Distilled Characters

When I read Sabbath’s reading for the Quarterly, I remembered my days as a college student working in the Chemistry Lab. While the memories were still fresh, I read the information on a bottle of bottled water. The company said that they follow nature’s water purification’s system - distillation. In nature water evaporates and as it goes up it forms clouds, that later condense and fall as rain to the ground. I remembered that in the laboratory, we heated the water until it evaporated; we made the vapor go through a pipe that was colder than the original reservoir, and the vapor would condense into water again. But, this time the water would not have the impurities it originally had.

You see this process is possible because each substance has a particular boiling point. This is the temperature in which any substance turns from liquid to gas - evaporates. If the water is mixed with substances has a lower boiling point than water, then when you apply heat to the water these substances will evaporate before water does. The opposite is also true.

Let us use an example of water mixed with alcohol and salt. When we apply heat to this impure water, the temperature will raise until it reaches the boiling point of alcohol, which is 77C, and will stay there until all alcohol evaporates. After this the temperature will rise up to the boiling point of water, which is 100C, and will stay there until all water evaporates. Since salt’s is not even liquid at 100C, it will remain in the container, probably stuck to the edges. The water in vapor form that rises from the container is pure, to covert it back to liquid we must condense it and collect in liquid form on the other side. This water would be pure or distilled water.

It should go without saying that the container, in which the water is heated, should withstand heat of more than 100C (212°F). Otherwise the container would crack and everything in it would be spilled. In my days in college, only one brand of glass containers, called flasks, could do this: Pyrex. Pyrex guaranteed that their glass could withstand heat above 100C.

You are probably asking, what is the spiritual application of this information? I am glad you asked. In this analogy, we are the water. Sin is the impurities in the water. Christ is the Pyrex flask. Heat is the trials. As long as we are in Christ we are guaranteed that all trials will do is purge Sin away from us. Until we learn to trust and depend on God with that trial, and the Sin that was impeding this evaporates, the temperature will not rise. As long as we are in Christ, we are guaranteed that if the trial evaporates us, Christ can condense us into distilled purified people. This may apply to resurrection and translation. Any aspect of Sin that trials could not evaporate will not evaporate with us. We will be freed from Sin and all its implications.

You may ask, why would allow trials to come to us? Why will a loving God allow the heat of trials to make us suffer? The answer is that He does it because He loves us. Just as you rebuke and spank your child because you love them; God sends trials to rebuke us. He says so in Revelation 3:19, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.” In Jeremiah 9:7 God says that He allows trials to “refine us.” He allows trials to bring us closer to Him. He allows trials so that we learn to totally trust and depend on Him. So, trials, as hard as they, are in the end blessings. Yes, blessings, because they teach us to love Him above all things and to become one with Him. Are you paying attention?

The Apostle Peter says that in trials God is glorified, let us read 1 Peter 4:12-14,

1 Peter 4:12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
1 Peter 4:13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when His glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
1 Peter 4:14 If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part He is evil spoken of, but on your part He is glorified.

Trials are not a necessary evil or something we bear just because. The pros of trials outweigh the cons. They are beneficial. We should be thankful for them. While it may not be wise to pray for them, it is neither wise that you are spared from them. Just pray to God that He helps you through them. This in the end is the goal of the trial: that you learn to think of God first and foremost; that you yield to Him the reigns of your life. Will you do this?

The Good Shepherd

Adjectives are type of words that describe nouns. We use them to paint a verbal picture of objects, animals or persons. Among different things that can be described are: color, texture, firmness, position, placement, shape, size, quantity and/or quality. These descriptions can be absolute or relative. For example, we say that bananas are yellow. This is pretty much an absolute description. However, if we ask how yellow banana are, it becomes a more relative description, because some things may be yellower than others. So, we see that to describe something as being more of the one adjective than the other we add “er” to the adjective. We add “est” when we want to say something is so yellow, nothing can compare. Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule. One example of this is the adjective, “good.” “Good” is the basic adjective, “better” is one step up, and “best” is the highest step.

However, for God there is nothing that is a step above good. Through out Genesis God calls His creation good, including man. In fact, Jesus told the young rich ruler, “No one is good but God.” So God is good, and so is His creation. But, as man insists in trying to be higher than the Almighty God, he calls himself better and best, and also calls his creation better and best. Only to find out that there is always some defect in him or his creation. So man stands in contrast to God. When God says something is good, it is perfect, but when man says something is better or best, it has defects and imperfections.

