THE SECOND TRIAL THE LAST PROBATION THE TRIAL OPENED BY CHRIST S VICTORY SEARCH AND SHARE MINISTRY

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1 THE SECOND TRIAL THE LAST PROBATION THE TRIAL OPENED BY CHRIST S VICTORY SEARCH AND SHARE MINISTRY Overview Man Adam failed the probation given to Him by God to have an opportunity to express his acceptance and appreciation of creating him according to God s image both in character and outward semblance through obedience even in time of temptation. Through a trial man will have the chance to accept or to reject these choices of God for him or to reject it, then God will know if man would like to live for eternity with Him or be separated and die. God s choice is to share with man His life and existence but man has to choose to have it for eternity or to refuse it by rejecting the condition of life which is obedience even in trial. Once man passed the trial further test is no longer necessary for by this the relationship, the character and the eternal security is forever sealed but this was forfeited. Shall God give mankind another trial? What will be the cost in giving them the second probation? Are they going to accept the gift of life that God willfully choose to give through His Son? God hopes through the great sacrifice He offered mankind will not fail this second chance. Key text: Hebrews 9:27, 28 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. I. THE FIRST PROBATION the sealing of relationship for eternal security, the trial Adam had forfeited The time to unite or to reject God s choice: Genesis 2:15-17 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. Genesis 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree [was] good for food, and that it [was] pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make [one] wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. Man separated himself from God by uniting with Satan in his rebellion and had lost his chance in sealing his relationship with God. Adam rejected God by rejecting His choices for him and the life was forfeited. If man had chosen to be loyal with God in this trial then he had saved himself

2 from trouble and has not put God into the greatest trial. God suffers the pain of rejection which is greater than the physical pain can inflict. Adam and Eve were placed upon trial, that it might be demonstrated as to whether they would obey the word of their Creator, or disobey his requirements. The Creator of man was his Father, and had an entire right to the service he could render. Body, soul, and spirit, man was the sole property of God. God revealed himself to the innocent pair in Eden, and conversed with them freely. God was their teacher, and instructed them in regard to their work. He made it plain to them that by obedience to his holy law they would retain happiness, and finally be blessed with immortality. Eternal life should be theirs if they regulated their conduct according to the principles of the law of God. Man was not left in uncertainty to suppose as to what course he should pursue, or to take any risk by venturing on some line of conduct which he might think a safe course. As children are educated by faithful parents, so Adam and Eve were instructed as to what was required of them as intelligent creatures of God. Every provision was made whereby blessings might be secured to the human race, and but one mild restriction was placed upon the sinless pair to test their loyalty to God. {ST, October 8, 1894 par. 2} The first probation is to seal man s character by uniting his choice with God s choice through obedience in trial The Lord placed man upon probation, that he might form a character of steadfast integrity for his own happiness and for the glory of his Creator. He had endowed Adam with powers of mind superior to any other creature that He had made. His mental powers were but little lower than those of the angels. He could become familiar with the sublimity and glory of nature, and understand the character of his heavenly Father in His created works. Amid the glories of Eden, everything that his eye rested upon testified of his Father's love and infinite power. {Con 12.1} The first probation was a step to elevate man in equal with angels Angels on probation had been deceived by Satan, and had been led on by him in the great rebellion in heaven against Christ. They failed to endure the test brought to bear upon them, and they fell. Adam was then created in the image of God and placed upon probation. He had a perfectly developed organism. All his faculties were harmonious. In all his emotions, words, and actions, there was a perfect conformity to the will of his Maker. After God had made every provision for the happiness of man, and had supplied his every want, He tested his loyalty. If the holy pair should be obedient, the race would, after a time, be made equal to the angels. As Adam and Eve failed to bear this test, Christ proposed to become a voluntary offering for man. {Con 18.2} Forfeiting the first probation means a rejection of the gift of existence This was the position of the human race after man divorced himself from God by transgression. Then he was no longer entitled to a breath of air, a ray of sunshine, or a particle of

