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Present Truth and Present Focus
Larry Kirkpatrick, Mentone Seventh-day Adventist Church, December 4, 2004.
[NOTE: This text version of the sermon contains several new paragraphs not in the audio recording.]
Two quotes today from one, Daniel T. Bourdeau, one of the first Seventh-day Adventists:
It is clear that we have reached the time when a flood of light is shining from God’s word on the path of the just, and that this light relates to that great event which is immediately impending—the coming of the Lord, and to a preparation to meet it. This we denominate present truth, because it applies to the present time, and is adapted to the wants of the present generation; and it is through this truth that the last church will be sanctified (Daniel T. Bourdeau, Sanctification, or Living Holiness, p. 13).
And,
Our zeal should not be fanatical or presumptuous, but according to knowledge, according to the present truth, the time in which we live, the shortness of time, and the vastness of the work that is before us (Ibid., p. 115).
Those are solemn lines, powerful ideas. Are they valid?
We won’t have an answer unless we understand,
- What is present truth and why is it important?
- What is the risk of just doing MOTS (More of the same)?
- That present truth focuses on that which is agreed to be present truth. Other points may be left aside for the time being in light of the greater good of unified working.
- Where is the network where God is being allowed to work?
What Is Present Truth?
The Bible is the origin of this phrase: “present truth.” We find it here in 2 Peter 1:12:
I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth.
Consider the context. Peter is warning against forgetting how we have been led. Look. He speaks of the danger of forgetting in chapter 1:9, and the necessity of remembering in verses 12, 13, 15, and later in chapter three verse one.
The phrase “present truth” comes from the underlying Greek phrase parousay alaythaya. Peter wants God’s people to be established in this. The word alaythaya is the word meaning “truth.” the Vulgate translates the word veritatsae. Our English word “verities” comes from it. But it is not just verities, it is not just truth, that Peter urges. He speaks of present truth. What is that?
Present truth is more than just truth in general. We learn again from the Greek word here. It is a word that is used often in the New Testament in speaking of the Second Coming. In fact, we find the word again in 2 Peter 1:16 where it speaks of Jesus coming, there, His first. It is the word parousia. Parousia means present, immediate appearing, arrival. So Peter is urging that his fellow believers be very careful to be atunned to not just truth but to present truth, the arriving truth, the appearing truth, truth that is at the “cutting-edge.”
In Peter’s day, what was that cutting-edge of truth? It was that Jesus was the Messiah. And there were a host of other strange teachings making the rounds, including some strange ones about Jesus. Peter urged his hearers to be up-to-date, to be studious, to be careful, to be living the message. But have you read 2 Peter? What is at the center of the letter from Peter to his readers? The book has three chapters. The second chapter is the middle. It is all about false teachers. That’s right. False doctrine. This Bible book is a warning against false doctrine presented by false teachers.
Remember, we are wanting to understand the context here a bit, the surrounding elements of the inspired passage that help us understand the significance of the text we are looking to grasp. Come to chapter three for a moment. What do we find here? Many things, but let’s put our attention on just two. First, see at verses 11 and 12 that in light of the hour in which God’s people are living (the hour in which God is on the move and has sent His Son, the hour in which false teachers are having a field day) how are God’s people to live? Consider:
Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
The issue is holiness. False teaching damages our prospects for living holy lives that honor our Lord Jesus Christ. Today it is easy to take this cheap approach and just tell pleasant little stories and “do church” in a very undemanding way. But that wasn’t the way Peter delivered his message!
Now look at the very end of the book, verses 17 and 18:
Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.
So Peter concludes his warning letter, saying to the reader, beware of error, grow in grace and in the knowledge of Christ. Not, relax, don’t worry, be happy. He does not anesthetize, he warns. Thank God for the example of Peter!
