J
Jay T
Guest
Tests are part of our everyday experience. Airplanes are tested, cars are tested, nuts and bolts are tested....even people are tested.
This testing process is intended to relieve us of some of the stress of not knowing what a product or person will do when placed in service.
The purpose of testing is prediction.
What will happen if this man or woman practices medicine ? What will happen if this car is put on the road ? What will happen if this person teaches ? What will happen if this airplane is put into the air ?
These are the kinds of questions that advance-testing attempts to answer in order to reduce the element of risk.
Testing people is much more difficult than testing products. A demonstration of that problem may be seen in the United States legal system. Parole boards that are supposed to certify that a criminal has been rehabilitaed and is safe to be released into society receives much criticism today, because in many cases their tests apparently fail.
There is a dismaying amount of repeat offenders, repetition of criminal acts by freed criminals. Innocent people become victims and are crying out for a better solution to the problem.
I am sure that the people on these parole boards are not insincere or irresponsible, because they must be as concerned as others about the safety of their own families.
I think the problem comes from an imperfect testing procedure, which results in many mistakes. It certifies as rehabilitated many criminals who in fact are not....rehabilited. As a result, society suffers, and the parole boards are criticized. I believe that the greatest need in that situation is for better testing procedures whereby future human behavior can be predicted more accurately.
Is that not what is involved in Jesus Christ's present work ?
He is planning to release many criminals from a huge penitentiary, the earth. He plans to let these criminals enter the society of unfallen worlds. Revelation 12:12 says, "Rejoice ye heavens, and you that dwell in them".
Many worlds in which UNfallen beings live have never known the miseries of sin (the consequences of sin is, diseases of every discription, wars, starvation of little children, death of loved ones, pain and sufferings of everyday life, etc.). And these unfallen beings do not...want to know them !
So, the Lord is in a position of the parole board. He needs a test whereby He can certify a criminal to be rehabilitated and is safe to release into the society of the universe at large. It needs to be a test that the watching universe can observe and understand.
Now, consider what would be rerqiured of such a test.
#1.) It would need to be a test that could be used everywhere, in all parts of the earth.
#2.) It would ned to be a test that could be used for people of all ages and characteristics.
#3.) It would have to be fair in content, not based upon things that people have in different amounts. If it were based upon money, for example, some people would be discriminated against. If it were based upon property, talent, or education, the same would be true and the test would be unfair.
#4.) It would have to be fair in application, not requiring of people more than they are able to do.
#5.) The test would have to be unique so that motivation would be clear. If the Lord requires something for a test that people do for other reasons, issues are confused and the motive is unclear.
What is there in the world that meets all these criteria ?
I can think of only one thing that persons of all ages have in equal amounts, everywhere, and that is time !
In a given week, everyone has exactly the same number of days, hours, minutes, and seconds.
So, it would seem that time could be used for a test without discrimination against anyone.
But how could the test be set up ?
Could there be a requirement that a certain amount of work be done in a specific amount of time ?
That is an appealing idea, but quickly encounters problems of both discrimination and motivation. Some cannot work, and some must work less than others for reasons beyond their control.
And regarding motivation, we can observe that people work for reasons that have nothing to do with religion or loyalty to Jesus Christ, because the benefits from work that are not religious in nature, such as the benefit of finacial gain, the benfit of exercise, and the benefit of something accomplished or produced.
So, motivation in a time-work test would be unclear, making the results of such a test doubtful and making it difficult to avoid discrimination.
What about recreational use of time ?
Again, some people are not able to engage in recreation, and some enjoy recreation, for reasons that have nothing to do with religion.
If we think of requiring a certain amount of time for study, or meditation, or self-improvment, the same problem would be present, to some degree.
In a test involving the use of time for any these reasons, discrimination would be difficult to avoid, and motivation would be unclear.
So, what do we have left ?
What about rest ?
Not everyone can work, but everyone can rest. Although it might appear that motivation still would be unclear, since there are non-religious benefits from rest, there is a way to deal with this problem and make time spent in rest, an adequate test.