3 food. And the reason why man was not annihilated was because God so loved him that He made the gift of His dear Son that He should suffer the penalty of his transgression. Christ proposed to become man's surety and substitute, that man, through matchless grace, should have another trial--a second probation--having the experience of Adam and Eve as a warning not to transgress God's law as they did. And inasmuch as man enjoys the blessings of God in the gift of the sunshine and the gift of food, there must be on the part of man a bowing before God in thankful acknowledgment that all things come of God. Whatever is rendered back to Him is only His own who has given it. {FW 21.2} II. THE SECOND PROBATION another trial for the healing and sealing of a broken relationship Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Romans 16:20 And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ [be] with you. Amen. Adam fell and Satan was able to bring him under his control and rebellion against God. Man was conquered and became his subject and alley in rejecting the will or the choice of God which is their life and existence. By their rebellion they forfeited the chance to live the eternal life for apart from God there is no life. But God had chosen to live mankind even they rejected Him and promised mankind of deliverance by giving them a second chance an opportunity to be free from the enemy of the soul Satan, to overcome him and to have the condition of eternal life and security be met. Christ opened the way for the second trial John 3:14-21 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. Adam and Eve were placed upon probation in the garden of Eden, and they were to prove their loyalty to their Creator by obedience to his law of love; but they fell, through the temptation of a wily foe. A great and infinite sacrifice has been made, that man may have another trial.

4 God provides that man may have another probation, and his efforts to keep the law are made acceptable through Christ. "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Christ came to bear the conflict in which man was conquered. The earth was the battle-field. Just before the temptation he bowed on Jordan's bank and offered up a prayer that cleared its way to the throne of his Father. The Heaven opened and the voice of God responded, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased;" and the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, like burnished gold, descended upon his head. {ST, November 24, 1887 par. 8} The second probation is opened to overcome the Devil It is at an immense cost that we have been placed on the high vantage ground where we can be liberated from the bondage of sin, which has been wrought by the fall of Adam.... Never can we understand the value of the human soul until we realize the great sacrifice made for the redemption of the soul upon Calvary. Adam s sin in Eden plunged the human race into hopeless misery. But in the scheme of salvation a way has been provided for all to escape if they comply with the requirements. A second probation has been granted by the sacrifice of the Son of God. We have a battle to fight, but we can come off victor through the merits of Christ s blood. {CTr 215.2} The second probation is opened to destroy the power of death 1Corinthians 15:55-58 O death, where [is] thy sting? O grave, where [is] thy victory. The sting of death [is] sin; and the strength of sin [is] the law. But thanks [be] to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. Death entered the world because of transgression. But Christ gave His life that man should have another trial. He did not die on the cross to abolish the law of God, but to secure for man a second probation. He did not die to make sin an immortal attribute; He died to secure the right to destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil. {FLB 179.5} The second probation is to give man a chance to become obedient Romans 5:19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Death entered the world because of transgression. But Christ gave His life that man should have another trial. He did not die on the cross to abolish the law of God, but to secure for man a second probation. He did not die to make sin an immortal attribute; He died to secure the right to destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil. He suffered the full penalty of a broken law for the whole world. This He did, not that men might continue in transgression, but

5 that they might return to their loyalty and keep God's commandments and His law as the apple of their eye. {TM 134.1} The second probation is to provide the seal Christ s obedience to those who will come to Him But He who came to our world to seek and to save that which was lost has pledged His own life that men might have a second probation. He has pity, and compassion, and love that are without a parallel; and He has made every provision in behalf of men that none need perish. The divine Son of God came into our world, its Light and Life, to encompass the whole world and to attract and unite to Himself every human being who is under Satan's discipline and rule. He invites them, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls" (Matthew 11:28, 29). Thus He unites with Himself by a new inspiration of grace all who will come unto Him. He puts upon them His seal, His sign of obedience and loyalty to His holy Sabbath.--Manuscript 104, Sept. 28, 1897, "Condemned by the Jews." {UL 285.5} The second probation provided mankind the mediator Hebrews 9:15 And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions [that were] under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. After the fall Christ became Adam's instructor. He acted in God's stead toward humanity, saving the race from immediate death. He took upon him the office of mediator. Adam and Eve were given a probation in which to return to their allegiance, and in this plan all their posterity were embraced. {CC 20.6} III. THE SECOND TRIAL: ENTERING INTO A NEW COVENANT WITH GOD Hebrews 8:10-12 For this [is] the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. The new relationship, a partaker of the divine nature Dedicated to God.--Henceforth the believer is to bear in mind that he is dedicated to God, to Christ, and to the Holy Spirit. He is to make all worldly considerations secondary to this new relation. Publicly he has declared that he will no longer live in pride and self-indulgence. He is no longer to live a careless, indifferent life. He has made a covenant with God. He has died to the world. He is to live to the Lord, to use for Him all his entrusted capabilities, never losing the realization that he bears God's signature, that he is a subject of Christ's kingdom, a partaker of