So let’s summarize this before we move on. The Bible book from which this phrase comes is very much concerned with false teaching, false tachers, quite obviously, with the development of a false holiness, a cheap kind of pseudo-grace. The whole letter is about tracking at the cutting-edge with God, not loosing your way. Isn’t our Lord wonderful? The Holy Spirit works through Peter to warn. Present truth is a shield against false teachers, false sanctification, and counterfeit gospels. In that light, may I repeat the Daniel Bourdeau quote again now? I want you to see that this man is tracking where God is tracking. Listen:
It is clear that we have reached the time when a flood of light is shining from God’s word on the path of the just, and that this light relates to that great event which is immediately impending—the coming of the Lord, and to a preparation to meet it. This we denominate present truth, because it applies to the present time, and is adapted to the wants of the present generation; and it is through this truth that the last church will be sanctified (Daniel T. Bourdeau, Sanctification, or Living Holiness, p. 13).
Bourdeau and his fellow Seventh-day Adventists had a definite sense of standing on the front edge of arriving truth. When did the 2300-day prophecy of Daniel 8:14 terminate? When would begin the time when the sanctuary would be cleansed? During their lifetime—at 1844. Of course, everything occurring after that time is way beyond the edge. The church has marched right off the map. If the message this church was given was present truth a century and a half ago, what is it now? Ripe—very ripe!
Again, what was—is—this message to do? J. N. Loughborough wrote,
In Peter’s time there was present truth, or truth applicable to that present time. The Church have ever had a present truth. The present truth now, is that which shows present duty, and the right position for us who are about to witness the time of trouble, such as never was. Present truth must be oft repeated, even to those who are established in it. This was needful in the Apostles day, and it certainly is no less important for us, who are living just before the close of time (John Loughborough, The Great Seventh-day Adventist Message, p. 277).
Here is a truth that makes people holy, just before the close of time. It brings to light present duty. What is Heaven’s purpose for us now? To be changed just before we can no longer be changed. Because we live before—just before—the close of probation, the time when Jesus finishes His work of mediation just before He returns to earth, and makes at last the fateful pronouncement:
He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city (Revelation 22:11-14).
Will the common messages of common Christianity make you holy, or will they make you careless?
Some interesting snippets from the pioneers concerning present truth: Joseph Bates said, “condemnation comes, when light or present truth is presented and rejected.” Another spoke of those who were “always learning and never coming to the knowledge of the present truth.” James White spoke of “the clear and connected theory of the present truth.” A. T. Jones said, “We cannot honor God with our own ways. Faith is that which takes hold of present truth and acts upon it. There is much that people call faith that is not faith at all. To believe what God has not said is not faith at all.”
Ellen G. White wrote of “the sacred light of present truth” (Testimonies, vol. 9, p. 69) and even used the phrase “the gospel of present truth” (Testimonies, vol. 9, p. 122). She added that “ I saw that the saints must get a thorough understanding of present truth, which they will be obliged to maintain from the Scriptures…. Our minds must not be taken up with things around us, but must be occupied with the present truth and a preparation to give a reason of our hope with meekness and fear. We must seek wisdom from on high that we may stand in this day of error and delusion” (Early Writings, p. 87). And, “While false doctrines and dangerous errors are pressed upon the mind, it cannot be dwelling upon the truth which is to fit and prepare the house of Israel to stand in the day of the Lord” (Early Writings, p. 125).
More of the Same?
But some are pressing home just MOTS. You know what MOTS means, don’t you? “More Of The Same.” Will MOTS prepare us to come off victorious in the judgment?
Do we just need to do more of or do harder what we are already doing? Do we just need more of the same? More same-old, same-old? More evangelistic meetings with better DVDs? More evangelistic teams? What is it we need? Do we need more special Bible-translations marketed to more subsections of the culture? We have today the women’s Bible and the Promise-Keeper’s Bible, and the Teen Bible and the Pre-teen Bible, and this Bible and that Bible, and the African-American Bible and the charismatic this and the charismatic that Bible. Do we need more of those? Do we need the Bible for men who part their hair on the left side and the Bible for men who part their hair on the right side Bible? What do we need? MOTS. More books by Philip Yancey? More paraphrase Bible translations? What do we need?