Christ calls Himself the Good Shepherd; which means that despite what men may think, there is no better Shepherd than He. In man’s terms Jesus is the best Shepherd. In John 10, Jesus says why He is the good Shepherd: he enters through the door, His sheep know His voice and He calls them by name, the follow Him, He gives His life for the sheep. In contrast to Jesus are the thieves who do not enter through the door, they come to steal the sheep; sheep that do not follow them for they know not their voice. The thieves come to steal, kill and destroy. Also, in contrast to Jesus are the hirelings, who run away in time of danger, the flock is not their priority, their life is. Because, of them the flock is scattered. In Luke 15, Jesus describes the good Shepherd as someone that willingly puts His life in jeopardy for just one sheep of the flock. The author of Psalms 23 was a Shepherd himself, he knew of the dangers of being a shepherd. David convinces Saul of his qualifications to fight Goliath because of His Shepherd experience. He said,

1 Samuel 17
34And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock:
35And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him.
36Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.
37David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine

David put his life in harms way for the sheep. Christ, also, put His life in harms way for us, because He agapes us. A good under shepherd will also go to the lengths David and Jesus went. They can do it because God’s unconditional love (agape) has filled their hearts. They received the Holy Spirit who in turn brings this love of God, so they can love as God loves. It is a gift from God to all those who allow the indwelling Spirit of God to do His work in and through them. A good under shepherd then cares, tends, and feeds God’s sheep, as Christ does.

Are we affair proof?

Jeroboam was the first king of Israel, after the nation divided in two kingdoms. Fearing the people of his new kingdom would ally themselves with Judah when they went to worship there, he decided to create a worship system just for his new kingdoms. As we read in 1 Kings 12: 28-30.

1 Kings 12: 28 Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
1 Kings 12: 29 And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan.
1 Kings 12: 30 And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan.

He built two golden calves so people would worship them in Israel. He then proceeded to elect new priests for his new religion. This was a hindrance to Israel of course. In 2 Chronicles 11:13-16 we read what happened to the priests that lived in Israel.

2 Chronicles 11:13And the priests and the Levites that were in all Israel resorted to him out of all their coasts.
2 Chronicles 11:14For the Levites left their suburbs and their possession, and came to Judah and Jerusalem: for Jeroboam and his sons had cast them off from executing the priest's office unto the LORD:
2 Chronicles 11:15And he ordained him priests for the high places, and for the devils, and for the calves which he had made.
2 Chronicles 11:16And after them out of all the tribes of Israel such as set their hearts to seek the LORD God of Israel came to Jerusalem, to sacrifice unto the LORD God of their fathers.

As we Jerobaoam’s choosing of new priests, meant that the Levitical priests of Israel in were virtually ostracized. Because of this they migrated to Judah, to worship Jehovah.

Hundreds of years later, the priests were far from there predecessors. While they continued to work in the temple services, their hearts were far from God. No longer tempted with pagan God’s, they now worshiped money and reason. You see, a great number of them were Sadducees. They did not believe in resurrections or miracles, and probably did not believe that God speaks to man; hence, their skeptical stance toward Jesus - a miracle worker who preached resurrection and claimed that God spoke to Him (Desire of Ages 603-604). This would explain Zechariah’s – John the Baptist’s father – doubting the angel. Yes, he was a man that feared God; however it is possible that Zechariah had adopted some of the Sadducees’ beliefs.

How could a group of people that were once so faithful to God, generations later, while still claiming to love God, kill his Son? The answer is that they switched their loyalty from God to self. While they did not play the harlot with pagan Gods, they played the harlot with gods of their own creation. They flirted with Greek philosophy and thinking. They found themselves liking the company of the Greek theories, and chose to spend more time with them than with God. The Greek system was more pleasing to their senses than was having faith in God. After a while, God’s system of delayed gratification did not please the flesh as did the world’s system of gratifying the flesh here and now. So much that eventually they started to believe it was impossible to deny the flesh its wants. In other words, they believed a life without Sin is impossible, and thus the sacrificial system was needed to cover for man’s inability of keeping God’s Law. While they were not as strict as the Pharisees, they created another form of legalism, albeit subtle. You were OK with God as long as you sacrificed an animal.

Jesus stood against all of the Sadducees beliefs. A Man in every way as they were that lived without sinning, and performing miracles they claimed could not happen (Hebrews 4:15; Desire of Ages, 537-538).