If it simply were required that a portion of time be used in rest, there would be benfits from resting that would not be religious in nature, and resting could be accmplished in a variety of ways to gain those benefits.
People could work half a day and rest half a day, or work one day and rest one day, or rest one day of each five or one day of six, or even seven, and gain the benefits of resting, even though they had nothing religious in mind at all.
BUT....there is something that could make resting a valid test.
If a requirement should be made that human beings rest during a specific time period that the Lord chooses, it would be a most adequate test because it would be arbitrary. It would not be justified by reasoning or rationale...it would simply attest to the Lord's will !
If Christ were to single out one specific 24-hour period of the 168 hours that makes a week, and require that the entire human family use this time only, for rest, some risks would be involved.
What about the time when a crop is ready to be harvested, or seed is ready for planting and the weather conditions are right and might never be so again ?
What about work situations ?
What about the run of fish that occurs only on certain days ?
Or irragation water for the farm that comes only on certain days ?
Many situations would entail risks for the man or woman who would be required to use that time, and no other time, for rest .
And, observe that this requirement makes no appeal to reason whatsoever !
Rest appeals to reason, but a particular day of rest does not.
That is exactly what is needed, for the greatest test that a human being faces in relationship to God is this:
What do we do when God makes a requirement that we do not understand ?
"THAT IS THE GREATEST OF ALL TESTS"
This seems to me to be the question that the inhabitants of other worlds are most concerned about.
Try to visualize yourself as an inhabitant of a world where there never has been sin (No death of loved ones, no diseases, no wars, no pain or sufferings of any kind, no lying, no stealing, etc.). You learn that Jesus is planning to release some rehabilited criminals on your planet. You would be justifed in asking some questions.
"Lord, do you think it is really safe to do this ?"
And the Lord can say, "I believe it is. But Judge for yourself. Let me ask this candidate for eternal life some questions and see what you think".
So the Lord ask the earthling some questions.
"We have a requirement that no one shall kill anyone else. Are you willing to obey that requirement ?"
The earthling relpies, "Why yes, that makes sense. That is reasonable. I will go along with that".
"The next requirement is that you shall not steal. What about that ?"
"Surely, that makes sense. I understand that. I will go along with that".
"You shall not bear false witness", Jesus says.
And the same answer is given. "Of course, that makes sense, that is reasonable. I'll cooperate".
And so on through the commandments, except the 4th, the Sabbath.
You then reply, "No Lord. He is not obeying you, he is agreeing with you. In every case he will do your will because it appears to him to be reasonable. But given his limited knowledge and his limited experience, it is entirely possible that there may be sometime be a requirement of the goverment of the universe that does not make sense to him.
What will he do then ?
That is what I want to know".
The Lord is able to answer, "I anticipated that problem and built into the 10 commandments, a question to cover it."
Pointing to the 4th commandment, He asks the earthling, "We have a requirement that the 7th day of the week shall be devoted to rest and to worship, rather than to your own inclinations, and pursuits.
What do you say about that ?"
The earthling may reply, "Lord, I clearly see the vaalue of resting. You can depend on me to rest. I will go along with that. BUT, as far as resting on a particular day is conbcerned, I do not see any reason why I should rest one day when another day might be more convenient for me."
I can hear you saying, "No Lord ! We do not want him here ! He is exalting his human reason above your requirement." It is a case of, "God Says, But I Think".
If, on the other hand, the earthling says in response to the Sabbath question, "I believe in resting. You can count on me to rest. As far as the day of rest is concerned, it is not clear to me...why one day needs to be a particular day of rest...but it does not need to be clear to me, Lord; If that is what you want, than that settles it for me."
Then the Lord turns to you and asks, "What do you think ?"
I believe you would say, "I think he is all right. Let him come."
The supreme test of a person's relationship to God is what does that person do when the reason for one of God's requirements is not clear to him ?
The terrible problem of sin began when Eve was faced in the Garden of Eden with a requirement that did not make sense to her. The forbidden tree looked much like the other trees. The fruit was comparable to other fruit, and the serpent was eating it without apparent harm. Yet God had said not to eat that fruit. It does not make sense, she thought, it just does not make sense.