Maybe we need more CCM albums? Or do we need more Christian fiction like the Left Behind series? Is that what we need? Or do we need something solid. Some Scripture. Some hymns. Not because these things in quantity take us to the end-time, but because these things help us obtain a Christian experience that can take us through the end-time.
Now I can already hear you thinking, “But Pastor, many of my non-SDA friends have a theology that says they don’t even go through the end-time? What can I say to them?”
Try this. Speaking of the Hebrews traveling through the wilderness, the New Testament says, “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:11, 12).
Now open ears, engage brain. What happened to the Hebrews 3000 years ago was included in the Bible as examples. For whom? For us on whom the ends of the world are come. And the admonition Paul—Mr. New Testament—draws from this, is that whoever reads this must take heed because of the possibility of failing, falling. What else does that remind you of but the closing lines of 2 Peter!
Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and for ever. Amen (2 Peter 3:17, 18).
Think about the Hebrews. They slaved in Egypt for four centuries. Then along comes Moses. The people were groaning. Their cries went up. God heard them. He came to deliver, but there was some present truth to sort out. The Passover was instituted then. Ah. Something new! But now let me ask, did the Hebrews go through the crisis, or were they whisked away in some great rapture? No. They remained. They went through the “time of trouble” God’s people then faced. And the Bible said that the things that happened to them “were written for our admonition.” I don’t know how you can—and be honest—get out of all that.
O beware, especially you Christian young people out there. There are aging workers out there who would love to tap your zeal, to hijack your energy, to engage you in the trap of just doing MOTS. There are many good things to do, but there is a kind of blandified, mainstreamized, ho-hummified, photocopied, amalgamated, syncretized, watered-down, approach today—even within this denomination—that some have, that is only a bright shiny, plastic-wrapped, helping of MOTS. I pray that’s not for you or for me.
None other than James White warned,
The time has come when we must be whole hearted in the truth. Every thing is to be shaken that can be; therefore those whose feet are not planted on the rock, will be shaken all to pieces. Those only will be able to stand in the day of slaughter, who shall be found keeping the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. It is no small thing to be a Christian. We must be pure in life and conversation here in time, if we would enter the Holy City.
The keeping of the fourth commandment is all-important present truth; but this alone, will not save any one. We must keep all ten of the commandments, and strictly follow all the directions of the New Testament, and have living active faith in Jesus. Those who would be found ready to enter the saint’s rest, at the appearing of Christ, must live wholly, WHOLLY for Jesus now (James White, Present Truth #1, p. 6).
Not exactly a “MOTS” kind of guy. The risk of just doing MOTS is that we too will die in the wilderness as we just keeping on doing more of the same. If we really are on the move, we cannot just settle for MOTS. This is why the Bible urges us to be walking in present truth.
Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? (Matthew 24:44, 45).
Notice here. Time? Second Coming. What about the spiritual food? Food in “due season.” That is, spiritual instruction for the time of the Second Coming, nurturing the soul, preparing for the Second Coming. And what does the Bible say? “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). When Jesus comes, what will we be? Righteous still, holy still, or filthy still and unjust still?
Ellen G. White warned, “There are many precious truths contained in the Word of God, but it is ‘present truth’ that the flock needs now” (Early Writings, p. 63). In other words, yes, there are points upon which we will readily agree with others, but these may not fully be meat in due season, food for this hour, present truth, the arriving truth, as Bourdeau called it light which “relates to that great event which is immediately impending—the coming of the Lord, and to a preparation to meet it… it is through this truth that the last church will be sanctified.”
We Are Now to Focus Upon That Which is Agreed to be Present Truth
Stop and think about it. If there is such a thing as “present truth,” a truth that is especially highlighted for this hour, a truth that is especially adapted to the needs and duties of this hour, a truth that is emphasized by Heaven above other truths; then is it not also true that there must be such a thing as “present error”?