6 the divine nature. He is to surrender to God all that he is and all that he has, employing all his gifts to His name's glory. {Ev 316.2} The writing of the law in the heart, binding the will to God The yoke that binds to service is the law of God. The great law of love revealed in Eden, proclaimed upon Sinai, and in the new covenant written in the heart, is that which binds the human worker to the will of God. If we were left to follow our own inclinations, to go just where our will would lead us, we should fall into Satan's ranks and become possessors of his attributes. Therefore God confines us to His will, which is high, and noble, and elevating. He desires that we shall patiently and wisely take up the duties of service. The yoke of service Christ Himself has borne in humanity. He said, "I delight to do Thy will, O My God: yea, Thy law is within My heart." Psalm 40:8. "I came down from heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me." John 6:38. Love for God, zeal for His glory, and love for fallen humanity, brought Jesus to earth to suffer and to die. This was the controlling power of His life. This principle He bids us adopt. {DA 329.3} The new pledge marriage relationship In the Bible the sacred and enduring character of the relation that exists between Christ and his church is represented by the union of marriage. The Lord has joined his people to himself by a solemn covenant, he promising to be their God, and they pledging themselves to be his, and his alone. He declares, I will betroth thee unto me forever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies. [Hosea 2:19.] And again, I am married unto you. [Jeremiah 3:14.] And Paul employs the same figure in the New Testament, when he says, I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. [2 Corinthians 11:2.] {GC } The new vow The vows which we take upon ourselves in baptism embrace much. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit we are buried in the likeness of Christ's death and raised in the likeness of His resurrection, and we are to live a new life. Our life is to be bound up with the life of Christ. Henceforth the believer is to bear in mind that he is dedicated to God, to Christ, and to the Holy Spirit. He is to make all worldly considerations secondary to this new relation. Publicly he has declared that he will no longer live in pride and self-indulgence. He is no longer to live a careless, indifferent life. He has made a covenant with God. He has died to the world. He is to live to the Lord, to use for Him all his entrusted capabilities, never losing the realization that he bears God's signature, that he is a subject of Christ's kingdom, a partaker of the divine nature. He is to surrender to God all that he is and all that he has, employing all his gifts to His name's glory. {CCh 295.4} IV. NO MORE PROBATION AFTER THE SECOND PROBATION

7 Hebrews 9:27, 28 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. The time to decide for eternal future It is impossible for men to secure the salvation of the soul after death....this life is the only time given to man in which to prepare for eternity. {FLB 179.6} Probation is granted to all, that all may form characters for eternal life. An opportunity will be given to all to decide for life or death.... {FLB 179.7} The probation of those who choose to live a life of sin, and neglect the great salvation offered, closes when Christ's ministration ceases just previous to His appearing in the clouds of heaven. {FLB 179.8} The time to form a character that will withstand the test Let the students remember that to form characters that will stand the test of the judgment, is very serious business. You yourselves are responsible for the kind of character you build. No professor in an institution of learning can make your character. You yourselves decide your own eternal destiny. It is necessary to contemplate such characters as are worthy of imitation. We refer you to Joseph in Egypt, and to Daniel in Babylon. These youths were tried and proved; and because they stood firm to principle, they became representative men, and patterns of integrity. I would say to the youth at our institutions of learning, whether you profess to believe or not, that you are now in probationary time, and a second probation will not come to any of you. This is the only opportunity you will have of standing the test and proving of God. {FE 245.1} The time of character transformation and trial All will be tested and tried according to the light they have had. Those who turn from the truth to fables can look for no second probation. There will be no temporal millennium. If, after the Holy Spirit has brought conviction to their hearts, they resist the truth and use their influence to block the way so that others will not receive it, they will never be convinced. They did not seek for transformation of character in the probation given them, and Christ will not give them opportunity to pass over the ground again. The decision is a final one.--letter 25, {LDE 237.2} The last probationary time No Second Probation.--There is not a second probation for anyone. Now is probationary time, before the angel shall fold her golden wings, the angel of mercy, and shall step down from the throne, and mercy, mercy is gone forever (MS 49, 1894). {7BC }

