are striving to live with the determination not to repeat the mistake of our first parents; but they have instead done the very opposite of what is required. They are about to fill the cup of iniquity that will provoke God’s wrath on the disobedient earth. About 4000 years ago, God exercised His power in commanding water to cleanse the filthiness of every kind that was on the face of the earth because of laying aside the immutable law and putting a similitude in its place. It is for this reason that the Lord has sworn saying: “Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, [yet] will I not hear them.” Ezekiel 8:18

The Vital Lesson
In ancient times, men of God were determined to maintain the true identity of the law. It was the patriarch’s guide in combating with the evils then present. “By Samuel the schools of the prophets were established to serve as a barrier against the widespread corruption resulting from the iniquitous course of Eli’s sons, and to promote the moral and spiritual welfare of the people. These schools proved a great blessing to Israel, promoting that righteousness which exalteth a nation, and furnishing it with men qualified to act, in the fear of God, as leaders and counselors. In the accomplishment of this object, Samuel gathered companies of young men who were pious, intelligent and studious. These were called the sons  of the prophets. The instructors were men not only versed in divine truth, but those who had themselves enjoyed communion with God, and had received the special endowment of His Spirit. They enjoyed the respect and confidence of the people, both for learning and piety.” {FE 96}

“The chief subjects of study were the law of God with the instructions given to Moses, sacred history, sacred music, and poetry. It was the grand object of all study to learn the will of God and the duties of His people. In the records of sacred history were traced the footsteps of Jehovah. From the events of the past were drawn lessons of instruction for the future. The great truths set forth by the types and shadows of the Mosaic law were brought to view, and faith grasped the central object of all that system, the Lamb of God that was to take away the sins of the world.” {FE 97.}

Unseen And Unfelt Deviation
“In the days of Christ the town or city that did not provide for the religious instruction of the young was regarded as under the curse of God. Yet the teaching had become formal. Tradition had in a great degree supplanted the  Scriptures. True education would lead the youth to “seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after Him, and find Him.” Acts 17:27. But the Jewish teachers gave their attention to matters of ceremony. The mind was crowded with material that was worthless to the learner, and that would not be recognized in the higher school of the courts above. The experience which is obtained through a personal acceptance of God’s word had no place in the educational system. Absorbed in the round of externals, the students found no quiet hours to spend with God.

They did not hear His voice speaking to the heart. In their search after knowledge, they turned away from the Source of wisdom. The great essentials of the service of God were neglected. The principles of the law were obscured. That which was regarded as superior education was the greatest hindrance to real development. Under the training of the rabbis the powers of the youth were repressed. Their minds became cramped and narrow.” {DA 69.}

“Jesus did not come into the world to lessen the dignity of the law, but to exalt it. The Jews had perverted it by their prejudices and misconceptions. Their meaningless exactions and requirements had become a by-word among the people of other nations.

Especially was the Sabbath hedged in by all manner of senseless restrictions. It could not then be called a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; for the scribes and the Pharisees had made its observance a galling yoke. A Jew was not allowed to light a fire upon the Sabbath, nor even to light a candle upon that day. The views of the people were so narrow that they had become slaves to their own useless regulations. As a consequence, they were dependent upon the Gentiles for many services which their rules forbade them to do for themselves.” {GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 14}

The Jews certainly assert to this fact when in response to Pilate they answered saying, “We have a law, and by our law he ought to die…” John 19:7. The Jews daily rehearsed the law which they purported to keep as was written in Exodus 20:13, “Thou shalt not kill.” In their first response to Pilate, they quoted the law that was their only   safeguard as long as they remained true to it. “Then said Pilate unto them, Take ye him, and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death:” John 18:31.

A Degenerate Age
“The Lord designs to warn you, to reprove, to counsel, through the testimonies given, and to impress your minds with the importance of the truth of His word. The written testimonies are not to give new light, but to impress vividly upon the heart the truths of inspiration already revealed.
Man’s duty to God and to his fellow man has been distinctly specified in God’s word, yet but few of you are obedient to the light given. Additional truth is not brought out; but God has through the Testimonies simplified the great truths already given and in His own chosen way brought them before the people to awaken and impress the mind with them, that all may be left without excuse.” {5T 665.}

“In ancient times God spoke to men by the mouth of prophets and apostles. In these days He speaks to them by the testimonies of His Spirit. There was never a time when God instructed His people more earnestly than He instructs them now concerning His will and the course that He would have them pursue.” {5T 66.}

The promise of God’s people in the past as well as today is the same as the chorus that sounded in the Israelite camp after Moses had delivered the message he received from God for the people, “…All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD.” Exodus 19:8.