What would present error be? Would it not be error especially prominent, especially adapted to the hour? Error so designed as to, if possible, deceive the very elect? When God moves to highlight truth so that His people may be changed, prepared for the grand consummation, are we to imagine that Satan does not make some countermove? Of course he does. We live in the ultimate hour of deception, the last valley of error, the last place on the map on the journey, the last road to the gate of the kingdom. What has Satan been preparing? Does Satan just do MOTS? No, but he prepares the way for his masterpiece of deception. Will that not be reached in the last remnant of time? As God adapts His truths to make us holy, Satan adapts his deceptions to the hour so as to make us, in the end, unholy. The chess match continues.
On the way to the kingdom, “the shepherds should consult those in whom they have reason to have confidence, those who have been in all the messages, and are firm in all the present truth, before they advocate new points of importance, which they may think the Bible sustains. Then the shepherds will be perfectly united and the union of the shepherds will be felt by the church” (Early Writings, p. 62). The sanctuary, in connection with the 2300 days, the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus are the principal subjects on which the messengers should dwell (Early Writings, p. 63). Unfolding light will be connected to these topics.
William Miller was against the Sabbath and in favor of Sunday-keeping. Did James White or Ellen G. White spread round about his teachings on these topics and say they could hear nothing else he had to present? Did they widely proclaim Miller’s belief in the immortal soul? Or did they simply move to teaching the Bible with the materials George Storrs’ developed in presenting his viewpoints on man’ sleep in death? Did they keep going along echoing Storrs’ view that to organize a church is to create a de facto Babylonian entity, or did they leave that be as far as Storrs went and move beyond it as God led them? We need to combine our energies in an intelligent way if we will successfully defend truth and combat error.
While all should respect ministers (and everyone else), we all must be discerning for our own soul’s sake. A situation of things has arisen in which a very wide range of very different teachings are presented in church pulpits. Regrettably, being an ordained minister, or a long-term church administrator, or a well-known evangelistic presenter, is no guarantee that one qualifies under the heading of “those in whom they have reason to have confidence, those who have been in all the messages, and are firm in all the present truth.” Each of us must know by personal experience what we believe and rely upon no mere human.
Now here is the key point many listening may have on your mind: Which issues are the “no compromise” ones and which ones are the “I’ll work with you even though I’m quite certain you are wrong” ones? And the bottom line is, does this bear upon my sanctification or not?
Does this matter bear ultimately upon my connection with God? Does this bear on how I understand my responsibility in the process of healing God uses to prepare me for eternity? Is the consequence of embracing certain popular salvation errors such that in embracing them I may be left unprepared for His kingdom?
But let’s consider some concrete examples. Will a misunderstanding of the nature of sin affect my personal decisions involving attempts to cooperate with God toward His overcoming of sin in my life? Then it is non-negotiable! The same goes for the humanity of Christ. And what about justification and sanctification? Let us beware of separating what God has joined together. Every believing soul is to conform his will entirely to God’s will, and we are warned to be wary of finely wrought theological distinctions into which some are prone to bring their own ideas and speculations.
The truths of the Bible form a complete whole. When definitions of justification are created that limit it, make it more minute than inspiration, and enforce a forensic, counted-only meaning to it, there is grave danger. God is on the move. Our understanding should improve beyond that of the Roman Catholic Church just as it should improve beyond Magisterial Protestantism of four and five centuries ago. Luther’s understanding was sufficient for Luther’s day. “Our responsibility is greater than was that of our ancestors. We are accountable for the light which they received, and which was handed down as an inheritance for us, and we are accountable also for the additional light which is now shining upon us from the word of God” (The Great Controversy, p. 168).
Where is the network where God is being allowed to work?
So, where do you expect to find the people who have present truth? The Seventh-day Adventist Church has present truth. It was raised up at the right time, it has the manifestation of gifts you would expect. And yet… And yet…
Unless we are daily advancing in the exemplification of the active Christian virtues, we shall not recognize the manifestations of the Holy Spirit in the latter rain. It may be falling on hearts all around us, but we shall not discern or receive it (Testimonies to Ministers, p. 507).