Eve was faced with the decision, what did I do when the requirment of God does not make sense to be reasonable ?
And what Eve decided in essence was, I will obey God when his requirements seem reasonable to me, but when they do not seem reasonable, I will not obey them.
This attitude---I will obey God when I understand His requirements, and I will disobey Him when I do not understand His requirements----reflects the millions of people today who call themselves Christians.
It does not indicate a proper relationship with God !
Abraham faced the same test when the voice of the Lord, which he knew so well, he could not mistake it, said to him, "Take now thy son, thine only son, Isaac, whom thou loveth, and offer him on Mount Moriah, for a sacrifice."
To say that it did not make sense would be a massive understatement ! Because God had promised Abraham, that Isaac, would be the leader of a great nation in the future !
It seemed to Abraham an unbelieveable command. Not only did it not appeal to his reason, but destroyed all his hopes and dreams.
Consequently Abraham, as did Eve, faced the critical test: What do I do when God gives a requirement that I do not understand ?
Abraham did not make the same descision Eve made. Abraham did not say, "I will obey God when I understand, and I will disobey God when I do not understand."
Abraham said, "I will obey God whether I understand or not."
As a result, he became known as the, 'Father of the faithful', the role model for those who want to have a proper relatioship with the Lord Jesus Christ, a model of trust, faith, love, and submission to the will of God.
Jesus Christ faced the same test in Gethsemane.
He went into the garden troubled in heart because He knew the end was near. There it became clear to Him that something unbelievebly dreadful was to be a part of his test----absolute, total separation for God !
Then he said unto them, My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death, tarry ye here, and watch with me. And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O Father, If it be possible, let this cup pass from me."(Matthew 26:38,39).
Three times He prayed that prayer !
What does that prayer mean ?
It means, "Father, I do not understand. Father, is it neccessary for you to withdraw from me ?
Sometimes we say (without really understanding), "He bore the sins of the weight of all our sins."
How few, if any, really understand what that means ?
It means rejection ! God hates sin so much....that if his own son takes on sin upon himself...God will turn away !
The Bible tells us: "But your iniquities (sin) have separated you from your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear", (Isaiah 59:2).
You know how painful rejection is ?
Rejection by the Almighty God in heaven brings the ultimate agony to a soul !
In the Garden of Gethsemane it became clear to Jesus that He must be rejected by His Father in order to bear the punishment of sinners. As He felt His relationship eith the Father being broken, He trembled and cried out in agony, "Why Father, is there no other way ? I do not understand."
The fate of the entire universe hung in the balance while he wrestled with the problem. And the universe won its reprieve when He nade the descision, "I will obey, even though I don't understand. 'Not my will, but thine be done'.
JESUS CHRIST PASSED THE GREATEST OF ALL TESTS !
As Jesus proved by His experience, the greatest test a human faces is not martyrdom. It is comparatively easy to surrender your life for that which you fully understand .
BUT....to surrender your will when you do not understand is a greater test !
The very test that must be met, by everyone, who wants to live in the Paradise of God, for all eternity.
The Sabbath rest is found in the very heart of the 10 commandment. It provides a tes of trust......a test of love....a test of submission to the will of God !
Resting is reasonable, BUT....resting on a particular day has no basis in reason.
And the Sabbath test provides a means by which every other being in the universe may know: What does a person do when he does not understand ?
Will he obey anyway ?
OR........Will he put his human reasoning powers above...the command of God and disobey ?
In Revelation chapters 12-14, we are given a picture of that 'FINAL' confrontation----confrontation between the world and God's true church.
The final confrontation will be over this test !
The 'whole' world' will be called to make its decision: "Do I obey when I understand and also when I do not understand ?
The 7th-Dayness of the Sabbath will be the issue.
In Revelation chapter 7 we read that there will be a sealing process of those who pass the test.....a certification that these people are safe to save, to be released anywhere in the universe.
They have passed the test.....and their future behavior is predictable.
"HALLOW MY SABBATHS, AND THEY SHALL BE A SIGN BETWEEN ME AND YOU...THAT YOU...MAY KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD" (Ezekiel 20:20).
