Friday: Further Thought – Life and Death
Daily Lesson for Friday 16th of January 2026
Further Thought:
“From the rack, the stake, the dungeon, from dens and caves of the earth, there falls upon his ear the martyr’s shout of triumph.
Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com
He [Paul] hears the witness of steadfast souls, who, though destitute, afflicted, tormented, yet bear fearless, solemn testimony for the faith, declaring, ‘I know whom I have believed.’ These, yielding up their lives for the faith, declare to the world that He in whom they have trusted is able to save to the uttermost.”—Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles, p. 512.
“Never was there so great a diversity of faith in Christendom as at the present day. If the gifts [of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers (Ephesians 4:11-13)] were necessary to preserve the unity of the primitive church, how much more so to restore unity now! And that it is the purpose of God to restore the unity of the church in the last days, is abundantly evident from the prophecies. We are assured that the watchmen shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion. Also, that in the time of the end the wise shall understand. When this is fulfilled there will be unity of faith with all whom God accounts wise; for those that do in reality understand aright, must necessarily understand alike. . . . From considerations like these, it is evident that the perfect state of the church here predicted is still in the future; consequently these gifts have not yet accomplished their purpose.”—R. F. Cottrell, “Introduction,” in Ellen G. White, Early Writings, p. 140.
Discussion Questions
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A fair bit of the Seventh-day Adventist persona is built on conflict. We are very conscious of the enemy, Satan, and we see his representation in history. The pagan, papacy, and apostate Protestantism are evil and project themselves onto the modern churches today, and even into the conflicts within the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Much of our evangelical effort is directed at showing how wrong the “others” are, and how right we are.
Perhaps it is time for us to show a different side to our Adventism – to show we are loving caring Christians who love and support one another even when we disagree. I believe we can do that.
A few years ago, Carmel and I went to China on a tour organised by a Seventh-day Adventist minister. It was two weeks long and was an eye-opening experience. We found ourselves running in parallel with a another commercially organised tour from Australia and we frequently were in their company at meals. And because both tours were Australian, we talked to one another and exchanged tour notes. They asked who had organised our tour we told them that we were a group of Seventh-day Adventists and the tour had been organised by a retired minister who had a bit of a flair for organisation. They made the comment that they would love to leave their tour and join ours because we all got along together so well. Their major complaint was that their tour members were fighting with one another all the time and ours was so peaceful and we looked out for one another.
The love of Jesus shows. It is not just a heap of doctrinal positions, It shows in how we look after one another and others. I have seen many comments this week that we ought to follow Jesus and allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives. And what does that mean? It means that we will love, care and support one another to the extent that others will want to join in that circle of support. It means that love will be evident, even when there are doctrinal, prophetic and spiritual differences. If you think that unity means we are all going to believe and do the same thing, you have a misconception of what unity is about.
Earlier this week, I used the illustration of gluing metal to concrete. You could hardly get two more dissimilar materials, yet with the right glue they stick together. That is the sort of spiritual glue we need if we are to work collectively together spiritually.
“By this shall all men know …”
Paul declares, “I know whom I have believed” (2 Timothy 1:12). His knowledge was not merely personal knowledge gained through experience alone, but a deep knowledge of who God is in Himself—knowledge that made him absolutely dependable in all circumstances. Paul must have recounted day after day, lying in a prison cell, remembering all the things he knew about Jesus since that encounter on the road to Damascus, focusing on Christ’s work for him. Paul went on to say that he was persuaded “that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day” (2 Timothy 1:12). Surely, as with Paul—and by extension with us—we can be persuaded that what God has done in us and through us will be guarded like a safe deposit until that Day.Yes, Paul knew about God—that “from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen” (Romans 11:36). But more than that knowledge, Paul knew God, and this was the most important thing.
Years earlier, Paul had been zealous for God. He made arguments, evangelized fervently, and wished that all men would be like him in terms of their religious knowledge. Yet he sympathized deeply with the idea that a so-called cult centered on a carpenter’s son—Jesus of Nazareth—was a dangerous deception. This enraged Paul, and he was determined to stop the spread of what he believed to be a fallacy. He rejoiced when the promoters of this message were imprisoned or even stoned to death (Acts 7:58–8:3). Paul did all this while knowing about God—but never truly knowing God. Then one day, on the road to Damascus, intent on annihilating the spread of Christianity, there was a confrontation with the living God Himself—the very God he did not know: “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting” (Acts 9:3–5).
