HOME / PROCLAMATION! MAGAZINE / 2011 / JULY AUGUST SEPTEMBER / WORSHIP JESUS BECAUSE HE IS

Worship Jesus because He is

 

RICHARD PEIFER

 

About two years ago Life Assurance Ministries launched a website called BibleStudiesforAdventists.com. This website features daily commentary for the lessons published in the Sabbath School Bible Study Guides, formerly known as "The Quarterly". During the third quarter of this year, the Seventh-day Adventist Church published its Sabbath School Bible Study Guides on the subject of "Worship". The title of the lesson for the thirteenth week was "Worship in the Book of Revelation".

Richard Peifer, co-host of the radio program produced by People to People Ministries, is a former Adventist and has been a regular contributor to these commentaries. He agreed to write the commentary for that thirteenth week of the third quarter. Instead of doing an essay for each day of the week, as he usually does, he wrote an article calling the readers to true worship of the Lord Jesus alone.

We are printing his article here so our readers may also benefit from Peifer's insights and come to trust Jesus alone, with no add-ons, for salvation.

 

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I had agreed to write commentary on the thirteenth Sabbath School lesson of the third quarter of 2011 from a Christian perspective. As I read the study guides I realized the week's essence could be summarized by a couple of quotations from Wednesday and Thursday's lessons which I share below followed by the commentary which I wrote for the week:

As Seventh-day Adventists, we understand how central to this whole issue the seventh-day Sabbath is, which is so tied in with Creation and with worship. We worship the Lord because He is the Creator, and the Sabbath has been, and still remains, the foundational mark, or sign, of His role as Creator.

Though we still do not know when, and how, these issues will be brought to the forefront, we can be sure that they will. How crucial it is, then, that we be ready, not only to stand firm for the truth but also to be able "to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear" (1 Pet. 3:15)" (Adult Teachers Sabbath School Bible Study Guide, July-Aug-Sep 2011, Page 156).

Again, think about Creation, think about the God who created the creation. Then think about the Cross, about the Creator dying for the sins of those whom He had created, bearing in Himself the punishment that they deserved in order that these undeserving beings could have the chance of being re-created in a new heaven and a new earth (Ibid., Page 158).

As an Adventist one is expected and required to keep the Sabbath in order to be saved. Period. One can get away with almost anything—except breaking the Sabbath. We were expected to give up our jobs for the Sabbath if necessary. We were expected to die for the Sabbath.

Adventists learn that God is worthy of worship because He is the Creator, thus linking Him to the establishment of the Sabbath. Yet the Bible does not teach us to worship God because He is the Creator. In fact, I do not worship the Lord because He is the Creator. I worship God because He is God. Creating is one of His major activities, but I do not worship His activities or power or majesty. He simply IS, and I worship the I AM because there is none else.

The Sabbath truly was the sign of God's sovereignty over Israel. However, because we are no longer under Law, we are marked by a different sign—the indwelling Holy Spirit (see Eph. 1:13-14). Therefore, I do not worship the Sabbath, nor do I honor the Sabbath as the sign of my loyalty or as the seal of God. Adventism worships the Sabbath so much that they have made an idol of it and therefore have negated their own attempts to keep the Law.

Because Adventists believe only that "undeserving beings could have the chance of being re-created in a new heaven and a new earth," they focus only on the cross. They miss entirely the reality of Jesus' resurrection and the eternal life that belongs to everyone who believes in Him. In short, they teach only a half-gospel, which is no gospel at all.

As those of us who write these comments have attempted to explain in every lesson, the Adventist focus on behavior and law-keeping as the means of proving one's right to salvation is a completely bankrupt approach to God. It calls Him a liar in regard to sin and salvation, death and life, Satan and Jesus, and every other major Biblical theme.

Certainly, this behavioral approach runs roughshod over Revelation's message, completely missing the point. Revelation is about Jesus. It actually is the revelation of Jesus—the already ultimately victorious King.

Revelation is not about the great controversy. There is no controversy, great or otherwise! Jesus is God—always has been and always will be. Satan, a created being, is a liar, coward, and murderer—always has been and always will be until he is thrown into the lake of fire (see Jn. 8:44). Notice that Jesus Himself doesn't even bother with Satan at the judgment. Satan's being thrown into the lake of fire is done, in my reading of Revelation 20, by the same angel who binds Satan for the thousand years. Satan is not worth one second of Jesus' time. Satan is less than an afterthought in the context of Jesus' inherent majesty and power.

If we want to understand worship as it is demonstrated in Revelation, then we must see the entire book in the context of Jesus. It is not about churches; it is about Jesus. It is not about persecution; it is about Jesus. Revelation is not about law-keeping; it is about Jesus. It is not about seals, trumpets and bowls, but it is about Jesus. It is not about time periods, but it is about Jesus. It is Jesus, always and only Jesus, that we find in Revelation!

This realization will drive us to our knees and then onto our faces in awed, joyful, humble adoration and praise. If the twenty-four elders spend most of the time on their faces in Revelation, who are we to point arrogantly to our law-keeping as some kind of badge of honor!

It is way past time we got over ourselves. Stop giving Satan so much credit. Stop giving Jesus so little credit.

 Here's what I suggest for you this week

Lay aside your Adventist quarterly. Put down your copy of The Great Controversy. Instead, ask the Spirit to reveal the true meaning of the words given to John, and pick up your Bible and read through Revelation at least twice this week. Spend no time at all trying to figure out the meaning of the various symbols, no time steeling yourself for the coming persecution. Focus entirely on Jesus—how He is revealed in the book, what He does throughout the book, and how the various groups respond to Him.

You will be amazed, and you just might meet the real Jesus for the first time in your life! If so, don't feel guilty about missing Him in the past. Today is the day of salvation; not yesterday, not tomorrow. Jesus is sufficient. Jesus is victorious. Jesus is everything. Let Him hold you in His hands, because, once He does, no one and nothing will be able to snatch you away from Him (Jn. 10:27-30).

There is no better place to discover the real meaning of worship than in Revelation. Let His words change your life. I guarantee you'll never be the same. †

 

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July August September 2011
VOLUME 12, ISSUE 3

Richard Peifer serves as associate pastor, music director, co-host of the radio program, and technology director at People to People Ministries in Carrollton, TX, a suburb of Dallas. He and his wife, Lois, attend Metro Bible Fellowship, the local church outreach of People to People.

You can learn more about both ministries at realanswers.net and www.metrobiblefellowship.org.

You may send e-mail to richard.peifer@realanswers.net.

Revelation is not about the great controversy. There is no controversy, great or otherwise! Jesus is God—always has been and always will be.