If this sounds vaguely familiar it is because it is very near to our modern belief. We do not sacrifice animals. But, we have created other requirements to support our theistic and almost existentialist form of Christianity. As the wise man said, “There is no new thing under the Sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9).

Likewise Jesus still stands against us and our beliefs. A Man in every way as we are that lived without sinning, and performing miracles we claim cannot happen. We may not see Jesus in person, but we see how the hearts of men are miraculously transformed after they give their lives to Jesus. They are converted through the work of the Holy Spirit. From proud and arrogant, they become humble and sensitive. From uncouth they become refined. From selfish, braggarts, and self–centered they become God praising and generous. Paul addresses this issue in Galatians 5, let us read

Galatians 5: 19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
Galatians 5: 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
Galatians 5: 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
Galatians 5: 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Galatians 5: 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

The Holy Spirit transforms you into a new creature, if you allow Him. The transformation will be evident to many others. Yes, many will still question your genuineness’. Rejecting the proof and going against their conviction. However, the question still remains, will you allow Him?

Should David had been stoned?

In the 1980s, there was a TV show in the United States called “Night Court.” As the name suggests it was set in a Court Room that held its proceedings at night. In one of the episodes, a handsome young janitor started to work in the court building. A female bailiff and the young janitor hit it off, and decided to go on a date after the work is over. Soon after that a marshal walked in, saying he was looking for a fugitive that reportedly was hiding in the court building. He wanted the judge to order a line up to see if the fugitive was there. After much deliberation, the judge conceded, however, the janitor was not in the line, which raised every one’s suspicions. The female bailiff caught up with the janitor and convinced the janitor to give himself up. The janitor agreed only if she took him to the Marshall.

The story ends with the Marshall saying that the fugitive janitor will be tried the fullest extent of the Law. Everyone laughed thinking he was joking. But, the Marshall insisted he was serious, as he ate donuts from a bag he found in the court room. All in the room start pleading with him, but the Marshall would not give in. Finally, the judge ordered the bailiff to arrest the Marshall for theft. The Bailiff grabbed the Marshall’s arm. The Marshall tried to force his arm away demanding an explanation. The Judge answered, “That bag of donuts is mine; you took them without my consent, which means you stole it. Put him away, bailiff, until his time for trial, when we will try him to the fullest extent of the Law.” Every one except for the Marshall cheered. The Marshall then spoke, “Ok, Ok, I get it; you let me go, if I am lenient with my fugitive.” The judge answered, “Do we have a deal?” The Marshall agreed and the bailiff let him go. After this, the Marshall left with his fugitive.
This story showed what most of us believe, that when a law is broken, the breaker of the law, should pay the maximum given penalty, unless it is one of us breaking the law. We suddenly have reasons why clemency should apply to us, but not to others. We are no different than the group who wanted the adulteress woman stoned. They said to Jesus, “Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act, Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?” (John 8:5, 6). The Law of Moses did say that, “And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death” (Leviticus 20:10). But, Jesus was not interested in killing the woman. If He wanted any death for her, it was death to self. Yes, the law condemns the woman. But Jesus paid the wages of Sin, and we all die in Him (Romans 6:4). So, our debt to the law – and the woman’s - is paid in full. Jesus, tried to the fullest extent of the Law - was found guilty, and the sentence was death, the second or eternal death. He died that death – as one forsaken of God or totally separated from God; which is how this woman felt, until Christ gave her the good news, “I do not condemn you.”
David lies with a woman that is married to someone else. This is adultery. The Law says he should have been put to death. Why was he not put to death? Some may say, “Who would dare go against the King?” This is a good point. Many prophets died in the hands of the Kings they rebuked, John the Baptist is one example. However, I believe God was not interested in killing David. He was interested in David’s repentance, again death to self. And, David repented after he realized what he had done, not only to himself and the woman, but also to his soon to be born dead child, his family, her husband and those implicated in his death, the whole nation, and most importantly to God. Hence his words, “I have sinned against the LORD” (2 Samuel 12:13). David felt forsaken of God and received gratefully the news from Nathan the Prophet, “The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die” (2 Samuel 12:13).
This is the Gospel. The good news of Salvation is that God has put away our Sin in Christ – we will not die. God does not want to kill us; He wants us to die to self – to repent. He wants us to turn around toward Him, and receive from Him freedom from guilt and eternal life. Many reject this message, some believe they do not need to repent and others believe God will never accept them. A few believe the message and continually believe. Each group will receive their just reward. Do you believe David should have been stoned? Perhaps how you answer this question reveals which group are you in?