This testing process is intended to relieve us of some of the stress of not knowing what a product or person will do when placed in service.
The purpose of testing is prediction.
What will happen if this man or woman practices medicine ? What will happen if this car is put on the road ? What will happen if this person teaches ? What will happen if this airplane is put into the air ?
These are the kinds of questions that advance-testing attempts to answer in order to reduce the element of risk.
Testing people is much more difficult than testing products. A demonstration of that problem may be seen in the United States legal system. Parole boards that are supposed to certify that a criminal has been rehabilitaed and is safe to be released into society receives much criticism today, because in many cases their tests apparently fail.
There is a dismaying amount of repeat offenders, repetition of criminal acts by freed criminals. Innocent people become victims and are crying out for a better solution to the problem.
I am sure that the people on these parole boards are not insincere or irresponsible, because they must be as concerned as others about the safety of their own families.
I think the problem comes from an imperfect testing procedure, which results in many mistakes. It certifies as rehabilitated many criminals who in fact are not....rehabilited. As a result, society suffers, and the parole boards are criticized. I believe that the greatest need in that situation is for better testing procedures whereby future human behavior can be predicted more accurately.
Is that not what is involved in Jesus Christ's present work ?
He is planning to release many criminals from a huge penitentiary, the earth. He plans to let these criminals enter the society of unfallen worlds. Revelation 12:12 says, "Rejoice ye heavens, and you that dwell in them".
Many worlds in which UNfallen beings live have never known the miseries of sin (the consequences of sin is, diseases of every discription, wars, starvation of little children, death of loved ones, pain and sufferings of everyday life, etc.). And these unfallen beings do not...want to know them !
So, the Lord is in a position of the parole board. He needs a test whereby He can certify a criminal to be rehabilitated and is safe to release into the society of the universe at large. It needs to be a test that the watching universe can observe and understand.
Now, consider what would be rerqiured of such a test.
#1.) It would need to be a test that could be used everywhere, in all parts of the earth.
#2.) It would ned to be a test that could be used for people of all ages and characteristics.
#3.) It would have to be fair in content, not based upon things that people have in different amounts. If it were based upon money, for example, some people would be discriminated against. If it were based upon property, talent, or education, the same would be true and the test would be unfair.
#4.) It would have to be fair in application, not requiring of people more than they are able to do.
#5.) The test would have to be unique so that motivation would be clear. If the Lord requires something for a test that people do for other reasons, issues are confused and the motive is unclear.
What is there in the world that meets all these criteria ?
I can think of only one thing that persons of all ages have in equal amounts, everywhere, and that is time !
In a given week, everyone has exactly the same number of days, hours, minutes, and seconds.
So, it would seem that time could be used for a test without discrimination against anyone.
But how could the test be set up ?
Could there be a requirement that a certain amount of work be done in a specific amount of time ?
That is an appealing idea, but quickly encounters problems of both discrimination and motivation. Some cannot work, and some must work less than others for reasons beyond their control.
And regarding motivation, we can observe that people work for reasons that have nothing to do with religion or loyalty to Jesus Christ, because the benefits from work that are not religious in nature, such as the benefit of finacial gain, the benfit of exercise, and the benefit of something accomplished or produced.
So, motivation in a time-work test would be unclear, making the results of such a test doubtful and making it difficult to avoid discrimination.
What about recreational use of time ?
Again, some people are not able to engage in recreation, and some enjoy recreation, for reasons that have nothing to do with religion.
If we think of requiring a certain amount of time for study, or meditation, or self-improvment, the same problem would be present, to some degree.
In a test involving the use of time for any these reasons, discrimination would be difficult to avoid, and motivation would be unclear.
So, what do we have left ?
What about rest ?
Not everyone can work, but everyone can rest. Although it might appear that motivation still would be unclear, since there are non-religious benefits from rest, there is a way to deal with this problem and make time spent in rest, an adequate test.
If it simply were required that a portion of time be used in rest, there would be benfits from resting that would not be religious in nature, and resting could be accmplished in a variety of ways to gain those benefits.