8 Some flatter themselves that the Lord will give them another opportunity, that there will be a second probation. Fatal delusion! Just now, day by day, hour by hour, we are building for the last great day. We are trading on our Lord's money, and at His coming He will reckon with us, and we shall have to give an account of what we have done with His goods. As responsible beings we are working for time and for eternity, making our records in the books of heaven, and preparing our reward or punishment. Our reward will be proportionate to our work. My reward is with Me, Christ declares, to give every man according as his work shall be. Revelation 22:12. He will expect results from every one. {MC 70.2} Every eye in that vast multitude is turned to behold the glory of the Son of God. With one voice the wicked hosts exclaim, "Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord!" It is not love to Jesus that inspires this utterance. The force of truth urges the words from unwilling lips. As the wicked went into their graves, so they come forth, with the same enmity to Christ, and the same spirit of rebellion. They are to have no new probation, in which to remedy the defects of their past lives. Nothing would be gained by this. A lifetime of transgressions has not softened their hearts. A second probation, were it given them, would be occupied as was the first, in evading the requirements of God and exciting rebellion against Him. {FLB 355.3} V. UTILIZING THE SECOND PROBATION FOR SANCTIFICATION Hebrews 6:4-12 For [it is] impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put [him] to an open shame. For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: But that which beareth thorns and briers [is] rejected, and [is] nigh unto cursing; whose end [is] to be burned. But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak. For God [is] not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have showed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister. And we desire that every one of you do show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end: That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. The time of total conversion Our words and actions in the home bear testimony to our true character, and they are recorded in the books of heaven. The daily acts of life tell the measure and mould of our disposition and character. Where there is a lack of home religion, a profession of faith is valueless. Then let no unkind words fall from the lips of those who compose the home circle. Make the atmosphere fragrant with tender thoughtfulness of others. Only those will enter heaven who in probationary time have formed a character that breathes a heavenly influence. The saint in heaven must first be a saint upon earth. The habits of speech, the character of our actions, put a mould upon us;

9 and that which we cultivate in our association with others in this life, goes down into the grave with us, and will be unchanged when we come up from the grave. Many are deceiving themselves by thinking that the character will be transformed at the coming of Christ; but there will be no conversion of heart at his appearing. Our defects of character must here be repented of, and through the grace of Christ we must overcome them while probation shall last. This is the place for fitting up for the family above. {ST, November 14, 1892 par. 8} The time to be obedient It is because He [Christ] has borne the punishment in His own body on the cross that man has a second probation. He may, if he will, return this loyalty. But, if he refuses to obey the commands of God, if he rejects the warnings and messages God sends, choosing rather the words of fallacy spoken by those who echo the word of the Deceiver, he is willingly ignorant, and the condemnation of God is upon him. He chooses disobedience because obedience means lifting the cross and practicing self-denial, and following Christ in the path of obedience. {TDG 87.2} The time to walk after the Spirit and not with flesh The apostle Paul clearly presents the relation between faith and the law under the new covenant. He says: "Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid; yea, we establish the law." "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh"--it could not justify man, because in his sinful nature he could not keep the law --"God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh; that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit" (Romans 5:1; 3:31; 8:3, 4). {AG 140.4} REFLECTION Christ sees the danger; He knows the subtle temptations and power of the enemy; for He has experienced Satan's temptations. He gave His life to procure a period of probation for the sons and daughters of Adam. With the result of Adam's disobedience and transgressions before them, with greater light shining upon them, they are invited to come unto Him and find rest unto their souls. But the greater the light and the plainer the danger signal, the greater the condemnation of those will be who turn from light to darkness. The words of Christ are too serious in their import to be disregarded. {CS 137.1}