Our conscience may convict us or it may not, the devil may accuse us, pointing to our coldness and our failures, and often those accusations may be true. But the truth is that there is a God who is greater than our conscience and greater than our accuser (1 John 3:20). This is the God Paul encountered on the road to Damascus, and by extension, the God we must all come to know. He is the Christ who died for us, “and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). He is the One who has gone to prepare a place for us and promises to come again and take us to Himself, “that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:2–3). He desires that not a single place at the marriage feast be empty (Revelation 19:7–9). He invites us all—not merely to know about Him, but to know Him personally, and to rest in what He has already done for us.
How would you explain the Bible teaching on death to a friend who believes that Paul and other Christians who have died are now “with Christ” in heaven?
I just give a description of my belief as given in my post on Tuesday’s lesson. Which is when your breath departs, you are without consciousness. You return to the earth, your plans parish. Psalm 146:4. The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 9:5, the dead know nothing. However, since I am in Christ I have assurance that if I die before He that has the power over death, John 11:25-27, comes in the air, will raise me. From the air He will call me from the grave, consciousness restored to meet Him in the air along with all the others who have died in Christ to be taken to heaven. Those living will rise after to meet Him in the air. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17, Revelation 20:1-10, John 3:15-16.
Paul was i believe tired of the persecutions and who wouldn’t. He thought of dying knowing he’s dying in Christ. The very minute he dies the next thing he knows is that he is with Christ. If he lives he lives in Christ. If he dies he dies in Christ.
What it does not mean is that when you die straight away you go to hell or heaven.
Paul used that terminology to demonstrate that death is just a sleep. Paul is still asleep in death and awaiting the resurrection.
Bible verse that refutes the concept of the the dead already in heaven or hell.
1 Thessalonians 4:16- For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
Psalm 115:17- It is not the dead who praise the Lord,those who go down to the place of silence.
1 Corinthians 15:52
In a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
Ps 146:4
Job 14:10-12
Eccl3:18-
For truth to prevail, we need the holy spirit to bring unity into God’s church. To be in tune with the Holy Spirit we need to read the Bible and pray.
Those who die in the Lord sleep in the Lord to resurrect to the lord in the resurrection morning.
The reality of suffering is the outcome of satan’s dominion over the earth. He was enthroned king of this world when he succeeded in his deception. While God has not abandoned us to our fate, He follows the rules of engagement in the conflict.
Restoring unity – Ties between the different factions of Christians have become frayed or severed through strife. They can only be healed when all submit to the Sprit of Christ – the Holy Spirit: ”..; for those that do in reality understand aright, must necessarily understand alike.” [excerpt from today’s quote by R.F. Cottrell]
The unity of the Ecclesia is only preserved in the Spirit of Christ – the Holy Spirit. When stepping outside of this save harbor, one will encounters the winds of strife common to the those guided by a different spirit.
Would it not be safer and much more fruitful for all Christians to focus on how we interact with each other and everyone else we come in contact with?
The Gospel – the revealed Wisdom and Will of God – is not mere words. The ‘Gospel’ is spiritual Truth unto life, revealed by God, meant to engage in to generate life within us. Words of and by the Spirit of God, no matter how eloquently spoken by man, will remain fruitless[worthless] unless they are expressed in/by actions revealing the source of our motivation.
Life will only unfold for us when we apply the spiritual Truth of the Word of God in our life. Salvation is in actions, not thought. Jesus Christ’s life becomes the blueprint for our actions as we live out the Word of God unto salvation of the living soul.
In regards to R.F. Cottrell’s quote, I would say I’m quite uncomfortable with it. Certainly there are things we should think alike on, but when such things are said the speakers generally mean everything. And I don’t think that’s correct. The early church did not see everything the same. And that was okay. How can we perceive things the same if we come from different backgrounds and experiences? There are “disputable matters” (see Romans 14:1) and we should not make these testing truths.
As for unity by putting into practice the Spirit of Prophecy, it sounds really good, but did Ellen White ever intend that her counsels be implemented everywhere in every situation? Perhaps a few of them, but many of them were applied differently in different situations. I think the same is true today. I am skeptical of such efforts as the people who try to make us follow the Spirit of Prophecy are almost always selective about what they want us to follow. It is easy to push agendas.
If, in fact, the church lacks unity, it is because it lacks the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is basically the reason for unity, because in the minds of men, the natural order is called egoism. Egoism lacks altruism and empathy. All we need to do is ask vehemently for the gift of the Holy Spirit; we need the latter rain!