People could work half a day and rest half a day, or work one day and rest one day, or rest one day of each five or one day of six, or even seven, and gain the benefits of resting, even though they had nothing religious in mind at all.
BUT....there is something that could make resting a valid test.
If a requirement should be made that human beings rest during a specific time period that the Lord chooses, it would be a most adequate test because it would be arbitrary. It would not be justified by reasoning or rationale...it would simply attest to the Lord's will !
If Christ were to single out one specific 24-hour period of the 168 hours that makes a week, and require that the entire human family use this time only, for rest, some risks would be involved.
What about the time when a crop is ready to be harvested, or seed is ready for planting and the weather conditions are right and might never be so again ?
What about work situations ?
What about the run of fish that occurs only on certain days ?
Or irragation water for the farm that comes only on certain days ?
Many situations would entail risks for the man or woman who would be required to use that time, and no other time, for rest .
And, observe that this requirement makes no appeal to reason whatsoever !
Rest appeals to reason, but a particular day of rest does not.
That is exactly what is needed, for the greatest test that a human being faces in relationship to God is this:
What do we do when God makes a requirement that we do not understand ?
"THAT IS THE GREATEST OF ALL TESTS"
This seems to me to be the question that the inhabitants of other worlds are most concerned about.
Try to visualize yourself as an inhabitant of a world where there never has been sin (No death of loved ones, no diseases, no wars, no pain or sufferings of any kind, no lying, no stealing, etc.). You learn that Jesus is planning to release some rehabilited criminals on your planet. You would be justifed in asking some questions.
"Lord, do you think it is really safe to do this ?"
And the Lord can say, "I believe it is. But Judge for yourself. Let me ask this candidate for eternal life some questions and see what you think".
So the Lord ask the earthling some questions.
"We have a requirement that no one shall kill anyone else. Are you willing to obey that requirement ?"
The earthling relpies, "Why yes, that makes sense. That is reasonable. I will go along with that".
"The next requirement is that you shall not steal. What about that ?"
"Surely, that makes sense. I understand that. I will go along with that".
"You shall not bear false witness", Jesus says.
And the same answer is given. "Of course, that makes sense, that is reasonable. I'll cooperate".
And so on through the commandments, except the 4th, the Sabbath.
You then reply, "No Lord. He is not obeying you, he is agreeing with you. In every case he will do your will because it appears to him to be reasonable. But given his limited knowledge and his limited experience, it is entirely possible that there may be sometime be a requirement of the goverment of the universe that does not make sense to him.
What will he do then ?
That is what I want to know".
The Lord is able to answer, "I anticipated that problem and built into the 10 commandments, a question to cover it."
Pointing to the 4th commandment, He asks the earthling, "We have a requirement that the 7th day of the week shall be devoted to rest and to worship, rather than to your own inclinations, and pursuits.
What do you say about that ?"
The earthling may reply, "Lord, I clearly see the vaalue of resting. You can depend on me to rest. I will go along with that. BUT, as far as resting on a particular day is conbcerned, I do not see any reason why I should rest one day when another day might be more convenient for me."
I can hear you saying, "No Lord ! We do not want him here ! He is exalting his human reason above your requirement." It is a case of, "God Says, But I Think".
If, on the other hand, the earthling says in response to the Sabbath question, "I believe in resting. You can count on me to rest. As far as the day of rest is concerned, it is not clear to me...why one day needs to be a particular day of rest...but it does not need to be clear to me, Lord; If that is what you want, than that settles it for me."
Then the Lord turns to you and asks, "What do you think ?"
I believe you would say, "I think he is all right. Let him come."
The supreme test of a person's relationship to God is what does that person do when the reason for one of God's requirements is not clear to him ?
The terrible problem of sin began when Eve was faced in the Garden of Eden with a requirement that did not make sense to her. The forbidden tree looked much like the other trees. The fruit was comparable to other fruit, and the serpent was eating it without apparent harm. Yet God had said not to eat that fruit. It does not make sense, she thought, it just does not make sense.
