Introduction to this Quarter’s Topic
Health reform is “the right arm” of the third angel’s message. The third angel’s message is the cleansing of the sanctuary, which parallels the cleansing of the lives of God’s people. It is to prepare a people for translation at the second coming of Jesus. Health reform is an essential part of the “fast” which God has appointed for His people in our Day of Atonement. Inherent within health reform is the principle of self-denial—the principle of the cross. Health reform is not a theme of the 1888 message, which is a deeper appreciation of the love of God. It supplies the motivation for the third angel’s message of which health reform is a part. There is no end to the amount of “good works” of health reform when faith is motivated by agape.
Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow
Praise is the worship of God with the whole being. Praise is the vital key in the plan of salvation. Praise will win the victory for God in the great controversy with Satan over the truth.
When we think of salvation it is usually in individual terms. How can I be saved? Through the 1888 message God is moving us beyond the egocentric concern for our own personal salvation to see that God is on trial before the universe because of Satan’s accusations against Him. If God should prematurely force His way upon the cosmos before winning the allegiance of man by His agape, then Satan will argue before intelligent beings of the universe that he has been right all along that God’s law is arbitrary, dictatorial, and should be abolished so that creatures may have the freedom to rule themselves individually.
It is through the praise of all His creation, beginning with man, that God intends to win His case. God’s promise in the everlasting covenant, of the forgiveness of sins and the restoration of spontaneous obedience to God’s laws in man, evokes a thankful response of praise, “Amen!” This is the way Abraham responded to God’s covenant. “And he believed in the LORD; and He counted it to him for righteousness” (Gen. 15:6).
Satan could formulate all the inventive, convoluted arguments possible against God and Abraham, but simple faith—thankfulness—in God’s promise is an argument for the truth against which Satan has no retort.
Praise is a persuasive argument in the face of resistance to God’s truth. Babies vindicate God by their praise. “LORD our sovereign, how glorious is your name throughout the world! Your majesty is praised as high as the heavens, from the mouths of babes and infants at the breast. You have established a bulwark against your adversaries to restrain the enemy and the avenger” (Psalm 8:1, 2, Revised English Bible). After their regular feeding, babies coo as an expression of thankfulness to their Benefactor. No way can Satan steal the attention of onlookers from a precious baby, by his devious arguments against God.