However later the people raised their voices saying, “… This is an hard saying; who can hear it?” John 6:60. And with this view, they chose an alternative way. “Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where [is] the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk [therein].” Jeremiah 6:16. Nevertheless, did they remain doing nothing? No! But had a suitable substitute which they made known as “…We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.” Isaiah 4:1.

In His (Jesus) testimony, Christ has expressly revealed that ““I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of  this bread, he shall live forever.” John 6:51. Our Saviour is the Bread of Life, and it is by beholding His love, by receiving it into the soul, that we feed upon the bread which came down from heaven.” {MB 112}.

Christ gives us a divine apparel, “The white raiment is the righteousness of Christ, the wedding garment which Christ alone can give”. {7BC 965} but in which many are seeking to “wear our own apparel”.

Current Negating Reflections
Has men’s attitude changed over the ages down to the current one? Are we free from complaints of being overly strict? Whatever your answer would be, inspiration has noted with dismay “….how is that law disregarded! Behold the world today in open rebellion against God. This is in truth a froward generation, filled with ingratitude, formalism, insincerity, pride, and apostasy.

Men neglect the Bible and hate truth. Jesus sees His law rejected, His love despised, His ambassadors treated with indifference.
He has spoken by His mercies, but these have been unacknowledged; He has spoken by warnings, but these have been unheeded.
The temple courts of the human soul have been turned into places of unholy traffic. Selfishness, envy, pride, malice– all are cherished.” {PK 185.}

“But today in the religious world there are multitudes who, as they believe, are working for the establishment of the kingdom of Christ as an earthly and temporal dominion. They desire to make our Lord the ruler of the kingdoms of this world, the ruler in its courts and camps, its legislative halls, its palaces and market places. They expect Him to rule through legal enactments, enforced by human authority. Since Christ is not now here in person, they themselves will undertake to act in His stead, to execute the laws of His kingdom. The establishment of such a kingdom is what the Jews desired in the days of Christ. They would have received Jesus, had He been willing to establish a temporal dominion, to enforce what they regarded as the laws of God, and to make them the expositors of His will and the agents of His authority.” {DA 509.}

“The end of all things is at hand. The Lord is soon coming. Already His judgments are abroad in our land. We are not only to talk of Christ’s coming, but in every action we are to reveal the fact that He is soon to be manifested in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. Have we the wedding garment on? Have we personal piety? Have we cooperated with divine agencies in a wholehearted, unreserved manner, in weaving into our life’s practices the divine principles of God’s holy law? It is one thing to talk the law, and it is another thing entirely to practice it. It is the doers of the law that shall be justified before God; for those who do the law represent the character of God, and lie not against the truth. {TM 187.}

“The Holy One has given rules for the guidance of every soul so that no one need miss his way. These directions mean everything to us; for they form the standard to which every son and daughter of Adam must conform. We can not turn aside from any of these divine rules, and be found guiltless. We are required to make the will of God paramount in our lives, and to have the faith that works by love and purifies the soul. I would warn you to keep from the dangerous ground on which your feet would naturally be inclined to stray…”
{OHC 206.}

“Through His servants, God gave the Jewish people a last opportunity to repent.
“He manifested Himself through His witnesses in their arrest, in their trial, and in their imprisonment. Yet their judges pronounced on them the death sentence. They were men of whom the world was not worthy, and by killing them the Jews crucified afresh the Son of God. So it will be again. The authorities will make laws to restrict religious liberty. They will assume the right that is God’s alone. They will think they can force the conscience, which God alone should control. Even now they are making a beginning; this work they
will continue to carry forward till they reach a boundary over which they cannot step. God will interpose in behalf of His loyal, commandment-keeping people.” {DA 630.}

Dear reader, remember this saying, “The thing that hath been, it [is that] which shall be; and that which is done [is] that which shall be done: and [there is] no new [thing] under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 1:9.

People are considering to have a more modern law than the ancient Decalogue. But we are secure in what we know as the divine law of liberty. May the Lord help us discover “the mysteries of God” that are revealed to us that we may know Him as He is and to know His perfect law. Amen.

John Riang’a Obwocha