Lesson II.—Sabbath, July 8, 1893.
REVIEW QUESTIONS.—(a) What does faith do for us? (b) What is the character of the joy which it gives? (c) What graces are connected with this faith? (d) What is its end? I. What the Prophets Revealed.
Verses 10-12: "Concerning which salvation the prophets sought and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: searching what time or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did point unto, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glories that should follow them. To whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto you, did they minister these things, which now have been announced unto you through them that preached the gospel unto you by the Holy Ghost sent forth from heaven; which things angels desire to look into."- Who before us sought diligently of the salvation in Christ?
- Of what did they prophesy?
- Does this mean that the prophets did not know of God's salvation and grace? Note 1.
- Why did they search their own writings?
- What point did they especially search to know? Note 2.
- To what did the Spirit through their writings testify?
- What did God reveal in answer to their inquiries?
- Through what power is the gospel truly preached?
- What other beings desired to look into these things? Note 3.
# II. Practical Applications.
Verses 13-16: "Wherefore girding up the loins of your mind, be sober and set your hope perfectly on the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as children of obedience, not fashioning yourselves according to your former lusts in the time of your ignorance; but like as he which called you is holy, be ye yourselves also holy in all manner of living; because it is written, Ye shall be holy; for I am holy."- In view of what God has thus revealed, what should we do? Note 4.
- Like whom should we act?
- Against what are we admonished?
- After whom should we be fashioned?
- How is it possible for us to be holy? Note 5.
# NOTES.
1. Sought and Searched Diligently.—The holy men of old certainly knew the salvation of Christ personally. (See Gen. 49:18; Ex. 15:2; Ps. 9:14; 51:12.) The whole inspired psalmody of Israel breathes of the salvation of God, both present and future. Yet they did not understand the plan of salvation in its fuller development, as did and do those of the Christian era. This is expressly declared in the Scripture (verse 12), in the prophets themselves (Dan. 12:4, 9), by Christ (Matt. 13:16, 17), by the apostles (Rom. 16:25, 26; Eph. 3:5); but this understanding of what they wrote for generations future was not necessary, for God by his Spirit spoke through them things which they did not know nor understand. They were the instruments; it was the Spirit of Christ which was in them that testified, not the prophets themselves. The Spirit of God knows the mind and thoughts of God (1 Cor. 2:11), and therefore it was necessary that the Spirit of God must give the words which should convey the thoughts of God to future generations (2 Sam. 23:2; see also 1 Cor. 2:13; 2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Peter 1:2). Paul says that he spoke in the words which the Holy Ghost taught (1 Cor. 2:13); and again, that the holy writings were themselves "given by inspiration," or "God-breathed" (2 Tim. 3:16); and Peter declares that holy men spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost (2 Peter 1:21). In all cases in Scripture it is the word which is exalted, not the man; in the wisdom of the world it is ever the man which is exalted above the word.
2. Time.—We are often told that prophetic time is nothing. But the prophets of old searched not only "what time," that is, just how long, but the "manner of time," whether literal or symbolic. They were anxious to know what God meant by the words spoken through them. As they spoke for us, how much more anxious we should be.
3. Angels desire to look into.—It is a wonderful thought that on this little world is being wrought out God's wondrous mystery, the fullest manifestation of his divine attributes, and that through fallen man who connects with God, namely, the church of Christ, the inhabitants of heavenly worlds receive knowledge of God's wonderful plan. The gospels reveal how anxious were the angels in the work of Christ at the time of his first advent (Luke 2:9-14; Matt. 4:11; 26:53); they reveal to us that at that time was the judgment (literally crisis) of this world (John 12:31); that the controversy between Christ and Satan at that time reached its climax; that Satan and his angels were conquered by the power of Christ (Rev. 12:7-9; Luke 10:18); and in that triumph for his people and church the purity and power of Christ's love for his creatures were revealed to angels as never before (Eph. 3:10, Revised Version), causing them to raise the song of praise and rejoicing recorded in Rev. 12:10, and the song of triumph which heralded the conqueror home (Ps. 24:7-10). Upon this point take also the following—
The Lord Jesus is making experiments on human hearts through the exhibitions of his mercy and abundant grace. He is effecting transformations so amazing that Satan, with all his triumphant boasting, with all his confederacy of evil united against God and the laws of his government, stands viewing them as a fortress impregnable to the sophistries and delusions. They are to him an incomprehensible mystery. The angels of God, seraphim and cherubim, the powers commissioned to cooperate with human agencies, look on with astonishment and joy that fallen men, once children of wrath, are through the training of Christ developing characters after the divine similitude, to be sons and daughters of God, to act an important part in the occupations and pleasures of heaven.527—Ellen G. White.4. Revelation of Jesus Christ.—Note the marginal reading: "Wherefore girding up the loins of your mind, be sober and set your hope perfectly on the grace that is being brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." Note, that the "girding" is not a single act, but a constant work, a binding up with the truth of God (Eph. 6:14), as that truth is constantly revealed in the onward path of the Christian (Phil. 3:15, 16). And note also that this grace is not all future, but is constantly flowing from a full fountain to which we have access by faith (Rom. 5:2), as Christ is revealed to us more and more in his word; for to the faithful Christian student of the word is constantly revealed new manifestations of the glory of the Master (2 Cor. 4:6), which will increase from glory to glory (2 Cor. 3:18), until the day of the revealing of the glory of his presence (2 Thess. 1:7, 10; 3:8), when his people shall be made like him (Phil. 3:20, 21; 1 John 3:2). 5. Be ye. . . . Ye shall be.—There is both command and declaration, both precept and promise. See Lev. 19:2. God commands impossibilities for us of ourselves. He says, "Be ye holy;" but of ourselves we have no holiness about us. "We are all as an unclean thing, and [even] all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags" (Isa. 64:6); but as he who called us is holy, so he called us in our uncleanness to holiness (1 Thess. 4:7; Eph. 1:4); Christ sanctified, or made holy, himself that we might be holy (John 17:19), and those who submit to him he cleanses from all their pollution and gives a new heart and new spirit (Eze. 36:25-27), created in righteousness and true holiness (Eph. 4:24); and being made free from the power of sin, we have, by God's grace, fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life (Rom. 6:22), so the expression, "Ye shall be holy, for I am holy," is a pledge of God's holiness and power, that, if we will but submit to him, we shall be established unblamable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thess. 3:13). Our part is to submit to God's plan, to yield to his holy conditions; God, by the Spirit of holiness and his word, does the work. 6. Word Studies.—"Sufferings of Christ" (verse 11), margin, literally, "unto Christ;" that is, destined for Christ. "The glories," plural, showing the successive manifestations of Christ's glory, like the resurrection, ascension, priesthood, and second coming. "Desire" (verse 12), meaning intense desire. See Luke 22:15; 15:16. "Girding" (verse 13), suggested perhaps by the binding around of the loose Eastern robes preparatory to running or fighting. Christ calls to a pilgrimage, to active service. "Be sober," better "being sober," a continued state of self-control. "Not fashioning" yourselves after the changeable world or vile lusts (Rom. 12:2), but "after the Holy One which called you" (margin), the Unchangeable.