| Author | Message | ||
| River Registered user Username: River Post Number: 6385 Registered: 9-2006  |
As I sit down to write this morning these thoughts come to mind “Weighed in the balance and found wanting.” My concept of balances are that there is a standard of weight in the one balance, and the subject being weighed in the other. I remember back to my childhood days when we would pick cotton in the fall. We would drag our cotton sacks to the scales, and hang them on the scales, I remember how most of the time I was disappointed at how little I had in my sack, but that scale pronounced how much I was paid, I could wish and wish, but the scale pronounced the final outcome. In old times when we went to the grocery store, a scale had a pound standard on one end, and if you wanted a pound of pinto beans, the beans were placed in the other side, and beans were either added or subtracted until the scales read one pound. In the Wilco farm store where I buy bolts and etc. some of the grade bolts are measured by the pound standard, but as in days of old, the scale pronounces the price. How does this apply to Adventism? Matthew Henrys commentary says this: 5:18-31 Daniel reads Belshazzar's doom. He had not taken warning by the judgments upon Nebuchadnezzar. And he had insulted God. Sinners are pleased with gods that neither see, nor hear, nor know; but they will be judged by One to whom all things are open. Daniel reads the sentence written on the wall. All this may well be applied to the doom of every sinner. At death, the sinner's days are numbered and finished; after death is the judgment, when he will be weighed in the balance, and found wanting; and after judgment the sinner will be cut asunder, and given as a prey to the devil and his angels. While these things were passing in the palace, it is considered that the army of Cyrus entered the city; and when Belshazzar was slain, a general submission followed. Soon will every impenitent sinner find the writing of God's word brought to pass upon him, whether he is weighed in the balance of the law as a self-righteous Pharisee, or in that of the gospel as a painted hypocrite. (Matthew Henry’s whole Bible commentary) It will be a terrible thing to face the judgment to have the all powerful, all knowing, all omnipotent, all righteous God, pronounce these words upon ones final tally. The standard of the gospel is an exacting standard, its not a mystical thing impossible to interpret or understand. Gods standards are exact. We don’t like to think of it in that way do we? We like to think of his standard as ‘nearly close, somewhat close, and that will be good enough.’ But is the price weighed out for our atonement just close to God standard, or exact to his standard? In Acts 16:27 the jailer asks, “Sirs! What must I do to me be saved?” And the answer comes explicitly. Acts 16:31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And the next verse indicates to me that they then preached the gospel to them more fully. Does Adventism come up to the standard set by the Gospel? The IJ, health message, EGW, soul sleep, insistence on Saturday worship as a standard of salvation, who Jesus is, all must be weighed against the standard of the gospel. . Now visualize the standard the apostles set fourth to the jailer, lay it in one side, then lay Adventism in the other. How do you think God will judge? Will it be weighed in the balance and found wanting? Had you died before you accepted the simple gospel of Christ, how do you think you would have faired as an Adventinst? Adventism was the standard by which you lived your life, was it not? You believed it, taught it to your children, and to others. Surely you accepted it overall as your standard. Every Friday was ‘preparation day’ as you prepared to live the law, wasn’t it? So there were things you didn’t believe about Adventism, how much of it did you believe? 5%? 50%? 75%? If you lay all that you did believe of it in our imaginary scales, how do you think the balances would look with the simple gospel laid out to the jailer as a standard? Now answer this, what do the scales look like? Are the balances even? You can subtract or add what you didn’t believe, which ever you prefer, pretend that you are adding beans to our imaginary pile, now that you have added what you didn’t believe of it, does it come up to the standard? No judging here, we don’t judge Adventist, we are just looking at the scale. Adventist will be judged by the one who does the weighing, we will have to hang our own sacks on his scale. Our own sack must balance out too. Atonement on the one side, and acceptance of the atonement on the other, an exact weight. Pound for pound. Saved----/----believe. Jesus----/----Jesus. Some people view us as judgmental Adventist bashers, but for the most part, it is very simple, we are looking at the standard of the Bible and placing that against the weight of Adventism to see what the weights look like. Some people say, ‘Well, they are just deceived Christians, and will be saved even though they believed, taught, propagated, swore by, lived by, the pile of beans that Adventism operates on.” “The scale weight looks iffy, but it’ll all work out, the one that died Adventist is in heaven, surprised he/she made it.” “I mean after all, God can’t be that exacting.” The price he put on your head was his own Son, and you say he’s not really that exacting? The day that the Holy Spirit said to me as I prayed about Adventists: “What do you see in my word?” In other words he was saying, “You need to take a hard look at reality.” That’s the day that I really began to take a hard look at Gods word. As the eunuch comes to water after having Philip preach to him the gospel, he says, “What is to hinder my being baptized? And Philip answered him, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." In other words, if you don’t you may not! That’s the only hindrance from your right to baptism, is if you don’t believe on Jesus with all your heart. If you are baptized with any other reason, you are a thief, an invader, a fake, if you believe with all your heart you may, and if you do not, you may NOT. Because if you do, you just might be weighed in the balance and found wanting. River | ||
| Colleentinker Registered user Username: Colleentinker Post Number: 11344 Registered: 12-2003  |
Very true, River. We are not saved or lost on the basis of our sin(s). We are saved or lost on the basis of whether or not we have received the Sin Bearer. We are judged by our position: in Christ or in Adam. And we are not in Christ is we have not placed our faith in Jesus and been born of the Spirit. Jesus saves. It is that simple and all-encompassing. There are no "demonstrations"—such as Sabbath-keeping—that will have any effect on our salvation. Colleen | ||
| Christo Registered user Username: Christo Post Number: 228 Registered: 2-2008 |
In conversation with an adventist, I was pointing out that they did not follow adventist doctrine perfectly, and ,yet that was what I thought was required for them to feel they were saved. The response was that belief in the sda message was the requirement to be saved, not the strict adherence to the message. So for many sda's the believe and be saved, means believe in the church, rather than believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Very sad, but very effective brain washing. Chris | ||
| Colleentinker Registered user Username: Colleentinker Post Number: 11351 Registered: 12-2003 |
I do think, Chris, that many people think this way. Most would likely have some measure of guilt for not keeping the doctrines well; however, most of them think that when they see the "signs of the end" beginning, they'll go back to observing the Sabbath and food laws, etc. I think the newer "believe in Jesus and adhere to Adventism" push is really schizy-making. There's so much "grace talk", but very little talk of the death of Jesus or placing one's faith in Him. Colleen | ||
| Flyinglady Registered user Username: Flyinglady Post Number: 8277 Registered: 3-2004  |
That is the way I thought before God got a hold of me and brought me to Him. It was my "emergency" insurance system. I am so glad I learned it was false. Diana L |
