The morning Manna will be provided at
6am. Thanks. Studying Ephesians in the SSnet.org series Lesson 10, may the Holy Spirit be
the speaker to your heart. The Topic today is: Ephesians 5 in proper
Adventist thinking on family for Morning Manna of the Sabbath School Lesson Ephesians. The Opening Hymn will be 229
"Spirit of the Living God". The Sabbath School Quarterly,
downloadable from SSnet.org in the Teacher's Edition is on page 132ff. Comments
by Phillipine professor. The SSnet.org allows anyone, anywhere to
read the lesson in their own language. Choose your own language to see God
speaking also to your heart. Why don’t you click on this link right
now: https://www.adultbiblestudyguide.org/pdf.php?file=2023:3Q:SE:PDFs:EAQ323_010.pdf ---In the teacher’s edition of our Sabbath School
Quarterly another professor from the Phillipines is writing. ---He is very sharp to make the issues not just a
humanistic experiential event. It is about Christian Doctrine and God’s
Revelation not about sociology or psychology or family counseling. Click on the
Teacher’s edition then go to the left down to lesson 10 for this week and click
on it. Go to page 133. Brilliant. ---Ellen White warned us of something in one of her
letters which we should not miss. The same professor cited her last week’s
lesson. ---“In a letter, Ellen G. White describes the
importance of motivation and revelation in relation to truth and philosophy:
“Faith in a lie will not have a sanctifying influence upon the life or
character. No error is truth, or can be made truth by repetition, or by faith
in it. Sincerity will never save a soul from the consequences of believing an
error. Without sincerity there is no true religion, but sincerity in a false
religion will never save a man. I may be perfectly sincere in following a wrong
road, but that will not make it the right road, or bring me to the place I
wished to reach. The Lord does not want us to have a blind credulity, and call
that the faith that sanctifies. The truth is the principle that sanctifies, and
therefore it becomes us to know what is truth. We must compare spiritual things
with spiritual. We must prove all things, but hold fast only that which is
good, that which bears the divine credentials, which lays before us the true
motives and principles which should prompt us to action.”—Selected Messages,
book 2, p. 56.” ---Wow. Profound. ---The Phillipine Professor says further in his
Teacher’s Guide to our lesson “As in the case of the church, Paul does not
accept that the approach to the Christian family be determined by the realities
of our fallen human nature and society. Rather, he follows Jesus’ “to the
beginning” interpretive principle (“ ‘but from the beginning it was not so,’ ”
Matt. 19:8, NKJV), which helps the Christian church and its theology to orient
itself toward the restoration of God’s ideals for us, as opposed to
legitimizing the realities of the sinful world.” Wow. Great. ---I like an Adventist that speak like an Adventist
not one that speaks like Luther or Calvin. How about you. Or your pastor at
your church? ---He cites fundamental belief 23 of Adventism on
this relationship between man and woman: “fundamental belief 23: “Marriage was divinely
established in Eden and affirmed by Jesus to be a lifelong union between a man
and a woman in loving companionship. For the Christian, a marriage commitment
is to God as well as to the spouse and should be entered into only between a
man and a woman who share a common faith. Mutual love, honor, respect, and
responsibility are the fabric of this relationship, which is to reflect the
love, sanctity, closeness, and permanence of the relationship between Christ
and His church. . . . Although some family relationships may fall short of the
ideal, a man and a woman who fully commit themselves to each other in Christ through
marriage may achieve loving unity through the guidance of the Spirit and the
nurture of the church. God blesses the family and intends that its members
shall assist each other toward complete maturity. Increasing family closeness
is one of the earmarks of the final gospel message.”—Seventh-day Adventist
Church, “What Adventists Believe About Marriage and the Family,” available from
https://www.adventist.org/marriage-and-the-family/ ---Then the professor cites the 1996 statement of
the church on Marriage: “Its 1996 statement on “Marriage” (see below) is
clearly associated with Ephesians 5, although the church’s statement does not
use biblical references. However, several points from this statement highlight
the theological importance of marriage and family. First, the statement relates
marriage to the nature of the biblical triune Holy God: “Arising from the
diversity of the two human genders, the oneness of marriage images in a
singular way the unity within diversity of the Godhead.” Second, family
symbolizes the relationship of God and humanity: “Throughout Scripture, the
heterosexual union in marriage is elevated as a symbol of the bond between
Deity and humanity. It is a human witness to God’s self-giving love and
covenant with His people. The harmonious affiliation of a man and a woman in
marriage provides a microcosm of social unity that is time-honored as a core
ingredient of stable societies.” Third, the statement emphasizes that human
families are in a state of sin and in need of restoration in Jesus Christ and
in the Holy Spirit: “Because marriage has been corrupted by sin, the purity and
beauty of marriage as it was designed by God needs to be restored. Through an
appreciation of the redemptive work of Christ and the work of His Spirit in
human hearts, the original purpose of marriage may be recovered and the
delightful and wholesome experience of marriage realized by a man and a woman
who join their lives in the marriage covenant.”—General Conference of
Seventh-day Adventists Administrative Committee, “Marriage,” April 23, 1996,
available from https://www.adventist.org/official-statements/marriage/ ---This is the theology of the bride of Christ
prepared. ---Adventists addressed family abuse and violence in
further statements cited by this professor. (29th of June to July 8
of 1995). ---So Adventists, true Adventists do not scratch
just the surface on this matter. ---Article XXIV of the Westminster Confession listed
Marriage as a doctrine. ---Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Religions listed
it as a sacrament. ---Adventists have much more to say about it
utilizing Ephesians 5. Correct? ---So is your pastor preaching properly Adventist
messages or is he playing on the corridors of Baptist churches to bring in
celebration style of worship and music into Adventism choking the Adventist
hymnal? ---Is he focused on speakers and audio equipment and
microphones or on violin practices and proper organ players? ---Get out. When? Immediately.