And
Are we awake to the work that is going on in the heavenly sanctuary, or are we waiting for some compelling power to come upon the church before we shall arouse? Are we hoping to see the whole church revived? That time will never come (Selected Messages, vol. 1, p. 122).
Notice that unless we are active in our Christianity, we will not be able to perceive the falling of the latter rain. We will not be able to discern or to receive it. It is one thing not to be able to discern, not to be left unable to receive? That is the most crucial. Then we are warned that we cannot wait until some mysterious impulse of power comes down upon us. Will the whole church ever be revived? “That time will never come.” So she is saying that there will never come a time, during the active, pre-probation years of the church, when all its members will be converted, all have the Holy Spirit. There won’t, before probation closes, be an exact overlap between the church and the converted. In other words,
In every age there is a new development of truth, a message of God to the people of that generation. The old truths are all essential; new truth is not independent of the old, but an unfolding of it. It is only as the old truths are understood that we can comprehend the new. When Christ desired to open to His disciples the truth of His resurrection, He began ‘at Moses and all the prophets’ and ‘expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself.’ Luke 24:27. But it is the light which shines in the fresh unfolding of truth that glorifies the old. He who rejects or neglects the new does not really possess the old. For him it loses its vital power and becomes but a lifeless form (Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 127).
If you don’t have the present truth it is a question whether you have any vital current truth. Our tendency is to settle into hardened ways of thinking and of believing. The challenge before us is that we keep an open mind, just not so open that our brains fall out!
The Reformation did not, as many suppose, end with Luther. It is to be continued to the close of this world's history. Luther had a great work to do in reflecting to others the light which God had permitted to shine upon him; yet he did not receive all the light which was to be given to the world. From that time to this, new light has been continually shining upon the Scriptures, and new truths have been constantly unfolding (The Great Controversy, p. 148).
Jesus walks in the midst of the candlesticks (Revelation chs. 2 and 3). He is leading His church. “We are the Israel that God is leading out of the errors of the world in these last days to live by every word that proceedeth out of His mouth. The truth for this time will not fail to sanctify the soul that receives the love of it and obeys it from the heart. It will enable us to overcome every besetting sin, and to surmount every difficulty in our onward march. We can run and not be weary, walk and not faint” (Signs of the Times, January 6, 1888).
The network where God is working will,
- Be conservative. God’s people will hold on to truth that He has already revealed.
- Be progressive. They will be careful yet open to new light that harmonizes with the old.
- Be following the Lamb wherever He goes. They will recognize that God is on the move, and seek to move with Him.
- Be active. We will not be waiting for the church to reach perfection before we work for others. That day will never come when the whole church is converted, so let’s get at it!
- Will not live in the fantasy that we are all one big happy family and we all believe and teach the same thing. Come on. This is 2004. The church has been pluralized. We will be kind to those among us who don’t understand present truth, but we will continue to advance whether they will come or not.
- Compromise is a word that is not in our vocabulary (when it comes to present truth and righteousness by faith in the end-time).
- Will recognize that truths have been continually unfolding, even in the past few decades, not in replacing earlier views but in clarifying where we are and where we are going.
Conclusion
What is present truth and why is it important? None said it better than Bourdeau: A flood of light is shining from God’s word on the path of the just relating to the coming of the Lord and to our preparation to meet it. It applies to the present time, and is adapted to the needs of the present generation, and through this truth the last church will be sanctified.
What is the risk of just doing MOTS (More of the same)? It is the risk of taking yet another lap in the wilderness and being another dead generation with graves outside the promised land.
We recognize that present truth focuses on that which is agreed to be present truth. Other points may be left aside for the time being in light of the greater good of unified working. We won’t follow strange sidetracks and obscure things that individuals want to promote to critical status.
We will learn to recognize where the network is where God is being allowed to work. We will find fellow travelers and walk with them on the pathway to the city.
And may God grant us light for the journey home! GCO
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