Eve was faced with the decision, what did I do when the requirment of God does not make sense to be reasonable ?
And what Eve decided in essence was, I will obey God when his requirements seem reasonable to me, but when they do not seem reasonable, I will not obey them.
This attitude---I will obey God when I understand His requirements, and I will disobey Him when I do not understand His requirements----reflects the millions of people today who call themselves Christians.
It does not indicate a proper relationship with God !
Abraham faced the same test when the voice of the Lord, which he knew so well, he could not mistake it, said to him, "Take now thy son, thine only son, Isaac, whom thou loveth, and offer him on Mount Moriah, for a sacrifice."
To say that it did not make sense would be a massive understatement ! Because God had promised Abraham, that Isaac, would be the leader of a great nation in the future !
It seemed to Abraham an unbelieveable command. Not only did it not appeal to his reason, but destroyed all his hopes and dreams.
Consequently Abraham, as did Eve, faced the critical test: What do I do when God gives a requirement that I do not understand ?
Abraham did not make the same descision Eve made. Abraham did not say, "I will obey God when I understand, and I will disobey God when I do not understand."
Abraham said, "I will obey God whether I understand or not."
As a result, he became known as the, 'Father of the faithful', the role model for those who want to have a proper relatioship with the Lord Jesus Christ, a model of trust, faith, love, and submission to the will of God.
Jesus Christ faced the same test in Gethsemane.
He went into the garden troubled in heart because He knew the end was near. There it became clear to Him that something unbelievebly dreadful was to be a part of his test----absolute, total separation for God !
Then he said unto them, My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death, tarry ye here, and watch with me. And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O Father, If it be possible, let this cup pass from me."(Matthew 26:38,39).
Three times He prayed that prayer !
What does that prayer mean ?
It means, "Father, I do not understand. Father, is it neccessary for you to withdraw from me ?
Sometimes we say (without really understanding), "He bore the sins of the weight of all our sins."
How few, if any, really understand what that means ?
It means rejection ! God hates sin so much....that if his own son takes on sin upon himself...God will turn away !
The Bible tells us: "But your iniquities (sin) have separated you from your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear", (Isaiah 59:2).
You know how painful rejection is ?
Rejection by the Almighty God in heaven brings the ultimate agony to a soul !
In the Garden of Gethsemane it became clear to Jesus that He must be rejected by His Father in order to bear the punishment of sinners. As He felt His relationship eith the Father being broken, He trembled and cried out in agony, "Why Father, is there no other way ? I do not understand."
The fate of the entire universe hung in the balance while he wrestled with the problem. And the universe won its reprieve when He nade the descision, "I will obey, even though I don't understand. 'Not my will, but thine be done'.
JESUS CHRIST PASSED THE GREATEST OF ALL TESTS !
As Jesus proved by His experience, the greatest test a human faces is not martyrdom. It is comparatively easy to surrender your life for that which you fully understand .
BUT....to surrender your will when you do not understand is a greater test !
The very test that must be met, by everyone, who wants to live in the Paradise of God, for all eternity.
The Sabbath rest is found in the very heart of the 10 commandment. It provides a tes of trust......a test of love....a test of submission to the will of God !
Resting is reasonable, BUT....resting on a particular day has no basis in reason.
And the Sabbath test provides a means by which every other being in the universe may know: What does a person do when he does not understand ?
Will he obey anyway ?
OR........Will he put his human reasoning powers above...the command of God and disobey ?
In Revelation chapters 12-14, we are given a picture of that 'FINAL' confrontation----confrontation between the world and God's true church.
The final confrontation will be over this test !
The 'whole' world' will be called to make its decision: "Do I obey when I understand and also when I do not understand ?
The 7th-Dayness of the Sabbath will be the issue.
In Revelation chapter 7 we read that there will be a sealing process of those who pass the test.....a certification that these people are safe to save, to be released anywhere in the universe.
They have passed the test.....and their future behavior is predictable.
"HALLOW MY SABBATHS, AND THEY SHALL BE A SIGN BETWEEN ME AND YOU...THAT YOU...MAY KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD" (Ezekiel 20:20).
