“Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you—Moses, in whom you trust. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”
Family, for our context as an Adventist community of faith, Jesus might as well have said, “… there is one who accuses you—Ellen White, in whom you trust. For if you believed Ellen White, you would believe Me; for she wrote about Me. But if you do not believe her writings, how will you believe My words?” You see, what Jesus was trying to get across is that you won’t believe, because…
YOU TRUST MORE IN THE PROPHET, THAN IN JESUS, WHOM THEY’VE BEEN POINTING TO.
It’s like when someone tries to prove their theological opinion by quoting way more Ellen White quotes than Scripture. Or by referencing her as the basis for their theological conclusion, without having actually studied the subject Biblically, in light of the Gospel. Both of which, if she where alive today, she would be appalled by the abuse of her inspired writings. For she instructed that her writings were to merely point people back to the study of Scripture in the light of the Gospel.
Well, it seems that history repeats itself, because the prophet Moses, whom they revered, spoke about Jesus, for the gift of prophecy has always been about testifying to Jesus and not the prophet. That’s why when the Book of Revelation describes God’s people at the end of time, in Revelation 12:17 as having “the testimony of Jesus Christ” and then this is further explained in Revelation 19:10, when it says, “The testimony of Jesus Christ is the Spirit of Prophecy.” This is letting us know that the Spiritual gift of prophecy, given by the Holy Spirit, will be among God’s people until the end of time. Therefore, the story behind Ellen’s gift was always for the purpose of testifying to Jesus, not her. It was the same thing with Moses, therefore the Jews should have been ready to receive Jesus and His words.
We need not repeat this history of unbelief, while professing to be a believer. Jesus stood there facing those who wanted to kill Him, offering them the richness of His grace. In His heart was the deep yearning for them to receive His offer of salvation. He did not come to condemn them, but to save them, if they would only believe… if they would only trust in Him.
The beautiful thing is that your turn around, your paradigm shift can begin today! The inverse of why you don’t believe is actually why you will believe! You will believe the Gospel when you read & study Scripture with the focus on Jesus, when you receive God’s love as revealed in Jesus and when you trust in Jesus more than the prophet who points to Him.
Eventually the Jewish leaders would get their desire to have Jesus killed by crucifixion on the cross. But what they didn’t anticipate, was the tidal wave of grace that would result after His victorious resurrection! His grace poured out for you cannot be reduced to merely the power of God to keep His commandments. Rather it is primarily the completed justifying work of Christ on the cross which pardoned all your sin and secured your salvation! You see, justification by grace through faith needs to be large in your mind and experience in order for true sanctification by faith to take place. It’s in light of your continued trust in Christ’s abundant grace available for you, that the Holy Spirit empowers you for loving obedience. But your confidence is not what you do for Him, but in what Jesus has already done for you! He invites you to believe. Why not trust in Him now?
CJ Cousins
Follower of Jesus, Husband, Father and Associate Pastor for Younger Generations at Vienna SDA Church.